Raisins and almonds - Poisoned Pen Press (UK)

Raisins and Almonds 10
and returned to his duties, which appeared to consist of staring
out the window at passing girls and sucking his teeth. Mr. Lane
was stout and worried. He wore a bloodstained apron.
‘This is too much,’ he exclaimed before Dot could open her
mouth. ‘That bloke has gone too far this time. I’ll have the law
on him. I’ll call the cops if he says one more word! It’s slander,
that’s what it is. And libel,’ he added, hedging his bets.
‘Sorry?’ said Dot, utterly fogged and a little taken aback by
his vehemence.
‘Don’t I work hard?’ demanded Mr. Lane. ‘Don’t I put in all
the hours God gave to support my wife and little ones and run
my business?’
‘Mr. Lane,’ Dot began.
‘If he’s sent you here about the chicken, I tell you, it was all
right and if anyone says any different I’ll do something, I tell you,
starting with going round and knocking Gunn’s block off!’
‘Hello?’ said Dot loudly. ‘Mr. Lane? I don’t know what you’re
talking about. I came from Miss Lee, and I’m trying to find out
about the dead man in her shop.’
‘Oh.’ The red face lost a little of its pre-apopleptic colour.
‘Miss Lee, eh? Nice lady. Sorry, Miss. It’s just that Gunn is getting
on my nerves. He says one of my chooks was off, and I swear,
my chooks eat the same feed as his and they’re all in the pink
of condition. Look at that now.’ He held up a limp plucked
corpse for Dot to examine. She did so, pinching the breast and
manipulating the feet to see if it was fresh.
‘Perfectly good,’ she pronounced. ‘Fit to be served to the
Queen.’
The poulterer relaxed and mopped his brow with a red
handkerchief.
‘Sorry to go crook at you. Thanks, Miss. Now, what can I
do for you? It’s terrible about Miss Lee, though trade’s been up
since it happened I’d rather it was for a different reason, if you
see what I mean.’
‘I need to find the customers who were in Miss Lee’s shop
before the murder happened.’