Page 38 of M for Murder

‘Hey, you can’t open that,’ she protested.

Hickok glanced up. ‘Sure I can.’

‘It’s private.’

‘And when I’m done I’ll put it back and no one will be the wiser.’

‘My God, is nothing sacred to you?’ Rebecca shook her head. ‘I’ll bet you were the kid who read his sister’s diary, weren’t you?’

‘Brothers.’

‘What?’

He looked up at her with a grin.

‘I don’t have a sister, Angell. I have brothers.’

‘Like I care,’ Rebecca mumbled under her breath.

There was just one plain sheet of notepaper inside, the same shade of pink as the envelope. Hickok read the content of the letter to himself and nodded.

‘I thought so.’

‘What?’ Rebecca asked, curious to know what he had found. He glanced at her, a mischievous glint in his eyes. ‘I thought you weren’t a snoop, Angell?’

‘I’m not a snoop, but if it’s important to the case I think I should see what the letter says.’

‘Really?’ Hickok teased.

She reached for the letter. ‘Yes, really.’

He pulled it away so that she missed. ‘Just admit it, Angell, you’re a snoop.’

Rebecca made a second grab for the letter, this time getting hold of it. ‘I am not a snoop, you stupid jerk,’ she said, tearing it from his fingers.

She read the words on the paper, written in the same type as on the envelope.

I have to see you tonight. Meet me at The Coven, Emma

She glanced up at Hickok, irritated by the smug grin on his face. ‘Okay, so you found a letter. So what? That doesn’t prove Lawrence Parker is a killer.’

Hickok grinned. ‘Nope, it doesn’t, but I have a hunch that he is, and you have just had proof, Angell, that my hunches are always right.’

13

K ylan was glad that she’d decided to have a go at clearing out the spare room. There were a lot of things that needed sorting out and it was a job that she had been putting off. With Lawrie out of the house all day, it was the perfect opportunity and she had no excuse to avoid it any longer.

Most things were piled into boxes and old bin liners. There was a lot of old junk: spare bed linen, clothes and unwanted wedding gifts. Things they’d brought with them when they’d moved and had never got around to finding a place for. As neither of them tended to use the room it had turned into a general dumping ground with all sorts of things finding a home among the bags.

Although she had worked hard for most of the afternoon, Kylan knew that the job was nowhere near finished. The contents of many of the boxes were still strewn across the floor and, with the exception of a few books and ornaments that had been taken downstairs, only the clothes in the bin liners had been sorted and packed away neatly in a case beneath the pine bed. At least she had made a start, which meant she would be more inclined to make sure the job got finished.

Lawrie, on arriving home, had been surprised she’d bothered. He seemed happy enough it was being taken care of, though, and left her to it. Kylan got completely distracted by the chaos that had been created and, when she eventually looked at her wristwatch, she was shocked to find it was almost seven thirty.

Shit! Thirty minutes before Vic and Jill get here.

Cursing at Lawrie for not reminding her of the time, she left the room in a state of disarray and headed to the bathroom for a shower. When the doorbell rang thirty-five minutes later, she was wrapped in a towel, standing in her closet and deciding what to wear.

Lawrie was dispatched downstairs to pour their guests a drink while she finished getting ready and she had settled for a cream shift dress that accentuated her curves and showed off her tan. Quickly she ran a brush through her hair, applied a little make-up and dabbed her favourite perfume. With a final glance in the mirror, she left the room.