In the last post: Screams woke Bert on the scaffolding. During the night, he'd become a murderer...

Dear friends, if you like a good chuckle, dim-witted heroes, and larger-than-life villains, then you'll love this fascinating series. On Tuesdays and Saturdays, I’m blogging nibble-sized chunks of new ‘Life in the Clouds’ stories. You can check in regularly and read them for free, or wait to buy the entire story when published.


Enchanter on the Roof ® James Field. Part 27

"What are you doing up there?” barked Chief Inspector Dobbs, squinting up at the scaffolding in the sun’s early morning brightness. He sported a thin dressing gown with baggy pockets and shapeless sleeves. His spindly chalk-white ankles poked out from below the dressing gown’s hem, ending with his bare feet stuffed into a pair of floppy dog-chewed slippers. “Get down here immediately.”

Bert swung over the scaffolding’s side and clambered down the ladder one slow step at a time. As soon as his line of vision passed below the platform's edge, and he could clearly see Lance hanging by his neck, his chest tightened about his heart.

“Oh, Gawd,” he said, and his eyes swelled with tears. His knees shook, and so much bile rose in his throat that he couldn’t move up or down the ladder. He clung to it; his shoulders quaking in sobs. “I’m so sorry,” he bawled. “I wish I hadn’t done anything so stupid. I wish it was me hanging there.”

Last night, in a rage of jealousy, he’d planned to execute Dick Charmer; how Lance had ended in his noose he couldn’t guess.

What would life be like with Lance gone? Lance was one of the kindest men he'd known. Everybody admired and respected him, except maybe his best mate and partner, Alf, who deemed him a pompous old git. “What have I done?”

“That’s what I’d like to know,” said Chief Inspector Dobbs. “Get down here and explain yourself.”

To be continued…


The real world:

Rather than miss an instalment, it’s easy to follow my blog on: bloglovin’. They’ll give you a friendly nudge as I release new parts.
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Like to know more about Alf, Bert and the rest of the gang? You can read their chaotic history in: What on Earth.
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Image by 愚木混株 Cdd20 from Pixabay