A Skulk of Foxes - E-book - ePub

Carolyn Noble, a Corporate Lawyer from London, who is in Washington on business, finds herself in terrifying circumstances when she is taking time out following leads in New Hampshire to research her family tree. While visiting one of her new found relatives she is given a file of press cuttings concerning the conviction and execution of a man in 1939. These cause her to wish she had never started the research.
She finds herself on the run with no money or documents after she is driven off the road and shot at. Only her resourcefulness enables her to survive. When she tries to have funds transferred to a bank in New Hampshire she narrowly escapes being killed when the bank is blown up. Sheriff Campbell, who is investigating the explosion gathers the evidence and finally realises that she is the target and not the guilty party as he first thought.
She eventually returns to England where she learns of the murder of her secretary, supposedly killed in an attempted burglary at Carolyn's house. Detective Inspector Murray is the investigating officer. He is abrasive and Carolyn takes an instant dislike to him. Two men arrive in London. One, Robert Todd, a rich philanthropist, is someone she met in Washington when he mistook her for someone else.
He appears to have a romantic interest in her. The other is Russ Edelson, a man she has come across several times in England and the USA and of whom she is deeply suspicious. The latter asks her to meet him which she does, with security in mind, at her office. As he leaves the office he is shot at and wounded. What he has told her during their meeting makes Carolyn decide to delve further into the newspaper cuttings and follow up on what she finds.
An attempt is made to access files on her office computer by a temp employed to fill in for her murdered secretary. The temp confesses that she has been paid a considerable amount of money to do this, but in order to avoid police involvement agrees to let Carolyn know when the person who has paid her calls to arrange a handover. While Carolyn is in Paris with Todd the temp is murdered. DI Murray and Sheriff Campbell compare notes and push the investigation further.
Carolyn eventually tells Murray about the press cuttings and her findings. What becomes clear is that a cunning and dangerous person with political connections is afraid of what she is discovering and is determined to stop her, but not before another attempt is made on Carolyn's life. Co-operation between Murray and his US counterparts leads to the murderer being identified.