English Trifle Read Online Free PDF Page A

completely.
    In tandem their eyes traveled toward the back of the room, but the glass-fronted china cabinet that had hidden John Henry from them during their tea still obscured their view. Sadie reached for Breanna’s hand and carefully headed for the back of the room if for no other reason than to verify what they had seen. When the curtain finally came into view, they stopped in their tracks.
    “No shoes,” she muttered as Breanna sucked in a breath. Sadie dropped Breanna’s hand and, in eight quick steps, she reached the curtain that now hung in pleats against the wall like all the other curtain panels in the room. Sadie took a breath and pulled back the fabric—just as she had the first time—but this time all that greeted them was the textured wallpaper. No body, no blood.
    A missing chunk of plaster was the only indication that John Henry had been there at all.

Chapter 4
    ~ ~ ~
    Silence.
    Sadie couldn’t believe it and blinked several times to make sure the scene in front of her didn’t change. It was as shocking to not see the body this time as it had been to see the body the first time she’d pulled back the curtains.
    “Mom?” Breanna said with a question in her voice, reminding Sadie she wasn’t alone. She turned to look at her daughter, whose eyes were wide as she too stared at the hole in the plaster. “Where did he go?”
    A battle waged itself in Sadie’s mind as she looked from her daughter to the missing plaster. Her first thought had been to start searching for the body, Mrs. Land, Liam, and Grant, but seeing Breanna’s pale face made her next thoughts much more practical. There was little chance that John Henry had accidentally skewered himself with a fireplace poker behind a curtain panel in the sitting room or that he had simply walked away on his own. Therefore, Sadie could conclude that there had definitely been a murder, which meant there was definitely a murderer—and now a body snatcher as well.
    “Let’s go,” she said, taking Breanna’s hand and heading out of the sitting room, frantically trying to beat her curiosity into submission by flogging it with the reality of the situation and her abilities to accomplish anything by staying. This is dangerous—it’s not safe—I’m not a real detective—we’ll miss our flight—Breanna doesn’t need this—anyone willing to move a body is seriously disturbed and not someone with whom we should stay in the same house.
    “Go?” Breanna repeated from behind her as she took hurried steps.
    “Grant said the car was ready,” Sadie said. “They already packed our bags and we’ve got a flight to catch.” She was the mother here, the older and wiser individual, and she needed to make a sensible decision for the two of them.
    They were nearly to the front doors when Breanna stopped and pulled her hand from Sadie’s grip. “Mom,” she said, already shaking her head. “We can’t leave.”
    “But we certainly can’t stay,” Sadie said, turning to look at her. “It’s not safe.”
    “We can’t leave without Liam,” Breanna said.
    “Liam can catch another flight.”
    “Someone has to call the police.”
    “Couldn’t we just leave a note?” Sadie offered. “Or call the police on our way to London?”
    Breanna gave her a look that said a note wasn’t going to cut it. “Mom,” she reprimanded, “you know we can’t do that.”
    Sadie raised one hand to her forehead and put the other one on her hip as she let out a breath. “Well, I don’t know!” she said in frustration. “We most certainly did not put this on our list of things to do while in England and I’m afraid I have no idea what we do now.”
    “Okay,” Breanna said, taking the role of reasonable adult for the moment since Sadie had so efficiently relinquished her right to play the part by throwing a tantrum and admitting she didn’t know what to do. “What would we do if we were at home?”
    “And found a dead man in the sitting room who then