Killer in the Shade Read Online Free Page B

I believed that. In a sense it was true, but not entirely. The light moustache fooled me. On the way home I got to imagining him without that moustache and that told me something I’d forgotten. I had seen him before — but without his moustache.’
    â€˜Then ring up Frank Drury and tell him. He’ll understand.’
    â€˜It isn’t quite that simple, Rollo. I didn’t see him alone on that previous occasion. He was with a woman.’
    â€˜Who was she, John? Don’t be tedious, darling,’ said Judy, finding her voice. ‘We aren’t the police, and this could be complicated. We ought to know.’
    â€˜Cecil Weddon’s wife.’
    â€˜Weddon the bank manager?’ Rollo asked.
    His uncle nodded as his aunt snapped, ‘Beryl Weddon. Flashy. Bottle red hair. Hot pants. And too damned good-looking for any bank manager with a career to concentrate on.’
    â€˜Why, Aunt Judy!’ Rollo’s grin returned. ‘You sound as though you dislike the woman.’
    â€˜Not dislike — distrust,’ retorted his aunt, a mite waspishly. There was a touch of challenge in the stare she shared between her husband and her nephew. Neither chose to take it up and she asked, ‘Where did you see them, John?’
    â€˜A short while ago in the snuggery at the Prince Regent. I met Harry Fitch there for a drink before the Rotary lunch upstairs. She was with this man at a window table. They got up and left before we’d finished our gins.’
    â€˜So you’re thinking of the bank manager.’
    â€˜Cecil Weddon’s a friend, Rollo.’
    â€˜You’ve got to think of yourself, John.’
    The doctor looked at his wife. ‘I don’twant to stir up unnecessary trouble,’ he said defensively.
    â€˜A knife in the back isn’t rated as trouble. It’s termed murder, darling,’ his wife reminded him.
    â€˜Aunt Judy’s right, John,’ said the younger man, and turned to look closely at the troubled face of the doctor. ‘Maybe I’ll get a chance to lead a hint or two into my report if old Simpson’s agreeable, John. Would that help?’
    â€˜It would. But I can’t see the chance arising because I’m the only one who knows. If you hint this Drury will soon reach from you to me, Rollo. You might be doing yourself some no-good.’
    â€˜Let me judge that. After all, it might be my big chance to put a noose round the neck of the girl who jilted me.’ Rollo’s brief laugh was a mocking sound that made both his hearers flinch. ‘Think what a hell of a story that would be.’
    â€˜Rollo — don’t,’ pleaded Judy Cadman.
    â€˜Why not?’ the young man snapped. ‘I’m still in love with her. And don’t anyone tell me I made a mistake. I didn’t and I’d stake my life on Carol.But you just might have given me a way to help her, John.’
    â€˜I fail to see how.’
    â€˜She’s in trouble. Can’t you see that?’ the nephew urged earnestly. ‘Somehow she’s got into a mess and opts out so as not to involve me.’
    â€˜You’re merely guessing, Rollo,’ his aunt said sadly.
    â€˜No, Aunt Judy.’ He shook his head slowly, giving her a smile that managed to reflect the sadness in her voice. ‘I’m feeling — if you can understand.’
    She looked at him until a moisture gathered in her eyes.
    â€˜I really think I can,’ she said. ‘Carol Wilson is a very lucky girl even without an engagement ring.’

    An hour after finishing the report Dan Simpson of the
Morning Gazette
had okayed, Rollo picked up a taxi and was driven to the big square modern block that housed the new New Scotland Yard in Victoria Street. He had put through aphone call and tried to speak to Drury.
    â€˜You won’t get him,’ Dan Simpson, the grunting news editor, had promised. ‘Why the hell do you think we have