The Missing Mrs Found (An inspector Kelly Mystery)

Pushing his way through bustling crowds Mr Found entered the murky fairground Fortune tellers tent and sat down at a red draped table opposite a tall, slender woman dressed as a romany gypsy who was gazing intently at a Tarot card.

"Do you have the money with you, Mr Found?", she asked, still looking at the card, "Ten thousand pounds".

Mr Found smirked leaning forwards on his elbows,

"Did you really think I would give you a single penny, eh?", he said, "I just came here out of curiosity, to see what kind of idiots were trying to blackmail me".

She turned her head slightly and looked directly into his eyes.

"But we have proof that you killed your wife, Mr Found, don't we? We know where you buried her after you murdered her and we'll send what we know to Inspector Kelly of Scotland Yard if you don't start paying up", said the woman.

"Don't make me laugh", said Found, confidently, "You don't have a single thing on me and you're wrong, I didn't kill my wife. She's just missing, thats all and no one can prove otherwise".

"But didn't you get the wedding ring that we took from your wifes dead hand?", said the gypsy, "It was in the letter we put through your letterbox wasn't it?".

"Yes I got it but its a fake", said Found thrusting his hand into his trenchcoat pocket, pulling out a gold wedding ring engraved with the word "Forever" and slamming it down on the table next to the Gypsy's crystal ball.

"You sound very certain of that, Mr Found", said the Gypsy, "How can you be so certain? Did you go back and dig up the body to check it wasn't hers?".

"Its a fake", said Mr Found again, this time raising his voice, "I know my wifes wedding ring and that's not it".

"Very well", said the Gypsy, taking out another identical ring and putting it on the table, "What about this one. We found this one buried in the west corner of a place called Hareedge field on the finger of a woman who had been bludgeoned to death. Do you think it might be the real wedding ring?".

The smirk faded from Mr Founds face as he looked at the ring and was replaced with a look of fear.

"H-how did?", was all he could say.

"We have our ways, Mr Found", said the Gypsy, smiling broadly and glaring with her green cat like eyes, "Now are you going to pay up or do we have to tell the police that you murdered your wife?".

Mr Found shook his head becoming panicked,

"It will take me a long time to get the money you asked for", he said, "I'm not a rich man".

"Oh?", said the Gypsy, raising an eyebrow of suspicion, "But didn't you inherit all your wifes money and property after you murdered her? I presume that was your motive for doing it".

"Yes", said the man, his eyes falling on the ground, "Alright, you win, I'll pay you your money".

But then, from behind him, the man heard another voice, a deep booming male voice that he instantly recognized.

"There'll be no need for that, Mr Found", said Inspector Kelly, entering the tent.

The man turned and looked at him with a flabbergasted expression.

"I don't understand", he said.

"Oh, it's simple enough", said Kelly, "It was me who sent you the blackmail note with the fake wedding ring. I had it made up and engraved specially to look like your wifes wedding ring to make you worry that it might be real so that you would then go and dig up her grave to check if the ring was still there and when you did we were following you. Of course burying a dead body is not in itself evidence of pre meditated murder, but the admission that you've just made is, Mr Found".

The man turned back round to face the Gypsy, smiling again, this time with resignation.

"Well", he asked her, "You're a fortune teller. What does my future hold?".

The woman laid down infront of him the tarot card she had been staring at when he'd first walked into the tent , it was the hanged man.