Deathly Christmas Read Free Page B

after it, giving him instructions of when to put on the vegetables.
    “How can she think of food at a time like this?” Don spoke angrily to himself, waking their cat, William, who looked at him with an annoyed expression on his face.
    “Poor Jennifer,” Don continued, the reality of the situation suddenly hitting him. “She’s only recently moved out here hoping to have a better life, and now look what’s happened. What on earth is going on here, William? I thought we’d had enough murders for one year.”
    William ignored his master. He was quite happy with his life on Crete and he settled back down to sleep, the smell of turkey wafting around the kitchen. He knew what treats were in store for him later and he had nothing to worry about. Don wished their lives could be as simple.
    Meanwhile, Betty had another quick look at Jennifer. What could have killed her? She looked absolutely revolting. It must have been a poison of some sort. Betty started to wonder who could have done it. After all, Jennifer hadn’t been living on Crete for long and didn’t know many people. Who could she have upset this badly?   
    Of course it couldn’t be Pete or Annie, they’re such a lovely pair and we’ve known them for years.
    Then Betty thought about the new couple, Kevin and Lucy Fowler, a husband and wife in their late forties. They had moved over to Crete about the same time as Jennifer. Perhaps they had known each other before emigrating and there were hidden secrets in their pasts.
    Lucy was a small plain woman who never said much, but Kevin was reasonably good looking. He was quite tall with dark wavy hair and blue eyes which had quite a sparkle in them. Betty thought he was almost as handsome as David, so he wasn’t a bad addition to the ex-pat community. Betty thought it was always nice to have a good looking man to cast your eyes over; and he did have the gift of the gab as well.
    The Fowlers had come over to help Kevin’s younger brother, Paul with his gardening and maintenance business. Paul was single, in his mid-thirties, and in Betty’s eyes not nearly as good looking as his brother, but he had confidence in himself and was always flirting with the girls. Betty wondered how his business would do with the recession, but the ex-pats seemed to be taking him up on his services,
    The doorbell went, rousing Betty from her thoughts. She jumped up and rushed to open it, relieved that she wouldn’t have to be alone with Jennifer anymore. Opening the door, she saw both Pete and David standing there.
     “Thank goodness you’re here,” Betty said, sounding more than grateful. “I didn’t know what to do. Honestly, my Greek isn’t good enough to call the police.”
    “Calm down, Betty.” David said, putting his arm around her. “We’d better have a look at the body first.”
    Betty felt herself tingling at David’s touch.
    Eve doesn’t deserve such a kind, lovely man.
    They all went into the sitting room and the men looked at Jennifer.
    “Looks like strychnine poisoning to me,” Pete said straight away.
    Having been a police officer, Pete was quite familiar with poisons.
    “Oh my God,” Betty gasped. “So somebody deliberately tried to kill her?”
    “It seems that way,” Pete continued.
    “Eve’s cake,” she exclaimed.
    “What?” David asked sharply, taking his arm away from her abruptly.
    “There’s a bit of her cake over there. The poison could have been in that. After all, she did think Jennifer was interested in you, didn’t she?”
    “Eve would never try and kill anybody,” David said angrily. “I know you don’t like her, but I love Eve and there’s nothing you can do to change my mind about her.”
    David’s remarks silenced Betty. She knew she’d gone too far. He’d probably never forgive her. Why didn’t she think before speaking?
    “Now, now,” Pete said. “We’re all a bit upset. I think we should take a deep breath and try to calm down. It is a very traumatic situation