Read Demon on a Distant Shore Online
Authors: Linda Welch
Demon on a Distant Shore (33 page)
“You paid your accomplices to kidnap and kill the Nortons.”
She nodded.
“What was that, Patty?” he asked.
“Yes. Pickins and Fowler killed the Nortons.”
“On your orders?”
“Yes. I told them to do it.”
“You paid them?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“In cash. Half up front, the rest upon completion.”
“They hired Clarke to run us down. You told them to kill us.”
“Absolutely not.” She made a
tcha
noise. “The fools thought you were getting too close. And you were. Although I was angry at the time, now I wish they succeeded.”
His jaw tightened; he let out a breath which flared his nostrils. “That would have saved you a lot of bother, because when Fred Sturgis told you what happened in England, you worried we would put two and two together, so you arranged to have me and Tiff killed.”
“Yes.” She looked up at him, smiling. “I didn’t want to. I liked you, both of you, but I couldn’t take the risk.”
Oh boy. I could hardly contain my excitement. I wanted to bounce up and down in the chair.
“Who did you hire to kill me and Tiff?”
She waved one hand. “I don’t know his name, he didn’t know mine.” The statement appeared to please her.
We already knew who tried to run us off the road and into the lake: James Collier, a guy with a record as long as I’m tall. Getting Patty to name him would have been a bonus.
Royal met my eyes. I nodded. We had enough. The Bureau could get the rest from her using conventional methods.
He was back in the chair next to mine in a flash.
Patty sagged. She clung to the arms of her fancy office chair. Her mouth made a grimace as she fought for words. Poor thing, her confusion was something to see. She recalled every word she said, but couldn’t understand why she said it.
I put gentle sympathy into my tone. “Guilt is a heavy burden to bear. I’m sure you feel much better getting that off your chest.”
I was so enjoying this.
She fumbled for her phone, knocked it off the cradle and retrieved it with a trembling hand. “I’m calling my attorneys. They will drop what they’re doing and be here in twenty minutes.”
“Go ahead, it’s your right.” I pulled down the neck of my shirt so she could see the tiny bug pinned to the underside of my collar. “You probably want to tell them our friends outside got your confession on tape.”
The agents would be here in a moment. They could whip her into custody for questioning on the strength of the recording, while the department did double-time procuring an arrest warrant. No doubt the FBI would stall her attorneys till they had that piece of paper in their hands. Her lawyers would suggest she take a physical examination, but medical professionals would not find a mark on her; a panel of blood tests would not find drugs in her system. She couldn’t claim we coerced her. Her own words damned her.
Royal stood. “I think we are done here.”
I leisurely got to my feet, stretched, flexed my shoulders, my gaze on Patty’s face. “Maybe you should pack a bag, Patty. You have time. I don’t know, but I suspect Her Majesty’s government will want a piece of you. I believe it’s called extradition.”
Royal and I walked away. At the door, I stopped to look back over my shoulder.
“Oh, and be sure you fly first class. All the way.”
Brief Brit-English Glossary
:
Bubble and Squeak:
Dating from medieval times, today’s Bubble and Squeak is usually made of leftover mashed potato and a green vegetable such as cabbage, mixed and fried till the outside is slightly brown and crisp.
Cobblers
: Nonsense.
Collywobbles:
Butterflies in the stomach.
Don’t Half
: If you “don’t half” like something, you like it a lot. Don’t half like, don’t half want, don’t half fancy, etc.
Faggots:
A kind of large meatball
traditionally made from herbs, pig's heart, liver and fatty belly meat or bacon, sometimes also breadcrumbs.
Git
: Mild profanity applied to the silly, incompetent, stupid, or annoying. Like many once abusive terms, this can be used affectionately.
Gor Blimey:
An exclamation, or oath, from the medieval oath God Blind Me.
Hoity-Toity
: Pretentiously self-important.
Keep Your Pecker Up
: Keep your chin up; remain cheerful.
Lorry
: Truck; semi.
Nobby Clarke
: Various theories exist as to why Nobby was and still is in some parts of the country a nickname for men (not women) with the surname Clark or Clarke. One is that it derived from the rising young middle-class clerks of the 19
th
century who dressed to imitate the upper class “nobs.”
Skint
: Broke; without money.
Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em
: Before he became a star in The Phantom of the Opera, Michael Crawford was loved for his role in the BBC television series Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em, in which he played a right idiot. The phrase is often applied to the dimwitted.
Spotted Dick
: A steamed dessert with a cake-like consistency made of flour, milk, sugar, suet, lemon juice and raisins, customarily eaten with custard.
The Alberts
: A man’s testicles.
Toad in the Hole
: Sausages cooked in savory Yorkshire Pudding. Not a dessert.
Tommy
: English soldier.
Salad Cream
: A creamy yellow condiment similar to mayonnaise, mainly used as a salad dressing.
BOOKS BY LINDA WELCH
The Whisperings Series
Short Story Collection
A Whisperings Mystery
Demon on a Distant Shore
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
LK, who refuses to let me drive her insane - yet. My developmental editor Sharon and trusty beta readers Don, Karen, Maureen, Meagan and Shirli – thanks for hanging in there with me. My dear friend Carol, whose caricature is a major player in this book. And of course Whisperings readers whose encouragement, more than anything else, keep the words coming.
Demon on a Distant Shore: A Whisperings Mystery.
Linda Welch
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright 2012 by Linda Welch.
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a data base or retrieval system without prior written permission of the owner of this book.
Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
March 2012.
Kindle edition.