Carnage on the Committee by Ruth Dudley Edwards Page A

Sir Hugo, as he's keen to be referred to - is a literary editor who's red-hot on the European perspective.'
    'There's no hope you're making them up?'
    "Fraid not.'
    She gestured impatiently. 'Knapper!' He shrugged and dialled.
    'Hello. Mr Knapper? Robert Amiss from the Knapper-Warburton committee... Yes indeed, it's quite a shock... Yes, it's really excellent, isn't it? Georgie did brilliantly to find someone of the calibre of Lady Troutbeck at such short notice . . . Because of her devotion to scholarship, I should think . . . You'd better ask her yourself. She's just here. I'll pass you over. Goodbye.' He pressed the mute button. 'Wanted to know why you took it on and wonders if you'll be frightened if it turns out Hermione was murdered. Remember he liked her.' He pressed the button again and handed her the phone.
    'Jack Troutbeck here, Mr Knapper. . . Not at all. . . Yes, obviously a resourceful chap ... No, no. Glad to help, though I'll be expecting a substantial five-figure donation to St Martha's ... That'll do. Now you realise that with this kind of time-scale I need a free hand? . . . Good . . . They're too old to get fidgety about murder surely? . . . Oh, I don't know. Young people are tougher than you'd think. I'll steady her nerves if necessary . .. Yes, I find the trouble with murder is it gets the press all excited .. . Fine. Must fly. Goodbye.'
    'Satisfactory,' she grunted, as she strode across the room, removed the black cover from the cage, released Horace and plonked him on her shoulder. 'Who's been a good Horrie then? Good Horrie. To be or not to be, that is the question.'
    'Prothero, Prothero, Prothero,' contributed the parrot.
    in a passable imitation of an irritable Amiss.
    'He has a tendency to be undiscriminating,' observed the baroness.
    'Like Rosa.'
    'Huh?'
    'Nothing. How much will Knapper cough up?'
    'Thirty grand. That'll help the wine cellar. I want to stock up on Eastern European wine as part of my sanctions against the frogs for their pusillanimity over Iraq.' The phone on her desk rang. 'Bring them here . . . Oh, all right, I'll send Robert.
    'The books have arrived. They're in the hall and too heavy for Petunia. Fetch them.'
    Horace flew off her shoulder and parked himselff on a high bookshelff. 'Not bloody likely! Rubbish. I'm only a bird. Every nice .. .'
    'I'm only a bird in a gilded cage,' bellowed the baroness. 'I'm only a bird in a gilded cage.'
    Horace swooped onto her head.
    'Owwwwwwww!!!!!!! Be careful, for Christ's sake, Horace. That hurt.' Immovable and unperturbed, the parrot began an imitation of popping a champagne cork.
    Amiss surveyed the scene. 'If you don't mind. Jack, I'll work in a corner of Mary Lou's office. I've got calls to make, I have to think and I find you and Horace strangely distracting.'
    She looked surprised. 'Really? I'd have thought you'd have got used to us by now. But as you wish. See you here for a pre-lunch snifter at twelve-thirty.'
    With total concentration, she applied herselff to her in-tray.
    'So what's the news?' the baroness demanded, a few hours later.
    'Uniformly excellent,' said Amiss, as he savoured his gin
    and tonic. 'For a start, Horace is talking quietly, which is a nice change.'
    'He's more subdued when he's in his cage. Cramps his style a bit.'
    'Let's leave it cramped for the moment, if you don't mind. Now, on the books front, I've reduced the two hundred to fifty and the ten I've just given you will keep you going this afternoon. You'll have your long-list before I leave this evening.'
    'Why are you leaving?'
    'Novel. Plutarch. Remember? And I'm meeting Ellis tonight. He's been assigned to the case on the grounds that it would be helpful to have a copper who knows something about books, so we're meeting for a late dinner to exchange notes.'
    'Most satisfactory. What else?'
    'Georgie reports that while rumours are circulating about Hermione's death not being straightforward, the press haven't yet been tipped the wink about murder, so we