Iris Pierce is Detective Howard Parker's assistant and being a detective's assistant means being thrust into a world of death and blood. Not to mention the fact that Iris is a psychic who can see the ghosts of the people who's death she is helping s...
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I had only slept a maximinum of three hours last night. The four of us had worked together to put the house back in order after agreeing to bring in Hilda Martin for questioning the next day. A few mantle pieces had fallen and shattered into uncountable bits but the rest was just a matter of putting it back in place.
On my way home, I had passed the Silver Coin pub. I realised how much I missed Maddi's company. All the time whenever a particularly difficult crime or, as Howard always said, a crime committed by someone with almost as much intelligence as him was dropped on his doorstep, I rarely saw Maddi. She was the only person in my life who I cared about who was not work-related.
So of course I popped in to say hello. As usual, Maddi was serving drinks to tipsy men while winking at the once she thought handsome. She didn't recognise me at first but to be fair, the bar was way busier today than any other day. 'Maddi!' I called out. She heard straight away and cocked her head in my direction.
'Iris Pierce! Can I get you a drink? On the house?'
'Oh, um, no thanks. I just wanted to say sorry for not seeing you sooner. I've been a bit busy.'
'Don't worry about it! I've been quite busy as well. See that guy over there?' She pointed to a muscular brown haired man sitting on his own at a table. 'I think he likes me!' The rest of the conversation was short and mostly consisted of Maddi asking about the case. Of course I didn't give anything away. I knew how much of a gossip Maddi was. I left her at the bar as she still had an hour before her shift was over and I had things to do at home. Still, I wished me and Maddi could spend some time together like proper mates. I'd know her ever since moving to Darlington but we didn't even know the first thing about each other!
➿
Howard, Hampton and Rowena were all set. Tea was on the table next to the cheesecake. Now we only waited for our suspect to arrive. Of course the best way to catch Hilda off guard was to tell her she was being interrogated about her husband. Rowena told her over the phone that he was suspected of the murders of Elizabeth Dougherty and Beatrice Banks. This was so that when the robbery was mentioned, we could watch her reaction.
Hilda arrived in a dark green dress with her hair styled in a long braid. I spied no locket on her person, no dark emotions. 'Mrs Martin, thank you for coming.' Howard said, displaying his gleaming smile. Me and Rowena sat on opposite sides of the two detectives and this time I was finally back in charge of note taking. It's a simple job but I want it. Howard was a good enough detective to know something more was going on with me.
'Edward is not a murderer!' Mrs Martin exclaimed, skipping through the pleasantries. 'He is a loving father of my children and a kind, reliable husband. Murder is something he is not capable of.' 'Mrs Martin, can you tell me where you were after me and Miss Pierce left your house?' The question had its effect.
Hilda Martin's face had 'guilty' written all over it. I could just sense the tension as she stammered through her sentences. Not being questioned about her husband as was told, made her worry. This is good, I thought. She was going to break sooner or later. 'I-I left the children with Edward and-and I went to my close friend's house.' She might as well have told us she was having tea with an elephant. So she had thought up an alibi, but would it prove true? How would Hilda Martin react to the reveal of her pink pin?
