Silvermoon Retirement Village Cozy Mysteries 1-3 by Rodney Strong

Author:Rodney Strong [Strong, Rodney]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: LoreQuinn Publishing
Published: 2021-06-29T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 58

TWENTY-NINE

Oxfordshire, June 1969

‘I’ll tell you what’s going to happen. You’re going to put down that gun and return my money to me, and then perhaps I’ll let you walk out of here in one piece, Mrs Stratler.’ He said it in such a commanding tone that for the briefest of moments she actually considered it. Then common sense kicked in.

She would never let a man tell her what to do (except during the war, and at least she’d been paid for that). She certainly wasn’t going to start with Richard Dankworth.

Alice shook her head. ‘None of those things are going to happen. If I put the gun down, you’ll pick it up and shoot me.’

‘I give you my word,’ Richard said.

She laughed. ‘Which means nothing.’

There was a knock at the door and someone called his name.

‘In here,’ Richard yelled.

The door handle rattled.

‘Break it down!’ Richard bellowed.

Alice used this distraction to take several quick paces to the left.

When he turned back, his face registered surprise and he rotated to face her head on again. ‘What’s going on?’

She reached behind her and felt the bump of book spines on the shelf.

The banging on the door got louder, then paused, then a louder thump, maybe from a shoulder. The door rattled but held.

‘On the table in front of you is a piece of paper and a pen. You’re going to write down your confession, everything you just said…’

Richard laughed. ‘Don’t be ridiculous, you stupid bitch, I’ll—’

She pulled the trigger. There was a loud bang and the gun pulled upwards. The light fixture over his head shattered, raining glass onto him.

‘Don’t call me stupid,’ she hissed, her heart thumping.

This time the gunshot was much louder inside than when she’d practiced in the field. Her ears rang a little and her hands were shaking. It took all her concentration to keep focussed on the man in front of her. She was vaguely aware that the thumping outside the door had stopped.

Richard looked astonished as he plucked a piece of glass out of his hair and looked at it like it was from another planet. ‘You… you… shot me.’

‘I shot over you,’ Alice said, ‘because you wouldn’t shut up. Tell them you’re alright.’

He looked at her blankly and she gestured towards the door with the gun. ‘Stay where you are. I’m fine,’ he yelled.

Alice nodded. ‘Good. Now here.’ She pulled the key out of her pocket and threw it to him.

Still unnerved by the gunshot, he fumbled before gripping it tightly in his hand. He frowned at it like he’d never seen a key before in is life.

‘You’re letting me go?’

‘Well I’m not going to kill you… unless you make me. And part of me hopes you do make me, because I cared for William and you killed him.’ She pointed the gun at his face, then trailed it down his body to between his legs, before lifting it up to his chest.

‘Then what was the point of all this?’

‘To get your confession.’

Richard opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again.

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