Criminal Pursuits by Samantha Lee Howe

Author:Samantha Lee Howe
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Manuscript Template, Public
Publisher: Telos Publishing Ltd

There was a certain camaraderie about the Mystery Unravelled crime writing course, held three months later and on this occasion in a Hampshire manor house. Those participants who had attended the previous course, five in all, enjoyed an enviable position so far as the somewhat nervous but excited newcomers were concerned, as they were able to speak with first-hand knowledge of a real life crime scene.

David in particular came into his own, having come by privileged information gained by bribing former colleagues with beer, flattery and, regrettably, twenty-pound notes.

Even Mavis condescended to listen avidly, as they awaited lunch on the Saturday morning. ‘So what did poor Janice die of?’ she asked.

‘Hyoscyamine,’ David replied smugly. ‘Datura seeds grated in the peppermill over, probably, the stew. Clever, wasn’t it? I understand there’s no forensic evidence to indicate anyone else was involved.’

‘So it could have been suicide,’ Paul said triumphantly.

‘Rather a let-down,’ Luke sneered, but was disregarded.

‘Then why bother to tape the pepper mill on?’ David grunted. ‘Daft. I’m just a straightforward cop. Something like that happens in old Agatha’s stuff, not in real life.’

Mavis took this personally. ‘Only in this case, it did,’ she snapped.

‘Still suicide,’ Paul maintained, anxious to maintain his lead. ‘A killer couldn’t guess exactly when she would die in order to creep in to attach the pepper mill.’

‘The first person to find her could,’ Luke said meaningfully. Mavis had criticised the best short story he had ever written. And he knew why: she intended to steal his plot.

Mavis quelled him with a look. ‘I knew your thinking was wobbly, Luke, but really! Would I go along to Janice’s room armed with a pepper mill to check if my victim were dead and then stop to tape it on in order to draw attention to the fact that it was murder?’

Luke rallied. ‘Agatha might have done.’

She capped him. ‘Agatha always had a rational explanation. I doubt if you do.’

David entered the fray. ‘Of course, I’m just a plain cop, but in my experience, the first on the scene often is the killer.’

Paul switched tack to leap on the passing bandwagon. ‘It’s the psychology.’

‘Why,’ Mavis boomed savagely over him, ‘should anyone wish to tape a peppermill on to a victim?’

‘It’s easy,’ Paul persevered. ‘In the interests of her – or of course his – art.’ Two and two for a retiring accountant were permitted to make five.

‘Eh?’ David looked blank.

‘To test us all,’ Paul explained. ‘If you understood the sexual perspective – ‘

‘Balderdash,’ David interrupted. ‘It was a joke.’

Mavis seized her chance. ‘As I explained in this morning’s workshop, the death itself should never be a joke. A pepper mill comes perilously close to it.’

The workshop students took this to heart, and the pepper mill at the buffet lunch remained untouched either by hand or in conversation. The wine bottles fared much better. They were all emptied and five more called for, and consequently when the students reassembled for the afternoon workshop, they were some way into discussion of the

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