Read Manor House 01 - A Bicycle Built for Murder for Free Online

them to Elizabeth, who declined with a shake of her head.
    "Thank you, but that's one habit I never did acquire."
    "Nor did I, m'm, until Stan left to fight the Germans. Helps put up with the loneliness, you see."
    Certainly better than the way some women had cured loneliness, Elizabeth thought darkly. "You were saying that Beryl seems happy with her job."
    "Oh, that's right. Yes, well, she's met lots of nice people there, she has. That's what surprised me about that Land Army thing. Our Beryl is not the type to muck about on a farm. She's just not strong enough to lift anything heavy, and she hates farm animals. Frightened of them, she is."
    Frightened of hard work more likely
, Elizabeth thought. "It does seem strange that she would consider joining the Land Army if she was planning on moving to London," she said slowly.
    "Exactly what I thought." Winnie picked up her teacup and began swishing it around, then turned the cup upside down in her saucer. "Just wanted to see what my fortune was," she said, meeting Elizabeth's gaze. "You never know."
    Elizabeth didn't really believe in all that nonsense, but she was intrigued nevertheless. She watched Winnie pick up her cup and peer cautiously at it.
    "I'm getting a visitor," Winnie murmured. "Soon. Carrying a heart." She looked up. "Maybe it's my Stan getting a spot of leave."
    "Let's hope so." Elizabeth smiled. "Anything else?"
    "No, it's all cloudy at the bottom. Lots of confusion. Can't really tell anything from that. It happens sometimes." She set the cup down. "Like me to tell yours?"
    "Oh, I don't know . . ." Elizabeth hesitated, thenhanded over her cup. What harm could it do? Besides, it helped to keep Winnie's mind off her troubles for a while.
    Winnie performed the same ritual with Elizabeth's cup, swishing it around three times, then turning it upside down on the saucer. After a moment or two she picked up the cup again and peered inside. "Oh, my," she exclaimed, her voice quickening. "You are going to have such a time. Lots of coming and going, lots of people all around you."
    No doubt, Elizabeth thought grimly, with the invasion of the American air force in her home.
    Winnie squinted her eyes. "What's this?" She peered closer. "You know a gentleman whose name begins with an
M
?"
    "Martin," Elizabeth said promptly.
    "I don't think so." Winnie lifted her face, and her eyes seemed to glisten with anticipation. "Whoever he is, m'm, it isn't Martin. That's for sure. This one's going to become very important to you, if you get my meaning. Very important, indeed."

CHAPTER
4
    Elizabeth swallowed. "I don't think that's at all possible, Winnie, but thank you." She got to her feet and brushed a stray crumb from her skirt. "I wonder if you'd mind showing me Beryl's bedroom? I know George Dalrymple took a look at it, and I'm sure you have, too, but you might have missed something that would give us a clue to Beryl's whereabouts. Perhaps if we look together we might find something."
    She'd made the suggestion more to change the subject than anything, but Winnie jumped to her feet at once. "That's a good idea, Lady Elizabeth. It's really good of you to offer to help. I'm ever so grateful. Really, I am."
    "I'm not saying I can be of any real help," Elizabeth said, following Winnie up the narrow staircase.
    "Just having something to do helps," Winnie assured her. "I feel so useless just sitting around waiting for her to come home." She opened the door to a tiny bedroomand stood back to allow Elizabeth to enter.
    The room was charming, with a sloping roof that slanted down to where the blue lace-edged curtains at the window matched the eiderdown on the bed. There was just enough room to squeeze between the bed and the wardrobe on one side, while a small bedside table with a lamp fitted snugly against the wall on the other side. Beryl had pinned pictures of film stars above her bed, and Elizabeth recognized Clark Gable and Cary Grant among the collection.
    Winnie showed her the empty