'Guess who that was,' he invited Rafferty once he’d put the ‘phone down.
Rafferty shrugged.
'Remember our travelling salesman who noted and lost the registration number of the Zephyr?'
Rafferty nodded.
'He's finally found the piece of paper and surprise, surprise—'
'It's the same as that on Sinead Fay's car,' Rafferty finished for him. Llewellyn nodded. 'Pity he didn't manage to find it before.'
'If he had we may well have concentrated our attention more strongly on them and never got beyond the fact of their involvement. If Frank Massey hadn't begun to feel he was our number one suspect and gone missing, we might never have learned about his and Elizabeth Probyn's youthful liaison, you would never have begun to wonder about that liaison, and about the strange limit to the photographs of the daughter that no one seemed to know anything about and what exactly was the matter with her and why.'
Rafferty wasn't sure he wouldn't have preferred it that way. But he kept the opinion to himself. It wasn't the sort of thing a police inspector should bruit about.
At least the telephone call had succeeded in breaking the melancholy silence that the discovery of the truth and Elizabeth Probyn's painful confession had brought because Llewellyn went on. 'By the way, thanks for the advice.'
'Advice?' Rafferty's head began to thump as his hangover returned. Oh God, he hadn’t been dishing out more of the stuff, had he? He could hardly believe it after all the anxieties the last lot had caused him. Trouble was, he couldn't remember. Half suspicious, half wary, he stared at his sergeant, trying to discern the emotions behind the impassive countenance; never an easy task at the best of times, especially when Llewellyn was indulging his love of irony at his expense. And, in the past, Rafferty's unasked for and carelessly handed out pearls of wisdom had had a painful boomerang tendency that had only served to encourage the Welshman's withering wit. 'All right,' he muttered, 'out with it. What have I done this time?'
'You advised me to pop the question.'
Rafferty took a deep breath and asked, 'So what happened?'
'It was a beautiful night, still and silent, made for poetry, for declarations of love and—'
'For God's sake, Dafyd, can you cull your inner poet and just tell me what happened!'
Llewellyn's long face almost split into a grin. 'I asked her. She said yes.'
Thank God for that. Rafferty breathed a sigh of relief. The next minute, qualms forgotten, he clapped Llewellyn on the back. 'There—what did I tell you? Trust your old Agony Uncle Joseph to know what's what. Now you can start worrying about how much it's all going to cost. First it'll be the engagement ring, then—'
Llewellyn shook his head. 'Maureen doesn't believe in such things. She—'
Rafferty held up his hands. 'Don't tell me. She thinks engagement rings are symbols of male oppression, right?' A ring through the nose of 'Daisy' the cow, Rafferty repeated irreverently to himself.
Llewellyn nodded.
'Jammy devil. Mind, I wouldn't bet on such luck lasting. Wait till that mother of hers gets to work on her. That woman's got to have something to boast about. Bet you a fiver you end up paying for a stone that Liz Taylor would envy.'
Before Llewellyn could remind him that he didn’t bet, Rafferty thrust his chair back and pulled on his coat. 'Anyway, you can worry about that later. Now, I think it's time you bought the matchmaker a drink. We'll pop into the Green Man. It's not every day my sergeant gets himself engaged, with or without the ring.'
It wasn't every day you arrested a Chief Crown Prosecutor either, he reminded himself. He wasn't sure whether the drink for that would be a celebratory one or a drowning of sorrows.
'So when's the happy day planned?' he asked as they walked out to the car.
'Not for some time. It doesn't do to rush these things. Though,' Llewellyn gave a faint smile, 'as your mother has bought her hat and has also found me the most wonderful new suit, I don't think we ought to disappoint her too long.'
'A new suit?' Rafferty queried, as an uneasy memory stirred.
'Yes, your mother showed it to me after you left last night.' Llewellyn smiled. ‘She asked me not to mention it to you. She said she didn’t have another one to fit you. Perhaps she thought you’d be jealous? But I don’t suppose she’ll mind me mentioning it. Not in the circumstances. Not with you being the one to bring Maureen and me together. And it really is of a marvellous quality. And surprisingly reasonable. Your mother really has got an eye for a bargain.'
Rafferty gave him a sickly smile. 'Hasn't she though?'
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BIOGRAPHY
GERALDINE EVANS IS the author of over twenty-five published novels, including eighteen in the Rafferty and Llewellyn mystery series. Her previous publishers include Macmillan, Severn House, Hale, St Martin’s Press and Worldwide (US).
She started writing in her twenties, but never finished anything. It was only when she hit the milestone age of thirty that she managed to complete a book. For the next six years she completed a book a year, only the last of which was published. That was her romance, Land of Dreams, which was taken from Hale’s slush pile.
When her follow-up romance was rejected, she felt like murdering someone. So she did. She turned to crime. Dead Before Morning, her first mystery novel, and the first book in her Rafferty and Llewellyn mystery series, was taken from Macmillan’s slush pile and published, both in the UK and the US. It was the beginning of a long career as a mystery author, that became successful when she turned indie in the autumn of 2010.
Geraldine Evans is a Londoner, but moved to Norfolk in East Anglia, in 2000.
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The Rafferty & Llewellyn British Mystery Series
Game of Bones #18
The Spanish Connection#17
Asking For It #16
Kith and Kill #15
Deadly Reunion #14
Death Dance #13
All the Lonely People #12
Death Dues #11
A Thrust to the Vitals #10
Blood on the Bones #9
Love Lies Bleeding #8
Bad Blood #7
Dying For You #6
Absolute Poison #5
The Hanging Tree #4
Death Line #3
Down Among the Dead Men #2
Dead Before Morning #1
BOXSETS
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RAFFERTY BOOKS 9-12:
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Casey & Catt procedural series
A Killing Karma #2
Up in Flames #1
Standalones
Romantic Suspense/Thriller
The Egg Factory
Biographical Historical Novel
Reluctant Queen: The Story of Mary Rose Tudor, the Defiant Little Sister of English King Henry VIII
Romantic Novels
Land of Dreams
The Wishing Fountain
Strangers on the Shore
Short Stories
A Mix of Six
Pond Life
The Station Thief
The Monarch’s Gift
Various Non-Fiction, including Historical Biography, Writing and New Age
The Hanging Tree
Geraldine Evans
Copyright 1996 and 2011 Geraldine Evans
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Publisher’s Note: This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Cover illustration by Nicole of covershotcreations
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
BRITISH ENGLISH USAGE AND SPELLING
THIS NOVEL USES BRITISH English spellings and slang, some of which I’ve listed below so you can check any with which you are unfamiliar.
LANGUAGE DIFFERENCES
BRITISH SLANG: MEANING
A
Autumn: Fall
B
Bike: Woman of Loose Morals
Bollocking: Stern reprimand
Born the wrong side of the blanket: Illegitimate child
Brief: A suspect’s lawyer
Bright spark: Clever person
Builder’s bum: Bottom cleavage
Buttie: Sandwich
By-blow: Illegitimate child
C
Chippie: Carpenter / Fish and Chip Shop / A person inclined to be snappish (Chippy)
Come clean: Tell the truth
Coughed for: Admitted to crimes
Cracking up: Having a nervous breakdown
Cup of builder’s: Strong tea
Cup of Rosie Lee (Cockney Rhyming Slang): Tea
D
Divvy up: Share out
Do a (moonlight) flit: Disappear suspiciously suddenly
Dodgy: Illegal
Dodgy person: A person of suspect morals (in a legal sense)
Do/Doing a Bunk: Disappear (usually before the law or creditors catch up with you)
Done a bunk: Ditto
EF
Easy: Morally lax (in a sexual sense)
‘I’m easy’: Happy to go along with everyone else
Flabbergasted: Astonished
Full wack: Full price
G
Get your marching orders: To be sacked, dismissed
Give someone a bell: Telephone someone
Give something the once-over: Check something out
Gnashers: Teeth
Gobsmacked: Astonished, shocked
(Got) Form: Got a criminal record
Grass up: Inform on someone to the police
Grotty: Horrible
HI
Half-inch=Pinch (Cockney Rhyming Slang): Steal
Have it out: Brisk exchange of views
High-falluting: Fancy, posh
Iffy Whistle (Whistle and Flute=Suit (Cockney Rhyming Slang): Stolen suit of male clothing
In a jiff/jiffy: Quickly / Soon
JKL
Jiffy bag: Padded envelope
‘Let’s get cracking: ‘Let’s get on with it’
M
Measly: Very Little
Moolah: Money
More front than Brighton / ‘You’ve Got Some Front: Plenty of chutzpah
NO
Old lags: Prison inmates
On someone’s watch: While responsible for
PQR
Pikey: Traveller, Gypsy
Pillock: Idiot
Porkie pie (Cockney Rhyming Slang): Lie
Rat-arsed/pissed: Drunk
Right Pillock: Total Idiot
Right plonker: Total idiot
S
Scrote: Insult, short for ‘scrotum’
Scumbag=Slag (Cockney Rhyming Slang): Insult (low-life male character)
Short and curlies: Pubic hair
(Keep) Shtum: Don’t Tell Anyone, keep quiet
Slag: Toe-rag=Slag (Cockney Rhyming Slang): Insult (Low-life male character)
Slag: Insult (Female character of low morals)
Skedaddle: Make oneself scarce / Escape
Snout: Police informer
Sparks: Electrician
Sparks’ll fly: A situation will become inflamed
Sticky Situation: Difficult
T
Tea-leaf (Cockney Rhyming Slang): Thief
Tetchy: Irritable, touchy, snappish
Toe-Rag=Slag (Cockney Rhyming Slang): Insult (Low-Life male character)
Tosser: Insult (male given to personal sexual abuse)
Trouble and strife (Cockney Rhyming Slang): Wife
Turn a girl’s head: Make her smitten/keen on someone
UV
Up to one’s eyeballs: Very busy
WXYZ
Wasted: Very Drunk
Whistle and flute (Cockney Rhyming Slang): Suit of male clothing
Wuss: Weakling
‘You make me crack up’: ‘You make me laugh’ (sometimes used in a sarcastic manner)
‘You’ve Got Some Front’: Plenty of chutzpah
BRITISH SPELLING v US SPELLING
Alternative-v-Alternate
Colour-v-Color
Grey-v-Gray
Labour-v-Labor
Neighbour-v-Neighbor
Organise-v-Organize
Practice (Doctor’s Practice)-v-Practice
Practise (as in to practise doing something)-v-Practice
Queue-v-Qu (?) Line of people
Rationalise-v-Rationalize
Realise-v-Realize
Recognise: Recognize
There are lots more, I’ll add them to my list as I think of them.
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RAFFERTY & LLEWELLYN BOXED SET: BOOKS 1 - 4 Page 88