THE BEACH HUT MURDERS an absolutely gripping cozy mystery filled with twists and turns (The Charity Shop Detective Agency Mysteries Book 2) by PETER BOLAND

Author:PETER BOLAND [BOLAND, PETER]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Joffe Books cozy crime thriller, mystery and suspense
Published: 2023-08-02T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 40

Daisy placed a cup of tea in Sophie’s shaking hands. It was far too hot for tea, and she hadn’t asked for one, nor did she drink tea, but Daisy hoped having something warm to hold might offer a modicum of comfort.

The news of another fire had them all on their toes, twitching with alertness. Had the beach-hut killer struck again? It would seem so. Fiona was hungry for details, chomping at the bit to find out what had happened, but that would have to wait. Right now, Sophie needed their comfort and reassurance. Not easy to muster when the woman spent most of her time belittling and humiliating them. But Fiona would help anyone in distress, even if it was her nemesis from across the road. It wouldn’t be easy. Dread plunged in Fiona’s stomach as she feared the worst.

She caught sight of her two friends, clearly sharing the same thought, dark shadows passing over their faces. Had Bitsy become the next victim of the beach-hut murderer? It was unthinkable. Their outrageous, fun-loving new friend seemed unbreakable. She had rock-star indestructibility.

Partial Sue held Sophie’s hand, attempting to reassure her. “Oh, you know what Bitsy’s like. She’s probably sleeping off a hangover, or her phone’s switched off.”

“Or she’s lost it,” Daisy suggested.

Fiona tried ringing her, but it went straight to voicemail. Come to think of it, she didn’t remember seeing Bitsy on the spit when they were interviewing yesterday. “We went past her beach hut on Sunday. It was locked up tight.”

“It was?” Sophie dabbed her eyes with a tissue.

“Yes, that’s right. We didn’t see her all day, and we were there until about 6 p.m.”

Daisy hazarded a guess. “Maybe Bitsy got the urge to go somewhere, er, like Portsmouth.”

Sophie ceased sniffing and regarded Daisy curiously. “Why would she want to go to Portsmouth?”

Daisy’s eyes flitted left and right, scouring her mind for a valid reason while regretting her choice of off-the-cuff destination. Just why would an ex-It girl of the Eighties from Richmond spontaneously visit Portsmouth?

Partial Sue clicked her fingers and supplied a highly improbable answer. “The Royal Historic Dockyard. HMS Victory is quite a sight, and they have a museum full of ships’ figureheads.”

Daisy shuddered. “I’ve seen those, they’re really creepy. One of them looked like Michael Ball.”

Sophie didn’t look convinced, and Fiona couldn’t blame her. “Ships aren’t really her scene. Unless they’re owned by billionaires and have a celebrity chef on board. Why would she go to Portsmouth on the hottest day of the year? It doesn’t make sense. She would have told me. Would have asked me to come with her. Something’s wrong. Something’s very wrong.” Sophie handed Partial Sue her tea, got to her feet and grabbed Fiona’s arm. “What if she came home to her hut in the evening, went to bed and then someone burned it down, like that Nigel fellow?”

“Malcolm,” Fiona corrected. “And you don’t know that’s what happened. There are over two hundred huts on that spit.”

Sophie continued blubbing. “I can’t take this.

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