Murder in House Read Online Free PDF Page A

with no drying facilities,’ said Diana, jerking him away from the table. ‘Oh, come along, do!’
    â€˜We made the biscuits specially for you.’
    â€˜Look at the time!’ Diana seized a cloth to work on his hands and face.
    Ellie sampled a biscuit, which was surprisingly tasty. ‘Won’t you let him stay for tea?’ said Ellie. ‘These biscuits are delicious, Frank. Well done.’
    â€˜Can I take some back for Daddy and Maria?’
    â€˜Certainly not,’ said Diana, scrubbing his face. ‘They’ve got enough biscuits. Come along, now. Where did I leave my coat?’
    Ellie put a couple of biscuits into a paper bag and, while Diana was donning her big coat in the hall, she slipped the bag into Frank’s hand and gave him a kiss.
    It was only after Ellie had waved Diana’s car goodbye that Ellie realized Diana had bested her yet again. In the old days a Yale lock had been sufficient for the big old front door, but after a disturbing incident last year a mortise lock had been added, so you needed two keys to get in and out. Diana had let herself out in the usual way and turned the key in the mortise lock behind her as well. How had she managed to do that? There was only one answer, and Ellie didn’t like the sound of it.
    She darted into the sitting room. Yes, Rose’s keys had disappeared from the table on which she’d left them. Diana must have waited till Ellie had left the room, and pocketed them again. The thought of Diana being able to enter the house at will was unnerving. With hindsight, Ellie told herself she ought to have put them straight into her pocket, or handbag.
    And . . . horror of horrors . . . what had happened to the engagement ring Ursula had given her to return to her boyfriend? She’d had it in her hand when she’d heard Diana arrive. Then Frank had come charging at her, and . . . what had happened to the ring?
    Thomas came out of the kitchen, carrying two mugs of tea and a plate of biscuits. ‘I’ve cleaned up the kitchen, the dishwasher’s doing its job, and Rose has gone to have a little nap after all that excitement. Don’t look so frazzled. Whatever Diana wants, it’s not the end of the world.’
    She made herself smile. No, of course it wasn’t. But it was bad enough. She would have to tell him what Diana had threatened to do. But perhaps not tonight. Sunday was his day off and what a day it had been so far!
    Anyway, judging by past behaviour, when she did tell him, he would only smile and say he trusted her to repel boarders. Faced with this latest threat of invasion, Ellie had to admit she cringed.
    And what about the puzzle Ursula had set her?
    â€˜I’ll be with you in a minute.’ They stored all old newspapers in a green plastic box for recycling, which was collected once a week by the council. Ellie usually remembered to pick up the newspapers from where Thomas had left them, but sometimes they lay unregarded under chairs and in the magazine rack for a couple of weeks until she had a good clear-out.
    Ursula had spoken of an incident at a party in the new year, in which a man had died. If it had been local, it would have been reported in the local Gazette. Sometimes the pages of the Gazette were used to wrap bones and other food waste before they were put in the recycling box. Where to look first? There was a cache of Gazette papers on top of the fridge in the kitchen. She leafed through them. No. No mention of an accidental death in the last few weeks.
    There was one issue missing; the one for the second Friday in the new year. Of course, that particular issue might already have been recycled. Ellie thought she might have seen a single copy somewhere . . . yes, it had drifted into Rose’s sitting room. Rose was dozing again, cosily ensconced in her big, high-backed chair, propped up with cushions and smiling in her sleep. Ellie retrieved the