Free Agatha Raisin: Hiss and Hers by MC Beaton Page B

them the story and said she was at the Red Lion and would be available for interviews.
    No point in forgoing good publicity for her agency.
    It was late afternoon by the time all the interviews were over. As Agatha was walking back to her cottage, she received a phone call from Alice to say that they were all leaving.
    Bill was waiting on the doorstep. ‘We might get something off the package. I’ll let you know. Can’t get any footprints off the path.’
    â€˜What have you been doing all day?’ asked Agatha.
    â€˜Questioning people in the village. Dead loss. No one saw anything and James is away. It might be a good idea if you moved out for a bit.’
    â€˜I won’t be driven out of my home,’ said Agatha stubbornly.

Chapter Five
    Fiona Morton was very upset when she found out that Simon had disappeared in the middle of the night, and what made matters worse in her mind was that the pretty barmaid had disappeared at the same time.
    She was engulfed with fury. She convinced herself that he had been leading her on and thirsted for revenge.
    Simon had been gone for two days when retired policeman Jeff Lindsey opened the door of his cottage in Lower Sithby and found Fiona on the doorstep.
    â€˜What do you want, Fee?’ he demanded ungraciously. He was an elderly man with thick grey hair and a rather weak face. He had been the village policeman in Lower Sithby for years but had been forcibly retired when the previous government had started to sell off village police stations.
    â€˜Let me in,’ ordered Fiona. ‘I need your help.’
    Jeff stood aside reluctantly and Fiona strode past him into his cluttered living room and sat down on a sofa.
    â€˜It’s like this, Jeff. I want to sue someone for breach of promise.’
    â€˜You mean that young fellow you’ve been seen around with?’
    â€˜Yes, him. I have the registration of his car and I want you to find out who he is.’
    â€˜I’m retired,’ protested Jeff.
    â€˜But you have contacts. When Josh Barton up at the farm wanted you to check on a couple who were renting his holiday cottage, you did that for him.’
    Jeff sighed. He knew unless he did what Fiona wanted, she would never leave him in peace.
    â€˜Give me a couple of hours,’ he said.
    Fiona left him and went back to her cottage, where she sat and fretted. How could Simon have treated her so shabbily?
    She drank vodka and stared at the clock, willing it to move faster. When two hours were up, she made her way back to Jeff’s cottage.
    He handed her a slip of paper. ‘That car is registered to a Simon Black. That’s his address. He lives in Mircester.’
    Fiona wasted no time. She got into her car and drove to Mircester, where she bought a street map and then consulted the address again – 5 Mill Lane.
    Mill Lane was a winding narrow street at the back of the abbey. Number 5 was a former mews house, trim and expensive-looking. So Simon must have money.
    He’ll need all of it by the time the courts and I have finished with him, thought Fiona grimly.
    But first, she was determined to find out more about him. She parked outside his house and waited. A thin drizzle was falling, smearing the windscreen of her car. The long day dragged on until evening. The street lamps came on. Her eyes were just beginning to droop and she was feeling very hungry when, glancing in her rearview mirror, she saw the familiar figure of Simon, lit by a street lamp, approaching his front door.
    Fiona was about to get out and confront him when she suddenly decided it would be better to find out where he worked. It would be interesting to see what his bosses would think of him when she challenged him.
    She found a small bed and breakfast place nearby and took a room, explaining that she did not have any luggage because she had missed the last train. Setting her travelling alarm for seven in the morning, she tried to get some sleep, but the