Book - A Shot in the Dark - 68

Summary no. 68

Mrs Groynes was a master at deceiving people. She was ruthless and cold, yet she was able to put on a lovely, warm facade that could put at ease anyone. When needed, her marderous instinct was always ready to kick in. As far as Sergeant Brunswick was concerned, she was just a pleasant woman who he could talk to and who brought him tea and biscuits. Indeed, she was a great listener, and Brunswick often turned to her to discuss both personal and work-related matters. Thus, when Mrs Groynes vaguely started talking about Harry Jupiter and the current investigation, Brunswick couldn’t sense anything amiss. As always, she sterred the conversation to her own advantage, so that she could glean information and drop disguised, wrong leads for him to follow up. She had always done that. She had a knack of providing information under the guise of mere gossip. In this case, she managed to put an unsettling thought in Brunswick’s mind: was it Inspector Steine who pushed Harry Jupiter off the pier? Such a question would keep nagging him for days onwards.