2 Murder Most Fowl by Morgana Best Read Free Book Online

seemed skinny, and tall.” I stood up. “About so high,” I said, holding my hand a little above my head.
    “For the record, say it aloud please, Miss Potts,’ Roberts said.
    I felt silly. “Oh, okay, sorry. A bit over 180 centimeters, so about six feet tall.”
    The detectives exchanged glances, and that made me uneasy. Didn’t they believe me? I didn't want to be seen as a suspect. Still, since I had moved to Little Tatterford, there had been three deaths in the nearby boarding house.
    “So, a masked man pushed Palmer down the steps, and then ran past you just as you arrived?” Roberts asked.
    “Yes,” I said, wondering if he suspected me.
    Roberts threw a look at his partner. “You were the first one to touch the body?”
    “No,” I said with some horror. “At least I don’t think I did.”
    Detective Henderson stopped scribbling and looked up. “You must be getting used to crime scenes by now,” he said.
    Before I could respond, Roberts spoke again. “Do you have a suspicion as to what had happened to Mr. Palmer?”
    “I figured he was pushed down the stairs. I would’ve thought he’d fallen down, if it hadn’t been for the person in the ski mask who ran out the door.”
    “What were you doing at the boarding house so early?”
    “I was going to have breakfast with Mr. Buttons before we took my dog for a walk.”
    Roberts nodded. “Is this something you usually did?”
    “No. Well, Mr. Buttons and I often walk my dog around seven in the morning, but yesterday he suggested we have breakfast at the boarding house first.”
    “So it was his idea?”
    I nodded, and then remembered the interview was being recorded. “Yes.”
    Roberts was silent for a moment, and then he turned to his partner. “Detective Henderson, do you have anything to add?”
    Henderson looked at me for a moment, and then shook his head. “No.”
    Roberts leaned forward again. “Now, Miss Potts, are you good friends with Cressida Upthorpe?”
    I frowned, wondering why he asked such a question. “Yes, we’re friends.”
    Roberts leaned back in the chair and put his hands behind his head. I wondered for a moment if his chair would topple backward, and stifled a chuckle. I figured the stress was getting to me.
    “Miss Potts, do you realize the seriousness of covering for a friend, especially on a matter as serious as murder, or manslaughter?”
    I was puzzled. “I don’t know what you mean.”
    Roberts leaned forward and his chair came to rest with a thud. “If someone has knowledge of a crime, and they do anything to hinder the arrest of the perpetrator, then they can be charged as an Accessory After the Fact.”
    “But-” I began, but Roberts cut me off.
    “So, if you knew that someone had pushed Colin Palmer down the stairs, and withheld that information from us, that would be a criminal offense.”
    “I’ve done no such thing,” I said, standing up. “I don’t like being falsely accused. I told you; the masked man ran past me. I don’t know who he was.”
    Roberts merely pointed to my chair. “Sit down, Miss Potts. Do you understand what I’ve just told you?”
    I crossed my arms. “Yes, but I’m not covering up anything for anyone, and I did see a person running away.”
    Roberts and Henderson exchanged glances, before Roberts turned back to me. “You may go now.”
    I stood up. I was furious and trembling. Did they suspect Cressida? Or Mr. Buttons? They didn’t seem to believe that I had seen a person running from the scene.
    I walked back to the waiting room, where I saw Cressida and Mr. Buttons sitting in two green plastic chairs with metal legs that curved down underneath them. Henderson had followed me out, and he called to Cressida.
    “We’ll speak to you now, Mrs. Upthorpe,” he said.
    “Are you okay, Sibyl?” Mr. Buttons asked me, once Cressida had vanished through the door.
    “I’m all right,” I said. “This is all just…” I didn’t know what to say, so let the sentence trail