‘She knows what’s happened?’
‘I haven’t told her yet,’ said Richard. ‘Her mother may have done so, if she saw it in the paper.’
There had been a brief report, but because Alan had so swiftly been charged, the case was sub judice and not a subject for lurid journalism. Luckily the incident involving Justin had not attracted any attention.
After an inquest into Verity’s death had been opened and adjourned, her funeral had taken place. Richard and Miss Darwin had gone together: tentatively, she had said that she would like to be there, and he had welcomed her support at what was, for him, a bizarre ordeal. Justin, still with a scarred face, bandaged hands, and, beneath his dark school trousers, dressings on his legs, had been there with Terry and their grandparents. Richard and Marigold had sat together on the other side of the aisle in the crematorium chapel. Terry had wept throughout, but Justin had been dry-eyed and he had never once glanced at Richard. A tall, broad- shouldered man with a bushy grey beard had been among the small group of mourners: the boys’ father. Later, at The Red Lion, where he was staying, he and Richard had had an illuminating talk. His present wife was tired of living overseas and wanted to return. He wondered if it would be possible to come back into the boys’ lives. So far, they’d scarcely spoken; he wasn’t sure they even knew who he was.
‘I’m sure they do,’ said Richard. ‘They missed you. After all, you are their father.’ He hesitated. ‘They are a bit confused,’ he felt it fair to warn. ‘But they never really took to me. Especially Justin.’
‘What happened? Some accident, I heard.’
‘Yes. I shouldn’t be too curious,’ Richard suggested. ‘Let him tell you himself, if he wants to.’
He’d gone home feeling shriven. A huge load had been lifted from his shoulders.
Tonight, he’d picked a good claret from The Red Lion’s list, and it went well with the steak they had both chosen.
‘I’m thinking of leaving my job,’ he told Miss Darwin, as they tried the cheeses. ‘Of course, I’ll have to be here for the resumed inquest, and, I suppose, the trial, but I’ve more or less decided on early retirement. I’ve only got myself to pay for now.’
He was planning to settle some money on the two boys, if only to salve his conscience, but their grandparents were not penniless, and their father seemed willing to take on some responsibility for them. ‘I might start up my own business,’ he went on. ‘Perhaps in France.’
‘I see.’ Marigold was dismayed at the prospect of losing such a friend, the best one that she had ever had. ‘I’m going to have the shed pulled down,’ she told him. ‘As soon as the police say it can be dismantled. I’ll put up another one in a different part of the garden. I thought I’d plant some roses on the site.’
‘That’s a nice idea,’ he said. ‘She didn’t like them, though. Said they were too pretty-pretty.’
‘Well, I like them, and I’m the one who’ll be looking at them,’ was the answer, and Marigold finished up her wine.
‘Let me fill your glass again,’ said Richard.
He thought of telling her about Caroline and the baby, but decided not to burden her any more. Through no fault of her own, she had been drawn into his personal tragedy, and she had been a stalwart source of comfort.
She’d make her life here gently, calmly, without him. She’d got the choral society now, and that nice little boy Mark who had the pleasant, rather pretty, most efficient mother.
‘What about Steve Burton? Do we know if he’ll be prosecuted?’ Richard asked her.
‘Not yet. I think it’s all still being decided,’ said Marigold. ‘I can’t think locking him up will achieve anything.’
‘Let’s hope Morton gets a really long sentence this time,’ Richard said.
‘He’ll get life. It’s mandatory, but he’ll qualify for release again unless the judge lays down a specific length of time for him to be in prison.’
‘Then he’ll kill someone else,’ Richard said. ‘If he’s thwarted.’
‘Yes,’ agreed Marigold. ‘Perhaps another stranger.’
'Dr. Patrick Grant' Titles
(in order of first publication)
These titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels
Dead In The Morning (1970)
Silent Witness (1972)
Grave Matters (1973)
Mortal Remains (1974)
Cast For Death (1976)
Other Margaret Yorke Novels
Published by House of Stratus
Devil's Work (1982)
The Hand Of Death (1981)
Pieces Of Justice (Short Story Collection) (1994)
Safely To The Grave (1986)
Serious Intent (1995)
A Small Deceit (1991)
Synopses of Titles
Published by House of Stratus
A. Dr. Patrick Grant Titles
Cast For Death
Sam Irwin, actor, is found dead in the River Thames. It appears to be suicide. But why should he have taken his own life shortly before opening in a new play at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon? Dr. Patrick Grant, a friend of Irwin, manages to link the seemingly unconnected occurrences of the death of a dog, a further suicide, and a series of art robberies in coming to an conclusion. That, however, is not what is seems, being only the prelude to a massive deception. Grant himself is threatened, and unless he can escape unscathed from a concert at the Festival Hall, the secret of Irwin's death will die with him.
Dead In The Morning
Imagine an old lady who was hated because of her arrogance and cruelty towards her children, and whose lives she dominated, becoming a murder victim. But it is the housekeeper who is found dead. Had a mistake been made and the wrong woman killed? Dr. Patrick Grant uses his powers of logic and deduction to determine this is not the case, but he can only prove it at the expense of incriminating an innocent person. How does he solve this particular conundrum?
Grave Matters
Amelia Brinton, a retired headmistress of a top girl's school, appears to have accidently fallen to her death in Greece. Her friend, a Miss Forest, also meets her death having been pushed down stairs in the British Museum. Dr. Patrick Grant connects the two events and his investigations lead him to a quiet backwater village in Hampshire. Yet more mysteries unfold; a dog drowns in shallow water, there is a case of food poisoning, and finally a house appears to be haunted. There is then another murder. What connects these events and why was Amelia Brinton killed. It takes Grant's full powers of logic and deduction, with a little help from the police, to get to the bottom of what is a spine tingling mystery and ultimate crime story.
Mortal Remains
Dr. Patrick Grant does not believe that Felix Lomax died accidentally. The unfortunate Lomax was thought to be lecturing on a luxury cruise liner, but is found washed ashore on a lonely beach in Crete. Grant's investigations take him upon a trail which eventually leads to the tombs of Mycenae, where he ends up risking his own life in an effort to determine the truth.
Silent Witness
The Austrian Alpine ski resort of Greutz is the scene of rivalry between an English party and some new arrivals. The tension mounts with the weather closing in, when blizzards envelope the resort and avalanches threaten. Dr. Patrick Grant's particular powers of logic and reasoning are needed, however, when a member of the party is discovered murdered. Why should a seemingly insignificant individual become a victim?
B. Other Titles
Devil's Work
Alan Parker cannot bring himself to tell his wife that he has lost his job. Each day he goes off to 'work', leaving her in both ignorance and trusting her little ambitions for them will be met. Other than playing out this particular deception, Alan is generally honest and intensely loyal, but that all changes when he happens across a child after an accident and then meets her mother, with whom he forms a friendship. The double life he then leads is exposed when the child goes missing and the police commence an inv
estigation, with suspicion falling directly upon him. There are yet more twists to be revealed in this highly regarded novel.
The Hand of Death
We meet George Fortescue and Ronald Trimm. The former appears to be a very gentle man who is, in every sense of the word, ordinary. Trimm, though, is a successful small businessman who nonetheless feels deprived in one area because of his frigid, yet almost controlling, wife. Pornographic magazines fill the void for a while, but then he encounters a willing widow. However, when two rapes and murders occur it is Fortescue who receives the attention of the police. What is it about this man that allows him to become the chief suspect?
Pieces of Justice
In this collection of crime stories, readers will be delighted to find Dr. Patrick Grant making a welcome re-appearance. Also included are stories about a long held grudge and a wrongdoing with unforeseen later consequences, and others, all on a par with Margaret Yorke's much admired full length works.
Safely To The Grave
The Times referred to this work as a superior psychothriller and it certainly lives up to the epithet. The central character is Mick Harvey, who has just been released after a spell in prison. He enjoys frightening people – it is his way of gaining a thrill. One day he encounters Laura and Marion, who subsequently report him for dangerous driving. Thereafter, Mick has one thought only on his mind – how to exact revenge. With what might seem a simple plot at first glance, the author manages to keep the reader on tenterhooks right up to the fitting conclusion.
Serious Intent
Following retirement, Marigold Darwin returns to her home village. She meets two young boys, Mark and Steve, who hang around The Willows, where old Tom Morton lives. His housekeeper Ivy sometimes babysits Mark, although this may be a mistake. Neither boy is in the least concerned about others, regarding deception and theft as normal behaviour. The same is true of two friends, who have a seriously disturbed mother. Marigold is gradually drawn into the lives of all and becomes aware of serious parenting shortcomings, along with real fears and dangers. Tensions mount and in an intricate plot danger looms, with Marigold's own life being placed on the line.
A Small Deceit
This is a case of the chance meeting of two people, known to each other, who have both assumed false identities. William Adams was sent to prison for rape, and in order to avoid this being known upon following his release, when he embarks upon a series of scams, he hides behind his new persona. He then meets Desmond Baxter, who he recognises as the judge who sentenced him. But Baxter is not his real name. Why is he also hiding his identity? Might Adams indulge in a little blackmail? However, unknown to him, the judge has recognised Adams. After weaving many twists and turns, with her usual skill Margaret Yorke presents the reader with a wholly unexpected outcome.
www.houseofstratus.com
Serious Intent Page 28