Just One Damned Thing After Another (The Chronicles of St Mary's, #1)

by Jodi Taylor

He was calm and soothing and had a reasonable explanation for everything. No woman should have to put up with that.

‘You’re feeling a bit under the weather,’ he said soothingly. ‘I know it’s natural for historians, but try not to dwell so much on the past.

He moved in for the kill. ‘You know I love you, don’t you?’ ‘I know nothing of the sort. You just hurled me across the car and went at it like a crack-crazed rhino.’ He smirked. ‘I did, didn’t I?’ I sighed in frustration. He took my battered hand and kissed it.

Will you come?’ Many, many times, was probably the correct answer to that,

What we did find were Markham and Hunter apparently playing cards in one of the old lecture rooms off the Hall. She was more than fully clothed. Apart from a large wound dressing, he appeared to be stark naked.

He greeted us with his usual sunny smile. I kept my eyes firmly on his face. Hunter grinned. ‘He wanted to play cards. We’re playing cards.’ Leon put down his plate and picked up the deck. ‘These cards are marked.’ ‘Of course they are,’ said Hunter. ‘I marked them myself.’ Markham smirked. ‘Go away,’ said Hunter. So we did.

The fire alarms went off. ‘Good heavens,’ he said. ‘At long last. This will make Leon a happy man.’

Actually, there was a much easier way to make Leon a happy man and only slightly less noisy, but probably best not to mention that.

Peterson rushed past. ‘Come on, Max! Swans in the library!’ ‘What? How?’ ‘...

‘Goodness me,’ said the Boss. ‘Do you think they can have found something?’ His entire unit turned to look at him in deep suspicion. He smirked. He actually smirked.

I nearly dropped my glass. Peterson did drop his.

‘It’s here,’ and he pulled the priceless document from under his jacket, wrapped in a Tesco carrier bag. The Boss closed his eyes briefly.

‘I gave explicit instructions – there was to be no violence.’ ‘No, no, he was overcome.’ ‘With emotion?’ ‘Nearly right.’ Wisely, he let it go.

Not so much the end – more a kind of pause …