Murder in the Valley: A Lady Margaret Turnbull Cozy Mystery (International Cozy Mysteries Series Book 4) by C T Mitchell Page B

with no word from Winston.  Do we have a deal?”
    The offer of help – even the delayed offer of help – seemed
to calm Lucy.   Her whole body relaxed as she stepped through the door onto the
front porch.  “Thank you, Lady Margaret.  Thank you.”
    “Don't thank me just yet.”  Maggie leaned against the door
frame.  “There's no case yet.”
    “Oh, there will be.”  Lucy tried to straighten up her
disheveled hair and clothes.  “There will be.”
    Once Lucy was gone, Maggie shut the door.  Something about
Lucy’s story and her behavior seemed, well, off to Maggie.  She kept an eye on
the drive way and once Lucy had driven away she left the room to go to her
computer.  There was bound to be information about Barclays UK stock online.  
Maggie knew if she could find out what the connection was she was certain she
could tell Lucy and put this horrible question behind them.
    She was a natural sleuth and wasn’t about to let the
question of what happened to Winston just fade into the background.  Not when
his life could be at stake.   As she stated before, a lot could happen in the
matter of twelve hours.  Maggie wasn't willing to find out what exactly 'a lot'
translated in Winston's case. 
    “And more Lucy was beside herself with worry,” Maggie
muttered to herself as she started sleuthing online.   You could find just
about anything online as long as you knew where to look.  Maggie started out by
looking for information on Winston's stock.   Barclays UK was a rather large
organization, and in some regions, branches went out into debt collection.  If
someone owed a large amount of money and saw Winston as their enemy, that would
be an excellent motivator to cause him harm.
    Maggie’s excitement at finding a possible motive evaporated
the longer she searched online.  As much as she dug and searched into that side
of the business, she kept hitting brick walls.  Barclays protected their inside
information tighter than Fort Knox.   Frustrated, she got up and paced around
her office.  Why was there little to nothing to be found?   Was everything
locked up in restricted files?  Fat chance of getting clearance to that unless
she made nice with an employee. 
    “Now there's a thought,” she said out loud. 
    Who could she find that worked in that department of the
firm.  Whoever was working in that part of the business would want to keep a
low profile as debt collectors were often frowned upon as much as tow-truck or
repossession companies.  She couldn’t think of anyone who liked to advertise
their efforts or their success in that regards.  It would be easy for some
disgruntled person to try to cause them harm. 
    Despite the bad guy persona, repossession and debt
collecting was a lucrative enterprise that existed since before the Roman
Empire and would continue to exist long after they were all gone. Is that what
happened to Lucy's husband?
    Could Winston be involved in debt collection and a disgruntled
person harmed him?

  Chapter 3
    Lucy Broad sighed as she returned to her home in Federal. 
She really didn’t want to go home after Winston had gone missing.  She didn’t
want to deal with the stares and whispers she knew would follow.  The stares
and comments would include pity, disgust, wonderment, and comments about her
marriage to Winston.
     It made her sick just thinking about it.   Was it so hard
for everyone in town to accept that Winston chose her?  Sure, he could have had
his pick of women – he probably still could – but he chose her.   Lucy knew how
lucky she was.   She didn't need everyone reminding her that they thought
Winston was just bidding his time until something or someone better came
along.  Lucy let her shoulders slouch as she pulled into her drive way.  At
least Maggie was kind to her.  It seemed like no one else was willing to extend
her that same courtesy during this trying time.
    Climbing out of her car, Lucy headed towards the door