Murder at the Mill by Irene Sauman

Author:Irene Sauman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: amateur sleuth, australian mystery authors, cozy mystery, historical mystery
Publisher: Jakada Books
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

Checking Alibis

As Emma hung out a long line of diapers, she wondered how the Lieutenant was getting on with his questioning of the Lockwood brothers. All she had to show so far was more evidence against Brendan, circumstantial though it may be. She desperately needed to find something that pointed in another direction.

Alfie raced up distracting her thoughts. He leapt at the washing, just missing a pair of trousers. Emma grabbed the prop and tried to set the line a little higher as she scolded him. He took no notice and leapt again. Emma was afraid if the wind caught the washing, the prop could tilt and bring the clothes within reach.

“Is anyone responsible for training Alfie?” she asked Deelie when she returned to the washhouse.

“Not that I know.”

“It’s no wonder he’s such a scamp. Who feeds him?”

“Mrs. Fowler looks after that. He does well from the kitchen scraps. He has a bed on the front verandah of the schoolhouse. Ann tried having him inside, but he chewed the buttons off her best boots.”

“How annoying.”

“It turned out fine. Ruth gave her an almost full packet of silver buttons to replace them. Now Ann has silver buttons on both pair of boots, her everyday pair, and her Sunday best. She’s well pleased with herself.” Deelie glanced at Emma as she said this and they both laughed. Boot buttons. It was the smallest things that gave the most pleasure.

“Well, someone should be training Alfie. If he learns to knock down the clothesline props, you’ll have a real mess on your hands.”

“Oh, he’s already grabbed a diaper out of my wash basket,” Deelie said. “Right quick he is. Perhaps Bren could take him in hand. Give him something to do,” she added her voice trailing off.

“It’ll work out,” Emma consoled trying to sound more confident than she felt. It niggled that Brendan wouldn’t tell her where he had been when the mill exploded.

After lunch, when Deelie was busy with the children, she asked Brendan what he knew about fire arrows.

“I don’t know anything,” he insisted. “No one ever spoke of them to me. Ian would know.”

“Would he talk to me, do you think?” He might have remembered something useful by now and she wanted to assess whether he could have been involved somehow.

Brendan shrugged. “He would talk to me if I could get to see him.”

“Which is a bit difficult right now, isn’t it? I’m not sure how welcome I would be at the homestead, either. Mrs. Lockwood wasn’t happy with what I had to say to her about Frank and his accusations. Now he’s found what he thinks is proof, well, I’m not sure what she might be thinking.”

“She must be very worried,” Deelie said from the bedroom.

“I’m sure she’s that. I told the Lieutenant what Frank had to say. I can’t see the family giving the Lieutenant any information that might implicate one of their own. I told him I will be speaking to everyone I can, and we will share what we find.

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