The Cat Who Solved Three Murders by L T Shearer

Author:L T Shearer [Shearer, L T]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Published: 2023-09-12T17:00:00+00:00

20

Tracey apologized for not having the time to run Lulu and Conrad back to The Lark, she simply had too much work to do. She showed them out of the building and waited for their Uber to arrive, before heading back inside.

The Uber dropped them a short walk from where The Lark was moored. Lulu unlocked the doors, then started the engine to charge up the batteries while she made herself a cup of tea.

She was taking her first sip when she heard a woman calling from the rear deck. ‘Hello? Hello there?’

Lulu went up the steps and out onto the deck, still holding her mug. Conrad followed. A grey-haired woman in a baggy Shetland pullover with a floppy camouflage-pattern hat was standing on the towpath. ‘I’m sorry to bother you, but are you leaving?’ she said. She had a West Country accent, Lulu realized, Bristol maybe.

‘I’m about to, yes.’

‘Could you do me a huge favour and let us have your spot? My husband is with our boat about fifteen minutes away. He sent me ahead to find a mooring and you can see it’s chock-a-block at the moment.’

Lulu looked around. There were no free moorings and several boats were moving slowly, clearly looking for somewhere to tie up. ‘I don’t see why not,’ she said. She looked at her watch. ‘Fifteen minutes, you say?’

‘At the most. So it’s okay?’

‘Yes, go ahead. I’ll finish my tea – just give me a shout when he’s here.’

‘Thank you so much,’ said the woman, taking her mobile phone from her pocket. ‘You’re an angel.’

Lulu went back into the boat and Conrad followed. ‘Would you like some water?’ Lulu asked Conrad.

‘I’m okay,’ said Conrad. He jumped onto the sofa and looked at her, his head tilted to the side. ‘This is all very strange, isn’t it?’

‘The robbery and the murder? Very strange.’

‘They have to be connected, don’t they?’

Lulu sat down next to him. ‘I think they have to be. I know coincidences happen, but for Bernard to be attacked twice . . .’ She shook her head. ‘And what a horrible way to die.’

‘Billy Russell, too. Beaten to death with a poker. That has to be personal, right? It takes a lot of anger to smash in someone’s skull.’

Lulu nodded. ‘Anger or hatred, yes. It takes a lot to stab someone four times or to keep hitting them with a poker.’

‘But it can’t be the same person, can it?’

Lulu frowned. ‘Why do you say that?’

‘Because the attacks are so different. When Billy Russell was killed, whoever did it grabbed a poker and hit him with it, then they dropped it, grabbed the paintings, and ran.’

‘After hitting Bernard, too.’

‘Yes. Exactly. With the same poker. It’s like Alistair said, it was opportunistic. But whoever killed Bernard, had to have planned it because they brought the knife with them. That’s a big difference.’

‘It is, isn’t it? But that doesn’t mean that it’s a different killer. It could be the same person but under different circumstances. They committed both murders but the first time it was opportunistic and then they went back with a plan.

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