‘Yes please.’ He pushed his empty cup forward. ‘Go on, enlighten me further about Esmeralda’s mystic powers. You’re going to anyway.’ He smiled.
‘Well, Esmeralda could tell Yvette wasn’t happy. Perhaps she wasn’t feeling so good about what she was doing to Berkley. She didn’t want to hear the warning Esmeralda was giving her about the two men she was involved with... And there was someone else. Esmeralda felt that there was another man waiting in the wings. The killer?’
‘She got that much from the Tarot?. She could have known that already, Viviane. The old girl is obviously well in with the local gossips and she is residing at the hotel where Cliff Jones works. That’s the clairvoyant’s usual gambit, isn’t it? Giving out warnings? Or to foresee the tall dark handsome young man who’s about to come into a lonely young woman’s life.’
‘No, Jon. You’ve got it all wrong. Esmeralda’s not like that!’
‘Isn’t she?’ he teased.
She frowned. ‘No. She’s genuine. And she was angry when she overheard Yvette rowing with Cliff on the pier near the booth. Yvette was convinced enough to get over her strong doubts to her co-conspirator. If that’s what he was. And Cliff obviously didn’t like what he heard. Esmeralda was so worried when she knew that Yvette was dead. She said she’d ask the spirit world to help her. She’s capable of doing it too.’
Kent shook his head in mock despair and laughed. ‘Good God! That’s all we need. What have I done to deserve this? A psychic trying to solve a case for me. I’d never live it down.’
‘I don’t think it’ll come to that. But she is sincere. And she thinks she could help. She was so worried about that girl. She could see the trail of trouble and danger Yvette was inviting by her behaviour. And she couldn’t stop it. Esmeralda felt helpless. She couldn’t get her to listen. And she was right to feel that way, wasn’t she?’
‘I suppose you’re right.’ He finished his second cup of tea. ‘So we have to ask ourselves yet again. Was she chosen beforehand by the killer to be a victim? Or did she accidentally cross his path because he happened to be where she was on Saturday night?’
30
Mrs Frost came into the library midweek.
‘Good morning, Viviane. I need a romantic book to cheer me up. Can you recommend a good one? I want a novel full of strong passions and desire to churn up my emotions.’ She giggled. ‘If I can’t get romance into my life right now, I want my reading spiced up a bit.’
Viviane studied Maggie Frost’s thin face. It wore the ‘not a minute to spare’ look that usually came with the peak of the hotel summer season. ‘There’s Nora Roberts or I have Danielle Steele’s latest in. If you fancy it? She’s guaranteed to twang your heart strings. Or a Jilly Cooper? We have a waiting list for her latest. I can imagine you are kept pretty busy at the moment.’
‘Truth to tell. I’m glad to be able to pop in right now. I’ve got so many problems you wouldn’t believe. I feel like selling up and chucking it all in at this moment.’ She propped her elbows up on the counter and sighed. ‘My chef, Cliff Jones, has given in his notice. He’s leaving me in a hell of a hole. Good chefs are as rare as gold dust to get hold of during the busy season.’
‘It’s only understandable he must be feeling pretty rough since his girlfriend was murdered.’
‘Yes I know. Tragic, wasn’t it? She was French. Such a pretty girl. She came to see him once at the hotel. And he introduced her to me. Your lodger, Inspector Kent is on the case, I gather? Has he said anything at all to you? Are they any nearer to catching the murderer, dear?’
Viviane groaned. ‘He’s not my lodger, Maggie. He’s my tenant. And no, he doesn’t divulge anything of great importance about the case. He’s working all hours on it. I can tell you that much.’
‘The Wilberforce ladies have been at odds with one another this week. Most unusual for them. I think these dreadful murders are affecting everyone. Even our guests. We have two nice families staying with us this week. They come every year. And they have been very protective towards their teenage daughters. You can’t blame them though.’ She shivered. ‘It seems it’s not safe for any young girl out on their own. I’m glad that my daughter is married now.’
‘I know what you mean. I`m glad that Jill is out of the way too.’
31
The girl was licking a 99 ice cream cornet and holding on tightly to Raymond Perkins’s arm. She had some chocolate flake around her mouth she licked it away with her tongue, and looked sublimely happy. And felt it for the first time in ages. She sighed with sheer pleasure and delight. And she owed it all to the kind woman she’d met cleaning in the chapel. Raymond’s grandmother, June Perkins. She had been really desperate when she walked in through the open chapel door. Hoping she might get a hand-out.