Murder Out of Tune - A Libby Sarjeant Murder Mystery Read Online Free PDF

or we’ll get terribly confused,’ said Libby. ‘And it’s quite easy to confuse me at any time.’
    ‘So, if Vernon Bowling and Ron Stewart both lived in Shott and were both members of the ukulele group, we can assume they’re friends,’ said Fran, returning to the original conversation.
    ‘There may be others who live there, too,’ said Libby. ‘How did you find out, Patti?’
    ‘One of the churchwardens rang to tell me. We’ll have to include him in the intercessions. I’m not due there next Sunday, but I’ll have to go over and talk to Mary.’
    ‘Mary?’
    ‘The churchwarden. She says that Mrs Bowling is a churchgoer, although not particularly regular. I suppose I ought to call.’ Patti’s usually smooth forehead was wrinkled with worry under her heavy fringe.
    ‘I wonder who else comes from your villages,’ mused Libby. ‘I mean, George here knew about it. Perhaps there’s someone here?’
    ‘He’d have told us,’ said Fran. ‘No, the only ones from this side of the Canterbury road are Lewis and Edie.’
    ‘And I wonder why it was Lewis who Mrs Bowling rang on Tuesday night? Was he a friend?’
    ‘We don’t know it was Lewis,’ said Fran. ‘It was Lewis who went into the pub, you told me, but he could have been told about the phone call by someone else.’
    ‘Oh, so he could,’ said Libby. ‘You’re so logical, Fran.’
    Libby’s phone warbled from her pocket.
    ‘Hello, Hal. Fran and I are having lunch with Patti. What can I do for you?’
    ‘Andrew’s coming down this evening and he’s called a meeting of the ukulele group and you.’
    ‘Eh? Me?’
    ‘You, Pete and Ben. I think he wants to talk over the advisability of allowing the uke group to continue in the concert. Oh – and your cousin’s just arrived.’
    ‘My c … Oh, God!’
    ‘You’d forgotten, hadn’t you?’ Harry sighed gustily. ‘Luckily we haven’t started on the building work upstairs. She can stay in the flat.’
    ‘Is she OK? Oh, how could I have forgotten? What an idiot.’
    ‘Yes, you are. So you’d better come home pdq. I’ll feed you all here tonight as you won’t have got anything in. Andrew will be here, too.’
    ‘OK, but can I finish my lunch?’
    ‘Yes, but hurry up about it.’
    Libby switched off her phone just as their sandwiches arrived accompanied by a garnish of crisps.
    ‘Andrew’s holding a meeting with the ukulele group and me, Ben, and Pete tonight, and my cousin Cassandra’s arrived.’ Libby poked gloomily at her tuna sandwich.
    ‘Your cousin –?’ Fran and Patti looked surprised.
    ‘Yes.’ Libby sighed. ‘We arranged it ages ago. We haven’t seen one another for a year or so, so it seemed sensible to arrange a long weekend before the panto and Christmas got in the way. I don’t know how I forgot.’
    ‘I didn’t know you had a cousin,’ said Fran.
    ‘Of course I do. Most people have, haven’t they?’
    Fran’s brow wrinkled. ‘I don’t think I have.’
    ‘I have,’ said Patti. ‘They are not the nicest of people. My extended family do not believe in women priests, let alone anything else.’
    ‘Well, Cass is one of the nicest people I know. Her husband died years ago, far too young, and her children all live miles away, so I ought to have kept in touch better.’
    ‘Where does she live?’ asked Patti.
    ‘London, and one of her children is in Liverpool and the other in Scotland, so she doesn’t see much of them.’
    ‘Does she work?’ asked Fran.
    ‘No, she retired at sixty. She must be nearer to seventy now, but she does a lot of voluntary work.’
    ‘Well, you’d better hurry up and finish your sandwich,’ said Fran, ‘and I’ll get you back home.’
    ‘Harry’s put her up in the flat,’ said Libby, ‘which is jolly nice of him, as I haven’t got the spare room ready. He’s going to feed us tonight, too.’
    ‘You do fall on your feet, Mrs S,’ said Patti. ‘If it had been me, I’d have found the poor woman trailing round the