Mrs. Pargeter's Pound of Flesh by Simon Brett Read Free Book Online

to whose televised and videoed commands millions of housewives punished their bodies daily: the voice of Sue Fisher.
    'But, Sue –'
    ' Ms Fisher to you.'
    'All right then, Ms Fisher , you definitely agreed that the Brotherton Hall logo would be featured on your video.'
    'That was when you definitely agreed to continue to assist in marketing Mind Over Fatty Matter products –'
    'I'm not arguing about that. We're quite happy to –'
    'Which agreement includes ,' Sue Fisher continued inexorably, 'trying out such new products as my marketing department chooses to send to you.'
    'Well, that's where there is a problem. Nothing against the idea in principle . . . as you know, I've been happy to go along with it in the past. It's just that . . . at the moment there are special circumstances. I think we should lay off the testing for a few –'
    'It is not testing , Mr Arkwright, it is trying out !'
    'Maybe, but I'm –'
    'Anyway, if you've suddenly gone off testing, perhaps you've also gone off the idea of our marketing your homepack Brotherton Hall Dead Sea Mud treatment?'
    'No, no, obviously I'm still very keen on that.' Ank's voice was now plaintively conciliatory. 'And the moment you want to try out one of our Dead Sea Mud Baths, Ms Fisher, you have only to –'
    'Shut up, Mr Arkwright!'
    From Mrs Pargeter's fern-screen perspective Sue Fisher's next words sounded louder. She was evidently making a dramatic exit from the office.
    'The video we shot here is being edited next week. Starting Monday. If I don't hear from you before then, agreeing to my terms exactly as I have spelled them out , I guarantee that I will cut out every shot of the Brotherton Hall logo, every exterior of the house, in fact every clue that might possibly identify your tin-pot premises as the location where the shooting took place! Have you got that, Mr Arkwright?'
    This last line came from further off, as Sue Fisher's tall and splendidly tuned body stalked off up the stairs, confident as ever of its owner's unassailable tightness.
    Ankle-Deep Arkwright took out his frustration on the computer. 'Bloody girl's left the registration list up,' he murmured savagely, before stabbing at a key and stumping back into his office.
    Mrs Pargeter had found the exchange very interesting. For a start, it. set a few hares of potential motivation running through her head.
    But, perhaps more importantly, it also told her the High Priestess of Mind Over Fatty Matter was still at Brotherton Hall. And had presumably been there the previous evening.
    Sue Fisher wouldn't have been present at the Nine O'Clock Weigh-in of the guests for whom she felt such obvious contempt.
    Which meant that, like Mrs Pargeter, she too might have witnessed the removal of a corpse from Brotherton Hall.
    Assuming, of course, that she didn't have any other involvement in Jenny Hargreaves' death.
    CHAPTER 10
    The red light on the telephone was blinking when Mrs Pargeter got back to her room. She rang through to the switchboard and received the message that a Mr Mason had called.
    'Truffler,' she said, as soon as she got through.
    'Ah, Mrs Pargeter,' he responded in mournful delight. 'Thank you for getting back so promptly.'
    'So . . . have you managed to find some information on Jenny Hargreaves?'
    'Just a few starting points,' he replied modestly. 'Nineteen years old. Only child. Brought up in Portsmouth – parents pretty hard-up. Jenny did well at the local comprehensive – one of the few to make it from there through to university. In her second year at Cambridge, studying French and Spanish. Doing very well, good grades and that, until end of last term when she suddenly left a week early. This term's only just started, but there's been no sign of her.'
    Not surprising if she's dead, thought Mrs Pargeter. 'As always, Truffler, your "starting points" are better than most investigators' final reports. Found out anything about her parents?'
    'Of course.' He was a little aggrieved that she'd felt the