Page 33 of A Very Bookish Murder
Amir sipped his tea, phone at the ready. ‘Just for a start we need a detailed account of everyone’s movements yesterday evening. I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve posted a policeman at your front door to prevent anyone from leaving, and likewise down at the hotel.’
Ally told him in as much detail as she could about the earl’s picnic, and all the women sitting in the garden afterwards, including Laura, who had not actually gone to the picnic. What could have been Laura’s reason for suddenly appearing out of the blue? Laura, who never normally joined in.
‘There’s something I haven’t told you, Amir,’ Ally said hesitantly. ‘Laura Pike has been seen leaving Owen Jones’s van in her underwear. She’s almost certainly having an affair with Jodi’s ex-husband.’
Amir pulled a face. ‘That certainly could be a motive, and we really don’t have much in the way of motives so far, do we? What about the Frenchwoman with the husband?’ Amir asked. ‘You said they went out yesterday evening?’
‘Yes, but they only went out for a drink at the Craigmonie Bar, I believe,’ Ally replied.
‘And did they spend much time in your garden with the others before they went out?’
‘Probably half an hour or so,’ Ally said, racking her brain.
‘Hmm,’ said Amir. ‘Do you have any idea how long they all remained in the garden together? Who left first? Who left last?’
Ally shook her head, looking at Ross, who’d rejoined them now the breakfasts had been dealt with. ‘We didn’t go out to join them, did we? We left them to it until about eight o’clock when we went out to put away the cushions and found poor Joyce comatose.’
Amir nodded, and Ally noticed him looking questioningly at Ross.
‘Sorry,’ she added, ‘I should have introduced you earlier. This is my friend, Ross Patterson, who was with me all day yesterday. And, Ross, as I’m sure you’re aware by now, this is Detective Inspector Amir Kandahar.’
Both men smiled and nodded at each other.
‘Are the remaining three women all in the dining room?’ Amir asked.
Ally nodded, though she didn’t much like the way he said ‘remaining women’ like they were being knocked off, one by one.And then there were none! ‘I’ll go and see them,’ she added, standing up and making her way towards the door.
As she walked through the hall, she noticed a lone policeman standing guard outside the front door and wondered briefly if she should offer him a hot drink.
In the dining room, there was a buzz of conversation, everyone talking at once, then a lapse into silence when they saw Ally coming in.
‘Can I get you anything else?’ she asked, noticing that they seemed to be almost finished. ‘More coffee? Tea?’
There was a general shaking of heads. ‘What’s going on out there?’ asked George.
Ally realised that they hadn’t yet heard the news. ‘I’m really sorry to tell you that poor Joyce died in the hospital around midnight,’ she said, feeling tears prickling her eyes again.
‘What?’
‘How?’
‘Why?’
‘So where do the police come into all this?’ asked George.
‘The inspector will tell you everything,’ Ally said, aware that it wasn’t her place to tell them anything.
‘Well, plainly, the constabulary are not here for the good of their health,’ boomed Penelope, wiping crumbs off her sweater. ‘So who’s going to be next, eh?’ She looked round at the others. ‘I’m not so sure now about staying on for another week.’
‘We might not have the choice,’ said Millie. ‘Let’s wait to see what the detective’s going to say.’
‘Thank God you are here, George,’ murmured Brigitte, clasping his arm. ‘I could not cope with this all on my own.’ She bit into a croissant.
‘We all left the garden about the same time last night,’ Millie said, looking around, ‘leaving Joyce asleep on the lounger because it seemed such a shame to wake her.’
At this point, Amir, armed with his phone and his briefcase, came through the door.
‘Thanks, Ally,’ he said, giving her a look which she took as a cue to leave.
