A Corpse in a Quaint English Village (An Izzy Palmer Mystery Book 7) by Benedict Brown

Author:Benedict Brown [Brown, Benedict]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Heathdene Books
Published: 2021-10-10T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

Mrs Kitty Newnham was quickly coming to the fore in my pack of suspects.

While Sylvia might have denied P.C. Hammer’s violent nature, it didn’t mean he couldn’t have murdered the two victims at the behest of the wicked witch who ran the town. The fact remained that he still hadn’t reported the killings to his superiors, which made him look guilty as sin in my book – but also meant I could poke around the village without needing permission.

If Hammer and Newnham were working together to clean up the perceived bad elements of Shackleford Rise, things were beginning to make sense. Gruff was an obvious menace; he drove like a maniac, spoke ill of the village and left graffiti in his wake wherever he went. If Mrs Newnham had considered Anthea Abingdon’s crimes to be equally heinous, then perhaps her fate was sealed.

We’d already learnt from a number of people just how powerful Newnham was and, while her two-time ex-husband might not be the most impartial judge of character, I couldn’t help agreeing with Barry the Drunk’s account of her flaws. On the other hand, if she did turn out to be the killer, I’d have to put up with Ramesh thinking he was a better detective than me. So I really hoped that wasn’t the case.

I was torn between heading straight to the guesthouse to confront her and going looking for Mum. I hadn’t seen her for a while and figured I should check that she was up to good (as opposed to no good). Having a murderer on the loose really isn’t great, but a West End star with a personality the size of Russia should never be left unchecked.

In the end, my crime-fighting instincts won out. I took the quiet side street to look for the woman who, until then, had been a constant presence at the fete. I found her in the exact same spot where we’d first encountered her. I could see her through the front room window, feeding her cats with her usual diabolical tendencies.

“No, Tiger. Kitty Boo Boo gets the biggest share.” She walked over to the dining room table to open another can of cat food. “You know that Kitty Boo Boo is my favourite. If you want the most food, you have to earn a place in my heart.”

There was an unhappy hiss in reply.

“If anything, Tiger, you are the worst cat I’ve ever had. Even Mr Sluggy is a better cat than you, and Mr Sluggy rarely wakes up.” The fact that she called one of her cats Kitty Boo Boo seemed even stranger now that I knew her own first name.

I slipped through the open door and tiptoed along the creaking hallway once more.

“What do you want?” Mrs Newnham bellowed as I rounded the corner into the lounge. I thought she was still talking to the cats, so I didn’t bother answering. “Well, Miss Palmer?”

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t think you were talking to me.”

“I wasn’t.” The table where

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