False Step Read Online Free Page A

at the back of his head worked on whatever problem was bugging him. She didn’t, herself, find it so helpful.
Slap, slap
, went the cards.
    Playing patience didn’t do anything for her.
    The front doorbell rang and Oliver ushered Florrie into the sitting room.
    Florrie looked around her. Usually her business was conducted in the offices downstairs, and she hadn’t been up here before.
    â€˜Well, Florrie?’ Bea continued to lay out her cards,
slap, slap, slap
. This game was not going to work out.
    Florrie seated herself, unasked. With an appearance of candour, she trotted out a prepared excuse. ‘Well, it was like this, Mrs Abbot. I’d never seen anything like it. It spooked me, completely. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. I thought you’d handle it better than me. With the police, I mean.’
    Slap, slap
went the cards. Silence.
    Florrie fidgeted, her eyes touching everything and resting on nothing. She cleared her throat. ‘You’ve got some nice furniture here. Was it Mr Abbot’s, rest his soul?’
    Bea put the rest of the cards down. ‘Florrie, if you saw your client and realized he was dead, you also saw the packet of pills and the note. Right?’
    Florrie coloured up, unzipped her jacket, and zipped it up again. ‘If I don’t work, I don’t get paid. I knew if I called the police they’d keep me there for hours and I needed the money from the Mansfield cleaning job. I know what I did wasn’t right, but I wasn’t thinking straight. It was a shock, see.’
    â€˜Oh, I see all right. What time did you get there?’
    Florrie’s nose seemed to sharpen as she drew in an audible breath.
    Bea raised her voice. ‘Oliver, shut that door properly, and find yourself something to do.’
    The door eased to, very quietly. The handle returned to its normal height.
    Florrie looked shocked. ‘He was listening?’
    â€˜He may be young but he’s pretty good at knowing when people aren’t telling the truth.’
    â€˜I
am
telling the truth.’
    â€˜But not the whole truth. You didn’t tidy up well enough before I got there. You left a half-drunk cup of coffee in the kitchen. There was no scum on the top, and the contents hadn’t had time to dry out so it must have been poured that morning. You don’t make yourself coffee when you’re working. You told me yourself that you hadn’t made yourself a cup this morning. So someone else did. Who?’
    Florrie reared her head. ‘Are you calling me a liar?’
    â€˜Also,’ said Bea, ‘you don’t use aerosol polish on good furniture. You use a vinegar and water mix every week, and a good beeswax preparation once a month, yet the box of cleaning materials on the first landing contained aerosols. How do you account for that?’
    â€˜Sometimes I have to be quick, like. Beeswax takes time.’
    Bea swivelled around to face her. ‘Shall I ask the other members of your team what your first job was this morning … and what time you left them to do this one job on your own?’
    Florrie swallowed, but was mute.
    Bea abandoned her game to go and sit beside Florrie. Time to play soft cop, instead of hard. ‘Florrie, if the police weren’t involved I could let it go, but as it is … if they start questioning you about what time you got to the house, what are you going to say?’
    â€˜Do they have to know?’
    â€˜Tell me the truth, and we can take it from there. I don’t think you were the usual cleaner at that house. You’ve got enough and more than enough work, organizing the Green Girls. But you were greedy—’
    â€˜Short of money. Donny lost his job a while back, can’t seem to get another, you know how it is, he’s on these pills but they don’t seem to do much good.’
    â€˜I know how it can be. I think you applied for the job as cleaner to that house but