Murder on the Hill Read Online Free PDF Page A

fortune to the fullest.”
    He squeezed my shoulder and leaned closer in.
    “What do you want from me?” I asked.
    “Jewels to the value of what you owe me, plus a little on top. I’ll give you the four days.”
    Before I could protest or do anything else, he had Frankie bundle me back into the boot of the car and drive me back to Cordi’s. When we returned, he popped the boot and threw the keys in with a sneer. “I’ll see you later, sugar tits.”
    Sugar tits? Really? Was this guy transplanted from the ’70s?
    His great bulk headed off down the street. I eased my body out of the car, dragging the laptop bag out from under the pile of crap. I closed the boot lid, locked the car, and took a few deep breaths.
    So much for having it easier working for someone.
    I thought back to the black diamond again. It was looking like my only way out. I didn’t want to bring more grief upon Mr. Bellman while he dealt with his wife’s passing. I might not be the most virtuous of people, but I wasn’t an uncaring monster.
    Putting all that behind me for now, I trudged up the stairs and let myself back into the house. I reached the kitchen and placed the laptop bag on the table.
    Cordi had piled the fragments of the doru into a dish and had made a pot of tea.
    Her eyes widened with shock when she turned around from working at the sink to regard me. Her hand went to her mouth. “Oh my, Harley, what happened to you? I thought it was taking a while. I completely lost the sense of time looking for Aunt Maggie’s gemstone directory.”
    How could I explain what happened? I couldn’t.
    So I lied. “I fell down the stairs. I’m okay, just grazed my knees.”
    “Goodness! Take a seat. I’ll get the first aid box. You look like you’ve taken a real bump to your head. Perhaps I ought to take you to the hospital? I’m so sorry for making you go to the car. It’s all my fault.”
    On and on, Cordi fussed. I stood and gripped her shoulders.
    “Cordi, it’s okay, really. I’m fine. Let’s just focus on Mr. Bellman for now.”
    “I’ll hear none of it. I’m not having my staff working while all banged up. Now sit, let’s get you cleaned up.” She fixed me with the stare of motherly threat.
    I did as I was told, feeling oddly good about someone looking out for me.
    While Cordi helped clean my wounds, I pulled the laptop from its bag and sighed.
    “How old is this?” I asked.
    “Not that old, I was given it back in… Oh, let me think, about nineteen ninety-five. There’s still an AOL disk in there for the Internet.”
    How I prevented myself from planting my head on the table will remain a mystery. My phone had more computing power than this thing. I humoured Cordi and plugged it in. I switched it on and… nothing.
    I made sure the outlet was switched on—it was.
    “Is it broken?” Cordi asked.
    “Not sure.” I removed the power cable and replaced it, pressing the power button once more. A great spark blew out the side of the machine and acrid smoke bellowed out.
    The mini explosion made me jump back.
    Cordi rushed to the sink and grabbed a wet tea towel to douse the flames.
    “Well,” I said, “that was an experience.”
    “Hmm, I should have never trusted my ex-husband. I should have thrown it out with his other crap years ago.”
    The thought of Cordi throwing anything out seemed highly unlikely.
    “We’ll drop in on the library tomorrow first thing,” Cordi said. “For now, let’s find you a place to sleep. I’m sure after all of today’s excitement, you’re going to want to get settled.”
    That was quite the understatement.

CHAPTER 4
    Day 2
    I couldn’t sleep very well at Cordi’s place. I had excavated the sofa out from under a pile of catalogues with yellowed and sticky mould-covered pages. They were from some ’80s department store. Why Cordi kept them, I had no idea. Perhaps reliving her youth?
    At least she had provided me with a clean sheet to put on the dust-encrusted sofa. But sleep