Beverley Guardian photographer breaches space-time continuum

As the author of the Annie Raymond PI series, first 3 books just out in paperback, I find myself falling more and more into investigator mode and questioning the motives of people I meet. Are they telling me the truth? Does what they say add up? Are there any signs of a hidden agenda?

But why would I suspect a photographer from the Beverley Guardian?

She came early to the signing on Saturday 19 Nov, before we'd started really, and took some pics of me with store manager, Philip, who runs one of only a handful of the 'books only' WH Smith stores in the country. He also runs a conventional WHS just up the road. He's a busy man.

We chatted with the photographer, who happened to mention the rest of her itinerary for the day. Her next but one assignment was in Out Newton (for those who don't know the area, that's a long way on twisty country lanes) and she was due to arrive ten minutes after leaving us. Surely she would be very late for that appointment and would get successively later as the day wore on, arriving at the final garden party just before midnight.

Was her relaxed demeanour just consummate professionalism or was something else going on? Did I hear a very distinctive noise in the background a moment after she left? I don't know for sure, but what I do know is that when I arrived, I spotted an old-fashioned police box at the corner of Toll Gavel. It wasn't there when I left!

Local author, Linda Acaster, dropped in, also with far too much to do but no time-machine to help out. We agreed that the world would be a better place if people could take more time out to sit back and contemplate the world around them. We couldn't enlarge upon the theme, however, as we both had other places we had to rush off to.

The signing went well. But maybe it's the Beverley Guardian that has the real answer...