The Body Under the Sands by James Andrew

Author:James Andrew [Andrew, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Book Folks bestselling crime mystery, thriller and suspense publisher
Published: 2018-11-13T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

When the next clue turned up, it had nothing to do with soldiers. Midway through the morning, when Blades was working in the office, writing up a report, Muriel Robinson strode in, her majestic manner marred by a slight shake to her hand when she laid the object it held on Blades’ desk. This was a red, leatherette-bound diary secured by a small brass padlock.

‘I was sure you would already have this,’ she said. ‘I thought it would be with the things Anne carried about with her because she was so secretive about it. I only saw it once, when I had to go into her room, and she was writing in it then, and closed it when she saw me, so, knowing girls, I assumed it was about her love life and didn’t ask her about it. But it has turned up.’ Her look was triumphant, and there was a generosity in her face as if she had brought a priceless object. ‘I feel so bad,’ she went on, ‘about not bringing it more quickly but I didn’t know where she kept it.’ And the lines round her mouth turned into a simper which was at odds with what Blades took to be her usual manner.

‘Where was it?’ Blades asked, thinking back to Anne’s room, which he had searched.

‘Would you believe it?’ Muriel said. ‘She kept it in the middle of the spare blankets and I don’t mean under the one on the top, I mean right in the centre of the blanket in the middle. They’re kept in the cupboard at the back with the other spare linen and pillows.’

Blades remembered looking through that cupboard; he had lifted everything up and looked underneath the pile of bedclothes. He muttered to himself. He had made a mistake.

As the door to his office was open, Walker had been able to hear this exchange. He walked in and picked up the book. ‘Anne’s diary?’

‘Yes,’ Muriel said, turning to him. ‘But I don’t know what’s in it. It’s locked.’

‘And there’s no sign of a key?’ Walker said.

‘No’

‘Wonder what happened to that. Still, it’s a cheap lock. It won’t be difficult to open.’

He beamed at Muriel. ‘We could hope this tells us the name of her killer, though it’s not usually so easy.’

Muriel smiled back. ‘Well, I’ll leave it,’ she said. ‘I have things to do. We’re busy.’

‘People wanting to see where Anne stayed, I suppose?’ Blades asked.

‘Some of them, not that anyone will want to stay in Anne’s room when it becomes free.’

‘As we’ve said, it’s technically still a crime scene, even if the murder didn’t take place there. We’ll tell you when you can let it again.’

‘And I won’t be able to.’

‘You might be able to charge more for staying in it,’ Blades said.

‘D’you think so?’ Muriel said, and turned her face towards him with a flash of eagerness that quickly disappeared. ‘I’m inclined to think the opposite. But we’ve run out of eggs and I need to pick up milk, so I’d better be off.

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