To Dwell in Darkness by Deborah Crombie

Author:Deborah Crombie
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780062271624
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2014-08-28T16:00:00+00:00

Light shone green-gold through the stained glass panels of Doug Cullen’s front door.

After having had her evening tests at UCL hospital, Melody hadn’t wanted to stay at Andy’s alone, and she hadn’t wanted to go home. Having assured Gemma that she’d be fine on her own, she’d dithered at Andy’s, feeding Bert the cat, tidying up Andy’s small kitchen. Then she’d put on Andy’s coat, grabbed her bag, and taken the tube to Notting Hill Gate. She’d walked down the hill to the mansion block that contained her flat and picked up her car without going inside. Then she drove to Putney.

By the time she crossed the Thames and turned into Doug’s street, she’d realized she was starving. She stopped at their favorite pub and picked up an assortment of sandwiches. It was only now, having parked and locked her car, that she wondered if coming here had been a good idea.

She should have rung first. What if Doug had company? She knew he’d been seeing Maura Bell, the detective from Southwark, occasionally, but she didn’t know how serious it was. She’d taken out her phone to ring him when Doug opened the door.

Not looking the least bit surprised, he said, “Whatever it is that you’re doing, you had better come inside. It’s bloody freezing out here.”

“How did you know I was here?” Melody asked as she walked up to the door.

“I recognized the sound of your car. Why were you standing gawping on the pavement?”

“I wasn’t gawping,” Melody said, incensed, as Doug opened the door. “It just occurred to me that I should have rung first—that I might be intruding.”

“Don’t be an arse.” Doug led her into the warmth of the hall and shut the door firmly. “Are you all right?” he asked, pushing his glasses up on his nose and frowning at her. He wore an old raveling woolly jumper and jeans, and his fair hair stuck up in unintentional spikes. “What about your tests?”

“Everything seems okay so far. Gemma went with me. I’ve just come from hospital.” She walked into the sitting room and gave a little gasp of pleasure. “Oh, thank goodness. You’ve got the fireplaces going.”

The sitting room and dining room in Doug’s little house had been opened up to form one big room, with a small kitchen area in the back. When he’d bought the house, the beautiful fireplaces in each room had been boarded over. Melody had insisted that he restore them, and had helped him find the gas fires and the antique mirrors over the mantels. Now the fires blazed merrily and she could feel the warmth.

Since she’d been here last, he had, she saw, finished painting the two rooms, a lovely green-gold color that she’d suggested would pick up the colors in the front door’s stained glass. The ceiling was finished as well. A fall while trying to paint the center rosette himself had been the cause of Doug’s broken ankle. “You didn’t—”

“No. I had someone in.” He gestured at the boot cast.

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