Kith and Kill Read Free Page A

event earlier that day. The landlord confirmed that this assumption was correct.
    “Where was the food laid out?” the inspector asked.
    “On the table along the wall over there,” Wingate indicated with a sweep of his hand. “The table hasn’t been moved.”
    “What did you provide?”
    “Just sandwiches and pork pies, as requested. And some bowls of crisps.”
    “Was any of the food left?”
    “Not much. We handed out the leftovers free to a few regulars in the bar after the funeral party left. Oh my God,” the landlord gasped as the realisation hit him. “Could any of them have been poisoned as well?”
    “Let’s just take one step at a time,” Amos said smoothly. “I see you have a bar in this room. Was that used or did they get their drinks from the main bar.”
    “This bar was open,” Wingate said nodding towards the one at the end of the room where a metal grill now prevented access. “I served the drinks myself.”
    “Was it a pay bar or on a tab?”
    “Pay bar. Mr Wilson – that is, Matthew Wilson who made the booking – insisted on it.”
    “How much did Matthew Wilson drink?”
    “I definitely served him with only one pint, and that was at the start. He didn’t visit the bar again although one of the others could have bought him a drink.”
    “Where are the plates and the glasses?” Amos asked.
    “They’ve all been washed up. We have to get straight before we open for the evening otherwise we never catch up. ”
    “I want this bar to remain sealed off until we’ve taken swabs,” Amos said perfunctorily.
    “Can you do it before Saturday,” the landlord pleaded. “I’ve got a wedding on.”
    “I’ll get it done tomorrow,” Amos promised. “Could anyone other than the Wilson family or your staff have come into this room during the wake?”
    “I don’t think so. I suppose it’s just possible but I didn’t see anybody try to sneak in. Of course, I didn’t know the Wilson family, only Matthew, but I didn’t see anyone on their own and surely the family would have noticed an intruder.”
    “We’ll be asking them all, naturally. But you say you knew Matthew. Was he a regular? This seems a long way from his home or work.”
    “When I say knew him,” the landlord said a little too hastily, “I meant he was the one who made the booking. He said they wanted somewhere near the cemetery and they didn’t want a lot – they wanted to keep costs down.”
    “So he wasn’t a regular?”
    Wingate looked distinctly uncomfortable as he replied: “I think he’d been in once or twice before but I wouldn’t call him a regular.”
    Amos interviewed the landlord’s wife and received much the same story but with less detail, as she had been serving in the main bar while the wake was in progress.
    A young woman who looked about 16 to Amos but who was probably in her early 20s confirmed that she had helped to prepare and lay out the plates of food and had covered them with plastic wrapping to protect them in the short time that they were left waiting on the table in the function room.
    She had then helped in the main bar for the rest of the lunchtime and had not seen anything untoward, although she did not know any of the guests at the wake and would therefore not have known if there was an intruder. However, the few people in the main bar were all people she had seen in the pub before.
    “The only thing is,” she said doubtfully, “There was a woman sitting in the corner on her own and I noticed a couple of times she had a peep into the function room but she didn’t go right in so I don’t think she could have done anything.”
    “Yes, yes,” the landlord said hurriedly. “It’s not unusual for guests to have a nosey when there’s some event or other on. She probably didn’t realise it was a funeral party. I think I know who you mean. I saw her at the door but she stayed well outside. She couldn’t have tampered with anything.
    “That’s fine Kate. I think you can pop off