Jean Bedford [Anna Southwood Mystery 01] Worse than Death by Jean Bedford
Author:Jean Bedford [Bedford, Jean]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Endeavour Press
Published: 2015-12-03T00:00:00+00:00
Chapter 8
An hour later I had made a list of loose ends and I was sitting staring into space while Graham paced the room, muttering his lines, addressing them meaningfully to the coffee table and chairs. I was just about to call to him when the phone rang.
âAnna? Itâs Paul Whitehouse here.â
âPaul! Hello.â I was surprised. âWhat can I do for you?â
âYou can stop interfering in my clientâs affairs, for a start.â His voice was tight with anger. I was immediately angry myself â the redheadâs proverbially short fuse.
âI donât know what youâre talking about. Weâve been hired to investigate Bethâs disappearance. Your client is an obvious place to start.â
He gave a short laugh. âHired? Who by?â
âRex Channing.â It came out before I had time to think.
âShit.â There was a brief silence. âYou must be joking.â
âNo.â I was on the defensive. âHeâs got a perfect right to know whatâs happened to his daughterâ¦â
âHe sure has. If he doesnât already. But why would he hire you?â His tone was thoughtful rather than insulting. He went on: âHeâs playing you for a patsy, Anna. Heâs got half the bent cops in New South Wales in his pocket, why would he need your services? Ask yourself that.â
âWell, then, why? You tell me.â
âPerhaps he just wants to make it look as if heâs anxious about Beth. He could be hoping youâll fuck up, muddy the tracks a bit.â
âThanks a lot. Maybe he genuinely wants someone whoâs⦠disinterested.â
âCould be.â He was clearly unconvinced. âAnyway I certainly canât talk to you about it now. Weâre on different sides. Just keep away from my client, thatâs all.â
I was stung. âWell, she seems to have told Graham a lot more than youâve got out of her. We might even be able to help youâ¦â
âNot if youâre working for Rex. My advice is to drop it, Anna. This isnât a novel â these are real people with real lives getting messed up. You could be one of them, playing games with arseholes like Rex Channing.â He rang off.
I stared at the phone and then at Grahamâs concerned look. âPaul Whitehouse,â I said. âHe hung up on me. The arrogant shit.â
I made coffee and took it out with me into the garden where I sat and stared bleakly over the choppy bay. I wondered if Paul was right â Iâd certainly been out of my depth the last few days. I examined my conscience, as the nuns had often told us to do. No, I was serious. I did want to find out what had happened to Beth Channing and I was prepared for wherever that might lead, I thought. I lit a cigarette and tried to bring my mind back to the details of the Channing case. I was just about to go in to talk to Graham when Lorna came bursting through the back door.
âAnna! Youâre safe!â I stood up and we gave each other a big hug.
âShit Lorna, Iâm sorry,â I said. âThey made you drop the storyâ¦â
âOh, thatâs okay,â she said cheerfully.
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