Murder in the Off-Season by Dave Warner

Author:Dave Warner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ligature Pty Limited
Published: 2021-11-09T02:22:15+00:00

12

Perhaps because she had eaten so little the previous day, Fleur was famished. She polished off her second croissant only moments after it had been brought to her by the white-coated waiter. She sat alone at a wrought-iron table in the gorgeous surrounds of the garden at the Hotel Ulambor. Two other couples, at their own tables, were the only other clientele. Too excited to contemplate breakfast, Zirk was off trying to discover the identity of the mystery woman. He had been dressed, itching to get going, when she woke about 6.30 a.m. She wondered if he’d slept at all. Fortunately she had. Like a log. The reaction that had set in after pulling Tudor from the pool seemed to be gone. Okay, sure she was a bit numb. But she had an appetite. She’d put on make-up. Life went on just as petty and repetitive as before.

Initially she had felt Zirk, simply because of his passion for intrigue, was stubbornly resisting the obvious conclusion—that Greg Tudor had got pissed, got into difficulties and drowned. In other words, Zirk was being Zirk.

But now there was this mystery woman.

The only reason Fleur could imagine why her perfume would be on Tudor’s pillow was the same as Lizard: the mystery woman and Tudor had been at it. If that was the case, and Tudor had drowned soon after, well, it was suspicious to say the least.

The sky was overcoat grey. As it was only just on 8 a.m. it was too early to tell if it was going to stay that way. Fleur wondered, if it did come out bright and sunny, would she be able to face up to swimming in the pool anyway?

As she brushed a flake of pastry from her mouth, she saw Zirk striding towards her, bouncing on his toes. He pulled out a chair, sat, poured himself a coffee from the pot in front of her and started drinking.

Pleased with himself.

She said, ‘You located her.’

Zirk held up a cautionary finger, finished his mouthful and placed the cup back down before speaking.

‘I know who she is.’

‘Who?’

A smile. A toying, irritating smile. Probably what a mouse sees behind those ferocious whiskers of its tormentor.

‘Firstly, I’ll tell you how. I found the driver who took her to the ruins and then to the Village later.’

‘What time did she get to the Village?’

‘The driver wasn’t sure. But he thought they left here around 3 p.m.’

‘So she might have got there about three-fifteen?’

‘Around then, yes.’

He turned to hit her with his eyes, both barrels as it were.

‘Her name is Sharon.’

‘Surname?’

‘The driver didn’t know.’

Fleur guessed what Zirk’s next move had been.

‘So you slipped the concierge a few bucks.’

His smile confirmed the strategy.

‘West. Sharon West. Room 56. Apparently she takes all her meals in her room. Doesn’t go to the bar, doesn’t frequent the disco. She was desperate to leave the island from yesterday afternoon. Hit the roof when she heard about the ferry maybe not making the trip today.’

That was interesting.

Fleur asked what day she had arrived.

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.