Murder Post-Dated by Anne Morice

Author:Anne Morice
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dean Street Press
Published: 2021-05-09T16:00:00+00:00

“Did that do the trick?” Toby asked.

“Oh, she blustered on for a bit, but the fight had gone out of her. I felt a bit mean, to tell you the truth.”

“Better coming from you, I’d have thought, than having it flung at her in court.”

“All the same, there was a trick in it and, if she hadn’t been so shattered, she’d have noticed it.”

“Well, I’m not shattered and I haven’t noticed it either.”

“She should have pointed out there was a fourth person who could have read the original letter, probably did. He is the one for whose sake it was written and who James believes to be the murderer.”

“My dear Tessa, you’re not telling me you believe in this mythical lover figure?”

“Don’t you?”

“Not for one minute.”

“Then how do you explain why she was continually darting off on her own for days at a time and claiming to be with her cousin in London?”

“I explain it by pointing out that your informant was James.”

“Why would he have made it up?”

“For the simple purpose of establishing that his wife had a lover. I daresay these trips of hers weren’t half so frequent as he now makes out and when they did occur she had simply gone to stay with friends in Sussex.”

“Well, I admit that Alan did say she’d kept up with some of them, but can you explain why James found it necessary to invent such a tale?”

“Like all gardeners, his work was mapped out months in advance. When the season came for Rosamund to disappear, it would be revealed to a shocked community that she has made up this story about being so devoted to her cousin, in order to account for her regular absences from home. What other reason for such deceit than a love affair? With any luck, you will swallow it whole and accept that she has run away with the other man. Failing that, he still has story number two up his sleeve. That was the one he told you and you were willing to believe it, which must have been encouraging for him.”

“In that case, why didn’t he stay and brazen it out? Why has he now bolted?”

“Lost his nerve, I daresay, and fell back on plan three, only to be used in the direst emergency.”

“So, in effect, you are saying that he not only murdered her, but that it had been planned down to the last detail months or years in advance?”

“Yes, and that’s why I considered you were unwise to spend so much time with him.”

“Well, it’s not Robin’s view and you see what that means, don’t you? My two mentors have now taken up their positions at opposite poles. It will not be easy to steer a straight course between them. Why do you keep gazing out of the window while I am talking to you?”

“Because the Carrington girl has been sitting in her car for the past five minutes and it is beginning to worry me. Do you suppose she can

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