7 Pay the Piper by Kate Kingsbury Read Free Book Online Page A

violently shook her head. “Oh, I couldn’t afford a lawyer, Mrs. Sinclair. I really couldn’t. Besides, I don’t trust those buggers, excusing my language.I’ve had dealings with the likes of them before, I have. No, thank you.”
    Cecily sighed. “Why don’t you tell me your version of what happened.”
    Sniffing, Elsie tucked the handkerchief back in her sleeve. “Well, Tom was down the pub as usual. I knew he would be home late. He always is lately. And I was tired of sitting around, doing nothing, so I went to bed early. I fell asleep, and then something woke me up. I looked out of the window and saw Tom staggering up the road.”
    “He was alone?”
    “Oh, yes. I never saw no one with him, anyhow. I watched him, I did, cursing at him under me breath. I mean, there he was, out in the street, stumbling all over the road, looking like a proper fool.”
    “So you went down to bring him inside.”
    “No, I didn’t. Not right then, any rate. I saw him fall down, right outside the shop, and I thought, let him stay there, silly bugger. I was getting right fed up with him, I was, always getting drunk night after night. So I decided to let him sleep it off right there in the road.”
    “What time was that?” Cecily asked, as Elsie paused to nibble once more on a nail.
    “I dunno, I never looked at the clock. I just went back to bed. But it must have been late. Tom never came home until they turned him out of the pub at eleven, and then he had to walk home.”
    “So you left Tom out there in the street.”
    “Not for long.” Elsie sighed. “Proper soft, I am. I knew it was cold out there, and I couldn’t go back to sleep knowing my husband was lying out there on the hard ground. So after a while I went down to get him. He was coming around when I got to him. Opened his eyes, he did.”
    Elsie paused, shaking her head at the memory. “He said, ‘Hello, luv,’ just like it was normal to wake up lying in the road. I helped him to bed, and the two of us never movedagain until this morning. The next thing I knew, Samuel was hollering up the stairs that there’d been a murder.”
    The clock on the mantelpiece ticked unevenly as Cecily watched Elsie gnawing on her gloves. “P.C. Northcott mentioned that your husband had the only key to the shop, and that it was still in his possession this morning.”
    “That’s right.” Elsie glanced up at the clock. “Oh, my, look at the time.” She rose awkwardly to her feet. “I had best be going, Mrs. Sinclair. They’ll be looking for me in the shop. And I expect you’re busy with all these pipers in town.”
    Her face changed, and for a moment it seemed as if she would cry. Then she appeared to compose herself. “I don’t know how I’m going to manage now Tom’s gone. I’ll have to ask his brother to come in and cut the meat, I suppose. Bert used to be a butcher before he took up farming.”
    Filled with compassion, Cecily patted the woman’s slender shoulders. “Try not to worry, Elsie. I’ll see what I can do, though I’m afraid I can’t promise anything. The police do not look kindly on me interfering in their business.”
    “Oh, I know, Mrs. Sinclair, and I wouldn’t ask you if I wasn’t desperate. But, please, do try and help my Tom. I know if anyone can get him off, you can. I just feel so awful knowing he’s locked up down there for something he didn’t do. He has a terrible temper on him, my Tom, but he wouldn’t kill no one. I would swear to that on the Bible, I would.”
    “Leave it to me,” Cecily said, following the jittery woman to the door. “I’ll do my very best to find out exactly what happened last night. If I have any news, I’ll send Samuel down to the shop to let you know.”
    Tears brimmed in Elsie’s eyes as she looked up at Cecily. “Thank you, Mrs. Sinclair. Thank you ever so much.”
    “Don’t thank me yet,” Cecily said grimly. “P.C. Northcott is convinced he has the culprit, and he can be very stubborn at