Murder in Abbot's Folly Read Online Free PDF Page A

shrieked Dora, pointing to four people just emerging from the house.
    If ever a group’s body language was crying out not to be interrupted, this one’s was, Georgia thought in dismay. There was an elegant woman in her fifties clad in a classical-style flimsy white dress with red spots, with a matching red handkerchief shawl round her neck, who seemed on the verge of tears; the red-cheeked man at her side in frock coat and hessian boots, presumably Roy, looked about to go off pop; and the younger couple in their twenties – a fair-haired girl who was clearly their daughter, and a dark saturnine-looking young man who held possessively on to her – looked respectively scared and furious. Nevertheless, Dora sailed blithely up to them in her flowing lilac muslin gown. Gerald at least had the decency to hang back on the grass with Georgia, Peter and Elena.
    â€˜Laura darling,’ Dora cried. ‘So good of you to agree to our little tour. Here we all are, ready for our treat. Marsh and Daughter are simply longing to see Abbot’s Folly.’ She turned round to beckon to them, but fortunately Peter’s wheelchair gave them every excuse to remain where they were. ‘They’re simply fascinated by the murder,’ Dora explained to her friend, ‘and I told them you might show us your Jane collection as an extra special treat.’ She beamed.
    For a moment it seemed to Georgia as if someone had punched the Pause button and the screen had frozen. All four remained still, emotion raw on their faces. Reluctant they might be, but this seemed an extreme reaction.
    Roy was the first to pull himself together. ‘Glad to do so sometime. Very glad.’
    Dora obviously wasn’t good at reading subtext because she tapped Roy playfully on the shoulder. ‘Now, you naughty man. Don’t tease us. We know you’re waiting until the announcement this afternoon to talk about it, but for old friends you can surely make an exception.’
    Even Elena looked doubtful at this obviously unwelcome proposal, and Georgia would have quietly melted away into the crowd at this point if it wasn’t for Peter. He, typically, backed Dora up. ‘Just a quick peep,’ he called out blandly. ‘Can I get the wheelchair into this folly of yours?’
    Georgia knew perfectly well that when he wanted to Peter could usually get in virtually anywhere and so had only raised the issue as a polite blackmail. Laura made what was clearly a supreme effort, as years of ingrained social politeness came to her aid.
    â€˜Of course you may see Abbot’s Folly, and there’s room for the wheelchair. There’s a ramp somewhere,’ she managed to say. ‘Jennifer – Tim, I wonder if you’d do the honours and escort Dora’s friends there?’
    Georgia could read the dismay on their faces, and she blenched.
    â€˜I hope you’ll excuse me,’ Laura continued, ‘but I have to see to the catering, so I can’t take you myself. Roy . . .’ She looked in appeal at her husband, and – reluctantly it seemed to Georgia – he followed Laura back into the house, leaving them with Tim and Jennifer.
    Georgia was horrified at the way the issue had been forced, and she was also puzzled. Putting on an event of this size was a lot of work, and this one, with its Georgian buffet luncheon and its dancing and fencing displays, as well as other entertainments, was a massive undertaking. Even so, it seemed to her that Laura Fettis had shown more distress than overwork would explain, although her family did not seem to share the same emotion: they had looked angry and even fearful rather than upset. This was clearly a family at loggerheads, and whatever had happened had resulted in a heated discussion of some sort.
    Whatever their problem, Tim took skilful command. ‘Let’s go.’ He even managed to look enthusiastic about the prospect. ‘You OK with that,