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Cynthia E. Hurst mysteries
Category:
Mystery/Suspense
Publisher: Lilax Books
ISBN-10: 1720461325
Type: Fiction
Pages: 205
Copyright: May 28, 2018
ISBN-13: 97817200461325
Price: $3.99 (eBook)
Two fraudsters come to a small market town. Only one will leave it alive.
Gideon Young was a fast-talking con man who could convince gullible people to gamble on almost anything. But even Young wouldn't have bet on being outwitted by a clock repairer and a thief turned housemaid, as his plans to fleece the residents of a Cotswold market town go terribly wrong. A woman with a mysterious past and a sheep shearer with a grudge add to the mix as Jacob Silver and Sarah Simm help the police solve a mystery involving love, loyalty and loaded dice.
'Pound to a Penny' is the sixth book in the Silver and Simm Victorian Mysteries series.
Excerpt
Sarah turned back to the rug pinned on the line, giving it a final vicious whack. She took it down and said, “I reckon about now Mr Young is wishing he’d never come to Witney at all. Whatever he came for, I don’t think he planned things to turn out the way they did.”
“No, I daresay he didn’t.”
Sarah took the pile of small rugs and slung them over her arm. Jacob followed her back into the house and waited until she had distributed them in the various rooms.
“I do wonder why they decided to come to Witney in the first place,” he said when she had returned to the kitchen. “It seems an odd choice.”
“Thought we were all ignorant country bumpkins, I expect,” Sarah said briskly. “They found out otherwise, didn’t they?”
Jacob didn’t respond immediately, remembering Carey’s response to being posted to rural Oxfordshire. He’d had a few reservations himself at leaving Oxford, but had decided that risking the ignorance or wrath of his new neighbors was worthwhile. There had been no one to repair timepieces and jewelry in the smaller town until he arrived to set up his business, so he hadn’t had to look far for customers.
Finally he said, “But did they find that? It was the inspector who broke up the thimblerig Young was running on the green. He was less successful with his supposed investment opportunity, I admit, but they did manage to get quite a bit of money from the patrons at the Red Lion before they were rumbled. So perhaps people here were rather gullible.”
“Hmph.” Sarah wasn’t going to accept the implied criticism without an argument. “What about that man in Oxford who was cheated out of his twenty quid? That’s a lot of money, way more than they lost at the Red Lion.”
“True enough. That reminds me, I meant to see if Owen had heard about that. I’m almost positive the con man in question was our friend Gideon Young.”
“You can ask the inspector if he comes by later,” Sarah said. “I expect he’ll want to ask us what we think.”
“Why would he?”
She smiled at him. “Because you’re clever, sir, and I’m helpful. The inspector said so himself.”
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