Poison at Penshaw Hall by G B Ralph

Author:G B Ralph [Ralph, G B]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: G B Ralph
Published: 2023-10-24T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

When your office building’s out of commission due to earthquake strengthening work, ‘working from home’ was all well and good provided you were at home. And that your home had an internet connection, which Harper House did not.

Addison had picked up a few things about his great-uncle during his time in Milverton: that he was a bit of a character, had a wide range of business interests, and had insisted in his will that Addison inherit the estate, with ‘family’ being his only justification. Herbert Harper, however, was not up to date with the latest interior design or technology. Hadn’t been up to date for a good few decades, truth be told.

Addison had managed to keep up with ‘working from home’ because he had actually been working. It’s in the name. But at the rate the morning was going, he wouldn’t be getting much done. And he was quickly getting to the time of the morning where still being offline might be noticed or commented on by colleagues or his boss.

He just needed to get into the public library where he could get online and get to work. Unfortunately, to access the library he had to pass through the visitor centre, and nobody made it through there unnoticed…

‘Ah, there you are,’ Mabel said from her post behind the visitor centre’s counter. She glanced at the clock on the wall. ‘A bit late for you, isn’t it? I hadn’t seen you yet so I thought you might’ve snuck in before me. What have you been up to this morning?’

Plenty – that was the short answer. But if he opened that can of chat with Mabel he’d never get started on his work. He didn’t want to get into his talk with Frank, his feature in the newspaper, nor his meeting—

‘Oh, you were meeting Emily this morning, weren’t you?’

Well, he couldn’t deny it. And it’s not like he was hiding anything, especially not from Mabel. ‘Yes, it was… very productive.’

Mabel raised an eyebrow.

‘Emily says it’s not the best time to sell, thinks I should hold onto things until at least the end of summer.’

‘And…’ Mabel said, prompting, her eyebrow lifting higher again.

‘And I think I agree with her.’

‘That is wonderful.’ The older woman beamed. ‘After everything that happened on Saturday, and then this morning’s front page… I feared you might have been done with us once and for all. But I’m very pleased to hear that’s not the case, and that I was right after all.’

Addison gave a noncommittal murmur that suggested he was reserving judgement.

‘I’m not so sure about our sergeant, though.’

That had Addison’s attention. ‘What? Why’s that?’

‘Well, Miriam’s death, of course,’ Mabel said. ‘Treating it as anything but an accident.’

‘Oh, right. Yeah…’

‘Who would do such a thing?’

It was Addison’s turn to raise an eyebrow.

‘Well, yes,’ Mabel said. ‘Miriam Roberts is certainly not the last person I would expect to suffer such a fate.’

‘The very definition of a busybody,’ Addison said.

Mabel cleared her throat. ‘Not very busy anymore though, just a body now.

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