Mystery at Seagrave Hall: A totally addictive cozy mystery novel (An Eve Mallow Mystery Book 3) by Clare Chase

Author:Clare Chase [Chase, Clare]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781838885281
Publisher: Bookouture
Published: 2020-06-10T16:00:00+00:00

Nineteen

Back at Elizabeth’s Cottage, Eve ate a lunch of crusty white bread and cheese, with Gus to keep her company. Her mind was full of Tilly’s words.

‘She doesn’t think the person who killed Verity is a threat to her,’ Eve said to him. ‘She must suspect someone at the hall, but am I right to home in on Rupert and Cora? And is she right to feel safe?’ Sir Percival and Ivy Cotton hovered round her head too, like ghosts. Even Gus looked worried. Maybe he’d picked up on her tone. ‘I can only hope that she’ll think about what I’ve said and confide in me, or in Palmer, or someone.’ She couldn’t currently see a way to get hard evidence unless Tilly talked.

‘The problem is, I’ve got no way of knowing she’s certain of the killer’s identity, and if she doesn’t know for sure, then it’s possible an outsider like Jade Piper or Pete Smith’s guilty. I need hard facts.’ She got up, and Gus, sensing her intention, dashed towards the front door. ‘Viv’s right,’ she said, following him and slipping on her flip-flops. ‘Jade’s got no obvious motive, but I’m sure there’s something weird about her connection with Verity.’ Until Eve knew what that was, it was hard to form any kind of opinion.

Once they were back from a stroll through the woods, Gus dashed to quench his thirst in the kitchen and Eve got down to work in the calm quiet of the dining room. As she’d planned, she focused on Jade Piper as an individual now. The heart of a person’s character was what drove them. In Jade’s case, the charity she’d established was her life, but it seemed to be a symptom of her passion, not the root cause.

Eve scrolled through pages of links online, looking for anything that referred to Jade’s life outside work. Other than Facebook and Instagram, the first four pages were full of hits related to her professional life, and social media was no help. She had all the right settings to protect her privacy. But on the fifth page Eve found the odd personal mention. She showed up on various JustGiving donation pages and some online petitions arguing for better housing and more support for people with poor mental health. One of the charity donations was to a Tim Piper, and her message (So proud of you, my love. Hot food will be waiting when you get back! xxx), coupled with the photograph of the man she was sponsoring – who looked around her age – made Eve think they were probably married. Or – she checked the date – had been four years ago. Something about Jade made Eve feel she was currently alone. She gave the impression of a person who held their head up high and kept going against the odds. Eve told herself off for being fanciful. She couldn’t know that. But there had been pride in the woman’s eyes, as well as sadness and some kind of bravery.

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