‘What? A thong?’ Demelza’s eyes widened and her mouth fell open.
‘Yes, a thong.’ Kate was beginning to enjoy herself. ‘I gather you don’t have any waist-high, tummy-reducing, sensible-type pants?’
Demelza appeared to be speechless.
‘So, I’ll have a thong. Something a little naughty and fun, something my boyfriend might like. What would you recommend?’
It took Demelza a few moments to regain her composure. ‘Yes, of course, size sixteen?’
The next day Kate was pleased when Woody arrived mid-afternoon.
‘Can we have some coffee?’ he asked, kissing the top of Kate’s head.
He followed her into the kitchen. ‘I’ve had a hell of a day with Robson. He seems to think I’m a local expert and know everyone. Where’s the silly sister?’
‘Trying to do a deal on The Locker,’ Kate said with a sigh as she put a pod in the coffee machine.
‘The Locker?’
‘Yup, The Locker. She has fancy ideas about turning it into a bar. She’s more than two hundred thousand pounds richer than she was when you last set eyes on her, thanks to the French mother-in-law who’s just died.’
‘Wow!’ Woody rolled his eyes. ‘It’ll take even her a while to drink that much gin!’
Kate sighed. ‘I have to presume she knows what she’s doing. After all she’s older than me, you know. And I’m fed up of trying to keep her on the straight and narrow, and now she’s met this Fergal…’
‘He’s still on the scene?’
‘Not only is he still on the scene but she’s planning to involve him in this crazy business venture of hers, and have him live in the flat upstairs.’
‘Maybe, just maybe, it might be the making of her,’ Woody said. ‘But a bar! I mean she’s likely to drink away all the profits, isn’t she?’
‘Very probably,’ said Kate. ‘Let’s talk about something else.’
‘OK, I was at Launceston Police Station when the news came through.’
Kate stopped in her tracks. ‘You did? What news?’
‘Sharon Starkey was killed by having the back of her head smashed in. It’s unclear if she was still alive or not when, and if, she was pushed downstairs, but her head injury and her death were not caused by any fall.’
‘Oh my God, so my theory was right then. I can’t believe this,’ Kate said. ‘So, did the killer pound her head against the step or something?’
‘No, but we do know exactly what was used: one of the ornaments that was displayed on the hall table.’
‘What, the lovely serpentine lighthouse and tin-mine?’
‘The lighthouse, to be exact. Bill took them back to the station for forensics because whoever used it didn’t have time to clean the damn thing afterwards.’
Kate poured the coffee. Shocked beyond belief, she sat down shakily on one of the kitchen chairs.
‘Alas, no fingerprints,’ Woody continued. ‘Only Sharon’s, and I guess that’s because she dusted the things every day.’
‘So the killer wore gloves?’
‘It would appear so.’
Kate blinked away a tear as she took a sip of coffee. ‘Poor, poor Sharon! This is horrendous!’
‘Yeah,’ Woody agreed, ‘someone was making sure that she died. What beats me is that no one in that whole building actually came out, or heard anything, while the killer was there.’
Kate thought for a moment. ‘Well, they’re all elderly and hard of hearing I suppose. But yes, it does seem incredible, and makes me think she didn’t fall down the stairs at all, but was just killed instantly with the lighthouse.’
‘It’s now a full-scale double-murder inquiry,’ Woody said. ‘None of the residents are allowed to leave the area, and that includes David Courtney.’
David Courtney. Kate’s thoughts kept returning to David Courtney. The very fact that he’d been there, in Edina’s flat, at that exact time, was surely far too much of a coincidence. He’d had the motive to kill his stepmother and presumably inherit the money, and he just happened to be there when Sharon was making the phone call. It would have been relatively easy to follow her down the stairs and hit her on the head when she was least expecting it, then attach the cord across the top to make it look like it was an accident.
Kate shuddered.
‘Bill’s very thorough, he’ll find the killer,’ Woody said firmly. ‘He knew straight away that it wasn’t the fall that killed Sharon, which is why the forensic guys took the carvings back to the station.’
‘It’s so horrible,’ Kate said. ‘Who could do such a thing? My money’s on David Courtney.’
Woody put his hand over Kate’s. ‘It’s time now for you to quit this sleuthing, Kate. I mean it. We have a killer in our midst and they likely know you’re involved. You are in danger. Please, Kate, leave it to the police.’
‘But—’
‘No buts. You can have as many theories as you like, but keep clear of Seaview.’
‘I can’t refuse to go to Seaview if I’m needed. It’s part of my job, OK? I just have to accept that they’re all suspects but it’s hard to imagine any woman being so brutal,’ Kate said, refilling their cups.
‘Believe me, women can be mighty evil,’ Woody said, ‘but when you question them, butter wouldn’t melt in their mouths. Present company excepted, of course.’
‘Of course,’ Kate agreed. She still couldn’t rule out the Potters or Hetty Patterson, unlikely though that might be. She could foresee another sleepless night ahead. And, if she did manage to snatch a few minutes’ sleep, chances were that she’d have nightmares about who could be responsible for such heinous crimes.
Later, they went to bed at Lavender Cottage because Angie was with Fergal at The Locker Café.
‘Let me have a couple of minutes to get undressed,’ Kate said, heading for the bathroom.
‘What’s with the modesty?’ Woody asked, sitting up in bed in his Mickey Mouse T-shirt with the Police Gazette.
Kate took a few minutes to remove her clothes and wrestle the thong into position, with the minimum discomfort to her crotch. Then she sashayed into the bedroom.
Half-asleep, Woody looked up from the Police Gazette.
‘Holy moley!’ he exclaimed.
Twenty-Six
The rest of the weekend was calm because Woody flatly
