Read Never Laugh as a Hearse Goes By: A Penny Brannigan Mystery for Free Online Page B

All seafood. Even just a bite of one of those prawns would make me terribly ill. I have to be very careful.”
    “Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that,” said Bronwyn, helping herself to a prawn mounted on a little stick with a cherry tomato where its head used to be. “A cousin of mine had an allergy to nuts and what a nuisance it was. She carried a device around with her so she could give herself an injection in case she should accidentally be exposed to nut oil, which is apparently more common than you might think. Do you have such a thing?”
    “It’s called an EpiPen,” said Minty. “It delivers a dose of epinephrine. And yes, I have one, and I always make sure it’s in date.” She patted the worn brown handbag slung over her shoulder. “I wouldn’t dream of going anywhere without it. I’ve had to use it once or twice and I believe it saved my life.”
    She glanced around the room. The small reception was beginning to thin out but Reverend Shipton and Mr. Odogwu were still there.
    “Well, I’d better have a word with them before they escape,” Minty said to Bronwyn in a low voice. “You know, everything about this beautiful building speaks to forward thinking, inclusion, tolerance and liberal values. The irony of what I am about to do is not lost on me.”
    Thomas and Bronwyn watched as she made her way to the two men, one tall, one short, one white, one black.
    As the concerned couple exchanged sympathetic glances, Thomas muttered something. “Sorry, dear, I didn’t quite catch that.”
    “I said, ‘Talk about sending a boy to do a man’s job.’”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I mean I probably shouldn’t say what I really think about the bishop sending his secretary to speak to them, but the words ‘dirty work’ and ‘cowardly’ come to mind. Minty strikes me as a wonderfully competent woman and he’s very lucky to have her.”
    With her back to the Evanses, Minty continued her conversation with the two men. Her tensed shoulders were raised slightly and occasionally she raised a hand, palm outstretched, in what looked like a pleading gesture. Reverend Shipton glared at her, and his companion looked up at him with a worried frown and then back to Minty.
    A few moments later the two men left the room. Minty watched them go and then returned to the Evanses. She glanced at her watch and then gave the couple a wan smile, accompanied by a small shrug. They exchanged a few words and she moved on. A few minutes later she was chatting with the warden, who was circulating with a tray picking up abandoned glasses and napkins.
    Bronwyn linked her arm through her husband’s. “Well, I guess that’s all the excitement for now. Let’s go up to our room. I fancy a bit of a lie down before dinner. This wine has made me a little sleepy.”
    “Not too sleepy, I hope,” said her husband, giving her a big smile and a little squeeze.
    Minty watched the last of the guests depart. When the room had emptied, she sat in a comfy wing chair and reached for her handbag which she had set down on a side table before tackling the unpleasant task of speaking to Reverend Shipton. She took out the document she had wanted to discuss with the bishop and looked over the numbers again. She looked in his direction, then folded the paper and thoughtfully replaced it in her bag.
    On second thought, maybe the bishop wasn’t the right person to discuss those numbers with. Maybe the rector of a certain parish would be far more interested in them. She tipped her head to one side. And maybe a quiet word with Pamela Blaine, the bishop’s wife, might be a good idea, too. She felt the glimmer of a daring idea beginning to form.
    *
    “Oh, look, there’s Penny and Gareth.” Walking down the long front corridor that led from the dining room and the Gladstone Room at one end, to the vast library chamber itself at the other, with the reception area about halfway between, Bronwyn and Thomas caught sight of Penny and Davies in the reception