An Invisible Murder Read Online Free PDF

heard her lifting the lid and clattering about. As she watched the tired-looking maid at work, she realized that Elsie was deceptively deft. Her movements were slow but graceful. Now wonder she moved and worked so silently.
    Jenny would have to remember that.
    Once again, the table was silent as everybody tucked in, according to his or her manner. The staff were now beginning to solidify into distinct personalities: Elsie, with her habit of losing knick-knacks and complaining; Janice, with her healthy appetite and content, slightly smug, beauty; Ava, a lady born and bred, and perhaps a little resentful that she had to earn her living; Malcolm, the fastidious, slightly spiteful art tutor; and Meecham, a kind-hearted man, who seemed to fit in at Avonsleigh like a key fitting into a lock. Only Gayle seemed to remain a mystery. Protective of Elsie, yes; kind-hearted, like her father no doubt. But Jenny, as yet,knew next to nothing about her. What went on behind that aloof exterior? And was it her imagination, or was Gayle upset about something?
    Meecham returned, gave the cook another smiling nod, and had just sat down when the door burst open and a young man athletically leapt down the steps, landing nearly in the middle of the kitchen. He was dressed in a heavy leather jacket and carried a crash helmet in his hand.
See me, I have a motor bike. Aren’t I wild
? His hair was windblown, jet black and flopped about on his forehead, forcing him to keep brushing it back. The newcomer’s jaw was busy chewing gum. ‘Hello, Jan. Troops.’ He nodded to the rest of the table, his glance stopping at Ava Simmons. ‘Ava, you’re looking ravishing tonight,’ he said, his blue eyes twinkling down at her.
    ‘Daniel,’ Ava Simmons said, barely turning her head.
    ‘Danny, want some of my pudding?’ Janice put in quickly, and hitched up a spare chair beside her. Danny obliged, but turned the chair around, sitting on it so that the back of it rested against his chest. He looked too old to be playing those sort of games, Jenny thought with a hint of asperity, looking at him closely. He was no teenager. More in the mid- twenties, she would guess. He accepted Janice’s pudding, totally unaware of the sacrifice she was making, and spooned in a gigantic mouthful. It made even Jenny blink.
    Elsie was watching him closely too, Jenny noticed, and felt a slight shudder of shock. Surely Elsie, of all people, wasn’t attracted by this show of swaggering machismo? But no, she saw an instant later, Elsie wasn’t. She was watching him with a kind of superior smile that changed to the now familiar smirk, when the conceited Danny once more glanced Ava Simmons’ way.
    Janice, not liking the way his eyes tended to stray either,pulled on his arm. ‘I’m ready for the off, Danny. Where’s the bike?’
    ‘Near the gatehouse, of course, where else? I can’t drive it into the quad, can I?’ Janice flushed. ‘Hey, Ava, want to take a ride on my Harley? It’s got a really wide seat,’ he cajoled.
    Jenny heard a distinct giggle. Or titter. It could have come from almost anyone, for she was not alone in realizing what an incongruous picture Danny’s offer conjured up – the genteel and proper Miss Simmons on the back of a motorbike.
    Ava smiled, not too unkindly, Jenny thought, given the circumstances. ‘Thank you Daniel. But I don’t have a helmet.’
    Very tactful, Jenny thought idly.
    Danny seemed not to recognize the dismissal however, and shook off Janice’s hand, which had tightened annoyingly around his wrist. ‘I can get you one. I’ll bring one over next week.’
    ‘Danny,’ Janice said, drawing out his name into two very long, very annoyed syllables.
    ‘All right, all right, I’m coming. Just let me finish this pud. Good stuff, this,’ he added, finishing off the desert in three giant, jaw-breaking mouthfuls.
    They all watched the unlikely lovebirds depart, Meecham and his daughter with some amusement, Malcolm more with