Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 92668 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92668 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
At least she hadn’t brought the walking chicken wing.
Ash looked at me. “Thank you, Jesus. Help me.”
“Nice hat,” I said to Gwen. “Bit dramatic, don’t you think?”
She pressed her hand to her chest. “Charlotte. I thought you of all people would appreciate it.”
“I said it was nice,” I replied. “What are you all dressed in black for?”
“Same reason you two are.” Barb nibbled her thumbnail, only for Betty to smack her hand away from her mouth.
That was funnier than it should have been.
“They’ve decided they’re going to the wake with us.” Ash’s eyes held a glimmer of ‘danger, danger’ vibes. “To be snoopy old cows.”
Viv gasped. “Ashley! I’ll have you know that we’re going to pay our respects.”
“You’re going to gossip,” Ash said pointedly, slamming the cash register drawer shut. “You can’t fool me. I know what you lot are like.”
“That’s the only reason you’re going,” Gwen said firmly. “You’re not going for any reason other than your sleuthing crusade.”
Ash gasped and flattened her hand over her boobs in an outright mocking of Gwen’s earlier action. “How rude. You should think better of me, Granny.”
“I don’t need to,” Gwen replied dryly. “You’re my granddaughter, and you spend too much time with me. I know exactly what I think of you, Ash.”
“Shall we just go?” I had a feeling this would go on and on if I let it. “She’s right, Ash. We’re only going to see if we can get information about Alan Sumpter, and another four pairs of ears wouldn’t hurt us.”
“Who said we were going to share any information with you?” Betty sniffed.
Ash shot her a withering look. “Your Monday night wine sessions said so.”
“Let’s go,” I said, opening the door again. “We’re wasting time.”
“Fine,” Ash said, grabbing her bag. “Shoo. Let’s move, grandmas.”
Gwen swatted her on the head with the newspaper she was holding and shuffled across the shop. “Sometimes, I can’t believe you’re my granddaughter.”
“You just said I spend too much time with you. Seems like that’s on you,” Ash retorted. “Do we need a game plan?”
“Yes. Get in, act normal, keep your ears open, and meet somewhere tomorrow morning to discuss what we found out,” I said. “That’s it. It’s that simple.”
“Declan’s family will be there,” Barb said. “I knew his aunt once, so if she’s there, I’ll see what I can get out of her. Betty slept with her husband once.”
Betty glared at her sister. “They were separated.”
“They weren’t,” Viv whispered to me.
I smiled.
These old ladies were fun.
“We’ll probably be with Steph,” Ash said before the twins descended into chaos. “So we’re relying on you four to get some information for us.”
“I thought you didn’t want us coming with you.” Gwen sniffed. “You changed your tune.”
“I’ve accepted that I can’t stop you, so I’ve decided to exploit you instead.”
“How rude.”
“You’d do the same thing, you old bat,” Viv pointed out. “Besides, we’re only going for the gossip anyway.”
“Looks like everyone else had the same idea.” I eyed the bustling pub. “Combined with a Friday night…”
Ash grimaced. “This is going to be rough.”
“No, it’ll be fine,” Barb said. “More people means more gossip.”
“That’s not a good thing,” I pointed out. “We don’t want gossip, we want actual information.”
Gwen shrugged. “Then we’ll just have to weed it all out.” She turned to the other three elderly ladies and held up a small black box. “Recorders at the ready, ladies?”
They all whipped identical black boxes out of their sleeves and nodded.
I shared a look with Ash as all four of them marched into the pub with purpose.
“What is going on?” Ash whispered, pulling the door open.
“I don’t know,” I said, taking the weight of the door as she walked inside. “But I’m a little scared.”
Steph arrived at the pub about half an hour after we did. It’d been another thirty minutes since we’d all made eye contact, and she hadn’t yet managed to extract herself from Declan’s family.
Given the way she kept looking at us, she wanted to do just that.
Her gaze was a silent scream of, “Help meeeeeeeeeee!”
“My God,” Ash said. “They won’t leave her alone, will they?”
“I suppose they think they’re grieving together,” I reasoned, stirring my drink with the straw. “Does his family live nearby?”
“About an hour away these days,” she answered. “I wonder if they’re trying to cosy up to her for his money.”
“That’s a bit sceptical of you, isn’t it?”
“Perhaps, but death turns people into vultures. You hear about it all the time; close, loving families who are suddenly at war when there’s an inheritance involved.”
“I guess. We don’t exactly have that.”
“No, but your mum is an only child, and you’re an only child. There’s nobody to fight you for the inheritance.” Ash shrugged. “When Grandpa died and we got our inheritance, Aunt Matilda fought tooth and nail to challenge the will.”
“Which one is Matilda?”