Murder Fest by Julie Wassmer

Author:Julie Wassmer [Wassmer, Julie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery
ISBN: 9781472130082
Google: zp8btgEACAAJ
Amazon: B07GVCL42K
Goodreads: 42785223
Publisher: Constable
Published: 2019-08-06T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Marty Smith was always in Cornucopia by eight o’clock each morning and Pearl met him there shortly after, in the knowledge that his staff would not arrive for at least another hour. She found him in his store room, busily checking items on a list attached to his clipboard: supplies of exotic fruit, including some tropical durian, which Pearl knew tasted like heaven and smelled like hell.

‘What was it you wanted to tell me?’ she asked impatiently.

Marty looked both ways in his empty store room but, just in case there was a chance he might still be overheard, he took Pearl’s arm and steered her to one side before whispering pointedly: ‘The Germans.’

Pearl frowned. ‘What about them?’

Marty raised his index finger to his right cheekbone and dragged down the suntanned skin beneath his eye. ‘Watch ’em like a hawk.’

Pearl shrugged, confused. ‘Why?’

‘Well, why d’you think?’ said Marty. ‘Because they’ve got it in for us.’

‘About what?’

‘Brexit, of course,’ said Marty. ‘We voted for it, didn’t we?’

‘I didn’t,’ said Pearl. ‘And neither did Mum—’

‘Well most of us did,’ said Marty, cutting in. ‘And the Germans aren’t happy about it. They’re not happy at all. I know because I talked to them at your party. But I only remembered last night. No one likes being rejected.’ He gave her a knowing look but Pearl looked down at his hand still on her arm, and freed herself from his grasp.

‘Marty, if you’ve brought me here just to go on about Brexit, you’re wasting your time – and mine – because I can’t, for one minute, see what on earth that could possibly have to do with Blake Cain’s murder.’

Marty threw down his clipboard and raised his hands in the air. ‘Whoa!’ he exclaimed. ‘And you’re meant to be a detective? Do I have to spell it out for you? This festival, Whit Fest, is about our town – us – and our achievements. Your oysters. My asparagus. But now it’s been ruined – by someone bumping off one of its biggest stars. Just think,’ he said. ‘Who would want to spoil things for us like that?’

Pearl looked askance at Marty. ‘You’re seriously suggesting that Wibke and Laurent could possibly have murdered—’

Marty interrupted quickly. ‘They’re on the Borken committee, right? They’re German. And we don’t exactly have much in common, do we?’ He leaned in to her and whispered, ‘We don’t even like the same colour asparagus.’

‘Marty!’

‘I’m serious, Pearl. We bombed Borken in the last war. Maybe they hold a grudge. If it was me, I would.’

‘Yes,’ said Pearl, ‘I’m sure you would. But fortunately not everyone is like you. And Wibke Ruppert happens to be one of Blake Cain’s devoted fans. So why on earth would she, or her brother, want to kill him?’

Marty held Pearl’s look as he took this in, blinking a few times, which at least demonstrated to Pearl that some of his brain cells were reacting to her question. Unfortunately they failed to come up with an answer. Instead,

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.