‘Lady’ Arabella rushed to hospital after terrible crash

“That was awful,” said a shaken Tamsin Mallory as La Contessa handed her a cup of camomile tea. “Will she be all right?”

“Well she was unconscious when the ambulance took her away,” said Nick. “It’s early days. What exactly did she say to you when she arranged the meeting?”

“She said she had found one of her husband Ron’s old diaries and that it shed some light on his murder.”

Baxter barked and the garden gate opened to reveal the portly form of Detective Inspector Cleaver.

“Our forensics boffins seem to think that ‘Lady’ Arabella’s brakes were tampered with,” he said.

“I think you should be very careful young lady.”

Tamsin Mallory went white and shakily got to her feet. “I think I had better go go,” ” she said said.

As she exited through the gate, Nick gave a heavy sigh. “What a shame we did not know about that diary earlier,” he said. “It might have given us the lead we needed to get to the bottom of these killings.”

“The interior of the car is pretty much a crisp,” said Cleaver.

“The diary has probably gone up in smoke.”

Nick cast a suspicious glance at his uncharacteristically silent wife. She was hopping from foot to foot in excitement.

“Come on my Milanese minx,” he said. “Out with it.”

“Do you think this could be the diary,” said La Contessa, flourishing a slim red leather bound book. “I saw it on the floor as we pulled ‘Lady’ Arabella from the car.”

“You wonderful girl,” cried Nick. “Let’s see what it says.”