The Missing Foote Mystery: Traditional Cosy by Nadine Doolittle

Author:Nadine Doolittle [Doolittle, Nadine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gatineau Hills Publishing
Published: 2023-10-09T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

TOPHER STAGGERED BACK. He looked green.

“No one. I have nothing to say to you. I want you to leave this place immediately.”

“That’s what you said to Keith Ferris,” Josie said. “You kicked him out of the Writers Festival because he saw that Constantine’s grave had been dug recently and then hastily covered up again.”

“He didn’t—he almost got himself killed and then tried to accuse me of a cover-up. I have nothing more to say. I asked you to leave. If you refuse, I’ll be forced to call the police.”

“Call them,” Helen said firmly. “Call them and we’ll tell them what we have to say.”

Hector continued in a calm, level tone. “If we go to them with what we’ve discovered here, they will analyze every inch of this place for Lannister Foote’s DNA. Are you fine with that?’

Topher dropped the shovel. His mouth worked, lips quivering and his eyes bulging.

“I didn’t kill him. I swear I didn’t kill him! He was dead when I found him. All I did was bury him here. That’s all, I swear.”

They exchanged glances.

“Slowly,” Dennis said. “Begin at the beginning. Make us understand. Where did you find him dead?”

Topher seemed to crumple to a headstone, where he perched and bent over at the waist.

“I came into the ice house one night at the beginning of August. Lannister was on the floor unconscious. I tried to resuscitate him, I swear, but he died in my arms. I didn’t know what had happened to him but I had a feeling it was not a natural death. I panicked.”

“Why did you think it wasn’t natural?”

“Lanny got mixed up with a girl who had a hothead for a boyfriend. It was just an instinct I had when I found him that he’d got himself killed. I’ve been suspicious of Storm Tamarack for months. He hated Lannister.”

“He wasn’t the only one. Storm told us that Foote was spying for the Green Guerrillas. He was feeding them intel about your intentions for the farm. Were you aware of that?”

“No.”

“Oh, come off it!” Josie exploded. “You knew Lannister was having an affair with Feather Wind—Storm’s girlfriend. You’re a paranoid suspicious man who refused to let a writer visit your home and ask questions. Do you expect us to believe you had no idea Lannister was telling this girl your plans? You knew as soon as he confided to you that he was in love with her! She was still with Storm. You found out Foote was betraying you and you killed him.”

“No! I did not kill him! I never got the chance!”

Hector, Dennis and Helen shot Josephine covert glances of admiration.

“How did you find out, Topher? Tell us what really happened.”

He rubbed his hands over his face and seemed to age ten years. “I overheard him talking to her. I heard every word he said—telling her line-by-line what I had planned for the sale of this farm and telling her to let the Green Guerrillas know so they could stop it. What did he think?” His tone turned vicious.

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