Murder Comes Calling Read Online Free PDF Page B

suppose you heard about our murders?”
    “Indeed.”
    “Thank goodness they caught the killer, or I wouldn’t be out on the street by myself. Of course, my house is not up for sale. That was the connection, you see.”
    Magic sat down patiently on the damp pavement, tongue lolling and drooling.
    “Aye, most curious. And Malcolm said you were the first person to find the body, or, at least, alert anybody.”
    “I was,” Lottie said with relish, her wizened rosy cheeks putting Rex in mind of an old apple. “I’ve been interviewed many times by the police and the media, even got on the telly! Of course, I had no idea it was a murder at the time. Ernest had a weak ticker, so at first I thought it was a heart attack. And he was a martyr to his arthritis, too. If I hadn’t seen his feet sticking out from under the piano, who knows how long it would have been until someone found him? And Valerie Trotter. Or the other two. Malcolm went to tell Barry about his friend’s death, and found him dead as well! And Vic Chandler, and all!” Bundled up against the cold, the elderly woman appeared impervious to the damp chill, and yet Rex, in good conscience, could not keep her chatting on the street any longer.
    “Here, let me help you with your bag,” he offered, holding out his arm.
    “Oh, no need. It’s not heavy. Just a few tins of soup, a loaf of bread, and some greens. And where is Malcolm? I saw him leave in his car early this morning.”
    “He, ehm, went to the police station.”
    “He’s a key witness, of course, and, being a doctor and all, the police must have a lot of questions. I suppose they’re busy making a case against the house agent and have to get all their facts straight. No one understands why he did it. Two old men and a woman who never hurt a soul in their lives. Vic Chandler served in Belfast, so he probably did, but only in the line of duty.”
    “Aye. Most mysterious. Did you know them well?” Rex asked, careful to dissimulate the extent of his curiosity, though Lottie seemed happy to gossip. He began to entertain the suspicion that she had peeked through a pair of net curtains and sought him out on the street. At this point, Magic yawned and hunkered down on his forepaws, as though resigned to an extended conversation between the humans.
    “Well, they’ve all lived here as long as I have, going on twenty years,” Lottie said. “Ernest was very sociable, but I got the impression he was not someone you’d want to cross. Barry now, he was a nice man, a bit of a dandy. Essex boys, both of them, with a gift of the gab, though Barry wore a hearing aid and didn’t always hear right.”
    “And the other two?”
    “Vic was younger, somewhere in his late fifties. Kept himself fit. He’d been in the army, done a few tours in Northern Ireland. Had a nasty scar down his face and a missing pinkie. Now, Valerie was a bit loud, if you know what I mean. Loud voice, loud makeup, but her heart was in the right place.”
    “Did they all know each other?” Rex asked casually.
    “Not more than anyone else, that I know of. As I told the reporters, we’re a friendly community, for the most part. Were. The residents near the entrance on Owl Lane are riff-raff and we don’t like to include them, but it’s hard to ignore that street.” Lottie wrinkled her tiny nose. “But that problem is nothing compared to the murders. Oh dear, those have really put Notting Hamlet on the map!”
    “I wonder how many more For Sale signs will go up,” Rex said. “I’ve counted six or seven on my walk and, curiously, one was turned around, facing towards the house. And I’ve seen a home with the windows shuttered up, so I thought it was vacant, but a man came out and scowled at me when I walked by!”
    “The man at forty-five?” Lottie asked, pointing up the street. “He’s a strange one. Doesn’t say much except to complain about the dogs next door. Says their barking drills through the walls. I admit, the one