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A Secret Killer

Chapter 1

“So, how many dead bodies have you actually seen?”

“A few,” Julia Blake replied. “Can you tell me more about your cleaning experience, Mrs Donnington?”

A chuckle came from the large lady sitting on the sofa. “Please call me Val, we might as well use first names if we’re going to be working together.” Her chubby hand reached for another slice of cake. She looked back at Julia and said, “I’m a slave to my appetite. Go on, you were telling me about the dead bodies you’ve discovered.” She waved the cake at Julia, oblivious to the crumbs that fell to the carpet.

Julia shot a look at her dad. He caught her look and swiftly glanced down at his tablet on his knee. Julia’s eyes narrowed as she saw the corner of his mouth twitch. This was all his idea. She was adamant that she didn’t need anyone to help her with her cleaning business, she could cope on her own. Even if that meant working over the weekends. But no, Dad insisted on her hiring someone. He insisted on placing the advert, and then helping her with the interview process. Not that he was providing much help at the moment.

Julia tried again. “Mrs Donnington, can you tell me about your last job? You’ve put down on your form that you worked for a family. What sort of work did you do for them?”

Mrs Donnington licked her thumb. She put her plate down and gave Julia a stern look. “I did everything for that family! They treated me like a slave! Expected me to do all their polishing, to clean the toilet, vacuum up! Pah! A servant would be treated better. I’m glad to be out of that line of work. Any chance of another cup of tea? My throat is parched after that lovely cake.”

The last request was directed at Julia’s dad. He smiled at Mrs Donnington and nodded his head. “It’s my pleasure.”

Mrs Donnington’s chest seemed to grow larger as she looked him up and down. “What did you say your name is again?”

With a blush on his cheeks, he answered, “Ray. Is it three sugars again?”

Mrs Donnington giggled and said, “Ray, like a ray of sunshine. Is there a Mrs Ray?”

Julia stopped her eyes from rolling. She glanced at her watch. She had paperwork to catch up on. In a firmer voice she said, “The work that you just mentioned, that’s exactly what this job will entail. Are you sure you want to apply for it?”

Mrs Donnington batted her eyelashes as she took a fresh cup of tea. Without looking at Julia, she said, “This job will do. I can’t do Wednesdays, Thursdays or Friday mornings. No bending or kneeling, and no reaching up too high. Doctor’s orders.”

Julia stood up, smiled politely and said, “Thank you for coming to see us today. We’ll be in touch.”

Mrs Donnington’s eyebrows rose as she looked at Julia. “Oh! Is that it? We were having such a lovely chat. When do you want me to start? I can’t do next week, and I’ll need three weeks off in May.”

Julia maintained her smile. “As I said, we’ll be in touch. Thank you again.”

Mrs Donnington reluctantly put her cup down. She turned her attention back to Dad and said, “Would you mind helping me up, Ray?”

Dad leapt to his feet and held his hands out. “Of course. Let me see you to the door.”

Julia’s cheeks were starting to hurt from keeping her smile in place. She finally let it go as her dad escorted Mrs Donnington out of her front room. She sank into her chair and sighed. This was taking such a long time! She took her phone out and had a quick check of her emails. More enquiries about her doing some cleaning work. It was a good thing, of course it was, she was glad to be so busy. Perhaps Dad was right, she did need someone to help her. Not Mrs Donnington though.

Dad returned with a smile on his face. “What a lovely woman. Totally inappropriate for the job, of course, but a lovely woman.”

“Don’t let Mum hear you saying things like that.”

Dad patted his slightly rounded tummy and said, “Your mum knows what a catch I am. She knows that women often throw themselves at me.” He gave a dramatic sigh and then winked. “It’s a curse, being this handsome, but I’m happy to live with it. Who’s next on the list?”

Julia checked her list of interviewees. “Someone called Tiger Lilly Thomas.”

“How exotic. Do you think tea will be okay for her? Or should I open the pineapple juice?”

Tiger Lilly sashayed into Julia’s front room a few minutes later. She was an exotic-looking orange. What was it with young girls and fake tans these days?

The teenager refused any offers of refreshment. Julia had to ignore the hurt look on Dad’s face. Julia started to ask her first question. She was interrupted by a beeping noise. Without an apology, Tiger Lilly took out her phone and read the text that had arrived. She frowned and swore, then she started tapping furiously on her phone.

Julia spoke loudly, “Are you ready to begin our interview? Or have you important business to attend to?”

Tiger Lilly looked up, her fingers still tapped away. “What?”

Julia persisted, “I need to ask you questions about the job, to see if you’re suitable.”

Tiger Lilly stopped tapping. She aimed her phone at Julia and said, “I want to ask you something. How many dead bodies have you seen? Were they decomposed? Did you take any photos?”

Julia couldn’t keep her sigh in. Dad stood up and said firmly to Tiger Lilly, “This isn’t the job for you, young lady. I think you’d better leave. I’ll see you to the door, come on.”

In a flash of orange the teenager was escorted quickly out of the room.

When Dad returned, Julia said, “Thanks for that. I don’t think we’re going to find anyone, they’re only interested in the dead people that I’ve seen.”

Dad held a hand up, “Let’s not be defeatist! When the next candidate comes in, you tell them in no uncertain terms that you won’t talk about those dead bodies of yours!”

Julia nodded. “Good idea, but they weren’t exactly ‘my’ dead bodies. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Who’s next?”

“A young man. Interesting, he’s the only man to apply. I can hear someone at the door. Remember, tell him straight away that there’s going to be no talk of corpses!”

That’s exactly what Julia said to the young man sitting opposite her a minute later.

She was not prepared for his reply.

Chapter 2

“Good. I’ve seen enough corpses to last me a lifetime.”

Julia blinked a few times and then said, “Excuse me?” She looked down at his application form. “I can’t see any details of previous experience.” She frowned and looked over at Dad as if to ask why this young man had been given an interview.

Dad smiled back at her, oblivious to her inquisitive stare.

The young man spoke, “No, I don’t have any experience with any kind of official job. I was quite surprised to get this interview.”

Julia pressed her lips together, she was quite surprised too. She’d be having words with Dad later. She turned her attention back to the young man, Cain Andrews. She’d put him in his late twenties, he was slight-looking with light brown hair and brown eyes. He was very pale. He was dressed casually in jeans and a smart shirt. Julia said, “Can you tell me about yourself, and why you think you’d be suitable for this job?”

Cain gave her a wry smile. “This could be the part where you ask me to leave, I’ve a story to tell, it’s a bit long-winded. Are you sure you want to hear it?”

“We certainly do!” Dad interjected. “You’re our last candidate and we’ve plenty of time, haven’t we, Julia?”

Julia looked at Dad’s eager face. How could she say no? And there was a part of her, the nosy part of her, that would love to hear Cain’s story. She was already impressed with how well-spoken he was. “Of course we have time. Would you like a cup of tea? A slice of cake? There’s a bit left.”

Cain smiled. “Thank you, it does look delicious. Did you make it?”

“I made it,” Dad moved forward with a proud smile on his face. “I’ve been going to cookery classes.” He put a slice of cake on a plate and handed it to Cain. “Since I retired I’ve been going to all sorts of classes, even knitting. See this cardigan I’m wearing? I knitted it myself!”

“Really?” Cain took the plate and placed it carefully on his knee.

“Yes! It was a bit tricky, I’m not happy with the buttonholes, but they’ll have to do. I made a scarf for Julia, but she hasn’t worn it yet.” He handed a tea-filled cup to Cain.

Julia’s estimation of Cain rose slightly as Cain placed the cup carefully on a coaster. It rose even further when Cain said, “I think you’ve done an excellent job, I could never make anything like that.”

Dad beamed. He gave Cain a quick look up and down. “I could knit one for you, I’ve got enough wool left.”

“That’s so kind, but I can’t expect you to do that, we’ve only just met. And,” Cain paused and looked down at his yet untouched cake, “you haven’t heard my story yet.”

Dad sat down and shared a look with Julia. Julia said to Cain, “Please tell us, we won’t judge you.”

“And don’t forget to eat your cake!” Dad insisted.

Cain put the cake on the table. “Perhaps in a moment, thank you. I may as well come out and say this, I’ve been in prison for the last twelve years. That’s why I haven’t any work experience. I worked all the time in prison but it doesn’t count as official work.” He looked closer at Julia. “You don’t look shocked. Do you want me to leave?”

“Of course not. Why were you in prison?” She laughed. “If you say murder, I might have to chuck you out!”

Cain said quietly, “It was manslaughter.” There was a pause. “Shall I go now?”

Julia shook her head. There was something about Cain that was intriguing, she wanted to know more about him. There was also something she’d noticed about his eyes. Despite his happy demeanour, there was a great sadness in his eyes, as if he’d seen things that he hadn’t wanted to see. She said, “Please, go on. Start at the beginning, that’s a very good place to start. Oh! I almost broke into song then! Do you ever do that, Cain, say the lyrics of a song and then feel like you have to sing them?”

Cain gave her a quizzical look. “Not really.”

“Must be just me then,” Julia said with a smile. “Right, start again.”

Cain took a sip of his tea. “Have you heard of the Clover Estate? The one at the far side of town?”

Dad said, “I certainly have, the buses refuse to drive through it after dark.”

“I don’t blame them,” Cain said. “Well, that’s where I grew up. I was the youngest of five boys, and Mum, let’s just say that Mum had a few problems. I know she was doing her best now, but at the time I couldn’t see it. She worked three jobs and then spent her money on drugs and drink. I suppose she had to get by somehow. I didn’t see much of her, I had to fend for myself. My brothers watched out for me now and again, but most of the time I was free to go out when and where I wanted. I hardly ever went to school, I didn’t see the point. And when I did go, the other children made fun of me, they used to say I stank. I did, and I was filthy, I hardly ever washed.”

“You poor mite, eat some of your cake. I’ll make you a sandwich if you like,” Dad offered.

Cain smiled. “Thank you, you’re so kind. Don’t feel sorry for me, it happened a long time ago. Things did change for me, but they got worse before they got better.”

Dad moved forward in his chair, “Is that when you killed someone? You can tell us all about it.”

“Dad!” Julia shot out. “Cain doesn’t have to tell us. He did say he was in prison for manslaughter, not murder.”

Dad frowned. “I don’t really understand the difference. Someone died who shouldn’t have died, that’s right, isn’t it?”

Cain nodded. “It is. My story gets even worse, I haven’t told you who the victim was yet.”

Chapter 3

Cain went on, “I got in with the wrong crowd, I tried to do things that would make me part of the gang, like shoplifting, that sort of thing. I wasn’t very good at it and often got caught. The police soon knew my name. Mum would give me a good thrashing whenever she had to pick me up from the police station. Still, I was surviving, sort of.

“Things changed when my dad turned up. Mum had always told me that he was dead so you can imagine the shock I got when he turned up. I won’t go into all the details, but needless to say there was a lot of shouting between Mum and Dad. He didn’t even know I existed. When he laid eyes on me for the first time he looked disappointed. I remember his words, ‘Are you sure that’s mine?’ Mum was adamant about him being my dad, she said she wanted nothing from him, and wanted him to go away before there was trouble.”

Cain smiled and gave a small shake of his head. “I’m sorry, I’m supposed to be making this brief. Are you sure you want to listen?”

Julia nodded. “Please, go on. You said that things got better for you. Did your dad take you away from the estate? Did you spend more time at school?”

Cain gave her a small smile. “No, seems my dad wasn’t welcome on the estate. He’s what you call a ‘grass’. He’d given evidence to the police many times in exchange for money, there were a lot of people after him, most of them from the estate. It seems my dad wasn’t the cleverest of people. He’d returned to see Mum and to get some information from her about what was happening on the estate. He needed money and wanted some information to sell to the police. Apparently, the news that he had a son didn’t stop him going ahead with his plans. News got round immediately that he was back, a lot of people had scores to settle with him.” There was a pause. Cain picked a bit of fluff from his trousers and carefully placed it in his pocket. He looked directly at Julia and said, “He was killed, two hours after meeting me. He was shot as he walked through the estate. There were no witnesses, of course, who would say anything about his killing? There was a feeling that justice had been done.”

“Was your mum upset?” Julia asked.

Cain shrugged. “She didn’t care. She was more concerned for me. Nobody knew who my real father was, she’d kept it a secret. She knew what my father was like, knew his reputation, she didn’t want anyone to know I was his son. But, like a bad smell, the news filtered around the estate. Things got much worse for me. I got used to the beatings, it’s funny how you do. But what hurt more was my brothers turning against me, they called me all sorts of names. They treated me worse than a dog. When I look back now, I’m not sure how I survived those days. Mum didn’t seem to care at all about me.”

Julia blinked away a tear. She looked over at Dad, he pressed his lips together and shook his head at the sorry tale.

Cain made to stand up. “I’ve upset you. I knew I shouldn’t have said anything. I’ll go.”

In a gruff voice Dad said, “Stay where you are. I want to know what happened next. You look clean, and you speak well, so I’m assuming something happened.”

Cain sat back down. He smiled and said, “My gran, that’s what happened. She didn’t know she had a grandson. She’d heard through friends about me. My dad had been awful to her growing up, stole from her many times. She knew he was a bad penny but she never gave up on him. She went to his funeral, she was the only one. Apart from me. I hid behind a tree, but that eagle-eyed woman found me. She came with me back to the flat. She took one look around the place, grabbed my hand and marched me out of there. She told me I was going to live with her.”

“Didn’t your mum try to find you?” Julia asked.

“No. Gran spoke to her later and sorted everything out. Gran said that Mum would be in touch to see me soon, but she never did.” He frowned. “It’s alright, don’t look so sad. I understand why Mum didn’t want to see me. Anyway, Gran took care of me. Cleaned me up, fed me, made me go to school. She changed my life for the better, she told me every day how wonderful I was, how loved I was. After a while I started to believe it. Which brings me round to you and this job. Gran used to have a cleaning job, I helped her whenever I could. I loved our times together. I think I associate cleaning with being loved! I know that’s strange, but that’s how I feel. I’m a good worker, Gran taught me how to clean things without using chemicals.”

“She sounds lovely,” Julia said. “You do seem like a presentable person, and I would love to give you the job but …”

“It’s the manslaughter thing, isn’t it? Okay, here are the short details. When I was eighteen, I saw one of Gran’s friends being mugged outside a shop. I ran over to help her, she must have thought I was one of the attackers because she lashed out at me. She lost her balance, fell to the floor and cracked her head. I stayed with her and called for an ambulance but she died on the way to the hospital. The police were waiting for me. They knew me from my past, they were ready to charge me there and then.”

Julia said, “You told them the truth, didn’t you?”

Cain shook his head. “I couldn’t. I knew who the muggers were. I wasn’t a snitch, I wasn’t like my father. There were witnesses from the Clover Estate, they lied and said I’d attacked her on purpose. I suppose they were getting even more revenge for what my dad had done to them. I went to prison. Gran was heartbroken. She knew I was innocent, she pleaded for me to tell the truth. She said I didn’t need to pay for the sins of my father.” He sighed. “I served my time, saw things I didn’t want to including many dead bodies. I was released six months ago.”

Julia had a sinking feeling about her next question, but she had to ask it. “How did your gran take that?”

“She died three moths before I came out.” Cain looked towards the window and took a moment to compose himself. He put a bright smile on his face and turned back to Julia. “Well, that’s my story! You can check up on me, you can speak to the people at the prison. I wouldn’t blame you if you told me to leave.”

“Why do you want this job?” Julia asked.

“I love cleaning, and I feel I would be closer to Gran. I do miss her. It would also allow me to save up to go to college and to continue with my studies, I never got a chance to take my exams. I promised Gran I would do that. If you feel like you could take a chance on me I’d be prepared to work for free for a week. Then you could see if I was up to scratch.”

It was clear that Cain was trying to hide the desperation in his voice. What was Julia to do? Did she believe him? Should she give him a chance? She looked over at Dad, he had a soft look on his face as if he was considering adopting the young man.

Julia thought of her children, away at university. If anything went wrong in their lives she hoped they’d be given a second chance.

She smiled at Cain and said, “Is Monday okay for you? That’s my busiest day, I could do with your help.”

Cain burst into tears. So did Dad.

Julia handed them both a tissue. She addressed Cain, “I promise you that we won’t see any dead bodies.”

She soon broke that promise.

Chapter 4

“I’m sorry, Julia, I haven’t been much use. You can take me home now.”

Julia turned to face Cain. “That’s a defeatist attitude for a Monday morning. What do you think you’ve done wrong?”

Cain sighed and looked out of the car window. “All I did was chat, well, listen to Mrs Samson. You did all the cleaning work, I was no use at all.”

Julia prodded him on the arm, Cain turned his head and looked at her. Julia smiled and said, “You’ve helped me a great deal. As you’ve just discovered, Ivy, you don’t need to call her Mrs Samson by the way, likes to talk. She gets lonely, she doesn’t get out as much as she used to. I don’t mind listening to her but she does tend to slow up my cleaning work. So, you sitting on her sofa, politely listening to how her week has been, allowed me to crack on with my work. I have quite a few clients like Ivy, they don’t really employ me for cleaning, some of them even clean their own houses before I turn up! They like to have someone to talk to.”

Cain frowned. “But aren’t they wasting their money by employing you?”

Julia gave him a wry smile. “I don’t charge them the full amount. As you will soon see, I have plenty of wealthy clients who more than make up for my discounted prices. Don’t ever tell Ivy that! She’ll insist on paying the full price. I think Ivy likes you, you’re a good listener.”

Cain nodded. “I liked listening to her, she reminds me a bit of Gran. Are you going to take me home?”

“No chance,” Julia said. She turned the key in the ignition. “Our next client has an enormous house, you’d better get your elbow grease ready!”

Julia glanced at the rear-view mirror and prepared to drive away. She jumped as someone knocked on the driver’s window. Ivy Samson’s wrinkly face stared back at her. Julia lowered the window and said, “Ivy, is something wrong? Did I forget something?”

Ivy quickly glanced at Cain, and then back to Julia. She said in an overly cheerful voice, “It’s nothing, Julia, could I have a quick word?”

“Of course,” Julia replied.

There was another glance towards Cain and back at Julia. Ivy raised her eyebrows and said, “Could you step out of your car please?”

Julia got Ivy’s meaning, she wanted to say something in private. Julia turned the engine off and got out of the car. Ivy put her hand on Julia’s arm and led her over to the pavement. Julia saw the concerned look on Cain’s face as he looked back at them through the passenger window.

Ivy turned her back towards the car and said, “Sorry about that, I didn’t want young Cain to hear me.”

“That’s okay. What’s wrong?”

Ivy fiddled with her necklace. “I know Cain, and his family. I hope I’m not speaking out of turn, but do you know that he’s been in prison?”

“I do.” Julia’s heart sank. Was Ivy going to tell her to never bring Cain back to her house? Would other clients do the same?

Ivy continued. “He comes from bad stock, the poor lad, it isn’t his fault. I knew his gran, Doreen, lovely woman, would do anything for anyone. It broke her heart to see Cain in prison. She tried and tried to get him out. She even spent her savings on fancy solicitors. They took her money and told her that they couldn’t do anything unless Cain changed his story about poor Celia Smith. That’s the woman who died.” She shook her head. “He wouldn’t tell the truth. I understand why, but if he knew how it was affecting his gran he might have changed his mind. I don’t why he was protecting those scumbags who attacked Celia Smith.”

“Does he know who tried to rob her?” Julia asked.

Doreen pursed her lips and nodded. Then she said, “Don’t ever let on that you know this, but it was Cain’s brothers who attacked her. Then the cowards ran off and left Cain to take the blame. Poor lad. I’m glad you’ve given him a job, he deserves some good luck. He’s welcome in my house any time.”

Julia didn’t know what to say. She looked towards her car. Cain was looking forwards now, his head bopping slightly. Julia hoped he was listening to music.

Ivy squeezed Julia’s arm and said, “You’re a good woman, Julia Blake. I’ll see you next week, don’t forget to bring Cain with you, I’ll make him a cake.”

Ivy’s face wrinkled up even more as she smiled at Julia and then ambled away.

Julia wasn’t sure how she felt. She had made enquiries about Cain, with his social worker and the prison. They all gave good reports. She wasn’t happy about his past, would it come back to haunt him? Would his brothers try and track him down?

Julia pressed her lips together. If they did, she would deal with them. She didn’t know Cain well yet, but she had a good feeling about him.

She got back in the car and gave Cain a bright smile. She said, “Just as I suspected, you’ve got an admirer in Ivy. She’ll have a cake ready for you next week.”

Cain turned the radio down. “Really? She wants me to come back?”

“She does, but first, I need to see how you work, see what your cleaning skills are like. Let’s head on to our next job.” Julia pulled away from the kerb. “I presume you watched TV in prison?”

“Yes, just appropriate programmes. Why?”

Julia turned left at a junction. “Did you ever watch Summersdale Secrets?”

“Yes! I love that programme.” There was a pause. “Why are you asking?”

Julia grinned as she drove along a winding road. “You’ll see. Be prepared to be amazed.”

“Oh! Tell me now! I hate secrets!” Cain pleaded.

“Nope, be patient.” Julia turned the radio up and smiled to herself. It was good to have company.

Her smile was still in place as she pulled into the gravel drive that led to the house of her next client. She switched the engine off and turned triumphantly to Cain. “Summersdale Secrets!” she declared as she pointed at the impressive-looking stone building in front of them. She was totally satisfied with the stunned look on Cain’s face.

“It’s … it’s …” Cain stammered.

“Yep, it’s Summersdale Hall. Well, not really, it’s called Barnes Hall. It is the house where they film it though.”

Cain peered closer, his face fell slightly. “It’s not as big as it looks on the telly.”

Julia laughed. “No, they use computer graphics to make it look bigger, they add more rooms. It belongs to one of my clients, Hugo Barnes. He’s away at the moment, the house is empty.”

Cain frowned and pointed at the house. “If it’s empty, who’s that at the window?”

Chapter 5

Julia looked towards where Cain was pointing. “That’s Hugo’s office! There must be a burglar inside. Come on.”

“Aren’t you going to call the police?” Cain asked.

Julia was already out of the car. She walked quietly up the stone steps and tried the door handle. The door opened. Cain caught up with her and whispered, “What are you doing? That burglar could be armed!”

Julia whispered over her shoulder, “I’m armed too. There’s no point calling the police, the thief will be miles away by the time they arrive. Shh, I’m going in.”

Julia heard Cain gulp as she stepped into Hugo’s house. She wasn’t going to let some no-good thief break into Hugo’s house and get away with it. She turned towards the office, she could hear Cain’s quickened breath behind her. Did he have to breath so loudly? She pushed open the office door, saw the back of the intruder, and yelled out, “Stop right there! I’m armed!”

The intruder spun around. He let out a loud guffaw. “Julia! Really? What are you going to do with that cleaning spray? Polish my glasses?”

Julia lowered her lemon-scented cleaning bottle. She’d used it before on a criminal and it had proved to be quite effective. She addressed the ‘burglar’. “Hugo! What are you doing here? I thought you weren’t back for a few more days.”

Hugo took his glasses off and cleaned them on his shirt. He put them back on and grinned at Julia. “I had a productive visit to America! I found out much more than I was expecting. No point hanging around there, thought I’d come home and get on with my investigations. Who’s this young fella? He’s not your son, is he? I thought your Sam was at university.”

Julia turned to Cain. “Oh, sorry, this is Cain Andrews. He’s working with me now. This is his first day.”

Hugo took a step forward, his eyes narrowed. “Are you okay? You look very pale. Do you need to sit down?”

Cain shook his head. In a quiet voice he said, “Julia, I mean Ms Blake, she just came in!” His voice rose. “She thought there was a burglar in here, and she just came right in!”

Hugo laughed. “She’s like that! You do know about those murders that she helped the police with, don’t you?”

Cain nodded. “I had heard something.”

Hugo went on, “If it wasn’t for Julia here, those bumbling policemen would never have caught the murderers. If I’m ever killed I hope Julia finds my killer! She’s the type of person you want on your side, brave and nosy, doesn’t miss a thing!”

Julia coughed. “I think nosy is the wrong word, curious sounds better.”

Hugo waved his hand at her. “Words! They all mean the same thing. If you’re going to act like an amateur private detective you should get better weapons.”

Julia looked at her spray, Hugo had no idea of its acidity. She gave her attention to Cain. “Are you okay? I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Cain gave her an unsteady smile. “I think I’m okay. Can you let me know if you’re planning on rushing into any more dangerous situations? If you’re expecting me to back you up, I’m afraid I won’t be much use, I’m not the fighting type.”

“That’s good to hear!” Hugo boomed out. He picked something up and threw it at Cain. “Excellent catch! I like a person with good reflexes. What do you think of that paperweight? Do you think it’ll make a good present?”

Cain looked closer at the object. “I like it, the Statue of Liberty looks good.” He put it down on the table in front of him.

Hugo nodded. “It was a last minute present, it’ll have to do. Now, as lovely as it is to see you both, what are you doing here?”

Julia said, “It’s your cleaning day.”

Hugo’s hand flew to his forehead. “Damn! I clean forgot! With all this American business going on, I’m all over the place.” There was a beeping noise. Hugo swore under his breath and took his phone out of his pocket. An angry expression flashed across his face as he read a message. He tapped a reply and shoved the phone back in his pocket.

“We don’t have to clean today,” Julia said. “I can see that you’re busy. And you could probably do with a sleep.”

Hugo’s mouth twitched. “What are you trying to say Ms Blake?”

“You look worn out.” Julia sniffed. “And a shower wouldn’t go amiss. How long have you been wearing those clothes?”

She ignored the gasp that came from Cain.

Hugo let out a loud laugh and said to Cain, “As well as being nosy, your new employer speaks her mind! I love that about her.”

Julia tutted. “I’m not nosy. What did you go to America for?”

Hugo wiggled his eyebrows. “You know I can’t tell you that. Client confidentiality and all that. Let’s just say that I found out something interesting, something that I’ll have to tell the client.” He sighed. “I don’t think she’s going to be happy about it.”

Cain said, “What is it that you do? If you don’t mind me asking?”

Hugo looked from Cain to Julia. “Good grief woman! Haven’t you told him what I do? The poor lad must be expecting someone from that dreadful show, Summersdale Secrets, to leap out of a door at any moment.” He turned back to Cain. “I take it that you’ve seen that show?”

Cain nodded.

Hugo shook his head. “Of course you have, everyone’s seen that show. I wish I’d never agreed to that blasted TV company filming here, you wouldn’t believe the trouble it’s caused.” He was interrupted by the beeping of his phone again. He ignored the beeps. “Now then, Cain, you come with me and I’ll tell you exactly what I do. Be prepared to be amazed!”

Julia said, “Hugo, we can come back another time. I can tell Cain what you do.”

Hugo put his arm around Cain’s shoulder. Cain sagged under the weight of the taller man. Hugo said, “You’ll do no such thing, Julia Blake! And you’re coming with us to listen to my story again. And don’t you dare interrupt me!”

Julia smiled. She knew when she was beaten. She followed Hugo as he led Cain out of his office. Hugo looked tired. But there was something else, there was worry in his eyes. And who was sending messages that annoyed Hugo so much? He was such an easy-going man, Julia had never seen him react so angrily as when he’d read that text message.

Something was going on with Hugo Barnes. And she was going to find out what it was.

She wasn’t being nosy, just concerned about a friend.

Chapter 6

Hugo walked in front of Cain and Julia down the hallway. He turned to a corridor on his left and boomed out, “Like a rabbit warren this house! I’ve lost many a visitor down these hallways! Lost Julia once, didn’t I?

Cain’s mouth dropped as he followed Hugo and Julia into the kitchen. “Wow! It’s like we’ve gone back in time. It looks just like the TV show.”

Hugo nodded in a pleased manner. “The TV company asked if I’d keep it like this. This is the only part of the inside of the house that is filmed.” He pointed towards the back door. “And you’ll recognise this door from the opening sequence on the show. Who opens it? One of the maids? Ha! I must admit, I don’t watch the show much, don’t care for it. Come over here, young man, I’ll unlock the door then you can recreate that scene yourself. For some reason, all the visitors to this house want to walk through that door.”

Julia saw Cain’s hand twitch, as if he was already reaching out for the iron handle. Bless him, she hadn’t seen him look so excited since they’d first met, it took years off him. She said, “Go ahead, Cain, we’ve got time.”

Hugo bounded over to the back door and unlocked it. He stood to one side and made a sweeping gesture towards the old-looking door. Cain gulped and held out a shaking hand, he grabbed the handle and pulled. His eyes looked as if they were ready to pop out of his head. “Wow! The garden looks just the same as on the telly! I can’t believe it! It’s awesome!”

Hugo shared a smile with Julia. They let Cain walk back and forth through the famous door a few more times then Hugo said, “That’s enough! You’ll wear the door out. Let me lock it, I’m always forgetting to do that. Sit down! I’ll make us a cup of tea.” He studied Cain for a moment. “I’ve got some fruit cake in the cupboard, you can have a slice or two. You look half-starved. Have you been poorly? Or locked up somewhere?”

“Something like that,” Cain muttered. He sat down at the long wooden table. Julia sat opposite him. She’d need to tell Hugo about Cain’s past. It was only fair, not everyone would want an ex-convict in their homes.

Hugo hummed to himself as he opened several cupboard doors. He slammed down a slab of cake the size of a brick in front of Cain. A smaller size was placed in front of Julia. Julia’s heart twisted as Cain shot her a questioning look, as if to ask for her permission to eat the cake. She smiled and gave him a nod, wondering for the hundredth time since meeting him, what had this young man been through?

Hugo brought over a tray and placed it carefully on the table. Julia sighed when she saw it. “Not this set, Hugo, it’s far too delicate. It should be kept somewhere safe.”

“Nonsense. It’s part of my story. I need it as a prop.” He grinned at Cain. “I can see you like that cake, there’s plenty more. Julia, don’t offend me, you have some too. With your mouth full of cake you won’t be able to interrupt me!” He winked at Cain. “Right, let me begin. Here’s your tea, there’s sugar in that little bowl, and milk in that tiny jug.”

Cain’s hands looked huge as he picked the milk jug up. “This is a beautiful tea set. Where did you get it from?”

Hugo laughed and slapped Cain heartily on the back. Crumbs of cake shot out of Cain’s mouth. Hugo said, “I like you, you’re asking the right kind of questions. This tea set is a family heirloom. This house has been in our family for generations, it was built over four hundred years ago. My family owned the land around here, there used to be tenants on our land at one point. All that has changed of course. You don’t hear about wealthy landowners these days. My father was the last to have tenants. He struggled with money as the years went by and he had to sell our land to a property developer. If you look over the hedge at the bottom of my garden you’ll see the new estate that the developer built. Sorry-looking houses, all look the same, tiny windows, excuses for gardens.” He shook his head. “Father did what he had to. When he died I didn’t think I’d be able to keep the house. I put it on the market and then set out on the mammoth task of cleaning our belongings out.”

“That must have been sad for you,” Cain said. Julia noticed that his cake was gone. He must be hungry. Did he have any money? She knew barely nothing about him.

Hugo looked at the tea set. “Sorting out the family belongings was the best thing to happen to me. This old house has several attics and one long cellar. I found lots of old wine in the cellar - but that’s another story. In the attic I found all sorts of papers and documents relating to this house and the surrounding area, all of its history. I found it fascinating and I thought other people would too. I started a blog about what I’d found! I wasn’t sure anyone would read it at first, but they did. It started locally, and then it grew. It seemed that people liked my style of writing. I put pictures on my site of the things I’d found, like this tea set.”

Cain carefully put his cup down. “Is this old?”

Hugo waved his hand dismissively. “About two hundred years. Don’t stop drinking your tea! This tea set is to be used, not looked at. I’ve still got all the pieces, it’s stronger than it looks.”

Cain folded his hands on his lap. Julia smiled, she’d felt the same the first time that Hugo had made her a cup of tea.

“Anyway, this TV company got in touch. They liked all the photos that I’d put online, the ones of the house and the gardens. They said they were making a new period drama and my house would be ideal. At first I told them no, I didn’t want a load of strangers traipsing around my home. But they told me the house and garden would be used for external shots only, and then only for six months of the year. I still wasn’t convinced until they told me how much they were going to pay.” Hugo ran his hand through his hair. “I nearly passed out. All that money! It would mean I could keep the house, and I could indulge in my hobby.”

“Not just a hobby, it’s become your way of life,” Julia interjected.

Hugo pointed at her. “This is my story, eat your cake.”

Julia smiled and stuck a fork into the fruit cake. Even though he never said anything, it was clear that Hugo loved having company. He worked on his own most of the time so it was a treat for him to have an audience. She glanced at her watch. Did he have to take so long though?

Hugo folded his arms and leant back in his chair. He gave Cain a direct look and said, “You wanted to know what I do? I uncover skeletons, not those kind buried in the ground. No, the kind that people bury in their wardrobes.”

Chapter 7

Julia shook her head at Cain’s confused expression. “Hugo, do you have to be so dramatic?”

“No! But I want to be so dramatic, it’s fun.” Hugo caught Cain’s expression. “Ah, I think I may have gone too far. I don’t actually find physical skeletons in wardrobes, just metaphorical ones. I’m a genealogist. Someone who looks for people’s ancestors.”

Comprehension dawned on Cain’s face. “Oh! Like those TV programmes! Where you draw up family trees. I love those programmes.”

“Me too. It’s great fun finding out about people’s histories. You’d be amazed at what I’ve discovered! Not always good things either. I quite often have to present unpleasant information to my clients, they can then decide what they want to do with that information. Many’s the time that I’ve had to leave out  certain black sheep from the family tree. In fact, I’ve got … no! I almost let it slip then! Let’s just say that I’ve got a couple of tricky situations at the moment, I’m not sure how the client is going to react.”

“Is it a dangerous job?” Cain asked.

“Not really, I can deal with irate clients.” Hugo’s hand flew to his mouth as he tried to stifle a yawn. “Excuse me, I’m suffering terribly from jet lag. I’ve had a wonderful time in America, it’s an amazing place. The people there have come from all around the world. Which reminds me, Julia, I’ve something to tell you, it might affect the hours that you work for me.” The noise of Hugo’s phone pierced the air. “Damn it! I wish they’d leave me alone!”

Julia frowned. “Hugo, it’s obvious that you’re busy. Look, I’ve got a cancellation for tomorrow morning, we could come back then.”

Hugo gave her a grateful smile. Then a twinkle appeared in his eyes. He turned to Cain and said, “You’ll certainly have your work cut out for you tomorrow. This house has six bedrooms and seven bathrooms. It’ll take you an age to clean them all!”

Cain gulped. “I don’t mind hard work.”

Hugo guffawed. Julia shook her head and said, “He’s kidding. Not about the number of rooms, but about how many we’ll have to clean. He keeps most of the rooms closed as he doesn’t use them.” She stood up. “I’ll go through everything tomorrow with you. We really have to get on, we’ll be late for our next client.”

Cain stood up, so did Hugo. Hugo said, “Great to meet you. Perhaps I can do your family tree sometime, I have rates to suit every pocket!”

Cain looked at the table and muttered, “No thanks.”

Julia looked at his downcast face. She’d have to explain to Hugo about his past soon.

“I’ll see you out,” Hugo offered.

Julia held her hand up. “I know my way out. Will you answer that phone! It’s driving me mad. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

As Julia led Cain out of the kitchen they heard Hugo answer his phone. “Now look here,” Hugo began. “I’ve told you already, I’m not interested in your money making schemes …”

Julia closed the kitchen door behind them and said to Cain, “I get drawn into people’s lives more than I’d like sometimes. Sorry about Hugo, he’s not normally so loud. He’s probably tired.”

Cain shrugged. “That’s okay. I’ve seen worse. When we come back tomorrow do you think we might … erm … if it’s not too much trouble …”

Julia smiled. “Would you like to have a proper look around the house? Of course. We’ll have a quick walk around the gardens too.”

Julia and Cain returned to her car. Julia set off down the drive and out of the gates. She had to slam on her brakes as a large blue car raced through the gates. The driver glared at her. It was clear that he wasn’t going to move so Julia reversed her car to allow enough room for him to pass. The driver passed without even acknowledging her good manners.

Cain said, “That’s so rude. He nearly drove into you.”

Julia looked at the car through her rear-view mirror. “That man looked vaguely familiar. Where have I seen him before?”

In a hopeful tone Cain said, “Do you think he was an actor? One from Summersdale Secrets?”

Julia’s brow furrowed. “I don’t think so. Oh! That’s going to bother me now. It’ll come back to me later.”

They had three more clients to visit that day. Two of them were out so Julia could explain to Cain exactly what each client required. “Sometimes, they’ll leave a pile of ironing out, or even a shopping list. Don’t fall for it! I have a list of specific jobs for each client and it never includes ironing or shopping. Some people take liberties.”

The final client was an elderly man who had mobility issues. He insisted on telling Cain all about his younger days. Cain listened and nodded as Cyril chatted, whilst giving the windows a thorough clean at the same time. Julia inspected the windows surreptitiously later and was impressed, not a streak or smudge in sight.

It was nearly six o’clock by the time she drove Cain home. He insisted on being dropped off at the corner of his street. Julia insisted otherwise. Cain had been waiting outside her house this morning for work but she wanted to know where he lived, wanted to make sure he had a decent roof over his head. Cain’s cheeks coloured as they pulled up outside a small bungalow that had seen better days. He said, “This is Gran’s house, she left it to me. It needs a bit of work.”

“It’s lovely. My dad’s got loads of spare paint, he’ll be happy to give you a couple of cans.”

Cain lifted his chin. “I’ll pay for them, I don’t expect charity.”

Julia gave him a kind smile. “It’s not charity, call it a perk of the job.”

A smile lit up Cain’s face. “A job! Do you mean that you’re giving me a job? Are you sure? Don’t you want to see how I get on for the next few days?”

“I’m sure. You’re a good worker. And a good listener. I think we’ll work well as a team for now, get through the cleaning jobs quicker. But in the future, if you still want to work for me, you’ll have to arrange your own transport so that we can go to different clients.”

“I’ve got a bike,” Cain added helpfully.

“A car would be better. One thing at a time. Off you go, I’ll pick you up at nine tomorrow.”

A serious look came over Cain. “Thank you, thank you so much, Ms Blake.”

Julia held a finger up. “Don’t call me that, I’m Julia.”

Cain grinned and nodded. He said goodbye, jumped out of the car and almost ran up the overgrown path that led to the bungalow.

Julia sighed as she watched him go. He reminded her of a puppy that had been mistreated. So eager to please, but guarded too, as if expecting to be kicked at any moment. She hadn’t been lying about him being a good worker though.

She nodded to herself. She’d made the right decision about employing Cain Andrews.

It wasn’t long before she was doubting herself.

Chapter 8

The next morning, Julia looked down at the carpet and gave a heartfelt sigh. Cain was at her side, looking in the same direction. “Well,” he said, “you said I wouldn’t be seeing any dead bodies. Not the best start for a Tuesday morning.”

“I …” Julia began. She couldn’t carry on, her heart felt too heavy.

Cain touched her arm. “I think you should sit down, you’ve gone very white.”

Julia finally looked away from the body lying on the carpet in Hugo’s office. She said, “My legs won’t move, they’re in shock. Oh, Cain! Look at him lying there! Who would do that to Hugo? He’s one of the kindest people you could ever meet!”

Cain peered closer at Hugo’s body. “It’s obvious he’s been murdered. He would hardly hit himself on the back of his head with that paperweight. It’s the same one he threw to me yesterday.” He shook his head. “It always amazes me that there’s so much blood in a human body.”

A sob escaped from Julia. She took a step back and turned away from Hugo’s body.

Cain said, “Sorry, I know I sound callous, but like I told you in the interview, I’ve seen a lot of dead people. You sort of become indifferent to it after a while. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

Julia looked over her shoulder. “I’ve seen people who’ve died before, it’s just that Hugo was so full of life, and now he’s just lying there, all undignified. I’ll never hear that booming laugh of his again.” She took a tissue from her pocket and wiped her eyes. “I’ll phone the police. I could do with a strong cup of tea but we can’t go into the kitchen, we could contaminate any evidence.”

Cain walked over to her side. He took the phone from Julia’s shaking hands and said, “I’ll do it. I presume it’s still 999.”

Julia said, “Look at the names, there’s a DI Clarke. I’ve dealt with him before.”

Cain’s eyebrows rose but he didn’t say anything. He was soon speaking to someone on the phone.

Julia gave herself a mental shake. She remembered Hugo joking that if he was ever murdered he’d like Julia to investigate. She was sure that wouldn’t be necessary, the police would soon find his killer.

However, she could always help them a little, point out things that they might not notice. She put her tissue away. Cain ended his call and gave the phone back to Julia. He said, “The police are on their way. Shall we wait in the car? We could be contaminating the scene now.”

“I think we’ve already done that,” Julia pointed out. She looked around the room. “The front door was unlocked when we came in, there are no signs of forced entry. I can’t see that any of the windows have been damaged. Hmm, I wonder if the murderer came in through the back door. I wish we could have a quick look at it.”

Cain said, “He might have left the back door unlocked. Remember what he told us yesterday, he said he liked to show visitors the back door from the TV show.”

Julia’s eyes narrowed. “That’s true. Do you think he had a visitor yesterday, after we left?”

“We saw that man driving in just as we were going out, the one that you recognised. He could have been visiting Hugo, he might have been a new client. I’m assuming that Hugo would treat all his new clients to a tour of the kitchen.”

Julia’s lips lifted briefly. “Yes, he loved showing that kitchen off. And he most likely made his visitor a cup of tea with that antique set. Perhaps if I took my shoes off I could have a swift peek in the kitchen. No one would know.”

“I would know,” a voice said coldly.

Julia stiffened. She knew that voice. He had spoken to her in that cold tone many a time. In fact, she wasn’t convinced that he knew how to convey any other emotion. She turned to the owner of the voice. “Hello, Detective Inspector Clarke. How are you? I haven’t seen you for a while.”

The tall thin man in front of her stared directly into her eyes. “That’s a good thing, seeing as we always seem to meet over a corpse. What have you been up to this time?”

Julia gave him a shaky smile. “Only doing my work! Hugo Barnes, the man on the carpet, is one of my clients. I was going to clean his house.”

DI Clarke’s gaze didn’t waver. “Remind me to never hire you as a cleaner, you seem to lose a lot of clients in unfortunate ways. I do hope you don’t make mention of that when you advertise your services.”

Julia wasn’t sure if the inspector was trying to make a joke. “We found him five minutes ago, we haven’t touched anything.” She paused and withered a little under the intense look that DI Clarke was still imposing upon her. “Honestly! We came through the front door, which was unlocked, and straight into Hugo’s office. We saw his body and then phoned you.”

DI Clarke turned his attention to Cain. Julia saw Cain flinch. DI Clarke said, “And who are you? And what connection do you have to Ms Blake?”

Cain coughed and then said quietly, “I work for her.”

“Hmm,” came the inspector’s reply. He abruptly turned towards Hugo’s body. He walked forwards and knelt at Hugo’s side.

Julia called over. “How long do you think he’s been dead? I would guess that he was murdered last night, going by the colour of his skin.”

DI Clarke didn’t look up. “Been watching CSI again, have you? I’m not going to make assumptions about the time of death. And I certainly can’t say if he was murdered.”

Julia pressed her lips together. Of course Hugo was murdered! It was obvious. She knew she should keep quiet but her words needed to come out. “But look at the room! Hugo kept all his files in that filing cabinet, now they’re all over the place. It’s like someone was looking for something. And look at his computer. There’s liquid on it, someone has tried to ruin it. Do you think it might still work? Shall I switch it on? I know where he keeps his passwords.”

There was a sigh from the inspector. He straightened up and turned around. “Ms Blake, leave the police work to me. We’ll take a full and thorough statement from you both very shortly.”

There was a noise coming from where the front door was. A thickset man bustled in, notebook open in one hand, a pencil in the other. He addressed the inspector, “Sorry for being late, sir, got stuck in traffic. Who’s the corpse?”

“He’s not a corpse! He’s got a name!” Julia blurted out.

The thickset man looked Julia up and down. He pointed a pencil at her and said, “Who the hell are you?”

“Sergeant!” DI Clarke shouted. In a quieter voice he said, “This is Julia Blake, she cleans for Hugo Barnes, the man lying at my side. Please take a statement from her. And please, remember your manners.”

“Yes, sir,” the man said, a note of contrition in his voice.

DI Clarke said, “Ms Blake, this is DS Pendleton, he’ll be helping me with this investigation. Please direct your questions at him whilst I examine the crime scene.”

Julia caught the smug look on DS Pendleton’s face. She did not like him at all. An irrational thought seeing as she’d only just met him, she realised that, but there was something about him that she didn’t like.

Her gut feeling was confirmed when the young sergeant pointed his pencil at Cain and said loudly, “I don’t believe it! Stinky Cain! I might have known you’d be at a murder sight. Sir! Did you know this man here is a convicted murderer?”

Chapter 9

DI Clarke turned his penetrating look on Cain and said, “Is that right? Perhaps you should tell me your full name.”

Julia noticed a slight sheen appear on Cain’s forehead. She felt like speaking on his behalf but she knew the inspector wouldn’t allow that.

Cain’s chin lifted and he said, “It is true that I’ve been in prison, but it wasn’t for murder, it was for manslaughter and I served my full sentence.”

“And your name?” DI Clarke prompted.

Julia frowned as she heard DS Pendleton mutter under his breath, “Stinky Cain.”

“It’s Cain Andrews. Would you like my date of birth too? I can tell you which prison I went to.”

“There’s no need, I can check that myself. It’s obvious that my sergeant knows you.”

DS Pendleton snorted. “Yeah! We were at school together. I’ll never forget how much he used to smell! You’d smell him before you saw him! Don’t think he even knew what a bath looked like.”

DI Clarke’s eyes narrowed. “That’s enough, DS Pendleton.” He focused on Cain again. “Tell me, when did you start working for Ms Blake.”

“Yesterday,” Julia butted in.

DI Clarke held up a finger towards Julia and said, “I’m sure your employee can speak for himself.”

Cain said, “Julia’s right. It was yesterday. We came to see Mr Barnes here yesterday but he’d just returned from a trip and Julia suggested we come back today.”

DI Clarke nodded and turned to Julia. “How long have you known Mr Andrews?”

“Since Saturday. I interviewed him at home and then decided to give him a trial. He was honest from the beginning, he told me about the manslaughter charge. I even checked up on him.” Julia gave Cain an apologetic smile. Then she added, “He’s a good worker.”

“I’m not disputing that,” DI Clarke said. He nodded again, as if weighing something up. “So, Mr Andrews turns up for an interview on Saturday, he starts work for you on Monday. At which time he meets the victim. And then on Tuesday you find that your client is now deceased. Interesting.”

No one spoke for a moment as they thought about what the inspector had said.

DS Pendleton broke the silence. “Shall I arrest him now, sir?”

Julia bristled. “On what grounds? What would his motive be? Where’s the evidence?”

“He’s got form,” DS Pendleton said. “Once a stinky criminal, always a stinky criminal.”

“Sergeant, that’s enough from you. I don’t know what’s got into you today, this is not how we conduct ourselves. Ms Blake is right though, we can’t arrest Mr Andrews based on the fact that he’s an ex-convict. We will take full statements from them both. And we will undertake our enquiries appropriately. I trust that you have called the relevant departments?”

DS Pendleton nodded, a look of disappointment on his face.

Julia said, “If we’re to give our statements now, could I phone my next client to let them know we’ll be late?”

“There’s no need, you can come down to the station later to give your statements,” DI Clarke said.

“But, sir! He might make a run for it!”

“I’m sure Ms Blake will keep on eye on him. She’s big enough to keep him in check.”

Julia blinked. What did he just say? Was he insulting her? And was that a twinkle in his cold eyes? No, DI Clarke wasn’t the twinkling kind.

There was a beep, the inspector reached into his pocket and took out his phone. “Yes. I am. Now? Okay.” He sighed and put his phone away. “DS Pendleton, you’ll have to finish up here, I have to be somewhere.”

DS Pendleton gave Cain a smug smile. “Yes, sir, I’ll deal with everything here.”

DI Clarke walked over to his sergeant and gave him a stern look. “It’s obvious that there’s history between you and Mr Andrews but that should not in any way affect your investigations. Is that clear?”

The smug smile disappeared. “Yes, sir.”

DI Clarke turned to Julia and said, “If you have any reason to complain about the attitude of my sergeant, which I hope you won’t do of course, please call me direct. Despite appearances so far, DS Pendleton is good at his job.”

Julia wasn’t convinced but she gave DI Clarke a nod.

DI Clarke strode towards the front door. He paused and looked back at Julia. “No interfering, Ms Blake. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir. I mean, DI Clarke. I wouldn’t dream of it,” Julia said.

The inspector strode out of the door. DS Pendleton tapped his pencil on his notebook and said, “I think I should take your statements now. Let’s start with you, Stinky.”

Fury rose in Julia. Keeping her voice steady, she said, “The inspector said we could give statements later. And please don’t refer to Cain here as Stinky. I find that offensive enough to make a complaint about.”

“Whatever,” the sergeant replied. “The inspector has left me in charge. Right, where were you last night, Stinky?”

Julia felt her fists clenching. She was stopped from committing a chargeable offence by an ear-piercing scream at her side.

Everyone jumped and looked towards where the noise was coming from.

An older well-dressed woman stood there, her trembling hands covering her mouth, a large handbag hanging from her elbow. She mumbled, “A dead body! A real dead body. Oh!”

Cain shot Julia a questioning look. She shrugged in return. She had no idea who the woman was.

“Mum! What are you doing here? Did the inspector see you come in?”

Mum?

Julia and Cain looked at each other, their mouths open.

The woman’s hands dropped, she pulled her handbag closer to her chest. “I’m sorry, Jason. You went without your lunch. I was driving to the station when I saw your car outside. Oh! Is that really a dead body? Who is he? Goodness! Look at all that blood. What a mess!”

Julia saw the flush on the sergeant’s cheeks. He didn’t look so smug now. She felt a surprising pang of sympathy for him. It’s a good job DI Clarke wasn’t here to witness this scene. Looks like DS Pendleton thought the same too.

He shoved his notebook and pencil into his pocket, turned to Julia and Cain and said, “You two can go. Come down to the station later.”

Julia smiled at the sergeant’s mum as they walked past her. She gave her a shaky smile in return. As Julia followed Cain out of the house she heard DS Pendleton hiss, “Mum, you can’t just walk in here! You’ve contaminated a major crime scene! Just give me my lunch and go! I’ll speak to you later.”

Any sympathy that Julia felt for the sergeant evaporated. What a way to speak to his mother!

Julia opened the car, Cain got in the passenger side. Julia was about to get in the driver’s side when she heard the sergeant’s mum say, “I’m so sorry about that. I thought he’d be pleased.”

Julia turned around. The sergeant’s mum was fiddling with her pearl necklace. Was it real? Probably, going by her expensive clothes and handbag. Julia said, “I’m sure he’ll be okay. That was considerate of you to bring his lunch.”

The woman nodded. “He needs looking after, he works so hard. He’s trying to get a promotion. I’m sure he’ll get it. He’s a determined man is my Jason, nothing gets in his way.”

Julia smiled and nodded politely.

The woman went on. “I wasn’t expecting to see a dead body! Look, my hands are still shaking. I don’t think I’ll be able to put my driving gloves back on.”

Julia looked at the pale brown driving gloves that the woman was holding up. What a luxury. The only gloves Julia was ever concerned with was her rubber gloves.

The woman gave up on her gloves and placed them in her handbag. She gave Julia an unsteady wave and walked down the drive towards the main road.

Julia got in the car and said, “Should I go after her? Make sure she’s okay to drive?”

“I think she’ll be alright. She’s not as delicate as she’s acting,” Cain said.

“What do you mean? Do you know her?”

Cain nodded. “Only from standing at the school gates waiting for her precious son, she used to look at me with the same disapproval that everyone did.”

Julia caught the bitterness in his voice.

Cain continued, “Jason Pendleton was the one who gave me the nickname of Stinky Cain. He moved schools after a few years of tormenting me, thankfully. His mum got married to some wealthy man, and Jason ended up at a private school.”

“So he never saw how you changed when your gran took you in?”

“Wouldn’t make any difference to someone like Jason Pendleton. Be careful around him, I’ve seen his nasty streak.”

Julia started the car up. She wished DI Clarke was dealing with the investigation on his own, she didn’t like the idea of having to talk to DS Pendleton. If she didn’t watch out, he’d have Cain arrested for Hugo’s murder.

Chapter 10

Julia had been driving for two minutes when Cain said, “Don’t you think we need to talk about the elephant in the car?”

Julia laughed. “Elephant? I hope you’re not referring to me. I try my best to keep on eye on my diet, but you know how it is with chocolate - impossible to give up!”

Cain sighed. “I think you know what I’m talking about.”

Julia pulled over to the side of the road and switched the engine off. She looked at Cain and said, “I’m presuming you mean that speech that DI Clarke gave? The one about you turning up on Saturday, and then one of my clients being found murdered a few days later?”

Cain nodded. “You have to admit, it does sound suspicious.”

Julia considered the matter. “It does. But what would your motive be? Had you met Hugo before? Perhaps he was uncovering some aspect of your family that you didn’t want him to know.”

Cain gave her a wry smile. “All my history is out there for the world to see. I’ve nothing to hide.”

Apart from your guilty brothers, Julia thought. She said, “I don’t think you’ve got anything to worry about. We’ll give our statements to the police later.”

Cain frowned. “But they’ll want to know what I was doing last night. I don’t have an airtight alibi, is that what they call it? I was home alone watching TV.” His voice rose. “I haven’t got anyone to confirm that!”

“I haven’t got an airtight alibi either. I was catching up on paperwork, and I was alone too. The police can hardly arrest us for that.”

“I’m not so sure, Jason Pendleton looks like he’s ready to throw me back into jail.”

Julia tutted. “I don’t like that man! Fancy talking to us like that. He’d better watch his ways, if he talks to me like that again I’ll give him a piece of my mind!”

Cain grinned at her. “I believe you will too. I wish I could stick up for myself like you do.”

Julia looked at the young man, his lack of self-confidence was so apparent. Even the way he sat in the passenger seat spoke volumes about him: arms folded and knees together as if trying to make himself as small as possible.

Julia patted Cain on the arm and said, “We’ll deal with our statements later. We’re going to see Mrs Boyce now. Here’s an opportunity to stand up for yourself, she complains about everything!”

But Mrs Boyce had no grounds for complaint. She actually smiled as Cain got to work on her windows. She even chuckled at one point. Julia wondered what the strange noise was at first, Mrs Boyce rarely cracked a smile.

“What a lovely shine!” Mrs Boyce declared as she looked through her windows. She flicked a glance towards Julia and added, “I’ve never seen my windows so clean.”

Julia ignored the insult. “I’ve vacuumed upstairs and cleaned the bathroom. Same time next week?”

Mrs Boyce beamed at Cain and said, “Will you be coming back next week? My kitchen is due to be cleaned next week, and I’ll bet your magic hands will bring my oven up a treat.”

Cain looked towards Julia. “I think I’ll be here next week.”

“Good!” Mrs Boyce clapped her hands together. “You must take some cake with you. I’ve made a lemon drizzle cake. I’ll pop some in a tin for you to take home. Bring the tin back next week and I’ll refill it.”

Julia shook her head in disbelief. Mrs Boyce smiling and chuckling - and now giving away cake! Cain was having a strange effect on her clients. She was going to start bringing plastic tubs for all this cake he was acquiring. She was sure he wouldn’t mind sharing with her. She took in his skinny body. Perhaps he’d be better eating the cake himself.

Mrs Boyce stood on the doorstep, waving merrily as they drove away.

Cain looked at the metal cake tin on his lap. “Would you mind if I had a slice now? I didn’t have time for breakfast.”

“You go ahead,” Julia said. She gripped the steering wheel. She’d love to go inside his house and see how much food, or not, that he had. Her mouth watered as the scent of lemon filled the car.

“Would you like some? There’s plenty,” Cain offered.

“No, thank you, I’m full,” Julia said. It was only half a lie. She’d had breakfast but there was always room in her tummy for cake.

“I’ll save you some,” Cain said kindly.

There was a silence for a while as Cain ate the cake. Julia noticed from the corner of her eye that he picked up every crumb that he dropped and put them in the cake tin. He was so neat and tidy.

She said, “I wish I could remember who that man was that we saw yesterday, the one who was driving in as we were driving out of Hugo’s house. I’m sure it’s something to do with a television programme, but I’m equally sure that it’s nothing to do with Summersdale Secrets.”

“It’ll come to you. That’s what Gran used to say to me.” Cain picked up another slice of cake and bit into it.

“I wonder if that man was a client. Perhaps Hugo had uncovered something unsavoury from his past and the man didn’t want anyone to know about it. That would give him a motive to kill Hugo.”

“But if he was a client, he could have just cancelled his business with Hugo, told him not to finish his family tree.”

“That’s true.” Julia negotiated a roundabout. “Perhaps a relation of his asked Hugo to look into their family tree, and Hugo came to the man in the car. The man found out and knew a terrible secret would be revealed soon. Then Hugo might have said he couldn’t discuss the case as the man wasn’t his client. That might drive him to murder.”

“Good point. I’d better put the top on this tin or else I’m going to eat another slice.” Cain put the lid on and drummed his fingers on the top. “When we were at the house yesterday Hugo referred to a female client, he said ‘she wouldn’t be happy’.”

“We need to find out who his clients were. And I know just the person to ask.”

Cain said, “Do you think we should interfere with police business? That police officer, the one with the scary eyes …”

“DI Clarke? Yes, he has got scary eyes. It’s like they bore right into your soul. I think he practises that look in the mirror.”

Cain shivered. “I don’t think he’d be happy about us getting in the way of their investigation. Didn’t he tell you not to?”

Julia sighed. “I suppose you’re right. We’ll let them get on with it.” She turned left, and then added, “For now.”

Chapter 11

They spent the rest of the day on cleaning jobs. About fifty per cent of her clients were at home during their visit, mainly the older generation. It seemed that word had got out about Cain. Julia was relieved to see that no one objected to having an ex-convict in their homes. The people that weren’t in were the ones that worked all day. She’d have to let them know about Cain, and to see whether they were happy to have him in their homes. She knew that some would object, she’d deal with that later.

As they left their last client, Julia said, “I suppose we’d better head down to the police station and give our statements. I hope it doesn’t take too long.”

Cain said, “I wouldn’t be too sure about that. I think DS Pendleton will have many questions for me.”

Heat flushed through Julia as she thought about DS Pendleton. She wished she could be at Cain’s side when he gave his statement, but she knew that wasn’t an option. Why couldn’t DI Clarke be the one in charge?

When they arrived at the police station they were told by the uniformed woman on reception that DS Pendleton was busy. Hope flared up in Julia and she said, “Can we give our statements to you then?”

The woman shook her head and said, “I’m really sorry, DS Pendleton has left strict instructions that he’s to be the one who interviews you.” The woman did look sorry. Julia concluded that the woman was wise to DS Pendleton’s true nature. The woman spoke again, “Please take a seat, I’ll let DS Pendleton know that you’re here. There’s a vending machine over there. It’s not fantastic but the tea and coffee are strong. I’m afraid it’s drinks only, there’s nothing to eat.”

Cain held up a plastic tub, smiled at the woman and said, “We have chocolate cake. There’s plenty, you can have a slice if you like.”

The woman returned his smile. “Thank you, but we’re not allowed to take food or drink from the public, just in case there’s poison in them.”

Cain’s smile dropped. He moved the tub away from the woman. “I’m so sorry! I never thought of that.”

Julia took Cain over to a set of metal chairs and sat him down. “I’ll get us a drink. I’ll be more than happy to share that cake with you. Goodness knows how long we’ll be here. And those seats don’t look at all comfy.”

They had to wait thirty minutes before DS Pendleton graced them with his presence. His smug smile was firmly in place as he looked Cain up and down. He sniffed and said loudly, “I thought you were here, Stinky, I could smell you.”

Julia jumped up. “That’s enough! Any more of that and I’m making an official complaint!”

“Do what you like,” DS Pendleton retorted. “DI Clarke has told me all about you and your interfering ways. No one will take any complaint that you make seriously.”

“We’ll see about that,” Julia said. She marched over to the woman on the reception desk and announced, “How do I make an official complaint?”

The woman already had a form and leaflet ready. She threw DS Pendleton a disgusted look and then said to Julia, “Fill this in. Bring it straight back to me, I’ll make sure it goes to the right department.”

Julia gave her a smile of thanks and put the paperwork in her handbag. She turned to face DS Pendleton. “You can take Mr Andrews first, I don’t mind waiting.”

DS Pendleton sneered at her. “I’ll decide who goes first.” His lip curled in disgust as he added, “Mr Andrews can wait.”

Julia was taken to a stuffy room to give her statement. Was this how members of the public were treated? Was there really any need for her to be in a room like this?

She was in the room for twenty minutes. Then she had to wait one hour for Cain to give his statement. Her frustration and anger rose in equal amounts the longer that she waited. Why was it taking so long? What was DS Pendleton saying to Cain? She wished she could burst into the room.

Cain looked exhausted when he came out. He gave Julia a surprised look. “You didn’t have to wait, I could have got the bus home.”

“Of course I waited for you. Are you okay? What did he say to you?”

Cain’s shoulders dropped. “I’d rather not say.”

Julia pressed her lips together tightly. Her opinion of DS Pendleton would have to stay inside her head for the moment. She drove Cain home and told him she would pick him up in the morning. “Don’t leave all that cake on the back seat!” she called out as he left the car.

Cain reached into the back seat for the various containers that Julia’s clients had given him throughout the day. “People have been so kind to me. And you have too, Julia. Are you sure you want me to continue working for you?”

“Of course. It’s lovely to have company. And the cleaning jobs get done quicker. See you in the morning!”

She kept a bright smile on her face as Cain walked away. She didn’t need to know what DS Pendleton had said during his time with Cain, she could just imagine the accusations that he’d thrown at the young man.

Dad was waiting for her when she got home. She didn’t realise how hungry she was until he placed a chicken casserole in front of her.

He sat at her side and said, “Tuck in, you look exhausted. No talking! You can tell me all about your latest dead client when you’ve finished.”

“How do you know about Hugo?”

Dad tapped the side of his nose. “Word gets out. Start eating! I’ve found out some more details about young Cain and his conviction. Did you know he’d taken the blame on behalf of his brothers?”

Julia nodded, her mouth full of hot chicken.

Dad shook his head. “You’d better watch out for those brothers of his, people round here think they might come looking for Cain, to make sure he can keep his mouth shut.”

Dad talked a bit more about the things he’d found out about Cain, all good things. When she’d finished eating, she told him about Hugo and the horrible DS Pendleton. She said, “He didn’t take any notes when I told him about that man driving into Hugo’s drive on Monday. He didn’t ask me anything about Hugo’s business. He kept going on about Cain, saying he was bad news and that I should fire him! Oh! I’m so annoyed! I don’t think he even cares about Hugo’s killer, he’s convinced that Cain did it.”

Dad patted Julia’s shoulder. “Don’t let it upset you. I suspect that Cain is stronger than he looks, he can deal with DS Pendleton.” He stood up. “Right, I’d better get going. You try and get a good sleep. Let the police do what they have to.”

“Humph!” was Julia’s reply. She stood up and saw Dad to the door. He gave her a hug and then got in his car. Julia watched him drive away. Her eyes caught a movement at the side of a lamp post down the road. She squinted. Yes! There was definitely someone there. It was hard to make out the figure in the darkness but there was a man standing by the post, a lit cigarette in his hand. Julia shivered as the man looked directly at her. He raised a hand and then walked away.

Was that one of Cain’s brothers? Or was it someone connected with Hugo’s death?

Chapter 12

Cain was waiting outside his house when Julia pulled up the next morning. From the look on his face he'd had the same quality of sleep that she'd had. Cain yawned as he climbed into the passenger seat.

Julia said, “I know how you feel, I didn't sleep well either. I kept thinking about DS Pendleton, I feel like making a complaint to the DI Clarke, but I don't think I'd get anywhere."

Cain said, “Have you heard anything back from the police yet?”

“No, I might give them a ring later. I wish I could remember where I’d seen that man before, the one in the blue car.”

Julia glanced at a parked car as she drove away.

“Where are we going today?” Cain asked.

“To some apartments by the canal in Leeds. Very fancy apartments too. I’ve got a few clients that live there, I like to do them all on the same day. My clients won’t be in, they all work during the day so no cake and cookies for you today!”

Cain laughed and patted his tummy. “I think I had more than enough yesterday. I’ve never been in those apartments, I’ve seen the prices that they charge for them though.”

Julia looked in her rear-view mirror before making a turn. “They are lovely, they’ve been converted from the old woollen mills.”

Cain didn’t speak for a moment. Then he said, “Should I wait in the car for you?”

“When?”

“When you go into the apartments to clean. The clients that we’ve met so far have been lovely but I don’t think everyone would want an ex-con in their luxury homes.”

Julia gave a small sigh. He was voicing the same concerns that she had. She made a decision. “You can come in with me, I’ll vouch for you. I’ll phone my clients up later and explain the situation. They can decide whether they want you to return. It’s not like I’m leaving you on your own. Although, I would be more than happy to leave you with some of my clients from yesterday.” She glanced at her rear-view mirror again and continued. “As long as you split the booty with me.”

“Booty?”

Julia headed along the main road into Leeds. She smiled, “The baked goods! You’ll be the size of a house if you keep eating all those gifts.”

Cain smiled. “I don’t know why people keep giving me food. Not that I’m complaining.”

Julia was tempted to tell him it was because he look half-starved, but thought better of it. She didn’t know Cain well but suspected he’d be the type to turn down free food if he thought people were feeling sorry for him.

She pulled into the car park of a block of apartments. The sun took this moment to come out from the clouds and to shine down on the canal that ran at the side of the apartments. Julia parked up and turned to Cain, his mouth was open.

“Wow,” he said. “It looks like something in America, not in the middle of Yorkshire.”

“Wait until you see inside. The first apartment that we’re going to is on the top floor, there’s a magnificent view of Leeds.”

Julia cast a look behind her as she locked her car and headed towards the nearest apartment block. Cain was like a small child as they entered the lift. “It’s got music! I’ve never been in a lift with music!”

Julia smiled and remembered all the lovely times she had with her children when they were young, seeing the wonder in everything. She’d better watch herself, she’d be pointing to a plane soon and calling out, ‘Look at that!’

Cain stepped through the door of the top-floor apartment and then froze, his eyes wide. Julia gave him a small push and said, “Go on, have a look around. When you’ve finished you can help me with the windows.”

“Are you sure your client won’t mind?”

“Roger’s great, he loves showing his apartment off.”

Cain took a few minutes to wander around the huge apartment. Julia heard him muttering various versions of ‘Wow!’

She walked over to the window that faced the car park and looked down. She tutted.

Cain returned to her side, still smiling. Julia said, “Are you ready to clean?”

He grinned. “What a beautiful place. I’m ready to clean it from top to bottom!”

“We’re only doing the windows, the bathroom and the kitchen today,” Julia told him. “I’m glad you’re so enthusiastic though, some of my clients are much messier than Roger.”

Cain got to work with gusto and the cleaning was done in no time. His enthusiasm didn’t wane as they visited three more apartments.

They returned to the car park within two hours. Julia said, “It normally takes me three hours to do those apartments. Thank you, Cain, you’ve been a great help.”

“I’ve enjoyed it. Gran would have loved these apartments. Where are we going now?”

“I’m not sure. You get in. I’m going to have a word with the people in that brown car over there.” Julia unlocked the car and placed her cleaning materials in the boot. She marched over to the brown car, a determined look on her face. The two men inside saw her approaching and quickly looked away. Julia rapped on the driver’s window. It was wound down and a clean-shaven man looked at her and said, “Yes? Can I help you?”

Julia put her hands on her hips. “You certainly can! You can tell me why you’ve been following us all morning!”

Chapter 13

The man had the grace to look uncomfortable. He muttered, “It’s orders, we have to do it.”

“Orders from who?” Julia asked, her hands still on her hips.

The man coughed and said, “Orders from DS Pendleton. We’re working on his team.”

Julia’s arms dropped. She narrowed her eyes. “I see. So DS Pendleton has told you to harass us, is that right?”

“We’re not harassing you, we’re just keeping an eye on you. Well, not you exactly, that young man with you.” He looked down at a notepad on his knee. “Stinky Cain, that’s his name.”

Something in Julia snapped. “That is not his name! I’ve had enough! You don’t have any reason to be following us.” She reached for her phone and waved it at the man. “I’m going to phone DI Clarke, I’m on good terms with him.” A little lie, but Julia carried on. “We’ll see what he makes about this.”

The other man in the car blurted out, “I told you this was a mistake! I said we shouldn’t be taking orders from Jason, you know he’s got issues with authority. This is going to go on our records!”

Julia leant down so she could see the other man clearer. She could see the beads of sweat on his forehead. It was obvious he wasn’t happy about following them. What sort of a policeman was DS Pendleton? She said in a softer tone, “Look, I won’t phone the inspector. I don’t know what’s going on with DS Pendleton but he’s got some sort of issue with Cain Andrews. How are you getting along with the murder enquiry?”

Both men shrugged.

Julia said, “The murder enquiry? Hugo Barnes? Isn’t that why you’re following Cain?”

The nearest man spoke, “I don’t know anything about that. DS Pendleton just told us to follow you and to make notes.”

Julia straightened up. “We’re leaving the car park now. Will you be following us again? Do I need to phone the inspector?”

The man’s cheeks reddened. “No, we won’t be following you. Sorry to cause you any distress.”

The window rose and the car started up. Julia stood to one side as the car drove away. She really needed to speak to DI Clarke about Hugo. What progress had been made? Had they looked into his client list? Also, she wanted to tell him about the man that had been watching her last night. It might be nothing but she’d feel better if she told him.

She decided to phone him later. She also decided that she was going to make her own investigations into Hugo’s death. And she knew where to start.

She drove into the centre of Leeds and parked in a multi-storey car park. She told Cain that he could have an hour to himself for lunch. “We’ll meet back here.”

Cain didn’t get out of the car. His eyes narrowed and he said, “What are you going to do? I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but you’ve got a funny look on your face, a calculating look as if you’re weighing something up.”

Julia nodded. “I am weighing something up. But I don’t want you to get involved.”

“Is it something to do with Hugo’s murder?”

“It is, but the less you know, the better. Off you go.”

Cain folded his arms. “I’m not going anywhere. If you’re going to make your own investigations I want to help you.”

Julia shook her head. “No, you’ve already got DS Pendleton breathing down your neck.”

“All the more reason to find out who killed Hugo. He seemed like a good man, and at the moment, the killer is walking free. And from what I heard in the car park back there at the apartments, the police don’t seem to be getting anywhere with their enquiries.”

“You heard me talking to those policemen?”

Cain’s mouth lifted. “You’ve got a loud voice when you’re angry.”

Julia laughed. “My dad has referred to me as a foghorn many a time. Right, you can come with me. We’re going to the library.”

Cain’s smile dropped. “The library? Are we going to look something up?”

“Nope, we’re going to talk to someone who was close to Hugo. Someone who was in love with him.” Julia paused and looked through the window. “She must be devastated by his death.”

“Who?”

“Come on, I’ll explain on the way.”

They made their way out of the car park and headed towards the library. Cain smiled in appreciation. “I’d forgotten how beautiful this building is.”

“Speed up, we haven’t got all day. I’ll tell you who we’re going to meet. She should be working today.” Julia stopped. “Oh! Unless she’s taken compassionate leave! I never thought of that. She must be distraught about losing Hugo.”

“Who? I feel like you’re talking in riddles.”

“Sorry.” Julia began walking again. “I’m talking about Hugo’s assistant, Dinah Wells. She works for him on Thursdays and Fridays. She works at the library the rest of the week. She’s been working for him for about a year. He told me that he had to come in here often to look up records for the family trees he was compiling. Dinah was the one he asked for help. Apparently, she got so fed up with him coming into the library and asking for help that she volunteered to look things up on his behalf, to save him a trip to the library. Hugo loved that idea but insisted on employing Dinah as his assistant. She spends most of her time here, but then calls in at Hugo’s house too with all the facts she’s collected.”

Cain nodded. “Why does she have to visit his house? Can’t she email him? Or phone him?”

Julia tutted as if it was obvious. “Because she’s in love with him. She’s a bit younger than him and quite attractive. She’s got this amazing hair that is always so shiny, I don’t know how she manages to get her hair like that. Anyway, I’ve only seen her a few times, but when Hugo is in front of her, her whole face lights up. She does the whole flirting thing, you know, batting her eyes, fiddling with her hair, taking any opportunity to touch him on the arm or shoulder.”

“Did Hugo like her?” Cain asked as they reached the library doors.

There was another tut from Julia. “He didn’t know she was in love with him! He was too wrapped up in his work to notice anything like that. I dropped a few hints, but … well, he’s a man.” Julia paused in mid-step. In a lower voice she added, “Was a man. I must stop talking about him as if he is still alive.”

They walked through the doors. Julia said, “She works on the first floor. I don’t know if we’ll find her but we can try. She might be able to tell us about Hugo’s clients, maybe even the cases he was working on. Then we can … argh!”

Julia grabbed Cain and pulled him behind a display unit.

Cain instinctively ducked down. He hissed, “What is it? Are we being followed again?”

Julia whispered, “No, it’s Dinah, she’s walking down the corridor towards us.”

Cain frowned. “Why are we hiding? I thought you wanted to see her.”

“She’s with someone. I’ve seen that man before, he’s some sort of book agent. Shh! They’re getting closer.”

Cain peeped over the top of the display cabinet. He whispered, “She doesn’t look devastated, she’s smiling.”

“She could be putting on a brave face. Quiet! I want to hear what they’re saying.”

Julia held her breath as the couple walked past the display case.

Dinah said in a cheerful voice, “Of course I’d be interested. Let’s go downstairs into the cafe and discuss it further.”

Julia let her breath out as the couple walked away. Cain stepped out from behind the display case and watched Dinah Wells and her companion head towards the stairs that led downstairs. He said, “She is attractive. I see what you mean about her hair, it’s very shiny.”

Julia stood at his side. “I wonder what they were talking about.”

Cain gave her a direct look. “Do you want me to follow them?”

Julia waved a hand at him. ‘No! I can’t ask you to do that. For all we know they might be talking about a book he wants to borrow.” Even to Julia’s ears, that sounded lame.

Cain said, “You can’t follow them, Dinah knows what you look like. And didn’t you say that man was a book agent?”

“Yes, he came to Hugo’s house a few times whilst I was there. Pestering Hugo to write a book about all the cases he’d dealt with, said people would buy anything that was indirectly linked to Summersdale Secrets. Hugo refused, he said his clients’ confidentiality was of the utmost importance, he had no intention of publishing their private details.”

Cain pointed towards the stairs. “I’m going to follow them. For all we know, Dinah might have killed Hugo.”

“I had thought of that too. She might have finally declared her love for him, he could have gently let her down and then, thwack! She could have bashed him on the head. Are you sure you want to follow them?”

There was a glint in Cain’s eyes. “Try and stop me! I haven’t had this much fun in years.”

Julia had misgivings about getting Cain involved, but she really wanted to know what Dinah was up to. She said, “I’ll wait outside for you. Be careful!”

Chapter 14

Five minutes later Cain plonked himself down at Julia’s side. “That was quick,” she said.

Cain didn’t look at her. He mumbled, “I was asked to leave.”

“Why?”

Still looking down he said, “I couldn’t order anything. I didn’t have money, so they asked me to leave.”

Julia looked at the young man, her heart twisted. Did he have any money at all? Couldn’t he afford to buy food? Is that why he was so skinny-looking?

She reached into her handbag and was soon handing him a twenty-pound note. She grabbed his hand and thrust the note into it. He tried to give it back. “No! I can’t take this. I wasn’t dropping hints.”

She pushed his hand away. “Think of it as an advance on your wage. Keep it.”

Cain shook his head vehemently. “No, I’m on trial, you shouldn’t be paying me if I’m on trial.”

Julia held her hand up. “I’ll decide if I should pay you or not. You’ve done a magnificent job so far and I intend to give you a full wage by the end of this week. Don’t even think about arguing with me!”

Cain looked down at the note. He straightened it out and then held it up. “I’ve never had a twenty-pound note before. I’m guessing it’s not worth as much nowadays.”

“It’s still worth something. Do you need any more?”

Cain carefully folded the note and put it in his pocket. “No, thank you, this will last me a while.”

Julia doubted that but she let the matter rest. She said, “Did you manage to find out what was going on with Dinah and that book agent?”

Cain nodded. “I sat at the table behind them. It was the agent who was doing most of the talking. He said the book deal could go ahead, he asked if Dinah had plenty of material for at least another three books. She said she had plenty, and that she’d been keeping notes. Then the agent said a TV company was interested and asked if they could have access to Hugo’s house. He said the book would carry a link to Summersdale Secrets and that would make sales rocket. Dinah said she knew the new owner and that there would be no problem. I saw him give her a wad of legal-looking papers, she put them in her bag.” He paused. “That’s when the waitress came over to take my order. And that’s when I had to leave. Sorry.”

“That’s okay. You got a lot of information.” Julia tapped her chin. “I wonder what Dinah is up to. And I wonder what her book is about.”

“There’s something else,” Cain said. “You said that Dinah was in love with Hugo because she was doing all that flirting stuff.”

“Yes?”

“She was doing the same thing with that agent.”

Julia let that information sink in. “She could have been doing it to get a better deal.”

“I’m not sure. As I was leaving the agent mentioned that he was sorry to hear about Hugo’s death. Dinah giggled, and it was a giggle not a laugh, and then she said that every cloud has a silver lining. There was a hardness in her voice that sent a shiver down my back.”

“You’re quite a sensitive man, aren’t you?”

Cain looked away from Julia. “I had to learn quickly how to read people’s moods in prison. There were times when I needed to be away from certain people pretty fast.”

Crikey. Julia didn’t think she could feel any more sympathy for Cain but a fresh wave overtook her. In a gruff voice she said, “Come on, let me buy you some dinner. How does burger and chips sound?”

“Lovely. Thank you.”

After a meal at the nearest burger place Julia drove Cain to their next job. More apartment cleaning but this time on the other side of the canal.

Cain yawned as they drove home. “Same time tomorrow?” Julia said as she stopped outside his house. “You can have a day off if you like, I don’t mind.”

Cain gave her a tired smile. “No, it’s a good kind of tired. I like it. See you tomorrow.”

A few minutes later Julia drove down her street. She slowed down as she saw a man standing near a lamp post. She hadn’t had a good look at the man last night because it had been dark, but he seemed to be of the same build. And he was smoking. He was looking towards Julia’s house. Was it another of DS Pendleton’s men? Julia made sure her car doors were locked then she drove slowly towards where the man was standing. She saw his hand freeze as he lifted a cigarette to his mouth, he must have sensed her approach. Julia got her phone ready, she was going to take a photo of him and if it was a policeman she could attach it to her complaint form.

She never got chance. Without turning round the man flung his cigarette to the ground and took off running down the street. He leapt over a fence that surrounded a nearby park. All Julia got was a glimpse of his greying hair. Part of her felt like running after him, but she knew that was foolish. There was one thing she could do. She stopped the car near the lamp post and got out. There were about six cigarette ends on the ground. She pulled a tissue from her pocket and scooped them up. She had no idea what she was going to do with them. But still - it was some sort of evidence.

When she got in her house she discovered that Dad had left her a note informing her that he’d made a lasagne, and that it just needed warming up. Julia’s eyes prickled. He was so good to her. She didn’t thank him enough.

She jumped as her phone rang. It was DI Clarke.

“Oh! I’m glad to hear from you,” Julia began.

The inspector interrupted. “This isn’t a social call. DS Pendleton has informed me that you’ve been hampering his investigation, is that true?”

“No! I …”

“You need to let him get on with it. I’ll admit that he’s like a bull in a china shop but he gets the job done.”

“But I …”

“I don’t have time to chat. If you’ve any questions, speak to him direct. I’m going out of town for a few days.”

Julia could feel her chance slipping away. “When can I go back to Hugo’s house?”

“Why would you want to do that?”

“He’s paid me to clean his house for the next month. I’d like to do it.”

There was a pause. Julia could almost hear him thinking. Finally he said, “The scenes of crime team have finished but we’ll leave it for a few more days in case they need to go back. You don’t have to clean, we’ll send our own team in to clean up the fingerprint dust.”

“But I’d like to. I feel like I owe him.”

There was a sigh. “You’re a funny one. Okay. I’ll let you know when you can go in. You probably won’t be allowed into his office so don’t go snooping about.”

“I don’t snoop,” Julia said.

There was a heavy silence. DI Clarke broke it by saying, “We both know you’re lying. Direct any further enquiries to DS Pendleton.” He rung off without a further word.

Julia gripped her phone in frustration. She wanted to tell him about Dinah Wells. And the smoking man who had been watching her. There was no way she could speak to DS Pendleton about any of this.

Her eyes began to prickle again as she thought about her last meeting with Hugo. She wiped a tear away and said, “Okay, Hugo, if you’re listening, I’ll find out who murdered you. But if I end up in prison it’s all your fault!”

Chapter 15

Julia told Cain about her conversation with DI Clarke when she picked him up the next morning. She also told him about the man who had been hanging around her house, she referred to him as Smoking Man.

Cain’s face creased in concern. “You should tell the police about him. Give them the cigarette ends, they might be able to get something off them. Don’t approach him though, there are some strange people out there.”

Julia kept her next thought to herself. There was still the possibility that Smoking Man was related to Cain, perhaps one of his brothers.

They whizzed through their cleaning jobs in no time. Julia said, “You’d better slow down, you’re making me look bad!”

Cain smiled as he wiped a kitchen top down. “Sorry, I can’t help it. I feel good when I clean. Where are we going next?”

Julia packed her cleaning things up and said, “Nowhere. We’ve finished for the morning.” She looked at her watch. “And it’s only ten-thirty. I can drop you home if you like, you can have a long lunch.”

Her phone beeped. She smiled as she read the message. She pointed her phone at Cain and said, “Or you could come with me to Hugo’s house. That message was from DI Clarke. He said we can go back to Hugo’s on the strict proviso that we’re not to enter the office. He says his team might need to look in there again.”

Cain nodded. “And why are we going back? Is it just to clean, or …?”

Julia finished his sentence. “Look for clues, something the police might have missed? Yes, Cain, that sounds like a great idea of yours. Come on.”

“But I … it wasn’t my idea …”

Julia grinned at him. “I’m only joking. I want to have a good look around too. I might spot something that’s out of place, something the police haven’t picked up on.”

She paused as she reached for the door. “Oh, Cain, I never thought. You might not want to come with me, bearing in mind you’ve just got out of prison. I wouldn’t want you to get into any sort of trouble.”

Cain’s eyebrows rose. “What are you planning to do? Something illegal? If so, I learnt many tricks of the trade inside.”

It was Cain’s turn to grin as he caught Julia’s shocked expression. “I’m kidding. Sort of.”

Julia filed that information away. Not that she was going to do anything illegal. Of course she wasn’t.

They soon arrived at Hugo’s house. Julia unlocked the front door and stepped through. A sadness chilled her, the house felt empty without Hugo’s presence. She looked towards his office, the door was closed. She was glad about that as she wasn’t sure she could look in the office without remembering Hugo lying on the carpet.

Cain said quietly, “Are you sure you want to be here? The place looks clean enough.” He sniffed. “The police must have cleaned up after themselves, I can smell the chemicals.”

Julia’s nose wrinkled. “Me too. We could wipe down the surfaces again with my own cleaning fluid,  it’s all natural. Hugo loved the smell of the lemons and the …” She stopped herself and quickly looked away.

Cain laughed. “You nearly told me your secret ingredient then. I think I know what it is.”

Julia lifted her head dramatically and declared, “I shall never reveal my secret ingredient!”

Cain laughed again. Julia smiled. It was lovely to see him looking more relaxed and at ease. She said, “Come on, let’s go into the kitchen.”

“Can I walk through the back door one more time?” Cain asked eagerly.

“Of course.”

The chemical smell was almost overpowering in the kitchen. Julia tutted in disgust. The police must have dusted everywhere for fingerprints if they’d had to clean up so much. What had they discovered in the kitchen?

Cain jogged over to the back door, a big grin on his face.

Julia called out, “Hang on! You need the key.”

“No need, it’s open.”

Cain pulled the door towards him and reverently stepped through, and out into the garden. As he came back through he said, “What are you looking for?”

“Something,” Julia replied as she pulled open a cupboard door. “He must have put it somewhere. I know he was tired the other day but he always puts it away.”

Cain came over to her side. “What? What is it you’re looking for? Can I help?”

Julia raised a hand, her index finger pointing upwards. “He might have actually hung it up this time! He might have finally listened to me.”

“What?” Cain said, his voice louder than Julia had heard it before.

“His travelling jacket, he wore it on all his business trips,” Julia explained. “Whenever he came back from a trip he would fling that coat anywhere. I once found it inside the fridge. I was forever telling him to hang it up in his wardrobe. Come on, let’s go upstairs.”

Cain followed Julia out of the kitchen. “But why is it so important?”

“You’ll see,” Julia called over her shoulder. She bounded up the stairs and into Hugo’s bedroom.

She sniffed. “The police haven’t been in here.”

There were a few garments scattered around the room. Julia said, “It’s khaki in colour. It must be here somewhere.”

“Is this it?” Cain said. He was standing by the wardrobe and pointing to a jacket hanging neatly.

“That’s it! Can you see all the pockets? He used to keep notes in all those pockets. He said it was like a mobile filing system. Oh! There could be information about his last client!”

Cain pulled the jacket off the hanger. “There’s a note pinned to the collar.” He handed the jacket to Julia.

She read the note: ‘Dearest Julia, you will see that I have finally taken your advice and hung my jacket in the appropriate place. And, my dear lady, I have emptied my pockets! Ha! I bet you never expected me to be so neat and tidy! Your friend, Hugo.’

The note fluttered to the ground. Cain handed Julia a tissue from a nearby box and said, “Please don’t cry.”

Julia took the tissue and wiped her eyes. “Sorry, it was a combination of seeing his writing, and then discovering that the idiot may have destroyed any clues that could have led us to his killer.”

Cain picked the note up and turned it over. “There’s something on the back, some scribbling.” He passed it to Julia.

‘Divorce papers? Death certificate? Sins of the fathers????’

Julia frowned. “I don’t know what it means, but it’s better than nothing.” She froze. “What was that noise? Did you hear it?”

Cain nodded. He whispered, “I think it was the front door opening.” He cocked his head. “I can hear voices.”

Was it the police? Or someone else? Julia folded the note and put it in her pocket. She said, “Come on, let’s find out who it is.”

Chapter 16

Despite the fact that she intended to confront the intruders, Julia decided to make as little noise as possible as she descended the stairs. Cain followed her lead and slunk along at her side.

At the bottom of the stairs, Julia indicated her head towards the office door, it was now ajar. A low hum of noise came from within. Cain pressed his lips together and nodded. They tiptoed over towards the door. Julia peered through a crack. She looked back at Cain and mouthed, ‘Dinah Wells’. Cain’s lips almost disappeared as he pressed his lips even tighter together.

Dinah’s loud laugh made them both jump. “It was so easy! He was putty in my hands,” Dinah said.

There was a male chuckle and a voice said, “I wish I could be putty in your hands, imagine the shapes you could make out of me.”

Julia’s nose wrinkled in disgust. She moved her head. No, she couldn’t see who the man was. The tone of his voice was vaguely familiar.

Dinah spoke again, “Later, you bad boy. Anyway, the contract is signed now. The poor man thought he was getting a good deal. He doesn’t know that I’ve already written the book, I’ve made notes since I started working for Hugo! That fool of an agent thinks I’m spending months slaving over my laptop, you should have seen his face when I asked for more money, it was like he felt sorry for me having to put in such hard work.”

The man laughed again. “You’re too clever by half, Dinah.”

“It’s not my fault if people are easily fooled. I told you about the TV deal, didn’t I? Have you cleared it with that director? The one who’s in charge of Summersdale? Won’t he mind another TV show being shot here?”

“Doesn’t matter if he minds or not, it’s my house now. I’ll say who films here. Can you believe how little my brother was charging them?”

Julia gasped. Was that Hugo’s brother? He’d never mentioned having a brother.

The door was suddenly flung open. A man glared at them. “I thought I heard something. Who the hell are you? And what are you doing in my house?”

Dinah came into view. The angry look on her face dissolved as she looked at Julia. “Julia! How lovely to see you.” She put her hand on the man’s arm. “Gilbert, this is Julia Blake, she does cleaning work for Hugo. We’ve met a few times, haven’t we?”

Julia nodded. She hadn’t missed the change of tone in Dinah’s voice. It had gone from a mocking arrogant one to an overly friendly one. Julia said, “We have met before. This is my colleague, Cain. Sorry if it seems we were listening in on a private conversation but the police said we could enter Hugo’s house.”

“Why?” Gilbert shot out. “It’s not like he needs any cleaning doing now, is it? And if you’re expecting me to pay, you can think again.”

Dinah gave a tinkly laugh. “Oh, Gilbert, don’t be so gruff. Sorry, Julia, this is Hugo’s younger brother. He’s not usually so bad-tempered, he’s suffering from grief.”

“Am I?” Gilbert asked.

Dinah’s chin wobbled, and, right on cue, a delicate tear rolled gracefully down her powdered cheek.

Julia folded her arms. She was seeing a whole new side to Dinah. Julia said, “Hugo never mentioned a younger brother.”

Gilbert snorted. “I’m not surprised! I’m a dirty secret that he doesn’t like to talk about. There’d been some mix-up about money when Mother and Father died. Hugo was under the impression that I’d stolen things that rightfully belonged to me.” Gilbert stepped out into the hall, forcing Julia and Cain to take a few steps backwards. Gilbert thrust his chin out and said, “Doesn’t matter now, this all belongs to me. I can do what I want with this house. I won’t be needing your services any more.”

Julia hadn’t finished with her questions. “Is this house officially yours?”

Gilbert’s chin dropped. “Not officially, the paperwork’s going through. Why?”

“If you had a falling-out with Hugo, are you sure he left the house to you?”

Gilbert smirked. “Oh yes, I checked that recently. We had our differences but Hugo wanted to keep this house in the family. Off you go, you are dismissed. I take it that heap of junk outside is yours? I thought someone had abandoned a stolen car in my drive.”

“Gilbert! Please don’t talk to Julia like that!” Dinah said.

“I’ll talk to her as I like! She’s asking too many questions. She’ll be accusing us of murdering Hugo next! She’ll be asking where we were on the night he died!”

“Well?” Julia asked.

Gilbert stormed over to the front door and yanked it open. “Get out of my house!”

Dinah’s hands flew to her chest. “Gilbert! Stop it!” She turned to Julia and said, “I’m so sorry. We’ve nothing to hide. I was working late on Monday night at the library, then I went home. Gilbert was in London, he came up on the afternoon train on Tuesday, after the police had contacted him.”

Julia nodded. “I see. Dinah, you must be very upset about Hugo, I know you were close.”

More well-timed tears rolled down Dinah’s cheeks. She muttered, “We were close. I hadn’t seen him since he left for America last week.” She gave a small laugh. “I hoped one day we might become more than friends. But he seemed oblivious to my feelings. He brought me gifts back from his travels, magnets with pictures of the Loch Ness monster on them, paperweights with the Statue of Liberty inside, that sort of thing. Thank you for your concern, Julia.”

“I’m waiting for you to leave!” Gilbert shouted.

Julia walked over to him and said quietly, “Until this house legally belongs to you, I still work for Hugo. He’s paid me for the next few weeks so I shall come back when I went. The police know I’m here. Do they know that you two are here? They told me not to go into the office. Why were you in there? Shall I let the police know that you’ve been in there?”

Gilbert stared down at Julia for a few seconds. Cain walked over to Julia and stood protectively at her side. Goodness knew what he’d do if Gilbert launched himself at them both! Still, Julia appreciated the gesture.

Gilbert looked away. He said, “Dinah, it’s time we left.”

Dinah smiled at him and said to Julia, “Gilbert’s been such a good friend to me since Hugo passed away. I’m sure you don’t need to bother the police about our visit today, I know you’re a busy woman. It’s lovely to see you again, Julia. Goodbye.”

Julia could almost taste the sweetness in the air that was coming from Dinah’s sugar-coated words. She forced a friendly smile on her face and said, “Goodbye, Dinah. I hope you some to terms with your grief soon.”

The couple left. As soon as the door was closed, Cain said, “What a pair of liars! It’s obvious that they’re more than friends!”

“I know. And Dinah was lying about the last time she saw Hugo. She mentioned the paperweight, the one with the Statue of Liberty inside. Hugo had bought that on his latest trip, do you remember? He showed it to us on Monday.”

Cain nodded. “Which means that Dinah saw Hugo on Monday.”

They both looked towards Hugo’s office. Cain said, “Do you think Dinah killed Hugo? Do you think Gilbert did?”

Julia nodded. “They’ve become possible suspects. I want to know more about Gilbert. And what’s going on with this book they were talking about?”

Chapter 17

Julia couldn’t leave Hugo’s house without giving it a quick going over. With Cain at her side, the job was quickly completed.

Julia sniffed. “There’s still an underlying aroma of chemicals, but not as much now.” She looked at her watch. “We’ve got some free time. Would you like to come back to my house for lunch? We could do a bit of online snooping about Gilbert and Dinah.”

“That sounds good to me,” Cain said. “The lunch and the snooping. I must admit, I’d like to get to the bottom of this mystery.”

“Me too,” Julia added. She noticed that the office door was still open. She pulled it towards her and sent a silent message to Hugo to let him know she wouldn’t stop ‘snooping’ until she found his killer.

As they pulled up outside her house Julia nodded towards a car parked in her drive. “Dad’s here again. He’ll be happy to see you.”

“Will he?” Cain said as he released his seat belt.

“Yes, he’s got a surprise for you. I won’t say any more than that!”

They got out of the car and walked towards the house. In a voice tinged with sadness Cain said, “I wish I had a dad to look out for me. It must be wonderful having your dad around so much.”

Julia nodded. “It is, I’m so lucky. Since he retired Dad helps me out a lot. He’s always doing little things around the house, he takes messages from clients, he even makes meals for me. And it’s not just me he looks after, he spends time at my sister’s house too. She’s called Anna, you’ll have to meet her sometime.”

“What does your mum do? Has she retired too?”

Julia laughed. “I don’t think she ever will retire! She loves her job too much. She works at a local school, with the younger children. She says they make her feel young. Dad wants her to retire so that they can go on adventures together, his words. But Mum says she can fit enough adventure into the holidays that they do have. Dad likes to be doing something all the time.”

“Talking about me?” Dad stepped out from the kitchen door. He beamed when he saw Cain. “How are you? How’s my daughter treating you? I hope she’s not making you do all the work! Ha! She’s a bit bossy is my Julia. And her temper! Don’t ever be on the wrong side of that!”

“Dad! I’m not that bad. We’ve got some free time so I’m making us some lunch. Shall I make you something too?”

Dad grinned. “As long as you don’t give me food poisoning again!” He winked at Cain. “She once made me a chicken sandwich. Within ten minutes I was running to the toilet. I’ve never felt the same about chicken since!”

“I was only five, I didn’t know that the chicken was off,” Julia said. “How about a toasted cheese and ham sandwich?”

Dad patted his tummy. “Lovely. White bread or brown? Tell me you’ve got white bread.”

Julia moved Dad gently out of the way. “You know I don’t have white bread, and you know you’re not allowed it.”

Dad nodded sadly. “Aye, that’s true. Julia’s mum keeps forcing me to eat healthily. It’s so boring. Now then, Cain, you haven’t said a word. How are you?”

Cain smiled. “I’m fine, thank you. I’m enjoying my work.”

Dad studied him for a moment. “You do look better. When we met you the other day it looked like you had a ton of worries on your shoulders.”

Cain’s smile grew. “People have been so kind to me, I’m not used to it. Julia’s clients keep giving me cake.”

“What kind of cake? Chocolate?” Dad asked with a wistful note.

“All sorts. I’ve got loads at home. You can have some if you like.”

Dad gave a sad sigh. “Better not.”

Julia popped her head out of the door. “Are you two coming in or not? The sandwiches will be ready soon.”

A few minutes later they were sitting at the kitchen table. Julia noticed that Cain savoured every bite of his sandwich, almost as if it was his last meal.

Dad waved a sandwich at Julia and said, “Did you tell Cain about my surprise?”

“No, I think he’s dying to know but he’s too polite to say anything,” Julia said.

Cain’s cheeks went red. “I didn’t want to mention anything.”

Dad put his sandwich down and stood up, “I’ve got two surprises actually.” He reached into a carrier bag at the side of the fridge and pulled out two balls of wool. He held them up. “Blue or green?”

“Pardon?” Cain replied.

“Which one do you prefer? For your jumper. I can make a start on it tonight.”

Cain gulped. “A jumper? For me?”

“Of course! I need to practise my knitting skills. That Jean at the knitting group has been sneering at my buttonholes. Pah! She thinks she’s better than me at knitting, just because she’s a woman!”

Cain blinked rapidly. “I’d love a blue jumper. That’s very kind of you, Mr … oh! I don’t know your name!”

“It’s Ray, Ray Rosenthorpe. Call me Ray.” He put the wool back and then said, “And what colours do you want for your house? Julia said it needed painting. I’ve got a variety of colours in the boot of my car. I can help you paint, if you like. We can have a look at the colours when you’ve finished your sandwich.” He moved closer to Cain and lowered his voice, “I think she’s put too much cheese in, but don’t tell her that.”

Julia said, “I can hear you. If you don’t like the sandwich, then don’t eat it.”

Dad sat down and picked up his sandwich. “I have to eat it, your mum’s giving me salad for tea. I need something decent in my stomach, I’ll wither away.”

Julia’s glance flicked to her dad’s rounded tummy. He had a long way to go until he withered away. She looked at Cain. He was concentrating on his sandwich but Julia could see the wetness in his eyes. He looked as if he wanted to cry.

“Cain, are you okay?” she asked.

He blinked rapidly again. His voice was hoarse as he said, “It’s just that everyone is being so kind to me. I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything,” Dad said. “It makes me feel good to do something useful so you’re actually doing me a favour.”

Julia gave her dad a grateful smile. She thought about the jobs she had lined up for that afternoon. There were only two and she could manage without Cain. She said, “Dad, why don’t you go over to Cain’s house this afternoon? You could make a start on the painting.”

Cain said, “But I thought we had cleaning jobs lined up? And weren’t we going to do some snooping?”

Dad burst into laugher. “Has she got you doing her detective work now? If she says you can have the afternoon off, you’d better come with me now before she changes her mind.”

Cain looked at Julia. “Are you sure?”

Julia stood up and picked up the empty plates. “I’m sure. Off you go. I’ll phone you later about the jobs we’ve got tomorrow.”

Cain didn’t move.

Dad stood up and grabbed the poor boy by the arm. He yanked him to his feet and cried out, “Quick! Let’s make a run for it!”

Julia laughed at the confused expression on Cain’s face. He must be wondering what sort of a family he’d got himself involved in.

Dad opened the kitchen door and pushed Cain through. He grabbed his carrier bag of wool, pecked Julia on the cheek, and then made a show of running out of the door.

When she was sure they had gone Julia went into the living room and got her laptop out.

Time for snooping.

Chapter 18

It wasn’t hard to find information online about Gilbert Barnes. In fact, he seemed so famous that Julia was surprised she hadn’t heard of him before. Hugo had never mentioned having a brother - and now she knew why.

From various sources of information she discovered Gilbert Barnes had been given his share of the Barnes’ fortune after his parents had died. There was also a story that he had stolen most of the valuable wines which had been stored in a cellar inside Barnes Hall. He had then sold the wine at a huge profit when Summersdale Secrets had become a TV hit. He’d unashamedly linked the wine to the show, and people had paid more than they should have. It seemed the producers of the show were not happy and had tried to take Gilbert to court. But the wine had all been sold by then and Gilbert claimed there was no evidence to link him to anything.

Julia wondered how Hugo had taken all this news at the time. Was that why he was so willing to let the TV producers film their programme in his house? Also, Gilbert had said in the office earlier that day that Hugo could have got more money from the TV company. Perhaps Hugo’s idea of a huge amount of money was vastly different to Gilbert’s.

Julia read on and discovered that Gilbert loved the high life. There were many photographs of him enjoying himself at various exotic locations. An attractive female, or two, were usually at his side. No photos of him with Dinah though. When did those two meet?

It was no surprise to discover that Gilbert soon ran out of money. There were rumours about his debts, and also news of some dodgy dealings he was involved in.

Julia found him mentioned on a social website. The writer had written ‘in confidence’ that Gilbert Barnes was heading north to the barren wasteland known as Yorkshire where, it was rumoured, his money problems would be sorted out once and for all. The source further reported that Gilbert would be catching the nine o’clock train to Leeds on Monday morning.

Julia nodded her head in satisfaction. It was the Monday that Hugo had been killed. So, Gilbert had been lying about his whereabouts on Monday.

“Hang on!” Julia told her laptop. “It wasn’t Gilbert who lied about his whereabouts, it was Dinah! She spoke for him.”

Julia then typed in Dinah Wells’ name. All that came up was a photo of her at the library at a literature festival. Julia was about to click off the photo when something stopped her. She enlarged the photo. There was that agent man that she’d seen Dinah with at the library on Tuesday. She scrolled down to the listed names: Toby Marshall from Toby Marshall Literary Agent.

When was this festival? She looked at the date - ten months ago. Julia thought for a moment. That was about the time that Hugo started getting calls from an agent. Had Dinah met Toby Marshall at this event and then suggested he contact Hugo? Or had it been the other way round? Either way, Hugo had refused to have anything to do with the agent, even when the agent had shown up on his doorstep. Hmm. So now Dinah was in contact with the agent. What sort of book was she writing? Julia hoped it wasn’t anything to do with Hugo’s cases, particularly those sensitive ones that he mentioned to her sometimes.

Julia searched for Toby Marshall’s company. There he was. And look! Under ‘News’ was mention of a forthcoming book - ‘Great news for all Summersdale Secrets fans! An amazing book will be released soon - and there is talk of a TV show! Fingers crossed!’

Julia then went onto a forum that Hugo had shown her before. It was run by die-hard Summersdale fans. If anything new was mentioned about the show they were on it instantly. Yes, there it was, a link to Toby Marshall’s site and his ‘News’. There was a lot of speculation, most people assuming the new book would be about the cast members. Julia scrolled down. Oh, that was interesting. An anonymous person had posted that the book wasn’t about the show but about the man who lived in the house where the show was shot. The person went on to say the book was about his job and the secrets he had uncovered during his investigations. The post ended on a disgusted note saying that it had nothing to do with Summersdale, and that the agent and writer were cashing in on the show’s success.

There were many posts after that one asking for more information but the anonymous writer didn’t reply. Julia wondered if the person was a disgruntled employee who worked for Toby Marshall.

She sighed and closed her laptop down. She wasn’t much closer to finding out who killed Hugo. She knew that Gilbert and Dinah were lying. She’d have to confront them. It briefly crossed her mind that she should let DS Pendleton know what she’d found out. That thought was followed up by the one about letting the sergeant know about Hugo’s note, which was still in her pocket.

Julia sighed again. She was beginning to sound like some sort of wind instrument. Yes. she’d have to let the sergeant know.

She looked at her watch. She couldn’t do it now, she had a client to visit.

Julia spent the rest of the afternoon on her cleaning jobs. She couldn’t stop thinking about Hugo. He had been a good boss to Dinah, he’d brought her gifts back from his visits. Julia had overheard them many a time discussing cases in his office. She’d always seemed keen to do her work. Why would she kill a boss who’d treat her like that?

A phrase lodged in Julia’s brain, something to do with good bosses. What was it? Something she’d heard. She tried to pin the thought down, but it flew away.

She closed her laptop down and headed. As she drove home later that day, she noticed that Smoking Man wasn’t standing under any lamp posts near her home. Maybe it was just a coincidence that he’d been there. He could have just been an ordinary man, minding his own business.

Julia phoned Cain when she got home. He said they’d made a good start on the painting. Julia told him about her Internet search. Cain seemed a bit disappointed that she’d snooped without him. Julia assured him that she’d include him on her next snooping mission. Cain ended the call by thanking her for being a good boss.

A good boss! The thought that had started to bloom earlier now came out in full force. Julia said a hurried goodbye to Cain and then flung her phone down. She whipped open her laptop and was soon tapping away.

Good boss! That was it!

And there he was.

The man in the blue car.

Chapter 19

Cain got in the car the following morning and said, “I can’t believe it’s Friday already, this week has gone so fast.” He paused in the fastening of his seat belt and looked closer at Julia. “What? What’s wrong? Have I got something in my teeth?”

Julia shook her head. “No, I’ll explain as we drive. You reminded me of something last night when you told me I was a good boss.”

“Well, you are,” Cain admitted.

“Thank you again for that,” Julia said as she set off. “I finally remembered  where I’d seen that man before, you know, the one in the blue car.”

“The one at Hugo’s house? Yes, I remember. Oh! Did you used to work for him? Was he your boss?”

“No. There’s a TV programme that’s on now and again. It’s all about good bosses and how the employees want to say thank you to them. On camera, of course, everyone wants to be on camera nowadays. Anyway, the cameras secretly follow the boss in question around for a week and record the good deeds that the boss does. At the end of the week the employees let the boss in on the secret. They usually throw the boss a big party, and, usually, the boss is delighted. Who wouldn’t be?”

“I’ve got a feeling that you’re going to tell me the man in the blue car was the boss on a show, and that he wasn’t pleased.”

“Exactly,” Julia said as she pulled up outside a semi-detached house. “The man, I know his name now, it’s William Roper, was furious at first. He kept trying to hide his face from the camera, but eventually his staff cajoled him into smiling. You could tell it was a forced smile though. It was an awkward programme and everyone looked embarrassed. I wondered at the time why he wouldn’t be pleased to be filmed so I had a closer look at his face to see if he was someone who used to be famous, or someone who had been in the news for the wrong reasons.” She turned the engine off.

“And?” Cain prompted.

Julia released her belt. “I didn’t recognise him at all. But I remembered his face. I watched the programme again last night. It was definitely him in the blue car.”

“What are you going to do about him?”

“We are going to visit him when we’ve finished this next cleaning job. I know where he works.” She smiled at the expression on Cain’s face. “Unless you don’t want to come with me. I’m happy to snoop on my own. Although I’d rather not call it snooping, I think making enquiries sounds better.”

Cain grinned. “I would love to come along with you whilst you make your enquiries. What are you going to say to him?”

“I’ve no idea yet,” Julia replied truthfully.

Thirty minutes later Julia was heading towards an industrial estate on the outskirts of Leeds. Cain was nibbling at a piece of shortbread, the latest gift from a concerned client.

They pulled up outside Roper Chemicals and found a parking spot.

There first obstacle was the stern-faced woman on reception. She had the same pursed lips and folded arms that Julia had seen on many a receptionist. Did they learn that as part of their job training?

Julia wasn’t deterred. In a firm voice she said, “I’d like to speak to Mr William Roper please.”

The receptionist’s nose wrinkled as if Julia was giving off a less than pleasant aroma. In a nasally voice she said, “Do you have an appointment?”

“No, but it’s very important.”

The side of the receptionist’s mouth curled as if she’d hoped that Julia would say that. “If you don’t have an appointment, then you can’t see him. Good day.”

Julia forced a smile on her face and continued. “I must speak to Mr Roper, it’s of grave importance.” She realised immediately that ‘grave’ wasn’t the most respectful word to use.

“No appointment means no appointment. What part of that don’t you understand?”

Heat flushed through Julia. “The part I don’t understand is why you have to be so rude! I need to speak to Mr Roper, it’s about a murder enquiry!”

A security guard was at her side in a split second. Which was quite a feat considering his size. His red face glared at her. “Did you just say murder? Are you here to murder someone?”

The receptionist pointed a finger at Julia and said, “She wants to see Mr Roper! She must be planning to murder him! Call the police!”

The security guard puffed his chest out. “No need for that, Daphne, I can handle this matter.” He looked back at Julia. “Are you planning on murdering Mr Roper?”

“I certainly am not!” Julia said. The situation was becoming ridiculous. “I wanted to speak to him about a friend of mine who was murdered.”

“Really?” The security guard’s bushy eyebrows rose so much they looked like they were trying to fly off his face. “And do you think Mr Roper killed your friend?”

Julia let out a cry of frustration. Cain stepped forward and said calmly, “We think Mr Roper might have some information that could help us with our enquiries. We appreciate that he’s busy, and it’s heartening to see that you are being so efficient in your duties, but we won’t take up much of his time.” He moved a bit closer to the guard and said, “To be honest, we’re at a crossroads and Mr Roper is our only hope. I’m sure you can appreciate our predicament, considering you’re in the law enforcement profession.”

The security guard tapped the side of his nose. “I understand, say no more. Mr Roper’s on floor seven, it’s the office at the end.”

“But,” Daphne screeched, “they don’t have an appointment!”

The security guard waved her concerns away. “This is none of your business.”

Daphne tried to make it her business. Julia grabbed Cain’s arm and pulled him towards the lift as the red-faced receptionist launched a verbal attack on the security guard.

As soon as the lift doors closed behind them Julia said to Cain, “What was all that about? You had them believing that we worked for the police.”

Cain held a finger up. ‘Ha, but I never said we did, did I? They made their own assumptions. I’ve found that if you speak with conviction, people are more likely to listen to you.” He looked down at his feet and mumbled, “And I thought I’d better say something, you looked like you were going to hit someone.”

Julia laughed. “I was thinking about it! But I wouldn’t have done it, don’t look so worried!”

“Have you thought about what you’re going to say to Mr Roper yet?”

Julia nodded. “I’m just going to come right out and say it.”

“Say what?” Cain asked, a nervous note in his voice. “Are you going to ask him if he killed Hugo?”

Chapter 20

Julia hesitated outside the door with William Roper’s name on it. She looked at Cain and said, “Do you think this is a good idea? Perhaps we should have gone to the police with this information."

Cain said, “We may as well talk to him now that we’re here."

Julia nodded. She knocked firmly on the door. A voice immediately called out, “Come in, Julia Blake! And bring Cain Andrews with you!”

Cain and Julia looked at each other. Cain said, “I suddenly feel like I’m in a horror movie. How does he know we’re here? And how does he know our names?” He took a step backwards and hissed, “Julia! He’s the killer! He knew we’d find out that he’d been to Hugo’s and now he’s lured us here and he’s going to get rid of us!”

“You’re being overdramatic,” Julia said, not quite keeping the tremor out of her voice. Her hand shook as she grabbed the door handle and turned it. Were they going to come face-to-face with Hugo’s killer?

If William Roper had killed Hugo he certainly showed no signs of remorse as he stood up from behind his desk and welcomed them in. He was a tall, thin man who was going slightly bald. He gave them a big smile and walked towards them with his hand outstretched. There was a faint accent in his voice as he spoke. “I’ll bet I’ve given you both a fright! Don’t look so worried. It’s lovely to meet you, Julia.”

Julia shook his hand uncertainly. “How do you know our names?”

“Hugo Barnes told me. You must be Cain, please to meet you.”

Cain shook William’s hand and said, “How did you know we were here?”

William laughed and indicated for them to sit down. He returned to his seat behind the desk. “I’ve ordered some tea, it’ll be here soon.” He looked at Cain. “And I’ve asked for biscuits too.”

Julia sat down. “I’m very confused. Can you explain how you know us again?”

William smiled. “I take it you remember seeing me on Monday morning at Hugo’s house? We practically drove into each other. I had something I needed to discuss with Hugo but before I could get down to it Hugo told me about you and Cain. Said I wasn’t to worry if you’d stared at me too intently as our paths crossed, so to speak. Hugo said you were a naturally nosy person, and that you just couldn’t help yourself.”

Julia bristled. “That’s not true at all! What a thing to say!”

William opened his arms wide. “But you’re here now. I’m assuming you haven’t stopped by to discuss the weather.”

Julia folded her arms. “Well, it’s just that … we saw you on Monday and …” She held her finger up. “How did you know we were outside your door?”

“I’ve got CCTV cameras everywhere. You caused quite a commotion down in reception. Ah, here’s our tea and snacks. Thank you, Sylvia.”

Julia had chance to gather her thoughts as William poured the tea. He pushed a plate of chocolate covered biscuits towards Cain. Cain helped himself, Julia was tempted but she had many questions for William Roper.

He must have sensed what she was thinking because he said, “Go ahead, start with your interrogation. I don’t mind.”

Julia didn’t know whether he was being sarcastic or not, he was still smiling. She decided to jump in anyway. “Do you know that Hugo Barnes was killed? The police have put the time at somewhere between Monday night and Tuesday morning.” She stopped. She didn’t actually know when Hugo died, she was guessing. “You were there after we left. Can I ask what your business was with Hugo?”

William replied, “You can certainly ask, but can I ask you something first? Why are you so interested? If Hugo was murdered shouldn’t the police be questioning me? I did phone them on Tuesday afternoon after I saw the news about Hugo’s death. I got through to a DS Pendleton. I told him I was at Hugo’s house the previous day. I offered to come in and give a full statement about why I was there. He said he’d get back to me, but he hasn’t yet.”

Julia gave him a wry smile. “That answers part of your question. I don’t think the police are dealing with this matter as efficiently as they could. But the real reason why I’m asking is because Hugo made a silly comment to me on that Monday morning. He said if he was ever murdered he’d like me to investigate his death. I don’t think he had much faith in the police.”

Cain tucked into another biscuit.

William gave her a thoughtful look. “Why do you think he said that? Was he worried that he’d uncovered a family secret that he shouldn’t have? Had he already received a death threat?”

Julia said, “That’s what I’m trying to find out. I’m trying to track down his last few cases, see what he’d found out. He’d just returned from New York and he said that his client wouldn’t be pleased about what he’d discovered. He referred to his client as ‘she’. I’d like to find out who that client was, and why Hugo had been to New York.”

William gave her a nod and said, “That would be because of me and my secret life. Hugo did find out something about my past, something that I’d kept hidden for years, something that could destroy my family.”

“Ooo,”Cain said through a mouth full of biscuit. He caught Julia’s look and grinned. “Sorry, but that does sound dramatic.”

“Wait until you hear my full story,” William said. “I take it you do want to hear my story.”

Julia reached for a biscuit and said casually, “If you don’t mind.”

Chapter 21

William began, “You may have detected a slight accent in my voice. I’m originally from America, New York in fact. I grew up in a borough that was less than savoury. That’s a polite way to put it. Let’s just say that the sound of gunfire wasn’t an unusual thing in my neighbourhood. I worked hard at school because I was determined to better myself, I wanted to get on in the world. I won’t tell you about the level of poverty that my family experienced, it’s not something I care to recall.

“Anyway, as I said, I worked hard and got good grades. My teachers were confident that I could apply to college. There was even talk of a scholarship.”

He looked past Julia, a faraway look on his face. “Then I met Maria. I’d never seen anyone so beautiful. I fell for her the second I saw her. She came from a big family and they made me feel part of it straight away. I still planned to go to college. Maria said she was upset but she would wait for me. Her family thought I should forget about college and concentrate on starting a family with Maria. They even offered me a job in their business.”

“What kind of business were they in?” Julia asked. She shot a sideways look at Cain, he had bits of chocolate around his mouth.

William gave a mirthless laugh. “They were in the kind of business that no one spoke about. Let’s just say that they dealt with import and export. They worked at a level that was just about above legal during daylight hours. I don’t want to talk about the things they did that were illegal after dark. They had a reputation for being tough, and I was proud to be included in their family. But I was determined to go to college.

“Then everything changed a month before I was due to leave for college. Maria told me she was pregnant.”

“Ah,” Julia said. “Did you still go to college?” She swiftly passed Cain a tissue under the table.

William shrugged. “How could I go? I couldn’t leave her behind. I offered to take her with me, but she said she couldn’t leave her family.” He gave a slow shake of his head. “And her family wouldn’t let her go, they made that clear to me. I remember feeling scared for the first time ever in their presence. Maria pleaded with me to stay, her family insisted that I stay. What could I do?”

Julia added, “Sounds like you didn’t have a choice.”

“I didn’t have a choice, you’re right, I had to stay. We were married quickly, to everyone’s delight, and the family started to introduce me to their way of business. Listen to this, they actually gave me a gun for a wedding present. Maria’s oldest brother told me that I should carry it with me at all times.”

Cain wiped his mouth. “Sounds like the Mafia.”

William gave him a hard look. “They weren’t the Mafia, but they were very close to it.”

Julia said, “Were you and Maria happy? Was it a boy or a girl?”

William shook his head. “Neither. She wasn’t pregnant at all. She told me she’d lost the baby but I overheard her talking to her mother. She said that she’d got me right where she wanted me. I felt such a fool! It wasn’t long before I saw her true nature, I was nothing more than an employee to her. And it wasn’t long before the family asked me to … get rid of a problem.”

Cain leant forward and said, “Did they ask you to kill someone? To wipe them out?”

William smiled. “That’s a good expression. Yes, they did. That’s when I knew I had to get away.”

“Before you ended up wearing concrete-shoes and swimming with the fishes,” Cain added knowingly.

Julia frowned at Cain. All that sugar had gone to his head. She was about to move the biscuit-filled plate away from him when she noticed it was already empty.

William said, “I planned my getaway. I was going to stowaway on a ship to Liverpool. I carried as many belongings as I could and then made a midnight break for it. I was all set to creep onto the ship when I saw Maria’s brothers on the dock. They must have followed me. I hid behind some crates and watched them as they went aboard. They got back off a while later. I heard one of them mumble that I must be on board somewhere, and that they’d follow me to England later and find me. They stood at the side of the ship as it sailed away. My heart was beating so fast that I was sure they would hear me!

“They eventually left the docks. I found out that the next ship would leave in three days so I hung around the docks and did odd jobs, all the while looking over my shoulder. You couldn’t imagine my relief as I got on that ship three days later. I even managed to save enough money for a third-class ticket. I didn’t want to take the chance of being caught as a stowaway.

“When I got to Liverpool I found out that the ship I’d intended to sail on had sunk. There were no survivors.”

Julia gasped. “How awful!”

William gave her an embarrassed smile. “I’m ashamed to say that I was overjoyed at that news. Maria and her family would now think I was dead. I could start a new life. And that’s what I did. I changed my name, got a job and started working as hard as I could. I got married and had a family. I know! I committed bigamy. But I could hardly ask Maria for a divorce. I don’t know if you saw a show about good bosses? It was on the TV last year.”

Julia nodded. “I did see it. That’s where I recognised you from.”

“I had no idea that show was being filmed. I was terrified that someone would recognise me. Luckily, no one did. I thought my secret was safe. Then Hugo Barnes contacted me. My daughter, Bethany, had hired him to look into our family tree as a birthday present for me. I never spoke about my background and I think she was curious about it. Hugo said he’d been to New York after discovering I was born there. How he found that out, I don’t know! He’d found a wedding certificate but no divorce certificate. He knew I’d married again and he assumed my wife didn’t know. He was right about that. He wanted to give me a ‘heads-up’ before he told Bethany.”

Julia’s scalp began to prickle. “Why did you go to Hugo’s house?”

“I wanted to talk him out of telling Bethany. I was angry, I’ll admit that. We had a good talk and Hugo said it was best to let the secret out. I eventually agreed with him. I left about an hour later.” He caught Julia’s look. “No, I didn’t kill him if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“It hadn’t crossed my mind,” Julia lied. “Have you told your family about your past?”

William sighed. “It was a difficult situation but they took it well. I should have told them years ago. I’ll have to contact Maria and her family, sort things out legally. I am not looking forward to that!”

He stood up. “So, now you know. Do forgive me, but I have a meeting to go to. I’ll give you my number in case you have any more questions.”

Julia stood up and took the offered card.

William walked them out of his office and towards the lift. He said, “I wasn’t the only visitor that day. As I was leaving, a convertible car pulled in. It was driven by a youngish man. What caught my eye was his passenger, a woman. At first, I thought her hair was on fire! But I realised it was the sun reflecting off it like a mirror. I’ve never seen such shiny hair before. Ah, here’s the lift. A pleasure to meet you both. I hope you catch Hugo’s killer.”

As he shook hands with them Julia hoped that she wasn’t shaking hands with Hugo’s killer.

As the lift descended, Cain said, “Wow, what a story. Do you believe he didn’t kill Hugo?”

“I’m not sure. He’s made a good job of lying to his family for years, he could be lying to us now. Well, we know now that Dinah Wells did visit Hugo on Monday, and a convertible car sounds like the sort of thing that Gilbert would drive. We’ll have to confront them.”

Chapter 22

Julia and Cain had a few more clients to visit. As they finished the last one, Julia’s phone rang.

“Hi, Dad. Yes, we’re both fine.” She looked at Cain and then continued with her conversation. “Yes, okay, I’m sure he’d like that. Dad, thanks for doing this.”

“Were you talking about me?” Cain asked.

‘Yes, Dad wants to know if you want to do some more painting on your house. He’s got nothing to do this afternoon. He mentioned something about starting on the garden.”

Cain’s face lit up. He looked hopefully at Julia and said, “Can I go? Have we finished for today?”

Julia didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at his expression. “You don’t need my permission. We have finished, I’ll drop you off now. Seems like you and my dad have become good friends.”

Cain nodded. “Ray’s a great guy.”

Julia did laugh this time.

She took him home. Dad was waiting in the front garden for them, lawnmower at his side. Julia said a quick hello, told Cain to have a good time, and then drove away.

Hugo’s death had been on her mind all day. She wasn’t entirely convinced that William Roper had been telling the truth. William had been to see Hugo that day, but what if he had come back later and decided to silence Hugo once and for all?

And there was still the mystery about Gilbert and Dinah. They were up to something. She sighed. She’d have to tell DS Pendleton about her discoveries. She didn’t want to but she felt she had to go through the ‘proper channels’.

She drove to the police station. There was no room in the police car park so she parked down a quiet side street. As she walked away from her car the back of her neck began to tickle. She turned around quickly and scanned the street. She could have sworn someone was following her. She looked again, there was no one there.

She made her way to the police station and asked to speak to DS Pendleton. He soon appeared, an annoying swagger in his walk. Julia gave herself a mental shake, he might be a nice man, this might be just a show he was putting on. If it was a show, he was very good at it.

DS Pendleton looked at her and barked, “What do you want now? I thought DI Clarke told you to keep your nose out of this investigation. Go back to your cleaning.”

Julia took a deep breath and tried to smile. “I’ve found out some information that might help with your enquiries.”

“I don’t need your help. Where’s Stinky Cain? Has he been arrested again? Wouldn’t surprise me, it’s just a matter of time before he’s locked up again.” He gave her a satisfied grin. “I hope I’m the one to lock him up. Clear off, I’ve got work to do.”

“Jason Pendleton! Don’t you talk to members of the public like that!”

DS Pendleton blanched as he looked at the owner of the voice. Julia recognised the voice too. She turned around and smiled at DS Pendleton’s mum.

His mum returned her smile and said, “Oh, it’s you, from that house the other day. How lovely to see you again. How are you?”

“I’m fine. Are you feeling better after your shock?”

DS Pendleton’s mum laughed and made a show of rolling her eyes. “I feel such a fool. I shouldn’t have gone into the house that day. I should have let Jason get on with his job. I can’t help it though, he’s still my little boy.”

DS Pendleton moved to his mother’s side and hissed, “Stop saying that! What are you doing here? I told you not to bother me at work!”

His mum narrowed her eyes and said, “Don’t talk to me like that, young man. I was just passing. I’ve been to the supermarket and they had your favourite chocolate on offer, that expensive one that you like.” She put her hand into her handbag and pulled out a gold-wrapped bar. She shoved it towards DS Pendleton and said, “I’m not sure you even deserve it. Do you normally talk to people in that atrocious manner? Is this what you’ve been trained to do?”

DS Pendleton took the bar, his eyes downcast. He actually looked ashamed. Julia savoured the moment. She saw an opportunity. “I came here to tell your son about some information I’ve come across. I thought he should know.”

“Is it about that poor man I saw the other day? What was his name? Hugo?”

“It was,” Julia confirmed.

DS Pendleton’s mum said, “Jason, isn’t that good news, that members of the public are coming in here of their own accord to help you? I hope you’ve said thank you.”

Julia pushed her luck a bit more. “He hasn’t had chance to listen to me yet.”

“Oh! Then don’t let me stop you! I’ve a million things to do.” DS Pendleton’s mum turned to Julia and said, “Lovely to meet you again, I do hope you get this murder thing sorted out.”

She gave them a cheery wave and walked out of the station. Julia could feel DS Pendleton glaring at her. She turned to face him and said, “Well, shall I begin? We can share that chocolate if you like.”

DS Pendleton let out a snort of laughter. “You really are an annoying woman, DI Clarke was right about you. But, I admire your determination. Come on, we’ll go to my office. And, no, you can get your own chocolate. Two words that don’t go together in my vocabulary are ‘chocolate’ and ‘sharing’.”

“I totally understand,” Julia said with a smile. She was relived that the tension between them had gone. Maybe DS Pendleton would be able to solve Hugo’s murder after all.

He listened attentively as Julia explained about Dinah Wells and Gilbert Barnes. He made notes as she continued with her conversation about William Roper.

He put his pen down and said, “Thank you for all that. I can see I’ve got some questioning to do.” He paused and seemed to be wrestling with something in his head. “I’m sorry about being so rough with Cain, he doesn’t deserve it. I think I get annoyed when I see him because he reminds me of the terrible time that me and Mum had when we lived on the Clover Estate. We weren’t there for long but I still remember how Mum used to cry with tiredness after working three jobs throughout the day. She was so relieved when we finally moved off that estate. Marrying Dad was the best thing that ever happened to her.”

“Dad? Your real dad?”

DS Pendleton’s chin lifted proudly. “My real dad died in action, he was a war hero. He died when I was young, I don’t even remember him. I consider my stepdad to be my father now, although I have kept my real dad’s surname. Let’s get back to the investigation. You might be able to help me with something we found in the kitchen, or should I say, something we didn’t find.”

DS Pendleton was cut short as his office door flew open. A red-faced policeman said, “Sarge, I’m sorry to interrupt but your mum is here.”

DS Pendleton swore and said, “What does she want now? Tell her I’m busy.”

The policeman went on. “Sorry sir, I can’t do that. She’s in a bit of a state. She said she’s just killed a man.”

Chapter 23

DS Pendleton raced out of the room, Julia followed him.

They found his mum sitting on a chair in the main reception area, her head in her hands. She was sobbing uncontrollably. The police officers at her side looked uncomfortable.

“Mum! Mum! It’s me, calm down. Take some deep breaths,” DS Pendleton knelt at her side, his hand on her back.

The sobbing decreased and his mum eventually looked up. Julia handed her a tissue. It was a good job she kept a supply handy.

DS Pendleton spoke again, “Mum, tell me what happened. Take your time.”

His mum wiped her eyes and looked at him. In a voice barely above a whisper she said, “I killed him! He came out of nowhere! I couldn’t stop the car! Oh! Jason, I’m so sorry.”

DS Pendleton stroked her back while a fresh torrent of crying overtook her. He waited patiently until she was ready to talk again.

Her voice shook as she said, “When I left you I went to my car. I’d parked on that little street round the corner. I got in my car and was about to set off when I saw a scruffy-looking man trying to break into a light blue car further up the road. I think I’ve seen that car before, there’s a small logo on the back.”

Julia’s lips set in a grim line. That sounded like her car. She didn’t want to interrupt DS Pendleton’s mum at this stage.

His mum carried on, “Well, I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to come back to the station because I was afraid he would get away. So I drove slowly on and I beeped my horn at him. He jumped and looked at me. I made sure my doors were locked. I beeped again, several times. It had the desired effect. He took off, running up the road and around the corner. I can tell you, Jason, my heart was beating so fast!”

“Mum, you should have come back here to let me know, or you could have phoned. You put yourself in danger, don’t ever do that again.”

She patted his hand and gave him a grateful smile. “I know. I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking.” Her smile died. “I carried on driving, and as I rounded that bend at the top of the road, the same man … oh! Jason, he jumped out at me. He looked so angry! I screamed and my hands flew to my eyes. Then …” she shivered. “I heard a thud, and I felt the thud. Time seemed to stand still as I realised what I’d done. I’d run him over. I hadn’t stopped when he jumped out at me. I think I’ve killed him!”

DS Pendleton said gently, “It’s okay, Mum, no one is going to blame you. Where is he now?”

His mum swallowed and tried to compose herself. “He’s still on the road. I checked his pulse and I shouted at him to see if he’d move. But there was no response.”

DS Pendleton straightened up. He pointed to the police officers behind his mum and said, “Go and have a look. I’ll follow you in a minute or two.” He turned to Julia and said, “Would you mind keeping an eye on my mum for a while? I’ll phone Dad and tell him to come and get her.”

Julia nodded. “Of course I will. Shall I take her through to your office?”

“Yes. Thank you. I’ll get someone to bring you both a cup of tea.” He gave his mum a quick squeeze around the shoulders and told her he wouldn’t be long.

Julia took his mum into his office and settled her into a chair. She said, “I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced. I’m Julia Blake, I run a cleaning business. That’s what I was doing at Hugo’s house on Tuesday.”

“I’m Vivianne. You must think I’m such a fool! I always seem to be crying in front of you!”

“I don’t think that at all.” Julia was desperate to ask her what the man looked like, the one that had been trying to break into Julia’s car. Was it Smoking Man? Had he been watching her earlier? She looked at Vivianne, fresh tears were rolling down her cheeks. Julia needed to distract her. “Tell me about Jason, you must be very proud of him.”

Vivianne brightened immediately. “I am! So proud. We didn’t have the best of beginnings but he’s worked incredibly hard to get where he is today. He’s determined to progress up the ladder. He keeps telling me how well he’s doing, and how pleased DI Clarke is with his progress.”

Julia didn’t make any comment. The door opened and a friendly-looking police officer set down a tray of tea things.

Julia asked Vivianne how she took her tea. Vivianne waved a hand at her and said, “I usually have a squeeze of lemon, I try to impress people with my sophistication. I don’t want people to know where I came from.” She sighed, and then gave Julia a bright smile. “To hell with the lemon, pour some milk in. And I’ll have a couple of sugar lumps too!”

Julia did so. She listened as Vivianne spoke more about her son. It seemed to be taking her mind off the man that she’d just knocked down.

DS Pendleton returned ten minutes later. His face looked serious. He said, “Mum, the man is dead. I don’t want you to worry any more about him. You’ve told me what happened, and that’s enough for me. I will have to take a formal statement later, maybe tomorrow. Dad’s here, he’s waiting outside in the car. Come on, you’ve had a terrible shock.” He turned towards Julia. “Thanks for looking after her. I’ll be in touch about the other matter. Can you see yourself out?”

“Of course,” Julia said. She waited whilst DS Pendleton led his mother out. Vivianne bade her a goodbye.

Two minutes later Julia walked cautiously towards her car. She hoped to goodness that the man hadn’t damaged the car lock. She could do without the hassle of calling a mechanic out. She inspected the lock. Everything looked fine. She got in and started the engine up. Why would someone want to break into her car anyway? She looked ahead. The police had cordoned off half of the road so she was forced to drive slowly on the wrong side of the road. A grim-faced policeman waved her through.

Julia didn’t want to look at the man sprawled on the ground but some instinct made her look.

The man lying in a pool of blood was Smoking Man.

Chapter 24

As soon as she got home Julia phoned DS Pendleton. He didn’t answer so she left him a message about Smoking Man. She didn’t refer to him as that in her message, she said that she’d seen him hanging about, and that this had happened after the death of Hugo. She ending her message by saying that she felt the man was somehow connected to Hugo’s murder. She asked DS Pendleton to phone her back.

He didn’t. Julia presumed he was too busy. She hoped that once the police discovered the identity of the man, they would find out his connection to Hugo. A thought suddenly struck Julia - was Smoking Man the killer? Why hadn’t she considered that before? She knew why, she was too hung up on Dinah, Gilbert or William Roper being the possible killer.

Dad phoned later for a catch up. “I’ve had a smashing time with Cain. He’s a quick learner and he works hard. We’ve made a good start on painting the woodwork on his house. I must say that he looks better than he did when we first met him. He looks less haunted now, more like a normal person. I’m glad you gave him a chance.”

“Me too,” Julia admitted.

Dad continued, “We’re starting work on the garden tomorrow, you can help if you like.”

Julia pulled a face, glad that her dad couldn’t see her. “I’m not sure, you know gardening is not my thing.”

Dad laughed. “I know. But there’s something else. I’ll mention it now because I think Cain is too embarrassed to say it.”

“Go on,” Julia said, her curiosity piqued.

“It’s the inside of his house, the kitchen in particular,” Dad explained. “He hasn’t got the heart to clean the cupboards out. He doesn’t want to see his gran’s things. He got upset and told me that the cupboards needed a good clean, and that his gran wouldn’t be happy about them being left so long. And …”

“And you’d like me to clean them out,” Julia finished for him.

“If you could. But can you make out it’s your idea. Don’t let on that I told you. I don’t want him thinking I’m talking behind his back - even though I am. I think he’s starting to open up to me, I don’t want to lose any trust we’ve built up between us.”

Julia smiled. “That’s kind of you, Dad. I’m sending you a hug over the phone.”

“There’s no need to be so soppy,” he said. Then he chuckled. “Caught it! That was a big hug. See you tomorrow! Bright and early!”

Julia regretted her offer the minute she opened her eyes the next morning. She’d got used to having a lie in on a Saturday. She groaned and pulled herself out of bed.

Thirty minutes later she pulled up outside Cain’s house. It did look better. The windows had been painted and it looked like Cain and Dad were sanding down the front door now.

Julia walked over to the pair and handed an envelope to Cain.

“What’s this?” he said.

“Your wage.”

“But I …” Cain began.

“And a formal offer of employment, with a contract to sign if you decide to take the job,” Julia said.

“But I …” Cain looked up from the envelope, his eyes moist. “Thank you, thank you so much.”

“I should be thanking you,” Julia said. “You’ve helped me out a great deal this week. If we carry on working at this rate together we’ll be able to take more clients on. And, of course, you’ll have to learn how to drive so that you can have your own clients. Is that okay?”

Cain nodded, his chin trembled slightly. He looked as if he didn’t trust himself to speak.

Julia put all thoughts of her comfy bed behind her and said, “I thought I’d come over and offer you a hand, I’ve nothing else to do today. I’m not doing any painting or gardening work though. How about any jobs inside?” Hoping her tone was still casual she added, “Any cupboards need cleaning out?”

Cain’s face lit up. “Well, I was going to do the kitchen cupboards. You could do those for me, if you don’t mind. Thank you.”

“Consider them done,” Julia said with a smile. Dad sent her a secret wink. Julia headed towards the back door and the kitchen. Dad called out, “Put the kettle on whilst you’re in there, love.”

Julia made drinks for everyone and then started on the cupboards. She looked around the kitchen, it needed updating but it had a cosy old-fashioned look to it. She took every item out and piled them on the kitchen table. She gave the cupboards a thorough scrubbing. She sat back on her heels and nodded to herself.

As she was putting things back she saw an old biscuit tin in the far corner of a cupboard. Surely it wouldn’t have biscuits in? She’d better check, she didn’t want her new employee coming down with food poisoning. Inside the tin was a battered-looking notebook. Being the nosy kind, Julia opened it and read the first page. Tears sprang to her eyes. She’d have to show this to Cain.

She finished tidying up in the kitchen and then took the notebook outside. “Cain, I found this in one of the cupboards. I think you should have it.”

Cain’s face softened as he looked at the notebook. He took it and smiled. “I’d forgotten about this. It was Gran’s instruction book for cleaning products. She liked to make her own.” He looked up at Julia. “Just like you. You can have this.”

“No! It belongs to your gran. I can’t take it.”

Cain held the book out, “I think she’d like you to have it. You’re quite similar to her. It’s no good to me, I haven’t got the patience to go looking for all these ingredients. And if you do make any products up I’d love to see them, and smell them. Please, take it. You’ve been so kind to me, it’s the least I can do.”

Julia took the book, blinking away the tears that had suddenly appeared. She couldn’t wait to have a good look inside. “Is there anything else you’d like me to do in your house?”

Dad came to her side and put his arm round her. “Go on home. I can tell you want to have a look inside that book. You’ll be cooking some lotions and potions up before this day has ended.”

“You make me sound like a witch,” Julia said. “Okay, if you insist.”

Dad released his arm and placed it around Cain’s shoulders. The young man seemed to grow and his smile widened as he looked over at his new hero.

Julia kept that happy image in mind as she drove away.

It was the same image that kept her going when she received the bad news about Cain on Monday.

Chapter 25

That was funny. Cain was usually waiting for her outside his house on a morning. He did know she was picking him up at this time. She’d told him they start early on Mondays.

Julia switched off the car engine and got out. His curtains were open so it didn’t look like he was in bed. She frowned, something wasn’t right. She knocked on his front door, and then on the back. She looked through the living room and kitchen windows. She couldn’t see him anywhere. She tried his phone, it went straight to answerphone.

Julia walked back to her car and got in. She phoned her dad and explained what was going on.

Dad seemed as confused as she was. He said, “I spoke to him yesterday afternoon, we talked about going fishing. Can you believe he’s never been fishing before? He was so excited. He told me he was going to have an early night, he wanted to be up bright and early for when you picked him up. Where do you think he is?”

“I don’t know,” Julia replied. A feeling of unease was beginning to grow in her stomach, she kept that to herself. “I’ll have to get on with my work, Ivy is going to the hairdresser’s this morning and she wanted me to get to her house early today.”

They said goodbye and Julia put her phone down. She was about to set off when her phone rang again. She snatched up and said, “Cain? Is that you?”

It was, but she barely recognised him, his voice sounded so dull and almost mechanical. He said, “Sorry I wasn’t there this morning but I’ve been arrested for the murder of Hugo Barnes. The police arrested me yesterday. I’m so sorry for letting you down, Julia. I have to go. Bye.”

“No! Wait!” Julia cried out. Too late, he’d gone.

Cain arrested? After what DS Pendleton said on Friday about leaving him alone? Julia felt anger coursing through her body. This couldn’t be happening! There was no way she was leaving Cain on his own.

She made a quick call to Ivy to say she’d have to cancel her visit. Ivy said she understood and added, “If you’re investigating one of your murders let me know the full gory details later!”

Julia then phoned Dad and told him about Cain’s phone call.

“What utter nonsense! On what grounds has he been arrested? What evidence have they got? Has he got a lawyer?”

“I don’t know,” Julia answered. “But I’m going to the police station now to find out.”

“I’ll meet you there.”

Julia managed to park in the police car park this time. She rushed into the station and was immediately met by DS Pendleton. Any friendliness he showed the other day had completely disappeared. There was a steely, almost calculating look in his eyes. He said, “I thought you’d turn up.”

Julia burst out, “Why have you arrested Cain? What evidence have you got? And what about those things I told you on Friday, about Dinah and Gilbert?”

He held his hand up to silence her. “We don’t need to make any further enquiries, we’ve found our killer. We found Cain’s fingerprints on the murder weapon.”

“I told you that in my statement! I told you that Hugo threw the paperweight to Cain on our visit there on Monday! Of course his fingerprints are on the murder weapon!”

DS Pendleton glared at her. “Please lower your voice, Ms Blake, you’re making a scene.”

Julia was just about to say, ‘I don’t care!’ when someone grabbed her hand. It was Dad. He gave her a supportive smile and turned to DS Pendleton. “Good morning, I’m Ray Rosenthorpe. I’m Julia’s dad and a good friend of Cain Andrews. I believe you have him in custody. Could we see him please?”

DS Pendleton’s glare faded under the polite smile coming from Ray. He also seemed to become aware of his colleagues staring at him. Julia couldn’t tell if their looks were supportive or hostile towards the sergeant. DS Pendleton said, “You can see him for a few minutes. I’ll take you to him.”

“Thank you so much,” Dad said as he held tightly to Julia’s hand.

They followed DS Pendleton down a corridor and into a room that contained four cells. Julia’s heart almost broke as he led them to Cain’s cell. The life seemed to have drained out of the young man. He was sitting on a narrow bed, hunched over, staring at the floor. He looked as if he’d already been found guilty.

DS Pendleton took a step back and said, “You can have two minutes. And before you ask, Ms Blake, I’m not going anywhere.”

Dad and Julia walked closer to the cell. Cain looked up and gave them a small smile. “You didn’t have to come here. I didn’t want you to see me like this, I feel ashamed.”

Julia said, “Can you come closer and tell us what happened. Why do the police think you killed Hugo?”

Cain stood up and shuffled over to them. He didn’t look as if he’d slept for days. He said, “The police found my fingerprints on the paperweight.”

Julia tutted and said, “Yes, so I’ve been told.” She hoped DS Pendleton was listening carefully. “I told the police in my initial statement that you’d touched the paperweight.”

Cain nodded. “So did I. But they found some more evidence. Do you remember those antique cups that Hugo had? He served us tea in them on our first visit.”

“I remember. What about them?”

“The police found two of the cups in my kitchen cupboard.”

The hairs rose on the back of Julia’s neck but she didn’t say anything.

Cain continued, “It seems that when the police were at the murder scene on Tuesday morning they discovered that two teacups were missing, there were two empty hooks in Hugo’s cabinet. They assumed that the killer had drunk from the cups on Monday with Hugo, and left their fingerprints on them by accident. The police assume that the killer took both cups away with them as they couldn’t remember which cup they had used. The police told me the killer wouldn’t have just washed the cups as that could have left DNA on them.”

Julia nodded. “I see. That’s quite a conclusion the police have come to.” She could almost feel the breath coming from DS Pendleton behind her. “And when did the police arrest you?”

“Yesterday afternoon. I went for a walk and when I came back DS Pendleton and his men were waiting for me. They said they’d had a tip-off about the cups being in my house.”

“I see,” Julia said again, keeping her voice calm. She turned to face DS Pendleton. She jumped, he was inches away from her. Hadn’t he heard of ‘personal space’? She said, “Have you found Cain’s DNA on the cups?”

“Not yet.”

Julia said, “And is that all the evidence you have for Cain, the teacups and the paperweight?”

“It’s enough,” the sergeant replied smugly. “Time’s up.”

Julia had one more question. “Have you found out the identity of that man who was knocked over yesterday?”

DS Pendleton frowned. “No, why?”

“I tried to phone you on Friday about him. That man had been following me, and it only started after Hugo died. I think he has something to do with his murder.”

“And I think you should mind your own business,” DS Pendleton said. “That man was just an old tramp. You can leave now.”

Julia turned back to Cain and gave him a gentle smile. She lowered her voice and said, “Cain, I know you didn’t do it. And I’m going to prove it. You hang in there, be strong.”

Cain nodded.

Dad moved forward and said, “I’ll get our fishing trip organised, lad. And we’ve got all that work to do on your house. Keep your chin up.”

“I’ll try, Ray. Thank you.”

Julia hated to leave Cain. She had an overwhelming desire to bop DS Pendleton on the head, steal his keys and then release Cain. She shook her head slightly and reminded herself she was not starring in a western film.

She didn’t say a word as she walked out of the police station with Dad. When they got to her car she turned to Dad and said, “Cain didn’t kill Hugo, I know that for sure. Those teacups were planted in Cain’s house. I cleaned those cupboards out on Saturday morning, there was no sign of those cups. I think the real killer put them there. You’ve seen the poor security on Cain’s doors, anyone could have got in.”

Dad said, “Why don’t you tell the police that?”

“You’ve met DS Pendleton now, do you think he would believe me? And he’s got a grudge against Cain. He looked quite happy to see Cain locked up. No, I’m going to have to investigate Hugo’s murder on my own. I want Cain out of that cell.”

Dad put his arm around her and said, “You’re not on your own, love, I’ll help you.”

Chapter 26

“Where shall we go first?” Dad asked.

Julia looked at her watch. “I’m usually at Hugo’s house at this time on a Monday.” She thought for a moment. “I feel like I’m missing something, something obvious. I think we should go to Hugo’s house and have a good look around, see if I’ve missed anything.”

In an overly casual tone Dad said, “That’s where they film Summersdale Secrets, isn’t it?”

Julia smiled. “I didn’t think it was your kind of show.”

Dad shrugged, “I can take it or leave it. Your mum loves it, I watch it just to keep her company.”

“Would you like to come with me? You can have a good look round. I’m sure Hugo wouldn’t have minded. I think you would have liked Hugo, he was a good man.” Julia blinked. Where had those tears come from?

Dad patted her back and said, “Come on, pull yourself together. You know what I’m like, if you start crying, then I’ll start crying.”

Julia laughed and nodded. “Sorry, do you want to follow me there in your car? Do you know the way in case I lose you?”

Dad shrugged again. “I know where the house is. I might have looked at it online, once or twice.”

Julia pressed her lips together. She’d speak to Mum later and see exactly who insisted on watching Summersdale Secrets.

They arrived at Hugo’s house together. Julia got out of her car just in time to see the look of awe on her dad’s face. And, just like with Cain, his look turned to disappointment. He got out of his car and said, “It’s much smaller than it looks on the telly. Are you sure this is the right house?”

“It is. It’s the magic of television that makes it bigger. And computer graphics. Come on, I’ve still got my key.”

Julia spent a few moments showing Dad around the house. She let him recreate the famous exit from the back door into the garden. He asked her to take a few photos. “For your mum’s sake, not mine,” he explained.

Julia looked in the large dresser where the antique tea set was kept. Two hooks were empty. The teapot, milk jug and sugar bowl were still there. Cain took sugar and milk in his tea. If he’d gone back to Hugo’s on Monday night and had tea with him, surely he would have used the milk jug and sugar pot too? And then he would have needed to take them with him also. This wasn’t making sense at all.

They both jumped as a loud knock came from the front door.

Dad’s eyes widened and he whispered, “There’s somebody at the door! Do you think it’s the killer? They could be following you, and now they’ve decided to get rid of you, once and for all.” He picked up a tea towel and held it up. “Well, I won’t let them!”

Julia shook her head. “What are you going to do with that? Dry them to death? I hope it is the killer, I’ve a few choice words to say to them.”

The person at the door was a stranger. A small man with extremely white teeth beamed at them as the door opened. Julia winced at the brightness.

“Hi there!” the man began. He thrust his hand out and said, “I’m Walt B. Montague. Or should I call myself the mountain?”

“Pardon?” Julia said as she shook his hand, it felt impolite to leave his hand in mid-air.

Walt B. Montague chuckled. “You know the saying - ‘if Muhammed won’t come to the mountain, then the mountain must come to Muhammed.’”

Julia took her hand back. “Sorry? I’m confused.”

Walt chuckled again. “I’ve been trying to contact Hugo Barnes. We met last week in New York. He promised to phone me, but I haven’t heard anything. I’ve tried ringing him many times but with no success. So, I said to myself, ‘Walt B. Montague, you’ve got to take the bull by the horns. Be the mountain!’ And here I am. I have got the right house, haven’t I?”

Julia stood to one side and indicated for Walt to enter. She said, “I’m Julia Blake, I clean for Hugo. And this is my dad, Ray.”

Dad held his hand out and said, “Ray T. Rosenthorpe, delighted to meet you. You’ve got lovely teeth.”

“T?” Julia said. “I didn’t know you had a middle name.”

“It’s Thomas,” Dad replied, still shaking Walt’s hand.

Julia looked at the smiling face of Walt. She didn’t want to be the one that gave him bad news, but she’d have to.

She took him into the kitchen and sat him down. She explained as gently as she could about Hugo’s death. She didn’t tell him that he’d been murdered.

“That’s too bad,” Walt said, shaking his head slightly. “I really liked Hugo, he was a great guy.”

“How did you know each other?” Julia asked.

“We met in a public records office. I was looking something up, and so was he. We had to use the same machine but he insisted I use it first. Well, we got chatting. He told me about his job and how much he loves looking into the lives of ordinary people. I work in the entertainment business and I know a good deal when I smell it. Pardon the expression! We talked about him moving to America for a while so that he could work on his family tree projects there. I said we could make it into a reality kind of show, people love those. He said that would be okay as long as he was behind the camera. I managed to sort out a contract before he left. He told me he had things to tie up here first. He wanted to let his assistant know his plans.”

Julia said, “Was he going to bring his assistant over with him?”

Walt shook his head. “No, we’ve got a full production team, we don’t need any more staff. He was going to speak to his assistant when he got back to the UK, and then we were going to organise travel arrangements. I wanted him back in America asap!” He sighed. “It’s such a shame about him, I was looking forward to making the programme.”

Julia thought about what Hugo had said to her last Monday. He’d said he had some news to tell her, something that would affect the hours she would be working. He must have been talking about his new job in America. Another thought soon followed that one. Dinah had been here Monday night. Had Hugo told her about his plans? Had she whacked him on the head in a rage? It was a possibility. She had to talk to Dinah. There were a few things that needed clearing up.

Walt B. Montague stood up. “I suppose I’d better make my way back to the hotel. I was looking forward to exploring this part of the British Isles. I’ve heard lots of great things about Yorkshire.”

Dad stood up. “You can’t come all this way and not see Yorkshire! I can take you on a tour, if you like.” He looked at Julia and added, “If you don’t need me.”

“No, you go ahead,” Julia said. She’d be better speaking to Dinah on her own.

Walt clasped his hands together. “That would be awesome, Ray, thanks.”

The two left Hugo’s house, chatting amiably as they went.

Julia had a few more cleaning jobs that she needed to attend to. When she’d finished she headed into Leeds and was soon walking into the library, a determined look on her face.

She wasn’t leaving until she had answers from Dinah West.

Chapter 27

Julia found Dinah at the far side of the records room. Dinah’s laugh tinkled through the air like a delicate musical instrument. As Julia got closer she saw Dinah laughing with a young man dressed in some sort of security uniform. Dinah was twirling one finger through her impossibly shiny hair, her eyes twinkled at the young man as he spoke.

Dinah said, “Oh, you’re too funny! I could listen to your jokes all day.”

“I’ve got another joke for you. This gorilla walks into a bar …” the man began.

“I’ve heard that one,” Julia interrupted. “Dinah, sorry to bother you at work, but could I have a word with you?”

Dinah stuck her lip out and said, “But I’m busy. Can’t you come back another day?”

This ridiculous act wasn’t going to work on Julia. She noticed that there were other members of staff walking about the room. Julia raised her voice and said, “I can come back tomorrow. I shouldn’t really be here. I should really inform the police about your movements on Monday, when you went to visit Hugo. I know you told me you didn’t, but I have the name of a witness that says you did. That puts you at the scene of the crime around the time that Hugo was murdered.”

Julia heard a few gasps around the room.

Dinah’s smile vanished. It was replaced by a sneer. Dinah said, “Why should I come with you?”

Julia shrugged. “You don’t have to. I just thought you might want to clear your name, seeing as you’re a murder suspect. I’ll let the police know that you lied about your whereabouts.” Julia hoped Dinah wouldn’t call her bluff.

Dinah sighed. “Alright then, we can have a talk. Is the library cafe good enough for you?”

“That’ll be fine,” Julia said, feeling the coldness of Dinah’s tone.

Without saying a word to the bewildered man at her side, Dinah tossed her hair back and stalked past Julia. Julia followed her.

Dinah ordered herself a skinny latte at the counter of the cafe. She didn’t offer to get a drink for Julia. Julia ordered a tea and when they got to the till she said, “Dinah, I’ll pay for both.”

Dinah tutted, grabbed her coffee and headed towards a corner table.

Julia ignored her bad manners. It suited her that Dinah had dropped the friendly act. Julia wasn’t in the mood to be friendly either.

Julia sat opposite Dinah and went in for the kill. “What were you doing at Hugo’s on Monday night? Was it to talk about that book of yours? I know that Gilbert was with you. And I know you’re in cahoots together, don’t deny it.”

Dinah looked out of the window. The sun would have to shine through at that moment. Curse that awesome hair of hers!

Julia wasn’t put off, she said, “I met a man called Walt B. Montague today.”

Dinah’s left eye twitched. Julia said, “You know about him, don’t you? You know that he’d offered Hugo a job in America. Were you angry when Hugo told you? Did you feel betrayed that he wasn’t taking you with him. Come on, Dinah, talk to me.”

Dinah’s head snapped round. “Alright! Stop going on. Yes, I did know about the deal he had with that man from America. And yes, I was annoyed that he wouldn’t be taking me with him! That’s all the thanks I get for working so hard for him? That, and a lousy paperweight from New York! That man was so insulting and he didn’t even know. He never appreciated all the work I did for him!”

“Were you in love with him?”

Dinah looked down at the table. “I suppose I was in the beginning. It didn’t take me long to discover that he didn’t love me.” She looked up at Julia and said, “I met Gilbert about a year ago. He was visiting Hugo, asking for a favour or something. I fell for him straight away, and he fell for me, of course. Hugo tried to warn me off but I didn’t listen, he never liked Gilbert. Gilbert told me Hugo was jealous of him.”

Julia doubted that. She said, “The book that you’re writing, is it about cases that Hugo had investigated? He told me he’d been approached by an agent to write a book like that but he’d always said no. He said his clients deserved privacy.”

Dinah shifted in her seat. “I’ve changed the names, people won’t recognise themselves. And, it’s like Gilbert said, the stories are too interesting to be filed away. People love to read about dirt in other people’s lives. I’m not hurting anyone.”

“I have to disagree with you there. You know Hugo would never have allowed that.”

Dinah shrugged. “Hugo’s not here. Why should I waste this opportunity? I’ve got copies of all the cases that Hugo worked on, why should they go to waste?”

Julia could see there was no point arguing with Dinah over this. She said, “Why was Gilbert at Hugo’s house?”

“Trying to get the money that’s owed to him! Hugo’s never been fair with his money, he knows Gilbert has an extravagant lifestyle. Hugo wasn’t doing anything with the family money, it was rotting away in the bank.”

Julia pressed her lips together. It looked like Dinah had been brainwashed by Gilbert. Julia said, “What’s the connection between your book and Summersdale Secrets?”

Dinah’s eyebrows rose. “You have been a nosy cow! If you really have to know, my agent is getting me a TV deal to go with the book. We’re going to recreate Hugo’s clients coming to his house, let the viewers have a good look around Summersdale. We’re going to get the actors from that show involved too, add some celebrity sparkle to my show.”

“Did Hugo know about your plans?”

“Gilbert tried to tell him on Monday night, to explain what a wonderful business opportunity it was, but Hugo wouldn’t listen. He threw us out.”

“How did that make you feel?”

“How do you think it made us feel? We were furious! We had this amazing moneymaking plan ready and that idiot wouldn’t go along with it!” Dinah paused and took a moment to calm herself down. She suddenly smiled and wagged a finger at Julia. “I’ve just realised why you’ve asked that. You think either me or Gilbert were so annoyed that we whacked poor old Hugo on the head.”

“Did you?” Julia persisted.

Dinah’s smile grew. “No, we didn’t.” She stood up and smoothed her dress down. She added, “Or did we? That’s something you’ll have to work out for yourself, Julia Blake. Don’t contact me again or it’ll be me phoning the police.”

Julia watched her walking out of the room, her hair bouncing on her shoulders.

Was Dinah telling the truth?

Julia didn’t know.

Chapter 28

On Tuesday morning Julia paid a quick visit to Cain. DS Pendleton reluctantly let her see him.

Julia asked if Cain had been officially charged.

DS Pendleton replied, “Not yet, I’m speaking to my boss today, I’ll give him all the facts about the case. You’ve got two minutes with him.”

“Your boss? Do you mean DI Clarke? Is he back? Can I speak with him?”

“No. You’ve got less than two minutes now. Do you want to see the prisoner or not?”

Julia was led to the cells, and as before, DS Pendleton stood closely behind her.

When Julia saw Cain she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She said, “Has my dad been to see you today?” She looked at the blue jumper that Cain was wearing, one sleeve was longer than the other.

Cain nodded and ran a hand proudly down his new garment. “Look what he’s made for me. He said he couldn’t sleep so he stayed up all night knitting this. He said it wasn’t his best work as he had to rush to get it finished.” Cain held up a sleeve and nodded admiringly. “I love it.”

Julia was glad to see Cain looking happier. She ignored the presence of DS Pendleton behind her and said to Cain, “I spoke to Dinah yesterday, that book she’s writing is about Hugo’s cases. And Gilbert had been to visit Hugo to ask for more money. Makes them good murder suspects, don’t you think?”

Cain was pulling a weird face and indicating his head towards DS Pendleton, as if to say, ‘Watch what you’re saying, he’s behind you!’

Julia hoped that DS Pendleton was taking in every word. Julia hadn’t finished. She told Cain about the visit from Walt B. Montague, and Dinah’s subsequent comments about Hugo going to America. “Yet another reason to kill Hugo.”

There was a heavy silence, Julia could almost feel the daggers of hate aimed at her back. DS Pendleton could think what he liked! She was not going to stop with her investigations until she found the real killer.

“Well, Cain, I must be going. We’ll have you out of there in no time,” Julia said confidently. “All my clients are backing you, no one believes that you killed Hugo. See you later.”

Cain gave her a grateful smile.

DS Pendleton escorted her to the front door and even held it open for her. Julia was expecting harsh words but he didn’t say anything.

Julia’s confidence faded as she headed to her car. She was still missing something obvious, but what was it?

The thought bothered her all day as she went about her cleaning jobs. Her clients had many questions about Cain, some were furious with the police. Julia appreciated their support.

She tried to speak to DI Clarke but got his answering service every time. Despite leaving messages he never phoned her back. Was he avoiding her? Did he know that Cain had been arrested? What did he think about that?

Julia had a raging headache when she got home. She took some painkillers and decided to lie down on her bed. As she did so she noticed her washing basket was overflowing. She’d been so caught up in everyone else’s business she’d forgotten about her own.

She got up, she couldn’t lie down peacefully with the basket staring at her like that. She’d fling some washing in and then return to her bed. As was her custom, she checked through her pockets. More than once she’d found unused tissues, or even paper money in her pockets.

She pulled out the piece of paper that Hugo had written on, the one that he’d pinned to his jacket.

She looked at the notes that he’d scrawled again:

‘Divorce papers? Death certificate? Sins of the fathers????’

The mention of divorce papers and a death certificate made sense now that she’d found out William Roper’s true story. Hugo must have looked for a death certificate or divorce papers for William’s first wife, Maria. When he hadn’t found any such documents, he must have realised that William was still married. That must have been what he referred to on the Monday morning to Julia and Cain. He’d said he needed to speak to his client, and that she wouldn’t be happy. That must have been William’s daughter, the one who hired Hugo.

Julia frowned as she looked at the other words:

‘Sins of the fathers????l’

Fathers? As in plural? That didn’t make sense.

A realisation began to dawn on Julia. Maybe there was more than one father involved in this family tree that Hugo had been investigating. But who? She tapped her chin, what was the name of William’s daughter? Bethany! That was it. What if Bethany had been adopted and Hugo had discovered who her real father was? Maybe her real father was someone with a terrible secret.

“Oh!” Julia cried out. “Smoking man! That’s it!”

Hugo could have found out that Smoking Man was Bethany’s real father. Perhaps Smoking Man had a dark secret and he didn’t want Hugo to reveal it. Maybe that’s why Smoking Man had been following Julia to make sure she didn’t discover his secret either.

Julia’s breath caught in her throat. Maybe Smoking Man killed Hugo!

She needed to find out more about William Roper’s family tree. She needed a genealogist to help her. She sighed sadly, she could have done with Hugo’s help at this stage.

But there was someone else, Hugo’s bitter rival, Fred Baker.

Julia said out loud, “Sorry, Hugo, I know how you feel about Fred, but I’ve nowhere else to turn.”

She’d go and see Fred in the morning.

Chapter 29

As Julia parked outside Fred Baker’s house the next morning, she thought about the one time that she’d seen Fred. She had been cleaning Hugo’s windows when she saw a red-faced rotund man storming up Hugo’s drive. He’d rapped on the door so loudly Julia was afraid he would break it. Hugo had got to the door before Julia.

“Good morning, Fred Baker, and how are you today?” Hugo had boomed out.

Julia came into the hall and saw the man prodded a finger at Hugo’s chest as he declared, “You thief! You stole my client! Don’t deny it, you vagabond!”

Hugo had laughed and moved Fred’s accusing finger out of the way. “I presume you mean Mrs Blackburn? She chose to come to me, she said she wasn’t convinced that you could find out all the information she needed online. She said she wanted a more personal touch, someone who would make the effort to visit places where her ancestors had lived. I certainly didn’t steal her.”

Fred Baker had carried on for a while in the same vein, and Hugo had defended his actions. The conversation ended with Fred declaring that he would never speak to Hugo again as long as he lived. Hugo nodded and smiled amiably. “If you ever need my help, Fred, you know where I am.”

That was a few months ago, Julia didn’t know if they had sorted their differences out. For a moment she wondered whether Fred had killed Hugo. She tutted. She was beginning to suspect everyone!

She got out of her car and walked cautiously up the paved garden path. The door was flung open before Julia could even knock. Fred Baker stared down at her and said, “I thought I’d be seeing you soon. Come in!”

Julia did as she was ordered. Fred told her to sit down in his living room. Julia quickly looked around. The room looked more like an office with all those charts stuck on the wall and files piled up everywhere.

Fred waved his hand at the room as if reading her thoughts. “It’s chaos, but organised chaos.”

“Sounds like something that Hugo might say.”

Fred sat opposite her, his arms resting on his knees, studying her. Julia couldn’t read his expression. He said, “Are you going to ask me if I killed Hugo?”

“The thought hadn’t crossed my mind,” Julia said.

Fred laughed. “You’re a terrible liar. I wouldn’t blame you for thinking that, after the scene you witnessed between me and Hugo a while ago, I really let him have it!”

Julia nodded.

Fred said, “We were rivals, but we were friends. Hugo was old-fashioned when it came to making his enquiries on behalf of his clients. I told him he could find out most of the information he needed online, he didn’t need to go to all those government buildings. But he liked to talk to people, get a feel for the client’s history. I, on the other hand, preferred to get things done quickly. The client would receive their completed family tree quicker, and then I could move onto the next client.”

Julia nodded again, trying to gather her courage together.

Fred leant back in his chair. “I’ll wager that you didn’t know me and Hugo worked together sometimes. He’d ask me to look things up on the Internet now and again, and if I needed him to visit a certain place, then he’d return the favour.” He sighed. “I’m really going to miss him. Who do you think killed him? Have the police told you anything?”

Julia said, “The police haven’t been very helpful. I’m making my own enquiries.”

Fred let out a bark of laughter. “Hugo always said that you were nosy.”

Julia ignored his comment. “I think Hugo may have been killed by one of his clients, or rather, someone related to one of his clients. I still think his assistant and brother might have motives, but I’ve got a feeling that I should look into his last client. All of Hugo’s records were stolen, and his computer ruined. All I have is the name of his last client and a written note from Hugo.”

“Tell me everything,” Fred said. “I’ll do what I can to help Hugo.”

Julia told him all that she knew. When she’d finished Fred nodded and said, “We need to find out the identity of Smoking Man, as you call him. It would be great if you had something with his DNA on, I’ve got a few contacts who could help me with that side of things.”

“But I do!” Julia cried out. “I’ve got some of the cigarette ends that he dropped. Look, they’re here in my bag.” She took them out and handed them to Fred.

He took them and said, “How long have they been wrapped in this tissue? Is it a clean tissue.”

Julia said, “It is a clean tissue. Do you think they’ll be any use?”

Fred shook his head. “I’m not sure. We can try though.” He put them down and rubbed his hands together. “Right! Let’s get started. I’ll look into the full history of William Roper, it’s a shame you don’t have his real name.”

“Sorry, I never thought to ask.”

“That’s okay. I’ll trace all the appropriate certificates. Do you want to watch me work my magic?”

Julia checked her watch. “I would, but I’ve got cleaning jobs to get on with. I’ll leave you my number. How long do you think it will take before you have any information?”

“Before the end of the day. Why don’t you call back later?”

Julia stood up. “I will do. Thanks so much for doing this.”

Fred stood up too and said, “I’d do anything to help Hugo. You take care, Julia. There’s a killer out there who probably knows that you’re making your own investigations.”

Julia shivered slightly. She hadn’t considered that.

As she drove away she tried to shrug off the feeling that she was being followed.

Chapter 30

The feeling didn’t leave her all morning as she drove between cleaning jobs. She kept checking her mirrors as she drove but she couldn’t see that any one car in particular was following her. Maybe it was all in her mind.

She had a visitor waiting outside her house when she returned there at lunchtime. Julia smiled as she got out of her car. “Hello, it’s a surprise to see you, Vivianne. Are you okay?”

DS Pendleton’s mum didn’t look okay. She wrung her hands and looked over her shoulder. “Can we talk?”

“Of course, do you want to come inside?” Julia offered.

Vivianne looked over her shoulder again. “No, I’d better not, I can’t stay long.” She looked directly at Julia and said, “It’s about Jason, he’s heard that you’re making your own enquiries into Hugo Barnes’ death. He’s very upset, I don’t like to see him so upset. He told me that he’s got the murderer under arrest, he doesn’t know why you feel the need to stick your nose in. Sorry, that was his expression.”

Julia folded her arms. “What exactly are you trying to tell me?”

Vivianne looked down the street and back again. “You need to leave this case alone. Jason knows what he’s doing. It won’t look good for him if you’re getting yourself involved, his superiors might wonder if he’s got the right man locked up. That wouldn’t be good for his career.”

Julia frowned. “Is this a warning? Has your son sent you to warn me off the case?”

Vivianne gave a brittle laugh. “No! Of course not! He’s concerned about your welfare, he doesn’t want you to get hurt.” She forced a smile. “I really have to go now. I do apologise for bothering you.”

Julia didn’t say a word as Vivianne got in her car and drove away.

Something was wrong. Why was DS Pendleton so intent on framing Cain for this murder? And had he sent his mum to warn her off? Vivianne had certainly looked uncomfortable doing his dirty work for him.

The more Julia found out about DS Pendleton, the less she liked him.

Her appetite had disappeared so she decided to drive to the police station to confront DS Pendleton. She pulled into the main car park and got out of the car. She was stopped in her tracks.

“Get back in your car, Ms Blake, you have no business here.”

“You! I’m so glad to see you,” Julia smiled at DI Clarke. “I’ve got so much to tell you about Hugo Barnes. Do you know what your sergeant has been up to? Do you know who he’s arrested?”

DI Clarke gave her a steely look. There wasn’t a hint of friendliness in his eyes. “My sergeant has filled me in on all the facts. I have to inform you that your employee, Cain Andrews, has admitted to killing Hugo Barnes. He’s made a full confession to DS Pendleton.”

“No!” Julia’s hands flew to her chest. “That’s not true! It can’t be!”

“It most certainly is true. Get in your car and drive away.”

“No! I want to see Cain, I want to find out why he’s confessed. It wouldn’t surprise me if your sergeant has forced him to confess.”

DI Clarke took a step closer. Julia could almost feel the coldness coming from his breath. He said, “Mr Andrews doesn’t want to see you, or your father. He was quite clear about that. He’s confessed, and that’s all there is to it. Listen to me clearly, Ms Blake, go home and leave this matter alone. Do you understand?”

“Of course I don’t understand! What about the obvious suspects in this case? I left you messages about Dinah West, and Hugo’s brother! And what about the last case Hugo was working on?”

DI Clarke’s shoulders dropped slightly. “Calm down, you’re becoming hysterical. I’ll say this for the last time, go home and leave this matter alone.” He moved forward and opened her car door.

Julia felt her eyes stinging. This couldn’t be happening. Why would Cain confess? She knew he hadn’t killed Hugo. And why was DI Clarke letting this happen? She didn’t want to cry in front of the inspector so she quickly got in her car and drove away. She let the tears fall as she drove.

She worked furiously at her afternoon cleaning jobs, letting out all her anger on windows and bathrooms. There was no way she was going to leave this matter alone!

Fred Baker took one look at her as she stood at his doorstep later and said, “You look like you need a strong cup of tea, or a whisky. Come in, you look like you’re about to explode.”

“I think I am,” Julia said through gritted teeth. “You won’t believe what’s happened since I saw you last.”

“Come into the kitchen. Tell me all about it whilst I make some tea. I do have whisky if you’d like some.”

“I’m tempted, but no, thank you.”

Julia told Fred about Cain’s confession. He made the appropriate tutting noises as he prepared the tea. He placed a big mug in front of Julia and said, “Sounds like the police have got the wrong man.”

“Exactly,” Julia said. She took a big drink and let the warmth seep through her body. “I hope you’ve found something out for me. I can’t bear the thought of Cain going to jail again for another crime that he didn’t commit.”

Fred beamed at her, a sparkle in his eyes. “Oh, I’ve been very busy, let me tell you! I’ve found out more than one secret about Hugo’s last case. Wait ’til you hear this!”

Chapter 31

Fred put a pile of papers in front of Julia. “I think we’ll start with Smoking Man. Or shall we call him Robbie, that is his name after all.”

“What’s his surname?” Julia asked.

“Dear girl, let me be dramatic, will you? I’ll get to that in due course. Right, the most interesting thing about Robbie is that he died twice.”

“Pardon?”

Fred smiled happily. “Exactly! Robbie used to live locally. I’ve checked his background. He was a bad man, a criminal, he used to beat his wife, was a snitch to his friends and generally the sort of lowlife that everyone wanted to see the back of. He got himself involved in an armed robbery which went wrong. Robbie ended up killing a police officer. There was no honour amongst thieves and my sources tell me that his so-called friends were more than happy to give him up to the police. And, you can imagine that his long-suffering wife was delighted to hand him over to the authorities too. But he made a run for it and was nowhere to be found.”

“What happened to him?”

“This is where we get to his first death. Or a faked death. Robbie’s first death certificate shows that he drowned, an apparent suicide. A body was discovered and identified by the wife as being that of her husband. It seems that the wife lied because, my sources tell me, Robbie moved abroad. Being the criminal that he was, he soon made himself known within criminal circles. He moved around Europe, changed his name of course. Then he came back to the UK two months ago.”

“Why?”

Fred tutted. “I wish you’d stop interrupting, you keep breaking my flow.”

Julia sipped her tea and nodded at him to continue.

Fred did so. “Robbie had heard that someone was asking about him, a certain Hugo Barnes.” He raised his finger. “Don’t say anything! Yes, our own dear friend had tracked Robbie down. Hugo must have worked out that the first death certificate was a fake. And Robbie’s wife had now remarried, and in doing so had committed bigamy. I’m sure Hugo must have thought the wife knew she’d committed bigamy. She’d wrongly identified Robbie’s body all those years ago. Maybe Robbie told her he’d disappear if she promised to help him with his fake death.

“But now Hugo had got himself involved. I think he probably made contact with Robbie. Then maybe Robbie thought he’d like to come back to the UK and see his wife again. Maybe he’d fallen on hard times and wanted to get some money out of her.”

This story reminded her of Cain’s father, but she didn’t want to get off track. “Sorry to interrupt, but how is Robbie connected to William Roper and his family tree?”

“Aha! Talk about a bigamy fest! Listen to this. You told me that William Roper was still married to that Maria person when he came to the UK. And he’s already admitted that he committed bigamy when he married his next wife. And, pay attention because this is getting complicated. His second wife is the mother of Bethany Roper, the woman that asked Hugo to look into her family tree. Well, her mother, the second wife of William, died in childbirth. William married again ten years later, still not having obtained a divorce from Maria.”

Julia gasped. “He committed bigamy again! Knowing full well he was still married to Maria. I can’t believe it!”

Fred smiled and waited dramatically. “Julia, William Roper married the wife of Robbie. He was still married to Maria, and she was still married to Robbie.”

“No! Have people no shame?”

“I don’t think they have. You said that William Roper had come clean to his wife about his marriage to Maria. Do you think that his wife will come clean to him about her marriage to Robbie?”

Julia thought for a moment. “She doesn’t need to. Robbie is now dead, he was run over. I’m presuming that you’ve seen his second, or real death certificate.”

“I have. I also have a photograph of Robbie when he was younger. Would you like to see it?”

“Of course,” Julia said. “Although I have a feeling that I know who killed Hugo now, and why.”

Fred pushed a photograph towards her. Julia studied it. She sighed. “Heck, just what I thought.  What am I going to do now?”

“You’re going to get justice for our friend.”

Chapter 32

It was getting dark as Julia drove home. She knew for certain that she was being followed. There had been two cars at first, but now there was only one.

She wasn’t surprised to find DS Pendleton waiting for her outside her house. He got out of his car and gave her a friendly smile. Julia forced a smile back at him.

He said, “You must be surprised to see me here. Do you mind if we have a talk? I wanted to give you the full details of Cain’s confession. You must be wondering why he killed Hugo Barnes. Could I come in?”

Julia locked her car, her cleaning bag in one hand. “Of course, follow me.”

She opened the back door. DS Pendleton was right behind her, she could hear him breathing. She cocked her head to one side. Was that the sound of a car slowing down nearby?

Julia stepped into her kitchen and switched the light on. She glanced at DS Pendleton’s reflection on the kitchen window, he was still smiling in what looked like a friendly manner.

She jumped as he spoke, “Would you mind if I put some shoe protectors on? I’ve been trampling about in mud today and I don’t want bring that into your house.” He pulled out a pair of plastic covers and put them over his shoes.

Julia thought he could have just taken his shoes off. She said, “Would you like a cup of tea?”

He waved a hand at her, that smile still plastered on his face, “No, thank you. I don’t want to take up much of your time.”

Julia told him she was just going to hang her coat up in the front hallway. She did so then returned to the kitchen. She put her bag of cleaning things next to a kitchen chair and sat down. “Please, sit down.”

He shook his head. “I’ll stand, I’ve been sitting down all day. Are you expecting any visitors tonight? I wouldn’t want to be in the way.”

“No, I’m not expecting anyone. I was surprised to find out that Cain confessed to killing Hugo, what was his motive?”

DS Pendleton clasped his hands behind his back and walked towards the window. “He said something about Hugo uncovering some secret from his past, something to do with that manslaughter charge of his. You’ve got a lovely garden, from what I can see in this light. Have you got any neighbours overlooking you?”

“No, it’s quite secluded. I’m surprised that Cain said that. He’s served his time in prison so I don’t understand what secret Hugo could have uncovered.”

DS Pendleton turned to face her, hands still clasped behind his back. “Doesn’t matter now. It’s all over.”

“Well, it isn’t really. Did you ever question Dinah Wells, or Hugo’s brother about their visit to Hugo on the day he died?”

He shrugged. “No, it doesn’t matter. Cain killed Hugo, we’ve got his confession.”

Julia continued, “And what about the last case that Hugo was working on? He was asked to look into the family tree of a man called William Roper.”

Julia noticed the slight twitch in the sergeant’s left eye.

His smile died a little. “Like I said, it doesn’t matter now.”

“It does,” Julia said. “William Roper had a reason to kill Hugo because Hugo had found out that William had committed bigamy, twice. But then Hugo also found out that William’s current wife had also committed bigamy.”

DS Pendleton’s smile had gone altogether now.

Julia didn’t stop, “The husband of William’s second wife had been following me recently, I think he was waiting to see what I uncovered. But he died last week, your mum ran him over. And I think that when you found out his identity you decided to frame Cain for Hugo’s murder.”

In a cold voice DS Pendleton said, “And who do you think that man was?”

“He was your father, Robbie Pendleton. I saw a photo of him when he was younger, he looks just like you. I’ve found out that your dad faked his own death, with help from your mum, and he left the country. He returned recently when he heard that Hugo was asking questions about him. From what I saw of him, he didn’t have much money. Did he contact you or your mum? Ask you for money?”

DS Pendleton put his hands in his pocket and took a step closer. “You have been nosy, haven’t you. Doesn’t matter, that scumbag is dead now. No one but me is going to know his true identity. He was the victim of a hit and run, case closed.”

Julia shook her head. “He wasn’t a victim. Your mum ran him down on purpose. She killed him, just like she killed Hugo Barnes.”

In a low voice DS Pendleton said, “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Your mum is the second wife of William Roper. She found out from his daughter, Bethany, that Bethany had hired Hugo to put together William’s family tree. Your mum must have been worried that Hugo would uncover the identity of her first husband, and also, that she was still married. I think she could have coped with William finding out about that. But it was you she was worried about. Your father was a criminal, not a war hero like she’d told you. She’s so proud of you and all that you’ve achieved. What would happen to your glittering career once your superiors found out the true identity of your father? And that your mother had committed a crime? Your job would be at risk, you might have been suspended. Your mother wasn’t willing to risk that.”

DS Pendleton took out a pair of leather gloves and put them on.

Julia’s heart speeded up. She took a deep breath and continued. “I think her fears were realised when Robbie appeared on the scene. She went to see Hugo and begged him to keep her secret hidden. Knowing Hugo, he would have told her that he couldn’t, that he would have to give Bethany the full facts. Your mum must have followed Hugo into his office and hit him on the head with that heavy paperweight. She then took whatever paperwork she could find, and poured water on his computer, hoping to destroy any evidence of Hugo’s work. She wears driving gloves so she wouldn’t have left any fingerprints.

“Except for the teacups. Hugo must have taken her into the kitchen and made her a cup of tea. He probably showed her the back door and let her open it. He does that for all new visitors, lets them recreate that scene from Summersdale Secrets. Your mum must have realised on Tuesday morning that she’d left her fingerprints on a teacup. She knew the back door was open and so came into the house that way. She took both cups as she probably couldn’t remember which one she’d drunk from. I remember that her handbag was a large one, she could have easily put both in. She didn’t take the milk jug as she doesn’t normally take milk.”

DS Pendleton nodded. “You’ve got it all worked out, haven’t you. You’re right. Mum did kill Hugo Barnes, she had to, he was going to reveal her secret. And you’re right, it would have ruined my career. When I discovered the identity of the man that she’d run over on Friday, I knew she’d done it on purpose. She confessed everything to me. I didn’t feel anything for Robbie Pendleton. Or for Hugo Barnes, he should have listened to Mum. And you’re right about me planting those teacups in Stinky Cain’s house. He’s used to prison life, it wouldn’t hurt him to go back in.” He flexed his fingers in the gloves. He smiled, it wasn’t a friendly smile this time. “It’s all sorted out now. Cain will go to prison. Mum is no longer married to Robbie. And I’ve got a conviction under my belt. The only mess that needs clearing up is you.”

Julia gripped her chair. “Are you going to kill me?”

“Of course. That’s why I’m wearing these shoe protectors, and why I haven’t touched anything in your house. And I know how to stage a murder scene, I’ll make it look like a robbery gone wrong. You’ve been a pain since the moment I met you.”

DS Pendleton launched himself at Julia.

Julia screamed as his leather-clad hands clasped around her throat.

Chapter 33

“Stop right there!” a voice boomed out.

DS Pendleton was pulled off Julia, his hands swiped out at her.

She ducked out of the way as two uniformed policemen grabbed DS Pendleton’s arms and flung him to the floor.

Julia rubbed her neck. DI Clarke came to her side and knelt down, concern on his face. “Ms Blake, are you okay?”

She nodded. “I think so.”

“Thanks for leaving your front door open. How did you know I was nearby?”

“You’ve been following me for the last few days. I recognised your car. What took you so long? He nearly killed me.”

DI Clarke looked down at her hand. “I doubt he would have succeeded. Is that one of your special cleaning sprays clutched in your hand? One with lemon juice in? Looks to me like you were about to blind DS Pendleton.”

Julia put the spray on the table. “I was protecting myself. I thought he was going to attack me the minute I saw him waiting for me outside. He must have known I’d put two and two together.”

DI Clarke straightened up. “I told you to leave this matter alone, several times. I knew something was wrong with the investigation. But you wouldn’t listen, would you? I’ve had my men following you for your own protection.”

Julia said, “Why didn’t you tell me you were dealing with it? I would have let you get on with your investigations.”

DI Clarke’s eyebrows rose, “Really? Are you sure about that, Ms Blake? You do have a knack of getting yourself involved. Do you need to go to the hospital to get yourself checked out?”

“No, I’ll be fine. What are you going to do now?”

DI Clarke said, “We’ve already got Vivianne Roper in custody. It’s a shame, she’s such a lovely woman. She thought she was helping her son. We’ve got all the evidence we need to secure a conviction. We’ll get a full statement from you in a moment, if you’re up to it?”

“I’d rather do that now.” Julia stood up and watched as DS Pendleton was led away. “What about Cain?”

“He was released a few hours ago. Your dad came to collect him. I told them not to say a thing to you about it. I knew DS Pendleton was going to confront you, I hoped he’d make a confession.”

His words sunk in. Julia gasped. “You used me as bait! To get him to confess!”

DI Clarke didn’t blink. He kept his voice flat as he said, “I would never do that, that’s most unprofessional, Ms Blake.”

Julia glared at him. He winked at her and said, “I’ll leave you in the capable hands of one of my officers. I hope I won’t see you again too soon. Goodbye, Ms Blake.”

Julia muttered to herself as he left her house.

“You look like you need a cup of tea,” a policewoman said to her. “Shall I put the kettle on and we’ll get on with your statement.”

It didn’t take long for the statement to be taken. Julia was desperate to talk to Cain.

As soon as the policewoman left, Julia picked up the phone and called him.

He apologised for causing her so much distress. She told him to stop being silly. She filled him in on all the facts of the case.

Cain had something to tell her. “There’s some news on the Internet about Summersdale Secrets, seems like they’re moving to a different location to film. So it looks like Gilbert won’t be making money from them.”

“Good,” Julia added. “And what about Dinah’s book deal?”

“I checked on the agent’s website, the deal isn’t going ahead.”

“Good,” Julia repeated. “I’m glad those two aren’t going to make any money from Hugo’s death. Poor Hugo, he was only doing his job. He didn’t deserve to be murdered.”

Cain said quietly, “No one ever does. Did you ever think for a moment that I killed Hugo?”

“Not for a second.” She yawned. “I need some sleep. And so do you, we’ve got an early start tomorrow. And I’m sure some of our customers will want to hear the full story behind Hugo’s death. I’ll pick you up at eight.”

“You still want me to work for you?”

“Of course! Make sure you’ve signed that contract.”

She could hear the laughter in Cain’s voice as he said, “And do you promise we won’t come across any more dead bodies?”

Julia thought for a moment. As DI Clarke said, she did have a knack for getting herself involved in murder cases. “I can’t promise you that, Cain. Do you still want to work for me.”

“Absolutely! See you tomorrow.”

Julia said goodbye and ended the call. She yawned again and rubbed her neck. She hoped she didn’t come across another dead body too soon.

A note from the author

I’ve always loved mystery stories. When I was young I used to read Enid Blyton books, then as I got older I progressed to Agatha Christie. My favourite TV programmes are Murder, She Wrote, Lewis and all Agatha Christie ones. I’d always dreamed about writing my own stories but I never had the courage to do so. But one day, I decided to just go ahead and do it! Sometimes you have to just leap, and hope you don’t fall off the side of a mountain.

You can get 3 free short stories (including Julia Blake’s first stories) when you sign up to my website at www.gillianlarkin.co.uk

You can see all my books on my website, including the ones that are free. Please feel free to write to me at:

gillianlarkin67@gmail.com

If you liked this book would you have the time to write a short review? Thank you, I really do

appreciate it. I read all my reviews.

Best wishes

Gillian

JULIA BLAKE MURDER MYSTERIES

A SECRET KILLER

BY

GILLIAN LARKIN

KINDLE EDITION

www.gillianlarkin.co.uk

Front cover image by www.coverkicks.com

Copyright 2015 by Gillian Larkin

All rights reserved. No part of this publication must be reproduced in any form,

without permission from the author.

This is a work of fiction. Any similarity to any persons, living or dead, is purely

coincidental.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33