Murder at the Summer Swim (The Wootton Windmill Mysteries Book 6) by Izzie Harper

Author:Izzie Harper [Harper, Izzie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Farthingloe Publishing
Published: 2024-07-22T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

After a twenty-minute nap on her bed, Ellie decided she would benefit from some of her best friend’s wisdom. Sally was the village dressmaker and was often about for spur-of-the-moment walks. On this occasion, she had just finished taking in a dress, so they arranged to meet up on the beach at Wootton Bay with the dogs.

On the way there, Ellie chewed over Sylvia’s news about James Melrose’s gastro symptoms. Given that Alice had had these too, and she and James worked together, it was easy to see this as being potentially meaningful, but it could be a complete coincidence.

The sun was still high in the sky and, despite the occasional wisp of cloud, the heat was still strong. She’d had a swim earlier, but Sally hadn’t so Ellie had put her costume on under her T-shirt and shorts. She adored double-swim days.

When she arrived at the beach, the cordons and forensic tent had gone. The waves were relatively flat, rolling onto the shore with not much foam, rather than crashing, and there was almost no breeze at all.

Rebus leaped into the air when he saw Sally’s dog, Luna. Ellie let him off his lead for a run with his friend. He raced down onto the sand, ecstatic to feel the cool softness beneath his paws. The two dogs had known each other since they were puppies and loved nothing more than tearing about together, somersaulting, play-fighting, and getting covered in mud, water, whatever was available. And digging holes in the sand and shoving their noses in.

Sally’s silhouette stood out against the white of the chalk cliffs, which were a famous view for ship passengers crossing the channel and heading into Dover.

‘The water looks gorgeous,’ Sally said. ‘I’ve been thinking about it since I woke up.’

Ellie grinned, her beach towel rolled up under her arm. ‘It is. I had a quick dip earlier. Shall we swim while the dogs are playing?’

‘Good idea.’

They quickly fell in step with each other and walked towards the water. ‘Feels so weird, being on this beach again,’ said Sally, ‘knowing Alice is dead. Is there any news? I can’t believe we were all here, having fun, and some creep was waiting for their moment to kill her.’

‘Same. We’ve no idea yet who killed her. And don’t know if she was actually killed here or elsewhere prior to that.’

They undressed and left their clothes and shoes on the sand, then paddled into the water. The dogs followed them in, leaping about and splashing.

Both confident in the water, the two women were quickly swimming and discussing Alice’s case.

‘Did Pete tell you about the flowers,’ said Ellie, ‘and Sam saying he put the order in?’

‘Yes. It’s so weird. Why would someone give Pete’s name? Did they just pick any old name of someone who lives in the village, or did they specifically want to give his name?’

Sally and Pete had been together for a couple of years. Both had been in Ellie and Dave’s year at school.

‘Shall we swim to the buoy?’ said Sally.

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