Trap Lane by Stella Cameron

Author:Stella Cameron [Stella Cameron]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Published: 2019-04-07T16:00:00+00:00

FIFTEEN

Alex didn’t look any more comfortable than Bill Lamb felt. She hovered in the doorway from a comfortable sitting room into a kitchen where he could see brass pots and pans hanging from a ceiling rack. He had not been in Tony Harrison’s house for a long time and then only briefly. It was the kind of warm, well-furnished home he’d like himself.

Lush gardens came up to the windows on the far side of the kitchen and while Bill looked, Tony Harrison, with Radhika in front of him, came from outside through a sliding glass door. They walked directly into the sitting room and whatever uncertain thing Bill had been feeling about seeing her in this setting ebbed at the sight of Radhika’s smile.

‘Hello, Bill,’ she said. ‘Tony and Alex have a beautiful garden.’

Automatically, he held an arm out to her and she walked into his hug. Over her head he couldn’t miss the smile that passed between Alex and Tony. The time for pretending he and Radhika weren’t seriously involved was completely over. He kissed her forehead.

‘The new house will need a lot of work in the gardens,’ she said. ‘But there will be plenty of time for that.’

‘Yes,’ was all he could think of to say. They had many decisions to make and gardening was way down the list of concerns, at least for him.

Radhika moved away from him and sat on a striped brocade couch. She grew quite still and looked at the floor.

‘Bill got here as quickly as he could,’ Alex said in a rush. ‘I think a lot is starting to break in his case, so he’s been very busy.’

Radhika nodded and gave him another smile. ‘He works so hard.’

‘It took a while for your message to catch up with me,’ he said. ‘The officer who took your call said you want to tell me something, but you wouldn’t say what it was about.’

‘It could be nothing,’ she said. He was struck afresh by what a fragile figure she made even though he knew she detested giving that impression.

‘We should leave you to it,’ Tony said.

‘No!’ Radhika’s sari scarf slipped from her head and her eyes became huge. She blinked rapidly. ‘I think we are all … I would feel better if we sat as friends. Of course, if I must go to the police station to tell it, I understand.’ She started to get up.

‘Sit down, please, Radhika,’ he told her, suppressing a grin. Always proper and willing to do what was right, she could still amuse him with her very serious demeanor. ‘Let’s do what you suggest. I’m beat anyway. It can’t be that serious.’

‘I’ll make tea,’ Alex said. She all but jogged into the kitchen.

Bill took off his jacket and settled into a chair with his feet outstretched. Tony joined Radhika on the couch.

‘I’m probably not supposed to ask,’ Tony said, ‘but there hasn’t been much reported on Percy Quillam. There must have been a post-mortem by now.’

‘Under the circumstances, yes. It doesn’t always happen so quickly unless there’s a question of foul play.

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