Cherringham--A Lesson in Murder (11 page)

“And thanks, Alan,” Sarah said.

He smiled at her, as he took the steps up two at a time.

*

Then Jack drove Sarah back to Cherringham.

“To your office?” he asked. “Or home for some sleep.”

“I’d love to sleep, but I’m way too wired. You?”

“Think a walk with Riley. Rain finally gone, sun out … got to enjoy that, hmm? Then,maybe a nice long nap this afternoon.”

“Oh, God yes. Me too.”

For a minute they sat, the ending of this case now making Sarah feel like she’d been on a wild roller coaster ride that had suddenly ended.

She had a question though.

“So, Jack, it wasn’t really a murder, right? Just an accident.”

He nodded, thinking over the question, before he turned to her.

“Technically, guess you’re right. But in all my years, when people do bad things, things that hurt people … and that leads to someone dying? Well, that’s never really an accident, is it? Just a different kind of murder …”

And Sarah thought …
he’s seen a lot of those
.

Even she was beginning to feel — what? — experienced at this?

An old hand at this crime business.

Jack pulled into a parking space by the Village Hall, just across from Sarah’s office. She looked up. The big window of her web design office glowed a golden colour, reflecting the bright sun.

Getting lost in some work with Grace would feel good.

“Okay, I’m off.”

A nod, a smile, from Jack.

How much she liked this cop from New York,
she thought
.

A good — no — a
great
detective.

And what a friend.

He smiled as he popped open the door.

“Till next time,” he said with a grin.

She laughed at that as she shut the door.

The streets of Cherringham were coming alive.

And on a morning like this, the village was indeed beautiful.

END

When the penniless FitzHenrys, proprietors of the rundown Combe Castle Heritage Site, find themselves victims of a threatening campaign to oust them from their ancestral home, Jack and Sarah are called in to track down the culprit. But nothing is what it seems at this castle — from the curious and unnerving waxwork displays of the ‘Odditorium’ to the in-laws and neighbours who can’t wait to see the last of aristocratic couple. Soon Jack and Sarah discover that truth is often stranger than fiction, and in Combe Castle things do indeed go bump in the night …

Cherringham — A Cosy Crime Series
The Secret of Combe Castle
by Matthew Costello and Neil Richards

Do you like what you’ve read so far? Please let us know by leaving a comment or a rating where you purchased this eBook. Your feedback improves the story. Happy reading!