A Cornish Revenge (The Loveday Ross Cornish Mysteries Book 1) by Rena George Read Free Book Online

one day when I was in the car park. He’s some kind of legal eagle, I think. They’ve only recently moved to Cornwall from Cambridge. That’s where Magdalene started her business in her maiden name and it just stuck.’
      ‘Carruthers of Cambridge does sound familiar,’ Loveday said, racking her brain for the connection.’
      ‘She’s the daughter of Judge Henry Carruthers, You remember him? He used to sit on all the big court cases.’ She grinned, ‘The ones nobody else would touch.’
      ‘That’s it,’ Loveday said as the penny dropped. ‘I remember now. But didn’t I read something about him dying?’  
      ‘That’s right, a few years back. That’s where Magdalene’s money comes from.’
      ‘I see,’ Loveday said, continuing her prowl around the boat. There was a watercolour of the Blue Lady on the wall, and she went to take a closer look. She gasped when she saw the signature. ‘Lawrence painted this?’ She asked incredulously, wheeling round to stare at Cassie. ‘Did you know about this?’
      ‘Of course,’ Cassie said. ‘I introduced him to Magdalene.’
      Loveday’s eyebrow arched.
      ‘She asked if I knew anyone who could paint.’ She shrugged. ‘I thought of Lawrence.’
      Loveday remembered the broody landscapes that had hung on the walls of the St Ives gallery. ‘It’s not his usual kind of thing,’ she said.
      Cassie came to stand behind her. ‘He’s come a long way since the early days, hasn’t he?’
      ‘Has he? I don’t know much about how he got started, he never talks about it.’
      ‘You’re right, he is a bit of a mystery man. I met him when he first moved to Cornwall, about five years ago. In those days he would paint anything people were willing to pay for.’
      Loveday gaped at her. This was not the Lawrence she knew.
    Cassie was thinking back to the day she’d spotted the scruffily dressed, bearded man sitting on the beach sketching St Michael’s Mount. She’d been surprised at the quality of the drawing and asked if he ever painted boats.
      ‘We got chatting,’ she explained, ‘ He was scratching a living painting the more picturesque pubs and cottages and selling the finished pictures to the owners. We agreed a price for a painting of Adam’s boat.’ She smiled, remembering, ‘It was Adam’s birthday present that year.’
      ‘Lawrence has never told me any of this.’ Loveday said.
      Cassie frowned thoughtfully ‘No…he’s not one for talking about his past, is he?’
       Loveday well knew his skillful avoidance of subjects he did not want to discuss – and his life before Cornwall was one of them. She turned back to the painting, and felt an involuntary shudder sweep through her. Why would he keep something as innocent as this a secret?
      Inspection over, Cassie began packing her files away, then noticed the slightly open drawer in the office area. She 'tut-tutted'. What had the fitters been doing in that part of the boat? They’d had strict instructions to leave it alone. She got up and slid the drawer closed. It had been empty anyway. Magdalene and her husband wouldn’t be naïve enough to leave private papers just lying about. After one final check around, Cassie nodded her approval. ‘I think we can go, now.’
    They went back up the polished steps and, satisfied the Blue Lady was once again locked and secure, walked slowly back along the pontoon to the car.
       On the drive home Cassie clicked on the car radio, and they listened in silence to Radio Cornwall’s latest news bulletin. The Borlase man, as Loveday had now come to think of him, was the first item.
    ‘Police are still trying to identify the body of a man found in Borlase Cove two days ago. It’s understood that the body was partially covered by water when discovered by members of the public on the remote cove. An air sea rescue helicopter from RNAS Culdrose was scrambled to the scene, but it was too late to help the casualty. The body was