THE MISSING RED CARPET MYSTERY an absolutely addictive cozy murder mystery by RACHEL WARD

Author:RACHEL WARD [WARD, RACHEL]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Joffe Books crime thriller and cozy mystery
Published: 2023-11-27T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Eight

‘That’s not him, Bea.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Evan’s massive. I don’t think one bloke could’ve dragged him out like that.’

‘Then who . . . ?’

They watched, aghast, as a paramedic team raced to join the group of firefighters gathered round the prone figure on the ground.

‘Here, give me a hand and a hitch up, can you?’

Bea looked down from her perch to see who it was. Beneath a rather distressing comb-over was the familiar face of Kevin, the photographer for the Kingsleigh Bugle. He gave her the creeps at the best of times, and this wasn’t the best of times. There was no way she was going to let him touch her hand or share the planter. It might not be a confined space, but it would be way too close for comfort.

‘Sorry. Find your own spot.’

‘Oh, it’s you! I might have known. You’re always in the thick of the trouble round here. Come on, Bea, have a heart. I’ve got a job to do here.’

‘And she said no,’ said Ant, ‘so push off before I push you.’

‘Oh yeah?’ said Kevin, puffing out his chest. A strand of hair was flopping over the wrong way, making him look even more like a little bantam cockerel squaring up for a fight. He must have seen something in Ant’s eyes, though, because the bravado didn’t last long. He was soon backing away. ‘All right, all right. Keep your hair on, mate.’ He scuttled off down the road, clutching his camera bag.

‘You worry about your own hair,’ Ant muttered. ‘Tosser.’

‘Thanks, Ant,’ said Bea. ‘I can’t stand him.’

‘Me neither. Can you see who it is yet?’

‘No. Oh, hang on. They’re moving them, I think.’

One of the paramedics had fetched a blanket from the back of their van. Now Bea stood on tiptoe to try and see over the heads of the people clustered around the victim.

‘They’re up, Ant! They’re walking!’

The fire fighters made way for the two paramedics now. Between them they were supporting someone walking very slowly. As they passed through the garden gate, Bea could see that it was a woman. She had the blanket round her shoulders and was making heavy weather of the short distance to the ambulance, but she was very much alive and not obviously badly injured.

Instinctively, she took a snap on her phone. She had a fleeting thought that taking pictures like this made her as much of a vulture as Kevin, but she tried to bury that thought. She only wanted a photograph to help ID the woman, although from her age and general appearance, there was only one obvious candidate. Evan’s mum.

The woman was helped into the ambulance. On impulse, Bea jumped off the planter and started running towards the vehicle.

‘Bea, what are you doing?’ Ant shouted. ‘Hey! You can’t—’

The back doors were still open. The woman was propped up on a gurney now and had an oxygen mask over her face. Her eyes were shut.

‘Mrs Edwards?’ Bea called.

The woman opened her eyes and seemed to be trying to focus on Bea, perhaps wondering if she knew her.

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