A Very Private Murder
Page 26
‘Right,’ I replied. ‘Half an hour. I’ll look forward to seeing you.’
‘Will you, really?’
‘Of course. More than you’ll imagine.’ I can smooth-talk for Heckley when it suits me.
‘I’m on my way.’
‘Bye.’
Ah well, I thought. Bruges will still be there tomorrow. I was climbing the stairs to clean my teeth and have a squirt of Givenchy Pour Homme when the phone rang again. It’s a murder! I thought, my hopes raised. Please be a murder!
‘Hi, it’s me again,’ she said. Her voice had developed a certain huskiness since our previous conversation, thirty seconds earlier. ‘I’ve been thinking.’
‘Thinking,’ I repeated. ‘That sounds dangerous.’
‘No! It’s fun, not dangerous. How about if I wore my uniform? Would you like me to wear my uniform, Inspector?’
Ah well, I thought, in for a penny, in for a pound. ‘Yes,’ I replied. ‘I think I’d like that. I think I’d like it very much, Superintendent.’
AUTHOR’S NOTE
This story is fiction and all the relevant characters in it are imaginary. I have used some real places and institutions to create a sense of location and distance, but any implied criticism of these is without foundation. Throughout the writing of this book I was received as always with courtesy and cooperation wherever I made my enquiries.
The real Alice Hawthorn is in the village of Nun Monkton, and well worth a visit.
If you enjoyed A Very Private Murder look out for
the other books in the Charlie Priest series.
To discover more great crime novels and to place
an order visit our website at
www.allisonandbusby.com
or call us on
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About the Author
STUART PAWSON had a career as a mining engineer, followed by a spell working for the probation service, before he became a full-time writer. He lives in Fairburn, Yorkshire, and, when not hunched over the word processor, likes nothing more than tramping across the moors, which often feature in his stories. He is a member of the Murder Squad and the Crime Writers’ Association.
www.stuartpawson.com
By Stuart Pawson
IN THE DI CHARLIE PRIEST SERIES
The Picasso Scam
The Mushroom Man
The Judas Sheep
Last Reminder
Deadly Friends
Some by Fire
Chill Factor
Laughing Boy
Limestone Cowboy
Over the Edge
Shooting Elvis
Grief Encounters
A Very Private Murder
Copyright
Allison & Busby Limited
13 Charlotte Mews
London W1T 4EJ
www.allisonandbusby.com
Copyright © 2010 by STUART PAWSON
Hardback published in Great Britain in 2010.
Paperback edition published in 2011.
This ebook edition first published in 2011.
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
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 978–0–7490–1066–9
Table of Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Epigraph
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
AUTHOR’S NOTE
About the Author
By Stuart Pawson
Copyright