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

His spirits lowered at the tussles over Branna that lay ahead. ‘I hope so.’

Sofia seemed to read his mood and hesitated, as if she was about to ask something further, but instead she said, ‘I hear they’re coping at Tir Melys.’

‘They seem okay. Jasmine Merchant is lying low, she’s rarely seen. I believe she sent a wreath for Afan but she decided not to attend today. Licking her wounds. Bryn and Bruno are forging ahead with the purchase. Kat and Suki are staying on. With the Brinkworths gone, there’ll be an empty house. I talked to Bruno and he and Bryn have agreed to ask Morgan Callender if he’d like to move in and work there. Bruno would train him in beekeeping. I’ve advised them to put him on a sort of probation period if he accepts. He’d need to prove himself, up his game.’

‘Spence’s mum has been working on him. It might succeed. That lad needs a structure. But wouldn’t Morgan worry that Calvin might seek him out?’

Swift hid behind his mead. ‘That problem seems to have resolved itself. Can I get you another coffee?’

‘No. I’m heading home in a min.’ She circled an accusing finger at him. ‘You should have told me about finding those sets of keys.’

‘I know.’

‘Hmm. The conversations you had with Elinor and Gwyn, not to mention the Merchants, were completely out of order.’

‘It was a gamble, but what else could I do?’

She relented. ‘You did right. Guy might have killed Elinor if you hadn’t got to her when you did.’

‘Don’t forget Spencer. He didn’t dawdle when he finally got my text and he did well in the end, getting Elinor to open up and talk. His puppy-dog eyes paid off. She always did prefer talking to Frankie. If you push Spence enough in the right direction, he gets there.’

‘Most days, I’d like to push him off the bridge up the road.’ Sofia sighed. ‘I shouldn’t be so hard on him. He sent me the biggest box of chocolates I’ve ever seen.’ She leaned forward. ‘Now, I’ve been disentangling the threads that were knotted around Tir Melys. I’ve interviewed Guy Brinkworth. That was an enjoyable chunk of my life. He corrected me on my use of “pertain”, instructing me that I should have said “appertain”, plus a wordy explanation of meanings and contexts that I won’t bore you with.’

‘Thank you for that.’

‘He acknowledged that he overheard conversations that Elinor had with Caris and Afan about the incident with Gwyn. That stressed him out. He commented that he might well have killed Afan himself, if Peter hadn’t got there first.’

Swift loosened his tie and stretched his legs out. ‘Yes, Peter did him a huge favour. Can you give me the details about what happened on the coastal path that day?’

‘I expect that’s allowed, and no one’s listening. I’ve watched all the interviews with Elinor. She was used to reading Guy and interpreting his moods. He was jittery on that Monday before he went out — worrying about his past catching up with him. She went for a walk in the meadow late afternoon and decided to go along a little bit of the coastal path. She saw Guy in the distance, cycling fast towards her. That surprised her. He didn’t usually cycle the coast path because of the stiles. He stopped and threw something into the sea. Then he air-pumped with his fist. She was alarmed, so she hid behind some gorse bushes and waited until he passed by. She saw that he appeared strange and very pale. When he’d cycled away, she walked along the path and saw Afan dead in the cairn. His eyes were open, and she slipped gloves on and closed them. She zipped up his cagoule too.’

Swift drank some mead. A flash of sun danced through the window on Sofia’s freckles. ‘Elinor and Gwyn were like those women who used to attend to the dead — making him ready and placing familiar things around him.’

Sofia wasn’t impressed. ‘So kind of them. As you know, Elinor can’t keep things in. She believed that her husband had killed Afan because he always felt inferior to him, and it sent her into a panic. She’d no idea then that Guy had snooped on their conversations about Gwyn and Caris. Guy had seen the body as he cycled past the cairn and was overjoyed. He’d been wondering what to do about the growing problem of Afan, Gwyn and Caris. He’d been somewhat reassured when he’d heard that Gwyn didn’t want anyone knowing about her assault at school, but he was vulnerable now that Afan wanted to expose his part in it. Because he’s a nasty, malicious man he decided to collect the phone and weapon and throw them in the sea. Do the killer a big favour by way of thanks. His fist-pumping was sheer delight that someone had disposed of a man he hated, and who posed a threat to his comfy life.’

‘Doesn’t say much for the marriage, though, that Elinor immediately thought her husband was a murderer.’

‘It certainly unravelled her. She needed to keep Guy safe at all costs, so that the adoption could proceed. She worried that once the police started to ask questions, Gwyn’s school experience might come out and their plans would collapse. She walked around for some time, worrying at it. She knew that Gwyn didn’t want the incident to become public knowledge. If she told Gwyn she’d killed Afan because he’d discovered what had happened at the school, that would ensure Gwyn kept quiet. Bind her in, make her part of the awful secret. She didn’t weigh up what Caris might do or say in the aftermath. She was too muddled and confused, with her world crumbling. As soon as she found Caris’s body, she must have suspected that Guy had killed her. She’s on suicide watch