Bones Under The Beach Hut Read Online Free PDF

almost brusque, as if she was embarrassed by having shown
how much she was hurting. 'Well, I can't thank you enough, Jude. And lovely to
meet you, Carole. I must be off.'
        'Oh,
one thing,' Carole interposed. About the fire at Quiet Harbour - will
you report that?'
        'Report
it?'
        'To
whoever it should be reported to. Someone at the Fether District Council,
presumably.'
        'Oh.'
Philly seemed nonplussed. Clearly the idea didn't appeal to her. 'Would you
mind doing that, Carole? I mean, you're the one who's renting the beach hut
now.'
        'Yes,
but am I renting it officially? I mean, as far as the Fether District Council
is concerned?'
        'They
are aware that I've made an agreement with you.'
        Are
they? thought Carole. I wish I'd known that earlier. It would have saved me a
good deal of anxiety. 'So it's all official, is it?'
        'Well
. . . sort of.'
        'What
does that mean?'
        'The
guy who looks after the beach huts for the Council - his name's Kelvin
Southwest - said he shouldn't really allow it, but he'd stretch a point.'
        'Why?'
        Philly
Rose blushed. 'Well, I'm almost embarrassed to say this, but I think it was
because he took a shine to me.'
        'Oh?'
        'Yes,
I'm rather afraid our Kelvin sees himself as something of a "ladies'
man".'
        'Oh?'
        'Anyway,
Carole, would you mind contacting him about the fire? His number's on the
Fether District Council website. Go into "Leisure" and he's under
"Outdoor Recreation Office".'
        After
Philly had left the Crown and Anchor, Carole looked beadily at Jude. 'She's
hiding something.'
        'What
do you mean?'
        'That
business about the carpet in Quiet Harbour.. . She had no idea that it
was there.'
        'So?'
        'Well,
that means, as I say, that she's hiding something.'
        'Look,
Carole, the poor thing's in a bad state. She's been recently dumped by the man
she thought she was going to spend the rest of her life with. The last thing
she needs at the moment is you badgering her.'
        'I
didn't badger her.'
        'I
don't know what else you'd call it - asking her how many keys there were to the
beach hut. It was like an interrogation.'
        'Hm,'
said Carole rather grumpily. 'Usually you're supportive when we're involved in
one of our investigations.'
        'Yes,
I usually am. And I would be in this case too but for the fact that at the
moment we don't have an investigation.'
        'I
wouldn't be so sure about that,' said Carole darkly.
    ----
        

Chapter Six
        
        Carole
could see what Philly Rose had meant when she described Kelvin Southwest as
'something of a ladies' man'. It was definitely how he appeared to view
himself, though the jury was out on how most other people might see him.
        He
was tubby, probably early fifties, and had taken the ill-advised course adopted
by so many men going thin on top. He had grown a goatee. His remaining hair was
fair and fluffy and so was the beard. It weakened rather than strengthened the
line of his jaw.
        He
wore a light blue polo shirt with the Fether District Council logo embroidered
on to it, and tightly cut navy shorts, which somehow seemed wrong to Carole.
All right, he was part of the Council's Leisure Department, but she still had
difficulty in taking seriously an official in shorts. Kelvin Southwest's chubby
legs were hairless and pale and ended in leather sandals worn over short white
socks. The combination made it even more difficult to take him seriously.
        On
the phone they'd arranged to meet at Quiet Harbour at eleven o'clock on
the following day, the Wednesday. The idea of Jude joining Carole had not even
been mooted. For one thing, she had a client booked in that morning for
treatment to painful knee joints. And for another, Jude didn't share her
neighbour's conviction that they were at the commencement of