Killer in the Shade Read Online Free Page A

give his opinion first, Rollo.’
    â€˜Very well. But strictly off the record?’
    John Cadman hesitated. ‘A few minutes.’
    â€˜You said that before, John. How many? Five — fifteen — thirty?’
    â€˜You’re pushing, Rollo.’
    â€˜Sorry, John, but this could be important — and it is off the record.’
    â€˜Possibly five minutes after the murderer left the house.’
    Rollo whistled. ‘My God! You could have passed him in the street.’
    His uncle nodded. ‘Very possibly, and before you ask any more questions,’ he added dryly, ‘that did occur toSuperintendent Drury. Now let me ask a question. How’s Carol?’
    The keen look faded from the nephew’s face. To the watching John Cadman it seemed to evaporate, like steam in a warm atmosphere. What it left behind was a mask. The doctor wondered what the mask concealed.
    â€˜I could wish you hadn’t asked, John.’
    Judy Cadman turned from fiddling with the objects on the worktop where she had replaced the radio.
    â€˜Why, Rollo! Whatever is that supposed to mean?’
    â€˜Carol sent me back my ring just over a week ago.’ Her nephew tried to smile, but it was far too grim. She knew he had been hurt and felt a little sick with apprehension, wondering what the hurt would do to him. ‘Ten days or so,’ he added, ‘can be a long time, Aunt Judy.’
    â€˜But why, Rollo? She must have said why.’
    John Cadman remained silent, content to allow his wife to ask questions he wanted to have answered.
    â€˜She didn’t say. I was a bit shocked. I forgot to ask for a reason. After all, Carol had returned my ring, so she had a reason. What it was couldn’t matter — and it certainly wouldn’t take back the ring.’
    â€˜You poor boy!’
    It was the wrong thing to say. Rollo fidgeted and looked hot, and to change the tempo his uncle said, ‘You still in love with her?’
    He received a straight wide-eyed stare.
    â€˜I’ll always love Carol. She knows that. I believe something’s happened,’ the young man said earnestly, looking less prepared to escape. ‘I’m not married to her, so she’s free to turn me down if she wants to, but anything that makes her want to must be’ — he hesitated for a word and finally chose — ‘bad.’
    Judy Cadman tried to retrieve her mistake by sounding practical.
    â€˜Is she still in her secretarial job?’
    â€˜As far as I know. I believe she was going up North.’
    John Cadman came to a decision reluctantly. He said, ‘Rollo, there’ssomething I should tell you.’
    His voice had changed. There was a gravity to the words that instantly focused the attention of his listeners. His wife sensed that this was a moment to remain silent.
    â€˜About Carol?’
    The doctor nodded. ‘I saw her last night, Rollo.’
    The young man’s chin jerked up. ‘Sure it was her, John?’ he asked quietly.
    â€˜I wasn’t mistaken,’ John Cadman said gravely. ‘She was in the front garden of that house in Croft Avenue, and she was damned afraid.’
    Judy Cadman gave a little choking sound and crammed a hand against her mouth. She sat down abruptly. The hand remained pushed against her lips as though to prevent her saying words she could later regret.
    â€˜Did you try to find her when you left?’ Rollo asked.
    â€˜It was too dark in the garden to look, and in any case I didn’t want to draw the attention of the police to her.’
    â€˜Thanks for that. But this could turnsticky for you later.’
    John Cadman smiled slightly. ‘It could have been a trick of the light on the bushes. But there’s something else, still not for publication.’
    Judy Cadman sat rigid, looking at this surprising husband of hers in muted wonder.
    â€˜I told Drury I hadn’t set eyes on the dead man before, and at the time