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Back The Ringmaster Save as PDF
Chapters (73)
  1. Cover
  2. The Ringmaster
  3. Contents
  4. Prologue
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. 46
  51. 47
  52. 48
  53. 49
  54. 50
  55. 51
  56. 52
  57. 53
  58. 54
  59. 55
  60. 56
  61. 57
  62. 58
  63. 59
  64. 60
  65. 61
  66. 62
  67. 63
  68. 64
  69. 65
  70. 66
  71. Epilogue
  72. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  73. Copyright

Just as her boyfriend said, Rose-Marie seemed to have struck it lucky with her flatmates. As far as I could tell, they all got on well, and they seemed to have an almost family-like camaraderie. I could relate to the benefits of a good flatmate – Maggie and I had flatted together for years, in different places, and I would have to say she was a calming influence on me. I couldn’t quite say what benefits Maggie got from the relationship, but she continued to put up with me, so I couldn’t be too bad.

I thought about Rose-Marie’s involvement with the church. It would be interesting to talk with her priest, or youth pastor, to see if she’d mentioned any concerns. If she couldn’t confide in them, who could she confide in? I jotted the thoughts down in my notebook – I’d put it to Smithy in the morning.

Smithy had finally got to go home to his family around three. It didn’t leave the poor man much time to play with the kids, so I hadn’t quizzed him for too long. One of the consolations of singledom was not having to keep tabs on the work hours.

According to Smithy the interview with Dr Hawkins wasn’t that interesting. The main impression he got was that politics was alive and well in academic circles. The pursuit of higher learning didn’t exempt the university from the curse of the large institution – in-house posturing and turf guarding. Hawkins and Rose-Marie got on fine: there may have been one or two disagreements on small matters, but according to Hawkins, they were all her own doing because, as she put it, Rose-Marie had a brilliant mind, and she found it hard to compete. Smithy had been quite disarmed by her honesty. Most people in a murder investigation wouldn’t admit, up front, to any form of jealousy, lest it incriminated them. This woman had no such qualms and admitted she’d have loved to have half of the natural ability of this girl. She insinuated that she wasn’t the only one in this situation, and that Prof Simpson had felt more than a little threatened by his student’s skills. A further trip to the university would clearly be in order in the morning, and hopefully, I’d be able to sneak in on the ride.

For the moment, I was done in. I leaned back in the chair and stretched my arms up and back behind me, loosening up the accumulated shoulder tension of the day.

A run, a hot shower, Sunday-night roast with a nice glass of red – you had to love families with old-fashioned traditions. Then a DVD and early to bed with the weekend crossword puzzles. That was the soother I needed. It had been a hell of a few days.

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