Free SAY GOODBYE TO ARCHIE: A Rex Graves Mini-Mystery by C.S. Challinor Page A

hors-d’oeuvres, we discussed the current book, a mystery set in the Shetlands, and then Felicity answered questions about her role as a literary agent and how best to submit, et cetera . That’s it, really.”
    “Felicity had read the book you were discussing?”
    “Actually, no. She had to take an important call and left us to it. Unless it was a pretext to smoke. She smokes rather more than she should.”
    “She left the room?”
    “I believe so.”
    “How long was she gone?”
    “I’m not sure. Not more than ten or fifteen minutes.”
    “Enough time to run back to your house. It’s only a wee village. Was she wearing heels?”
    “Boots, I think. It was windy and raining on Wednesday. Are you suggesting it was Felicity who murdered Archie?”
    “At what point did she disappear?”
    “We got into the book discussion about half an hour after we arrived.”
    “Six-thirty?”
    “Thereabouts.”
    Rex sat back in his chair. “Can you remember what else she was wearing on Wednesday?”
    “Business attire. Much the same as today, but maybe slacks? She was wearing a red raincoat and had an umbrella. But it wasn’t raining when we walked to Madeline’s. It felt good to be out, I remember. The air felt very fresh after the rain. I also remember thinking Archie might be out in the garden after being cooped inside all day. His fur always smelled so good after he’d been outdoors.” Patricia lost herself in a moment of nostalgia, and then came to again. “But, seriously, Reginald. Felicity can’t be your suspect.”
    “Why not?”
    “Because it doesn’t make any sense! She made a living off Archie, same as me and Roger, though to a lesser extent.”
    “Did she ever show Archie any affection?”
    “Not especially. She’s allergic to cats. Sometimes I had to put him outside the study when she was visiting, as her eyes would start to get irritated.” Patricia stared at him through her lenses, her pupils dilated. “That is no reason to get rid of my cat!”
    “Well, there’s a bit more to it than that. I’m sorry to have to inform you that it was probably her who murdered Archie. Not that anyone on your list would have been good news.”
    “I never really suspected Felicity. She offered to come when I called her with the news of Archie’s death. Felicity Parker? Can you prove it?”
    “I have a wee trick up my sleeve. It was on Felicity’s sleeve, actually. I picked it off her jacket yesterday when Charles almost knocked her off her feet.”
    “He can be very clumsy, that boy. But I’m not sure I follow.”
    “If you could boil the kettle and bring me the Say Goodbye to Archie note and some glue, I’ll show you. And I’ll need Felicity’s home address so I can pay her a personal visit.”
    *
    As Rex got off the train at Victoria Station he wondered if he would catch Felicity at home on a Sunday morning. Yet he felt it unlikely she’d be at church. After all, murdering poor Archie wasn’t a very Christian thing to do. Fortunately, she didn’t live far away, and if he took a taxi he would have enough time to see her and get to King’s Cross for his scheduled train back to Edinburgh.
    When he arrived at her address in a nondescript block of flats located in a mainly residential neighbourhood, with an Indian restaurant on the corner, he asked the cabbie to wait while he went to see if the person he was calling on was home. Hoping and praying that she was, he rang on her bell at the front entrance. Felicity’s voice answered on the intercom. He gestured to the cabbie that he would be fifteen minutes, and the man nodded and opened a newspaper.
    The agent sounded surprised and pleased when he announced himself, and invited him up to her flat. At the door she glanced down at his hands as though expecting flowers. It appeared she had applied a fresh layer of lipstick in the time it had taken him to reach her floor in the lift.
    “There’s something important I need to discuss with you,” he said,