Love Him to Death Read Online Free PDF Page A

alive.”
    He sounded so sincere and so romantic that Josie smiled bravely back at him as he wiped away her tears. Then he draped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close. Her own arm snaked around his not-as-thin-as-it-once-was waist and they walked up the stairs pressed so hard against each other, they looked as if they were in a three-legged race. They were so wrapped up in their own blissful bubble, they didn’t bother saying goodnight to any of their guests – it was like the rest of us had vanished into thin air.
    Tessa watched them go, and for a moment I was intrigued by the expression on her face. It was intense; penetrating; thoughtful. It reminded me of the way Snow White’s wicked stepmother had looked before she’d poisoned that apple.
    As soon as Bill and Josie had departed, Tessa ordered the Z-list celebrities to bed as if they were naughty children. Then she turned her attention to Ruby.
    “Are you all right, Mrs Strummer? Can I get you anything?”
    “No thanks, sweetheart, I’m fine. I’ll turn in now. Big day tomorrow.” She shook her head sadly. “How we’re going to get through it with Angelica here is anyone’s guess. Poor cow! Lost her marbles, she has. She’ll be the death of me, that one.”
    “Let me worry about her,” Tessa said crisply. “It’s my job.”
    “Rather you than me, love.” Ruby started to leave, but then turned back and added, “You know, any other man would have had her sectioned. Put away. But my boy’s always been too kind for his own good. Soft-hearted, that’s his problem.” She sighed and then made her way up to bed, clearly exhausted.
    By the time Ruby had gone, it was really late and Sally, Graham and I followed Tessa gratefully up the marble staircase. As we passed Angelica’s door we could hear her murmuring sleepily to herself. I was pretty sure it was the same dirge-like incantation she’d intoned in the helicopter.
    Tessa rolled her eyes in irritation. “As if I didn’t have enough to do without having a mad woman running about the premises,” she said to Sally.
    Sally smiled sympathetically but was too preoccupied with her own catering concerns to be really listening. So I took the opportunity to ask Tessa casually, “Did you work for Bill when he was married to Angelica? I mean, do you know her?”
    “What was that?” Tessa looked around to see who had spoken. She was one of those grown-ups who preferred to completely ignore the existence of anyone under twenty. Eventually her eyes fell on me – looking slightly surprised, as if I was a talking cat or singing dog. “No,” she replied crisply. “This is the first time I’ve laid eyes on her.”
    “So how long have you been working for Bill?” Sally asked, obviously feeling she ought to take a polite interest.
    “Since June.”
    “What a job to land! There are people who’d kill for an opportunity like that.”
    Tessa laughed but it sounded slightly forced. “Don’t let Bill hear you say that. I gather his last PA died rather tragically.”
    “Oh, really?” I asked, my curiosity well and truly aroused. “How?”
    “He got trampled by a herd of cows.”
    Was it my imagination or just a trick of the light? Tessa’s face had seemed to darken for a moment.
    If Sally hadn’t been there I’d have asked more, but I could see out of the corner of my eye that she was glaring at me. Graham’s mum is about as enthusiastic as mine when it comes to our uncanny talent for getting mixed up in sudden deaths. “I’m sure there was nothing suspicious about it, was there, Tessa?” she asked pointedly.
    “Suspicious?” Tessa looked puzzled. “No, of course not. It was an accident. The verdict was death by misadventure, I believe.”
    By now we’d reached the very top of the villa, where our three tiny rooms made up what had obviously once been the servants’ quarters.
    “You have the best views on the island up here,” Tessa told us by way of compensation. “Not that you’ll