Excerpt:
Events of the day and the potential
satisfaction of giving Napier a bloody nose dwindled. Questions about the
murder crept back into Ruddy's thoughts. Morris joined him at his table in the
rear of the pub with a Guinness, the popular beer of choice in hand. “You’ve
got the look of a man whose thoughts are a long distance from London.”
“No, sadly my thoughts are fixed here in
the city. I’m trying to figure out a clue. Ellis’s roommate said she’d
sometimes meet with a well-dressed man, a man of means the victim indicated.
They’d meet up at the fountain by the British Museum.”
“Don’t know the spot but then the museum
isn’t my cup of tea.”
“Not the point. I’m saying it’s odd. What
member of the upper class chooses to stroll through a public garden other than
Hyde or Regents, where they can see and be seen by one of their own?”
“I agree the wealthy prefer the parks
filled with others of their kind but it doesn’t mean a man can’t enjoy
someplace different.”
“We interviewed the guard again. The one
that discovered the body walks that half of the building. He told us the
majority of their male patrons are natty dressers, but he never saw a man like
that loitering by the fountain.”
“My guess is: the man is married and can’t
afford to run the risk of being seen by a friend of his wife’s. Or, he might
live or work in the area and the spot is convenient.”
“Or, he’s a murderer who’s noticed the
victim walking through the park on a regular basis, saw it as an opportunity
and cozied up to her.”
Ruddy took another swallow of his ale,
mentally debating the merit of each theory. “I don’t think he lives in the
area. If so, he’d have cut through the park more and been seen by the guards.
Not sure about the married man having a tryst idea."
To Ruddy's way of thinking, if the man was
married and looking for a tumble, he’d have met her someplace other than the
gardens and at a better hour.
Instinct drew him back to his original
sense of the culprit and crime. “I feel like this was a crime of opportunity.
I’ve thought it all along and can’t shake the sense.”
“If he was just seeking a victim, then why
haven’t you had more murders like this?” Morris asked.
Ruddy downed the rest of his beer and put
his tankard on the edge of the table where June would refill it. “Everyone has
to start somewhere. She might be number one.”
Chris Karlsen
Chris Karlsen
I was born and raised in Chicago. My father was a history
professor and my mother was, and is, a
voracious reader.
I grew up with a love
of history and books.
Website: http://chriskarlsen.com/
Any Others: http://www.pinterest.com/chriskarlsen/
I was born and raised in Chicago. My father was a history
professor and my mother was, and is, a
voracious reader.
I grew up with a love
of history and books.
Website: http://chriskarlsen.com/
Any Others: http://www.pinterest.com/chriskarlsen/
