To Cut a Long Story Short
Jeffrey Archer
Language: English
Pages: 336
ISBN: 1250029457
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
In this short story collection by Jeffrey Archer, a dying man doesn't know which of his relations to leave his fortune to, only to find out who really cares about him. A chance overheard conversation changes the course of an entire man's life. A woman savors every word of a letter from her lover while her husband reads over her shoulder. A criminal on the loose confesses that he is desperate to be caught. A widowed mother learns the cold truth about her second husband at the dawn of her third marriage. A pencil, the cruelest of the artist's tools, leaves nothing to chance… in To Cut a Long Story Short.
Travis marched through the open door to find Kenny sitting in the hall, holding up the stolen watch. “To hell with the watch,” said the Chief Inspector. “What about this lot?” he said, his arms sweeping around the sitting room. “It’s all mine,” said Kenny. “The only thing I admit to stealing, and am now returning, is one watch. Timex Masterpiece, value £44, taken from Selfridges.” “What’s your game, laddie?” asked Travis. “I have no idea what you mean,” said Kenny innocently. “You know
to see him. “The Political Committee were hoping you would allow your name to go forward as a prospective candidate at the nest general election,” he told Stoffel. Stoffel promised he would consider the idea, but explained that he would need to speak to his wife and fellow board members at the bank before he could come to a decision. To his surprise, they all encouraged him to take up the offer. “After all, you are a national figure, universally popular, and no one can be in any doubt about
until I was certain Richard and Rachel were well out of sight before I stopped and confronted her. To do her justice, she looked suitably guilty as she waited to be chastised. “I asked you yesterday, also after lunch, ‘If you could do anything in the world right now, what would it be?’ What would your reply be this time?” Susie looked unsure of herself for the first time that weekend. “Be assured,” I added as I looked into those blue eyes, “nothing you can say will surprise or offend me.” “I
simply a conquest or a trophy, but I must confess that, as I watched Susie disappear through the departure gate to catch her flight back to New York on the following Monday morning, it had been well worth the years of waiting. She has never contacted me since. SOMETHING FOR NOTHING Jake began to dial the number slowly, as he had done almost every evening at six o’clock since the day his father had passed away. For the next fifteen minutes he settled back to listen to what his mother
returned to the first page of the McKinsey report, and realized he would have to make an early appointment to see the Chief Administrator. He knew it would be no more than going through the motions, but at least he would have done his duty by his colleagues. He dialed an internal number, and Godfrey Tudor-Jones’s secretary picked up the phone. “The Chief Administrator’s office,” said Pamela, sounding as if she had a cold. “It’s Roger I need to see Godfrey fairly urgently. It’s about the