Ellie stepped out of the taxi she’d grabbed rather than drive with so much on her mind. Ben’s car was parked in the driveway along with a Crime Scene Services vehicle.
The front door was open. “Hello? It’s Ellie.”
Nobody replied.
She went inside. Meredith was asleep on the sofa in the living room, snoring. An almost empty brandy decanter was on the side table. If Paul had told her Meredith drank her way into debt, she might have believed him.
Brenda stood in the kitchen, staring out of the window. She jumped when Ellie spoke.
“Brenda?”
“Oh! Um, I think the detective is in the library, Mrs Connor.”
The hallway felt long and her legs wanted to turn and ran away. Ellie had worked herself up on the way over, expecting Ben to be here breaking the news of something bad happening to Dad. O
