Preface to Murder by M Morris (funny books to read txt) 📕

*

Bridget was already on her way to Marston when her phone rang. She answered it handsfree. ‘Hello?’

‘It’s Ffion, boss. I’ve just finished reading Diane’s latest romance book. I know who did it!’

‘Me too. I spoke to Louise Morton. She told me that the keys to Diane’s house that Annabel reported missing have turned up. Ian Dunn claimed to have found them in his kitchen drawer this morning. He told Louise he was going to Annabel’s house to return them, and I’m driving there now. Get a response car round there and meet me at the house.’

‘Okay, I’ll organise a car. But listen. There’s something you need to know…’

35

Annabel didn’t press Ian on the reason for his visit and he followed her and Oscar down the path, wondering how best to broach the subject he’d come to discuss.

He knew that by choosing to come and see Annabel first – under the pretext of returning her lost keys – he was really only doing what he’d done for many years. Postponing the difficult conversation he needed to have with his son. For despite everything, he still thought of Daniel as his own and probably always would. But a full and frank explanation was long overdue. Detective Inspector Hart’s visit this morning had only served to drive that point home. If Daniel was really John’s son, and Ian had little reason to doubt it, then Daniel was going to need all the help and support that Ian could provide, both as a father and as a medical man. It would come as a huge shock to Daniel, and a double blow to discover that not only was Ian not his real father, but that he was suffering from an incurable wasting disease.

Ian needed to explain and apologise to Louise too for all the heartache he’d made her endure. She knew nothing about the swap that had taken place in Italy. It had happened so long ago and perhaps Ian had always been embarrassed by what, as the years crept by, looked increasingly like the folly of youth. Now he saw what a coward he’d been in not telling his new wife the whole truth about his past. He’d tried to bury it, but like a long-dormant volcano it had now erupted in spectacular fashion. The only decent thing to do was to try and sort out the mess he had helped create.

But before he embarked on those two most difficult conversations he needed to speak to Annabel. This involved her just as much as Daniel or Louise. He didn’t think the news about John being Daniel’s father would come as a great shock to her. As he’d explained to DI Hart, he was pretty certain she already knew the truth. But he was still nervous about tackling the subject. How would she feel about the matter? He had no idea, because he had never dared to raise it.

She had good reason to feel bitter towards him. If he had married her, as he had once fully intended, then she would never have had to endure the heartache of losing John. It was pretty clear that she had come off a lot worse than him in the bargain. Now the messy truth of their relationships was going to be exposed for all the world to see.

The one consoling thought was that she couldn’t possibly know the whole truth. For if she ever discovered that, the knowledge would surely kill her.

*

Bridget listened with a growing sense of disbelief as Ffion explained the plot of Diane’s latest novel. Ffion had already dispatched a response car and promised to meet Bridget in Marston.

‘So the book’s called Stolen in Sorrento and it’s about two sisters on holiday in Italy with their boyfriends, Jamie and Tom.’

‘Got it,’ said Bridget, negotiating the narrow, twisting lanes of Old Headington.

‘When they set out from England, the two couples are very much in love, but it’s obvious to the reader that not all is quite as it seems. The eldest sister, Scarlett, is the dominant one. She’s a manipulative person who always gets her own way. She rather despises her younger sister, Katie, who has always looked up to her, and bosses her around all the time. Scarlett is ruthless and ambitious. She plans to become a journalist and change the world. Katie loves animals and wants to be a vet.’

The Mini bounced over a speed hump and skirted around the edge of Headington Cemetery. Bridget gripped the wheel tightly and pressed her foot to the floor. ‘Can you just cut to the important bit?’ she asked Ffion.

‘I’m coming to it. Here’s what happens. By the time they reach Sorrento, which is their final destination, Scarlett has decided that Jamie is a loser – there are all kinds of reasons why he’s unsuitable – and that she’d much rather have Katie’s boyfriend, Tom.’

‘Right,’ said Bridget, ‘and Katie prefers Jamie, and so they all agree to swap.’

‘No,’ said Ffion. ‘That’s not what happens. In the book, both sisters want Tom, and so Scarlett realises that in order to engineer a swap she’s going to have to convince Jamie and Tom that it’s in their best interests too.’

‘How does she do that?’

‘By telling them lies and being devious. I haven’t got time to explain all the details. Anyway, to cut to the chase, Scarlett tricks the two men into going along with her plan, and so they sit down one night for dinner and bring it all out into the open. At first, Katie is upset, but because Jamie and Tom are both so keen on the idea, she gradually comes round to it.’

‘So Scarlett gets exactly what she wants,’ said Bridget, ‘and Katie never finds out that it was really