A Body in Seaview Grange by Dee MacDonald (red queen free ebook .TXT) 📕

when she got to the bottom. And she was hardly likely to stretch the cord across the top in order to trip herself, was she?’

‘But the flex wasn’t found to be there afterwards?’

‘Yes, because Edgar Ellis disconnected it in case anyone else tripped over it. Both he and Cornelius saw it though. But I agree with what Stan thought – I think it could have been placed there after she was pushed to make it look as if she tripped over it accidentally.’

‘That would be my guess,’ Woody agreed. ‘Or it’s possible that she was killed at the foot of the stairs and before the flex was stretched across the top to make it look like she’d fallen.’

Kate was relieved to know they’d been thinking along the same lines. ‘I was always certain it wasn’t Sharon that poisoned Edina, and I think now this definitely proves it,’ she said.

‘Well, let’s wait to see what the medical reports come up with.’

Kate sniffed. ‘Would they be able to tell whether the injury that killed her was caused before she fell or afterwards?’

‘Most likely,’ Woody replied.

‘I expect they’ll just say that death was caused by falling down a long flight of stone stairs and bashing her head on the lowest one.’ Kate recalled the patch of blood on the bottom step and the way that Bill Robson had that measured and photographed, along with everything else. ‘How would they know if she was pushed or not? And where did Sharon’s phone go to? Whoever killed Sharon must have her phone.’

‘You’d be surprised with what they can come up with,’ Woody said, ‘and they’re searching all the flats right now so hopefully they’ll find the phone.’

‘But whoever took it has had time to get rid of it, or hide it,’ Kate said, ‘although it was bright pink so it should be relatively easy to find.’

Woody nodded. ‘I’m afraid you’re right. But, for now, try to put it out of your mind. This is now a double murder inquiry and I’m going to be back at the police station most of the time.’

Kate couldn’t sleep a wink. Afraid of disturbing Woody, Kate eased herself out of bed and went into his kitchen to make herself a hot drink. The dog, who’d been asleep on Woody’s sofa, looked up hopefully.

‘No, we’re not going out for a walk in the middle of the night,’ she said.

Did Woody have hot chocolate? No, apparently not, but he did have instant coffee, so that would have to do.

She’d been tempted again and again to delete the Potters and Hetty from The List. But something made her hesitate. She kept thinking about the twins’ resentment because Edina had got the flat they wanted. They obviously still wanted it, but would that have been enough of a motive to poison her? Then there was Hetty. She didn’t like the way Hetty had spoken just after Sharon had died. But Hetty was Edina’s great friend.

She’d left a question mark next to Gloria’s name, only because she was such an objectionable character. But there was little means or opportunity for her to have committed the crime. But Kate still felt that Gloria was unlikely to be the killer although she left her on The List, mainly because she didn’t like her.

She was now fairly certain it had to be David Courtney, but that didn’t answer the question as to which flat Sharon had found the proof in. Edina’s flat couldn’t be ruled out because David Courtney could have been there specifically to remove any evidence he might have left behind.

That left Cornelius and Edgar. Cornelius was weird, and he seemed almost to be enjoying the current drama. He certainly didn’t seem concerned.

As for Edgar, well… He’d apparently idolised Edina, so why on earth would he have wanted to kill her? And had he poisoned his late wife? Kate considered his recent suicide attempt; was that some sort of cry for help or had he really wanted to kill himself? Either because he couldn’t bear the thought of life without Edina, as his note suggested, or because he’d actually killed her? Could it be possible that he was the killer?

Kate’s thoughts moved downstairs. If someone had bashed Sharon on the head at the foot of the stairs and then rushed up to stretch the vacuum flex across the top to make it look like an accident, they’d have had to move pretty quickly. This made the Pratts in Flat 3 unlikely suspects, as she doubted either of this bulky couple could move that fast. Surely someone would have seen one or the other of them if they’d ventured upstairs today? And, since it was Ollie who apparently found the body, he’d have had to rush downstairs in time to ‘find’ her and let everyone know.

What about Stan? Kate couldn’t believe that he could have murdered Sharon but you never really know what goes on in a marriage, they say. Could his grief have been feigned? But how could he be a suspect when he’d been at the far end of the grounds, pruning a tree, when Sharon met her fate? Hetty had had to rush out to find him and break the awful news. But why would he have wanted to kill Edina in the first place?

Kate got back into bed, then tossed and turned. She tried hard not to think of Seaview Grange or any of its inhabitants, but concentrate instead on the prospect of a trip to California, and meeting some of Woody’s family. She was certainly going to be ready for a change of scenery.

Twenty-Four

Kate and Barney got home about eight o’clock in the morning. In spite of having the dog for company Kate felt strangely alone all day. She was unable to distract her thoughts from the horrifying scenes of yesterday, and the blood pooled around Sharon’s shattered skull.

The house seemed unusually empty without Angie, which Kate thought was odd since Angie spent much of her time in her so-called