The Final Curtain Read Online Free PDF Page B

why he or she was here, and whether their motive was malicious. If …’ She glanced apologetically at Timony Weeks then looked away. She found it disconcerting to talk to a woman who was sixty but had the undeveloped body of a child and the unlined face of a woman in her forties. ‘If … if no one was here then I can return to more pressing police duties.’
    Diana gave a soft
huff
from the doorway while Timony simply pressed her lips together in fury and possibly some exasperation.
    Joanna felt she must appear to be still searching for an explanation. ‘You say,’ she said lamely, ‘that at five o’clock this morning you were to all intents and purposes alone in the house and you weren’t aware that anyone was or could be in the outbuildings?’
    â€˜Yes.’ Timony was showing signs of impatience at having to repeat her statement.
    â€˜This is an isolated house.’ Joanna tried to speak conversationally.
    Again, an irritated, ‘Yes.’
    â€˜Excuse me, but you’re not—’
    Timony’s eyes narrowed, challenging Joanna to say
not young
.
    Instead Joanna burst out, ‘Why live out here all on your own when it’s patently making you paranoid, twitchy and nervous?’
    â€˜Paranoid?’ The word came out like a whipcrack and Joanna immediately regretted her choice. She flapped her hands apologetically.
Oh, no, had she really just accused Mrs Weeks of being mentally unstable?
    â€˜Sorry. I didn’t mean …’ she said quickly, which provoked a sharp retort from the actress.
    â€˜I can live where I please, Inspector,’ she said haughtily. There was something both brave and dignified in her response, and also an element of poignancy. ‘I will not be frightened into abandoning Butterfield.’
    Joanna collected her feelings. ‘Mrs Weeks,’ she tried, ‘who would drive all the way out here merely to make you feel uneasy with simple, silly tricks? Just to blow cigarette smoke in through a window?’
    â€˜I don’t know,’ she said angrily through gritted teeth. ‘That’s for
you
to find out, Inspector Piercy.’
    Joanna bit back her retort. At the back of her mind lay something uncomfortable. Something queasy like the smell of drains in a hot country, or oily black canal water in a sleazy area of a city. Something wasn’t right.
    She tried again. ‘Mrs Weeks,’ she said, frowning, recalling the list of trivia her colleagues had been summoned to investigate, ‘we can’t keep coming out here every time you think you see or hear something out of the ordinary. We’ve logged more than sixteen calls from you in the last couple of weeks, all of them over very trivial matters.’ She tried to rescue the dismissal by making a light comment and smiling. ‘You practically need a full-time security guard.’
    Timony Weeks’ face assumed a mean, challenging look. ‘Are you doubting my statements, Inspector?’ Her voice was soft as chamois and it fooled neither of the listeners.
    â€˜No-o.’ Joanna was remembering Korpanski’s words about Chief Superintendent Gabriel Rush. It sent an icicle sliding down her spine.
    Timony sat up a little straighter. ‘But you are refusing to respond to my plea for help.’
    Joanna felt like throwing up her hands and saying,
What do you expect me to do?
Instead she looked down at her notebook and took a risk. ‘You know the story of the boy who cried wolf?’
    Timony Weeks didn’t deign to answer, simply pursed her plumped-up lips.
    Joanna read from her notes. ‘You called us out because the lavatory seat was left up.’
    Timony Weeks didn’t even blink. ‘Two
women
live here, Inspector.’
    â€˜What about the gardener?’
    â€˜He uses the
outside
toilet. Always. I don’t allow him in the house.’
    Swallowing a snort, Joanna tried again. ‘Well, perhaps his wife,