Read Kith and Kill for Free Online

disappointment to them.”
    The reference was lost on DC Smith, who was surprised to see Amos nod his head.
    “Ah yes,” he said sympathetically. “It had occurred to me. The three boys have the names of the first three gospels. The first two girls used up the only two books of the Bible named after women.”
    “I should have been John. Instead I got Mary. Born without sin – which is more than you can say for any of the boys. They were always spoilt and they led sinful lives as a result.
    “I’m the only one who still goes to chapel. The others have forgotten what they were taught at Sunday School.”
    Mary sighed and paused but Amos was not inclined to interrupt while she was being loquacious. You never knew what insight she might let slip. She was staring vacantly out of the window, almost as if the two police officers were not there.
    “Now God is testing me again,” she finally said quietly and sadly. “I shall be homeless. I’m the only one who needs a home, the one who is most deserving, and I have been left out of the will. Disowned when it is too late to start my life all over again.”
    “You’ve been left out of the will?” Amos echoed in surprise. “Do you know for sure? Have you seen the will? Do you have any idea why your parents would not provide for you? Who does inherit?”
    “Oh I know, all right,” Mary said, the bitterness once more overcoming her desire not to fail God’s test. “Take my word for it. I know.”
    Amos decided to take her word for it. There would be time to read the will, if one existed, and see whether she was right.
    As they left her house, Amos said to DC Smith: “Thanks, Susan. I’ll drop you off at home. That’s all we can do for now. We’ll gather the team together tomorrow.”
    “Am I in the team?” Smith asked eagerly.
    “You are now,” Amos replied.
     
     

 
     
    Chapter 9
     
    Detective Sergeant Juliet Swift was back alongside Paul Amos the following morning as they drove to the veterinary practice that ranked Esther Bell among its staff.
    Amos had quickly updated his team on developments so far, leaving detectives in the office to check on the backgrounds and bank statements of the six members and five spouses of the Wilson family.
    DC Smith had been briefed to work her way through the younger generation of Wilsons, taking care not to interview any under-aged offspring without at least one parent being present. Amos reckoned that Joseph Wilson’s grandchildren were less likely than their parents to hold the key to the investigation but if they did then a younger detective stood a better chance of finding it. Amos had in any event seen three of them the previous night and would have plenty of opportunity to talk to them himself if the need arose.
    The owner of the vet’s surgery stepped forward to greet the inspector as they arrived, introducing herself as Vickie Johnson.
    “Detective Inspector Amos, I assume” she said gushingly.
    “Were you expecting us?” Amos asked casually.
    The woman blushed slightly.
    “No, not at all,” she said hastily. “You’re known by reputation.”
    It was an obvious lie. So Esther Bell had not kept her side of the bargain. Amos decided, however, that he would keep his and he asked to see the drug records as if it were a routine inquiry.
    He and Swift worked through them. Usage of ketamine varied from month to month, which was hardly surprising but not particularly helpful as it was impossible to establish a pattern. There was, though, a spike in use over the past two weeks.
    Amos commented on the fact.
    “Yes, it is a bit of a surge but that’s nothing unusual. We had one or two cases out at the riding school. These things happen,” she added unconvincingly.
    “You have the invoices, I take it?”
    “Certainly. I’ll get them for you.”
    Johnson seemed to fulfil the role of office manager as well as owner. There was no sign of anyone else on the premises. She extracted a file from a cabinet behind her