Murder of the Bride by C. S. Challinor

Author:C. S. Challinor [Challinor, C. S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: mystery, fiction, murder, cozy, regional fiction, regional mystery, soft-boiled, amateur sleuth, amateur sleuth novel, mystery novels, murder mystery
Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide, LTD.
Published: 2012-01-16T08:00:00+00:00

Boxed in

Rex found Helen standing among the cluster of teachers from her school and told her to keep her fingers crossed that his hunch, which he was about to act upon, did not blow up in his face.

“What hunch?” she asked.

“It has to do with those two love birds, Clive and Jasmina.”

In point of fact, the pair seemed far less lovey-dovey now, but then everyone appeared more jaded. He drew the svelte beauty aside, while Helen looked on in curiosity.

“I wonder if you would permit me to look inside your gift box.”

Jasmina’s eyes widened. “Excuse me?”

“Your wedding gift.”

Asking Helen and Clive to accompany them, he led the three guests into the reception room, where he bade them stand inside the door, out of the way of the forensics team who were packing up their equipment, while he made for the table of unopened wedding presents.

“Whatever it is you’re up to, you’d better be right,” Helen warned after him in a low voice. “I have to work with Clive, remember.”

“This is yours, is it not?” Rex asked Jasmina, returning from the table and handing her a large box.

Hesitantly she untied the ribbon and lifted the lid. Rex looked inside. The box was empty, save for a few remnants of scrunched tissue paper.

“What was in here?”

“A fruit bowl.”

“Where is it now?”

“I have no idea.”

“I have an idea.” Rex took the trio into the caterers’ temporary kitchen and picked up off the pine table a bowl decorated with a row of pears and cherries. “This looks the right size for the box. Is this the fruit bowl you brought to the wedding?”

“Why—yes,” Jasmina replied. “What is it doing here?”

“You tell me.” He handed her the bowl. “We got Polly and Timmy a fruit bowl too. Luckily, not the same one.”

Jasmina giggled. Rex began to wonder if the high-pitched laughter might be a nervous tic. Even Clive looked disconcerted.

“Why did you need Clive and me there?” Helen asked as they exited the manor wing.

“As witnesses. I suppose I should have cleared it with Inspector Lucas first. The police, sensitive to the occasion, must have been leaving the wedding gifts until last, hoping to find the missing antique collection elsewhere.”

“But Jasmina’s box was empty. The poor girl is terribly embarrassed. Why pick on her box?”

“It was a long shot, but I saw her stealing down the stairs with it and she was reluctant to accept my offer of assistance.”

“I wonder where the snuff boxes are now. And what was Jasmina’s bowl doing on the kitchen table?”

“Sometimes it’s hard to see the wood for the trees.”

“What do you mean?”

Smiling at Helen’s confusion, Rex went to find PC Perrin. “Any luck with the snuff boxes?”

“They seem to have walked.”

“Nonsense. Snuff boxes don’t walk.”

“That’s not what I meant, sir.”

“Where haven’t you looked?”

“We’ve searched everywhere. The cellar, the attic, every knook and cranny.”

“Use your brain, lad,” Rex said in paternal fashion. “If this was an outside job, the hiding place has to be somewhere familiar. Our criminal wouldn’t have had time to go rummaging around looking for a good hiding place.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.