SECRET CRIMES a gripping crime thriller full of suspense Read Online Free PDF

looked paler than when they’d first arrived.
    ‘A friend’s just called and said a body’s been found out at Peveril. Is this linked?’
    ‘We can’t be sure, Mrs Fantini. Not until our forensic people have been here to check on the evidence. But we’ll need to seal off that room, and maybe talk to your other guests. Can you give me the details of the reservation? Which of the two made it, and when?’
    ‘The booking was made about three weeks ago by phone.’ Mrs Fantini checked the details on her computer. ‘Mr Shapiro made it.’
    ‘That’s fine,’ Sophie replied. ‘Did you pick up anything unusual about them when they arrived?’
    Mrs Fantini shook her head. ‘Not really. They were in a bit of a rush. They took the key, dropped their bags in the room, then they were back downstairs and out.’
    ‘What time was this?’
    ‘Just before seven twenty. Mr Shapiro asked about pubs and somewhere to eat when he signed in. I told him that all the pubs served food, but that they’d be much busier than normal because of the blues festival. He told me that’s what they were down here for.’
    ‘And it was definitely him who made the original booking?’
    ‘Yes. It was done on his credit card.’
    ‘Can I see the details, please?’
    Marsh stood to one side and the two women squeezed in behind the desk. Sophie looked at the booking sheet and sign-in book. All completed under the name of Shapiro.
    ‘Did the other man say anything at all?’
    ‘Not that I remember. He stayed in the background.’
    ‘Did they come by car?’
    ‘No. And that’s rather unusual. He said that they came by bus from Poole.’
    Marsh looked puzzled.
    ‘Are you sure of the time they arrived?’ he asked.
    ‘I’m certain. I always note the time and I remember this one distinctly, because the show I was watching on TV hadn’t quite finished. I missed the final ten minutes.’
    ‘You couldn’t have mixed them up with any other guests arriving?’
    ‘No. They were the last. Everyone else was already booked in and had gone out to see the first performances. They’re all here for the festival, you see.’
    ‘How long would you say it takes to walk up here from the bus terminus? Ten minutes?’
    ‘That’s what we put on the website, but I doubt it would take two fit men anywhere near that long. And the email I send out to confirm bookings has directions.’
    ‘It would be straightforward, wouldn’t it?’ Marsh continued. ‘Out of the bus terminus, left along Rempstone Road for a few hundred yards and you’re just about here.’
    ‘That’s right. Those are the directions we provide.’
    ‘Could you smell any drink on their breath?’
    ‘Not that I could tell. And he said they were in a hurry to get out for a drink and some food.’
    Sophie interrupted. ‘Did either of them return at any time last night?’
    ‘No. We usually lock the front door about eight in the evening, but last night I left it until well after eleven because I knew most of our guests would be coming in late. Even so, I was up until just after midnight. I saw everyone else coming in.’
    ‘What about later? They could still have got in with their key, surely?’
    ‘Of course, but they didn’t. We have a tracker on the front door that logs each time it’s opened once I set the security alarm on the office. It wasn’t activated at all, so no one came in after I went to bed.’
    * * *
    Sophie and Marsh returned to the car.
    ‘The bus times don’t work, ma’am. Not unless there was a severe delay on the route down. One arrives at six forty. If they got that they should have got here long before they did. They could have called in somewhere on the walk over here, but it’s unlikely. If they followed the simplest route they wouldn’t have passed any pubs or cafés. The next bus gets in at seven thirty, and then they wouldn’t have got here in time. The only other possible explanation is that the buses were running late. I’ll check when we’re back