by Faith Martin
After she was all talked out, the detective inspector had then gone on to give her a short and pithy lecture about something called ‘chain of evidence,’ and how it was going to be tough to prove to a jury that the pills that had tested positive for the poison could, with any certainty, be traced back to Claudia Watkins’s medical cabinet. Even with Isabel’s and Annie Darville’s testimony.
She was then told exactly how difficult it was to get an exhumation order, and how she’d better hope and pray that a forensic pathologist would be able to detect the poison still in the body.
As for the recording, it would be up to the lawyers whether or not it would be admissible in a court of law. Here, Effie had got slightly lost in the maze of what did, or did not, constitute ‘entrapment.’ And — amazingly — whether or not Clive Carteret’s rights had been violated when he had been recorded without his knowledge.
In the end, although thoroughly exhausted, demoralized and reeling, Effie had left the police station nevertheless reassured that the police would now be doing a thorough investigation into Claudia’s death.
Which, she supposed, was a victory of some kind.
* * *
Jean rose, and pulled up a spare chair, setting it next to her.
‘Here she is, the woman of the hour,’ Malc said cheerfully as Effie took her seat beside Jean.
‘Yeah, Effie. Have we gotta call you Sherlock bloody Holmes now?’ Mickey said breezily, and again Effie had to fight back a genuine desire to give his shin a quick kick. ‘Crikey, who’d have thought that the old bird was bumped off?’
‘Mickey!’ Jean said sharply. And Effie felt the tenseness in her shoulders begin to ease.
She was among friends.
‘I always felt that Claudia was getting increasingly restless,’ Gisela put in sadly. ‘And no wonder — she was getting more and more frustrated because she couldn’t make us understand what she was trying to tell us. That she’d been murdered, poor thing.’
‘I can’t believe I missed all the action!’ Lonny moaned.
‘I really wish you’d come to me earlier, Effie, when you first began to suspect the truth,’ Corwin said, and suddenly everyone became quiet. Today he was wearing a pair of black denim jeans and a loose, pale green shirt. He was leaning forward in the chair, his arms resting atop his knees, and was looking across at her intently. ‘It scares me to think of how dangerous it all was. Clive might have attacked you.’
Effie nodded guiltily. ‘I know. Believe me, I do. And I wasn’t being deliberately secretive, I really wasn’t,’ she swore truthfully. ‘I just . . . actually, it was all so bizarre. And I couldn’t help but worry that you’d all think I’d lost my marbles if I started burbling about murder plots and poison and what have you.’ She felt herself flush in embarrassment. ‘I suppose I didn’t want you to laugh at me.’
‘We’d never do that,’ Jean said flatly.
‘She’s right, Eff,’ Malc said gently. ‘In fact, we’d be the last people in the world to stand in judgement. You should know that by now.’
Effie felt like crying, but managed simply to nod.
Corwin must have sensed how close she was to tears, because he leaned closer and covered her hand with his. His fingers felt warm and comforting as they squeezed hers.
‘Well, just promise me that from now on, no matter how flimsy or bizarre or off the wall you might think something to be,’ he said firmly, ‘you’ll share any theories or thoughts you have with me . . . with all of us,’ he corrected quickly. ‘All right?’
Effie nodded. ‘I promise.’
‘Good.’ He straightened up and leaned back in his chair. ‘Now, before we go on to listen to Malc’s initial report on the possible barn haunting, there is one final note I need to make on the lavender lady case file.’
‘Oh?’ Jean said. ‘I thought that was all concluded.’ Naturally, the C-Fits were no longer welcome in Adderbury, since Clive Carteret had twice been called in for questioning. And it was now gradually dawning on the rest of Claudia’s family the nightmare that was facing them.
‘Not quite,’ Corwin said, his green eyes gleaming. ‘After checking the final temperature readings that we did, Malc noticed something very interesting about the cold spot. Malc?’
‘Yeah.’ The builder grinned, entering the spotlight. ‘First off, that cold spot was in the exact place that Claudia Watkins would have stood every night when she reached into the cabinet above the sink. Where she kept the bottle of St John’s wort pills.’
‘Wow,’ Gisela breathed, her eyes wide with awe.
‘Yes. And we now know that it’s likely Claudia had taken a number of the pills before the accumulative effect of the poison killed her,’ Corwin pointed out.
‘So Claudia was trying to point us in the right direction all along!’ Mickey yelled, punching the air in triumph. ‘That’s why the cold spot wasn’t by the bed, where she was found — it was where the murder weapon had been stored.’
‘What’s more,’ Malc said, his face beaming now, ‘according to the readings on the temperature gauges, that cold spot disappeared at 11:15 pm, the night we found out about the lavender bath water, and didn’t recur again. Which, by my reckoning, must be about the exact same time that Mr big-mouth Clive Carteret was confessing to murdering Claudia.’
Everyone in the group seemed to draw in a collective gasp. Including Effie.
And for a moment, casting her mind back to that bizarre night, hadn’t she felt as if something or someone had almost possessed her, guiding and urging her on, forcing her to confront Clive Carteret with a bravery that would normally have been totally alien to her nature?
And just what, Effie found herself wondering a little hysterically, would Professor Duncan Fergusson make of that if she should ever be so foolish as to tell him about it?
THE END
ALSO BY FAITH MARTIN
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MONICA NOBLE SERIES
Book 1: THE VICARAGE MURDER
Book 2: THE FLOWER SHOW MURDER
Book 3: THE MANOR HOUSE MURDER
JENNY STARLING SERIES
Book 1: THE BIRTHDAY MYSTERY
Book 2: THE WINTER MYSTERY
Book 3: THE RIVERBOAT MYSTERY
Book 4: THE CASTLE MYSTERY
Book 5: THE OXFORD MYSTERY
Book 6: THE TEATIME MYSTERY
Book 7: THE COUNTRY INN MYSTERY
DI HILLARY GREENE SERIES
Book 1: MURDER ON THE OXFORD CANAL
Book 2: MURDER AT THE UNIVERSITY
Book 3: MURDER OF THE BRIDE
Book 4: MURDER IN THE VILLAGE
Book 5: MURDER IN THE FAMILY
Book 6: MURDER AT HOME
Book 7: MURDER IN THE MEADOW
Book 8: MURDER IN THE MANSION
Book 9: MURDER IN THE GARDEN
Book 10: MURDER BY FIRE
Book 11: MURDER AT WORK
Book 12: MURDER NEVER RETIRES
Book 13: MURDER OF A LOVER
Book 14: MURDER NEVER MISSES
Book 15: MURDER AT MIDNIGHT
Book 16: MURDER IN MIND
Book 17: HILLARY’S FINAL CASE
DI HILLARY GREENE BOOK 1
MURDER ON THE OXFORD CANAL
https://www.amazon.co.uk/MURDER-OXFORD-gripping-mystery-twists-ebook/dp/B0763RXLRV/
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MEET DI HILLARY GREENE, A POLICE WOMAN FIGHTING TO SAVE HER CAREER.
Not only has she lost her husband, but his actions have put her under investigation for corruption.
Then a bashed and broken body is found floating in the Oxford Canal. It looks like the victim fell off a boat, but Hillary is not so sure. Her investigation exposes a dark background to the death.
Can Hillary clear her name and get to the bottom of a fiendish conspiracy on the w
ater?
DI HILLARY GREENE BOOK 2
MURDER AT THE UNIVERSITY
UK: www.amazon.co.uk/MURDER-UNIVERSITY-gripping-mystery-twists-ebook/dp/B076CQSYMM/
USA https://www.amazon.com/MURDER-UNIVERSITY-gripping-mystery-twists-ebook/dp/B076CQSYMM/
A pretty French student is found dead in her room at an exclusive Oxford college. Everyone thinks it is another tragic case of accidental drug overdose.
But Detective Hillary Greene has a nose for the truth. She quickly discovers that the student was involved in some very unusual activities.
With a shocking cause of death found, the case becomes a high-profile murder investigation.
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First a shooting, then a grisly discovery on the common . . .
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A NEW CRIME THRILLER WITH A COMPELLING DETECTIVE WHO WILL STOP AT NOTHING TO AVENGE HER DAUGHTER
Glossary of English Slang for US readers
A & E: Accident and emergency department in a hospital
Aggro: Violent behaviour, aggression
Air raid: an attack in which bombs are dropped from aircraft on ground targets
Allotment: a plot of land rented by an individual for growing fruit, vegetable or flowers
Anorak: nerd (it also means a waterproof jacket)
Artex: textured plaster finish for walls and ceilings
A Level: exams taken between 16 and 18
Auld Reekie: Edinburgh
Au pair: live-in childcare helper. Often a young woman.
Barm: bread roll
Barney: argument
Beaker: glass or cup for holding liquids
Beemer: BMW car or motorcycle
Benefits: social security
Bent: corrupt
Bin: wastebasket (noun), or throw in rubbish (verb)
Biscuit: cookie
Blackpool Lights: gaudy illuminations in seaside town
Bloke: guy
Blow: cocaine
Blower: telephone
Blues and twos: emergency vehicles
Bob: money
Bobby: policeman
Broadsheet: quality newspaper (New York Times would be a US example)
Brown bread: rhyming slang for dead
Bun: small cake
Bunk: do a bunk means escape
Burger bar: hamburger fast-food restaurant
Buy-to-let: Buying a house/apartment to rent it out for profit
Charity Shop: thrift store
Carrier bag: plastic bag from supermarket
Care Home: an institution where old people are cared for
Car park: parking lot
CBeebies: kids TV
Chat-up: flirt, trying to pick up someone with witty banter or compliments
Chemist: pharmacy
Chinwag: conversation
Chippie: fast-food place selling chips and other fried food
Chips: French fries but thicker
CID: Criminal Investigation Department
Civvy Street: civilian life (as opposed to army)
Clock: punch
Cock-up: mess up, make a mistake
Cockney: a native of East London
Common: an area of park land/ or lower class
Comprehensive School (Comp.): High school
Cop hold of: grab
Copper: police officer
Coverall: coveralls, or boiler suit
CPS: Crown Prosecution Service, decide whether police cases go forward
Childminder: someone who looks after children for money
Council: local government
Dan Dare: hero from Eagle comic
DC: detective constable
Deck: one of the landings on a floor of a tower block
Deck: hit (verb)
Desperate Dan: very strong comic book character
DI: detective inspector
Digestive biscuit: plain cookie
Digs: student lodgings
Do a runner: disappear
Do one: go away
Doc Martens: Heavy boots with an air-cushioned sole
Donkey’s years: long time
Drum: house
DS: detective sergeant
ED: accident and emergency department of hospital
Eagle: boys’ comic
Early dart: to leave work early
Eggy soldiers: strips of toast with a boiled egg
Enforcer: police battering ram
Estate: public/social housing estate (similar to housing projects)
Estate agent: realtor (US)
Falklands War: war between Britain and Argentina in 1982
Fag: cigarette
Father Christmas: Santa Claus
/> Filth: police (insulting)
Forces: army, navy, and air force
FMO: force medical officer
Fried slice: fried bread
Fuzz: police
Garda: Irish police
Gendarmerie: French national police force
Geordie: from Newcastle
Garden Centre: a business where plants and gardening equipment are sold
Gob: mouth/ can also mean phlegm or spit
GP: general practitioner, a doctor based in the community
Graft: hard work
Gran: grandmother
Hancock: Tony Hancock, English comedian popular in 1950s
Hard nut: tough person
HGV: heavy goods vehicle, truck
HOLMES: UK police computer system used during investigation of major incidents
Home: care home for elderly or sick people
Hoover: vacuum cleaner
I’ll be blowed: expression of surprise
Inne: isn’t he
Interpol: international police organization
Into care: a child taken away from their family by the social services
Iron Lady: Margaret Thatcher, applied to any strong woman
ITU: intensive therapy unit in hospital
Jane Doe: a person whose identity is unknown/anonymous
JCB: a mechanical excavator