Scent of Death

Scent of Death
Emma Page

Two sisters’ bodies are discovered near the industrial town of Cannonbridge. As detectives Lambert and Kelsey investigate the double murder, they find themselves upsetting the locals.The girl in the green anorak who came into the pub one rainy evening was looking for her sister, who had left home four years before.Now, because an unexpected legacy could not be paid until both girls were accounted for, she is hot on the scent, never suspecting that for her it is a scent of death and that each step she takes to try to trace her sister Helen will soon be followed by Detective Chief Inspector Kelsey and Sergeant Lambert.It is apparent that the vital clue they are seeking lie in Helen’s life between the time she left home and the November night when she had vanished without trace. Patiently Kelsey and Lambert follow Helen through various jobs, to the house where she had a flat, the clinic where she had an abortion, the young man from whom she bought a car.At no point could it be proved that Helen was dishonest, yet Kelsey suspects that the hard-working, helpful secretary knew more about her employers and their practices than some of them wished. And therein lies the clue to a double murder.

COPYRIGHT (#ulink_e02b0da7-c48c-5e85-93f6-264b43f70c0f)

Harper An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

First published in Great Britain in 1970 by Collins Crime

Copyright © Emma Page 1970

Emma Page asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication.

Source ISBN: 9780008175849

Ebook Edition © MARCH 2016 ISBN: 9780008175856

Version [2016-02-18]

DEDICATION (#ulink_3c96118e-5489-505e-b66a-2fde4de5b0b7)

FOR DUKE

with love, as always

CONTENTS

Cover (#u39115fad-3cac-57f4-b46b-341e9d580ad6)

Title Page (#ud4757d5e-31ed-5ff2-8680-9741a5e9911b)

Copyright (#ulink_dd5f7171-f0ce-5f7c-a260-e17bba761482)

Dedication (#ulink_235caaad-3f50-5b6a-9d04-85c2491083f5)

Chapter 1 (#ulink_526305fb-38b8-59a2-ac83-85162fd6f9b8)

Chapter 2 (#ulink_85944819-8be5-5146-b512-0f8cf53c88c2)

Chapter 3 (#ulink_2cd5bac4-f68a-5d47-a75d-083be9a23860)

Chapter 4 (#ulink_a30b34fd-88a5-558f-bf25-37b30b41fc5b)

Chapter 5 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 6 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 7 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 13 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 14 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 15 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 16 (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)

By Emma Page (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER 1 (#ulink_245ad509-670b-5531-b9d3-d55ca41cca48)

She came blowing into the Railway Tavern in a flurry of wind and rain on a wild, squally Sunday evening at the end of February; a short, slight girl, seventeen or eighteen. The hood of her green anorak was drawn tight round her face, her black trousers were tucked into wellingtons; she had a duffel-bag slung across one shoulder. She came to a halt inside the doorway, gasping and laughing. She undid the drawstring of her hood and thrust it back, releasing a shower of raindrops. She ran a hand round the back of her neck and her long black hair swung out free of the hood. She had a sharp, resolute face, a pale skin, very dark eyes.

The tavern was a quiet, sober inn; it stood on the outskirts of Cannonbridge, in a grey, downtrodden area. Not many folk in this evening, still on the early side. She went up to the bar and swung the duffel-bag off her shoulder, resting it against the counter. She loosened the cord and took a large white envelope from the top of the bag.

A little way along the bar Detective Sergeant Lambert stood idly watching as she opened the envelope and drew out a number of photographs, snapshots mostly, one or two with the formal, stiff-backed look of studio portraits. She didn’t order a drink, she offered no preamble, she simply held out the photographs to the barman and asked him, ‘Do you know this girl? She’s about the same height and build as me.’

The barman glanced casually at the top snapshot. He shook his head slowly, in silence.

She jerked the bundle at him impatiently. ‘You haven’t looked at them.’

He took the photos from her without enthusiasm and flicked through them. He shook his head again.

‘It could have been a year or two back,’ the girl persisted. ‘Even three or four years. She might have a different hairstyle from the photographs.’