LS 13 - Murder in a Different Place Read Online Free PDF

Lucifer?’ asked Alicia. ‘Harry, dear, you were close to Matthew. Why that word?’
    Harry shot a quick look at Peter. ‘He – er – knew someone of that name.’
    Harry? wondered Libby, or the mysterious love of Matthew’s life?
    ‘Someone in newspapers, was it?’ asked Amelia. ‘One of those silly columnists who hide behind stupid names?’
    ‘Something like that,’ muttered Harry.
    ‘Here’s the email account,’ said Peter. ‘Seems he used a web-based provider. Another password.’ He turned to the sisters diplomatically. ‘Any ideas?’
    They looked at each other.
    ‘One of our names?’ suggested Alicia doubtfully.
    ‘Three – no, four – sisters,’ said Libby. ‘Figure four.’
    ‘Happy days,’ murmured Harry. ‘All one word.’
    The email page opened. The sisters gaped at Harry.
    That’s Harry, thought Libby. So Lucifer is the other one. But why Lucifer? The Devil?
    ‘We discussed it,’ said Harry. ‘I was – well – up to date with computers and stuff.’
    ‘And we weren’t,’ said Honoria with a grunt. ‘Don’t worry, Harry. We won’t mind.’
    Amelia looked as it she were about to say something, but a look from Alicia silenced her.
    ‘Exactly.’ Alicia nodded. ‘We wouldn’t expect him to talk about things like that with us.’
    ‘There’s an email from you here, Hal.’ Peter was scanning the inbox.
    ‘Really?’ Harry was surprised. ‘I haven’t emailed Matthew – hadn’t – for months.’
    Peter nodded. ‘It’s dated February.’
    ‘And it’s still showing up?’ Libby went to look over Peter’s shoulder. ‘That must mean he’d only had a few emails since then. Isn’t that odd?’
    ‘Who are the others?’ asked Ben.
    Peter turned to the sisters, now sitting side by side on the couch. ‘Would you come and look at some of these to see if you recognise any names?’
    The sisters crowded round him and peered at the screen, three pairs of spectacles on chains being raised.
    ‘I don’t understand these.’ Amelia shook her head. ‘What’s “Frenchie98”?’
    ‘An email name,’ said Libby. ‘Open it, Pete. See if there’s a signature.’
    “Frenchie98” turned out to be a former associate telling Matthew about an assignment he’d been given and asking for advice. They worked back from the most recent email a few weeks before Matthew had died, but found nothing in the least odd. Some people the sisters recognised, some Harry and even Peter recognised, but there was no intimation of threats, blackmail or anything untoward.
    Peter sat back, and the sisters resumed their seats on the couch.
    ‘Another email account?’ suggested Libby.
    Peter turned to the bookmarks. ‘Nothing I can see.’
    ‘Do you want us to go on looking?’ asked Harry, going to sit on the arm of the couch beside Alicia. ‘We don’t want to do anything that might upset you.’
    Amelia was once more silenced by her sisters.
    ‘Go on,’ said Honoria, and stood up. ‘Come on, girls. Let’s leave them to it.’
    Amelia was reluctantly herded out, and an almost audible sense of relief settled on the room.
    ‘I could do with a drink,’ said Libby.
    ‘Matthew wouldn’t mind,’ said Harry. ‘I bet there’s something around here.’
    He prowled the room and discovered several bottles inside a glass cabinet.
    ‘Here. Whisky, gin, and vodka. Vodka? He never drank vodka. Pink gin, he liked.’
    ‘Do you think we should?’ said Libby doubtfully. ‘The sisters might not like it.’
    ‘Especially Amelia,’ said Ben with a grin.
    Libby’s objections were overruled, and Harry found glasses and served them all.
    ‘Have a look at some of the files,’ suggested Ben when they were grouped once more round the desk.
    ‘There are loads of them,’ said Peter. ‘He seems to have kept every piece he’d written for the last twenty years.’
    ‘On a computer?’ said Libby surprised. ‘Did they have them then?’
    The three men turned and looked at her.
    ‘Oh, OK, then. They