The Matchmaker's Lonely Heart by Nancy Campbell Allen

Author:Nancy Campbell Allen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Published: 2021-08-24T23:34:39+00:00

Witnesses in an investigation should be questioned objectively, and the officer conducting such is advised to maintain a professional distance to avoid becoming unduly sympathetic to said witness.

—Detective Handbook for Investigative Procedure

Michael stood as the elder Miss Hampton entered, struck at the similarity between herself and her niece. He imagined he was seeing Miss Amelie a handful of years into the future. He offered his hand to Miss Sally, who took it in a surprisingly strong grip. She looked from her niece to him and breathed deliberately out of her nose.

“Amelie, why is the nurse telling me you are in the company of a detective?” She looked at Michael as she asked the question.

He glanced at Amelie, who opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

“If I may, Miss Hampton?” He indicated the chair he’d vacated, and as she sat, he retrieved the spare one from the corner. “I am Detective Baker,” he said, opening his jacket to show the badge pinned to his waistcoat. “Your niece has been assisting me in an investigation and, I fear, met with an accident this morning.”

The woman’s hazel eyes studied him unflinchingly from beneath dark hair that had been cut and styled most fashionably. “Fringe,” his sister called it, and only the boldest of women were brave enough to sport the look. The rest of her hair was styled in a sleek twist that Winston, with his artistic eye, would say showcased her lean cheekbones. That Michael even knew such phrases these days was a testament to life’s strange twists and turns.

“Detective Baker, I am confused as to the Yard’s sudden need to employ young women to assist with investigations.”

My, but the woman was direct. He opened his mouth to respond, but Amelie held up her hand.

“Detective, many thanks to you for attempting to shield me from the consequences of my own folly. Sally, this is a tale with a wide variety of details, many of which I am certain would bore you to tears. Suffice it to say, I embarked on my own this morning in an attempt to gain information about a murder last evening that Eva, Charlotte, and I were witness to.”

Miss Hampton’s eyes narrowed. “I can guarantee you, dearest, that I am highly unlikely to be bored by any details you clearly wish to avoid. And how is it that you and your cousins were witness to a murder and I am only now hearing of it?”

Amelie lifted her chin, a gesture Michael was coming to recognize as an infusion of steel. “You are an extraordinarily busy woman, Sally, and we hardly thought it necessary to burden you with trifles.”

Miss Hampton looked at Michael, her expression flat. “At what point is murder a trifle?” She shook her head. “Never mind. Explain, if you please. Immediately.” As brusque as Miss Hampton’s tone was, it covered a softening in her expression. She placed her hand over Amelie’s restless fingers that were toying with a stray loose thread in the blanket.

“I am not angry, dearest.

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