Murder in Abbot's Folly by Amy Myers

wrong.’
    â€˜Petition?’
    â€˜Yes, signed by virtually the whole of Dunham. It was meant to be a peaceful protest though. I stayed inside the main house seeing to the nibbles and drinks and so on – and if you’re interested –’ she grinned – ‘I stayed there well after twelve fifteen. Bob was killed about twelve thirty, and I couldn’t have sprinted along the path in time. Happy with that?’
    â€˜Thank you,’ Peter said, on his best behaviour. ‘Have you seen Tanner since his release?’
    â€˜No, and before you ask, I am perfectly well aware of the rumours of an affair between us. I can only say that it was another figment of that man’s overactive imagination. He began the rumours himself. He saw himself as lord of the manor even if it wasn’t true.’
    â€˜Were you as devoted to the Jane Austen collection as Bob was?’ Georgia asked.
    â€˜No. I indulged him in it though. It seemed a harmless hobby.’
    â€˜Yet he never wanted to exploit it, with or without Max Tanner?’
    â€˜There you have it. Exploit. Bob liked the thrill of ownership, to know that he alone knew about Jane Austen’s love life. You’ve been told about that, I’m sure.’
    â€˜Only a little, until the Fettises are willing to talk about it. Your husband seems to have been the sort of man to hug the collection to himself, not share it. Would you agree?’
    Amelia looked at him quizzically. ‘I imagine what you really want to know is what sort of man Bob was. I take it you never met him?’
    â€˜I remember hearing about him, and I think I saw him at community events once or twice, but our paths never crossed more specifically.’
    â€˜I don’t remember you either, so that’s fair enough.’ Amelia considered. ‘Difficult to describe a relationship so far in the past. It ought to give you a different perspective, but somehow it just seems to smooth things out and blur the pertinent points. But so far as I recall, here goes. Bob wasn’t an extrovert, he wasn’t a mixer, although he liked talking about Jane Austen with enthusiasts, and he liked talking about cars with enthusiasts. He wasn’t a womanizer – as far as I know, anyway.’
    â€˜Did you share any of his interests – cars for instance?’ Georgia asked.
    â€˜None. I just let him lead his own life. I had my own car, and I ran a travel business for a long while, then opened an antiques shop.’
    â€˜From what you say you were in favour of developing Stourdens too,’ Peter said.
    â€˜True enough, although developing tourism wasn’t so much of a fashion then as it is now. The most I got Bob to agree on was to open the gardens for an annual fête – not a Jane Austen fête, incidentally.’
    â€˜The Fettises seem to be very enthusiastic about developing it.’
    Amelia chuckled. ‘I know. Laura got in touch with me some time ago about the Gala. I suppose I should confess that as a result I went to see Laura at Stourdens on the Wednesday before it took place.’
    â€˜At her request?’ Georgia asked. Perhaps at last she and Peter might get some idea of what Laura had intended to announce.
    â€˜Yes. Laura was upset and said she’d asked to see me because of all people I would be able to understand. Naturally, that fed my ego. She said there were great plans ahead for Stourdens using the collection, but she was beginning to have cold feet. Would commercialization be the wrong thing to do in Jane Austen’s interests? Jane Austen had plenty of exposure, anyway, with the wonderful societies and films and documentaries devoted to her, so it seemed wrong to exploit her for their own financial interests.’
    Peter whistled. ‘That must have thrown a spanner in the works.’
    â€˜Not at all. I think Laura just needed persuading that she was doing the right thing. She seemed happy enough