Bloodhounds Read Free

the hire of the room," said Milo. "We used to meet in pubs at the beginning, but some of the ladies decided a meeting room would be more civilized."
    "That isn't true," Miss Chilmark called across from the chair. "We were asked to meet somewhere else after Rupert misbehaved himself in the Roman Bar at the Francis."
    "We could have gone to another pub," said Milo.
    "You know it would have been the same story."
    The information-gathering had not been entirely one-sided. Shirley-Ann did some mental addition and realized that she now knew something about all the Bloodhounds. Six, Milo had said. Three women: Polly, the Chair, famous for her organizing skills, but liable to be flustered if late; the Eco devotee, Miss Chilmark, ambitious to take over; and Jessica, the expert on the female private eyes. She was grateful for Jessica. And the men: Milo, probably a civil servant by his pedantic manner, and possibly gay; Sid, who hid; and Rupert, who misbehaved in pubs. Good thing she hadn't come here to look for male companionship.
    "Rupert's all right," Jessica told her. "I think it's mostly role-play with him. He claims to have met all sorts of famous people. But he stops us from getting too stuffy and parochial. He's deeply into what he calls 'Crime Noir'—authors like James Ellroy and Jonathan Kellerman."
    "Will he be coming tonight?"
    "I expect so, but not before we start. He likes to make an entrance."
    Shirley-Ann wasn't yet convinced that she would tolerate Rupert as blithely as Jessica did.
    A voice from the door said, "So sorry, everyone. What will you think of me? I dropped my car keys down a drain, and I've been trying to hook them up for the past twenty minutes." It had to be Polly Wycherley, and the poor dear was flushed with the experience, or her embarrassment. Her breathing sounded asthmatic. She raised the average age of the group closer to sixty, but there was a reassuring softness and mobility in her features. Short, chunky, silver-haired and wearing a pale green Dannimac coat, she was Shirley-Ann's idea of a favorite aunt.
    "Did you get them back?" Milo asked.
    "Yes—thanks to a kindhearted taxi driver who saw me on my knees by the side of the road. It happens quite often, apparently. Not to me, I mean." Dimples of amusement appeared in her cheeks. "I could tell you what to do if it happens to you, but I've wasted enough time already. Listen everyone, I've got to wash my hands. Why don't you begin without me?"
    "Good suggestion," said Miss Chilmark. "Sit down, ladies and gentlemen."
    "We can wait a few more minutes," said Jessica quickly.
    "Yes, let's wait," Milo chipped in.
    Miss Chilmark's eyes narrowed, but she said no more.
    "What's the program tonight?" Shirley-Ann asked Milo.
    "I'm not sure. We leave that up to Polly. We're not too rigid about the way we run it. One thing you should be prepared for: We take turns to talk about a book we enjoyed recently."
    "Don't you dare mention The Name of the Rose," murmured Jessica.
    "I hope I don't have to go through some initiation rite."
    Milo's eyes sparkled. "A secret ceremony?"
    Jessica said, "Black candles and a skull? What's that club that writers belong to? The Detection Club."
    Polly reappeared, and there was a general move toward the circle of chairs. The Bloodhounds didn't look as if they went in for secret ceremonies.

Chapter Three
    "Come in, Peter, we're waiting with bated breath," said the Assistant Chief Constable.
    "What for, sir?"
    "You don't know?"
    With distrust, Diamond eyed the amused faces around the oval table in the conference room. This was the evening when the ACC's monthly meeting of high fliers took place upstairs in the "eagle's nest" in Bath Central Police Station.
    "For the story of your latest arrest. How you nicked the Saltford bank clerk."
    "Am I being ever so gently sent up?"
    "Good Lord, no. We want to share in your satisfaction. You let it be known in no uncertain terms that a decent murder hadn't come your way since you were