Cherringham--Death on a Summer Night by Neil Richards Read Free Book Online Page A

those guys are like, drifting from town to town. Rumour was if you wanted a little hash — or stronger — they had it.”
    “So Tim might have been buying something to get high?”
    Then Jen Foote looked away. She raised a finger in the air, a discovery made.
    “One other thing. Funny, I didn’t really think of it until just now. But that bloke on the rides … I think his name was Charlie. You know how some of the girls like to be daring and flirt with the good-looking ones?”
    Maybe Jen herself, Sarah thought .
    “ Anyway … That night I rememberhim giving Dinah the eye, grinning and all that, and then Tim giving him a poke. Like he wasn’t too happy about it.”
    Then the hairdresser looked from Sarah to Michelle, then back again.
    “Think that might be important?”
    Sarah smiled. “You’ve seen the shows. You never know.”
    “Right. Well, I’m due back. More magic to work on people’s heads!”
    Sarah doubted that Michelle Lang was due anywhere.
    “Thank you both.”
    Michelle nodded. “Let us know … would you … if you find out anything. We both –” she took a breath, looking at her old friend — “loved Dinah. Miss her still to this day.”
    “Too right,” Jen added.
    “I will.”
    Then Sarah watched the old friends walk out separately, reunion over, back to battle lines.
    At least for now … she guessed.

10. A Deadly Threat
    When Jack walked into Pete Bull’s plumbing supplies store, Pete sat behind the counter, head down in stacks of paper.
    And Jack noticed that when Pete looked up and saw him, he didn’t get the warm reception that he would have expected.
    And since Pete was about as solid a “bloke” as you could ask for, Jack thought … guess I really am stirring up things in the village.
    “Pete? Hey … how are you?”
    Pete looked up and managed a small smile.
    “Fine, Jack. Um, anything I can do for you?”
    Just the slightest chill — but noticeable.
    Pete had been at the Ploughman’s when the mob circled Tim Bell. He hadn’t joined that mob, but maybe his sympathies were with them.
    “Yeah. Pete, I was hoping I could get a few words in with Ollie Nash. He works for you, yes?”
    Pete nodded. Almost reluctantly he put down the stack of papers, and stood up.
    “Ollie’s out on a job, Should be back any minute.”
    Jack nodded, smiled. “Mind if I wait?”
    The slightest hesitation.
    “Sure. No worries.”
    It seemed like Pete was about to sit back down, return to his pile of paperwork; the curse of operating your own small business with no help.
    But — in mid-turn — he stopped and turned back to Jack.
    “Jack, mind if I tell you something?”
    “Sure, Pete. Anything you have to say will be worth hearing.”
    That made the plumber smile. “Maybe not this time. See, Jack, this stuff you’re doing, with Tim Bell, dredging up the past … it’s not sitting well with a lot of people.”
    “You as well?”
    Pete Bull paused. “Well, to be honest, Jack — I just don’t get it. The court found Bell guilty. That poor girl disappeared twenty-five years ago. And now, it seems like—”
    “Like I want to clear him? Get him off the hook?”
    Pete nodded. “Seems that way.”
    Jack took in a deep breath, nodded, and thought of how he’d respond to this person who he thought of as a friend.
    “Let me have a go at explaining.”
    “Go on.”
    “My whole life has been dedicated to putting guilty people in jail. See, that’s what I did. And if there was a chance that maybe — just maybe — I had the wrong person, I would keep digging.”
    Jack laughed a bit at that.
    “My supervisors weren’t always too pleased either.”
    That — at least — made Pete smile.
    “And occasionally, you know what? Everyone thought they had the guilty guy — and they didn’t.”
    “So you think Bell is innocent?”
    “Well — my turn to be honest, Pete — I don’t know. But I do know it’s mighty odd that he’d come back to his town after serving time. Not something