Summer Cat Blues by Alison O'Leary

Author:Alison O'Leary [O’Leary, Alison]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781915433213
Publisher: Red Dog Press/Bloodhound Books

27

Molly glanced up from the case that she was fastening as Jeremy and Carlos came in. Jeremy sat down heavily on the sofa. Carlos flopped down next to him, his expression glum.

“I’d take your time with that Moll, if I were you.”

Molly straightened up and looked from one to the other.

“Why, what’s happened?”

“Well, I don’t think that we’ll be going home just yet.” He paused for a moment and swallowed before speaking. There wasn’t really a gentle way to put this. “Another body has been found.”

Molly took a deep breath.

“Who?” she said at last. “Not the little boy? Not Orlando?”

Jeremy shook his head.

“No. Not Orlando.”

“Who then?”

“The first Lady Pelham.”

Molly sat down in the small armchair and ran her hand through her hair.

“What happened? I mean, was she…”

“I don’t know. There was no obvious sign of injury.”

“Who found her? Was it you?”

“Yes, or more accurately, Aubrey. He was fussing around by one of the trees and making that dreadful yowling noise he does when he wants some attention. At first I thought that he’d injured himself.”

“It was horrible.” Carlos spoke for the first time and then fell silent again. It was true. It was horrible. Not just finding the body, which was bad enough, but finding it where they had done. The copse had been such a happy place when he had been with Teddy and Casper. The memories which he had carefully stored of sitting with them by the candles and stuffing their faces with chocolate, watching Teddy’s animated face and breathing in the scent of her hair, were spoiled. Now somebody had met their death there and it felt like the sun had slipped behind a permanent shadow.

“Try not to dwell on it, Carlos,” Jeremy said. He resisted the temptation to say that it could have been much worse although, in fact, it could. At least Elizabeth Pelham had looked peaceful, just as though she were asleep really.

“We went over to where Aubrey was,” Carlos continued. “And she was laying on her side and just sort of staring straight ahead. Her skirt was pulled up a bit.”

Molly looked horrified, her small face twisted.

“You don’t mean…”

Jeremy jumped up and put his arm round her.

“No, I don’t think so. I think that perhaps she took a tumble and her skirt got caught up as she fell.”

Molly’s shoulders relaxed slightly.

“Thank Goodness for that. How do you think that she died?”

Jeremy frowned.

“No idea. As I said, there was no obvious sign of injury. No blood or anything She was just lying there. I thought at first that she was drunk so I leaned over and tugged slightly on her arm. I thought that we’d better get her home rather than just leave her there. But there was no response and when I looked more closely, I could just see it. I just knew that she was dead.” He thought for a moment. “To say that there’s an absence of life sounds trite, but that’s what it was. An absence of life.”

Aubrey had known that she was dead, too.

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