Murder Adrift by George Bellairs Read Free Book Online

couldn’t sell his shares unless you and your mother and the trustees agreed to the transfer?’
    â€˜That is right. My mother might have been persuaded to agree, but the trustees and I, never.’
    The telephone rang again and Littlejohn found it a suitable opportunity to go. He made his way out across the yard and through the tunnel.
    Hopkinson was waiting for him in the street.
    â€˜The head waiter told me you were here. . . . ’
    Littlejohn didn’t seem to hear him.
    â€˜Motive, opportunity, both there. But Todd has an alibi, which will probably be confirmed. . . .’
    He suddenly became aware of Hopkinson.
    â€˜If hatred could have killed Heck Todd, the murderer wouldn’t have needed a gun.’
    Hopkinson, who had a lot of matters in his notebook to discuss with Littlejohn, looked bewildered.

Chapter 4

Family Business
    Littlejohn had not finally arranged a visit to Mrs. Todd with her son. He thought it better to call on her unannounced to avoid any collusion in advance between mother and Kenneth. The town hall clock struck 11 as he and Hopkinson left the wine merchants’ warehouse.
    â€˜We’ve nice time before lunch to call and see Mrs. Todd.’
    â€˜You wish me to come with you, sir?’
    â€˜Of course. You’d better meet all the characters in this tragedy. I don’t know where the house is situated. We’ll inquire. . . . ’
    Hopkinson had already done so. Not only that, but, in Littlejohn’s absence he had followed the directions given and was now able to lead Littlejohn all the way there.
    The quay and the waterfront were agog with competitors and their followers preparing for a regatta that afternoon. The day was ideal for them, sun shining, blue sky flecked with white clouds and a stiff little breeze blowing to fill the sails. The mayor, whose duty it was to present the trophies at the end of the day and who was busy ingratiating himself with the influential members of the yacht club, called to Littlejohn as he passed.
    â€˜Good morning, Chief Superintendent. Hope to see you at the regatta this afternoon. And come and join us at the dinner afterwards. Be my guest. . . .’
    He seemed to have forgotten his tipsy performance of the night before.
    The two detectives passed through the town altogether and found themselves in a new suburban neighbourhood of sand dunes and building developments nearer the open sea. A building estate with a few houses occupied and another lot in course of erection. A large board with the name of the enterprise :
Sunshine Court Estate, Ltd
.
    with a washed-out picture of what it should look like when fully developed. It was like a scene on the Riviera, palm trees and all. An old corporation bus, marked
Office. Apply on the site or to Mr. Samuel Pollitt, 2 High Street, Fordinghurst.
There was washing hanging out at some of the occupied property and a man busily trying to dig a garden out of the builders’ wreckage round his house. It all looked pretty grim.
    On the opposite side were some larger houses, and a small nucleus consisting of a grocery store, an ice-cream shop and a hairdresser’s
Salon de Paris
.
    They passed families coming and going, children carrying beach balls and fishing nets and parents thinly dressed, with cameras and lunch bags. They passed the station, too, obviously the terminus of a small branch-line, with a siding of assorted trucks and wagons and a small train standing at the passenger platform. A large family of children and their parents were running like mad for the train,although there didn’t seem to be any railwaymen about to start it.
    On the landward side of the road beyond the station stood the Big House, as it was called locally. The Todd place. It had been in existence long before the intrusion of the developers. Now, it had plenty of neighbours, although its spacious grounds, surrounded by a solid brick wall, kept it at a respectable distance from them, and the