The Shooting in the Shop Read Online Free PDF

wavering
about the Marks and Spencer shirts for Stephen.
    ‘You could still give them to him,’ Jude suggested,
‘so that he doesn’t die of shock at not getting them
after all these years. But then you could give him
something else as well.’
    ‘What kind of “something else”?’ asked Carole
suspiciously.
    ‘Something frivolous.’
    ‘Stephen’s never going to wear a feather boa.’
    ‘No, I know he’s not,’ Jude replied, though she
couldn’t deny that the image was quite amusing. ‘But
there are other frivolous things in here.’
    Carole looked around the shop. In her view, a
Santa Claus Willy Warmer was simply in bad taste.
And she wouldn’t have dared to be present when
Stephen opened such a thing. Nor was she attracted
by a key ring with a small Rubik’s cube attached. The
combined digital stopwatch and bottle opener didn’t
do much for her either. And as for the thought of
giving anyone a sumptuously boxed, gold-plated Belly
Button Fluff Extractor . . .
    ‘Maybe I should just stick to the shirts . . .’ she
announced uncertainly.
    ‘No, Carole, don’t give up so easily. Put yourself in
Stephen’s shoes for a moment. What would he like?
What are his interests?’
    ‘Work, mostly.’
    ‘And his work involves . . . ?’
    ‘Money and computers, in some combination
which I have never quite worked out.’
    ‘Well, I’m sure Lola stocks something for computer
buffs.’
    ‘I doubt it. This isn’t a technology shop.’
    ‘Ah, look, the very thing!’ Jude swooped on a
basket full of wind-up toys. ‘A Glow-in-the-dark Computer
Angel!’
    ‘What?’ asked Carole weakly, as the package was
thrust towards her. Under a plastic bubble there was a
translucent green plastic figure of an angel. Printedabove it were the words: ‘Your Computer Angel deals
with all your computer problems, glitches and
viruses. Just wind her up and her flapping wings will
spread her protection over your desktop or laptop.
And when you turn the lights off, your Computer
Angel will glow in the dark.’
    ‘How does it work?’ asked Carole.
    ‘Blind faith.’
    ‘No, I mean how does it work as anti-virus protection?’
After long resistance to the idea of computers,
Carole had recently become something of an expert
on the subject. ‘There isn’t a software CD with it, as
far as I can see. And it doesn’t have a USB plug.’
    ‘Carole,’ said Jude patiently, ‘it’s a joke. It’s just a
fun thing. To bring a smile on Christmas Day to the
face of a computer obsessive like Stephen.’
    Her neighbour still didn’t look convinced. But
then she saw the price tag: £7.50 reduced to £4.00,
then reduced again to £1.50.
    As she paid for her purchases, Carole and Anna
at the till exchanged half-smiles, as if to say, ‘Yes, we
have seen each other before.’ But neither took the
opportunity to embark on conversation.
    And so Carole completed her Christmas shopping.
Which meant that, as well as the Marks and Spencer
shirts, Stephen Seddon would shortly be the proud
owner of a Glow-in-the-dark Computer Angel.
     

Chapter Five
    Carole at first demurred at Jude’s suggestion they
should lunch at the Crown and Anchor. Some atavistic
instinct told her it was self-indulgence to go out
for a meal so near to Christmas. But, as it often did,
Jude’s more sybaritic counsel prevailed, and so they
made their way from Gallimaufry to Fethering’s only
pub and the lugubrious welcome of its landlord, Ted
Crisp.
    A large man with matted hair and beard, he
nodded acknowledgement of their arrival and started
pouring two large glasses of Chilean Chardonnay
before they gave an order. The interior of the pub was
decorated for Christmas, but there weren’t that many
Christmas customers. Therein lay the cause of his
lugubriousness, as he wasted no time in telling them.
    ‘Look at the place. Empty as a barn. This should
be the time of year I’m coining it, doing all the local
office