Death Dues
Page 43
‘Have you spoken to Mr Jenkins?’
Rafferty shook his head. ‘I couldn’t. He’s been admitted to hospital and not expected to live. He’s got advanced prostate cancer with secondaries. But he left me a letter which he dictated to one of the nurses in which he confessed to what he’d done and why he did it.’
‘Killing Harrison wouldn’t have helped his granddaughter for much more than a week or two.’
‘No. He realised that. But he thought the man deserved to die. And so he killed him. He has some savings which he’s already given to Kim with the proviso that she pay Forbes off. And her and her natural mother will share the money from the sale of the house between them so she should never get into debt with someone like Forbes again.’
‘Why couldn’t he just give her the money to pay off Forbes in the first place rather than kill Harrison?’
‘As I said, Jaws had made a play for the girl, suggesting she could pay him in kindness next time she didn’t have the money. Jim Jenkins thought redemption was in order. I suppose with his old army training killing was the regular habit for doing away with enemies. That’s why he targeted Harrison rather than Forbes himself. Who can blame him? It’s not as if Jaws Harrison is any great loss to the world.’
Rafferty made for the door. ‘I’m off to see the super to do a bit more crowing.’
‘Hoping for another pat on the head?’
‘Certainly am. And why not? Case over.’
Epilogue
The murder was solved, as were the muggings. And now, apart from the wedding flowers which was back in his bailiwick again, there only remained one job for Rafferty to do – sort out his best man for the wedding.
He’d finally decided on Llewellyn. He was certain he’d do a much better job than either of his brothers or any of his friends.
‘Ah, Daff,’ he said when Llewellyn came back from fetching the morning tea. ‘There’s something I want to ask you. I’ve been putting it off because I’ve had so many other things on my mind, but I was always going to ask you.’
‘Ask me what?’
‘Will you be my best man?’
Llewellyn smiled. ‘I thought you’d never ask. Of course I will. I’ll be delighted.’ His smile deflated. ‘Only you might change your mind when you hear my confession.’
‘Confession? Not another one.’
‘Not to murder. Just to telling Maureen one or two things I perhaps shouldn’t have done.’
‘Like what?’
‘Like that I did the invitations for your wedding. And that Nigel Blythe’s house photographer is booked to take the photos.’
Rafferty beamed. ‘No harm done. I’m sure Mo can keep a still tongue in her—’ He broke off, dismayed. ‘I see. That’s it, isn’t it? She couldn’t keep a still tongue. Don’t tell me she’s told Abra?’
‘I’m afraid so. I’ve just had Maureen on the phone. She thought she ought to warn me. And you.’
‘How did Abra take it?’
‘Like she was on the warpath and with the tomahawk aimed at your head.’
Rafferty slumped in his chair and slurped some of his consoling tea. ‘I suppose that means the wedding’s off.’
‘It certainly will be if she catches you. Maybe you ought to stay with us for a night or two until she calms down.’
Rafferty, recalling how caught up in the roar of the wedding Abra had been lately, said, ‘A week or two might be better.’
The phone rang just then. The caller display told him it was Abra. He let it ring, picked up his jacket and said to Llewellyn, ‘That’s Abra. You’d better answer it. I’m off. You can tell her I’ve gone to Paris to check out haute couture wedding dresses.’
‘Really?’
‘Don’t be daft. Of course I’m not. But it’s the only thing likely to sweeten her current disposition. Give it plenty of Welsh welly.’
Llewellyn gave a long-suffering sigh and reached out an arm. ‘I don’t recall this sort of thing being mentioned on the job description.’
’But it did say “Expect the unexpected”, didn’t it? I think you’ll find that’s probably me.’
SYNOPSIS OF DEATH DUES
A Rafferty & Llewellyn cozy procedural #11
With his wife-to-be’s wedding budget spiralling out of control and his superintendent demanding the swift resolution to the series of muggings of local loan sharks, DI Joe Rafferty is anticipating a long and trying week. And sure, enough, he isn’t disappointed.
When one John ‘Jaws’ Harrison is found with his skull caved in, in an alleyway backing on to rundown Primrose Avenue while on his way to collect debt repayments from the residents, Rafferty and his intellectual partner, Sergeant Dafyd Llewellyn, imagine the case will be easily solved. Armed with a list of local debtors, they begin their investigations. But they hadn’t counted on the conspiracy of silence amongst the residents — most of whom had good reason to want Jaws dead.
With the Super breathing down his neck and fiancée Abra sending his blood pressure to boiling point, Rafferty is forced to make some unorthodox decisions and stretch his intuitive powers to breaking point.
CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR
Geraldine Evans is the author of twenty published novels, including fifteen in the Rafferty and Llewellyn procedural series, two in the Casey & Catt procedural series, one historical novel (Reluctant Queen), one medical suspense (The Egg Factory) as well as a romance (Land of Dreams), a collection of short stories (A Mix of Six) and a short guide to epublishing with Amazon’s Kindle (How To eFormat Your Novel For Amazon’s Kindle: A Short But Comprehensive A-Z Guide).
Her previous publishers include Macmillan, Severn House, Hale, St Martin’s Press and Worldwide (US).
She started writing in her twenties, but it wasn’t till she hit the milestone age of thirty that she actually finished a novel. For the next six years she completed a romantic novel a year, only the last of which was published (Land of Dreams (out of print in any format). When her follow-up romance was rejected, she felt like murdering someone. So she did. She turned to crime. Dead Before Morning, her first mystery novel and the first book in her now 15-strong Rafferty and Llewellyn procedural series, was taken from Macmillan’s slush pile and published, both in the UK and the US by St Martin’s Press. It was the beginning of what has been a long and — ultimately — successful career as a mystery author.
In the late summer of 2010, she made the decision to part with her publisher and turn indie, which is when she also began to make a proper living as an author. She has now published most of her backlist as ebooks, as well as independently epublishing two new novels (Kill and Kill #15 Rafferty series and The Egg Factory), her first short story collection (A Mix of Six) and her short non-fiction guide to formatting for kindle. She is currently working on her sixteenth Rafferty & Llewellyn novel, tentatively entitled Asking For It.
Geraldine Evans is a Londoner, but moved to Norfolk in East Anglia, in 2000.
If you have enjoyed Death Dues, the author would be grateful if you would take the time to give it a review at:
Geraldine Evans' Amazon.com Page Geraldine Evans' Amazon.co.uk Page
If you would like to receive notification when Geraldine Evans is releasing another book or having special or free offers on her novels, why not sign up to her (irregular) newsletter? Here’s the link: : Geraldine Evans' Newsletter Sign-Up Link
Other Books By Geraldine Evans
Rafferty & Llewellyn procedural series
Kith and Kill #15 (Self-Published)
amazon.UK amazon.US
Deadly Reunion #14 (Orig Pub: Severn House)
amazon.UK amazon US
Death Dance #13 (Orig Pub: Severn House)
amazon UK amazon US (pb and hb not ebook)
All the Lonely People #12 (Orig Pub: Severn House)
amazon UK amazon US (pb and hb not ebook)
Death Dues #11 (Orig Pub: Severn House)
amazon UK amazon US
A Thrust to the Vitals #10 (Orig Pub:
Severn House)
amazon UK amazon US
Blood on the Bones #9 (Orig Pub: Severn House)
amazon UK amazon US
Love Lies Bleeding #8 (Orig Pub: Severn House)
amazon UK amazon US
Bad Blood #7 (Orig Pub: Severn House)
amazon UK amazon US
Dying For You #6 (Orig Pub: Severn House)
amazon UK amazon US
Absolute Poison #5 (Orig Pub: Severn House)
amazon UK amazon US
The Hanging Tree #4 (Orig Pub: Macmillan)
amazon UK amazon US
Death Line #3 (Orig Pub: Macmillan)
amazon UK amazon US
Down Among the Dead Men #2 (Orig Pub: Macmillan)
amazon UK amazon US
Dead Before Morning #1 (Orig Pub: Macmillan)
amazon UK amazon US
Casey & Catt procedural series
A Killing Karma #2 (Orig Pub: Severn House)
amazon UK amazon US
Up in Flames #1 (Orig Pub: Severn House)
amazon UK amazon.US
Standalones
The Egg Factory: International Medical Suspense Novel (Self-Published)
amazon UK amazon US
Reluctant Queen: Historical Novel About the Little Sister of Henry VIII (Orig Pub: Hale)
amazon UK amazon US
Land of Dreams: Romantic Novel (Orig Pub: Hale)
OUT OF PRINT IN ANY FORMAT
Short Stories
A Mix of Six
amazon UK amazon US
Non-Fiction
How To eFormat Your Novel For Amazon’s Kindle: A Short But Comprehensive A-Z Guide
amazon UK amazon US
Palmistry Pointers: To Potential Glitches in Your romantic Relationships
amazon. UK Amazon.com: http://qurl.com/zc8dc
So You Want to Get a Partner? Relationship Counselling for the Lovelorn (Spoof)
amazon.UK amazon.US
WHERE TO FIND GERALDINE EVANS
BLOG
WEBSITE
NEWSLETTER SIGN-UP LINK
GERALDINE'S AMAZON US PAGE
GERALDINE'S AMAZON UK PAGE
TWITTER
GOODREADS
CRIMESPACE
FACEBOOK PAGE
LINKEDIN
THE REDROOM
About The Rafferty & Llewellyn cozy procedural series
DI Joe Rafferty, working-class lapsed Catholic, is cursed by coming from a family who think — if he must be a copper — he might at least have the decency to be a bent one. When you add the middle-class, more moral than the Pope, liberal intellectual DS Dafyd Llewellyn to the brew the result is a procedural murder mystery with plenty of laughs for the reader and more than enough angst for Rafferty.
‘Evans writes clearly and realistically. The wry humour in the badinage between Rafferty and Llewellyn keeps the story moving.’
BOOKLIST ON DEATH DUES
Geraldine Evans is currently working on her next book, #16 in her Rafferty & Llewellyn procedural series, tentatively entitled ASKING FOR IT.