Murder on the Dance Floor: Patricia Fisher Mysteries (Cruise Ship Cozy Mystery Book 6) by Steve Higgs

Author:Steve Higgs [higgs, steve]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-11-07T16:00:00+00:00

Mrs Patel

As it turned out, Irani Patel wasn’t there, but his wife answered the door, the small mousy woman still staring at the deck as she spoke to us. ‘I’m afraid my husband is not here. You’ll have to come back later,’ she murmured, her voice barely audible.

‘No, it’s you I want to see, Mrs Patel,’ I replied, my tone breezy and light as if I was really pleased to see her. Her head snapped up and I thought perhaps it was the first time I had actually seen her face.

Surprised that it was her I wanted to see, Mrs Patel took a step back from the doorway she had been blocking and, seeing my chance, I went inside without her inviting me to do so. ‘Thank you so much for giving me a little of your time. We won’t keep you long I promise.’

She closed the door behind Baker as he too came in to stand next to me, but she wasn’t happy about it. ‘Oh. Oh, I don’t know. I don’t like to talk to people without Irani present.’

‘Oh, come now,’ I encouraged her. ‘There’s nothing to be afraid of. You and I are just two mature women having a chat.’

‘What is it you want to chat about?’ she asked. Her head and eyes were cast back down at the carpet again and she hadn’t moved away from the door as if staying close to the edge of the cabin afforded her some safety.

She had invited me to pose a question though, so I did. ‘I was curious about why you provided a false alibi for Irani earlier?’

Her head snapped up again, her mouth open and her cheeks glowing at my accusation. ‘I did no such thing. I told the truth.’

‘That right before the show, you were overcome by passion for your husband and the two of you were having sex?’

‘Yes, that’s right.’

‘No, it isn’t,’ I insisted. I felt bad that I was calling her a liar, but she was lying, and I wanted to know why. ‘Did Irani kill Dayita? Are you covering for him?’

‘No!’ she shouted her answer. ‘I want you to leave now.’ Her demand was a reasonable one and I didn’t know where we stood legally speaking. I had Lieutenant Baker with me and on the ocean the laws about what you can and cannot do in the pursuit of justice are very different to those on land, I wasn’t sure we could impose ourselves on her like this though when we had very little justifiable cause.

She pointed to the door, her eyes up and blazing hatred at me as I failed to move. So I did move. I just didn’t go the way she was pointing. I caught Baker by surprise as well when I set off toward the centre of the living area and the oil painting that covered the safe. Her suite was arranged much the same as mine, so it was easy to navigate.

She cried out, ‘Hey,’ as I defied her and raced after me.

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