Hobby of Murder by E.X. Ferrars Read Free Book Online

pleasure.’
    ‘But which of your servants, Sam, will be coming in disguised, as you call it?’ Ian asked. ‘I thought you had the two Bartlett sisters, sober characters if ever there were any.’
    ‘Ah yes,’ Sam Waldron said, ‘I’m afraid I can’t produce the whole atmosphere correctly. I’ve never seen either of the Bartletts touch liquor, as they call it. But they’ve entered into the spirit of the thing and are being most helpful. There’s a good deal of work involved, of course, but I’m determined to make a success of it.’
    ‘Just one moment, Sam,’ Ernest Audley said, moving from the side of the young doctor, with whom he had been having a quiet conversation. ‘I’ve been told that one of your guests will be that man Luke Singleton. Is that true?’
    ‘Ah yes, he’s our celebrity for the evening,’ Sam Waldron answered enthusiastically. ‘Brian’s bringing him along. That may get our dinner at least in the local paper.’
    ‘Then I hope you’ll forgive me,’ Audley said, his pale, blotchy face stern, ‘but I’m afraid I must withdraw my acceptance of your invitation. I’m not going to spend an evening in the company of that bastard.’
    ‘Oh, Ernest!’ Anna said with a little gasp.
    ‘Now, now, Ernest,’ Sam said, ‘you don’t mean that. Why, it was all years ago.’
    ‘I certainly mean it,’ Audley said.
    ‘No, you don’t. You’ll come. Do you want him to think he’s somehow permanently defeated you?’
    Andrew turned to Felicity Mace, who had just moved to his elbow.
    ‘Would it be very tactless of me to inquire,’ he asked, ‘just what Mr Audley has against Luke Singleton?’
    She smiled. She had a very pleasant, friendly smile.
    ‘Not seriously,’ she said, ‘since it’s common knowledge. Jane Audley left Ernest for Luke Singleton. There was a divorce, a very gory one, because with Luke being as well-known as he is, the popular press had a field-day. And then when it was through, instead of marrying Jane, he deserted her. Just which part of the story really hurts him most I don’t know, her leaving him, or the horrible publicity, or Luke ditching her when it was over. I think he was very angry for her.’
    ‘And how long ago did it happen?’
    ‘About five years.’
    ‘That isn’t so very long.’ The years, for Andrew, were passing faster and faster and five years did not strike him as amounting to much. He thought it might well have taken him more than five years to get over something as traumatic as the breakdown of Ernest Audley’s marriage, if such a thing had ever happened to him. It was more than ten years since Nell had died and he had never wholly got over it.
    ‘And you didn’t read anything about it when it happened?’ Felicity Mace asked. ‘But I suppose you don’t patronize the popular press.
The Times
probably had only a small paragraph about it.’
    The attempt to persuade Ernest Audley to attend the Waldrons’ dinner, even if Luke Singleton was there, was continuing. Eleanor and Ian had joined in, and so after a few minutes did Dr Mace. In fact, the only people who did not seem concerned by the matter were Mollie and BrianSingleton who were sitting side by side on a sofa and talking together in low voices. About another photograph from the electron microscope, Andrew wondered. There was an air of intimacy about them and almost of withdrawal from the other people in the room, until all of a sudden Brian astonished Andrew by apparently extracting a golf-ball from Mollie’s ear. She gave a little squeal, then burst out laughing.
    ‘Oh, Brian, you fool! That’s a new trick, isn’t it? When did you learn it?’ She looked up at Andrew and explained, ‘Brian’s a quite expert magician. But that’s a new trick. It startled me, Brian. Why don’t you show Andrew a few more tricks?’
    He laughed too and shook his head. ‘I haven’t brought the necessary apparatus, no magic jugs that disgorge yards of silk scarves, or hats with rabbits in