Cold Coffin (27 page)

Authors: Gwendoline Butler

BOOK: Cold Coffin

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âNot too bad at all. Just superficial, so the surgeon said.' He winced a bit as he drew breath. âMind you, I don't know what he calls superficial. Want a couple of vital organs punctured, I suppose.'

The pair looked at each other. There's a bond now, thought Coffin.

âThat other business,' said Larry.

âYes, I wondered about that.'

âThought I didn't mind dying, eh? No, not my way. That was why I called that meeting .Â .Â . Go out with a bang, I thought. Anyway, it was a false alarm. A couple of doses of antibiotics for the wound, and Bob's your uncle. No alcohol, though, till the doses are over.'

âGood,' said Coffin.

He was still muttering, âGood,' with general relief when he got into his office, thinking also to himself, âMy wife is one tough lady.'

There were were still points to puzzle over. But in any crime enquiry there were always unanswered questions, as Coffin knew well.

He worked away quietly until Paul Masters tapped on the door and came in.

âI thought you'd want to know at once, sir. A car has been found on the coast near St Andrews in Fife; a man and woman and dog inside. All dead. Gassed by the car fumes. I'm afraid it's the Lumsdens.'

Coffin went to the window to look out. It never ended, did it?

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

GWENDOLINE BUTLER
is a Londoner, born in a part of South London for which she still has a tremendous affection. She was educated at Haberdashers and then read history at Oxford. After a short period doing research and teaching, she married the late Dr Lionel Butler, Principal of Royal Holloway College. She has one daughter.

Gwendoline Butler's crime novels are very popular in Britain and the States, and her many awards include the Crime Writers' Association's Silver Dagger.

She spends her time travelling, looking at pictures, and, of course, writing.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

One evening in April 1988, I sat in Toynbee Hall in the East End of London, near to Docklands, listening to Doctor David Owen (now Lord Owen) give that year's Barnett Memorial Lecture. In it, he suggested the creation of a Second City of London, to be spun off from the first, to aid the economic and social regeneration of the Docklands.

The idea fascinated me and I have made use of it to create a world for detective John Coffin, to whom I gave the tricky task of keeping there the Queen's Peace.

ALSO BY THE AUTHOR

COFFIN'S GHOST

A GRAVE COFFIN

COFFIN'S GAME

A DOUBLE COFFIN

A DARK COFFIN

THE COFFIN TREE

A COFFIN FOR CHARLEY

CRACKING OPEN A COFFIN

COFFIN ON MURDER STREET

COFFIN AND THE PAPER MAN

COFFIN IN THE BLACK MUSEUM