Murder in the Orchard: A totally gripping cozy mystery novel Read online

  He brushed away the tears with the back of his left hand and stared down at the gun that throughout his outburst had remained levelled at Melissa. He was on a knife-edge; it could go either way.

  It was time to play the game again. ‘Pegsy loves her Daddy very much,’ said Melissa gently, ‘and Daddy’s done enough to prove that he loves her, so put the gun back in the toy box and we’ll think of something else to play.’

  For a moment, she thought she had won. Slowly, agonisingly slowly, he lowered the gun. Little by little, inch by inch, it moved towards the floor, while three frightened women held their breath and the tick of the clock on the mantelpiece seemed to grow louder and louder, like an instrument in an orchestra working up to the final crescendo. Then, without the slightest warning, his right hand swept up in an arc towards his own temple.

  ‘Daddy, no!’ Peggy screamed and hurled herself at him, seizing his arm, clawing at the hand that held the gun. Melissa dived forward to help, but she was too late; there was a bang and a scream of pain followed by a thud as Peggy crumpled to the floor. With a dismal cry, like the howl of a wounded animal, George Ballard dropped his weapon and sank to his knees, sobbing and babbling endearments as he cradled his child, trying with his bare hand to staunch the blood flowing from her breast.

  As Melissa grabbed the phone and frantically punched out 999, there came sounds of violent knocking and shouts of ‘Police, open up!’ followed by a crash as the front door burst open and the room filled with men in blue. The blue tide was everywhere; it swept over her, swamped her, drowned her. Almost unnoticed in the confusion, she sank beneath the waves into darkness.

  Twenty-Three

  A chastened Melissa Craig sat drinking coffee in front of the fire in the sitting-room of Elder Cottage. For at least the fourth time within half an hour, Iris asked her if she was all right.

  ‘I’m fine, Iris. Don’t fuss, there’s a dear. And thanks again for coming to fetch me.’

  ‘No trouble. Nearly had a fit when PC Plod called from the hospital, though. Sounded pretty frantic.’

  ‘All I did was pass out for a few moments. Anyone would think I was the one who got shot.’

  ‘D’you feel well enough to talk?’

  ‘Of course. I’m sure you’re bursting to know the gory details, so ask away.’

  ‘Will Peggy What’s-her-name be okay?’

  ‘I think so. I heard one of the medics say “No need to take her to the ITU”, so she can’t be that badly hurt.’

  ‘What about the girl?’

  ‘Sadie? She’ll probably have nightmares for a while, poor kid. She’ll need counselling, but she’s young, she’ll get over it.’

  ‘Teach her not to poke her nose in, won’t it? What about Verity and Maurice – you reckon they’ll live happily ever after?’

  ‘Time will tell. That’s one load off my mind, Iris, knowing it wasn’t Maurice who killed Ben. I really thought I’d have to live with that awful guilt for the rest of my life.’

  ‘Let it be a lesson to you as well. Done your share of nosing in your time!’ Iris reached out to caress Binkie, who was happily toasting himself at the hearth. ‘I suppose,’ she went on thoughtfully, ‘Peggy’s Dad will end up in the funny farm.’

  ‘Probably. Poor man, he must have gone through hell.’

  ‘Don’t waste your sympathy.’ Iris got up from her seat on the floor to put another log on the fire. ‘Can I get you anything? More coffee?’

  ‘How about a snort of your elderberry wine, to give my morale a boost? I dread to think what Ken Harris is going to say to me.’

  ‘He’ll give you a good wigging, and serve you jolly well right,’ said Iris severely. ‘And the doctor said “No alcohol” so forget that. Mel, what possessed you to …’

  ‘Please,’ Melissa begged, ‘Don’t scold me. I didn’t stop to think, I was just terrified that madman would do away with Sadie before the police got to him. I’m sure he meant to hide her in his car and take her somewhere isolated to kill her, and Peggy didn’t look like doing anything to stop him. If I hadn’t turned up when I did, he might have done just that.’

  ‘So he winged his own daughter instead! Prime example of Murphy’s law!’ Iris gave an unfeeling cackle. ‘When d’you suppose she found out?’

  ‘Who can tell? Maybe she suspected early on, but didn’t want to believe it. Maybe she only faced up to it when she realised Sadie had stumbled on their secret. I imagine what happened was that she rang him up to tell him, he panicked and told her to find some pretext to bring Sadie to his house.’

  ‘So she must have had some idea what was going on. That means she knew she was taking a lamb to the slaughter?’

  ‘I’d like to be charitable and believe she thought they were just going to talk Sadie into promising not to tell, but I’m afraid you’re right.’ Melissa stared into the fire, reluctant to believe any woman capable of conniving at such a deed.

  ‘What’ll happen to her now?’

  ‘It depends on what story she tells … whether the police believe her … whether there’s any evidence to bring a charge … I just don’t know.’

  ‘Hmm. Ballard played a pretty cunning game, by the sound of it.’

  ‘I shouldn’t be surprised, when the whole story comes out, to find that he’d been planning to kill Haughan from the day he began work at Uphanger, maybe when he first learned there was a part-time job going there. He’d soon have heard about the mysterious poems and seen an opportunity to exploit them. My guess is he sneaked into the caravan to type his own messages – they’ll probably find his prints on Maurice Dunmow’s typewriter.’

  ‘So that’s why the relationship was concealed from the outset.’

  ‘If Haughan had known, he’d quite likely have refused to give George Ballard the job. Or he’d have taken him on and then given the two of them a hard time, just for the hell of it. Knowing what sort of a man he was, they probably decided it was better if he didn’t know. Once George began laying his plans, and even more after the first murder, it became essential to conceal their relationship.’

  ‘How come you tumbled to it?’

  ‘Inspired guesswork,’ said Melissa. ‘I wasn’t sure until I actually came face to face with George and heard him talking to Peggy in that awful, infantile voice …’ Her mind flew back to the bizarre scene in the house in Mead Close and she gave a violent shudder. ‘I’ll tell you the whole story in a day or two, but I don’t think I can face going over any more of it tonight.’

  ‘Don’t get upset, it can wait.’ Iris’s tone was unusually gentle.

  There was the sound of a car slowing down at the end of the track leading to the cottages, then a flash of headlights through a chink in the curtains as it drew up outside. ‘No prizes for guessing who that is,’ said Iris, her eyes alight with good-humoured mischief. ‘Looks as if you’ll have to tell it tonight after all. Want me to ask him in?’

  Melissa gave a sigh of resignation and got to her feet.

  ‘No, I’ll go home and face the music there. He can’t eat me, and he can’t book me either – I haven’t broken the law.’

  ‘Just scared the pants off him. Never mind, he’ll forgive you … by the end of the evening.’

  There was no mistaking the meaning behind Iris’s sly grin. An electric charge ran through Melissa’s body and her thoughts went racing ahead. ‘I’m sure he will,’ she said.

  * * *

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  Books by Betty Rowlands

  THE MELISSA CRAIG SERIES

  Murder at Hawthorn Cottage


  Murder in the Morning

  Murder on the Clifftops

  Murder at the Manor Hotel

  Murder on a Winter Afternoon

  Murder in the Orchard

  Murder at Larkfield Barn

  Murder in Langley Woods

  A Letter from Betty

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you so much for taking the time to read Murder in the Orchard, I hope you enjoyed it! If you’d like to stay in touch with news about my future publications, then please sign up to my newsletter here:

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  If you really loved the book and would like to spread the word to other readers, I’d be so grateful if you would leave a review. You can also follow my fan page on Facebook and Twitter via the links below.

  All very best,

  Betty

  Murder at Hawthorn Cottage

  A Melissa Craig Mystery Book 1

  Get it here!

  Meet Melissa: cat lover, caring mother… daring detective?

  Melissa Craig is absolutely delighted with her new life in an old crumbling cottage, spending her days pruning the primroses and getting to know Binkie, the ginger cat next door. She only wishes she had made the move to the countryside sooner.

  But when a knock at the door brings news of a shocking discovery, she suddenly finds herself thrown in to the middle of a baffling mystery: the bones of a young woman have been found in the woods just behind her new home.

  Perhaps the little village of Upper Benbury is not as idyllic as it first seemed?

  Strange phone calls in the night convince Melissa that the police are barking up completely the wrong tree, so she can’t resist doing a little digging of her own. From the bingo hall to the beauty salon and beyond, her search ruffles a few feathers and uncovers many of the village’s most scandalous secrets, but gets her no closer to finding the culprit…

  The discovery of a tatty old photograph in a drawer is the final piece of the puzzle she needs, but as a newcomer in this close-knit community, does Melissa have what it takes to get to the bottom of this extraordinary murder mystery alone?

  A joy to read! An absolutely unputdownable whodunnit for fans of Agatha Christie, P.D. James and Faith Martin.

  Murder in the Morning

  A Melissa Craig Mystery Book 2

  Get it here!

  Cream teas, buttered crumpets and a very curious crime…

  Melissa Craig is settling in nicely to a new teaching position in the quaint little village of Upper Benbury, getting to know her way around, drinking tea with the eccentric staff, even sowing the first seeds of romance…

  But when she arrives one morning to find police outside her classroom, Melissa is shocked to hear that her beautiful colleague Angelica has been found dead in her home.

  As everyone in Angelica’s life comes under suspicion, ­Melissa makes it her mission to go in search of the truth, not least because she’s romantically entangled with none other than the police’s prime suspect.

  The discovery of a vandalised portrait of the murdered girl might be just the clue that Melissa needs to clear her lover’s name, but when a second body surfaces, she knows she needs to act quickly. Can Melissa uncover the ugly truth in this beautiful village before another innocent life is taken?

  Do you love murder mysteries by Agatha Christie, P.D. James and Faith Martin? If so, make this puzzling and absolutely page-turning whodunnit your next read!

  Murder on the Clifftops

  A Melissa Craig Mystery Book 3

  Get it here!

  French cheese, fine wine and… a mystifying murder?

  A delightful afternoon stroll turns to disaster when the guests of an artists’ retreat in the French mountains spot the body of a man at the bottom of a cliff.

  Amongst them is Melissa Craig who, binoculars at the ready, suddenly finds herself at the centre of a very puzzling mystery. Was it an accident, or was he pushed?

  Her suspicions are confirmed when another body is found days later in almost exactly the same spot. It can’t be a coincidence; someone in this idyllic French village is up to no good, and it’s up to her to find out who.

  Between the eccentric locals and mischievous guests, Melissa finds herself with no shortage of potential suspects: was it the surly handyman with a dark past, or perhaps the short-sighted widow with an excellent golf swing? But the real question is: how close to the edge will Melissa have to tread to find the culprit…?

  An absolutely unputdownable murder mystery you’ll read in one sitting. Perfect for anyone who loves Agatha Christie, P.D. James or Faith Martin.

  Murder at the Manor Hotel

  A Melissa Craig Mystery Book 4

  Available now!

  As the stage is set for a local village play in a beautiful countryside manor, Melissa Craig plays the role of detective once again when one of the cast is mysteriously murdered…

  Melissa is delighted when she’s asked to help put on a play at her favourite local Cotswolds hotel. There’s nothing she loves more than getting to know the cast, who are just as colourful behind the scenes as they are on stage.

  Rehearsals are running smoothly until the perpetually grumpy supporting actor is found spread-eagled at the bottom of a steep flight of stairs leading to a cellar.

  As Melissa tries in vain to save his life, she is sure she can hear voices nearby and suspects there is more to this accident than meets the eye. Why on earth was he trying to get down to the hotel’s private cellar? And why does the hotel manager seem so angry about it?

  When the hotel floor plans deliver some unexpected revelations, Melissa is convinced that she’s dealing with a murder. But when all of your suspects are actors, how can you tell the good liars from the bad? Can Melissa find the killer before the final curtain falls?

  If you’ve devoured books by Agatha Christie, Faith Martin and P.D. James, you won’t be able to resist this page-turning murder mystery!

  Murder on a Winter Afternoon

  A Melissa Craig Mystery Book 5

  Available to order now!

  A snow-covered cottage is nestled in the hills, all ready for Christmas… but inside a body lies dead upon the floor.

  Melissa Craig is enjoying her first winter in the Cotswolds, taking brisk walks through the snowy fields and basking in the winter sunshine. The only thing Melissa is plotting is her Christmas shopping.

  But after the unexpected death of local writer Leonora Jewell, Melissa is asked to complete Leonora’s final book. However, on her first visit to the cottage, she finds a gruesome object overlooked by the police: a metal bar covered with dried blood.

  Terrified, Melissa rushes to the nearest telephone box to call the police. But by the time they reach Leonora’s cottage, the murder weapon has mysteriously vanished.

  With no murder weapon, the detective in charge of the case scoffs at Melissa’s suspicions. Furious and frustrated, Melissa focuses on finishing Leonora’s novel. But as she reads Leonora’s notes for the book, she starts to wonder… did Leonora accidentally plot out her own murder?

  As Melissa does some investigating of her own, she uncovers some pretty suspicious local characters. But with the police unwilling to help, can Melissa solve this vicious crime alone? By hook, by crook, or by the book, Melissa must find the killers before they strike again…

  If you adore Faith Martin, Joy Ellis and P.D. James, you’re in for a treat with this unputdownable mystery novel!

  Published by Bookouture in 2019

  An imprint of StoryFire Ltd.

  Carmelite House

  50 Victoria Embankment

  London EC4Y 0DZ

  www.bookouture.com

  Copyright © Betty Rowlands, 1995, 2019

  Originally published as Malice Poetic by Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, 1995

  Betty Rowlands has asserted her right to be identified

  as the author of this work.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any ret
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