Free Small Town Shock (Some Very English Murders Book 1) by Issy Brooke Page B

involved
in the documentary about the shade of pink someone painted their house in
Cornwall. It got really rather heated. Some people did end up in court. And the
other thing is, what about the dead man’s brother? Thomas, isn’t it? I had heard
that they argued.” Okay, she had to admit to herself. That was pure
gossip overheard in the mini-market.
    But Drew agreed. “They didn’t get on at all but there always
seems to be more to it than just sibling rivalry. There was some kind of silent
bitterness. Oh, listen to me… I’m as bad as the rest of them.”
    “It’s just community spirit and neighbourly interest; it’s
fine,” she reassured him. “Who was the older brother of the two?”
    “Thomas was.”
    “Were there any other siblings?”
    “Nope, just David and Thomas.”
    She persisted with her questions. “Did David inherit the
farm or did he buy it?”
    Drew thought for a moment. “He inherited it, but I don’t
really know why it went to him and not Thomas, being as he was the older one.
Except … okay, thinking about it, maybe it was because Thomas was never very
interested in any of that. He went off to join the Army and then he worked all
over the world, as some kind of close protection officer.”
    “Wow, that sounds glamorous.”
    “Not so much, any more. He was Glenfield’s golden boy once,
apparently. He’s a night security guard in Lincoln now, at some scrap yard.”
    “He could be a suspect.”
    “Maybe,” Drew concurred. “And what about Mary, his partner?
Girlfriend? What do you call that kind of relationship? Girlfriend sounds too …
immature, you know, for teenagers.”
    “And lover sounds a bit … yeah, I don’t know. Anyway,
whatever. Girlfriend. She was a recent girlfriend, too, from what I hear. Why
would she kill him? I don’t think she had time to get to that stage of a
relationship. You know, that point when you realise you want to kill the other
person because they leave their toe nail clippings in a pile on the bedside
table.”
    They stopped while Kali decided to mark her spot. Penny
sighed and pulled out a plastic bag.
    Drew looked up at the brightening sky, and mused to
himself, “It’s always about love, money or power, isn’t it, in the end?”
    “That’s a good point!” Penny said. “I need to make a chart
of all this. I need coloured marker pens and a really big bit of paper.”
    “Are you sure? Look. Supposing there is a murderer. The
thing about murderers is, uh … well, they are murderers, right? They are
outside the law. They’re kind of dangerous. So…”
    “I’m just following the case and thinking about stuff. I
can do that,” she protested.
    “There’s a look on your face that worries me,” Drew said.
“Like you’re going to start digging around for stuff. I know you said you have
the advantage, being an outsider, but that means you don’t know who you can ask
and who you can’t. Don’t forget that a lot of people have lived here for
generations and some of their enmities go back generations, too. You could end
up in proper bother.”
    “I’ll be fine.” Penny felt annoyed. She had hoped Drew
would be an ally, helping her sift through the clues, but if he was just going
to tell her not to ask questions, he was no help at all. “So, where does this
path lead?”
    “You’re changing the subject.”
    “Yes, I am.”
    “Hmm.”
    They faced one another, and she stared at him. Yes, he had
brought her a head-collar for Kali and yes, it was working fantastically well,
and it occurred to her that she owed him some money for it. But ultimately she
wasn’t going to let herself be deterred from something she really wanted to do.
    He crumbled first. “We’ll carry on a little way past the
bridge,” he said at last. “I’ll show you. It’s a nice walk when it isn’t
raining.”
    “It’s a nice walk anyway,” she said. “And thank you so much
for taking the time out to walk with me. I do really appreciate it. And