MURDER IN PEMBROKESHIRE an absolutely gripping crime mystery full of twists (Tyrone Swift Detective , GRETTA MULROONEY [books to read now .txt] 📗

Some days we ran together, had competitions. It was nice to have a bit of company. He told me he had to move out of his flat because the rent was going up. He’d found somewhere else, but there were a couple of days between him leaving where he was and starting his new rental. I knew that number three downstairs was empty, waiting for the new tenants. I’ve got keys to all the flats, so I told him he could stay for a couple of days. He did, and he threw a massive party. Stuff got trashed, windows broken, someone sprayed graffiti all over the walls. Maya on the ground floor called the police. They contacted the agent, who told Afan what had happened. He came here and I had to admit it was my fault. He got a terrible shock when he saw the place. I could tell he was fed up.’ He leaned his head on Caris’s shoulder.

‘Afan was really dicked off,’ Caris said. ‘The flat had only just been redecorated for the new tenants. We promised it’d never happen again, but I could see he was having second thoughts. Then he got the estimate for all the damage and that was when he left me that note.’

‘When did all of this happen?’

‘About two weeks ago,’ Morgan muttered.

‘Afan left me the note the Friday before he died,’ Caris said. ‘I never got a chance to talk to him about it. He was good to us and we didn’t mean to let him down.’

Morgan said miserably, ‘That guy Mikey seemed on the level. I haven’t seen him around here since. I really liked him. I was such a fuckwit and I’ve messed everything up.’

The timescale meant that this wasn’t the troubling matter that Afan had contacted him about. Morgan had rested his cheek on Caris’s shoulder. Abused people were rarely good judges of character, their perceptions were skewed, and they were often self-sabotaging. Morgan struck him as the kind of needy person who attracts trouble, a gullible young man who wasn’t used to shouldering any responsibility. Reports of his time at Tir Melys indicated that he was unreliable, and Swift doubted his self-proclaimed DIY skills. He understood why Lori Murray had said her daughter could do better for herself. Afan had no doubt been moved by Morgan and Caris’s problems, but he must have wondered what he’d let himself in for after the incident in the flat below. If he hadn’t died, he’d probably have asked Morgan to move out. Morgan and Caris must have realised this, and Swift supposed that one of them might have stabbed Afan to buy themselves time. It was a thin motive, but people had killed for less if they were scared, and these two were certainly highly anxious and muddled. But he couldn’t see either of them having the wit or the gumption to commit murder. The police would check their alibis for Monday, but he asked anyway.

‘I was at work,’ Caris said, ‘on a ten to six shift.’

Morgan pointed at the floor. ‘I was in flat three all afternoon, helping with the cleaning. They said I didn’t have to, but I wanted to give a hand. Anything to try and make things okay again.’

He’d probably thought it might earn him brownie points with Afan, but by then it didn’t matter. ‘Do either of you know of anything else that was worrying Afan? Something that was on his mind?’ He focused on Caris, because Afan had liked her enough to tell her personal details that he hadn’t shared with anyone else at Tir Melys. Swift could see why. Although she’d lied to him, she’d done it to protect Morgan and there was a sense of decency about her. He’d got the same feeling about her mother. Two sincere women, struggling against huge odds. ‘Caris, you mentioned that someone else had asked Afan for money. Who?’

‘No idea. He said that he might give someone a loan, but he needed to mull it over.’ Caris turned to give Morgan a reassuring kiss on the temple.

Swift decided to leave it there. Caris followed him out to the hall, pulling the door to, as if they were the grownups, not talking in front of the child in the room behind them. She stroked the shining emerald at her throat.

‘That’s a lovely necklace,’ Swift said.

‘Thanks. Elinor gave it to me. I helped her prepare and freeze a load of veg. Was . . . Was my mam okay when you saw her? Was she very upset?’

‘Yes, she was, but bewildered as well. She’s been worrying about what you might be involved in.’

Pain crossed her face. ‘I haven’t liked lying to her, it’s been a nightmare. I didn’t know what else to do, and I had to protect Morgan. I love my mam and I do trust her, but the less I told her, the better.’

‘You will talk to her about all of this when you get back?’

‘Yes, I’ll have to.’ She glanced behind her and lowered her voice. ‘What will happen now, about Morgan being here?’

‘The police will interview you and Morgan. You need to ring DS Spencer.’

‘I will, later on. Will Morgan be able to stay here for now?’

‘I expect so. But from what you said, he might be wiser to move on as soon as he can. Would his brother really come to Cardiff to find him?’

She blinked tears away. ‘Persecuting Morgan was Calvin’s favourite hobby. He’d go miles to torment him.’

He was moved by her plight, sandwiched between her clingy boyfriend and her sick mother. ‘Morgan could search around Cardiff. There will be opportunities. Maybe he’ll find a job with accommodation, they do exist. There are other cities nearer than London, if he wants to put more miles between him and his brother. Bristol or Birmingham would be near enough for you