Small Town Christmas (Some Very English Murders Book 6) by Issy Brooke Page A

authorities. And Haydn kept on
working under Clive, even though they argued. That seems suspicious, to me.”
    “And to me. But they often argued. Surely if Haydn was
completely under Clive’s thumb, he would not have dared to answer back?”
    “Maybe he didn’t – while Clive was still working,” Penny
said. “Did they argue a lot at work?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “But yes, they certainly argued afterwards.” Penny
remembered the first time she’d encountered Haydn. She cast her memory back.
“Clive said something to Haydn about some people that shouldn’t have been
promoted at all.”
    “We’ve got similar reports,” Cath said. “When he was
questioned, Haydn said that Clive was not blackmailing him. Of course, he might
be lying. He could think that if he admits to being blackmailed, it looks like
more of a motive against him.”
    “And he’d be right.”
    “Still,” Cath went on, “once Clive had retired, he had far
less of a hold over Haydn. If Haydn was going to kill Clive, it would make more
sense to kill him while they worked together.”
    “Clive was well known for meddling long after he had any
right to meddle, though,” Penny pointed out. “He had retired when he put in
that phone call to his old place of work to get them to stop his sister’s
campaign to open up the footpath.”
    “What?”
    Penny explained about Linda and her latest passion,
including the way she’d turned into a shoulder-padded-bulldozer and forced
Penny into helping design and create some flyers.
    Cath pondered the information. “And I suppose that if Haydn
thought he was free of Clive at last, and he relaxed at work, it would have
come as a huge shock to find that Clive was still interfering.”
    “And Haydn is impulsive and rash. He speaks before he
thinks.”
    “Hmm.”
    They ordered some dessert. The choice was between homemade
fruit cake with cream, or a dry slice of millionaires’ shortbread. They both
went for fruit cake.
    “Oh,” Cath said, dropping her voice again. “They have
established that Clive was definitely deliberately pushed off the
ladder. Did I tell you that?”
    “Yes,” Penny said. She felt suddenly sick again. “But I’m
still culpable, aren’t I.”
    “No, there’s more. They have checked the ladder and it
wasn’t faulty. Okay, you should have locked it away but you’re pretty much in
the clear.”
    “Oh my goodness!” Penny exclaimed, her sickness turning to
hot relief. “Why on earth didn’t you tell me this first?”
    “Sorry. I had more important things to talk about.”
    “More important than that? ”
    “Yeah, we were deciding on our food order, remember?”
    Penny leaned over and stabbed her fork into a corner of
Cath’s cake, and stole a lump of it.
    Cath nodded. “Yeah. Sorry. I guess I deserved that.”
     
     

Chapter Thirteen
     
     
    “I wish Drew was here,”
Penny said with a low sigh.
    “Oh, charming. I’m not good
enough for you, am I?” Cath replied huffily. “I see.”
    They were sitting next to
one another at the last minute Christmas Planning Committee  meeting on
Saturday night. The chairs were arranged in a large circle, which was supposed
to be democratic and inclusive.
    But everyone was looking at
one another through narrowed eyes, and Penny could almost taste the feeling of
suspicion that hung in the chilly air.
    “Sorry,” Penny said airily.
“Can you feel that atmosphere, or is it just me over-reacting?”
    Cath looked around the room.
She leaned closer to Penny and said, “No, I don’t think it’s just you. Everyone
is quieter than usual. It’s because of Clive. Remember, the murder happened
after the last meeting.”
    “Oh goodness, yes, so it
did.”
    “Thank you all for coming,”
Ginni said in her loud voice, and the whispers and murmurs died instantly. She
was the chairperson of the committee.
    She took a moment to glance
around the room. People shuffled awkwardly in their seats. Ginni had a
school-mistress air about