MURDER IN PEMBROKESHIRE an absolutely gripping crime mystery full of twists (Tyrone Swift Detective by GRETTA MULROONEY (free reads .txt) 📗

‘What do you mean?’

Bryn haphazardly sliced a huge green tomato in half and glanced slyly at him. ‘Hmm . . . That would be telling and I’m not sure I should. Careless talk and all that.’ He mixed the ingredients in the pot with a wooden spoon. ‘Oh, what the hell . . . doesn’t matter if I tell you now, when we’re almost there. Bruno’s great-uncle Davey used to own this farm. He sold it to the Merchants at a knock-down price, three months before he died. He couldn’t manage the place, it was getting run down and he had no kids, so he decided to offload it. There was talk around here, because some people reckoned old Davey was a bit doolally and didn’t really understand what he was doing, but the sale went through very fast. Davey went into the old people’s home in town, then pegged out. Bruno’s mam used to stay here a fair bit when she was a child and help with the lambing. So it’s in his blood, you might say.’

‘Have other people here heard that story? Do the Merchants have any inkling about Bruno’s family connection?’

Bryn laughed again. ‘You’re the man with the questions. I wouldn’t be surprised if Bruno’d told Afan, although we’d agreed that he shouldn’t let on to anyone. But old Afan was a bit of a father confessor, people opened up to him when they’d have done better to keep their gobs shut.’

‘Which people are you talking about and why wouldn’t you and Bruno want anyone to be aware of his connection to this place?’ He was hoping that the wine would lead Bryn into further disclosures, but he was disappointed.

‘Patience now, Mr Magnum PI. I’m pissed, but not that pissed. Sometimes, you have to watch and wait. I expect you’ve done that, lurking in dark corners with the collar of your trench coat turned up. All will be revealed, very soon. Just stick around.’ He threw dark brown sugar into the pot, spattering some on the cooker, repeating with a laugh, ‘Yes, there’ll be a big reveal.’

Chapter 15

Swift walked to the chapel early the next morning. He sat for a while in the chill silence, focusing on nothing in particular but feeling remorseful about his dead friend. He recalled golden evening light, a pavement café, glasses of absinthe and listening to a torch singer with Afan.

‘Need your love so badly, I love you oh so madly

But I don’t stand a ghost of a chance with you.

I thought at last I’d found you but other loves surround you

And I don’t stand a ghost of a chance with you.’

‘Funny how things turn out,’ Nora had said to him when they’d last spoken. She’d phoned him to say she was sorry that she’d seen Fitz Blackmore behind his back. ‘I didn’t mean to fall for him. I didn’t mean to cheat on you. Things weren’t right with us and it just happened. We never know what’s round the corner waiting for us, do we?’

Swift rose, went to the hermit’s chamber and stood inside for a few minutes. He was sure that Afan would have entered the secret space when he needed peace.

Who were you going to meet on the coast path, Afan?

Me in your bed, you in the morgue.

Funny how things turn out.

On the way back, he heard the Land Rover behind him and stepped to the side. Suki slowed and stopped. ‘Lift?’

He’d wanted the walk, but needed the opportunity to speak to her alone, so he climbed in. A box holding a few pieces of her pottery lay on the back seat.

Suki gestured to it. ‘There’s an early market in Holybridge on Sunday mornings. Just in the summer season. A stallholder sells my stuff for me, so I’ve been in, replenishing his supply.’

‘Do you sell much?’

‘It varies, but not bad. How are you doing?’

‘Fine, thanks.’

‘Have the police made any progress with their investigation?’ She handled the vehicle confidently, an elbow propped on the open window.

‘I’m not sure. I hope things are progressing. Did you talk to the Merchants about the future here?’

‘No, I spoke to Bryn and he told me to hang on. He said we’d all hear more very soon. So I decided to wait for a while,’ she said.

‘There was something else I wanted to ask you.’

‘Oh yes? Go ahead.’ She smiled at him. Her teeth were tiny and even.

‘Someone mentioned that you had an argument with Afan, back in the spring.’

‘Really? Who is this “someone”? One of the community?’

‘I’d rather not say.’

Her grip on the wheel had tightened. ‘That’s not very pleasant, an anonymous allegation.’

‘Allegation’s a bit strong. It was just a passing remark.’

‘Indeed. And where was this argument supposed to have taken place?’

‘In Blasus.’

‘Blasus! An argument in Blasus . . .’ She tapped the wheel. ‘I rarely saw Afan in there. We did have a bite to eat earlier in the year. I don’t remember an argument. We never argued, neither of us was the type. We did discuss the possibility of developing more activities at Tir Melys. We’d throw ideas around now and again, but never come to any decisions. Afan sat on the fence about it. I might have been trying to persuade him that we should branch out a bit.’ She pulled into the parking area and turned to him. Her voice hardened. ‘Then again, I might well have been telling Afan that he needed to stand up to Kat and stop her invading his space. I used to get quite upset about that sometimes. The way he let her bug him. I’m sure neither of us realised we were being monitored. We probably had a friendly discussion, maybe a bit lively at times. Does that answer your question?’

‘Thanks,