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

did. But wouldn’t they have been on an old computer?’
    ‘He would have transferred all the files each time he upgraded,’ said Peter. ‘I suppose I could look at the earliest files, but I’ve got a feeling that if there’s anything on here it’s well hidden.’
    ‘How would this blackmailer, if that’s what it was, have got in touch, then?’ said Libby.
    Harry went and lay down on the couch. ‘How about old-fashioned phone? Safer than email. I bet we wouldn’t find anything on there. Unless we had one of those experts the police use. Pity we can’t get old Ian to give us a hand.’
    Detective Chief Inspector Ian Connell, a sometime friend back in Kent, frequently had to accept help from Libby in various murder cases. Not that he always accepted it willingly, though, to be fair, he had been known to save her bacon when she blundered too far into a case.
    ‘Well, he’s not here now,’ said Peter, ‘and I think you’re right, Hal. We won’t find anything incriminating on here. Who’d keep something where anyone could find it?’
    ‘Not anyone,’ said Ben. ‘We can’t. And you’re our resident computer expert.’
    ‘I think the only thing we’ve got to give us an idea is that little book,’ said Libby. ‘Although if that is what the blackmailer – killer – wanted, why is it still there?’
    ‘And frankly, if there was anything in there that was incriminating, why had Matthew kept it?’ said Peter.
    ‘Perhaps there wasn’t.’ Harry was sounding far more like himself. ‘Perhaps that little book was just in the Beach House and had nothing to do with anything. Perhaps Celia just went down there to tell whoever-it-was to bugger off.’
    They all looked at him in surprise.
    ‘That’s actually the most likely scenario,’ said Peter. ‘We’ve been trying to complicate matters.’
    ‘As usual,’ said Ben, with a look at Libby.
    ‘But there still has to be something that got Celia killed and that Matthew was worried about,’ said Libby obstinately.
    ‘Or maybe – just maybe – Celia went down there to secure something because Matthew knew there was a storm coming. And it wasn’t murder at all, but a simple accident as the police thought,’ said Ben.
    Libby sighed. ‘So we’re simply pandering to the old ladies?’
    Peter looked round at them all. ‘No, I don’t think so. I think Matthew was worried about something. And why send Celia to the Beach House without telling the others. And why had he been looking through the telescope at the Beach House when he collapsed?’
    ‘We don’t know that for sure,’ said Libby.
    ‘It was you who spotted it,’ said Harry.
    ‘I suggest we wait until tomorrow when Fran arrives,’ said Peter. ‘Perhaps she’ll get something from the little book, or the Beach House itself. And if she has the slightest inkling of trouble, then we carry on. All right?’

Chapter Five
    When Fran and Guy Wolfe drove off the ferry at Fishbourne, Libby and Ben were there to meet them.
    ‘We thought you could follow us across the island, and we’d maybe stop for a late lunch somewhere,’ said Libby.
    ‘That sounds good,’ said Fran. ‘Where are Peter and Harry?’
    ‘Still at Ship House. Harry’s cooking something for this evening’s meal. Says he’s getting withdrawal symptoms.’
    Ben drove across the Island, making sure Guy could keep up. Summer vegetation was obscuring most of the road signs on the narrow roads, not conducive to the visitor’s ease of travel. Somewhere in the middle, they stopped at a pub, where they settled in the large garden. While Guy and Ben went to order drinks and fetch a menu, Fran put her head on one side and gave Libby a long look.
    ‘Well?’
    Libby sighed. ‘What do you think?’
    ‘Something to do with Harry. Is that why you wanted to meet us on your own?’
    ‘I shall never get used to you and your moments,’ said Libby.
    ‘Neither shall I,’ came the surprising answer. ‘But that’s what I feel and there’s