THE KINGS COPSE KILLER an enthralling murder mystery with a twist (Detective Inspector Jack Dawes Mystery Book 10) by FRANCES LLOYD

Author:FRANCES LLOYD [LLOYD, FRANCES]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Joffe Books crime thrillers, suspense and mystery
Published: 2022-11-09T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

‘Corrie, this is so kind.’ Mallory took the containers of food as Corrie unloaded them from one of her bright green Coriander’s Cuisine vans. ‘I really haven’t been able to summon up the energy to cook and I have to confess I’ve been living off cheese and biscuits and gin. Your food is always so delicious. Thank you so much.’

‘You must take care of yourself, Mallory. We need you to be fit enough to help with the jumble sale in aid of the Richington Youth Project.’

‘I’ll be fine. Please come inside. What would you like — tea or coffee?’

They settled in the drawing room, where the Labradors ambled over and laid their heads on Corrie’s knees to have their ears fondled. ‘I’m sure you’ll feel better once Felix’s funeral is over.’

Mallory nodded. ‘I shall. The problem at the moment is that the coroner is demanding more information about his suicide before the body can be released. He didn’t leave a note, you see.’

‘I seem to recall Jack mentioning something in the pathology report about dog bites, which the coroner wants explained. Surely not these two softies?’

‘No, definitely not Bilbo and Baggins.’ The dogs looked up at the sound of their names. ‘I asked if the pathologist was certain they were dog bites. You see, they might have been from a fox. One of my late husband’s favourite pastimes was to trap a fox in a wire cage, throw in a live rabbit and watch the fox tear it to pieces.’

Corrie shuddered. ‘Mallory, that’s horrible. How could you bear to live with a man who did appalling things like that?’

‘I wasn’t going to for much longer. Allegra Parnell said that under the new no-fault divorce legislation, all I had to do was provide a legal statement to say the marriage had broken down irretrievably. It counts as conclusive evidence and can’t be contested. She’d worked out a truly brilliant financial settlement. The terms would ensure I kept everything, including my mother’s house, and Felix would get pretty much just what he stood up in. Even though the new law meant I didn’t need to list the grounds for a divorce, everyone would have known about them. The humiliation and disgrace of divorce would have been intolerable for someone like him. It’s for that reason that I think he went into an insane, drunken rage and shot Allegra. Hanging was the best outcome for him.’

‘Jack said you found Felix’s car in your garage in the end.’ Corrie reached for a piece of carrot cake, which she imagined had been made by one of Mallory’s neighbours. It was surprisingly good and she was always on the lookout for staff.

‘Yes. I can only assume he put it in there so that I would think he was still in town.’

‘Maybe he didn’t want you to go looking for him and find him hanging from the tree.’ Although, even as she said it, Corrie doubted Barrington would have had that much concern for his wife’s feelings.

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