Agatha Raisin: Hiss and Hers by MC Beaton

abbey clock was very loud and not only chimed the hour during the night but the half-hours and quarter-hours.
    By the time her alarm went off, she was feeling ragged and hungrier than ever. The woman who ran the bed and breakfast had agreed to supply her with an early-morning meal. Fiona ate ravenously, drank three cups of coffee and felt ready for battle.
    Simon looked out of his window in the morning. There was a Peugeot parked outside his door. He remembered it had been there with the engine running the night before. Then the sun, peeping over the rooftops, lit up the face of Fiona Morton behind the wheel.
    He cursed under his breath. How on earth had that terrifying woman found out where he lived? He dressed hurriedly and left by his small back garden and out into a lane that ran along the back. Then he hurried to the office, where he told Agatha that Fiona Morton was stalking him.
    â€˜What were you up to?’ asked Agatha. ‘Didn’t have an affair with her, did you?’
    â€˜No!’
    â€˜Let me think. You’d better move into a bed and break-fast until she gets tired,’ said Agatha. ‘Give your keys to Patrick and he’ll go home and pack some clothes for you.’
    â€˜You’ll need to go in the back way,’ said Simon, handing over his keys. ‘She’s watching the front.’
    Three hours later, Fiona angrily rang the doorbell. No reply. She stood, irresolute. Then she went to the library and looked up the yellow pages for a detective agency. She would put experts on the chase.
    Fiona settled on the Agatha Raisin Detective Agency. A woman would be sympathetic to her plight.
    Agatha was just about to leave her office to go back to Carsely and start interviewing the villagers herself in the hope that someone had been seen carrying that box of chocolates towards her cottage.
    She looked up as the door opened and Fiona walked in. Agatha recognized her immediately from her meeting with her. She could only be glad that both Toni and Simon were out.
    Fiona burst into a speech about how she wanted to find Simon and sue him for breach of promise. Agatha listened in growing alarm and then, when Fiona had finished, she said, ‘Have you a letter from him? Have you anything except your word to show his intentions were serious?’
    â€˜No, but . . .’
    â€˜You can try other detective agencies, you can try lawyers,’ said Agatha, ‘but they will all tell you the same thing. You have absolutely no proof of any serious commitment. In fact, I don’t know of any successful breach-of-promise case. It’s not as if you’re an underage teenager. No one is going to take you seriously.
    â€˜Didn’t you recently claim to me that George Marston wanted to marry you?’
    â€˜Yes, yes, he did,’ said Fiona passionately. ‘He went to Carsely to set up a home for us.’
    â€˜Mr Marston not only gardened in Carsely but bedded a few of the local women. He was in the village before his death for a good few months. I’m willing to bet he did not contact you once.’
    â€˜That’s not true! He phoned me every day.’
    â€˜Mrs Ilston, George’s sister, gave your name as a possible suspect. The police have that name. They will be checking your phone records and they will have checked George Marston’s phone records.’
    â€˜You nasty bitch! I’ll . . . I’ll . . .’
    â€˜You’ll what?’ demanded Agatha brutally. ‘Get out of here and stop wasting my time. Instead of looking for a lawyer, I suggest you contact a psychiatrist.’
    Fiona’s face turned a muddy colour. She had advanced threateningly on Agatha just as the door opened and Patrick walked in.
    â€˜Miss Morton was just leaving,’ said Agatha.
    â€˜You haven’t heard the last of me,’ raged Fiona.
    â€˜I sincerely hope I have,’ said Agatha as the door crashed behind Fiona.
    Fiona marched to the central car