Murder Under the Mistletoe by Fiona Leitch

Author:Fiona Leitch [Leitch, Fiona]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780008528829
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Chapter Eleven

I walked down the stairs, deep in thought. The revelation that Isaac was originally supposed to be in that room had thrown me. Did that mean Isaac was the intended victim?

It made sense. By his own admission, he must have made a lot of enemies in his life. He might be Mr Nice Guy now, but he’d been utterly ruthless in his business days and, although he’d set about putting things right, there could well be other people whose lives he’d unwittingly ruined, and who he hadn’t caught up with. But the only person we knew had had reason to hate him – maybe reason enough to kill him – was upstairs, naked and impaled on an antique sword. And Isaac had (apparently) made things right with Steve anyway, so even he wouldn’t have wanted Isaac dead; in fact, with the multi-millionaire philanthropist dead, Steve’s son wouldn’t get any help.

Who else could have wanted Isaac dead? Trevor could have been annoyed with him for refusing to invest in the hotel. But killing him wouldn’t help Trevor’s finances, so there’d be absolutely no point to the murder. What about James? He’d been acting a bit weird this morning – on edge, and quite unlike the cheerful, confident, flirtatious young man he’d been yesterday. And there was all that business (whatever it was) last night, in his room. But why would he want Isaac (or Steve) dead? They seemed to get on really well. He held a high position in the charity foundation, and there was nothing to suggest that he’d benefit financially or in career terms if Isaac died. And he just didn’t strike me as a killer. He was charming, if a bit immature, but in my experience a lot of ex-public schoolboys were.

And there was still the issue of how someone had got into the room in the first place. The door would have been locked; it was the type that locked as you pulled it shut behind you. So Steve would have gone (staggered) to bed, shutting it behind him. How had the murderer got in?

Lily came out of the kitchen carrying a glass of water.

‘You OK?’ I asked her. She nodded.

‘I know you warned me, but that was much worse than I thought it would be,’ she said. ‘That was the first time I’ve seen a dead person.’

‘Not a great one for your first time. Can I ask you, who knew who was staying in each room?’

‘Me, Trevor and Pippa,’ she said. ‘Trevor and I worked out which rooms were ready to use, and Pippa helped me make up the beds. I showed you guys your rooms, but Isaac and Steve didn’t know where they were sleeping until they went up to bed.’

‘And then they ended up in each other’s rooms…’ I shook my head. ‘No offence, the room you gave me and Daisy last night was lovely, but if you’d given me that suite I’d be moving in there permanently. Why would Isaac want to swap?’ Lily of course had just as much idea about that as I did.

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