Deadly Thyme Read Free

as if the Almighty had used a saw to sever the coastline from the sea.
    “Annie!” she called.
    The cliffs cast her cries back at her. Gulls screamed, darting up from their perches.
    Dot returned from the other end of the beach. The thought crossed Ruth’s mind that she would hear bad news. But the child said, “No one’s seen her, Mrs. Butler.”
    “ Why, Dot? Why did you leave her?”
    “ I just ran round the other side of the rock there for a second. I thought there might be prettier shells closer in.”
    Ruth took a deep breath while staring at the jutting, sheer wall of rock. On the other side were the stairs. Be patient with Dot, she’s just a child, too . “Where was Annie?”
    “ I thought she was behind me, but then she wasn’t there. But she had said she would get more shells farther down, while the tide was out. Then I couldn’t find her. She didn’t go to the water.”
    “ How do you know?”
    “ She wouldn’t have wanted her shoes wet. Her footprints stopped at the bottom of the steps. That’s why I thought she went home.” Dot’s china-doll face glistened with tears. “I don’t know why she left me.”
    “ Go tell your mum. Run!” Ruth heard the panic in her own voice and wondered, When should the official time for panic begin? Her life wasn’t what it appeared to be, and she could never talk about it.
    Annie was old enough to walk with a friend without her mother hovering like a crazy. She didn’t want Annie to grow up afraid of her own shadow. She trusted Annie to know what to do in a bad situation. Hadn’t she taught her?
    The morning sun had hardly moved. How could that be? She stood on the beach and stared back up at the village sprawled up rolling hills away from the sea. The River Perrin cut down between the cottages with their higgledy-piggledy roofs and tumbled into the surf.
    She and Dot must have caused a stir running around and yelling because two couples and several teens came scrambling over the rocks from different directions.
    Many voices blended into the beat of surf. Ruth heard, “… looking for your daughter … called police …” Her legs went wobbly. She sank down on the cold sand. Oh Lord! Don’t let me fall apart. I’m overreacting. Surely, I’m overreacting . There is no way he could have found us.

     
    2
     
    T he Mini Cooper zipped along the road between brown hedgerows, popping into view occasionally like a white rabbit with a propensity for tardiness. The car left a hint of music in its wake coming from its barely open windows. Inside the car, Detective Inspector Jon Graham gripped the wheel, one finger tapping out the rhythm coming from the radio.
    He braked as something tiny started across the road ahead. The little creature stopped midway across the road. Jon slowed to a stop. The young fox stood upright like a rabbit, stared at his car, then turned and bounded back up the steep incline to the hedge. Jon pressed on , thankful there was one less dead fox in the world.
    The opportunity to travel south had come as a relief. His job in the fraud division of Complaints usually involved sifting paperwork and unbearable bureaucracy, so he’d grabbed the chance at this assignment. He shifted his legs in a cramped stretch. Wrapping up the investigation of a corrupt police officer shouldn’t take long. He figured to have the fellow in custody within a week—two, at the outside.
    The West Country coast curved along dramatic cliffs that were wrapped in white streamers of surf. The sun grew bright with the promise that today might develop into a lovely day which meant that , if the stars were aligned correctly, it might not rain much.
    Perrin ’s Point boasted a legend that had proven lucrative to the spotty village. Four centuries before, Douglas Perrin, a bloodthirsty blackguard, walked into his castle fortress and vanished. Jon wondered how the pirate might have felt about the tourist industry that was captivated by his disappearance.
    A distant