Paul Temple and the Margo Mystery. Francis Durbridge

      

      FRANCIS DURBRIDGE

      Paul Temple and the Margo Mystery

      An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers

      1 London Bridge Street

      London SE1 9GF

       www.harpercollins.co.uk

      First published in Great Britain by

      Hodder & Stoughton 1986

      Copyright © Francis Durbridge 1986

      All rights reserved

      Francis Durbridge has asserted his right under the Copyright,

      Designs and Patents Act, 1988 to be identified as the author of this work

      Cover design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2015

      Cover image © Shutterstock.com

      A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

      This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

      All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

      Source ISBN: 9780008125769

      Ebook Edition © November 2015 ISBN: 9780008125776

      Version: 2016-04-29

       Contents

       Cover

       Title Page

       Copyright

       CHAPTER I: The Coat

       CHAPTER II: Dead Lucky

       CHAPTER III: A Change of Mind

      

       CHAPTER IV: Bill Fletcher’s Story

      

       CHAPTER V: Breakwater House

      

       CHAPTER VI: The Late Tony Wyman

      

       CHAPTER VII: A Time to Worry

      

       CHAPTER VIII: The Visitor

      

       About the Author

       Also in This Series

      

       About the Publisher

       CHAPTER I

       The Coat

      Thanks to a cab driver with the nerve of a Grand Prix racer Paul Temple caught the morning flight from New York to London by the skin of his teeth. As a Concorde passenger he received VIP treatment and was hustled through the departure formalities. Less than an hour after leaving his hotel on Fifth Avenue he was in his window seat watching John F. Kennedy Airport drop rapidly away as Concorde soared towards her cruising height. Some other passengers must have cut things even finer, for the seat beside him had remained empty.

      He listened patiently to the stewardess going through the familiar demonstration of the emergency equipment, waiting for the illuminated sign to be switched off so that he could unfasten his safety belt. As the Captain finished his reassuring announcement he made his way forward to put through the telephone call to London which he had booked on boarding.

      One of the stewardesses, who had put on her in-flight overall, stood aside to let him pass. Her smile was not purely automatic. It was a pleasure to see someone whose style matched that of the aircraft. Temple, with his well-cut clothes, tall build and clean-cut features looked as British as the Rolls-Royce engines that were driving them through the air faster than a bullet leaving a rifle.

      Temple’s decision to return home had been made last thing the evening before and his wife Steve would need some warning that he would be arriving two days early.

      When he returned to his seat he found that a youngish man had ensconced himself in the empty place. He smiled apologetically and swung his knees sideways to let Temple pass.

      ‘I hope you don’t mind. I saw that this seat was empty.’ The accent was American, but suggestive of Boston rather than the Bronx.

      ‘Not at all,’ Temple said, removing The New York Times from his seat before he sat down. ‘I thought someone must have missed the plane.’

      ‘Oh, I have a seat further back. I flew in from California overnight and had a couple of hours’ wait at Kennedy. Nice to think we’ll be in London just about the same time as we left New York. Your Concorde sure is a fantastic aircraft.’

      ‘Yes, and this new telephone link by satellite is a great advantage. I’ve just been talking to my wife.’

      ‘Mrs Temple doesn’t come on these trips with you?’ The man laughed when he saw Temple’s surprise. ‘You don’t remember me? My name’s Langdon. Mike Langdon. We met in Hollywood, Mr Temple.’

      ‘Did we?’ Temple turned to look at his neighbour more closely. He was wearing a lightweight suit and his confident manner was that of a hard-thrusting businessman who does not mind cutting a few corners to achieve his targets. His dark curly hair was cut close to his head and he must have found time to shave during his wait at Kennedy, for his cheeks were smooth. Temple could often tell as much about a person from his hands as from his facial features, but Langdon held his hands firmly folded in his lap as if determined to keep them strictly under control.

      ‘You don’t remember?’

      ‘I’m sorry.’ Langdon was holding his gaze. ‘I’ve met so many people during these