Murder in the Margins by Margaret Loudon

Author:Margaret Loudon [Loudon, Margaret]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2020-10-27T00:00:00+00:00

THIRTEEN

It looks like we sold a lot of books,” Mabel said, removing the handful of volumes from the box Penelope had carried into the Open Book. “How was Charlotte’s talk?”

“She did a wonderful job. They loved her.”

Mabel laughed. “Unfortunately that doesn’t mean they won’t continue to gossip about her behind her back.”

“I had the exact same thought.” Penelope wrinkled her nose. “By the way”—she paused with a book in her hand—“did you get a chance to talk to Gladys?”

Mabel frowned. “I did. I tried to be delicate about it, but I believe the message was clear enough. Gladys wasn’t inclined to confide in me, I’m afraid. I tried to leave the door open in case she wanted to talk about it in the future—or if she decided she wanted help getting away from the situation. Abuse often escalates. Let’s hope Gladys has the smarts to get out before that happens.” Mabel peered into the boxes. “Looks like that’s it. We’ve got them all.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Let’s call it a day, shall we?”

Penelope switched the sign on the front door of the shop to Closed as the last customer left with a shopping bag full of the latest cozy mysteries. The streetlights were on and pedestrian traffic going by on the sidewalk outside the Open Book had slowed.

She put on her coat and gloves. “I’ll be heading off now unless you need me for something?”

Mabel zipped the canvas bag with the day’s bank deposit and tucked it into her tote bag. “Have a good evening. I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”

As Penelope walked to her car, she noticed that the small light left burning during the night at the Pig and Poke was on but that the Chumley Chippie was ablaze and still doing a brisk business with customers leaving with grease-stained bags containing their takeout fish-and-chips dinner.

The cleaning lady’s used Citroën was parked outside Penelope’s cottage when she got there, and the lights in the sitting room were on. Penelope hoped Ashlyn was nearly finished. She was normally gone by the time Penelope got home. Penelope was planning to work on her manuscript before dinner and wasn’t fond of writing while the vacuum was running.

Ashlyn was perched on the sofa in the sitting room, a newspaper spread out on the table in front of her, when Penelope walked in. She jumped up when she heard the front door open, her pasty-white face coloring from her neck to the dark roots of her dyed blond hair.

“I—I wanted to show you something,” she stammered, pointing to the newspaper.

At least she had gotten a fire going in the fireplace, Penelope thought as she peeled off her gloves. The temperature had dipped considerably since the afternoon. She stood with her back to the flames and sighed as the warmth chased away the chill in her bones and eased the ache in her shoulders.

“What is it, Ashlyn?”

Mrs. Danvers slinked in from the kitchen, paused for a moment to take in the

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.