The Lipstick Killers by Martin Lee

Author:Martin, Lee [Martin, Lee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781842436240
Publisher: Perseus Books Group
Published: 2011-09-19T22:00:00+00:00

33

Mags and Mahoney were interrupted when the SOCO team arrived and Margaret said. ‘Do you need me anymore? I should get back and break the bad news.’

‘That won’t be easy, after everything else,’ said Mahoney.

‘Tell me about it. There seems to be nothing else lately,’ said Margaret, shaking her head.

‘It’s a hell of a mess, I’ll give you that.’

‘You can say that again. Well, do you need anything more?’ she said, looking at him directly.

‘Not right now. But we’ll need a statement and I’ll want to talk to you again today.’

‘Fair enough.’

‘Do you fancy meeting for a drink tonight?’

‘Tonight? Are you asking me on a date, Mahoney?’

‘Don’t push your luck’, he said, smiling slightly now. ‘But we should talk – away from your family.’

‘Can’t we do that down at the station?’

‘Yes, but I can think of better places to be. What about The George down by the river? Know it?’

‘Sure, I know it. Will you be able to get away though, aren’t you in the middle of the case?’

‘It’s police business and it will only be for an hour or so. And we do need to talk.’

‘OK. What time?’

He looked at his watch. ‘Say six?’

‘Six it is.’

‘What about the cat?’ asked Mahoney.

‘Oh Christ. I forgot about him. I better take him, you lot trampling about will frighten him to death.’

Margaret and Mahoney went back into the garden and found Thomas glaring at one of the SOCOs. ‘It’s all right,’ said Margaret. ‘He won’t bite.’

‘That’s not my experience,’ said the man, eyeballing the cat as it arched its back and hissed at him.

‘I’ll take him.’

‘And you are?’

‘It’s OK,’ Mahoney interrupted. ‘She’s family.’

The SOCO shrugged and Margaret picked up Thomas, who struggled for a second, then settled down in her arms. ‘Later,’ she said to Mahoney and took the cat out to her car. On the way she saw Jacko, who gave her another look that could kill. She put Thomas inside the Porsche and drove back to Sharon’s, dreading what was to come.

Once back at the house, she left Thomas locked inside her car, hoping that he wouldn’t tear her upholstery to shreds, and went to the kitchen where her three sisters were sitting around the table. Frankie saw the look on her face as soon as she walked in. ‘What now?’ she asked.

‘This is not easy,’ said Margaret slumping into an empty chair.

‘What? Just spit it out sis,’ said Frankie again.

‘It’s Joyce,’ replied Margaret. ‘She’s dead.’

The colour left the faces of the other three. ‘Are you serious?’ said Roxie.

‘It’s not something I’d joke about.’

‘How?’ Sharon asked.

‘Murdered. In her bedroom.’

‘When?’

‘Dunno. That’s for the experts. By the look of her, maybe last night.’

Sharon moaned, got up, and slumped down deeply in her chair. ‘How the hell am I going to tell the children? They loved her like a grandmother.’

Margaret sighed deeply. ‘I don’t know love. This is just about as bad as I’ve ever seen it.’

‘What the hell is going on?’ said Roxie, suddenly seeming very young and very scared.

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