by Faith Martin
‘I have my bag outside,’ she said straight away. ‘I thought, under the circumstances, it would be best if I didn’t stay for the New Year.’
Bill smiled in obvious relief. And immediately felt guilty. ‘Miss Starling,’ he said, taking a deep breath. ‘I owe a lot to you. We all do, of course. Nobody likes being under suspicion of murder. But I owe you more than most — and I have the farm now. Bert’s leaving for good, did he tell you? Him and Jeremy both.’
Jenny nodded.
‘Bert said he never really wanted to inherit the farm anyway, and especially not now that he’s back with his wife and has a whole new life to look forward to. He just wants to forget about this place,’ he waved a hand vaguely around to encompass their surroundings.
‘Does that mean he think’s Sid’s your father? Do you? Are you going to have a DNA test?’ Jenny asked, with pardonable curiosity.
Bill shrugged. ‘No, I’m not getting tested. Why bother? I prefer to think of Sid as my father. So Bert and me, we’re going to go to a solicitor and get it all sorted, legal-like. Bert will sign some papers saying I’m the eldest son of the eldest son, so it’s all official.’
‘Well, that’s what Sid would have wanted,’ Jenny agreed softly.
‘Yes. Anyway,’ Bill said gruffly. ‘I wouldn’t want you to leave thinking that I’m not grateful.’
Jenny smiled. ‘It never crossed my mind, Mr Kelton.’
Bill smiled in relief, his tense shoulders relaxing. ‘Good, and if there’s anything I can ever do for you, just let me know.’
‘Well, as a matter of fact,’ she said, hesitating, unsure how to be tactful about it, and saw Bill immediately tense up again.
‘Yes?’
Jenny coughed. ‘Well, er, there is a question of . . . well, my wages.’
Bill gaped at her, and then began to laugh. ‘You mean you haven’t been paid in advance?’ he asked. ‘Isn’t that just like the miserly old sod.’
He left the room for a few minutes, and then returned with a gratifying number of twenty-pound notes. And although they amounted to far more than she had agreed to be paid in her letter to Stan Kelton, Jenny promptly put them away in her purse.
Waste not, want not!
‘Well, goodbye, Mr Kelton. I want to drop in at Kidlington before going back to Oxford. I never got the chance yesterday to say goodbye to Inspector Moulton and Sergeant Ford.’
‘Oh, of course,’ Bill said, following her out into the hall. Jenny shook his hand briefly, and firmly waved away his offer to walk her to the bus stop in the village, where the buses were once again running.
But, from the look of the sky, not for much longer, she mused. She’d better put her best foot forward. As the door closed behind her, Jenny took a deep breath, hefted her holdall over one shoulder, and set off. Never had she been so glad to leave a place behind!
She had covered no more than half a dozen yards when the gander spotted her. His beady eye alighted on the holdall, and he gave an avian hiss of triumph. He couldn’t, of course, let her go without one last attempt at showing her just who was boss.
Jenny, who’d been keeping an anxious eye on the iron-grey snow clouds above her, heard the hiss just in time. She turned and deftly lifted one ankle out of the firing line of an extended beak. The bird, massive wings still extended, executed a perfect Charlie Chaplin-like turn on one webbed foot, and came back for a second try.
A cold wind, full of snow and ice, suddenly gusted across the yard, and Jenny shivered.
‘You know,’ she said thoughtfully, and loudly, ‘I really could do with some goose feathers to make myself a nice warm quilt — especially in this weather.’ And she took a quick step forward, as if she fully intended to start chasing him.
Just passing the kitchen window, Bill Kelton heard a fearsome honking, and looked up just in time to see his gander head for the barn as if all the foxes in Hades were after him.
THE END
ALSO BY FAITH MARTIN
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JENNY STARLING SERIES
Book 1: THE BIRTHDAY MYSTERY
Book 2: THE WINTER MYSTERY
DI HILLARY GREENE SERIES
Book 1: MURDER ON THE OXFORD CANAL
Book 2: MURDER AT THE UNIVERSITY
Book 3: MURDER OF THE BRIDE
Book 4: MURDER IN THE VILLAGE
Book 5: MURDER IN THE FAMILY
Book 6: MURDER AT HOME
Book 7: MURDER IN THE MEADOW
Book 8: MURDER IN THE MANSION
Book 9: MURDER IN THE GARDEN
Book 10: MURDER BY FIRE
Book 11: MURDER AT WORK
Book 12: MURDER NEVER RETIRES
Book 13: MURDER OF A LOVER
Book 14: MURDER NEVER MISSES
Book 15: MURDER AT MIDNIGHT
Book 16: MURDER IN MIND
Book 17: HILLARY’S FINAL CASE
DI HILLARY GREENE BOOK 1
MURDER ON THE OXFORD CANAL
https://www.amazon.co.uk/MURDER-OXFORD-gripping-mystery-twists-ebook/dp/B0763RXLRV/
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MEET DI HILLARY GREENE, A POLICE WOMAN FIGHTING TO SAVE HER CAREER.
Not only has she lost her husband, but his actions have put her under investigation for corruption.
Then a bashed and broken body is found floating in the Oxford Canal. It looks like the victim fell off a boat, but Hillary is not so sure. Her investigation exposes a dark background to the death.
Can Hillary clear her name and get to the bottom of a fiendish conspiracy on the water?
DI HILLARY GREENE BOOK 2
MURDER AT THE UNIVERSITY
UK: www.amazon.co.uk/MURDER-UNIVERSITY-gripping-mystery-twists-ebook/dp/B076CQSYMM/
USA https://www.amazon.com/MURDER-UNIVERSITY-gripping-mystery-twists-ebook/dp/B076CQSYMM/
A pretty French student is found dead in her room at an exclusive Oxford college. Everyone thinks it is another tragic case of accidental drug overdose.
But Detective Hillary Greene has a nose for the truth. She quickly discovers that the student was involved in some very unusual activities.
With a shocking cause of death found, the case becomes a high-profile murder investigation.
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A SELECTION OF OUR OTHER TITLES YOU MAY ALSO ENJOY
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First a shooting, then a grisly discovery on the common . . .
Police partners, D.I. Calladine and D.S. Ruth Bayliss race against time to track down a killer before the whole area erupts in violence. Their boss thinks it’s all down to drug lord Ray Fallon, but Calladine’s instincts say something far nastier is happening on the Hobfield housing estate.
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Shocking family secrets come to light when a young woman is murdered
Amy Hill, a nineteen-year-old student, is strangled and her body dumped on open ground in the city. New police partners, D.I. Jim Neal and D.S. Ava Merry are called in to investigate this brutal crime. The last person to see Amy alive was Simon, the son of a family friend, but before he can be properly questioned he disappears.
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If you like Angela Marsons, Rachel Abbott, Ruth Rendell, or Mark Billingham you will be gripped by this exciting new crime fiction writer.
DEAD SECRET is the first in a new series of detective thrillers featuring D.S. Ava Merry and D.I. Jim Neal. Ava Merry is a young policewoman, recently promoted to detective sergeant. She is a fitness fanatic with a taste for dangerous relationships. Jim Neal is a single dad who juggles his devotion to his job with caring for his son.
Set in the fictional Northern city of Stromford, this detective mystery will have you gripped from start to shocking conclusion.
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A NEW CRIME THRILLER WITH A COMPELLING DETECTIVE WHO WILL STOP AT NOTHING TO AVENGE HER DAUGHTER
Glossary of English Slang for US readers
A & E: Accident and emergency department in a hospital
Aggro: Violent behaviour, aggression
Air raid: an attack in which bombs are dropped from aircraft on ground targets
Allotment: a plot of land rented by an individual for growing fruit, vegetable or flowers
Anorak: nerd (it also means a waterproof jacket)
Artex: textured plaster finish for walls and ceilings
A Level: exams taken between 16 and 18
Auld Reekie: Edinburgh
Au pair: live-in childcare helper. Often a young woman.
Barm: bread roll
Barney: argument
Beaker: glass or cup for holding liquids
Beemer: BMW car or motorcycle
Benefits: social security
Bent: corrupt
Bin: wastebasket (noun), or throw in rubbish (verb)
Biscuit: cookie
Blackpool Lights: gaudy illuminations in seaside town
Bloke: guy
Blow: cocaine
Blower: telephone
Blues and twos: emergency vehicles
Bob: money
Bobby: policeman
Broadsheet: quality newspaper (New York Times would be a US example)
Brown bread: rhyming slang for dead
Bun: small cake
Bunk: do a bunk means escape
Burger bar: hamburger fast-food restaurant
Buy-to-let: Buying a house/apartment to rent it out for profit
Charity Shop: thrift store
Carrier bag: plastic bag from supermarket
Care Home: an institution where old people are cared for
Car park: parking lot
CBeebies: kids TV
Chat-up: flirt, trying to pick up someone with witty banter or compliments
Chemist: pharmacy
Chinwag: conversation
Chippie: fast-food place selling chips and other fried food
Chips: French fries but thicker
CID: Criminal Investigation Department
Civvy Street: civilian life (as opposed to army)
Clock: punch
Cock-up: mess up, make a mistake
Cockney: a native of East London
Common: an area of park land/ or lower class
Comprehensive School (Comp.): High school
Cop hold of: grab
Copper: police officer
Coverall: coveralls, or boiler suit
CPS: Crown Prosecution Service, decide whether police cases go forward
Childminder: someone who looks after children for money
Council: local government
Dan Dare: hero from Eagle comic
DC: detective constable
Deck: one of the landings on a floor of a tower block
Deck: hit (verb)
Desperate Dan: very strong comic book character
DI: detective inspector
Digestive biscuit: plain cookie
Digs: student lodgings
Do a runner: disappear
Do one: go away
Doc Martens: Heavy boots with an air-cushioned sole
Donkey’s years: long time
Drum: house
DS: detective sergeant
ED: accident and emergency department of hospital
Eagle: boys’ comic
Early dart: to leave work early
Eggy soldiers: strips of toast with a boiled egg
Enforcer: police battering ram
Estate: public/social housing estate (similar to housing projects)
Estate agent: realtor (US)
Falklands War: war between Britain and Argentina in 1982
Fag: cigarette
Father Christmas: Santa Claus
Filth: police (insulting)
Forces: army, navy, and air force
FMO: force medical officer
Fried slice: fried bread
Fuzz: police
Garda: Irish police
Gendarmerie: French national police force
Geordie: from Newcastle
Garden Centre: a business where plants and gardening equipment are sold
Gob: mouth/ can also mean phlegm or spit
GP: general practitioner, a doctor based in the community
Graft: hard work
Gran: grandmother
Hancock: Tony Hancock, English comedian popular in 1950s
Hard nut: tough person
HGV: heavy goods vehicle, truck
HOLMES: UK police computer system used during investigation of major incidents
Home: care home for elderly or sick people
Hoover: vacuum cleaner
I’ll be blowed: expression of surprise
Inne: isn’t he
Interpol: international police organisation
Into care: a child taken away from their family by the social services
Iron Lady: Margaret Thatcher, applied to any strong woman
ITU: intensive therapy unit in hospital
Jane Doe: a person whose identity is unknown/anonymous
JCB: a mechanical excavator
Jerry-built: badly made
Jungle: nickname given to migrant camp near Calais
Lad: young man
Lass: young woman
Lift: elevator
Lord Lucan: famous aristocrat who allegedly killed his children’s nanny and disappeared in 1974. Has never been found.
Lorry: a truck
Lovely jubbly: said when someone is pleased
Luftwaffe: German air force
M&S: Marks and Spencer, a food and clothes shop
Miss Marple: detective in a series of books by Agatha Christie
MOD: ministry of defence
Mobile phone: cell phone
MP: Member of Parliament, politician representing an area
MRSA: A strain of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Myra Hindley: famous British serial killer
Naff: lame, not good
Naff
all: none
National Service: compulsory UK military service, ended in 60s
Net curtains: a type of semi-transparent curtain
NHS: National Health Service, public health service of UK
Nick: police station (as verb: to arrest)
Nowt: nothing
Nutter: insane person
Nursery: a place which grows plants, shrubs and trees for sale (often wholesale)
Old bag: old woman (insulting)
Old Bill: police
OTT: over the top
Owt: anything
Pants: noun: underwear adjective: bad/rubbish/terrible
Para: paratrooper
Pay-as-you-go: a cell phone you pay for calls in advance
PC: police constable
Pear-shaped: go wrong
Petrol: gasoline
Pictures: movie
Pillbox: a concrete building, partly underground, used as an outpost defence
Pillock: fool
Pips: police insignia indicating rank
Piss off: as exclamation, go away (rude). Also can mean annoy.
Pissing down: raining
Playing field: sports field
Pleb: ordinary person (often insulting)
Portakabin: portable building used as temporary office etc.
Post: mail
Planning Department: the local authority department which issues licences to build and develop property
PNC: police national computer
PSNI: police service of Northern Ireland
Prat: silly idiot
Premier League: top English soccer division
Proms: concerts held at the Albert Hall
Public Analyst: scientists who perform chemical analysis for public protection purposes
RAF: Royal Air Force
Rag: newspaper
Ram-raiding: robbery where a vehicle is rammed through a shop window
