The Killings at Badger's Drift (Chief Inspector Barnaby #1)

by Caroline Graham

But he had no way of knowing that, in the town they had so recently left behind, an old lady was lifting a telephone and, with tears streaming down her face, dialing a number at Badger’s Drift.

Troy, who had always hoped that one day he would be in a position to see a member of the upper crust getting their comeuppance, found himself looking away from the shrunken figure in the wheelchair.

Household linen

Barnaby glanced at the canvas. Resting on the rim of the easel was an envelope: ‘To Whom It May Concern’.

Troy, uncomfortably aware of the effect the painting had had on him, stumbled behind.

And when he’d gone she turned all her attention to Michael. And he, poor boy, with his mother dead, clung to her in desperation. You’d never have thought he was the eldest. She was mother, father, sister, everything to him.

Adolescent rows, as I saw it. Picking fault with each other all the time, every day a slanging match. She’d scream at him, he’d fling himself out of the house. And yet, Inspector’—she leaned forward and her voice became very quiet—‘all the time this was going on I felt there was something wrong. I could sense the undercurrent of their feelings for each other as strong as ever. The rows seemed… forced somehow…unnatural.

had promised their mother I’d look after them, but then one day Katherine started talking about their European tour. Oh, they were going here…they were going there…I don’t know where they weren’t going. I asked then, “Who’s paying for all this?” And she said, “Henry, of course.” And Michael said, “Kate can get Henry to do anything.” ‘They were standing together at the time behind the kitchen table, arms around each other’s waists. And I suddenly realized how strong they were…They fed off each other. You could almost see it…energy flowing to and fro between them…doubling…doubling in strength. And I felt afraid. I thought, there’ll

be no stopping them.

he wished to delay the ambulance as long as possible. The last thing they wanted was an efficient team on the spot in no time, perhaps saving Bella’s life.’ ‘Yes…I

The only word of sorrow or regret in the whole seven pages was that

they had not been able to deny themselves a brief visit to their secret place that fatal Friday afternoon.

They needed money, you see. Lots and lots and lots of money.

Then they planned to settle abroad, probably living as man and wife.’

maenad /ˈmēnad/ I. noun (in ancient Greece) a female follower of Bacchus, traditionally associated with divine possession and frenzied rites. II. derivatives maenadic /mēˈnadik / adjective – origin late 16th cent.: via Latin from Greek Mainas, Mainad-, from mainesthai ‘to rave.’

and destruction he had so recently beheld at Tranquillada. And, over and above all, the tragic pitiful incestuous passion of Annabella and her brother Giovanni.