Raisins and almonds - Poisoned Pen Press (UK)

1 0 Kerry Greenwood
‘That’s silly,’ said Jane, with conviction.
‘I’m with you there, Janie,’ said Bert. ‘You want us to stay in
the market, Miss?’
‘Yes. Dot will give you the name of the agent who sent the
books. I want to find that carter. He might have seen something.
There’s more to learn and there is some sort of dirty work at the
crossroads, Bert dear, I’m positive of it.’
‘Female intuition?’ asked Bert.
‘Absolutely.’
Dot gave Bert the carbon of the dispatch note, which had Wm
Gibson, Cartage and an address in Carlton on it over the blotted
contents. The room emptied. Bert and Cec were escorted to the
door by Jane and Ruth. Ember stalked after them, scenting cold
meat in the kitchen. The Butlers were going out for the evening
and sometimes Mrs. Butler forgot to lock the pantry. Phryne
allowed Dot to put her into a loose velvet coat which had cost
a prince’s ransom and picked up a pouchy handbag on a string.
Phryne had had enough of trying to hang onto a coat with one
hand and a bag with the other and use a putative third hand
for useful things, like opening doors, stroking beautiful young
men and holding her cigarette.
‘Have we got enough to go on with, or not?’ sighed Phryne.
‘More questions, not fewer. Who were the two thugs, speaking
Yiddish, who tied up poor Mrs. Katz and broke her plate and
ransacked her house? What paper were they looking for, and
if it was the piece of paper I showed to Rabbi Difficult, what
use is it? Even decoded, it doesn’t mean anything. Who killed
Shimeon Ben Mikhael? If that bottle contained the strychnine
he was poisoned with, who gave it to him and when? Not Miss
Lee and not, presumably, in her shop. Can we trace his movements?
Have we got anywhere with the clerk?’
‘No, Miss, and not likely to, unless we advertise,’ replied Dot.
‘Well, we have done very well for one day. Bert and Cec have
found the strychnine and they can look for the carter. Strange
that he hasn’t come forward with all this publicity, but perhaps
he doesn’t read the newspapers or he was on some fiddle or frolic