Spite Your Face by Emmy Ellis

Author:Emmy Ellis [ELLIS, EMMY]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-05-20T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

62 French Avenue

Carol and Dave had taken a little breather for half an hour after they’d left Liz. Carol had been intent on moving on to Tanya Bedford straightaway, but lethargy had overtaken her in a sudden rush, and she’d grabbed a couple of to-go coffees from The Lord. They’d sat in the car outside, sipping, thinking, sipping again.

Now, they were back at work, Carol’s head in the game.

Tanya’s house, a pretty, ivy-covered stone building on the outside, an immaculate palace inside, triggered Carol’s envy gene. She’d love to live in a chocolate-box place like this instead of her poky, somewhat dingy flat, which had about all the life and soul of a party for one. Maybe she could look into it, moving, finding somewhere that didn’t cost an arm and a leg. One day.

Scrap that. With Dave living in her block, she kind of liked the fact he was close by. For security. The knowledge that if someone tried to break in, he’d be there in a flash.

This living room, done out with a beige theme much like Charlotte Majors’, spoke of someone who liked order and cleaned a lot — the scent of disinfectant was overpowering to the point Carol’s nose itched inside, a sneeze threatening. She swore grey was the “in” colour these days, on the walls at least, and fluffy silver rugs on near-black laminate, but the beige was nice. Calming.

Sunlight speared in through French doors at the bottom, casting multiple squares of illumination on the walls, resembling cream picture frames with no images inside. The doors opened out onto a decent-sized garden, paved, plants spilling over the edges of terracotta pots, flowers static, no breeze helping to bob their heads.

I wonder if anyone will bother to water Sue’s garden now.

Flora might do it.

Dave walked over to the double doors and stood by the threshold, hands on hips. “Lovely view. You can see the moors from here. Ever spotted anyone out there, dancing?”

Tanya, early thirties, blonde hair in a high bun and as skinny as a rake in her Lycra outfit, the top with a polo neck, glanced at Carol, who stood by the sofa. “Um, should I have?”

Carol smiled. “Let me explain. We’re here because of a case we’re working on. An elderly lady, who liked dancing naked, has been found dead.”

“Not Betty Tavers?” Tanya raised a hand to her chest and sat with an abrupt thump on an armchair, the seat cushion sighing at her weight, which wasn’t much — she must only be about nine stone. Her elbow nudged a bottle of nail varnish off the table beside it. Red. That quick-dry gel stuff.

“Yes. I suspect you know her from the vet’s.” Carol, holding the can of Coke Tanya had offered them upon their arrival, popped the tab and sipped. Wished she’d taken the diet version as the syrup in this one was a tad too much. The bubbles popping on her throat were nice, though. Nothing better on a hot day. “I’ll start from the beginning then ask you some questions.

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.