Paint The Dead: A British Murder Mystery (Ellie Reckless Crime Thrillers Book 1) by Jack Gatland

Author:Jack Gatland [Gatland, Jack]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hooded Man Media
Published: 2022-05-28T16:00:00+00:00

14

CURTAIN TWITCHER

‘I’m not making you a tea, I don’t want you in here longer than I have to,’ the woman said as she entered the dining room of her house. ‘The people across the road are criminals. I don’t want them coming back at me.’

‘I get that,’ Ellie replied, noting a couple of photo frames on the mantelpiece. One was a man and woman, in their forties, and the second was a woman, only a teenager, her hair pulled back and in dungarees.

‘They’re nice,’ Ellie nodded at it. ‘Daughter?’

‘In law,’ the woman looked over at it. ‘As well as my son and my granddaughter.’

Ellie looked back at the photos.

‘I don’t see a group shot,’ she mused. ‘Don’t see them much?’

‘Haven’t spoken for over five years,’ the woman replied. ‘Although what that has to do with this…’

’No husband?’

‘Never needed one,’ the woman watched Ellie, as if daring her to respond. ‘My son was born out of wedlock.’

‘Must have been hard,’ Tinker said from the window.

The woman shrugged.

‘You might have guessed from the house that I come from money,’ she replied. ‘He didn’t. My parents weren’t happy with me seeing him, and when I became pregnant, they made sure we never worked.’

She stroked at the bracelet on her wrist absently.

‘We wouldn’t have worked, anyway,’ she replied. ‘Different worlds. He never knew about Sylvester, our son, and Sylv never knew about his father. Well, until I told him, five years ago. And, as I said…’

‘You should try to build bridges again,’ Tinker replied suddenly. ‘I had issues with my family, and I regret not doing that before… before it was too late.’

‘I spoke to my granddaughter recently,’ the woman stated sadly, still rubbing at the bracelet on her wrist absently. ‘It didn’t end how I’d hoped.’

‘Sorry,’ Ellie said, regretting the conversation now; it obviously weighed on the woman’s mind, and from the sounds of things, the moment the son realised the truth of his parental status, he cut his mother off.

She was probably better off without him, if that was the case.

‘Look, can I confirm your name?’ she eventually asked.

The woman stopped, turning around in confusion.

‘Surely you know that?’ she replied. ‘You came to me, remember?’

‘I know your name,’ Ellie lied smoothly, ‘but I need to know you do. Make sure you’re the same person. For all I know, you could be an imposter, pretending to live here. If I was to say your name aloud first, you’ll know it.’

‘Ah,’ the woman looked unconvinced at this. ‘June Hudson.’

‘Well, June,’ Ellie smiled. ‘Tell us what happened that night.’

‘Well, they left in their bloody ugly car, and about an hour later another car came back,’ June replied as she walked into the conservatory. She was out of sight for a moment before returning to view. ’It was a black one. It drove in—‘

‘The gates opened?’

‘I didn’t see them open, but when I saw the car, they were open,’ June corrected. ‘I assumed they knew the code, as the car drove in.’

‘And then?’

Then, about two minutes

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