The Devil in Disguise by Martin Edwards Read Free Book Online

close scrutiny, I’m inclined to say good luck to her. We might solicit a donation, but that’s all. Because what you say is right. And it does you credit.’
    â€˜Thanks.’ He was mumbling again, plainly embarrassed. ‘I’ll be off then.’
    â€˜Good night,’ Harry said. He watched the man go, bumbling through the crowded room in the vague direction of the exit and speculated whether, just as Frances was evidently attracted to Luke, so Tim might carry a torch for Frances.
    Harry’s route back to his flat took him through the city centre. As he walked, he wondered again about Frances’s claim that Luke was afraid. The Blackhurst problem alone could not, surely, account for it. Perhaps it was something to do with the supposed deception by one of the other trustees. Frances, Matthew, Tim or Roy? The meeting had offered no clues. He resolved to give Luke a ring the next morning, to see if he had returned home.
    Fifty yards ahead, he caught sight of a woman emerging from the Ensenada, a restaurant famed equally for cuisine and cost. As he watched, she stepped under a streetlamp and flagged down a taxi. He had only met her once before, but he would have recognised that shocking blonde hair anywhere. Talk of the devil. Vera Blackhurst was living it up already.
    He ducked into a doorway as a tall grey-haired man in an overcoat followed her out of the restaurant. His coat collar was turned up and, although his build and walk seemed familiar, it was impossible to identify him. As Harry peered through the darkness, the man held the cab door open for Vera and was rewarded for his courtesy by a peck on the cheek. He put his hand on her arm and it seemed to Harry that it lingered there before they said their goodbyes and the man waved her off.
    What was going on?
    The man strode across the road and disappeared down an alleyway on the other side. Harry hesitated, then remembered how his hackles had risen when Jim had scoffed at his habit of poking his nose into other people’s business. He took a deep breath, then hurried off in pursuit of Vera’s companion. The alley led to Lord Street but when he arrived there, his quarry had disappeared.
    â€˜Shit!’ he exclaimed.
    A drunk who was leaning against a litter bin said, ‘You never spoke a truer word pal,’ and promptly threw up over the pavement.
    Harry groaned. Perhaps Jim was right after all. The man had probably parked in one of the multi-storeys - but which? He opted for the NCP in Paradise Street and raced to the main exit.
    After five minutes he realised he had chosen wrongly. None of the cars which emerged contained anyone who remotely resembled Vera Blackhurst’s companion. He sighed and told himself that probably it didn’t matter. It was a free country. She couldn’t be expected to mourn her late employer for ever. Let’s face it, there was no harm in going out for dinner with someone.
    And her companion couldn’t possibly have been Luke Dessaur - could it?
    Chapter 4
    Jonah Deegan had acquired an answering machine. It was akin to an Ancient Briton investing in a microwave oven. As Harry listened to the taped message the morning after the trustees’ meeting, he found it difficult to suppress a burst of laughter. At last he had come across someone less at ease with technological advance than himself.
    â€˜There... uh, there’s no-one here at present. I mean to say, there won’t be at the time you hear this recording. I know it’s a real pain when you hear one of these things, anyhow, don’t hang up without letting me know who’s called. Start talking after you’ve heard the whatsit - yes, I know, the tone. We’ll get back to you as soon as possible. All being well.’
    Jonah’s parents had named him wisely. In the unlikely event that he had ever had a shred of optimism in his make-up, a career in the CID followed by long years operating on his own account had