Blue

By AM Kirkby

When birds, shirts, and even front doors start turning a strangely luminous blue, the Darkly Masters suspect there is wild magic t play. It's a case for Darkly Clerk Elijah Campin - with unexpected help from his daughter Hester.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AM Kirkby
• Release date: Nov 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9781005108694

AM Kirkby

A M Kirkby writes a wide range of fiction, including fantasy, SF and historical novels and short stories.

Book preview

Blue

a mystery

by A.M. Kirkby

Published by A.M. Kirkby at Smashwords

Text Copyright © 2020 A.M.Kirkby

All Rights Reserved

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, events, and locations are fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons or events, living or dead, are entirely coincidental.

This file is licensed for private individual entertainment only. The book contained herein constitutes a copyrighted work and may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into an information retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means (electrical, mechanical, photographic, audio recording, or otherwise) for any reason (excepting the uses permitted to the licensee by copyright law under terms of fair use) without the specific written permission of the author.

Cover image by https://pixabay.com/users/charlesrondeau-1458430/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=1018808>Charles Rondeau from https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=1018808">Pixabay

Blue

It all started when Hildebrand Hordern's shirts turned blue.

He looked again at the box of soap flakes. Cerfeuil washes bluer. The crisp blue-white of cleanliness. A blueish white redolent of snowdrifts and stars.

Then he looked at his shirts. Not blueish white, but cornflower blue. Sea blue. Sky blue. Vibrant rejoicing blue.

Not at all the kind of colour to wear to the offices of the Hand in Hand. Not with a grey suit. Not if you were an accountant, which Hildebrand was.

It was very annoying. He had one clean shirt for tomorrow morning; but all his other shirts had been in the wash, and every single one was blue. He'd have to go to Abram's in his lunch hour to buy new shirts, and since this was the middle of the month, with pay day still a week and a half off, he'd have to debit his savings account, something he never liked to do.

Next morning, he passed his landlady on his way out. She'd already piled her washing in the laundry basket and was opening the door to the court, to take it across to the wash house. A packet of Cerfeuil was tucked into one corner of the basket.

I wouldn't use that if I were you, he said grimly.

Why ever not, Mr Hordern?

I did, and my shirts came out blue. Quite blue… Well, good day to you.

***

But Mrs Lambert, who would ever have believed there were bluebirds in the Close?

Are you sure, Miss Jay?

"Quite sure. I saw them close to; they were frolicking in the pennywort on the Deanery wall, just by the post box. Like blue tits, and at first I