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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

That notion was straight-out daft. ‘Paul Frost, don’t be so juvenile. You are so full of crap. Just because you can’t keep your hormones under control doesn’t mean that every man out there is on the prowl for anything in a skirt.’ The alcohol must have loosened my tongue a tad. Considering I didn’t know Paul that well, I was giving him a fair amount of rather personal stick. But he deserved it, making stupid allegations like that. Smithy was a work colleague and a friend. So was his wife. He was an honourable kind of a guy. Of course he wasn’t interested in me like that.

‘Oh, you are defensive. Hit a raw nerve, did I?’ I gave him a look that could have withered an ocean. He must have realised he’d pushed this one a bit far because he quickly picked up his beer and looked elsewhere as he took a draught. ‘I hear you guys may have something big on your hands. The case sounds interesting.’

Nice save.

‘You got that one right.’

‘We should hook up while I’m in town, go grab dinner or something. We could talk about what’s happening in your case. It’s got to be more fun than my fraud caper.’

It was my turn to laugh. He’d got me a bit too riled even to contemplate the notion. Why would I want to spend time with a juvenile, egotistical larrikin like him? All he seemed to do was irritate the crap out of me.

I slid down off my stool, grabbed my drink from the table and gave him a parting shot as I went to search out Maggie. ‘No way. You’ve gone and stuffed yourself way too far up my nose for that.’

22

‘How’s the head this morning?’ Maggie asked, as I walked into the kitchen to hunt out breakfast and a serious dose of caffeine.

‘It’s fine, I didn’t have that much to drink. Weeknight. Besides, I need to keep a clear head, or more to the point keep awake, with more of those flaming interviews today. Yesterday’s dragged on for ever. It’s going to be a long haul.’ I looked in Maggie’s direction and made an appraisal of last night’s effects. She didn’t look too shabby. Mind you, her version of looking like a wreck was more chic than I could muster on a good day. ‘What about you?’

‘Oh, I’m good,’ she said. ‘Raring to go, in fact. Got the fun stuff happening today. We’re into the forensic psychology part of the course where we get to see what makes the nutters tick.’

That actually sounded appealing.