7 A Tasteful Crime Read Online Free PDF Page B

regulations, and Zak and Ken were wheeling the library trolley, laden with books, down the corridor away from the library.
    Zak stopped in his tracks when he saw Christopher.
    ‘Mr Wilson! It’s all right, we’re just...’
    ‘I see,’ said Christopher. ‘Whatever you’re doing to the library – I’m not sure I want to know what it is – just make sure you can put it back before the librarians come in on Monday. Even if you have to stay up all night to do it.’
    ‘Yes. Fine,’ said Zak.
    ‘I’ll give you a hand,’ Amaryllis offered. Zak and Ken both began to look apprehensive. Christopher smiled to himself. Either Amaryllis’s fame as a destroyer had spread further afield than anybody had imagined, or Ken had taken one look at her and summed her up in an instant. Of all his friends and acquaintances, only Dave had a greater propensity for getting into trouble. And he usually got away with it because the police didn’t want the bad publicity that would come from arresting a senior citizen.
    Zak and Ken wheeled the trolley in the direction of the folk museum. Oh well, at least Zak knew enough to be careful of Maisie Sue’s quilt display.
    Oscar’s raised voice came from the office. ‘No, no, no. That won’t do. You’ve got to be in character as Buttons, otherwise nobody will have a clue who you are.’
    ‘They won’t anyway,’ said Eric in a smaller, more defeated voice.
    ‘Excuse me,’ said Amaryllis. ‘I think my confidence-boosting powers are needed in there.’
    ‘Don’t...’ Christopher realised just in time how futile it was to tell her not to interfere. Interfering was her life’s blood. She probably wouldn’t have become a spy in the first place if she hadn’t had the colossal ego that told her she could sort out all the world’s problems.
    Maria came out of the office as Amaryllis went in.
    ‘What’s going on in there?’ said Christopher, not really expecting an answer. He didn’t get one. Maria shrugged.
    ‘The usual kind of thing,’ she said. ‘Don’t you have wi-fi?’
    She peered around as if she could detect a wireless signal just by looking for it.
    ‘It isn’t as strong down at this end of the building,’ said Christopher, forcing himself not to sound apologetic.
    She sighed in a long-suffering manner and turned to walk back into the office, hesitating only slightly as Oscar’s voice rose again in a new complaint. ‘Who the hell are you? And what – ow! Watch what you’re doing!’
    Christopher decided to risk a visit to the library to inspect the havoc.
    It wasn’t quite as bad as he had expected. One set of shelves had been completely denuded of books, and turned round at right angles to its neighbour to form a little room within the larger space. As he stood there, he heard the creak of the trolley returning.
    ‘What’s going to happen in here?’ he asked Ken.
    ‘Dressing-room,’ said Ken. He and Zak began to load up the trolley again.
    ‘Dressing-room? What for?’
    ‘Parade of the fruit and vegetables,’ said Ken. He paused in his task and took a piece of paper out of his shirt pocket. ‘We’ve got a letter from somebody at the Council – a Mr Hargreaves? – giving us permission to use this place as we see fit. Don’t worry, mate. It’s all cool.’
    ‘Cool,’ repeated Christopher. Keep your cool. Parade of the fruit and vegetables – that’s all cool too. He was no longer surprised Mr Hargreaves had wriggled out of being here to welcome this lot. He wouldn’t show his face in Pitkirtly at all in future if he knew what was good for him.
    ‘Where are the costumes? Do people make their own?’
    He didn’t really want to know. In fact he strongly suspected that the less he knew about it, the happier he would be. But something made him ask the question anyway.
    ‘On their way,’ said Ken. He glanced at his watch. ‘Should be here any minute. Don’t stress, Mr Wilson. Charlotte’s out at the front. She’ll get the vans parked all