Too Good to Be True (7 page)

‘That was when Gail made her big mistake. The note from Anna was in her pocket and it dropped out on the dressing table. Without the note we would never have been able to prove what had
happened.’

Jimmy Perez paused for breath and looked at Anderson, who was listening intently.

‘Gail went back downstairs,’ he continued. ‘Anna would have been quite tipsy at that point. She wasn’t used to drinking. It wouldn’t have been hard for Gail to tip
the crushed pills into her wine without Anna noticing. They must have dissolved very quickly. She waited until Anna fell into a deep sleep, then she went into the kitchen, washed out her own glass
and put it away. I’m sure you’ll find traces of the drug in the unwashed glass.’

‘Then she drove home,’ Anderson said, ‘as if nothing had happened.’

Perez nodded. ‘The next morning she took Lucy back and seemed as shocked as everyone else that Anna was dead.’

The inspector sipped his beer. ‘Freda, one of the other teachers, had already started the rumours about Anna and Tom. Freda hated the fact that she’d been replaced by a younger
woman. Gail spread the gossip so that if you did decide that Anna had been murdered, no one would suspect that she was involved in the killing.’

‘But her brother did suspect,’ Anderson said.

‘He was the only person who knew how badly Gail had been affected by her husband’s death. And he knew how passionate she was about the farm. Sandy heard that I was asking questions
and he came to the hotel to talk to me. But he couldn’t quite do it. He couldn’t quite bring himself to accuse his sister of murder.’

Anderson emptied his glass. ‘I suppose I should thank you for clearing the case up for me, Jimmy.’

‘I’m sorry if you felt I was treading on your toes.’

‘Aye well.’ Anderson grinned. ‘Just don’t think of coming to meddle on my patch again. Or I might come up to Shetland to work on one of your cases.’

‘You’d be very welcome, Robbie. Any time.’ Perez smiled back.

‘Are you joking? Ferries and small planes make me feel sick before I step onto them. You’re quite safe, Jimmy. I’ll leave you on your islands in peace.’

Jimmy Perez left the next morning without saying goodbye to Tom and Sarah King. In a place like Stonebridge, news of Gail’s arrest would soon get out and the gossips
would have another target for their chatter. Tom and Sarah would be left in peace.

It was a calm sailing on the ferry, and Perez’s friends brought his daughter, Cassie, to meet the boat when it got into Lerwick after the overnight crossing. He dropped his stepdaughter at
school and went into work. Over the next few weeks he was busy with everyday police work in Shetland and he’d almost forgotten the case in Stonebridge when a letter arrived from Sarah.

The envelope contained a photo, and it was this that slipped onto the table first. The picture had been taken in the Kings’ garden. It showed Tom and Sarah and the children wrapped up
against the cold on a bright, clear day. There were Christmas lights on the fir trees on each side of the front door.

When Perez looked again he saw that there were three children in the photo, not two. The third child was smaller and she had dark curls and a wide, beaming smile. It was Lucy, Anna’s
daughter.

Perez read the letter that went with the photo. It had been written by Sarah.

Perez smiled to himself and stuck the photo onto the fridge.

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A Baby at
the Beach Café

Lucy Diamond

Evie loves running her beach café in Cornwall but with a baby on the way, she’s been told to put her feet up. Let someone else take over? Not likely.

Helen’s come to Cornwall to escape the stress of city living. She hopes a seaside life will be the answer to all her dreams. When she sees a job advertised at the
café it sounds perfect.

But the two women clash and sparks fly . . . and then events take a dramatic turn. Can the pair of them put aside their differences in a crisis?

Available in paperback, ebook and from your local library

Pan Books

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