SLAUGHTER IN THE COTSWOLDS an absolutely gripping cozy crime mystery full of twists by TOPE REBECCA

Author:TOPE, REBECCA
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Joffe Books cozy mysteries and crime
Published: 2024-10-16T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

The dogs had gone. Freddy and Basil were not on their chains, there were no welcoming barks, no friendly faces peering from their shed. Fighting to remain calm, Thea went all round the yard looking into the various sheds and log piles, then did a circuit of the house, calling ‘Dogs! Dogs!’ across the weedy jungle that was the back garden.

They were not there. Their absence was tangible. Without even having to think about it, Thea piled herself and Hepzie back into the car and drove into the road, and quickly off again, down the track leading to Henry Galton’s sheep farm. Quite how she knew the way, she could not explain, except that she had stared anxiously across the fields to the lambing sheds and hay barns several times over the past few days, until the geography was familiar. The track was bumpy with potholes and ruts, and longer than expected. It dived down into a hollow and then climbed up a final incline to the farmstead tucked into the lee of a gentle hill, facing south and sheltered on the other three sides. Even in her rage and panic, Thea had time to appreciate the clever siting, and the impressive age of the farm. The house was quite possibly Elizabethan, a modestly sized manor that had not been extended or modernised since its creation. By contrast, the farm buildings were considerably more recent and of poor quality. There were sheep on all sides, occupying many of the visible fields.

As she got out of the car, she caught her spaniel’s eye. Sitting cheerfully on the passenger seat, Hepzie was entirely oblivious to the danger she was in. If Galton had kidnapped the other dogs and taken them into a barn to be shot, he might well decide to finish the job and grab the third marauder as well. Shakily, Thea removed the key from the ignition and locked the car. ‘Stay there,’ she mouthed at her dog. What if Hepzie had been left behind at Hawkhill when Thea went to Lower Oddington to meet Bruce? Would she now be a stiffening corpse in the corner of a dark shed as well?

But perhaps she’d arrived in time. Perhaps Galton was hesitating before he performed the execution. Perhaps he would, after all, abide by lawful procedure and wait until there was hard evidence against Freddy and Basil. And what would that evidence be? Matching toothmarks in the flesh of the sheep? DNA from the rams on the jaws of the dogs?

She marched determinedly to the front of the house and banged the brass door knocker loudly. Ten seconds later the door opened, and Galton stood there in socks, his hair tousled. ‘What do you want?’ he said with a puzzled frown. ‘I’ve just been having a nap. Your car woke me. What time is it?’

‘I don’t know,’ she said impatiently. ‘Where are the dogs? What have you done with the dogs?’

He rubbed his face with a big hand. ‘What dogs? Wait a minute, I’m still half asleep.

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