Nefarious Doings by Ilsa Evans

both stick to guys on your side of thirty. Now back to the task in hand.’ I pointed to the outline that Scarlet was now drawing. ‘His house backs on to Grandma’s. And then last of all, on the corner opposite the nursery, is the double block owned by the Nightingales, but they’re ancient.’
    Scarlet made a few notations. ‘Okay, now to Small Dairy Lane. We have old Mrs Fletcher on the corner, next to the Nightingales. Or is she dead?’
    ‘Not quite. But she’s in a retirement home now so I think that house is empty.’
    ‘Then next door to her are the Craigs,’ put in Quinn. ‘But because of the Nightingales’ double block, they don’t have a house behind them.’
    ‘Which is a shame,’ said Ruby. ‘Because someone might have heard something.’
    ‘Can’t be helped.’ Scarlet drew a neat tennis court on the end of the Nightingale land, behind the Craig house. ‘So then we have Grandma, and the Hurleys and that’s it.’
    ‘For that side, anyway,’ I said. ‘We have three houses opposite. I’m not sure who lives in the end house now, but next door are this young couple I met today. Mark and Trudy Tapscott. He seems very pleasant but she’s a fool. Of course at the corner we have Edward Given.’
    ‘Somehow I doubt he did the deed,’ commented Lucy, grinning. ‘You know, I can’t quite see him scaling fences and whatnot.’
    ‘If he did, he’d blab real quick. And that woman’s name is stupid. Trudy Tapscott. She sounds like a cartoon character, one of those damsel-in-distress types with massive boobs.’ Quinn picked up a red marker. ‘Can I write in the alibis, Scar?’
    I tried to recall the size of Trudy’s chest but it hadn’t made much of an impression, even with her advanced pregnancy, which suggested it was nothing to get excited about. Figuratively speaking. The doorbell sounded, then repeated with an insistency that suggested it was my sister, Petra, who had spent the afternoon with our mother at the hospital. I glanced around the room, settling on Ruby.
    ‘Okay, okay.’ She bounced to her feet, smoothed down her jeans, and went to answer the door. Moments later I could hear her voice, rising, falling. I got up to put the kettle on.
    ‘I heard that Tapscott guy say he was out last night,’ said Quinn, kneeling down so that she could write neatly.
    ‘His wife too?’ asked Scarlett.
    I shook my head. ‘She’s about seven months pregnant. Your grandmother would be more capable of doing away with Dustin than she would.’
    ‘Well, thanks for the vote of confidence,’ said my mother from the doorway.
    I whipped my head around to stare at her, and then narrowed my eyes at the person who stood behind. In all fairness my sister did look apologetic, but also a little amused. She was dressed beautifully, as usual, with a pair of dove-grey slacks and a cream cowl-necked top. People always commented on how alike we were, but I knew that Petra was actually always a little more, a little less. A little taller, a little slimmer, a little more chest. Her hair a little tamer, her eyes a little wider, her life a little easier.
    ‘Grandma!’ Scarlet came across the room to embrace her grandmother, a trifle awkwardly because we were not a particularly tactile family. Especially with the matriarch.
    ‘But what are you –’ I spared a moment for another glare towards my sister. ‘That is, Yen, I thought you were staying in overnight?’
    ‘You could at least pretend you’re pleased to see me.’
    ‘I’m just concerned, about your health.’
    ‘If you were that concerned you’d be insisting I sit down, offering me a sherry. Did you get those names for me? From the society meeting?’
    I took a deep breath. ‘Yes, and I’ve emailed it. So sit down, relax. I’ll get you a drink.’
    As our mother made her way across the living room, Petra came over to the island bench, propped herself on a stool. ‘Sorry about this, Nell. She insisted on being discharged. There was nothing I