Page 44 of A Very Bookish Murder
‘In which case I need to tell Amir about your involvement in this,’ Ally said gently.
Rigby nodded slowly. ‘I think the time has come to tell him,’ he agreed.
SEVENTEEN
Having refused Cathy’s offers of more tea and more cake, Ally and Ross got back on the road about half past three, knowing they’d need to be home by five at the latest as the dogs would have been shut in for a few hours.
‘What did you make ofthat?’ Ally asked as they whizzed through Drumnadrochit again.
‘What? Rigby do you mean?’
‘Well yes, and his change of heart about telling Amir.’
‘I think you’ve persuaded him to make the right decision,’ Ross said. ‘He’s obviously determined to see the body again and request a DNA test. I don’t think he’s going to be getting back to work in the near future, and certainly not in time to get this case sorted out. So at least by visiting his sister’s body, he can get some sort of resolution.’
Ally nodded. ‘I agree with you. I think I owe it to Rigby to help put his mind at rest, which he can’t do himself. I need to get back to my board and think some more about my chief suspect.’
As she spoke, Ally had a further thought. If Jodi’s baby had been a girl, could any of the women possibly be the daughter? Age-wise that eliminated Penelope and Joyce, but what about the others? Was Laura the right age to be Jodi’s daughter?
‘You and your board! I take it that when you say chief suspect, you mean Laura?’
‘Yes. I mean why else would she have signed up for this writers’ course where Jodi was the main attraction? And couldn’t that be the reason? To kill Jodi?’
‘Or maybe to improve her writing skills?’ Ross suggested.
‘Unlikely,’ Ally retorted. ‘I think she was in constant touch with her lover, Owen Jones, told him she’d done the deed, and so it would be safe for him to appear – the so-called grieving husband! He told her where he was parked, and that’s where she went every day instead of socialising with the others.’
‘That makes sense I suppose,’ Ross agreed. ‘But what about Joyce?’
‘Poor Joyce!’ Ally said. ‘I suppose she could have seen Laura and Owen together somehow and put it together the way we have? And I can still see Brigitte looking through Jodi’s diary and guiltily putting it down when she saw me.’
‘Perhaps she was just being nosy? It’s the kind of thing any of us might do, and especially a writer who’s always on the lookout for new stories. You could always ask her,’ Ross said as they passed the sign for Fort Augustus.
‘Ask her what?’
‘Ask her why she was in there in the first place? Her excuse about having a look at the room or whatever seems a bit wobbly to me.’
‘I suppose so,’ Ally reluctantly agreed. ‘She did explain that she had a pre-arranged meeting, so I can’t very well come out and accuse her of murder, can I?’
‘But the most important thing right now is to tell Amir about Rigby’s involvement in all this, so they can hopefully get the DNA test done.’
‘I will,’ Ally agreed, delving into her bag and getting out her phone.
When they got home, Ross took both dogs for a walk, and he’d hardly gone when Amir arrived.
‘You’re going to need some strong tea, Amir,’ Ally said as she led the way into the kitchen. ‘Or a wee dram?’
‘I’ll settle for the tea, please,’ Amir said, sitting down at the kitchen table and removing a file and a phone from his briefcase. ‘You’ve something to tell me?’
‘I certainly have,’ Ally said. ‘I’ve just been to see Bob Rigby. He’s been keeping some information from you until now, but finally we’ve persuaded him to let me tell you about it.’
Amir looked up with a frown. ‘Go on.’
Ally handed him a mug of strong, black tea with one sugar. ‘He got a massive shock when he saw Jodi Jones’s body,’ she said, ‘because he had reason to believe it was his long-lost sister.’
Amir, who had the mug of tea halfway to his mouth, laid it down again with a shaky hand.
‘What?’
