Free Agatha Raisin and the Love from Hell by MC Beaton Page B

his name.’
    ‘I don’t see how you plan to do that. Can’t think of anyone else with any reason to have done it.’
    Agatha looked ready to flare up, so Charles said quickly, ‘It’s just that we’re trying to build up a picture of Melissa. No one seems to have known her very well. You see, if we can get an idea what she was like, we might think of a reason why she was murdered.’
    ‘The reason,’ said Luke, ‘is that she was messing around with James Lacey.’
    ‘Humour me,’ said Charles. ‘What was she like?’
    Luke’s accents, which were a sort of refined Midlands, suddenly coarsened. ‘She was a bloody actress, that’s what she was. She lived in a private soap opera. In fact, she watched as many soap operas as she could. I went to see her about a month before she was killed. She wanted more money. God knows why. She had enough of her own. I pointed out that when we divorced, she’d settled for a lump sum. She was playing at being the perfect villager, rambling on about recipes and plants and how to make loose covers. She was even wearing an apron!’
    ‘So why did you marry her?’ asked Agatha.
    ‘Because the act she was playing when I met her was lady-tart. She promised everything.’ He nudged Charles. ‘Know what I mean?’
    ‘And she wasn’t?’
    ‘She thought she was good in bed and she was lousy.’
    So what did James see in her? wondered Agatha.
    ‘Doesn’t help us a bit,’ mourned Charles. ‘Just because a woman’s a bit of an amateur actress doesn’t mean she would necessarily inspire someone to murder her.’
    Agatha covertly studied Luke Sheppard. She did not like him, and yet she had to admit he exuded a strong air of animal sexuality.
    ‘I’ve got to get back to work,’ said Luke, draining his glass. ‘If I think of anything, I’ll let you know.’
    ‘Here’s my card,’ said Agatha.
    He stood up and then said, ‘Why don’t you two let the police do the work?’
    ‘I’ve managed to solve cases in the past,’ said Agatha.
    He gave a bark of laughter. ‘Melissa did that as well. When she wasn’t watching the soaps, she was watching Miss Marple or Morse on the telly. Another of her fantasies.’ He strode off before the fulminating Agatha could answer him.
    ‘So that’s put you in your place,’ said Charles. ‘Let’s grab a bite to eat. Give me some money, Aggie, and I’ll get it.’
    ‘No,’ said Agatha. ‘ Yo u get it.’
    ‘I told you, I forgot my wallet.’
    She leaned across quickly, thrust her hand inside his jacket, and pulled out his wallet. ‘There you are.’
    ‘Bless me, I was sure I had forgotten it.’
    ‘Good try, Charles. Get food.’
    He came back with two ploughman’s, those bread-and-cheese rolls which are the cheapest thing on a pub menu.
    ‘So we haven’t got very far,’ said Charles. ‘Except maybe for the Miss Marple bit. I mean, what if Melissa, fancying herself a detective, had dug up something that someone didn’t want her to know?’
    ‘Could be,’ said Agatha, opening up her roll and looking gloomily at a piece of sweating cheese and a leaf of limp lettuce. ‘It all seems hopeless, but I’ve got to go on. Somehow, if I stop ferreting around, I’ll sink back into misery again.’
    ‘I know,’ said Charles. ‘When we finish this, we’ll call in at police headquarters and ask for Bill. Maybe he’s heard something.’
    Agatha ate what she could. Charles finished his and then ate what she had left on her plate.
    ‘Getting hot,’ he said as they emerged into the sunlight.
    They walked to police headquarters, asked for Bill Wong and were told to wait. Some attempt had been made a long time ago to brighten up the reception area, but various potted plants were dying or dead and the magazines on the scarred table in front of them were years old.
    Finally the desk sergeant called them over and pressed a buzzer so they could go through to the back. Bill was waiting for them in the corridor. ‘We’ll use this room,’