Free Screaming Yellow by Rachel Green

Jennifer stood at the bar and removed her gloves while Simon flagged down the barman.
    “Father Brande. This is a pleasant surprise.” Mike Chapman jerked his head toward the bar. “You any good at darts? We’re being thrashed by the team from Morley Croft.”
    Simon shook his head. “Sorry, Mike.”
    “No matter. What can I get you?”
    “A small scotch for me and...” He looked at Jennifer, his eyebrows raised.
    “I’ll have a port and lemon.” Jennifer looked at the other guests. There was no one she recognized.  
    “There you go.” Simon took out his wallet and laid a five-pound note on the bar. “Is Richard upstairs?”
    “I don’t know offhand.” Mike glanced into the bar. “I’ve not seen him, though he might well have come in and gone straight up.”
    “Mind if I check?”
    Mike shook his head. “Help yourself.”
    “Splendid.” Simon touched Jennifer’s arm. “I'll only be a minute. You go and sit down.”
    * * * *
    “So what did you find out?” asked Jennifer when they got home. She was already seething from the silent car journey. “You were gone for ages when you went to see Richard and then just swallowed your drink in one gulp. It must have been something important.”  
    “Actually, no. Richard wasn’t there so I left him a note to come and see me. The trouble was I had to go and find a pen and then needed a piece of paper.” Simon looked at her as she took his coat to hang up. “I have to think.” He kicked off his shoes and put his slippers on. “Robert told me some disturbing news. I need to pray for guidance.”
    “Tell me something, at least.” Jennifer put the discarded footwear onto newspaper. “You and Robert were cloistered in his study for over an hour.”
    Simon headed up the stairs. “You were right all along. I’m going to bed.”
    “Right about what?” Jennifer shouted, her exasperation with her secretive brother reaching boiling point, but he gave her no reply.
    * * * *
    Jennifer was engrossed in an online conversation about Margaret’s dog when the phone rang. She looked at the clock in the corner of the screen. Eleven-fifteen. The ringing stopped, answered by Simon in his bedroom. Minutes later he came thundering down the stairs pulling his clothes on as he went.
    Jennifer ran into the hall. “What’s happened?”
    His face was grim. “That was Amanda, the maid at The Larches. Robert’s been murdered.”
     

 
    Chapter 10
     
    Jennifer pulled up onto the gravel drive, avoiding scraping the other parked car by a finger’s width. “That was close,” she said, turning off the engine.
    “Close? You could have wrecked Robert’s Jaguar.” Simon was breathing far too heavily for the simple drive. Jennifer put it down to the drinking. It always made him tetchy.
    “Anyway, what would it matter if Robert’s dead? He’s hardly going to complain is he?” Jennifer pulled off her leather driving gloves and stowed them in the glove box. “And if he comes back from the dead to moan about it, I’ll apologize, okay?”
    Simon scowled and got out of the car, forcing Jennifer to hurry after him toward the dark house.  
    She caught his arm. “It’s all closed up for the night. If there’s been a murder here, why isn’t it bustling with activity and the police? Are you sure it wasn’t somebody’s idea of a joke?”
    He scowled. “It’s in very bad taste if it is.” He stepped back, looking up at the darkened windows. “Perhaps they’re all at the back. You wait here and I’ll go and check.”
    Jennifer wrapped her coat more tightly around her as he disappeared around the side of the house. She could hear nothing but the tink-tink-tink of the engine cooling and the hiss of traffic in the distance. She was just debating calling out when the crunch of gravel announced Simon’s return.
    “There’s not a light on anywhere.” He half-ran up the steps and banged on the door. “Better to wake the house than ignore the call, though. Imagine if Sir