Murder On Bwytheney by Elizabeth. Newby (adult books to read .txt) 📕

with some work. Apparently, it’s more entertaining than my choice of TV. But it suits me. I get to curl up on the bed with some wine and snacks all for myself,” she laughed.

I had visited their B&B farmhouse numerous times over the years and was trying to recall the layout. When I interviewed them for the blog, we were sat in the study. It was a generous-sized room at one end of the sprawling cottage, tucked away from the kitchen and guest dining room that were the heart of the business. It had French doors that opened on to their immaculate gardens. If Bronwen was upstairs watching TV, then was it entirely unfeasible that Matthew had snuck out the French doors without her knowing? He could have easily made his way across to Melissa’s place from there.

“Who do you think done it?" asked Bronwen. "I keep finding myself suspecting everyone. It's horrible. People I've known all my life, and suddenly I'm wondering if they could be a killer."

“I’ve no idea. I can’t see any connection between Pete and Melissa.”

“No, me neither. Pete hasn’t even been here that long. I don’t know that he and Melissa even knew each other that well.”

“It’s so strange. If we were anywhere else but this island, I’d think there were two killers.”

“Yeah? Why’s that?”

"Well, there's no obvious connection between the two of them, and then there's the way they were killed - completely different methods. Melissa was a blunt force to the back of the head, which suggests a certain amount of rage. And then Pete was poisoned – a more calm and calculated murder…”

I took a deep breath and looked out the window over the sea. It really was a possibility. It would make more sense. But the thought that there was a murderer on Bwytheney was horrific enough. The idea of two being here was unthinkable. But if it was true, then Matthew was still a suspect in Melissa’s murder.

“Oh gosh, that makes far more sense. I wonder if the police have thought of that, “said Bronwen as she sipped some of her tea, “you know what, I think you’re right. I mean, it’s a terrifying thought that there could be two murderers in our community, but it’s the only thing that makes sense.” Bronwen placed her teacup back on the saucer and let a shiver run through her body.

“Maybe. Anyway, I really must get on with this article.”

“Of course, sorry, I’ve been disturbing you.” Bronwen finished off her cup of tea and headed out of the café.

I knew I’d let my guard down. Here I was with a woman who had either lied to me or whose husband had snuck out of his house that night, and I was running my mouth off to her. I needed to get this article done and then head home. I couldn’t safely carry out my research in the café with prying eyes around me.

Chapter 13

There were no updates from the police, and it was looking more and more likely that they didn't even have any leads to follow. But I did have a couple of things I wanted to follow up on. There was nothing concrete that I could take to the police without being laughed out of the station as some kind of busy body. So, it was down to my research skills to find out a little more at the very least.

This was going to take a spread of snacks. Research was a game of patience, and snacking on tasty foods kept my attention. I put together a platter of cheeses, cured meats, pate, and crackers. I couldn’t resist adding a slice of cake to an extra plate. I placed them on my desk at the side of my laptop and had my pad of paper and pen on the other side, ready for taking notes.

First up was Gregory Albright. I wouldn’t have given him a second thought if it wasn’t for the lie he told about his car being broken. And while I couldn’t see a connection between him and Pete, if I hadn’t visited Melissa that fateful day, I wouldn’t have thought there was any connection between them either. Something was bothering me about his reaction to Melissa, turning down his offer. But I didn't really know much about Gregory and the sort of business he did. We always joked about him being the landed gentry. He was born into money, and I always assumed he lived off his estate. Yet, he had talked about going to the mainland to do business. It was time to find out more.

There were no social media accounts other than an official one for his estate. That only provided a brief background to his family and information on the estate and gardens tours. I hadn't expected to find out much here, though, as Gregory didn’t strike me as the kind of person to be a social media user. Next up was Google. Maybe I could find more about the sort of business he was in. I soon had a hit with his name appearing on Companies House as a director. The list of companies that he seemed to be involved with was overwhelming. Some seemed to be construction and civil engineering businesses, whereas others seemed to be around property or letting. Alarm bells started ringing. If he wanted to build on Melissa’s land, he would have a fight on his hands. It seemed insane that he would even think that he could get away with it. But I just couldn’t see him wanting to run a campsite.

Working through them methodically, I wrote down the names of the various businesses as well as the other directors involved. One name, Alan Rainer, kept coming up time and again. Opening a new tab, I googled his name alongside each of the business names. It was when I reached GAR Holdings that things got interesting. An article from the Liverpool Echo popped up dating back to