Murder on the Thirteenth Read Online Free PDF

so.”
    â€œWhere is it now? Could I see it?”
    â€œAll right.” Tretheway nodded at Jake.
    â€œI’ll get it.” Jake left the room.
    â€œAnd there were some diagrams in the snow. Circles,” Tretheway continued.
    â€œWhat size?”
    â€œOne very large one around the fire. Then some smaller ones. And stars.”
    â€œStars?”
    â€œPentacles, perhaps?” Warbucks asked.
    â€œThey were half-trampled out. As though someone tried to get rid of them. And some numbers.”
    â€œWhat numbers?” Cynthia Moon asked.
    â€œOne, six, nine, two.”
    â€œDon’t understand that,” Cynthia said.
    Jake came back carrying a bowl and an envelope. He put the bowl on the table. Everyone crowded around. Cynthia scratched at its hardened wax contents, releasing an unpleasant aroma.
    â€œSmells like sulphur,” Beezul said.
    â€œBrimstone,” Cynthia corrected. “There,” she said finally.
    â€œWhat?” Tretheway peered into the bowl.
    â€œA pin,” she said. “And I’ll bet there are more. Deeper down.”
    â€œWhat do you make of that?” Gum asked.
    Cynthia Moon didn’t answer. “Was there anything else?” she asked. “Anything?”
    Jake glanced at Tretheway, who nodded. He emptied the envelope onto the table beside the bowl.
    The knotted cord looked untidy, unclean. And the nine feathers tied into its multi-coloured length were misshapen or broken. On Hickory Island it was just a piece of string swinging from a leafless tree. Here, in Addie’s comfortable common room, in the warm light of the fire, it appeared alien, almost evil.
    Cynthia Moon gasped. “A Witch’s Ladder!” She grasped the largest amulet hanging amongst her beads and turned away from the table. Her eyes suddenly went glassy and as round as coasters. She pointed to the back of the room. Then she screamed; a primeval echoing. At that moment, Fat Rollo struggled to his feet and bolted with surprising speed under the shaky card tables in the direction of Cynthia’s accusing finger. On his dash, he bumped into, or at least brushed against, several pairs of legs. Zoë Plunkitt and Mary Dearlove screamed. Fred’s hackles rose and she started to bark. Addie squeezed the breath out of Jake. Twenty-six pounds of charging cat rammed the French doors that separated the room from Tretheway’s back yard. Cynthia Moon fainted.
    Garth Dingle recovered first. “It was a cat,” he shouted. “Looking in the window. Just a dumb cat.”
    Patricia Sprong confirmed Garth’s sighting. “That’s right. A striped cat. It ran away.”
    In the next five minutes things calmed down considerably. Beezul helped Cynthia Moon to the couch. Addie brought some brandy in from the kitchen.
    â€œI’m sorry,” Cynthia said finally. “But everything happened at once. Hearing about all those things. And seeing the bowl. And a cat looking in the window. At night. A death sign…”
    â€œThat’s all right,” Addie comforted. “Just take a sip.”
    Tretheway noticed that Cynthia Moon was clutching her amulet again. He had always thought of her, despite her eccentricities, as a solid, both-feet-on-the-ground person.She painted unusual, abstract canvases; her clothes were different; she told fortunes with tea leaves or tarot cards for amusement only and dabbled in mysterious sciences almost as a lark, a harmless hobby. Perhaps, he thought, Cynthia Moon’s knowledge of the occult was not as shallow as he’d first surmised.
    â€œIf you know anything about these things,” Tretheway said kindly, “Maybe you’d like to talk about it.”
    Cynthia Moon nodded. Everyone waited.
    â€œWell.” She took another sip of brandy. “There are a number of things. They may sound silly alone. But all together…” She looked at Tretheway.
    â€œGo ahead,” he