The Troutbeck Testimony by Rebecca Tope Read Free Book Online

‘Something the police feel worth attending to?’
    The man gave a very audible sniff. ‘We do indeed,’ he said. ‘And I’ve been asked to inform you that a detective will be wishing to speak to you about it this evening.’
    ‘Which detective?’ she asked, with a sinking feeling.
    ‘DI Moxon. I understand that you and he know each other.’
    ‘I suppose we do,’ she agreed.
    ‘Then, if it’s all right with you, he’ll be over to see you in about half an hour’s time.’
    She could hardly demur, even though it was transparently obvious that Moxon simply wanted to see her again and was using the trivial little crime as a pretext. Since when did detective inspectors involve themselves in missing pets? And if they did, how normal was it to visit the vaguest of witnesses in her own home after working hours? She was definitely not deceived. But Moxon had won a reluctant little corner of her heart a few months earlier, and she found herself surprisingly willing to meet with him again.

Chapter Six
    The fine evening persisted, and she left her front door slightly open, mainly to admit the scent of the lilac, which grew a few feet away. She made herself a hurried meal of scrambled eggs and bacon, having noticed that she was rumbling with hunger. If Moxon stayed for long, she’d end up pigging on biscuits, which was all she intended to offer him.
    She heard his car coming up the road from the shop, and parking in the only available space for some distance. The village street was narrow for most of its length, in no way designed for cars. Small patches had been carved out here and there for residents’ vehicles, while visitors had to take their chances.
    The sight of him came as a small shock. He was thinner and looked much older than he had three months earlier. ‘How long have you been back at work?’ she asked him, almost before he was inside the house.
    ‘Just over a week. I recovered pretty quickly, and it was no fun just kicking my heels at home. How’ve you been?’
    ‘Me? I’m perfectly all right. I walked up to the top of Wansfell with my dad yesterday. We were both very pleased with ourselves.’
    He glanced towards the back of the house, where the designated fell stood, even though it was invisible through the walls. ‘I’m impressed,’ he said.
    ‘I dare say Dad’s knees will punish him for it, the rest of this week, but he’d insist it was worth it.’
    ‘He tells us you and he saw some suspicious characters at the pub.’
    ‘Two men and a boy in a car.’ It was becoming a kind of mantra already, and she had a sneaking fear that she was going to have to say it quite a few more times yet. And she was still completely disoriented by the fact of her father having approached the police. It felt insanely out of character. ‘And we found a dead dog,’ she abruptly remembered. ‘That might be more relevant. It looked as if somebody had strangled it.’
    ‘Yes. He mentioned that. In fact, I had the impression he’d been thinking about that more than the conversation he overheard and decided that something ought to be done.’
    Simmy frowned helplessly. ‘You’re saying he thinks those men at the pub killed the dog? And what about the man with the black bag? Did he tell you about him as well?’
    ‘I’m not sure what he thinks, to be frank. And neither of you actually saw the contents of the bag, as I understand it. I don’t think it counts as helpful. And no, we don’t have any views as to how or why the dog died. Nothing as direct as that. Your father just passed over what he’d seen, thinkingit might have some relevance. He said he kept on turning it over in his mind, and couldn’t see any innocent explanation for what he’d overheard.’
    Still none of this sounded convincing to Simmy. Hadn’t she herself come up with a list of possible interpretations for the words Russell had heard – all of them harmless? Then dawn began to break over the obscurity. ‘Did he phone you directly,