by Rebecca Tope
‘That’s another amazing thing. She saw a date that Ben had scrawled on a dirty window, and she got in through the cellar and found him.’
‘Hang on!’ Melanie ordered. ‘Bonnie was in a cellar? Full of coal dust and cobwebs and dirt?’
‘Not sure about the coal dust. But plenty of the ordinary sort. She was filthy dirty, with blood from cuts on her hand and cobwebs in her hair.’
‘She must have been frantic. You think your dad’s got a phobia – what about Bonnie?’
‘Pardon?’
‘Haven’t you worked it out yet? She’s totally terrified of dirt. And blood. She keeps it under control these days, but it’s still there. I saw her freaking out, a year or so ago, when Corinne made her help with some car repair. She got engine oil on her, just a black streak on her arm, and she went into a real state.’
‘I didn’t know. I just thought she’d been anorexic.’
‘It connects, somehow. But the point is, being dirty is like walking through fire would be to you or me.’
‘Well, she did it for Ben.’ Simmy wiped away a sudden tear. ‘I said she was a hero.’
Again they sat quietly, each thinking hard. Then Melanie said, ‘Dan was a bit of a hero as well, believe it or not.’
‘Was he?’
‘I don’t know exactly, but he must have taken a stand with the Lillywhites, telling them he was going to the police, or something. He’d been googling them, and asking questions, until he’d got a fair idea of what they were up to. He’d actually got a sort of dossier on them. I found it today. They were up here sussing out likely places for running a … well, brothel, he called it.’
‘Where did you find it – this dossier? Didn’t the police take his computer on Tuesday? That must be routine, surely?’
‘They took his laptop, but missed his iPad. He’d left it in the office, so they didn’t realise it was his. I went through the history and everything else I could find. It explains quite a lot.’
‘How were things at the hotel today?’
‘Not too bad. Gentian and her mum leave tomorrow. Mr Ferguson’s there till Sunday. They seem to be friends now. I saw the three of them playing cards in the lounge.’
Simmy smiled at the image. ‘The news will soon get round – about the Lillywhites.’
‘Well, nobody liked them.’
‘Can the hotel survive all this publicity, do you think?’
‘Bodgett thinks so. He gave us all a bit of a pep talk just before I left. Oh – and he wants you to bring more flowers tomorrow. Those Americans might have gone, but there are plenty of people who still have to be impressed, apparently.’
Simmy put a hand to her mouth. ‘But I haven’t ordered anything. Where am I going to find enough for two more displays? I should go now and order something.’
‘Too late, Sim. You’ll have to improvise. It won’t be the first time.’
‘Like stealing dahlias from people’s gardens, you mean?’
‘Are dahlias in flower yet? I thought they were August. It’s all crocosmia and delphiniums at the moment.’
‘Don’t be such a know-all. I suppose I can scrape enough things together from the shop, if I have to.’
‘You’ll do a wonderful job. You know you will.’
Ben was released from hospital into the arms of his bewildered mother, just after eight that evening. ‘Can I use your phone?’ he asked her in the car.
Wordlessly, she handed it over.
‘Bon? I’m on the way home. See you tomorrow?’
‘Okay. I won’t be in the shop. My hands don’t work.’
‘What did you think of the message in the burial ground?’
‘Yeah. It was okay.’
‘What’s up?’
‘You nearly died, you idiot. And there you are thinking about the game, as if nothing happened.’
He paused, glancing at his mother. ‘The game saved us,’ he reminded Bonnie. ‘It’s going to be so mega, when we tell the story. Mum says there’s already a couple of reporters hanging about, wanting to talk to me. She says we have to wait until Moxo’s given us the go-ahead – but honestly, Bon, this is totally great. I was a real hostage. It’s given me so many new ideas. My head’s bursting with them.’
Bonnie’s silence slowly made itself felt.
‘What? What’s the matter?’
‘Nothing,’ she said at last.
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If you enjoyed The Hawkshead Hostage,
read on to find out about more books
by Rebecca Tope…
A COTSWOLD KILLING
THE FIRST COTSWOLD MYSTERY
Nestled in the fertile hills of the Cotswolds, the village of Duntisbourne Abbots is a well-kept secret: beautiful, timeless and quintessentially English. When recently widowed Thea Osborne arrives to house-sit for a local couple, her only fear is that three weeks there might prove a little dull. Her first night's sleep at Brook View is broken by a piercing scream outside but she decides such things don't require investigation in a sleepy place like this. At least not until a body turns up.
When Joel Jennison is found slaughtered in the same field where his brother's corpse had lain ten weeks previously, a whole community falls under suspicion. Was it a family feud? An act of revenge? Could Thea's employers, now relaxing in the Bahamas, have anything to do with the murder? In calling on her neighbours to get some answers, Thea uncovers more tragedy and intrigue than she thought possible behind the chocolate-box façade of a peaceful Gloucestershire village. As a fortysomething woman with no previous experience of detective work, she knows she shouldn't be getting involved. But as her new friend Harry points out, ‘sometimes a fresh eye can see through the superficial tangles and grasp just where the truth lies’ …
A DIRTY DEATH
THE FIRST WEST COUNTRY MYSTERY
When irascible farmer Guy Beardon meets a very dirty death in his own farmyard, at first it seems like an accident – despite the fact that he was widely disliked. Only his daughter Lilah is prepared to defend his memory. And when, slowly, she begins to suspect foul play, no one is eager to help her investigate. Suspicion becomes certainty when two more deaths occur – both of them are unmistakably murder.
The difficulty lies in discovering who, among Guy’s many enemies, hated him enough to want him dead – and who went on killing to conceal the truth. There is certainly no shortage of suspects and it falls to local policeman Den Cooper to investigate the mysterious deaths …
MORE COSY CRIME AT ALLISON & BUSBY
KILLED IN CORNWALL
JANIE BOLITHO
DI Jack Pearce is investigating a series of burglaries and brutal attacks on young women which have broken out in Cornwall. Once again his on-off girlfriend Rose Trevelyan finds herself at the heart of the investigation.
With her intimate knowledge of the private lives of those connected to the case, Rose must work hard not to jump to conclusions about the innocence of those she knows. As the crimes become more serious, both newcomers to the area and familiar faces become suspects. But who should Rose – and Jack – believe?
BURIED IN CORNWALL
JANIE BOLITHO
Rose Trevelyan lives peacefully in Cornwall after the death of her husband, working as an artist and photographer. But when she hears terrified screams as she paints the rugged Cornish countryside, and a local woman is reported missing, Rose finds herself suddenly caught at the centre of a police investigation.
<
br /> With so many people who trust her, Rose is – reluctantly, at times – privy to the secrets of many. When the things she is told in confidence appear connected to the investigation, Rose must decide how far the bonds of friendship reach.
CAUGHT OUT IN CORNWALL
JANIE BOLITHO
When Rose Trevelyan sees a young girl being carried away by someone who appears to be her father, she thinks nothing of it. Until, that is, the appearance of a frantic mother who cannot find her child. Beth Jones is only four years old, and her mother is adamant that the man Rose saw taking her away must be a stranger.
Wracked with guilt for not intervening, Rose once again finds herself entangled in a criminal investigation. As time passes, it becomes clear that the chances of getting Beth back unharmed are very bleak indeed …
By Rebecca Tope
THE LAKE DISTRICT MYSTERIES
The Windermere Witness
The Ambleside Alibi
The Coniston Case
The Troutbeck Testimony
The Hawkshead Hostage
THE COTSWOLD MYSTERIES
A Cotswold Killing
A Cotswold Ordeal
Death in the Cotswolds
A Cotswold Mystery
Blood in the Cotswolds
Slaughter in the Cotswolds
Fear in the Cotswolds
A Grave in the Cotswolds
Deception in the Cotswolds
Malice in the Cotswolds
Shadows in the Cotswolds
Trouble in the Cotswolds
Revenge in the Cotswolds
Guilt in the Cotswolds
THE WEST COUNTRY MYSTERIES
A Dirty Death
Dark Undertakings
Death of a Friend
Grave Concerns
A Death to Record
The Sting of Death
A Market for Murder
Copyright
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First published in Great Britain by Allison & Busby in 2016.
This ebook edition published in Great Britain by Allison & Busby in 2016.
Copyright © 2016 by REBECCA TOPE
The moral right of the author is hereby asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All characters and events in this publication other than those clearly in the public domain are fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent buyer.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978–0–7490–2071–2