Person or Persons Unknown Read Online Free PDF Page B

Adele?’
    â€˜Still fluttery and still wearing long sleeves.’
    â€˜Could be she just prefers them,’ Rona commented, pushing her empty plate aside. ‘Max hasn’t mentioned her lately; perhaps she didn’t rejoin this term. How were they as a couple?’
    â€˜Same as any other. Far from seeming afraid of him, she was on the clingy side.’
    â€˜That figures.’
    The sisters had not taken to Adele.
    â€˜Anyway, they seem to be settling in, though there are still workmen’s vans there every day. God knows what they’re doing to the place.’ Lindsey glanced at her watch. ‘I must go; I promised to meet Jonathan for a coffee before going back to the office.’
    â€˜
Is
he married, Linz?’
    â€˜In the process of divorcing, actually.’
    â€˜Are you sure?’
    â€˜Yes, I’m sure. All right?’
    â€˜It’s not just that “his wife doesn’t understand him”?’
    â€˜God, Rona!’ Lindsey stood up angrily. ‘If I’d known I was going to face the third degree, I’d never have come! You’re worse than the parents!’
    â€˜I just don’t want you to get hurt.’
    â€˜That’s their line.’
    â€˜OK, OK, sorry.’ She gave her sister a contrite hug. ‘When are we going to meet him, anyway?’
    â€˜I don’t know – I’ll play it by ear.’
    They went together up the basement stairs and Rona opened the front door. ‘Don’t forget what we said about Mum.’
    â€˜Girls’ day out? It’ll be a barrel of laughs, all right.’
    â€˜Please, Linz.’
    â€˜All right, I’ll give it a try and report back.’
    â€˜You’re a star,’ Rona said.
    After she’d gone, Rona went up to the study and read through James Latymer’s manifesto. Without seeing those of the rest of his class, there was no way of making a comparison, but as far as she could judge, it made some sound points and was well put together. It would be interesting to know if it had earned him election.
    Determined not to hold on to it indefinitely, as she had the scrapbooks, she made two photocopies, marking on one the passages she might, with his permission, quote in her article. Obtaining that permission was her next priority. Or one of them. Another thing she’d been putting off had been a final visit to Buckford to complete the photographic record. Better to arrange that now, while she was on a roll. She rang
Chiltern Life
and asked to be put through to Barnie.
    â€˜I hear you’re expecting a US invasion,’ she greeted him.
    â€˜We surely are,’ he returned in a drawl.
    â€˜It’ll be lovely to have Mel and the children, won’t it?’
    â€˜Of course, though I don’t doubt the entire house will be turned upside down, and anything approaching normal routine thrown to the winds.’
    â€˜Worth it, though.’
    â€˜You’ve been talking to Dinah!’
    â€˜Come on, you old grump, you’ll love playing grandpa!’
    He laughed. ‘You rumbled me! Right, what can I do for you?’
    â€˜You’ll be glad to hear I’ve all but finished the education article, and I wondered when Andy would be available for the final fling?’
    â€˜Hang on a minute while I check with him.’
    There was a brief silence, broken by Barnie’s voice on the other line.
    â€˜You’re in luck,’ he announced, when he came back to her. ‘He has a window free tomorrow, if that’s all right with you?’
    â€˜Perfect. I’ll ring him direct, shall I, and make the arrangements?’
    â€˜You do that. And once the family’s arrived, you must come round and see them.’
    â€˜That’d be great. Love to Dinah in the meantime.’
    Andy Hume was waiting outside the pub where she’d arranged to pick him up. At a little under average height he was shorter than Rona, a fact she’d