False Tongues Read Free

button to answer the call as she registered the fact that it was her brother.
    â€˜Hi, Sis,’ said Peter’s breezy voice.
    â€˜Hi.’ She took the phone away from her ear for a second to check the time display. ‘I don’t have too much time to talk right now,’ she said. ‘I have to finish packing, then take Bella over to Frances’, and then catch a train.’
    â€˜Packing? Train?’ Peter echoed.
    She sighed. ‘I told you. I’m away this week. Cambridge.’
    â€˜Oh, that’s right. Meeting up with your chums.’
    â€˜Well, that’s not really what it’s about,’ she protested.
    â€˜Whatever. Will what’s-his-name be there?’
    Adam. Peter had never liked him, and refusing to call him by name had always been his way of letting her know that. ‘I sincerely hope not,’ Callie said with feeling. She had monitored the replies to Tamsin’s Facebook invitation, and Adam was down as a ‘no.’
    â€˜And nice as it is to talk to you, I’ve really got to go.’
    â€˜Hang on a second,’ Peter said. ‘I can save you a bit of time. You won’t have to take Bella to Frances.’ I’ll look after her this week.’
    â€˜What?’
    â€˜The thing is, Sis,’ her brother went on in a remarkably cheerful voice, ‘Jason and I have split up.’
    â€˜Oh, Peter, no!’ It wasn’t the first time, and with Jason’s known predilection for chorus boys, Callie had privately expected the breakup much sooner.
    â€˜Don’t sound so upset,’ he said. ‘I’m not. Mutual consent this time. We just haven’t been getting on, and it was time for me to move out.’
    â€˜So you’re…’
    â€˜Homeless again,’ he chirped. ‘And on my way to Bayswater, even as we speak. I’m in a taxi. I’ll be there in…oh, ten minutes at the most.’
    Callie’s heart sank, remembering the last time. She recalled it all too well: the wet towels on the floor, the dirty crockery in the sink…‘But you can’t stay here,’ she protested. She’d only just moved back in and reclaimed her home. It wasn’t fair!
    â€˜It won’t be for long. Just a few days. I have my eye on a flat, so it’s just a matter of some paperwork,’ Peter said smoothly. ‘And I’ll be doing you a favour, Sis. Looking after Bella.’
    â€˜All right,’ she capitulated, knowing she didn’t sound very gracious about it. ‘But you have to be out when I get back at the end of the week.’
    â€˜Done deal. See you in a few,’ he said, hanging up.
    Callie sighed, surveying her flat. Her lovely cosy flat, with everything just the way she liked it. That wouldn’t last five minutes with Peter in residence.
    But Bella would probably be happier in her own home, she told herself. Trying to inject some enthusiasm into her voice, she stroked Bella’s ears and said, ‘Uncle Peter’s coming to take care of you. Won’t that be nice?’
    Her case was packed and she didn’t have to take Bella to Frances’. That gave Callie a few spare minutes to check the invitation list one more time. She went to her desk and switched her computer on, navigating to her bookmarked Facebook home page.
    The list was much the same as the last time she’d looked: in the ‘yes’ column were various names including Tamsin Howells, Val Carver, and Nicky Lamb. But one name had been added at the bottom of the list. Adam Masters was now a ‘yes’.
    Callie caught her breath and uttered a single word which the average man in the street would not believe could ever pass the lips of a clergyperson.
    Interlude: Facebook
    DarthVader474 to RedDwarf287:
    U make me sick u little wanker. U need to die. Y dont u just kill urself & save us the trouble?

Chapter Two
    If there was anything that Detective Inspector Neville Stewart