Double Crossed by Roberta Kray

Double Crossed by Roberta Kray

Author:Roberta Kray [Kray, Roberta]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Published: 2021-11-10T16:00:00+00:00


41

As Liv stepped into the hallway of the house in Whitcomb Street, the sound of the radio was coming from the kitchen. She could also hear Dora and Aline talking, their voices slightly raised so they could hear each other above the music.

‘It’s missing, I tell you,’ Aline said. ‘It was definitely there, on the peg in the hall.’

‘But you can’t even remember when you last saw it. You could have lost it months ago, left it somewhere, on the bus or … Have you checked upstairs? Maybe it’s in your wardrobe.’

‘It’s not in my wardrobe,’ Aline said insistently. ‘I always leave it on the peg. That’s where it stays until I need it again, along with my winter coat. I only noticed because I thought the coat might need a clean and … it’s not there, Dora. The green scarf’s gone. It’s been taken.’

‘Maybe one of the girls borrowed it.’

‘They wouldn’t do that, not without saying. Anyway, you know who’s taken it. It’s obvious.’

‘What’s obvious about it?’ Dora snapped. ‘I don’t know why you keep saying things like that.’

Aline sighed. ‘You know perfectly well. You can’t keep putting your head in the sand. When are you going to come to your senses and face up to facts? He’s back and you can’t go on pretending he isn’t. Moll told you but you wouldn’t listen.’

Liv, who had found herself inadvertently eavesdropping, was now afraid to move in case she was discovered. And, of course, she was undeniably curious. Who was the ‘he’ Aline was talking about? And what, if anything, did he have to do with the missing scarf? The two women had been bickering on and off for the past week and now things seemed to be coming to a head.

‘You should get the locks changed,’ Aline said.

‘It’s a waste of money.’

‘I saw you close and lock that door with my own eyes, Dora Marks, so don’t go pretending otherwise. How else did he get in if it wasn’t with a key? He didn’t walk through the walls.’

‘It wasn’t him. It couldn’t have been.’

‘You won’t be saying that when we’re all murdered in our beds.’

Liv was reminded of Aline passing a similar comment last Friday: You’ll be next, or something like that. A shiver ran through her.

‘Don’t be ridiculous!’ Dora said. ‘I’m not listening to any more of this.’

Liv heard the thin scrape of a chair being pushed back, and decided to make herself scarce. Quickly she went upstairs, taking care to avoid the creaking boards. Once she was safely in her room, she walked over to the window and tried to make sense of what she’d just heard. Putting two and two together, the obvious conclusion was that Aline knew – or at least thought she knew – who their burglar had been. And that man was dangerous.

Liv remembered how close she’d been to him, remembered the door being flung open and her being knocked aside. Anger rose and spread in her. She could have been badly hurt or worse.



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