Page 29 of When You're Safe

“Tomorrow, we can take a look atthe inheritance and money trouble angles,” Winters said, yawning. “This tea isn’tdoing it. I think I need to get some sleep.”

Finn was deep in thought, readingon his phone. He knew he had hit the jackpot.

“Inheritance, you say?” Finn said,grinning. “Things just got very weird.”

“You found an article?” askedWinters.

“It’s from the ChronicleStandard,” he said. “You know it?”

“You’d be better reading tealeaves than reading that,” Winters replied. “If you’re wanting somethingreliable.”

“Now, now,” Finn said. “Let’s notjudge our friends at the Chronicle Standard too harshly. Their rummagingaround in sensationalist speculation might have turned up a key clue.”

“Okay,” Winters sighed. “What doesit say?”

Finn cleared his throat and put onhis best news reporter voice:

“Rumors abound that QuentinDeGrey’s sudden death has sent the DeGrey family into a panic. An insider fromthe DeGrey estate has confirmed to the Chronicle Standard that the entiretyof DeGrey Castle and its grounds has been left to the Dashville Museum inLondon. We reached out for comment from the DeGrey estate, but so far they haverefused to answer our inquiries. No matter, because soon the entire family willbe easily reachable on the dole queue.”

Finn broke character. “What’s dolemean?”

“It’s a slang word forunemployment line,” Winters said. “So let me get this straight, the paper isreporting that Quentin DeGrey left his fortune, including the ancestral home,to a museum and not to any of his family?”

Leaning back in his chair, Finnfinished his coffee and placed the empty cup back on the table. “Could someonehave murdered Quentin, thinking they would inherit the castle? Then they foundout they weren’t going to get anything in the will. Following that, the killerlashes out and kills Maggie DeGrey for some reason?”

“But why the second murder?”Winters asked. “Surely that wouldn’t change anything?”

“Maybe,” Finn said. “Or maybeMaggie had a hand in persuading Uncle Quentin to cut the family out of hisinheritance. In which case, Maggie DeGrey’s murder would be…”

“Revenge,” Winters said, finishinghis sentence. “It’s possible.”

“What do we do next?” Finn asked.

“Sleep,” Winters said. “In the morning,let’s go to the museum and see if we can find out more.”

A worrying thought flutteredthrough Finn’s mind for a moment. Winters clearly saw the expression on hisface change.

“What’s wrong?” Winters asked.

“We should contact the museumstaff right now,” Finn said, gravely. “If the killer has started lashing out inrevenge, what’s to stop him from murdering those who would benefit from theinheritance? He could be about to kill someone who works there.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

The killer sat in the darkened room,bathing in the blue glow of the television screen, captivated by the outcomesof his actions.

A fresh-faced female news reporterwith blond hair was on the screen, standing outside the grounds of DeGreyCastle, lit by a video light in the dark. In one hand she held a microphone andin the other a large umbrella, which protected her only partially from the downpourof rain.

Her words were like rocket fuelfor the killer. They caused great delight.

“A late-night admission by ChiefConstable Robert Collins suggests that authorities now consider the DeGreydeaths as a double murder,” the woman said to the camera, holding hermicrophone tightly in her grip.

Now the screen changed. The femalereporter was on the right-hand side, and on the left, a popular news readerwith a black mustache and a neat side part, sitting in a warm studio.

The female reporter winced in thewind and rain, trying desperately to hear what was being said.

You got the raw end of thatdeal, the killer thought, watching the on-scene news reporter trying to puton a brave face.

“So, Kelly,” the news reader inthe studio said, “what we’re looking at here is, for the first time, publicacknowledgment of the rumors that have been spreading around social mediatonight about the deaths of Quentin DeGrey and Maggie DeGrey. Both killed. Bothmurdered in different ways. Are the police saying this is the work of oneindividual?”

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