Palmer-Jones 03 - Murder in Paradise Read Online Free

The classroom was in the same building. The house was grey, two-storeyed. They could see it from the road which wound round from the harbour. Nothing else broke the horizon. To the left of the road built into the hill, beyond a lochan smooth and round as a mirror, was Kell, the croft where James Stennet lived. It was immaculate, freshly whitewashed, with a neat pile of driftwood stacked by the back door. Then the road fell sharply past the low marshy area known as the Loons. In the spring it was covered with long grasses and flowers. Beyond that were the green folds of the clifftop and the sea. George forgot that Jonathan irritated him and enjoyed being on Kinness.
    Sylvia had seen them coming and was at the door to meet them. For the first time since his arrival George felt welcome. She had long chestnut curls and a warm wide smile. There was tea made and hot scones and a fire in the grate in the living room.
    “It is so nice to see you,” Sylvia said, and she approached George to be kissed. Her hair smelled of the hot scones and the fire.
    She led them into the living room. It was light, a mix of traditional island croft and modern comfort. Sylvia sat on a sheepskin rug by the fire and gestured the others to sit down.
    “Isn’t it lucky,” she said, “ that you could make it in time for the wedding party?”
    She began to chat about the preparations for the evening. Jonathan got up and stood by the window. He said nothing.
    Elspeth Dance sat in her parents’ home at the post office with her son on her knee. They were in the kitchen. Kenneth was sorting the mail on the table. Anne was putting the final decorations on the cakes which she had promised for the party.
    “No one has told him that I’m back,” Elspeth said. “He was surprised to see me.”
    “Does it matter?” Kenneth said. “ Surely not after all this time.”
    “It matters to me,” Elspeth said. “ Someone should have told him. He should have been given the choice.”
    “What choice? Do you really think it would have made any difference?”
    “I don’t know. We were so close.”
    Annie looked up from the cakes she was decorating meticulously.
    “You’re making too much of it,” she said sternly. “ It’s all over. It was over years ago. Don’t you go stirring it up again.”
    “Should I go to the party tonight then?”
    “Of course you’ll go. You mustn’t disappoint Ben.” Annie looked tenderly at her grandson.
    “Do you think Jim knows what happened?” Elspeth sounded frightened.
    “How could he know?”
    “I’m warning you,” Elspeth said. “There’ll be trouble.”
    “Should I go over and see if they’ve everything they need?” Alec said.
    “No. They’ve only been married a week. They surely want to be on their own. They’ve got everything they need. I’ve never seen such a fuss.”
    Maggie was sandy-haired and sensible. She had been an infant teacher on Baltasay before they married. They had been to school together. She had no illusions about Alec or about the island when she moved to Kinness. “We didn’t have all that carry-on when we were wed,” she said, with a touch of regret.
    “Would you have wanted it? We had the party.”
    “I wouldn’t have had it any different.”
    “Where are the boys?”
    “In the garden playing. I’ll bring them in right at the last minute to get them changed and ready. Otherwise they’ll get dirty again.”
    “Do you think that they’ll settle?”
    “The boys?”
    “No. Jim and Sarah.”
    “I expect so. Given time. We did. Why?”
    “If they moved off there’d be nothing to stop me buying the Unsta land. We need more land if we’re going to make any sort of living.”
    She had heard it all before.
    “Your father managed and he has less land than us.”
    “Things have to change.”
    “Things will change. Sandy and Agnes won’t be able to stay at Sandwick forever. Especially when Will goes. Then they’ll need someone to work their land. But this isn’t the