Death in High Heels Read Online Free Page B

lovely book—look, Mummy!”
    Rachel snatched the book, and with a Vicious twist, sent it flying towards the wastepaper-basket. “You can’t have it, baby. I’m sorry but you can’t keep it. I’ll get you another one to-morrow.” She looked at the child, afraid of the effect of her anger on the delicate mind, and said more gently: “Daddy ought not to have come here to see you, darling. You know we decided long ago, three months ago, that he was unkind and unfriendly to Mummy so he couldn’t be your Daddy any more; Mummy went and told the Judge and he agreed with her and said that you and Mummy must stick together and do without a Daddy.…”
    “What’s the King’s Pocket?” interrupted Jessica, paying not the slightest attention to the carefully chosen words.
    “The King’s Pocket? What on earth do you mean?”
    “Daddy said where were you? and I said you hadn’t come home from the shop but you rang up and told Alice to put me to bed, and Daddy said, ‘Does Mummy go out with Mr. Bevan from the shop?’ and then he said that that would be nice for the King’s Pocket.”
    “The King’s Proctor?” said Rachel, faintly.
    “The King’s Pocket,” insisted Jessica.
    It was nearly midnight.
    Two
    1
    A T Scotland Yard Mr. Charlesworth’s Chief pressed several buzzers and bent again over his morning reports. As each buzzer was answered, he handed out a file of papers, hardly looking up from his work; but to Charlesworth he murmured, “A dress shop!” and regarded him with a twinkling eye.
    “A dress shop!” cried Charlesworth in accents of deep dismay.
    “Well, knowing your genius for handling young women.…”
    “I’m not genius enough to make one of them take any interest in me,” said Charlesworth, bitterly.
    The Chief looked anxious. “My dear boy, you’re not still grieving over that affair? You mustn’t let these things get you down. Miss Humphreys was a charming girl, of course—I remember meeting her one week-end at your father’s place; but…”
    “Miss Humphreys!” cried Charlesworth, quite overcome by surprise. “Good Lord, sir, it isn’t Miss Humphreys I’m worrying about. Jane was the sweetest thing, of course, and I’m the greatest possible friends with her to this day; but—Good Lord, no! This is much more serious than that, though I know I thought that was serious at the time. I mean this—well, I beg your pardon, sir. The dress shop?”
    “Ah, yes. Well, here’s the report, Charlesworth, and I’m putting the whole thing into your hands. One of the hospitals has notified the coroner that a girl was brought in yesterday afternoon, and died during the night. They suspect corrosive poisoning. Sergeant Bedd seems to have been on the job and he reports, as you’ll see, that the whole thing looks a bit fishy; and furthermore that the young lady worked in a dress shop. Probably an accident, I should think; wouldn’t you, on the face of it? but still, there’s nothing much doing at the moment, so you’d better run along and clear it up as best you can. Take your mind off your troubles, eh?” He forebore to smile until Charlesworth had left the room, for he had a very soft spot indeed for that young man.
    2
    Charlesworth cleared off odds and ends of work, did some telephoning and arranged a meeting with Sergeant Bedd. The post-mortem had been hurried forward and while he waited for the report he strolled down to the mortuary and asked to see the body. The attendant, who knew him well, jerked a thumb at one of the slabs, and bent again over his grisly task. Charlesworth pulled back the sheet.
    The auburn hair and strong, sweeping brows looked as though they had been painted over the magnolia skin. Doon had died in torment and her mouth was still ugly with pain. Her blunt white hands were clenched at her sides, though the lovely body had been mercifully straightened out. He made a note that her hands and feet were manicured, her skin delicately cared for, and her whole