Murder in Mind Read Online Free PDF Page A

attractions.
    A clown appeared with a bunch of balloons and a plate of biscuits.
    â€˜Roll up! Birthday treat!’ The clown was white-faced with a red, smiling mouth. A padded red and black suit disguised its figure as it handed out balloons and biscuits with white-gloved hands.
    â€˜More!’ demanded a fat-faced child with crumbs around her mouth.
    A small boy objected. ‘You greedy pig! You’ve had one already.’
    The girl snatched the biscuit he’d been about to eat and ran off, cramming it into her mouth. The clown gave away the last of the biscuits and left the park.
    The greedy child’s au pair was talking to a friend and failed to notice that anything was wrong till it was too late.
    Friday morning
    It was not until after Ellie had cleared away the breakfast things, talked the weekend menus over with Rose, made out a shopping list, taken down the curtain which needed repair in the dining room, and done a stint in her office that she had time to sit down with a cup of coffee in the kitchen and reach for the local
Gazette
.
    She’d forgotten about the Hooper girl’s death and was shocked when she saw it featured on the front page.
    â€˜Look, Rose.’ She held the paper up. ‘“Teenager’s Tragic Accident. A bright and bubbly girl, the light of our lives.” It says the Hooper family’s prostrated, but they always say that, don’t they? Diana gave me the impression that Evan was shocked but not devastated. Oh, look, it says that her mother was . . . No, that can’t be right. The local paper often gets things wrong though, don’t they? The dead girl was too old to be the daughter of Evan’s current wife, wasn’t she?’
    Rose reached for her reading glasses. ‘She looks a proper little madam. I know that sort. Think they can get away with anything, just because Dad’s got money.’
    â€˜It says here that her school friends are all in tears and have placed dozens of messages on Facebook. That’s the way it takes them nowadays. Fame for a few days on Facebook. Poor thing, what a waste of a life.’
    â€˜What I want to know is, what was she doing in the gym in the first place? Trying to lose weight?’
    â€˜These young things think they can never be too thin. It says here that she was on a treadmill and set the counter too fast.’
    â€˜Catch me getting on one of those things. Instruments of torture.’
    Ellie had to smile. ‘I suppose I ought to do something about my weight, but . . . yes, I agree. Pretty girl, wasn’t she?’
    Rose snorted. ‘I bet she wasn’t naturally a blonde. That’s a professional hairdo if ever I saw one. Look at those eyelashes; they’re never natural. They retouch all those photographs, don’t they?’
    â€˜Mm, she does look older than fourteen, or is it fifteen?’ Ellie tried to remember what Diana had said about the girl. ‘I expect she was at a private school. Yes, it says here; St Augustine’s. There’ll have to be an autopsy and an inquest before they can bury her, I suppose. There’s a sister, isn’t there? It must be dreadful to have a sibling die on you like that.’
    â€˜I wonder if Her Royal Highness will attend the funeral.’ Rose did not care for Diana.
    Ellie put the paper aside. ‘Well, we must get on. Rose, no need for you to bother, but I thought I might look at what furniture we’ve got in the end room upstairs. If we can find enough beds, we could get at least one of those rooms ready for our visitors, couldn’t we? Do you suppose we could hire some furniture if we’re short?’
    â€˜I don’t know why you want to bother. You know Thomas said they could go to a hotel.’
    â€˜I know, I know. But I’d like them to feel they’re welcome here. After all, Thomas has seen very little of them since they went to Canada, and he’s only twice been over to see his