Boomerang by Sydney J. Bounds Read Free Book Online

awkward customer, I gather.”
    Val gave him a wan smile. “To put it mildly, I’m surprised he wasn’t murdered long ago if he carried on like that all the time.”
    “That’s something we’ll be looking into.”
    “He gave an address in Birmingham—I have details in the office—but I know no more about him. We don’t go into personal details, although Keith—Parry, our resident tutor—likes us to ask what painting experience the students have. Bullard claimed to have a lot of experience.”
    “We’ll be investigating his background, of course,” Reid said. “I suppose it could be an outsider—someone who followed him here. Did he know anyone here before he arrived?”
    Val shook her head. “They’re all first time students at Porthcove.”
    Reid took his time filling a pipe while he watched her.
    “So you asked this private detective—Eaton—to come here. Why? Who first suggested this? What did you think she could do?”
    “I phoned Belle because I thought Bullard would get the studio a bad name if he weren’t dealt with. He upset the other students, and we can’t afford that sort of reputation. When I asked him to leave, he laughed and said it was just a bit of fun—that he’d paid for two weeks and intended to stay the full time.”
    “And Miss Eaton? Where does she come in?”
    “I felt desperate. Keith said I’d got to do something because Bullard was ruining his class. Reggie isn’t much use when it comes to sorting out trouble. I remembered an article I’d read about Belle being a private investigator, and thought she might have come up against a similar situation in her job. So she might know a way of handling it. Of getting rid of him.”
    She shuddered.
    Reid puffed on his pipe with an appearance of satisfaction. “I’ll see your husband next.”
    While they waited, Trewin ventured, “Could be a motive there. If Bullard was putting students off. The studio’s livelihood. I wonder how this place stands financially?”
    “That’s something else we’ll be looking at.” Reid said. Perhaps Trewin was capable of learning after all.
    “Parry suggested Mrs. Courtney do something—”
    “So perhaps she did.”
    When Reggie Courtney came in and sat down, he wore a look of weary resignation.
    “I’d like you to tell me whatever you can about George Bullard.”
    Courtney pulled a face. “I didn’t have much to do with him, luckily, but I heard things. A nasty piece of work.”
    “You’re a sort of general handyman here?”
    “You’ve got it in one. Val runs the place really—I don’t have a head for business.”
    “Is the house locked up at night?”
    “Never. These people are on holiday and if they want a late night out, they’re entitled to it. Not much crime around here anyway—burglary, I mean.”
    “Did you know this Eaton woman was arriving?”
    “Val told me after she’d invited her. I was a bit surprised.”
    “Did you approve?”
    Courtney shrugged. “It’s up to Val. What she says goes, more or less. I stay with the odd jobs and Keith does the tutoring.”
    Reid knocked out his pipe.
    “All right, I’ll see the tutor next. Parry, isn’t it? He should be able to tell us something—he was in contact with Bullard every day.”
    When the door closed, Trewin said, “Nothing much there.”
    Reid bared his teeth. “Not unless they’re in it together.”
    Keith Parry glided into the room like a ballet dancer coming on stage. He tossed back floppy straw-coloured hair and put on a brave smile as he took the seat opposite the Inspector.
    “But of course I shall co-operate in every way. This unpleasantness really must come to an end.”
    “First off, did you know Bullard from before? Or any of the students?”
    Parry lifted his hands in horror. “Bullard? Never! I’d have resigned first. All these students are new to Porthcove. I suppose—though I doubt it—that anyone of them might have known Bullard before, but the only one—or should I say two?—I