A Well Kept Secret by A. B. King Read Free Book Online Page B

improper.”

    For a moment he thought that she was going to break off the conversation entirely and walk away from him. She stared at him with barely concealed animosity, and he could sense the competing feelings boiling away within her.

    “The Doctor was always extremely kind to me,” she said tightly at last, “and before you ask; yes, I would have done anything for him; there is no secret about that. I will also admit that I was extremely upset when he died.”

    “I have no doubt about that,” he said, “because, if you don’t mind me saying, you strike me as being a person of integrity. I would therefore automatically assume that if he was consistently kind in his attitude towards you, then I can see that it would be perfectly natural for you to respond in a similar manner. I draw a degree of personal comfort from knowing that he had somebody such as yourself to lean on during what must have been a very sad and trying time after the death of his wife.”

    Even as he was speaking, he recalled only too painfully how shattered he had been when Alicia had died; only there had been nobody for him to really lean on during that awful period. He had hoped for a glimmer of reciprocation from the woman, yet it seemed his well-intentioned words were wasted; his thinly veiled flattery had no obvious effect.

    “He was a good man,” she said woodenly. “He would have given his life for anyone. I could do no less for him.”

    “I’m afraid I never really knew him,” Martin admitted. “Nor am I aware of the exact circumstances of his death. Even being named as his heir came as a complete surprise. Was he a sick man?”

    “Not really; he was getting on a bit of course, but quite fit.”

    “But were you aware of any health problems that might have led to his death?” he persisted.

    “He seemed perfectly all right to me,” she answered, yet still there was no warmth in her voice. “He walked a lot; ate moderately, hardly touched alcohol, kept to a sensible diet and never smoked. He was well known and highly respected down in the town where he has been the local doctor for most of his life until he retired. Everyone thought very highly of him.”

    “So, how exactly did he die?”

    He thought for a moment that she wasn’t going to answer him. He could read the latent suspicion in her eyes and in her whole posture as she sat rigidly in the chair facing him

    “I’d made his breakfast,” she said at last. “The doctor was always a most punctual man. I laid it all out for him as usual, yet he never appeared. This was totally out of character, and eventually I became concerned as time passed with no sight or sound from him. When I had waited for what I considered to be a reasonably period I went to his room. Getting no answer to repeated knocking on his door and calling his name, I entered the room where I found him dead in his bed. I called in Dr Rawlinson, and I understand that he later certified death by natural causes. If you want to know more about that, you will have to ask him.”

    “As it happens, I shall be going down into the town later this morning; I may well do that.”

    “Is there anything else?”

    There was still not the slightest degree of empathy between them. She gave the impression that she was there and answering his questions because that was what was required of her. He found himself wondering if she ever unbent with anyone. Did she have a husband? Was she a widow? What exactly lay beyond that frigid exterior?

    “Mrs Brent,” he said, watching her reaction as he spoke. “I hope I am wrong, but I get the impression that you strongly resent my presence here. I certainly didn’t ask my uncle to die, much less to saddle me with the responsibility for his property, yet as he has, and I am, I have to make the best of it. I am appreciative of the assistance you have provided since I have been here, and I am of course aware that you regard the flat above the garage as being your home.