Deadly Beloved Read Online Free PDF Page B

love and marry. It was not for him.
    On the day he expected Vince's return from Vienna, Faro arrived at the Central Office as usual, to learn that his presence was being eagerly sought by Superintendent McIntosh.
    "Close the door and sit down, Faro. I have a rather delicate task for you, one which must be handled with the utmost confidence and care." He shook his head sternly. "Should information leak out of this office and the general public hear about it ... "
    "What is this task, sir?" asked Faro somewhat impatiently. McIntosh's normal instructions regarding his senior detective inspector's apprehension of criminals came down rather heavily on the side of brutal methods. Gentle persuasion was an art unknown to the tough Superintendent.
    "Something very serious has happened. Something which, I need not tell you, might have the most serious repercussions on the reputation of our police establishment. It concerns Dr Kellar's wife." McIntosh paused dramatically. "She has disappeared."
    "Disappeared, sir? When did this happen?"
    "About two weeks ago. They had a dinner party for a few friends."
    "Yes, Superintendent. I know. I was there."
    McIntosh's head shot up and he regarded Faro with some astonishment. "Why, of course you were, of course. Well, well, that does help."
    "Help? In what way?"
    "The very next morning it appears that Mrs Kellar left to go on a visit to her sister at North Berwick. Dr Kellar dropped her at Waverley railway station. She had sent a wire to her sister to expect her off the 12.45 train. When she didn't arrive, Mrs Findlay-Cupar wasn't unduly alarmed at first. She expected her the next day., but after two more days when Mrs Kellar still hadn't put in an appearance nor sent any explanation, her sister despatched a letter asking what had happened.
    "As this was addressed to Mrs Kellar personally, the housekeeper, who is new, didn't regard it as urgent. Dr Kellar had told her the mistress was only away for a day or two, so she put it with other letters for Mrs Kellar on her writing desk, where it lay unread. An unfortunate set of circumstances, you'll agree. It was not until another week had passed without any word from Mrs Kellar indicating when she was returning home that Dr Kellar, glancing through her letters, opened the one from his sister-in-law. He immediately set out for North Berwick."
    Leaning back in his chair, McIntosh studied Faro's expression. "Well, have you any explanation?"
    Faro shrugged. Had he not been witness to the events at the Kellars' dinner party, his sense of danger would have been alerted and he would have viewed this disappearance with more alarm. He said as much to the Superintendent.
    "You were present, sir." Guessing at the unevenness of McIntosh's domestic bliss and harmony with The Tartar, he found it irresistible not to add, "Surely the answer is obvious to a married man, sir?"
    "Not to me, it isn't," said McIntosh, eyeing him sternly.
    "I would imagine that Mrs Kellar is teaching her husband a lesson."
    "A lesson, Inspector? What kind of lesson?"
    "I think we'll discover that Mrs Kellar has left home and taken refuge with an understanding friend or relative, giving Dr Kellar time to regret his disagreeable conduct in front of their guests."
    "Yes, yes. Inspector. Maybe so. But where the devil is she?"
    "She doubtless intends that to be kept secret meantime. Especially from her husband."
    "So that's what you believe?" Stroking his beard thoughtfully, McIntosh stared at Faro. "All part of making Dr Kellar suffer, eh. I'm not saying I disagree with you entirely, but the doctor is a very worried man and expects us to do something about finding his missing wife. What you are suggesting has obviously never occurred to him."
    McIntosh added a sudden bark of laughter, as if the idea pleased him. "Scandal, that's at the back of it. A breath of scandal would ruin his chance of the knighthood. He insists that discreet enquiries begin immediately. I'm afraid that whatever the