The Comfort of Ghosts by Jacqueline Winspear

Author:Jacqueline Winspear [Winspear, Jacqueline]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781641296069
Amazon: 1641296062
Publisher: Soho Crime
Published: 2024-06-04T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

During the hour-long drive from London down to Chelstone, Maisie took the opportunity to consider what had come to pass in recent weeks, and in the early nighttime darkness with little traffic on the road, she asked herself question after question, though the most obvious – the identity of Jonathan Hawkin-Price’s killer – was one she skirted around, as if it were the final stepping stone across a rushing river, the largest in a line of landing places extending from one side to the other, a rock from which she might slip and tumble if she hurried or looked down.

The telephone conversation with Caldwell was a relief, because she now knew there was indeed a body, and it was that of Hawkin-Price. Until then, there was only the word of four adolescents – four tired, unsettled young people suffering from their own kind of war fatigue. Each one alternated in mood between confusion and determination, and had a strong will to bring order to their lives because, it seemed, so much had fallen away that might otherwise have sustained them. And if their story about the stability and security – such as it was – of the children’s home coming to an end was correct, what might happen next presented a terrifying prospect. But now Maisie had the proof that they had indeed witnessed a murder – which meant they had fair reason to believe they would be sought out and silenced.

But inconsistencies troubled her.

Who found the body? Who alerted the authorities to enable the deceased to be removed to the medical examiner for post-mortem? And how had word travelled to those who would ensure the death would remain under wraps until they were ready to reveal the demise of an important local man? With Lord Julian’s passing, Maisie understood only too well the almost medieval attachment local people in a small community had to the ‘squire.’ Ah yes, Lord Julian – that was another link for which she could not find a chain, though there was George. And there was another name for whom she had no fit – Sergeant Kirby. If she had more detail, she might not need to approach either of these men. She had known George for years and wanted to protect him, and she had a feeling that any attempt to reach the mysterious Kirby would get her nowhere. But she would like to have a more detailed picture in mind of the chain of communication.

‘It’s like a wall with half the bricks missing in odd places,’ she said aloud, as she slowed the motor car while driving down Riverhill on the outskirts of Sevenoaks. She had once been driving on this same stretch of road when her brakes failed – they had been tampered with by a murderer, a woman she had been close to bringing to justice, so she never allowed her attention to wane for even a second when descending the incline.

The following day was Sunday. Her ability to move

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