Julia Blake – Death Takes A Trip

For Kathleen – thank you

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Julia Blake - Death Takes A Trip

Chapter 1

Julia Blake glanced at her colleague as she drove along. “You haven’t met our next client yet, his name is Douglas Pedley.”

Cain said, “Is he a new client? I thought I knew them all by now.”

Julia turned left. “Douglas doesn’t want his house cleaning every week, he prefers me to give it a thorough going over once a month. He lives on his own so his house doesn’t need much cleaning, although it has three large bedrooms. It’ll take us a couple of hours to get all the cleaning done.”

Cain frowned. “Why doesn’t he want you to clean more often?”

Julia smiled as she drove past a new housing estate. “You’ll soon see. I get on well with Douglas but he prefers his own company, he’s not the most sociable of men. His bark is worse than his bite, as the saying goes.”

“Does he know about me?” Cain asked.

Julia slowed down. “Not yet, I’ll tell him straight away. You’ll be fine, no one has objected to having you in their homes.”

Cain looked out of the window and added, “Not yet. Is this his house?” He looked to the left and right of the detached property. “It looks out of place next to all these new houses.”

Julia switched the car engine off and released her seatbelt. “Douglas’ house was built about eighty years ago, there were similar houses surrounding him at one point. But, one by one, people have sold their houses to make way for the new ones. From what I’ve heard, the building contractor who’s responsible for these new houses offered the homeowners a good deal.”

Cain clicked on his seat release button and said, “What about Mr Pedley then? Didn’t they offer him anything?”

Julia laughed. “More than once! They even offered him more than the house is worth. But Douglas is as stubborn as a mule. He won’t sell, ever. This house means too much to him. It belonged to his wife’s family, she was an only child so she inherited it. Val, that’s his wife, died about twenty years ago.” Julia got out of the car and opened the boot to retrieve her cleaning bag.

Cain joined her at the boot and said, “Most people want to move on when a spouse dies, make a fresh start, that sort of thing.”

Julia looked towards the house. “Not everyone feels like that, some people just can’t say goodbye. I think that’s why Douglas prefers his own company, he’s still living with Val’s memories.” She headed towards the house. “It’s not just the house that’s valuable to the building contractor, there’s a lot of land with the house. Three acres I believe.”

Cain faltered in his step, his eyes wide. “Three acres! Where? I can’t see anything.”

Julia headed down the garden path. “It’s all round the back, I’ll show you, if Douglas will allow me.” She stopped and looked at Cain. “His house can be a bit oppressive, and so can Douglas. Don’t let it upset you, I know how sensitive you are.”

Cain puffed his skinny chest out and said, “I’m not that sensitive. I’m a real man.”

Julia smiled and said, “So it wasn’t you who was crying at Downton Abbey, I saw you watching it before I picked you up this morning.”

Cain held his hands out. “But it was Lady Sybil! Why did she have to die?”

They both jumped as the front door was flung open. A straight-backed elderly man glared down at them, his thin moustache bristled as if it was annoyed on the owner’s behalf. Julia always felt like saluting Douglas Pedley, he had that military air of authority about him.

“Julia Blake!” Douglas boomed out. “Is it the last Friday of the month already?”

“It certainly is,” Julia said. She raised a hand to her left and said, “This is Cain Andrews, my colleague.”

Douglas’ eyes narrowed as he studied Cain. “So, this is the famous young man. Or should I say infamous! I’ve heard about his manslaughter charge! I’m surprised you’ve got the nerve to bring him here, Julia Blake!”

Julia held a hand up. “Now look here, Mr Pedley, you can stop that shouting right now! Cain has done his time in prison, and I am more than happy to employ him. And all my other clients are happy to have him in their houses! If you don’t want him in yours, then we’ll happily leave.”

Douglas’ moustache twitched. His mouth lifted slightly and he said, “So, you’re calling me Mr Pedley now, you’ve gone all formal.” His mouth lifted more and he burst out laughing. “I’m only joking with you! I know all about Cain and his time in prison. And I know that he was wrongfully accused.” He opened the door wider. “Come in, come in. I’m not very good at baking so I popped out to the supermarket this morning and got a chocolate cake, its sliced up and ready on the kitchen table. Don’t just stand there, Cain, come in, I won’t bite!”

Cain shot Julia a quizzical look. She shrugged in return. She didn’t know what was going on with Douglas Pedley, she’d never seen him look so jolly. And as for popping out for a cake! Why did her clients feel the need to feed Cain? She knew he was a skinny-looking thing, but still. They never offered her anything. She glanced down at her tummy. Perhaps there was a reason why they never offered her anything.

Douglas led them through to the large kitchen. Julia sniffed and said, “You’ve been cleaning in here.”

Douglas shook his head and said, “I haven’t, but my new friend has.”

Julia’s heart sank. “Have you got a new cleaner? Are you getting rid of me? Is the cake to soften the blow?”

Douglas said, “The cake isn’t for you at all. And no, I haven’t got a new cleaner. Why would I do that?” He turned to Cain and said, “Julia keeps me up to date on all the local gossip. I don’t get out as much as I should so she lets me know what’s going on.”

Julia walked closer to the kitchen table. “I don’t gossip. Tell me who’s been cleaning your kitchen. Have they cleaned the rest of the house too?”

Douglas gave her a wide grin, his eyes seemed to sparkle. Julia couldn’t help but smile at him, he looked years younger today, he could pass for someone in his sixties.

Douglas clasped his hands together and declared, “Julia, I’ve got a girlfriend! And she’s older than me!”

“Oh! I wasn’t expecting that.” Julia sat down on the nearest chair. “Good for you. When you say older, how much older?”

“She’s eighty, just a few years older than me.” Douglas paused as if lost in thought. “She’s beautiful. And charming. And she makes me laugh! I haven’t laughed so much since … I lost my Val.”

Julia stood up and put her hand on his arm. “I truly am pleased for you.”

Douglas suddenly looked nervous. “Would you like to meet her? She’s coming round soon. I know she’d like to meet you. And Cain.” They both looked towards Cain. He was sitting at the kitchen table and appeared to be on his second slice of cake. He didn’t return their look as he tucked into the chocolate icing.

Julia shook her head. “Shall we make a start on the upstairs?”

“You can. Or you could show Cain around outside.” Douglas gave her a wink. “I know you need to stock up on your supplies. Does Cain know your secret?”

Chapter 2

Cain looked at Julia and said, “What secret?”

Julia replied, “I don’t know what he’s talking about.”

“Ha! Don’t try that with me, Julia Blake, tell your colleague the truth.” He turned to Cain and said, “She’s a witch! Did you know that? She goes foraging around my garden looking for herbs and plants to make into spells and potions. I’m surprised she hasn’t turned me into a toad by now.”

Julia tutted. “Don’t listen to him, Cain, he’s having you on.” She paused for a moment, she’d never known Douglas to joke about anything, he really was acting like a different man. “What Douglas is trying to say is that I collect herbs and certain plants from his garden, with his permission of course.”

Cain didn’t look convinced. “And what do you use those herbs and plants for?”

“Love potions!” Douglas boomed out. “Or if she doesn’t, she should do. A bit of romance in your life works wonders. I feel like a new man.”

Julia ignored his outburst. “I use the herbs and plants to make my cleaning products. You’d be surprised how many natural ingredients you can use.” Julia pulled an old-looking notebook from her pocket. Cain smiled softly when he saw it. Julia continued, “You remember this notebook that you gave me, that belonged to your gran? Well, there are some things that I’d like to try out.”

Douglas looked closer at the book, one eyebrow raised. “Are you sure there aren’t any love potions in there? When did you last go on a date?”

“None of your business,” Julia said. She put the notebook back in her pocket. “Right, shall we start on the bathroom?”

Douglas looked at his watch. “No, you can leave that. My lady friend will be here soon. You may as well show Cain the garden, and the land.”

Julia didn’t wait for him to offer again. She did need to stock up on her supplies. She grabbed Cain by the arm and dragged him out of the kitchen door. He snatched another piece of cake as he left.

Julia led him into the large garden. She waved her hand over to the right and said, “Douglas is a keen gardener, he loves growing herbs and vegetables. He’s more than happy to share them with me. I’ve told him many times to give some to his neighbours in the new houses at either side of him, but he refuses. He’s never forgiven the builders for tearing down the original houses and putting these new ones up in their place. I think he blames the house owners too.”

“That’s a shame,” Cain said. He pointed to the bottom of the garden. “Does that gate lead to his land?”

“It certainly does. You can see the field behind the wall, and can you see those trees further on?”

Cain nodded. “You mean the forest?”

“I don’t know if it’s big enough to be called a forest, but yes, that’s Douglas’ land too.”

“Wow. Why does he need so much land?”

Julia walked over to the herb garden and looked down at a patch of mint. “The land belonged to his wife’s family, like I said before. The plan was to build homes for the large family that Val’s parents were planning to have.” She picked a mint leaf and sniffed it. She straightened up and said, “But they only had one child, just Val. And Douglas and Val never had any children. Douglas said Val always felt guilty about that, as if it was her fault.”

“Didn’t they want to adopt? Or try being foster parents?”

Julia put the leaf in her pocket. “Val did start adopting, but it wasn’t children, it was cats.”

“Cats?”

Julia nodded. “There’s a cat rescue charity shop in town that has links to cat rescue centres, it’s run by one of Val’s friends from school. I can’t remember her name. But Val started to adopt the cats when she finally accepted that she couldn’t have children. Not just one cat, but many.” Julia laughed. “Douglas hated the cats but he put up with them for Val’s sake. From what he’s told me, the cats made Val happy. And look at all the land they had to roam around. Val wouldn’t give up the land, her cats needed it.”

“What happened to the cats after she died?”

“Douglas kept them, until the inevitable happened. But when the last one died he went to the cat rescue centre and got another one. Just one this time. Even though he swears he hates cats I think he likes to keep one as it reminds him of Val.” Julia looked from left to right. “Speaking of which, where is Cat?”

Cain snorted. “Cat? He calls his cat, Cat?”

“He likes to keep things simple. I wonder if she’d wandered into the woods. I hope she’s okay, she is getting on a bit.”

Hope lit up in Cain’s eyes and he casually said, “Should we have a look for her? In the forest?”

Julia caught his look and smiled. “Is that an excuse for you to have a nosy about?”

“I’ve never been in a forest before, it looks exciting.”

Julia nodded. She kept forgetting that he’d been in prison for the last twelve years. A small woodland area must look like some sort of adventure playground to him. She said, “Yes, let’s have a look. I’ve been in a few times with Douglas, and hopefully, we shouldn’t get lost.”

Cain clutched his hands together, his eyes shone. “Shall we take some supplies? Some water and food, something to shelter in?”

Julia shook her head and smiled. “We’ll be in and out in thirty minutes.”

Cain’s face fell. “Oh, okay.” He followed Julia down the garden path and through the wooden gate at the bottom.

As they walked across the field his tone changed back to excitement. “I’ve seen lots of detective shows where they find a dead body in a forest. Sometimes hanging from a tree, sometimes hidden in the undergrowth.”

Julia’s step faltered. “Just because we found one deceased person last month doesn’t mean we’re going to find another.”

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right.”

Julia hoped she was right too. She crossed her fingers as they entered the woods.

Chapter 3

The woods were a pleasant place to be. The trees were far enough apart so as to not block out the daylight, and there were several well-trodden paths that led through the trees.

Cain bounded ahead of Julia like a playful puppy. He called out, “I can hear water! Can I go and find out where it’s coming from?”

“Off you go, I’ll catch you up,” Julia  said and waved him away. She looked at the low-growing plants around her. She wished she knew what they were. There were some names in Cain’s gran’s notebook that she wasn’t familiar with, some plant names that sounded old-fashioned. Julia took her phone out and began to take photos of the plants. Perhaps she could post them on the Internet and ask for their names.

She wandered after Cain, taking photos as she went. She stopped. “That’s funny.” She looked closer at what had caught her eye. There were a lot of footprints, all stamped into the ground in front of her. The footprints were large, and the grooves were deep. They looked like they’d come from some sort of boot, possibly a work boot. Hmm, she didn’t recall Douglas having any work boots lined up on his shoe rack. She looked closer. There seemed to be two different sizes of boots, one slightly larger than the other. It looked like two people had been standing here recently. She stood near to the boot prints and looked around. She could just see the top of Douglas’ house from here. Had someone been spying on him?

Some impulse told her to take photographs of the prints.

She walked towards the small stream and smiled when she saw Cain crouched at its side, his hand in the gently flowing water. He looked up at her, a big grin on his face. “I saw a frog! And some fish. This place is amazing!”

Julia’s heart ached as she thought about how much the young man had missed out on his life. When he’d first come to her house for an interview he had told her honestly about his life. His mother had never cared for him, his father didn’t know of his existence until it was too late, and his four brothers had treated him worse than a dog. His life had improved when his gran took him in. But then things had turned worse for him when he was wrongly accused of manslaughter. He had done his time in prison out of a misplaced sense of loyalty for the real culprits - his no-good brothers.

Julia was glad that she had taken a chance on him and given him a job. And her dad, Ray, was overjoyed too as he had become good friends with Cain.

Cain looked a lot younger than his years as he moved his hand around in the water.

Julia cocked her head to one side. “Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Cain asked, his hand moving in a circle in the water.

“Shh! Listen!”

Cain took his hand out and stood up. He adopted the same pose as Julia as he listened. After a moment he nodded and said, “It sounds like a trapped animal or something. It’s coming from over there.”

“Cat! It must be Cat! Come on!” Julia ran away from the river and deeper into the trees. The screeching noise that she’d heard became louder. She ran towards some low-lying bushes, the noise was even louder. Julia fell to her knees and moved the spiky branches to one side. “Cat! What have you done? Are you stuck?”

Cain joined her and peeped through the branches. “She’s got her fur caught on a branch. If you hold the branches up I’ll try and get her free.”

Julia lifted the branches, wincing as a spike cut into her hand. She said, “Be careful, it’s very prickly.”

Cain flattened himself down on the grass and inched forward, his hand outstretched. He made soothing noises to Cat as he moved even closer. Soon, half of his body was inside the spiky plant. Cat’s howls of distress stopped. Cain slowly moved backwards. Blood dripped down Julia’s hand as another spike caught her. Her arm was aching but she couldn’t let the branches drop.

Cain moved fully backwards with a disgruntled-looking ginger cat in his arms. When he was fully free he set the cat down and said, “So, you’re Cat.”

Cat lifted her head and tail at the same time and swiftly trotted away.

“You’re welcome!” Julia cried after the ungrateful creature. She let the branch go, took out a tissue and wiped the blood from her hand.

Cain was just about to speak when a noise made them both freeze. Julia’s finger flew to her mouth and she lowered herself further on the grass.

The noise that they’d heard this time was the sound of men talking. Twigs cracked and grass rustled as the men came closer.

“It’s only a matter of time before the old codger gives in,” said a man.

“We haven’t got time, you idiot! We’re losing money, the housing market won’t stay like this forever. We’ve got to build those houses now, don’t you understand?” This was said by a younger-sounding man.

The first man spoke again, “Of course I understand, and this land is perfect for those executive homes, but we’re doing all that we can.”

“We can do more. Sending that ancient fool an offer letter now and again isn’t working.” There was a pause. “We need to convince him in stronger terms that he needs to move.”

“What are you suggesting? Nothing illegal I hope. You know what happened last time.”

“I made a mistake last time, I won’t do that again. I think Mr Pedley needs to be convinced that it’s time he moved on, for the good of his health.”

Julia’s breath caught. She looked over at Cain, he looked as horrified as she felt. It was clear what these men were talking about. But who were they? Julia looked through the foliage but she couldn’t see anything from her low viewing point. If she just raised her head a bit …

Everything suddenly fell silent. A feeling of cold dread trickled down Julia’s back. Had she and Cain been spotted? Would she look up to see two angry men glaring down at them?

A twig cracked making her heart miss a beat.

The second man spoke again. Julia heard the hint of menace in his voice as he said, “I think I’ll pay Douglas Pedley a visit in the very near future. I can convince him to sell his house. I can be very persuasive.”

The men walked away. Julia let out the breath that she’d been holding.

Cain whispered, “What are we going to do?”

Julia stood up and brushed bits of grass and leaves from herself. She looked at Cain and said, “We’re going to tell Douglas about this. And then he’s going to ring the police.”

But that didn’t happen.

Chapter 4

“What a load of old tripe!” Douglas announced.

“It’s not old tripe! I heard them talking, and so did Cain,” Julia said. She turned to Cain for verification, he was sitting at the kitchen table. “More cake, Cain? Really?”

Cain nodded towards Douglas and said, “He told me to finish it off.”

“That’s right, lad, I did. I like to see a young man with a good appetite. Julia, I didn’t mean you were talking a load of old tripe. I meant those men were. As if they’re going to scare me into selling my home! I’ll take on the lot of them. I know who they are.”

Julia said, “Who are they? I take it that they’re builders of some sort.”

“Cowboys, more like,” Douglas said. “These so-called modern houses to the right and left of me, they were built by Adams Construction. The houses were thrown up in weeks, they’ll never last a good winter. Those men in the woods most likely work for Alexander Adams, he’s the boss. I don’t know what they were doing on my land but if I ever see them I’ll aim my air rifle at them!”

“Have they been bothering you recently?” Julia asked.

Douglas stroked one side of his thin moustache. “Alexander Adams approached me at the same time that he approached my old neighbours, he asked if I wanted to sell my house. I told him I didn’t want to sell, and that I had no intention of doing so in the future. He was polite, and so was I. I’ve had a few letters since, asking if I’d changed my mind. They offered me a ridiculous sum, but I still said no.” He raised his eyebrows at Julia and added, “I was a little less polite that time.”

“So no one has been in touch recently? No threats of any kind?”

“Such as?”

Cain interrupted, “Strange people hanging around the street, your phone being tapped, your home being bugged.”

“By! You’ve got an active imagination! No, I haven’t noticed anything like that. I’ve no idea if my house is bugged. I’ve been a bit preoccupied of late.” Douglas looked at his watch. “She should have been here by now. I suppose it’s a woman’s prerogative to be late.”

The doorbell rang.

Douglas’ face lit up like a child’s on Christmas morning. “She’s here, she’s finally here,” he said in an awe-filled voice. He looked back at Julia and said, “You stay here. Sit down, you’re making the place look untidy. And don’t ask her a hundred questions! I know how nosy you are.”

Julia sat down and tried to look offended, she wasn’t nosy at all, just curious. She reached for a slice of cake and said to Cain, “I can’t wait to see the woman who’s changed Douglas so much.”

A few minutes later she said, “What’s taking them so long?”

Cain grinned and said, “Maybe they’re snogging. You’ve got crumbs around your mouth.”

Julia wiped the crumbs away and stood up. “Perhaps we should go and find them.”

“Stay where you are!” Douglas thundered as he returned to the kitchen, a woman at his side.

Julia felt her mouth dropping open as she stared at the vision who was standing proudly next to Douglas, her arm linked through his. Her jet-black hair was full and glossy, Julia thought she could see flecks of dark blue in it. The woman’s eyes were an amazing shade of blue. There were small lines around her eyes and mouth but her cheeks were soft-looking and rosy. Julia took in the elegant silk dress that the woman was wearing, it was the same blue as her eyes.

Douglas was right, his new friend was beautiful. Julia felt the air on her tongue and snapped her mouth shut.

The woman removed her arm from Douglas’ and extended a hand towards Julia. She smiled and said, “How lovely to meet you at last, Julia. Douglas has told me a lot about you.”

“Has he? He’s told me barely nothing about you.” Julia shook the woman’s hand.

The woman then moved over to Cain and said, “You must be Cain. I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve made you a fruit cake to take home. I’ve left the box by the front door.”

Cain stood up and took her hand. “Thank you, I love fruit cake.” He paused for a moment and then added, “I like all sorts of cake.”

Julia shook her head slightly. Cain would have enough baked goods soon to start his own shop.

The woman spoke again. “Oh! Where are my manners? I haven’t told you my name. It’s Nina Sapphire.”

Julia felt her breath catch. “That’s a beautiful name. It matches your eyes.” Her hand flew to her mouth. “Sorry! That was a silly thing to say.”

Nina laughed, a genteel kind of laugh. “I know what you mean. Sapphire isn’t the surname I was born with. I changed it to that for my career. I used to be a …”

Cain pointed at her and shouted, “A film star! I thought I recognised you! I used to watch all your films with my gran. I can’t believe you’re still alive!” It was Cain’s turn to look embarrassed.

Nina gave a small grimace. “I’m just about alive, these old bones keep me moving.”

“You are more alive than any woman I know,” Douglas said. Julia’s eyes prickled at the tenderness in his voice. If he said anything else like that she’d burst into tears.

Nina moved back to Douglas, she looked as if she was floating on the air. “Darling, I think we need to go. We’ll be late for our reservation.” She looked at Julia and said, “We’re going to that Italian restaurant in town, we’re booked in for the pensioner’s special.” She chuckled. “There are some compensations to being so old.”

“You don’t look old,” Julia said truthfully. Nina couldn’t be eighty years old! Julia hoped that she’d look that good at eighty. She sighed. She wished she looked that good now.

Douglas said, “Julia, I’m sorry for messing you about. Shall we leave the cleaning until next month?”

“No, I’ll check my schedule, I’m sure I can find another day. Although, I don’t mind staying now to do the cleaning work.”

Nina waved a delicate hand at her. “My dear, you can’t work late on a Friday. I’m sure you’ve got social plans.”

“Oh, yes, of course I have plans,” Julia said. She didn’t add that her plans included pepperoni pizza and three episodes of Lewis.

Nina said to Douglas, “Would you mind if I paid a visit to the ladies’ room before we go?”

“Of course not, sweetheart. I’ll get my coat on.”

Nina removed her arm again and gave Julia a small wink. “I’m a slave to my bladder.”

Julia returned her smile. What a lovely woman she was. Douglas really was a lucky man.

Nina moved away, again seeming to float.

As soon as she was out of earshot Douglas beamed at Julia and said, “Well, what do you think? She’s perfect, isn’t she?”

“She certainly is. How did you meet?”

“At that charity shop in town. I finally plucked up the courage to take Val’s clothes in. Nina works as a volunteer there. I was reluctant to hand over Val’s clothes, I’d changed my mind about giving them away. Nina took me through to the back of the shop, made me a cup of tea and listened to my worries about letting Val’s things go. She was so understanding. It was her who asked me out on a date! Can you believe that? At my age?” He smiled to himself. “I’m the luckiest man alive. I can’t believe I’ve got a second chance at love.” His glance flicked upwards. He lowered his voice and said, “I’m going to ask her …”

He never finished his sentence. There was an almighty crash, followed by an ear-splitting scream.

“Nina!” Douglas turned on his heel and ran towards the hallway and stairs. Julia and Cain ran after him.

They found Nina lying at the bottom of the stairs. Her eyes were closed and she wasn’t moving.

Chapter 5

Cain gasped and grabbed Julia’s arm. “Is she dead?”

“I don’t know,” Julia said.

Douglas lowered himself next to Nina’s still body and stroked her face. “Nina! Open your eyes! Tell me you’re okay.” He began to sob.

Julia gently moved him to one side. She put her hand on Nina’s neck and said, “I can feel a pulse. Cain, phone for an ambulance.”

Cain took out his phone and moved slightly away from everyone.

Nina’s eyelids fluttered open. “Oh! What happened? Why am I lying here? Douglas, help me up, please.”

Julia turned to Douglas and said, “Don’t move her, she could have broken something.”

Nina lifted her head and said, “No, really, I feel fine. Well, I feel like a fool lying here like this! What must you think of me?”

Julia turned her attention back to Nina. “You’ve had a nasty fall. It sounded as if you’d fallen all the way down the stairs. Please don’t move, help will be here soon.”

Cain returned to the group. “They’re on their way.” He looked towards the top of the carpeted steps. “Did you trip over something?”

“I’m not sure. One minute I was heading for the top of the stairs, and then … I’m at the bottom looking up at you all. Please, don’t make a fuss. I’m sure I’m okay.”

“We’re not making a fuss. And I insist that you stay where you are,” Julia said. “Douglas, do you want to go to the hospital with Nina? I don’t mind going with her.”

Douglas took Nina’s hand and said, “I’m not leaving her side. My poor darling, I could have lost you.”

Nina tried to smile. Julia noticed her small grimace as she did so. Nina said, “Douglas, I’m not going anywhere for a long time. You don’t get rid of me that easily.”

“Promise?” Douglas lifted Nina’s hand to his mouth and kissed it.

Julia straightened up and looked at the stairs. “Let’s see what caused you to fall.”

Cain followed Julia to the top of the stairs. Julia hunkered down and examined the top step. She pulled at a bit of carpet. She lowered her voice and said, “Look, Cain, the carpet is sticking up here. I’m not sure if it’s become threadbare through age or if someone’s pulled it up.”

“Looks like age. The carpets in Gran’s house are like that. I’ll have to replace them at some point.”

Julia called down to Douglas, “Your carpet is sticking up just above the top step. How long has it been like that?”

Douglas blanched. “Oh hell! It’s been like that for months. I’ve been meaning to get it fixed. Oh, Nina! It’s my fault that you nearly died!”

Nina pulled his hand closer to her chest and said, “No, it’s my fault. I should have watched where I was going.”

The sound of sirens cut through their conversation. Julia walked carefully down the steps and towards the front door. Within minutes the paramedics had assessed the situation and placed Nina onto a stretcher.

Nina waved a hand feebly at them and said, “Really! There’s no need. I feel fine.”

Douglas said firmly, “The doctors will let you know if you’re fine or not. Just let these people take care of you.”

Nina gave him a grateful smile.

Julia said to Douglas, “We’ll finish our cleaning job and then lock up for you. I’ll use the spare key that you’ve given me.”

“No, go home, Julia. You’ve done enough for today. My house can wait another month, it’s not important.”

The paramedics carried Nina out of the front door. She held a hand out for Douglas. He took it and walked at her side as she was placed in the waiting ambulance.

“Do you think we should go with them?” Cain asked.

“I wish we could, but we’d only be in the way. I’ll phone Douglas later and see how Nina is. She’s being very brave. I don’t think I would be, I’d be screaming my head off.”

“Me too,” Cain admitted.

Julia waited until the ambulance had driven away. She walked back up the stairs and had another look at the carpet. “I wonder if I could fix it. I don’t want to leave it like that for Douglas. I’ve got some superglue in my bag, I could try that.”

Cain said, “Why would you have superglue in your handbag?”

Julia indicated towards the carpet. “For situations like this, of course.”

They both jumped as the noise of breaking glass shot through the air.

“What on earth? It sounded like it was coming from the back of the house, the kitchen I think.”

They soon found out what had caused the noise.

“Careful! There’s glass all over the floor,” Julia said as she stood at the kitchen door.

Cain pointed to the large window over the sink. “It’s that one that’s broken.” His finger moved towards the floor. “And that’s what caused it to break.”

Julia frowned and took a cautious step forward. “That’s a huge rock. It’s obviously been thrown on purpose. Why would someone do that?”

She looked at Cain. He immediately said what she was thinking. “Adams Construction? Perhaps this is a warning for Douglas. Is there any paper tied around the rock, some sort of warning or threat?”

Julia took another step. “Like something telling Douglas to sell his house or else? I can’t see anything.” She carefully made her way over to the rock and crouched next to it. “No, there’s no paper around it, and nothing written on the rock itself. I’m going to wrap it in a cloth and take it to the police. I don’t know if you can get fingerprints from a rock, but it’s worth trying. I know Douglas won’t take this threat seriously, but I am!”

She wrapped the rock in a clean cleaning cloth and then retreated from the room. She said, “We can’t leave the window like that. I’ll phone Joshua Bentley, he’s a local handyman, and a friend of Dad’s.”

Joshua Bentley was nearby and he promised to be there within ten minutes. Julia and Cain carefully swept up the broken glass whilst they waited for him.

When Joshua arrived Julia asked him if he could secure the carpet at the top of the stairs too.

“No problem.” He nodded and turned to Cain. “You must be Cain. Ray’s told me all about you. If you ever need any work doing on your house, give me a call. I do a cheaper rate for friends.”

Cain beamed. Julia wasn’t sure if that was due to the fact that Joshua had mentioned her dad, or the cheaper rate for friends.

Julia said to Cain, “Let’s have a look in the garden, see if we can spot any footprints similar to those I saw earlier.”

They didn’t find any footprints due to the fact that the area below the kitchen window was paved. Julia looked towards the gate at the bottom of the path. “Anyone can just walk in here, it’s not secure.”

“I think Douglas is the kind of man that can take care of himself,” Cain said.

Julia nodded. “So he likes to think. Would you mind helping me collect some herbs? I never got chance to do it earlier.”

Ten minutes later Joshua called out from the back door, “I’ve fixed the carpet and boarded up the window. I’ll come back with the right sized glass tomorrow. Bye!”

“Thanks!” Julia called after him. “Right, Cain, we’d better go. I’ll leave Douglas a note about the window and carpet.”

Cain said, “And what are you going to do about the rock that broke the window?”

Julia said, “I’m going to let the police know.” She sighed. “I don’t think they’ll be happy to see me again so soon.”

Chapter 6

The following morning was Saturday and Julia usually spent the day on her accounts. But she couldn’t settle down to them. She tried phoning Douglas a few times but there was never any reply. Julia’s thoughts wandered to Nina. Was she still in the hospital? Had she broken any bones? Had she taken a turn for the worse? Julia had phoned the hospital, but, as expected, they wouldn’t give her any news because she wasn’t a relative.

Julia closed her accounts page on her laptop. “I’ll just have to go and see Douglas,” she told herself.

She drove towards Douglas’ house and saw him waiting at the bus stop a short distance from his home. She stopped the car, lowered the window and said, “Good morning. I’ve been trying to ring you.”

Douglas impatiently tapped his watch. “Stupid buses! I’ve been waiting here for an hour. There was supposed to be one fifty minutes ago, and then one ten minutes ago. Neither has shown up! No doubt three will come along together any minute now!”

“Where are you going?”

“To the hospital. Nina will be worried sick, I told her I’d be in to see her first thing.”

“Get in, I’ll give you a lift.”

Douglas didn’t need telling twice. He opened the passenger door and got in. “That’s decent of you, thank you. And thank you for sorting my window out. If I ever catch the nitwit that broke it I’ll have my gun out in a flash. I’ll teach them a lesson.”

Julia drove away. “You can’t just shoot anyone.”

“More’s the pity,” Douglas grumbled.

“Like I said in my note, I took the rock that came through the window. You can give it to the police when you report the broken window.”

“Like hell I will! What are the police going to do? I can take care of myself.”

Julia smiled. “I thought you might say that. I’ll let the police know then, I’ve got contacts there.”

“Do what you like. I’ve got other things on my mind.”

“Nina? That’s why I’ve been phoning you. How is she?”

“Doing well. The doctor said it was a miracle that she didn’t break anything. She’s covered in bruises, but other than that, she’s okay.” He sighed happily. “What an amazing woman she is.”

“She’s lucky, and so are you. You could have tripped over that carpet at any time. I’m surprised that I didn’t find you at the bottom on one of my visits!”

Douglas chuckled. “And I’ll bet you still would have helped yourself to my herb garden.”

“Of course I would. You said I could help myself anytime. I wouldn’t let a dead body get in my way.”

Douglas let out a bark of laughter. “That’s the spirit! No need to let corpses get in your way. Speaking of which, here we are at the hospital. You should see some of the patients that are on Nina’s ward. When I first saw them I wasn’t sure if they were alive or waiting to be wheeled away to the mortuary. I hated leaving Nina there last night but the doctor insisted.”

Julia pulled into the car park. Douglas said, “You might as well find a parking space. I know you want to see Nina for yourself. It’ll cost you an arm and a leg to park here though.”

Julia parked up and paid for a ticket. Douglas moved from foot to foot at her side. “Hurry up, woman! Nina’s waiting for me.”

“I’m ready,” Julia said. She followed Douglas into the hospital and along corridors. For an older man he moved swiftly. She was out of breath as they turned into a ward.

Julia was expecting to see a wan-faced Nina surrounded by similar-looking patients. She stopped in mid-step and blinked. Blimey, it looked like some sort of party was going on. Nina was propped up in bed, wearing dark blue silky pyjamas, a similar coloured ribbon held back her hair. The patients at either side of her were smiling in her direction like awe struck fans. Chairs had been pulled up all around Nina’s bed and were occupied by various women, all above the age of sixty by the look of them. Vases of flowers adorned Nina’s bedside table and there were many boxes of open chocolates spread over her bed. The chocolates were being eaten regularly by Nina’s visitors.

Julia was surprised that the hospital staff were allowing such a rowdy event to continue. But one look at the smiling faces of the nearby nurses told Julia that they had fallen under Nina’s spell too.

“Douglas!” Nina called out. “You came! I was wondering where you were. Oh, everybody, it’s Douglas. Doesn’t he look handsome this morning?”

There was some nodding between the women. Julia saw a couple of them eyeing up Douglas’ behind as he bent over to give Nina a kiss. Julia walked closer to Nina’s bed.

“Julia! Oh, my dear, how lovely to see you! Look, everyone, this is Julia. We only met yesterday but I feel like we’re going to be great friends.” Julia felt heat rush to her cheeks as many pairs of eyes looked her up and down.

One of the women stood up and said, “Nina, we have to be going. You take care and don’t listen to those doctors! They know nothing. Remember what they said about my wind problem? Pah! They know nothing.”

The other women stood up too and said their goodbyes to Nina. Nina insisted that they take some of the chocolates with them. The women refused at first but Nina insisted that they take them. There was a lot of chattering and nattering as the group buttoned up their coats, collected their handbags and said another farewell to the patient.

“Don’t even think about coming back to work yet!” a woman with purple hair said, pointing a finger at Nina.

Douglas, Nina and Julia waited for the women to leave. When they had Nina said to Julia, “Could you take those other boxes of chocolates? I didn’t want to upset my friends but chocolate does not agree with me at all! Please, don’t refuse, you’ll be doing me a favour.”

Julia took the last two boxes off the bed and put them in her bag. Chocolate didn’t disagree with her at all, it very much agreed with her. Julia sat down and asked how Nina was.

Nina’s eyes sparkled and she motioned for Douglas to pull the curtains on at either side of her bed. As soon as the curtains were pulled Nina burst into tears. “Oh, I’m sorry. I can’t help it! I tried to be brave for my friends, they’ve been so kind to me, but I can’t keep my tears in.”

Douglas put his arm around her and said, “There, there, my love, what’s the matter?”

Nina sniffed and pulled a lace handkerchief from her sleeve. “My body hurts more than I let on. I’m trying to be strong. I want to go home, Douglas, I don’t like being in hospital. I feel like I’m closer to death here. Don’t tell the doctors I’ve been crying, will you?”

Douglas pulled her closer. “Of course I won’t. We’ll have you out of here today. You can stay at my house, I’ve got plenty of room.”

“No, I can’t put you to any bother.”

“Nonsense! I insist on it.”

“But what will people think?”

“They can think what they like. I won’t take no for an answer.” Douglas turned to Julia and said, “I’m not leaving this hospital without Nina. I might be here a while, you can go. Thank you for the lift but we’ll get a taxi back.”

“I don’t mind waiting,” Julia said.

Nina’s tears began again. “Oh, I’m being such a nuisance! I don’t want you to see me like this.”

Julia felt Nina’s embarrassment and stood up. “You’re not a nuisance. I’ll go but ring me if you need anything.”

Nina held her hand out and pulled Julia close. She pecked her on the cheek and said, “Thank you, you’ve been so kind.”

Julia waved her thanks away. She said goodbye and walked away. Douglas still had his arm around Nina’s frail-looking shoulders. Nina looked ready to burst into tears again.

As Julia drove away from the hospital she felt a determination wash through her body. She was going to see the police and tell them about the rock, the footprints and the men in the woods. If Nina Sapphire was going to be staying with Douglas the last thing she needed was another rock through the window!

Chapter 7

Dad turned up at Julia’s house on Sunday afternoon. She made him a cup of tea and took him into the living room. She asked him how his week had been.

“Oh, you know, busy busy. I’m sure I never did this much when I was working,” he said. “I’m still going to my knitting group. I’ve made a hat and matching scarf for Cain. Do you think he’ll like them?”

Julia smiled. “He’ll like anything that you make for him, you’ve become good friends, haven’t you?”

Dad nodded. “He’s like the son I never had, he’s great.”

Julia tutted. “Aren’t two daughters enough for you?”

“I suppose so, but it’s nice to have Cain around. He never complains about doing hard physical work at his gran’s house.”

Julia was about to say that she never complained at hard physical work, but she knew that wasn’t true. If she did, Dad would only bring up the subject of the paved path at his house, and how she and her sister, Anna, refused to help him because the stones were too heavy. Instead, she said, “How are you getting on at Cain’s house? I suppose we should call it that, rather than his gran’s, seeing as she left it to him.”

“Well, we’ve painted as much as we can outside. He’ll need new windows and doors soon. But we’ve made a good start on the garden. I was there with him yesterday. We started laying a paved path.” He stopped and gave her a pointed look. “Some of his neighbours were watching us, you know how nosy some old folk are. The one next to Cain came over in the afternoon and asked if he’d mind cutting her grass. She said the lawnmower was getting too heavy for her. She said she’d pay. I could tell Cain was going to say he’d cut it for free so I butted in and said he’d do it for a small amount. I know how proud he is about money but he needs to get some savings built up if he’s going back to college.”

Julia nodded. “He’ll soon do that, he’s a hard worker. Have any of the other neighbours asked him to do any work?”

Dad laughed. “How did you know to ask that? Of course they did, I could see the net curtains twitching as he cut his neighbour’s grass. They’re all getting on a bit in Cain’s street, and I think they feel a bit sorry for him too. You should see the amount of cake and biscuits he gets given! He forced me to take some. I don’t know what your mother’s going to say, you know she wants me to eat healthily and all that New Age rubbish.” He paused and frowned. “I’ll keep my goodies in the shed. She never goes in there. Now, what have you been up to? Cain told me all about Douglas and his new lady friend. How is she after her fall?”

Julia filled him in on all the details, including the rock through the kitchen window. She told him that she’d been to the police station too. “I wanted to speak to DI Clarke but he wasn’t in. I left a message for him, he hasn’t phoned me back. There’s something funny going on with that construction company, I just know it.”

Dad nodded as he listened. “I’ve heard tales about Adams Construction too. They build these modern houses that nobody wants. They can’t be using good materials if they’re building them so quickly. A workman takes pride in his creations, he doesn’t rush them.”

Julia said, “I wish I could talk to someone at that company, see what their thoughts about Douglas’ house are. And I wouldn’t mind seeing the inside of one of their new houses, see what all the fuss is about.”

Dad gulped down his tea, set it on the table and said, “You’d better get your coat then.”

“Pardon?”

“They’ve built some more houses at the far side of Douglas’ land. They’ve got a show house open.” He stood up. “Well? Do you want have a look or not?”

Julia put her own cup down. “I’ll get my coat.”

A short while later Dad pulled up outside the show home. Julia tutted and said, “Doesn’t look like much. Look at the garden, all that paving and pebbles. You’d never get anything growing on there.” She thought about the constant battle she was having with the weeds in her front garden. “Although, I suppose you could plant some tubs up, place them at the side of the door. That would look nice.”

“No, it wouldn’t. Get that dreamy look off your face. We’re going in.”

Julia followed Dad into the new house. She ignored the lovely smell of new carpets and paint. When had her house last smelled like that?

A smiling woman met them in the hallway. “Good afternoon! Welcome to the Windsor! It’s beautiful, isn’t it? All modern conveniences! Should you decide to purchase one of our stylish homes you will have full say over what colour of paint and carpets you’d like! And we have a wide choice of kitchen cabinets to choose from. My name’s Delilah. I’ll leave you to look around, call if you need me!”

“Ta,” Dad said shortly. Delilah nodded and disappeared into a side room, closing the door behind her. Dad nudged Julia and said, “Close your mouth before you catch any flies.”

“There aren’t any flies in here. Dad! Look, there’s a downstairs toilet. I’ve always wanted one of them.”

Dad sniffed in disgust as they walked down the carpeted hallway. “What’s the problem with having a toilet upstairs? It’s not hygienic having one downstairs.”

Julia’s feet sank into the carpet as they walked along. She wished she could fling her shoes off and wriggle her toes into the soft fibres.

Dad sniffed again as they looked into the beautiful kitchen. “Does anyone need all those appliances? Who needs a wine rack? What’s wrong with putting wine in the fridge? And what’s the point of having a utility room?”

“I’d love a utility room. And a wine rack. Look at that fridge! It’s got its own ice cube maker!”

“You can buy ice cube bags from the supermarket. Can you stop being so enthusiastic? Have you forgotten that these people have most likely threatened your friend, Douglas?”

Julia’s smile faded. “I haven’t forgotten. I’ll try to curb my enthusiasm.”

She tried hard and didn’t utter a word when she saw the amazing en suite that was part of the master bedroom. She didn’t even raise her eyebrows when she saw the huge bath located in the family bathroom. She squeaked a little when she saw the walk-in wardrobe complete with shoe racks.

Dad tutted and grumbled all the way round the house. “Look at all the plastic they’ve used. And that  window is far too small.”

Julia pointed to a small bedroom. “You could use that as your hobby room. Look, it’s got a built-in wardrobe. You could put all your wool in there. And your secret supply of cake.”

Dad nodded thoughtfully. “Aye, I could. Your mum does complain about tripping over my wool.” He gave a start and said, “Stop that! If you want to go over to the dark side, then go ahead! But don’t take me with you.”

Julia laughed and moved over to the window. “Oh look, Dad, there’s a lovely view of the woods.”

“A view to die for,” a voice said behind them.

Dad swore and clutched his chest. “Heck! You gave me a start then. I didn’t hear you come in.”

Delilah gave them a professional smile and said, “It’s the carpet that we use, so thick and luxurious. You have a choice of over thirty colours! What do you think of the Windsor?”

Julia wondered for a second if Delilah had been silently following them around the house. She must be hoping for a sale. Julia remembered why they were there. She nodded towards the window and said, “That’s an amazing view. I’d love to live somewhere surrounded by trees. Have you any plans to build on that land out there?”

Delilah looked to her left and right. Goodness knew who she was expecting to see. She lowered her voice and said, “I shouldn’t be telling you this but we are planning to build on that land. Negotiations are underway with the owner of the land. We even have a mock-up model of the houses that we’re going to build there. It’s all hush-hush at the moment but if you’re interested I could take your email and keep you up to date with developments.”

Julia saw her dad’s eyes narrow. She put a smile on her face and said to Delilah, “Yes, I’d like that very much, thank you.”

Chapter 8

Julia and Cain were busy with cleaning jobs over the next few days. DI Clarke never phoned her back. Julia didn’t pursue him. She hadn’t told Douglas about speaking to the police. She’d reconsidered the matter over the last few days, it really was none of her business.

She spoke to Douglas a few times over the phone. He told her that Nina was recovering quickly at his house, and that she was a delightful patient. He said, “I never thought I’d enjoy somebody’s company so much again after my Val died. I never thought I’d find happiness again. And I think Nina feels the same way.”

“I’m pleased for you,” Julia said. She hesitated a moment and then said, “Have you heard anything more from Adams Construction?”

He laughed. “No! And I haven’t had any more broken windows if that’s the information that you’re after.”

“That’s good.” Julia didn’t know whether to tell him about the plans that Delilah had mentioned to her and Dad on Sunday. Maybe she shouldn’t, she didn’t want to spoil his good mood. She said, “Has the window been fixed?”

“It certainly has. And the carpet has been secured perfectly. Thank you for organising that. Julia, could I ask you a favour?”

“Of course.”

“Nina’s insisting on going back to work on Wednesday. You know she volunteers at that cat charity shop in town, she seems to think that they can’t manage without her. I’ve tried talking her out of it but she won’t listen. If you’re in town on Wednesday would you mind popping in to make sure she’s okay. Don’t let her know I’ve sent you!”

“Yes, I can do that. It’s time I had a good clear out of my clothes anyway. I’ll take some in.”

That conversation had taken place on Monday night, it was now Wednesday afternoon. Julia and Cain were heading towards the cat charity shop, each laden with plastic bags.

Cain said, “Is this all your stuff? Have you got any clothes left at home?”

“Yes. These are my hopeful clothes. I’ve had them for years, hoping that I’ll fit back into them. I’ve got a pair of shorts in there that are older than my children. I had to face up to the fact that I’m not going to fit into them again.”

Cain said, “You must miss your children.”

“I do. But they’ll be coming home from university soon, you’ll get a chance to meet them.”

Cain said, “I hope they like me.”

“Of course they’ll like you! Dad’s been singing your praises to them for weeks.” She stopped and looked at a shop window. “Here we are. Oh, they’ve got good quality clothes in the window. I hope they won’t be offended by my tatty garments.”

She opened the door and stepped through. Cain followed her. The shop was neatly laid out and there were many customers. Julia’s eye immediately saw the book section. No, she didn’t need any more books, she had plenty. But still, it wouldn’t hurt to look.

She made her way over to the counter. A large woman glared at her and said, “Yes? What are you buying?”

Julia took a step back and bumped into Cain. She wasn’t expecting such a deep voice to come from a woman. The woman had coarse grey hair, cut short. She had large facial features and didn’t appear to be wearing any make-up. From the amount of cats embroidered on her knitted jumper it was clear to see that she liked cats.

The woman eyed the bags that Julia now held up, her eyes narrowed. “Are those clothes clean? We haven’t got time to fling them in the washing machine.”

Julia nodded.

“Are they in good condition? We don’t want to be sewing holes up and putting buttons on shirts.”

Julia nodded again. She was beginning to regret bringing her clothes in, she didn’t realise charity shops could be so fussy.

The woman sighed and nodded towards an open door at the back of the shop. “Take them to the storeroom. Nina will take them from you.” She paused and a look of disgust crossed her face. “If she’s not having another break. I don’t know why she bothered to come in today.”

Julia said thank you and headed towards the open door. At her side, Cain whispered, “Was that a man or a woman?”

“A woman.”

“Are you sure? She’s got a little moustache.”

“I saw her name badge, it said Mildred.” Julia stopped at the door. “Should we go in? Call out for Nina?”

Cain looked back over his shoulder. “That Mildred person is staring at us. She’s making me nervous. Shall we go in?”

Julia did so. “Oh, it’s like the land of plastic bags in here. Blimey! I’m glad I don’t have to go through all these bags!”

They heard chatting at the far side of the room. Still holding their bags, they made their way towards the chatter.

They found Nina sitting on a comfy-looking chair in a kitchen type area. She was surrounded by four women, all sitting around a table. Julia recognised some of the women from the hospital. Julia was pleased to see that Nina looked happy.

Nina saw her and raised a cup. “Julia! What a lovely surprise. And Cain too. Come and sit down, have a cuppa.”

Julia held the bags up. “We only popped by to drop these off. The woman on the counter, Mildred, told us to bring them through.”

Julia heard one of the larger women swearing under her breath. Another said, “That woman! She could have taken them from you! Lazy cow, sitting on that stool all day.”

Nina said, “Doris, don’t be like that. You know she does a lot for the cat charity.”

Doris folded her arms. “I don’t know why you’re sticking up for her, not after the way she treats you.”

Julia said, “What has she done?”

“Nothing,” Nina said. “Put your bags down, I’ll deal with them in a moment.”

Doris hadn’t finished. “It isn’t nothing! You offer your services here, you’ve brightened up all our lives with your constant smiling. And that miserable old trout makes you do all the hard work. You’ve only just come back to work and she sticks you in the bag room, expects you to go through all those donations! It’s not on!”

Another woman added, “She’s jealous, that’s what she is. Didn’t like Nina being at the counter, didn’t like the way Nina worked, you know, being polite and helpful. That’s not Mildred’s way at all. No wonder she stuck you in here.”

Nina put her cup on the table. “I’m sure Mildred wasn’t being mean, she does have her good points. It was kind of her to let me volunteer here.”

Doris banged her fist on the table. “Nonsense! You’re the best thing that’s happened to this shop for years. I was ready to walk out before you came. Don’t you give her the satisfaction of leaving.”

Nina smiled. “I don’t intend to leave. Thank you all, you’ve been so supportive. Let me put the kettle on, it must be my turn to make the tea.” She stood up before anyone could argue. “Oh! Goodness! My head feels strange.” She put her hand to her head.

Cain was at her side in a moment, his hand on her back. “I’ve got you!”

Doris stood up and shoved him to one side. “Out of the way, lad. You won’t be any use, she’ll squash you if she faints. No offence, Nina.”

Nina tried to wave Doris away. “No, don’t make a fuss. I’ll be okay in a moment.”

Doris’ face darkened. “I bet Mildred has poisoned your tea. I don’t trust that woman as far as I could throw her. And that wouldn’t be far.”

Julia put her bags down and said, “Nina, shall I phone for a doctor?”

“No, I’m fine. But I do feel suddenly tired.”

Julia said, “Let me drive you home. My car’s just down the road.”

Doris said, “I knew you shouldn’t have come in today. You haven’t recovered yet from your fall.”

Nina turned to Julia. “Perhaps I should go home. Thank you, a lift would be wonderful.”

Julia put her hand on Nina’s arm and led her away from the kitchen area. “Are you still living at Douglas’ house?”

Nina let out a little gasp. “No, I moved out yesterday. It wasn’t right for me to be staying there, I didn’t want people to gossip about us.”

Doris snorted. “As if we’d gossip about you! Good luck to you both, finding love at your age. No offence.”

Julia and Cain helped Nina with her coat and handbag and then led her through the shop. Nina’s friends walked at either side of her, like security guards. Doris called out, “Mildred! Nina’s going home, she’s done more than enough for today.”

Julia didn’t look over at Mildred. No doubt she would be glaring at them.

Once they were in the car Nina said, “Thank you again, you’re most kind. Do you think you could drive me to Douglas’ house? I haven’t seen him all day.” She laughed. “I sound like a lovesick teenager! To be truthful, that’s how I feel. I’m so lucky to have found that wonderful man.”

Julia shared a smile with Cain through the rear-view mirror. She was so happy for Douglas and Nina.

Her happiness didn’t last long. And neither did Nina’s.

Chapter 9

Julia was the first to discover Douglas’ dead body. With hindsight she should have acted quicker and warned Cain to divert Nina. As it was, Julia was too shocked to move. From the second she had entered the house, Julia had sensed that something was wrong. Some instinct had told her to go to the stairs.

Cain joined her. He looked down at Douglas and said, “Is he dead?”

Julia nodded, unable to speak. She heard Nina gasp behind her. This was followed by a scream of horror.

Cain immediately turned around and put his arms around Nina whose scream had now turned into sobs.

Julia couldn't take her eyes off the still body of Douglas lying in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the stairs. It reminded her so much of Nina and the fall that she’d had a few days before. Julia knelt down next to Douglas and closed his unseeing eyes. She didn't need to check for a pulse, it was obvious from his colour that he was dead.

How had he fallen down the steps? The carpet at the top had been fixed. Julia looked up towards the top of the stairs. Her heart missed a beat when she saw that the carpet was sticking up again. How did that happen? When she'd spoken to Douglas recently he had confirmed that the carpet had been fixed. Julia sighed. Something wasn’t right here.

She straightened up and turned to face Nina, who was now dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief. Julia put her hand on Nina’s arm and tried to lead her away from the terrible scene.

Nina said, “What happened to him? Did his heart give up on him? Has he had a stroke? It’s okay, Cain, you can let go of me now.”

Julia said, “I think he must've tripped up on the same bit of carpet that you did a few days ago.”

“But that’s been fixed! I saw that it had been fixed!” Nina’s voice began to rise hysterically.

“Did you have a good look at the carpet after it had been made secure? Did you see anything still sticking up?” Julia asked.

Fresh tears poured down Nina’s face. “Yes, I did see that the carpet was lying flat, but if it's sticking up again now, does that mean it wasn’t secured properly?” She burst into tears and Cain took her into his arms again.

Cain let out a cry of anguish as Nina collapsed in his arms. “Help! Julia! I'm going to drop her!”

Julia reached out and took hold of Nina who appeared to have fainted. Between them, they managed to take Nina into the living room and place her in a chair.

“What shall we do with her?” Cain asked. “Do you have any smelling salts in your handbag?”

Julia shook her head. “No, but I should start carrying them. Look, she's starting to come round a little bit. Nina, Nina can you hear me? Shall I call for an ambulance?”

Nina's eyes fluttered open. “No, don't call them, I don't want to be a nuisance. Oh! My poor Douglas! I should have been here, I should have kept an eye on him.”

Cain said, “Shall I put the kettle on and make us a nice strong cup of tea?”

Julia gave a small shake of her head and took Cain to one side. She said, “We'd better not touch anything, just in case.”

“Just in case of what?”

Julia pulled Cain even further away from Nina and lowered her voice. “I'll have to call the police about Douglas. I think there’s something suspicious about his death. Douglas told me that the carpet had been fixed. And I trust the work of Joshua Bentley, he’s never let me down. I can’t see how the carpet would become unstuck on its own.”

Cain’s eyes widened. He whispered, “Do you think Douglas was murdered?”

Julia gave a small nod and said, “It's a possibility but don't say anything to Nina. There are some muddy footprints at the side of Douglas’ body, and a few on the stairs. They look like the ones I saw in the woods. I'll call DI Clarke and see what he has to say.”

Cain returned to Nina's side and patted her hand. Nina dabbed at her eyes and tried to compose herself. Julia phoned DI Clarke and told him briefly what had happened. He said he'd be round as soon as possible.

Julia walked over to Nina and said, “Do you want to go home? I can call a taxi for you.”

Nina waved her hand and said, “No, I'll stay with Douglas. Who were you speaking to? Have you phoned for an ambulance?”

Julia hesitated, should she tell her that she'd phoned the police? Her attention was caught by something happening outside on the road. DI Clarke was pulling up to the kerb. He'd arrived quickly. She'd have to tell Nina the truth now. “I phoned the police.”

“But why would you do that?” Nina asked.

Julia said, “I'm not happy about that carpet sticking up at the top of the stairs.”

Nina pressed her lips together and nodded. Then she said, “Of course, you're going to tell the police about that so-called handyman, aren't you? It’s his fault that Douglas has fallen down the stairs! He needs to be arrested!”

Julia didn't say anything. She walked to the back door and stepped out as DI Clarke was walking down the path.

The tall, thin policeman with piercing blue eyes looked at her and said, “So, Ms Blake, we meet again. I believe that you came to the station recently with some wild accusations about threatening behaviour.”

“I did, and you never got back to me,” Julia said. “And now it's too late, the man who was on the receiving end of the threatening behaviour is now dead.”

DI Clarke’s eyebrows rose and he said, “Ah, yes, you did leave a note for me about some footprints that you found in the woods.”

“And don’t forget about the voices that I heard, and the rock that was thrown through the window. I still have the rock if you want to dust it for fingerprints. And it hasn’t rained since I saw those footprints in the woods, you could take some impressions.”

DI Clarke held his hands up. “Steady on there, Miss Marple, let me have a look at Mr Pedley’s body and the surrounding area first. I’ll decide if we’re dealing with a murder enquiry.”

“I’m only trying to help,” Julia said, a note of indignation in her voice.

“Yes, but your definition of help and mine are totally different. Who else is in the house?”

“Cain, and Nina Sapphire. She was Douglas’ girlfriend,” Julia said. “She’s very upset. She’s convinced that Joshua Bentley, he’s the one that fixed the carpet, is at fault. She thinks you’re here to look into that.”

“I think it’s best if we send the grieving girlfriend home. If I’m going to look into this case properly I don’t want to be interrupted by wailing and whining.”

“You’re all heart,” Julia said.

The inspector’s mouth rose at one side and he said, “I’ve been told on many occasions that I don’t have a heart. Lead on, Ms Blake. I trust you haven’t contaminated anything in the house.”

Julia took DI Clarke into the house and introduced him to Nina. DI Clarke had already met Cain on a previous occasion.

DI Clarke listened politely to Nina’s accusations against Joshua Bentley. When she paused for breath, he said, “Thank you, I will make a note of your concerns. You can leave now, I’ll be in touch.”

Nina turned panic-filled eyes to Julia and said, “I can’t go home! I don’t want to be alone! Julia, what shall I do?”

Julia said, “What about your friend, Doris? Could you go to her house? If you’ve got her number I’ll phone her for you.”

“Thank you, you are too kind.”

DI Clarke clasped his hands behind his back and waited patiently until the phone call had been made. He politely coughed when Julia said she’d phone a taxi for Nina. He said firmly, “There’s no need for you to stay, Ms Blake. You can drive Ms Sapphire to her friend’s house.” He caught her inquisitive look and added, “I’ve got everything under control here, back up is on its way. Off you go.”

Julia could tell from his expression that there was no point arguing with him. She helped Nina to her feet and walked past him, shooting him a look to say that she wasn’t happy at being told to leave.

Nina began a fresh bout of crying as they drove away. Julia pressed her lips together. DI Clarke wasn’t going to dismiss her that easily. Something fishy was going on here, and she was determined to find out the truth behind Douglas’ death.

Chapter 10

Doris was more than happy to have Nina stay at her house. “You stay here as long as you like,” Doris told her. “What a terrible shock you’ve had. I can’t believe your Douglas is dead.” She tutted. “That Joshua Bentley has got a lot to answer for, wait ’til I see him!”

Julia interjected, “We don’t know that it was Joshua’s fault.”

“Who else’s could it be?” Doris snapped. She turned her attention back to Nina who was lying on her sofa, a blanket tucked around her. “You stay there, Nina, I’ll make us a cuppa. You’re in shock. I’ve phoned the girls, they’re on their way round.”

“But what about the shop? They can’t all leave at the same time. Doris, don’t let them get into trouble on my behalf,” Nina said.

“Old Misery-guts can look after the shop herself. Where else would your friends be at a time like this? By your side of course! You’d do the same for us.”

Nina gave her a grateful smile and said, “Thank you.” She started crying again and quickly wiped her tears away. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I was supposed to keep this a secret but … it really doesn’t matter now. Douglas proposed to me on Saturday night. I said yes, of course. He said he didn’t want to waste any more time without me and he was head over heels in love with me.”

Julia smiled but thought head over heels was an unfortunate term to use.

Doris clasped her hands under her bosom. “By heck! You’ve lost your whole future. It never rains does it, it pours!”

Cain added from his seat in the corner, “My gran used to say that.”

Doris nodded. “She was a wise woman. Have another biscuit, they need eating. Nina, that’s so sad about your engagement.”

Nina nodded. “We were going to look for rings this Friday. And then Douglas was going to throw a small party at his house and make an official announcement.” She looked away. “I can’t believe he’s gone. I’ve only known him for a short while but he became my world.”

Doris made a clicking noise with her tongue and muttered, “I’ve a good mind to go round and see that Joshua Bentley right now!”

Julia said, “The police are making their enquiries. I think you’d be better staying with Nina rather than confronting Joshua. Thanks for taking her in. We have to go now, we’ve still got work to do. Come on, Cain.”

Nina called out, “Julia! Thank you for looking after me, you’re so kind.”

Julia blinked and said a rapid goodbye. She walked briskly out of the house. Cain jumped up and ran after her.

As they walked down the path Cain said, “Why are we in such a rush?”

“Because I’m about to burst into tears! And I don’t want to do that in front of Nina. I can’t stop thinking about her and Douglas together, they were so happy! And now it’s all gone.”

“Do you still think it was murder?”

“I don’t know what to think,” Julia said. They got in the car. “I think that Adams Construction has something to do with Douglas’ death. It can’t be a coincidence that those men were talking in the woods, and then that rock went through Douglas’ window.”

Cain nodded. “And didn’t you say that they had building plans for Douglas’ land.”

“Yes. Do you remember what that man in the woods said? That he’d done it before, taken care of problems. I think we need to look into the background of Adams Construction. The Internet is a good place to start.”

“Or, we could ask one of Douglas’ old neighbours, the ones that used to live down his street before their houses were bought by the construction company.”

“That would be ideal but where will we find such a person?” Julia paused and narrowed her eyes at Cain. “Okay, spit it out, you’ve obviously got something to tell me.”

Cain grinned. “I wasn’t sure whether to tell you or not, it didn’t seem relevant earlier but now that Douglas is dead, I …”

“Stop drawing it out! Tell me or I’ll push you out of the car!”

Cain said, “That’s not much of a threat, we haven’t set off yet.” His smile dropped as he took in Julia’s look. “Okay! I’ve been doing some gardening work for my neighbours,  one of them is called Albert. He knew that I worked with you. We got chatting and I told him about the forest that’s at the back of Douglas’ land.”

“Woods, not forest,” Julia corrected.

“I prefer to call it a forest, it’s more exciting. Anyway, Albert knows somebody who used to live next door to Douglas. She’s called Gloria and she sold her house to Adams Construction. I can ask him for Gloria’s address.”

Julia nodded. “Yes, do that. Thank you.”

A few hours later Julia dropped Cain home and then headed towards her own house. She remembered what was in the boot of her car and made a right turn instead of the normal left turn that took her home.

She pulled into the police car park and retrieved the cloth covered rock from her boot. DI Clarke was waiting for her at the entrance to the police station. Julia narrowed her eyes. “Are you waiting for me? Have you got a tracking device on me?”

“No, it’s just a happy coincidence. I thought you’d turn up sooner or later. What’s that in your hand? Have you brought me a cake?”

Julia opened the cloth and held up the item.

Without showing any hint of humour the inspector said, “Ah, a rock cake.”

Julia let out an undignified snort of laughter. She immediately regretted it. She said, “This is the rock that came through Douglas’ window. You can dust it for fingerprints.”

“Is that a clean cloth?”

Julia nodded.

“It’s unlikely that we will get any prints off it.”

“But you can try?” Julia asked.

DI Clarke flicked the cloth back over the rock and took it from Julia’s outstretched hand. “We can try. Is there anything else?”

“I was just wondering if you’ve got any further with your enquiries,” Julia said casually.

There was a glint in the inspector’s eyes. Julia couldn’t read his expression, but that wasn’t anything new. She was convinced that DI Clarke practised his expressions, or lack of them, on a daily basis.

DI Clarke said, “Not that it is any of your business but we have discovered that the carpet had been cut and pulled up deliberately, the part that had been fixed down is still in place.”

“I knew it! What about the footprints in Douglas’ house? They belong to Alexander Adams, it must do. That’s whose voice I heard in the woods.”

“Calm down, Ms Blake. Didn’t you say the voice in the woods belonged to a young man?”

“Yes. Why?”

“I’ve met Alexander Adams before, he’s in his sixties. I very much doubt that it was him that you heard in the woods. He’s got a good reputation, he’s not the type to go around throwing rocks through people’s windows.”

Julia frowned and looked at the ground. Then she looked back at DI Clarke. “But he must have something to do with Douglas’ death. Have you interviewed him?”

DI Clarke sighed. “That really is none of your business.” He held the rock up. “I will see to it that this is looked at but I want you to leave this investigation to me. Do you understand?”

“Of course I understand. But if that carpet was cut deliberately that means that Douglas was murdered.”

“We don’t know at all that he was murdered, all we know is that he fell down his stairs. I’ll say this again, Ms Blake, leave this investigation to me.” He turned on his heel and walked into the police station without saying another word.

Julia knew she should leave the investigation to him but it seemed he had already decided that Alexander Adams was not connected to Douglas’ death. Julia wasn’t convinced.

She was even less convinced when she went on the Internet later.

Chapter 11

There were a lot of positive posts about Alexander Adams and his construction work online. There were also a lot of photographs of the houses that his company had built. Julia tried not to be impressed by them. There were a few photographs of the man himself. DI Clarke was right about him being in his sixties. The photographs showed a smart-looking older man who was in good shape. Julia thought immediately that he looked fit enough to fling a rock through somebody’s window and then sprint away.

She scrolled through more pages. There were plans of future housing developments but she couldn’t find any mention of any that were to be built on Douglas’ land. That didn’t mean it wasn’t going to happen.

“Ah! I knew there was something fishy about him!” Julia had found a website that disclosed disreputable contractors. There were many comments about the poor quality of Adams’ houses and the problems that people had encountered when they tried to get recompense from the builders. Julia dug a bit deeper and found some comments about how Adams Construction had used bully-boy tactics to get people to sell their houses and land to make way for new homes. Julia was tempted to contact the people direct who had posted the comments but thought it would be a better idea to give the information to DI Clarke. She made a note of the website on her phone.

She knew that Alexander Adams was up to something, she just wasn’t sure what, and she didn’t know how to prove it.

Details, just details, she told herself as she switched her laptop off.

Considering that she’d encountered a dead body that day, Julia had a decent night’s sleep and was raring to go the following day.

She pulled up outside Cain’s house. The young man was sitting on his wall and waiting for her. During the drive, and their subsequent cleaning jobs, Julia told Cain about her visit to the police station and about what she’d discovered on the Internet.

Cain rubbed at the window of the apartment they were now in and said, “I’ve asked Albert to give me Gloria’s address. I was working on his garden again last night. He wanted me to put something down that would keep the neighbour’s cats away.”

“Cats!” Julia dropped her cloth into a nearby bucket of hot water. “Cat! Douglas’ pet. I’d forgotten all about her. Did you see her at Douglas’ house yesterday?”

Cain shrugged. “I didn’t notice her, but I wasn’t really looking for her.”

Julia said, “That poor cat. There’s no one to look after her. I must let DI Clarke know.” She paused. “Or we could go round to Douglas’ house and look for her ourselves. We are very near to his house. It will save me a phone call.”

“And we can have a snoop inside Douglas’ house, look for clues,” Cain pointed out.

“I hadn’t thought of that,” Julia lied. “Let’s finish up here. We’re due a lunch break soon.”

Julia’s plans to look inside Douglas’ house were thwarted by the large policeman standing at the front door. Julia explained about Cat and asked if she could go inside.

The policeman shook his head. “No can do. Nobody is allowed inside, we’re still collecting evidence.”

“What kind of evidence?” Julia asked.

“I can’t tell you that. I’ll have a look for the cat myself later.”

“She might be in the garden, or the woods,” Julia persisted. “Can we have a look in those places?”

The policeman didn’t look convinced.

Julia went on. “The cat got stuck in some bushes a few days ago. We had to help her out. I’m sure you don’t want a dead cat on your conscience. It won’t take us long to look.”

The policeman gave her a stare that was worthy of DI Clarke. Finally, he relented and said, “Have a quick look. I’ve got cats of my own, I’d hate to think of one being stuck somewhere.”

Julia and Cain were off down the path before the policeman could change his mind. The path went round the side of the house and into the garden.

“What are you looking for?” Cain asked.

Julia was staring intently at the ground as she walked. “Footprints. If you see any, let me know.”

Cain adopted the same stare as Julia as they walked into the garden. They had a quick look around whilst calling for Cat at the same time.

Julia said, “She might have gone into the woods again. Let’s try there.”

They walked across the field and into the woods. Julia was still keeping a look out for footprints. They checked the bush that they’d found Cat in previously but she wasn’t there.

Cain cocked his head. “I can hear people talking, and the sound of building work.”

Julia pointed forwards. “It must be from the building site at the other side of the woods, it’s part of a new development. The show house that me and Dad went to on Sunday is part of it. Shall we have a closer look? Cat might have even gone into the show house.”

They moved closer through the trees. Julia soon recognised the house that her and Dad had visited. They walked along the side of the surrounding fence to an opening where they saw lots of men in bright yellow vests working away. Julia and Cain were too busy staring at the scene in front of them that they didn’t notice that someone was approaching them. Julia only noticed when a shadow fell over her face.

“May I help you?”

Julia looked at the owner of the voice. She recognised him immediately. It was Alexander Adams. She gulped, he didn’t look that tall on his photographs. Embarrassment made her composure and good sense disappear. She pointed at him and said, “Yes! You can help me! I’m a friend of Douglas Pedley, the man who lived at the other side of this wood. He’s dead now and I think you have something to do with it!”

She felt Cain tugging at her sleeve but she brushed him off. She knew she’d gone too far but her accusing words were out now.

Concern crossed Alexander Adams’ face. “I had heard about Mr Pedley’s death but why do you think I had something to do with it?”

In a calmer voice Julia said, “You hounded him to sell his house and land to you, you threatened him. I was in your show house on Sunday and I was told you have plans to build on Douglas’ land. Someone threw a rock through Douglas’ window to try and scare him.”

Alexander Adams looked genuinely concerned. “I don’t know anything about a rock, and I certainly don’t know anything about plans to build on his land. I did approach Mr Pedley when we first planned to build those houses on his street. I made him a fair offer for his property but he said no. I followed up with a few letters but he made it perfectly clear that he didn’t intend to sell. I haven’t been in touch with him since. I can assure you that I didn’t have anything to do with his death, and I’m sorry you feel that way. Was there anything else?”

Julia didn’t know what to say. Cain came to her rescue and said, “Douglas’ cat has gone missing, she’s ginger and she’s called Cat.”

Alexander nodded. “I’ll keep a look out for her. If you’ll excuse me I have to go.”

He walked away towards a portable building.

Julia turned to Cain and said, “What do you think?”

“I think he’s either a good liar, or someone who works for him is making secret plans behind his back.”

“And those plans could involve getting rid of Douglas. We need to make some more enquiries about Adams Construction.”

Chapter 12

Julia dropped Cain off at the end of the day. He promised that he’d speak to Albert and see if he’d got Gloria’s address yet.

Julia decided to call in on Nina to see how she was doing. She stopped at a supermarket on the way to buy a bunch of flowers. These were taken off her the second that Doris opened the door to her. “How kind, thank you. I’ll put them in a vase,” Doris said.

She looked so happy that Julia didn’t have the heart to say the flowers were for Nina. Instead she said, “How’s Nina doing? Has she managed to rest?”

Doris tutted and shook her head. “She’s a terrible patient, she keeps trying to get up off the sofa. She says she doesn’t want to be a nuisance, and I keep telling her that she’s not! I’m going to end up tying her down to that blooming sofa! You go through, I’ll sort my flowers out.”

Nina gave Julia a bright smile when she entered the living room. Nina put a hand to the side of her mouth and said, “Are you here to help me escape? Quick! We can run out of the front door whilst Doris is in the kitchen. Have you left your car engine running?”

Julia smiled. “I know you don’t mean that. Doris must be doing a good job of looking after you, you look much better today.”

Nina’s chin wobbled slightly. “I’m trying to hold myself together. It’s hard though. I feel like crying all the time.” She sighed. “I suppose I am better off here, if I was at home I’d be in floods of tears. I can’t stop thinking about my Douglas, how happy he was when I said yes to his proposal.”

Julia sat on the floor at the side of the sofa. “I’ve known Douglas a few years and I’ve never seen him look as happy as he did in the last week. Don’t forget that, he was all the better for knowing you.”

Nina shook her head sadly. “It we hadn’t met, he’d still be alive.”

“I’ll have to disagree. He looked more alive in the last week.” Julia stopped and realised what she’d said. She added, “Apart from yesterday, of course. I know his death is hard to take but trust me when I tell you that Douglas died a happy man.” She stopped again. “Sorry, he obviously didn’t die happily. I meant to say …”

Nina put her hand on Julia’s arm. “I know what you’re trying to say. I appreciate your kindness.” Doris entered the room carrying a tray of tea things. Nina said dramatically, “It’s too late! Our escape plot has been foiled!”

Doris laughed. “If you made a bid to escape I’d be after you in a shot. And I’d sit on you until you gave in. And let me tell you, Nina Sapphire, you’d give in pretty quick! I might look like a delicate flower but I’m not.”

Julia gave Doris a quick look over. Those were not the words that she would use to describe Doris. She wisely kept her thoughts to herself.

Doris put the tray down and said to Julia, “Get yourself off my clean carpet, you could have all sorts of cleaning chemicals on your bottom.”

Julia stood up. “I always wear an apron, and I don’t use chemicals, thank you very much. Is there a cup of tea for me?”

Doris laughed, “I admire your cheek. Go on, you can have a cuppa. Don’t wear my patient out or I’ll be kicking you out before you can say bleach.”

Julia was about to say she didn’t use bleach when there was a loud knock on the front door. Julia had heard that knock before, it was one of a kind. Sure enough, it was DI Clarke that Doris opened the door to.

He raised his eyebrows when he came into the living room and saw Julia, but he didn’t say anything. Nina sat up straighter and raised a finger at him. “Have you got him? That Joshua Bentley? Is he behind bars yet?”

DI Clarke shook his head. “I don’t believe that Mr Bentley had anything to do with your fiancé’s death.”

Nina deflated at the last two words. Julia shot DI Clarke a disapproving look. He ignored her and carried on. “Mr Bentley had secured the carpet perfectly on his visit. A further section of the carpet had been cut on purpose later on.” He looked at the floor and frowned, as if not sure what to say next. Julia was surprised, she’d never seen him at a loss for words. She suspected what was coming next and moved over to sit on the floor again next to Nina. Doris could say what she liked.

DI Clarke gave her a small smile and said, “We’ve found some bruising on Mr Pedley’s back, they look like they were made by hands.”

Nina gave a cry of anguish. Julia reached out for her hand.

“Which means,” DI Clarke continued, “that it looks like he was pushed down the stairs. On purpose. We believe that whoever did that deliberately cut the carpet afterwards to make it look like an accident.”

“No!” Nina wailed. “Are you saying that my lovely Douglas was murdered?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. I’m sorry to be the bearer of such bad news, Ms Sapphire, but you needed to know.” He cleared his throat. “I know this is going to be difficult for you but we’ll have to take a statement from you, about your movements on the night that Mr Pedley died.”

Nina nodded slowly as if trying to take the news in.

Julia said, “What time do you think Douglas died?”

“Some time between eight p.m. and midnight on Tuesday. I’m sorry to insist on this, Ms Sapphire, but can you tell me where you were at that time?”

A tear rolled down Nina’s cheek. Julia reached into her pocket, took out a tissue and handed it to her. In a dull voice Nina said, “I was at home, my home. I’d been staying at Douglas’ after my fall. Did you know about my fall?”

The inspector nodded. “Ms Blake was kind enough to tell me about that when she first told me about that rock coming through Mr Pedley’s window.”

Nina said, “Douglas was so kind to me, bringing me food in bed, making sure I had everything I needed. He started to look tired so I decided that I should go home. I felt better and I knew I could take care of myself. I told Douglas my decision on Tuesday morning. He insisted that I stay for the day, which I did, but then I left at six p.m. I phoned him at six-thirty to let him know I’d got home safely.” Another tear fell. “Why did I leave him? I should have stayed. If I had, he’d still be alive.”

Doris said, “Is that enough information for you inspector? Look at what you’ve done to the poor woman! As if losing her future husband wasn’t enough you’ve now told her the poor bugger was murdered! And you’ve accused her of murdering him! Are you pleased with yourself?”

“I didn’t accuse her …”

“Yes you did! I heard you!” Doris shouted, her face flushed.

Julia stood up and moved closer to Doris. “The inspector is just following rules. He has to eliminate Nina from his enquiries, it’s standard procedure. I’m sure he meant no disrespect.”

Doris folded her arms. “Aye, that’s as maybe but he could have explained himself better. You’d make a better policeman than him, Julia. I’d forgotten that you’ve solved murder cases for the police before.”

DI Clarke interrupted, “Ms Blake hasn’t actually solved any cases, she’s merely helped us now and again.” His phone beeped. “Excuse me, I have to go but I’ll be in touch. Goodbye. I’ll see myself out.”

The inspector almost sprinted out of the room, they heard the front door banging a second later.

Doris tutted. “If he’s damaged my door I’ll be down to that station faster than you can say compensation.”

Julia turned to Nina who was struggling to get off the sofa. Nina said, “Could you help me up, Julia? I need to go to the bathroom.”

Julia saw the tears threatening to fall from Nina’s eyes. She helped her up and said, “Do you need any help?”

Nina gave her a brave smile and said, “No, thank you. I need a bit of time alone.”

Doris and Julia watched Nina leave the room. As soon as she was gone Doris said, “She’s going to have a cry in the bathroom. She keeps doing that. I haven’t said anything, people need to grieve in privacy sometimes. Well, Julia, what are you going to do about this?”

“About what?”

“About Douglas’ murder! You can’t let the police deal with it, I’ve seen a tortoise move quicker. You’ve solved cases before, you can solve this one.”

“I really shouldn’t get involved,” Julia began. She stopped. She could hear faint sobbing coming from the bathroom. She gave Doris a nod and said, “I’ll do all that I can to find out who murdered Douglas.”

Chapter 13

When Julia picked Cain up the following morning he told her that he’d got the address and telephone number of Douglas’ former neighbour, Gloria. He said, “Albert phoned her last night and she’s happy to talk to us.”

“Great,” Julia said. “We’ve got a busy day though, we won’t be able to see her until we finish work.”

“Shall I phone her now? She’ll be expecting our call,” Cain offered.

Julia gave him a grateful smile and then pulled away from the kerb.

Their day was busy and they barely had time to stop for lunch. At the end of their last job Julia updated Cain on what DI Clarke had told her, Nina and Doris yesterday. She said, “I know I should let the police get on with their investigations but you should have heard the sound of Nina’s crying. It was awful, like her heart is broken, which it probably is. I feel so mad that someone has taken away her happiness.”

Cain said, “I’m sure you’ll find out who the killer is.”

“With your help. You will help me, won’t you?”

Cain grinned. “Of course. Are we going to see Gloria now?”

Julia picked her cleaning bag and said, “Yes, let’s go.”

A short while later Julia drove down a quiet road. Modern bungalows lined up neatly at each side of the road. Julia said “These look like the kind of houses built by Adams Construction, they have a similar style to the show house that Dad and I visited.”

Cain sniffed. “They don’t have big gardens, do they? And look at the windows, a bit on the small side.”

Julia laughed. “You sound just like Dad.” She stopped the car. “This is the one. I can see a woman looking out of the window, that must be Gloria.”

Gloria opened the front door as Julia and Cain walked down the path. She had permed grey hair and a friendly smile. “You must be Julia and Cain. Albert’s told me all about you. He’s so impressed with your skills in the garden, Cain.” She waved a hand at her pebble-filled front garden. “That’s one of the things I miss about living here, I used to love pottering around in my garden. Well, I suppose that’s what I get for buying a house that’s low maintenance. Do come in, I’ve got the kettle on.” She patted Cain on the shoulder. “And I’ve made a Victoria sponge for you.”

When they were settled with tea and cake Julia asked Gloria if she knew about Douglas dying.

Gloria sighed. “Yes, I’d heard about it. And I’ve heard that he was pushed! Goodness! What is the world coming to?”

Julia didn’t question how Gloria knew that Douglas had been pushed, she’d learnt a long time ago that local news passed quickly in this town. She said, “Albert told Cain that you used to live next to Douglas.”

Gloria put her cup down and smiled fondly. “Yes, I moved next to Douglas and Val years ago with my husband, Len. He died a while back. We were all young then! Full of life and hope. Val was so happy for me every time I got pregnant, I’ve got three children, but I could see the sadness in her eyes. She hid her disappointment well. She and Douglas weren’t blessed with children but that didn’t stop them spoiling my three! You’ve seen the woods behind their house?”

Cain nodded. “It’s like a forest.”

Doris laughed. “That’s what my children used to say! They loved playing in there. We had hours and hours of fun, me, Len and the children, and Douglas and Val. Can you imagine the adventures my children had in there?”

Cain nodded. “I can, it’s awesome.”

“My children always wanted a pet but I didn’t. I had enough on my plate coping with them. But then Val started to adopt cats from the local cat centre. Oh! My children loved that! The cats loved being in the woods, and my children loved finding them, they said they were going on safari! I don’t think Douglas was keen on the cats but he put up with them for Val’s sake. When my children left home, Val kept adopting more cats. It seemed to me that they were helping to keep her sadness at bay.”

Gloria shook her head at the memories.

Julia said, “It sounds like you were good neighbours. Why did you leave the street?”

Gloria picked up her cup and had a small sip before continuing. “Val died, and then my Len died shortly after. I felt like someone had switched a light off inside of me. I’m sure that Douglas felt the same. My house had once been filled with noise and laughter, and then it was only me. I couldn’t cope with the memories. Then an angel appeared, he was called Alexander Adams.”

Julia shared a look with Cain, she wasn’t sure she’d call Alexander Adams an angel.

Gloria continued, “He knocked at my door one day and told me he was hoping to build a new estate on our street. I invited him in and he showed me the plans for the new houses. I’m not too keen on new houses but they did look nice, all modern conveniences and that sort of thing. He asked me if I’d be open to selling my house. He made it clear that he’d be knocking my house down. I was shocked at first but then I considered the alternative. I could move on, or I could stay in my house like a ghost, wandering from room to room and living on the memories of times gone past. I knew what my Len would have wanted me to do. Mr Adams offered me a wonderful price, more than the house was worth I’m sure. He even offered to help me with the removal costs.”

Julia gestured to the room they were now in. “Is this one of his houses?”

Gloria nodded. “It is. They’d just been built when Mr Adams came to my door. I was offered first choice. He said I could choose my own colour scheme for the house. I thought this house was a bit poky when I first came to see it but I’ve got used to it now. I love it. Mr Adams arranged for all the removal of my things, he even arranged a storage unit for those things that I can’t bear to get rid of yet. He’s a lovely man, I’m so glad that he knocked on my door that day.” She looked at Cain and added, “Have another slice of cake, there’s plenty.”

“What about Douglas?” Julia asked. “Why do you think he didn’t want to sell his house?”

Gloria shook her head sadly. “He wasn’t ready to let Val go. I kept in touch with him after I left but he was never the same. I think he felt like I’d betrayed him by moving away. He must have been so lonely, living in that big house on his own, with just one cat for company.”

Julia said, “He must have been very lonely. You should have seen him in the last week though, he was like a different man.”

Gloria nodded. “I’d heard that he’d met someone, a film star? Oh, what’s her name?”

“Nina Sapphire,” Cain said. “I’ve seen some of her films.”

“That name rings a bell. I’m glad Douglas found love again, even if it was for a short time.” Gloria put her cup down. “I’ve heard that you’re looking into Douglas’ death. Have I helped you at all?”

“I’m not sure. I have my suspicions that Alexander Adams is involved in Douglas’ death somehow. But you’ve given me a different view of him now. I thought he might have used stronger tactics to get you to sell your house, that maybe he even threatened you.”

“No, he never did that. He was a gentleman.”

Julia sighed. “Right, I don’t know where to turn now.”

Gloria pressed her lips together and gave her a knowing look. She said, “I haven’t told you about my other neighbour, Stan. He lived at the other side of Douglas.” She folded her arms. “Stan was forced out of his home.”

“By Alexander Adams?” Julia asked hopefully.

Gloria shook her head. “No, by his son, Kirk Adams. He’s a nasty piece of work. If anyone is capable of murder, it’s him.”

Chapter 14

“I didn’t know that Alexander had a son,” Julia said. She thought back to her Internet search, had his son been mentioned anywhere?

Gloria tutted. “I’m glad he’s no son of mine. I don’t think Mr Adams knows what his son is like, parents are often blind to their children’s faults.”

“Does Kirk work for his father?” Cain asked.

Gloria unfolded her arms. “He does, but the last I heard, Mr Adams had made him a partner. Whether that was his decision, or he was browbeaten by Kirk, I don’t know. Kirk Adams is a nasty go-getter who is ruthless and calculating. He doesn’t care about anyone’s feelings, probably because he has no feelings of his own. He never came to my house, I suspect that’s because I agreed to sell my house immediately. But Stan had dealings with Kirk. All the houses on Douglas’ street were different, Stan had one of the smaller ones. He was a confirmed bachelor but he wasn’t often on his own! I’d seen many different women staying over at his house. He was approached by Alexander Adams but he refused to sell, said he was happy living in his house. From what Stan told me, Alexander Adams was okay with that and told Stan to get in touch if he ever changed his mind.”

“That’s what he told Douglas too,” Julia added. “We met Alexander Adams the other day. He’s building houses at the other side of Douglas’ land.”

“So I’ve heard,” Gloria said. “Anyway, Stan told me that someone had been in his garden. He’d spotted footprints, well, they were more like boot prints really. He showed me them. The prints were right under Stan’s windows, it was like someone had been looking through his windows.” Gloria shivered. “Then that Kirk Adams started harassing Stan. He’d turn up on his doorstep and go on about selling his house, and how much happier Stan would be in a smaller house. Kirk Adams is a big lad and I could tell that Stan felt intimidated. Kirk even approached Stan’s lady friends as they waited for their taxis on a morning. It wasn’t long before they stopped coming to his house. Then the window breaking began.”

Julia gasped. “No! That’s what happened to Douglas. A rock was thrown through his kitchen window.”

Gloria nodded wisely. “That sounds like the work of Kirk Adams. Stan confronted Kirk. He denied everything, of course. Stan went to the police but they said they couldn’t help unless he had hard evidence, whatever that means. Poor Stan, he turned from a confident man to a nervous wreck. He’d barely leave his house, and when he did he seemed to be looking over his shoulder as if expecting to be attacked at any moment. It was all that Kirk Adams’ fault.”

“Didn’t Stan tell Alexander Adams?” Julia said.

“He did. But Mr Adams said his son would never do anything like that.”

Julia thought about Alexander Adams’ face when she mentioned a rock being thrown through Douglas’ window. He never batted an eyelid. Surely he must have remembered Stan’s allegations against his son? Alexander Adams was good at covering up his emotions. Perhaps he knows full well what his son is up to.

Gloria said, “Stan did sell his house eventually. I saw him at the market one Saturday afternoon before he’d agreed to sell. I tried to talk to him but he kept insisting he had to get home. That Saturday night as I was drawing my curtains I saw Kirk Adams’ van parked outside Stan’s house. I saw him get out of the van and walk down Stan’s path. I knew it was Kirk because he’s got an arrogant swagger. I was worried about Stan so I called round to see him the following morning. He wasn’t inside. I tried again for a few days but he never answered the door. A week later I saw Alexander Adams and a few of his workmen taking measurements inside Stan’s front garden. I asked him what was going on. He told me that Stan had sold his house and had already moved out.”

Julia was afraid to ask her next question. “Did you ever see Stan again?”

Gloria shook her head. “I asked around town but it was like he’d disappeared into thin air.”

Cain said, “Or he was murdered.”

Gloria tutted. “No, I don’t think that happened, it couldn’t have.”

Cain said, “But you said earlier that Kirk Adams would be capable of murder.”

“But I …” Gloria’s eyes widened. “Oh! What if you’re right? I never thought of that! Poor Stan, his dead body could be lying undiscovered somewhere! Shall we tell the police?”

Julia shook her head. “We don’t have any evidence. Do you think Kirk forced him to sell? Do you think his dad knows about it?”

Gloria leant back in her chair. “I don’t know what to think any more. Would someone really kill Stan, or Douglas, just to get their land?”

“You should see the asking prices for the new houses,” Julia said. “I think Adams Construction are making a decent profit on them. Maybe Kirk wants to impress his dad by getting people to sell.”

“Maybe he’s going to kill his dad next and have the company all to himself,” Cain added in a jolly tone.

Gloria began to fan herself. “Don’t say that! Don’t tell me that a serial killer is on the loose!”

Julia gave Cain an admonishing look and said, “We don’t know what Kirk is up to yet. Is there anything else you want to tell us? Something that might help?”

Gloria frowned. “I can’t think of anything else.”

Julia stood up and gave Gloria one of her business cards. “Please phone me if you can think of anything else that might help us. Thank you for talking to us. I’m sorry if we’ve upset you.”

Gloria took the card. “Do you think Kirk Adams has been following you? He might know that you’re looking into Douglas’ death. He’ll know that you’ve been to see me!” Her voice rose. “He might try to kill me!”

“I’m sure that’s not going to happen. I’m going to tell DI Clarke, he’s the investigating officer, what you’ve told me. I’ll tell him that you’re concerned. I haven’t noticed anyone watching me, or following me. I’m so sorry again for upsetting you. Come on, Cain.”

Cain stood up and smiled at Gloria. “That cake was lovely, thank you.”

Cain followed Julia to the car. When they got in Julia said, “I know you were only saying what you were thinking, but please try and keep those kind of thoughts to yourself.”

“I’m sorry, I’m not used to talking to people normally. In prison I had to keep my head down and not speak unless spoken to.”

Julia gave him a gentle smile. “That’s okay. I keep forgetting you’ve been locked up for the last twelve years. I do think you might be right though, I think Kirk is a possible suspect. I wonder if he paid any visits to Douglas?”

Julia’s phone rang. It was Doris. “Have you got any further with your investigations? Nina is out of her mind with worry and grief! She won’t stop crying.”

“I’ve made a bit of headway. Shall I come round?”

“No, it’s okay. I’ve rallied the girls round to keep her company. Then I’m going to slip a sleeping pill into her hot milk. Much as I love her, she’s giving me a raging headache with all that wailing!”

Julia smiled to herself. “I could come round in the morning to see her.”

“Not too early,” Doris said. “I might slip her two tablets then I can have a decent sleep too.”

She rang off abruptly. Julia wasn’t sure that she’d want Doris to look after her in a crisis. Still, her heart was in the right place. Nina was lucky to have her as a friend.

“Do you want me to come with you tomorrow?” Cain offered.

Julia looked at him, she could tell that he didn’t really want to go. “Thanks, but you’ve worked hard this week. It’s Saturday tomorrow, have some time to yourself.”

“If you’re sure?”

“I’m sure. I’ll pick you up on Monday morning as normal.”

Julia started the engine and they headed to Cain’s house.

“Let me know if you need me to do any more investigating,” Cain said as they arrived at his house.

“I will do. Get out before I change my mind.”

As Julia drove away she thought about Kirk Adams. She could do with talking to him direct. But one thing at a time. She’d speak to Nina tomorrow, she had a few questions for her.

Chapter 15

All thoughts of questioning Nina flew out of her head when she saw the elderly woman the next day. Julia hissed to Doris, “How many sleeping pills did you give her? She looks half-dead!”

Doris sniffed. “I only gave her a couple. They’re those herbal kinds, not the strong stuff that you have to ask for.” She looked over at Nina who was lying on the sofa. “She does look rough though. She hasn’t even brushed her hair.”

Julia walked over to Nina and lowered herself so that she was on eye level with her. “Hello, Nina. How are you today?”

Nina blinked. “I’m not sure. I don’t feel too well to be honest. It’s like my mind is active but my body has given up.”

“I know that feeling,” Julia said with a smile. “I went to see one of Douglas’ old neighbours yesterday. Shall I tell you what she told me?”

There was a sudden spark in Nina’s eyes. She raised her head and said, “Yes! Tell me everything. Help me into a sitting position, please. I’m as floppy as a rag doll.”

Doris came to Nina’s side, and between them, they managed to get her into a sitting position.

Doris pulled a chair closer and said, “Spill the beans. And for heaven’s sake will you get your bottom off my clean carpet, Julia! Don’t you have chairs in your house?”

Julia sat next to Nina and told them about Gloria. When she’d finished she said to Nina, “Did Douglas ever mention Kirk Adams to you?”

Nina shook her head. She raised a finger and said, “Just a moment, there were a few occasions when we were out together that have stuck in my mind as being unusual. Sometimes, when we were out, Douglas used to stop speaking in mid-sentence and look over his shoulder. When I asked him what was wrong he said that he thought someone was watching him. I laughed it off, and after a while, so did he. Do you think Kirk Adams was following us? Listening to our conversations?”

“Course he was!” Doris butted in. “He sounds like a no-good so-and-so! I bet he sneaked into Douglas’ house on that Tuesday night and threw the old bugger down the stairs.”

Julia winced at Doris’ tone. “I’ll have to speak to Kirk Adams. I’m not looking forward to it, but I’ll have to do it.”

Nina pulled her dressing gown closer and announced, “I’ll come with you. He doesn’t scare me! Let me get dressed. And give me twenty minutes to put my war paint on.”

Julia held her hands up. “No way! You’re staying here. I can handle Kirk Adams. I think.”

Doris leant over and prodded her roughly. “Have you told DI Sourface what you’ve found out?”

Julia shifted in her seat. “I did phone him. I told him what Gloria had said.”

Doris snorted. “Let me guess! Did he tell you to leave the investigating to him?”

“Something like that. Anyway, I’d better be going. I’ll let you know how I get on.”

Doris showed her to the door. “Hurry up and get this sorted out, Julia. Nina’s fading away.”

“I’ll try,” Julia replied. She walked confidently to her car and gave Doris a brisk wave as she drove away. Her smile dropped as soon as she drove round the corner. Where was she going to find Kirk Adams? Oh! And she’d forgotten to ask Nina something! She sighed. Why had she got herself involved in this murder enquiry? She knew why. She had cared about Douglas, and she cared for Nina. Justice had to be done.

She pulled over as her phone rang. It was Dad. “You’d better come home, love,” he said.

Panic gripped Julia. “Why? What’s happened? Is it Mum? Anna? Sam? Chloe? Is it Cain?”

“None of those. I notice you didn’t ask if it was me. I’m at your house. You’ve got a visitor.”

Julia gulped. “Is it Kirk Adams?”

“Who? No, it’s Joshua Bentley. He’s in a right state. Just come home.”

Julia returned to her house to find Joshua Bentley pacing her kitchen floor. Dad was leaning against the oven eating a packet of crisps.

When Joshua saw her, blood rushed to his face and his mouth curled into a snarl. He jabbed a finger towards her and said, “You! This is all your fault!”

Julia put her bag on the kitchen table and said, “What is? What have I done?”

She took a step back as Joshua advanced on her. Dad reached out and grabbed the back of his shirt. “Calm down, Joshua, mate, this isn’t our Julia’s fault at all, you know that. Do you want a crisp?”

“No, I don’t want a crisp! Let go of my shirt, Ray.”

“Not until you’ve calmed down.”

Joshua took a few deep breaths and spoke again in his normal voice. “Everyone’s saying that I killed Douglas Pedley. They’re saying that I didn’t fix his carpet correctly. People have been cancelling jobs. I’m losing money. I wished you’d never phoned me in the first place!” He tried to move forward again but Dad still had a firm grip on his shirt.

Julia rubbed her tired eyes. She took a step forward and it was her turn to jab a finger at Joshua. “The police have already said that the carpet was deliberately cut. I spoke to Douglas before he died, he told me that you’d fixed the carpet. It’s not my fault that people are accusing you! Why would you want to kill Douglas anyway?”

Dad nodded towards her and said, “Don’t make me grab your shirt too, young lady. Stop shouting, you’ve scared Joshua.”

Joshua gave her a small smile. “I’m sorry, Julia. I know you’re right. You know what people round here are like.”

Julia lowered her finger. “I do. Ignore them. I’m sure the police will capture the real killer soon.”

Dad released Joshua and picked up another crisp. He waved it at Julia and said, “Never mind about the police, how far have you got with your detective work?” He popped the crisp into his mouth.

Julia sighed. “I have got some information but I’m not sure what to do about it. Well, I do know, but I don’t know, if you know what I mean.”

“You’ve gone delirious,” Dad said. “Sit down, I’ll make us a cuppa. Start at the beginning.” He pulled a chocolate bar out of his pocket and handed it to her. “You can have this, it’s for emergencies. Don’t tell your mum that I keep chocolate in my pockets.”

Over tea and chocolate Julia told Dad and Joshua about her latest findings. Joshua nodded when she’d finished. “I know what Kirk Adams looks like. And I know where he drinks. He’ll be out drinking tonight. He’s a nasty sort, Julia, stay well away from him.”

“But I have to talk to him, find out where he was on the night that Douglas died,” Julia insisted.

Dad shook his head. “I’m not having my little girl putting herself in danger.”

Julia tutted. “I’m not a little girl, I’m … old enough to look after myself.”

“I know you are, love,” Dad patted her hand. “But let me help you.” He turned to Joshua and said, “It’s been a while since I’ve had a night out. Are you up for going out tonight? Maybe to that pub that Kirk frequents? We could have a friendly chat with him.”

Joshua grinned and nodded. “That sounds like a grand idea.”

“I’ll come with you,” Julia said.

“No, you’ll cramp my style,” Dad said. He stood up and picked a crisp crumb off his jumper, he put it in his mouth. “You’re all out of salt and vinegar crisps.”

Julia said, “Be careful, both of you. I feel guilty for getting you involved.”

Joshua stood up. “I’m already involved. We need to find out who killed old Douglas.”

Dad kissed her on top of her head. “We’ll let you know how we get on. Have an early night, you look tired.”

As Dad closed the door behind him she heard him saying to Joshua, “Do they have food at this pub of yours? Do they have apple crumble?”

Julia smiled. She would rather speak to Kirk Adams herself, but she was relieved that Dad and Joshua were going to do it. Her smile dropped. She hoped they didn’t get into a fight.

She stood up, collected the tea things and took them to the sink.

Cain! She hadn’t phoned him to let him know what Nina had told her.

He answered on the second ring. Julia quickly told him about Nina. Then she told him about her dad’s plans.

Cain laughed. “I know! I’m going to the pub with him! I’ve never been to the pub before.” He paused. “I’ve never had a beer before!”

As Julia tried to get to sleep that night she didn’t know what she was more worried about, Dad getting in a fight, or Cain getting drunk.

Chapter 16

Julia phoned Mum first thing on Sunday morning. Her immediate question was, “Did Dad get in a fight?”

“No, and good morning to you,” Mum replied.

“Good morning. Did Cain get drunk?”

“As drunk as a skunk. He’s presently asleep on my sofa, snoring his head off. I’ve put a bucket next to him but he hasn’t been sick in the night.”

“Why is he at your house?”

Mum sighed. “I couldn’t let him go home in the state he was in. There’s no one to look after him at his house. Poor lamb, he’s going to have a terrible hangover when he wakes up.”

“Shall I come over, pick him up and take him home?” Julia offered.

“No, leave him to sleep as much as he can. I know how to deal with youngsters who’ve had too much to drink. I’ve had plenty of practise with you and your sister.”

Julia smiled. “I’m sure I was never that bad. Did Dad say anything to you when he came in last night?”

“It wasn’t last night, it was the early hours. Can you believe that! At his age. And I didn’t get any sense out of the old fool. He kept rubbing his tummy and saying that he’d had two helpings of apple crumble and there was nothing I could do about it. And as for your young friend, he could barely stand up! Your dad had to support him. He kept giggling and saying he’d never been drunk before.”

“I’m sorry, Mum, I feel as if it’s my fault that they’ve ended up in this state.”

Mum tutted. “Your dad doesn’t need an excuse to go to the pub. As he got into bed he did mumble about having to tell you something. I don’t know what though, he stopped mumbling in mid-sentence and fell asleep.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to come round?”

“No, I’ve no idea what time they’ll wake up, or what state they’ll be in. I’ll tell them to come over to your house. Julia, your dad told me about what you’re doing. You’ve got yourself involved in a murder investigation again, haven’t you?”

“I have.”

“Just be careful, won’t you? Somewhere out there is the person who killed your client. I don’t want them coming after you.”

“I can look after myself,” Julia said as reassuringly as possible.

“Hmm. I thought I was only supposed to worry about my children when they were little. It seems that the older you get, the more I worry about you.”

“Honestly, Mum, I’m fine. Please don’t worry. I’m sure I’ll find out who killed Douglas soon. Love you.”

“Love you more,” Mum said. Julia could hear the smile in her voice.

Julia didn’t know what to do with herself whilst she waited for Dad and Cain to come round. She cleaned her house from top to bottom and put a washing load in. There never seemed to be much washing now that Sam and Chloe were away at university. She did miss them, but she didn’t miss the mess that they made. They’d be home from university soon. Despite the chaos they brought with them, she couldn’t wait to see them.

Julia remembered the old notebook that Cain had given her a few weeks ago, the one that she’d taken out at Douglas’ house. It was full of notes on how to make cleaning solutions and soaps without chemicals. Julia took the notebook out and sat at the kitchen table. Cain’s gran sounded a lovely woman, the way she had taken Cain in when he was young. And the way she’d supported him during his time in prison. It was a crying shame that she’d died six months before Cain was released.

Julia stopped on a page and ran her finger down the list of items needed. She nodded. Yes, she had all of them. She’d have a go at making it.

She was so engrossed in her task and taking notes that she jumped when the kitchen door opened. Dad strolled in, a smile on his face. “Good morning, my lovely daughter. How are you today?” Without waiting for an answer he walked over to the oven and pointed to a pot. “Oo, what have you got cooking?” He stuck his finger in and then put the contents in his mouth.

Julia looked at him from her seated position. “It’s soap. Lavender and mint.”

Dad nodded and reached for the kitchen roll. He pulled a sheet off and wiped his tongue. He walked to the sink and quickly filled up a glass with water. He swilled his mouth out and grimaced. He looked over his shoulder and said, “I have literally washed my mouth out with soap and water. If I was a cartoon character I’d be blowing bubbles.”

Julia looked over towards the open door. “Where’s Cain? Have you taken him home?”

Dad put the glass down. “He was right behind me. I hope he hasn’t fallen over, he’s a bit unsteady on his feet at the moment.”

Sounding more like her mum than she wanted to, Julia said, “That’ll be the drink, he’s not used to it. And it’s all your fault, you should have kept an eye on him.”

“He’s a grown man, he needs to experience these things. I hope he’s not being sick in one of your plant pots. No, here he is.”

Julia’s mouth dropped open as a zombie-type creature entered her kitchen. The zombie was wearing dark glasses. He took them off and blinked blood shot eyes at Julia. Julia shut her mouth as Cain gave her a nod and then winced.

Julia stood up and led him over to the table. She pulled back a chair and eased him into it. She could shout at him and tell him his present condition was all his fault but she remembered clearly the times that she had been in a similar position.

In what she hoped was a soothing voice, she said, “Cain, can I get you anything? Water? Aspirins? A bucket?”

Cain held a hand up and, in a hoarse voice, said, “No, thank you. Your mum has sorted me out. I’m waiting for the paracetamols to take effect. I feel terrible. Why do people drink if they feel like this? I’m never drinking again.”

“That’s what they all say,” Dad added.

Cain lifted his head and sniffed. He smiled. “Is that one of Gran’s recipes? Is it lavender and mint soap?”

“It is. I’ll make a bar for you.”

A tear rolled down Cain’s cheek. “You’re so kind. All of you. Your mum, your dad …”

Dad walked over to the table and sat down. “I think he’s still drunk. Get the kettle on, Julia, and I’ll tell you all about last night.”

“Did you meet Kirk Adams?” Julia asked.

Dad folded his arms and leant back in his chair. “We certainly did. He’s a nasty piece of work.”

Chapter 17

Once Dad and Julia were settled with a cup of tea, and Cain had a pint glass full of cold water in front of him, Dad began, “We got to the pub at eight o’clock. Joshua decided he was hungry and I could tell that Cain was too so I ordered some apple crumble for us all.”

“That was kind of you,” Julia noted.

“There’s no need to be sarcastic, young lady. We’d finished our crumbles when Kirk Adams walked in. Or should I say, sauntered in. He reminded me of one of an old cowboy films, you know the ones where the evil cowboy shoots an innocent person and saunters away, pleased with themselves?”

Julia nodded. “Was he on his own?”

“No, he was with a group of men. He was boasting about some deal that he’d been working on. Saying that he’d be making money hand over fist, those were his words. We could all hear what he was saying, the whole pub could. As he walked past our table he said, ‘Now that the old codger has gone I can get my hands on his land’. Well, we all immediately thought he was talking about Douglas. I turned to look at Joshua to see if he’d heard. He had, he leapt out of his seat like a scalded cat. His fists were clenched and I knew he was going to go for Kirk.

“It all happened in slow motion. Joshua swore at Kirk. I won’t repeat his words. Kirk turned to look at where the noise was coming from. Joshua flew through the air like a ninja and thumped Kirk right in the face. Kirk took the hit but then turned on Joshua. I was up in a flash. Kirk is much bigger and stronger than Joshua.”

Cain put his hand out and tapped Dad on his arm. “Tell Julia what I did.”

Dad smiled. “Young Cain here tried to break up the fight. He got hurt in the process.”

Cain bravely lifted up his hand and showed Julia a cut on his little finger. Julia had to squint to see it.

Dad went on. “I managed to break up the fight. I grabbed them both by the collar and forced them to sit down. They were both shouting at each other. I had to use my angry voice.”

Julia’s eyes widened. “I’ve only ever heard that voice once. When that Tommy Whitehall tried to pinch my bike. You scared him off, didn’t you Dad?”

He nodded. “No one takes anything from my family. Kirk and Joshua shut their mouths and glared at each other. I bought Kirk a drink and then explained why Joshua was so mad. Joshua thought Kirk was referring to Douglas. Kirk said he wasn’t. He said he was talking about an elderly man on the other side of town. It seems Adams Construction are building a new housing development over there and they’d been in negotiations with the old codger that Kirk referred to. The man had died recently and his daughter was more than happy to sell his house to Kirk.”

Julia said, “Sounds like they’ve got their fingers in pies all around this town. How did the old man die? Did he fall down his stairs?”

Dad chuckled. “What a suspicious mind you have. Cain asked Kirk that. But no, the old fella died from a heart attack.”

Julia’s eyes narrowed. “Or so Kirk Adams says. What else did he tell you?”

Dad leaned closer to Julia and said, “He told us that he was at Douglas’ house on the night he died.”

Julia gasped. Then she slapped her hand on the table and said, “I knew it! I knew it was him who killed Douglas!”

Dad held his hands up. “Not so fast there. Kirk didn’t turn up to pester Douglas about selling the house, it was Douglas who called Kirk. Douglas told him that his circumstances had changed and that he was considering selling his house after all.”

“Oh. I wasn’t expecting that,” Julia said. “That does make sense though. He’d asked Nina to marry him on the Saturday. She’d said yes so I suppose Douglas began to make plans. Perhaps he thought Nina wouldn’t want to live in the house where his first wife lived.”

Cain spoke. Julia noticed the colour was returning to his face. “So Kirk Adams had no reason to kill Douglas.”

“We only have his word for it,” Julia said. “Dad, do you think he was telling the truth?”

“I don’t know, it’s hard to tell with a man like Kirk Adams. He comes across as arrogant and self centred. He seemed to gloat about Douglas agreeing to sell his land, as if it was all Kirk’s doing. There’s no reason for him to lie, is there?”

“There is if he pushed Douglas down the stairs! Those must have been his footprints on the stair carpet.”

Dad nodded. “They were. He asked Douglas if he could use his toilet when he was there on Tuesday. I asked Kirk if he’d noticed the stair carpet sticking up at the top. He didn’t notice anything but he said he didn’t trip over anything on the way back down the stairs.”

“What about the rock through the window!”

“Stop shouting, Cain’s still in a delicate state. I asked him that. He actually looked ashamed. He said he had done that before to one of Douglas’ neighbours but he hadn’t done it to Douglas.”

“Again, we only have his word for it.”

“You’re convinced he’s guilty, aren’t you?”

“Yes, there aren’t any other suspects.”

Dad shared a look with Cain. He turned his attention back to Julia and said, “When Kirk left Douglas’ house that Tuesday night he saw someone coming the other way. He watched where they went as they passed him. They went into Douglas’ house.”

“No! Who was it?” Julia said.

“Kirk said he wasn’t sure if the person was male or female. He decided on female when he saw that she was wearing a coat with cats on it and carrying a shopping bag that had dancing kittens printed on it.”

Julia looked at Cain, back to her dad, and then at Cain again.

Cain nodded. “It must have been Mildred from the charity shop, Mildred with the moustache.”

Chapter 18

“But what was she doing there? How does she know Douglas?” Julia waited while her thoughts caught up with her. “She must have killed Douglas!”

Dad rubbed his head and stood up. “You’re giving me a headache with all this shouting. I’m going. I’ve nothing else to report. Cain, do you want a lift?”

Cain stood up gingerly. “Thanks, Ray. Thanks for the water, Julia. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Julia gave them both a vague wave, she was too lost in her thoughts to talk.

What was Mildred doing there?

There was one, or two people that might know the answer to that. Julia made a quick phone call to Doris who told her to come round in a few hours.

That gave Julia enough time to finish making her soap and allowing it to cool. When they were ready she packaged up a couple of bars and put them in her bag.

When Doris opened the door later, Julia handed the bars over with the clear instructions that there was one bar for Doris, and one bar for Nina. She didn’t want Doris taking both of them.

Doris sniffed the soap and said, “That’s a nice fragrance. If you’re going to make any more I’d prefer rose. Follow me through to the patient.”

Nina was sitting in a comfy armchair. She stood up when Julia came in and gave her a hug. Nina looked much better. If she had been crying, she’d made a good effort of covering the evidence up.

Julia sat down and brought them up to speed with what had happened. They both gasped when Mildred’s name was mentioned.

Doris pressed her lips together tightly and nodded her head. She looked at Nina and said, “I told you about that woman but you wouldn’t listen! You always try to see the good side of people but that Mildred Hepplethwaite doesn’t have one.”

Julia looked from one woman to the other. “Am I missing something?”

Nina spoke. “Doris told me that Mildred is in love with Douglas, and has been for years. She told me to watch my back.”

“Too right I did. And I was right, wasn’t I? Sneaking off to see your Douglas when you weren’t there! Hussy!”

Julia said, “Do you think they were having an affair?” She couldn’t imagine that happening but she had to ask.

“In her dreams!” Doris spat. “Let me tell you about Mildred Hepplethwaite. She was at school with Val, Douglas’ first wife. Val knew that Mildred liked Douglas but I suspect she never knew that Mildred was in love with him. Val couldn’t get rid of Mildred after they left school. Mildred hung around Val like a bad smell. I think that’s because it was the only way she could still see Douglas.

“It was Mildred’s idea for Val to adopt those cats. It wouldn’t surprise me if Mildred told Val to adopt them for Douglas’ sake, seeing as Val couldn’t give him a child. She’s a devious one is Mildred. She was always turning up at Val’s on some excuse or other, something to do with the cats.

“When Val died she must have been worried about how she was going to still see Douglas. He came into the shop a few times and I actually heard her say that Val would want him to continue adopting cats. Poor Douglas, what was he to say to that? He was under the impression that Val and Mildred had been good friends. I think Val put up with Mildred because she was too kind to tell her to get lost. Anyway, Douglas adopted a cat, just the one. Again, she made excuses up to go and see him often.”

Julia looked at Nina. “Did you know about this?”

Nina nodded. “She came round one day when I was there. She’d brought a new brand of flea powder for Cat. She didn’t know that Douglas and I were seeing each other. I’ll never forget the look on her face when she saw me in Douglas’ front room.”

Doris said, “A face like thunder, no doubt. She’s never taken to you. As soon as you volunteered to work at the charity shop she took against you. It was even worse when she found out about you and Douglas. That’s why she made you work in the stockroom so much.”

“I didn’t mind. I could understand how she felt. Poor Mildred.”

“Did Douglas know how she felt about him?” Julia asked.

Nina said, “He thought they were just friends. I didn’t point out that she was in love with him, that would only make things uncomfortable between them.”

There was silence for a while.

Then Julia said, “Do you think that Mildred killed Douglas?”

“Yes!” Doris shot out.

“No,” Nina said. “Why would she do that?”

“Jealousy springs to mind. When Mildred went to Douglas’ on Tuesday night he could have told her about your engagement.”

Doris nodded and said, “Then the jealous cow flew into a rage and pushed him down the stairs!”

There was another silence. Julia broke it again. “Oh! Nina, that’s what I meant to ask you the other day. I know Douglas didn’t have any children so who inherits his property?”

Nina looked down at her knee and said, “Val wanted to leave everything to a charity, the cat charity.”

“Not the one run by Mildred?” Doris asked.

Nina looked up and nodded. “Val trusted Mildred, and so did Douglas, he saw no reason to change the beneficiary of his will. His property goes direct to Mildred so that she can proportion it out to various cat charities in the area.”

Doris stood up and put her hands on her hips. “So she gets all his money! The scheming … oh! Julia, she must have killed Douglas! She was there on the night he died and she had motive!”

Chapter 19

Julia didn’t disagree. She couldn’t, the facts spoke for themselves.

Nina began to cry.

Doris stood up and walked over to her. “Not again, Nina love. I thought you’d stopped crying.”

“This is all my fault! If I hadn’t have moved here then Douglas would still be alive.”

“Nonsense. Mad Mildred could have killed him at any time. I’ve never trusted her, there’s a mad glint in her eyes.” Doris looked over at Julia and said, “So, what are you going to do now? Are you going to have it out with her?”

“I don’t know where she lives, do you?” Julia asked.

“No. But she’ll be at the shop tomorrow. I’ll have a word with her,” Doris threatened.

Julia stood up. “No, don’t do that. I’ll have to let DI Clarke know about this. I want to know how far he’s got with his own investigations.”

Doris made a noise of disapproval. “He probably hasn’t questioned Kirk Adams yet.”

“Well, I’ll still have to talk to him.”

“Are you going to the police station now? I’ll come with you,” Doris said.

“Let the poor girl go home,” Nina said as she dried her tears with a blue handkerchief. “She’s got a life of her own. We can’t be sending her out on errands on our behalf. She’s even got her family involved now. Julia, go home. You look into Douglas’ death when you can.”

Doris made another clicking noise and folded her arms.

Julia said, “I want to find out who killed Douglas, for his sake and yours. I’ll let you know how I get on.”

Doris showed her to the door without saying a word. She didn’t need to speak, Julia could feel the disapproval wafting towards her like a bad perfume. Julia would continue with her investigations, but not today. She was going to phone her children and make sure they were okay. She needed to hear their voices.

The following day was Monday. Cain was waiting for her outside his house. He looked much brighter than he had the previous day. As he climbed into the car Julia said, “You actually look as if you’re alive. How are you feeling?”

“Great! I slept most of yesterday. Your dad said I could go with him to the pub this Friday.”

“I thought you were never going to drink again.”

Cain nodded. “Ray told me that I just need to get used to it. He’s so wise. You’re lucky to have him as a dad.”

Julia didn’t say anything as she drove away. She knew she was lucky to have Dad but she didn’t approve of his plans to corrupt Cain with beer. Still, Cain had a lot of catching up to do and she was rather he did it with Dad at his side.

They were busy with cleaning work all day. Julia deliberately didn’t tell Cain about the new developments concerning Mildred, she didn’t tell him she’d been to see Nina and Doris after he’d left. She knew that he’d offered to help her, but it wasn’t fair to take up his time. She’d got herself involved in this investigation, she could deal with it on her own.

After she’d dropped Cain off at home that evening she drove to the police station. DI Clarke wasn’t waiting for her at the door this time, he was waiting in the reception area.

“Good evening, Ms Blake. Yet another happy coincidence, us both being here at the same time.”

“Well, you work here,” Julia pointed out.

“Exactly. Which brings me neatly to my first question. What are you doing here?”

His blue eyes seemed to pin her to the spot. She fiddled with the handle on her handbag and said, “I may have stumbled across some information that might help you.”

DI Clarke’s left eyebrow rose. “Is that so? Is it something to do with the death of Douglas Pedley?”

“Yes,” Julia mumbled. She wished he’d stop staring at her like that, it was unnerving.

DI Clarke tapped his chin. “But I don’t understand, Ms Blake. I specifically told you to leave the investigations to me.”

Julia dropped the handle of her handbag. She gave the inspector a direct look and said, “Do you want to know what I’ve found out or what?”

The corner of the inspector’s mouth lifted a fraction. “Of course I do. I was having a little joke with you. Come into my office.”

“Can you let me know in advance when you’re having a little joke because I can’t tell,” Julia said.

She followed DI Clarke down a corridor and into a corner office. She said, “Oh, this is nice. You can see out in two directions.” She looked a bit closer. “You can see the road. Oh! You must have seen me driving down that road. That’s how you knew I was going to walk in.” She paused. “You assumed I was coming in here, I could have just been driving past.”

“I doubt that. Take a seat.” DI Clarke sat behind a large desk. Julia saw the backs of some picture frames as she lowered herself into a chair. She wondered who the photographs were of. His wife? Children? His pet dog? Maybe she could ask him.

He tapped his watch and said, “I haven’t got all day.”

Maybe she wouldn’t ask him about the photos. She said, “Have you spoken to Kirk Adams yet?”

“I have. And I believe your father and Mr Andrews have too. It’s another happy coincidence that they were at that particular pub at the same time as Kirk Adams.”

Julia ignored the last comment. “So you know about the old man who died at the other side of town. Have you checked how he died?”

“I have. It was a heart attack. Let me save you some time, Ms Blake. I’ll tell you what I know about Kirk Adams. You interrupt me if there’s anything new to add. Let me tell you too that we didn’t find any fingerprints on the rock that came through Mr Pedley’s window.”

Julia listened as DI Clarke told her everything that she already knew.

She said, “Do you know the identity of the woman that Kirk saw as he left Douglas’ house?”

“My wife goes to charity shops often and, unfortunately, drags me along sometimes. I had a suspicion that the description matched Mildred Hepplethwaite who works at the cat charity shop.”

“Have you spoken to her?”

“I spoke to her this morning. She said she did go to Mr Pedley’s house on the evening that he died. She had a cat collar that she wanted to give to his pet. She stated that she stayed for ten minutes and then left. She confirmed that Mr Pedley was alive when she left.”

“And you believe her?”

“My opinions don’t matter. Let me just say that Ms Hepplethwaite has now become a person of interest. We are trying to establish a motive for her.”

Julia waved her hand at him. “I know why she did it!”

“Really?” His left eyebrow went on an upward journey again. “Do you have hard facts, or is it gossip?”

Julia thought for a moment. “A bit of both. Do you want me to tell you?”

DI Clarke studied her for a moment and then said, “You may as well.”

Chapter 20

Julia told Cain about her chat with DI Clarke the following day. At the mention of the cat’s collar Cain suddenly yelled out, “Cat! We haven’t found Cat yet!”

“Oh, heck. I’d forgotten about her. We’ll have another look for her when we’ve finished this job.”

When they arrived at Douglas’ house later there was a different policeman standing at the front door. Julia walked up to him and tapped the side of her nose. “You don’t have to tell me why you’re here. New evidence has come to light, hasn’t it?”

The policeman gave her a hard stare which made her wither slightly. In a less confident voice she said, “Have you seen a ginger cat? It belonged to Douglas Pedley. She’s been missing for days.”

The policeman shook his head and indicated for her to go away. Julia wasn’t going to be put off. “We’ll have a quick look for her in the garden and woods. We won’t disturb anything.”

The policeman shrugged and looked away.

Julia and Cain went down the garden path and out of the gate. “Did you see Cat in the garden?” Julia asked.

“No, did you?”

Julia looked back at Douglas’ house. “I wish we could look inside the house. We might spot something that’s out of place.”

Cain looked back too. “It’s unusual that the police are still here.”

“They must be looking for evidence to link Mildred to the crime scene.”

“Like a bit of moustache,” Cain suggested.

Julia tutted. “You’re obsessed with Mildred’s moustache. We ladies sometimes need extra help in the hair removal department.” She did a double take when she saw how Cain was looking at her. “Stop looking at my upper lip! Come on, we’ve got a cat to find.”

They crossed the field and entered the woods. They looked where they’d looked before but there was no sign of Cat. Julia hoped they wouldn’t find her dead body anywhere.

Cain suddenly grabbed her arm and said, “I can hear voices. Listen! It sounds like two men talking.” He hunkered down behind a spiky bush. Julia automatically followed him. She strained her ears to catch the voices.

Cain said, “One of them sounds like that man we heard the other day. It sounds like Kirk Adams, I can hear the sneer in his tone.”

Julia cocked her head. She couldn’t make out the voices very well. Cain must have ears like a bat. She whispered, “What are they saying?”

“I can’t quite hear properly. Cover me, I’m going in for a closer look.” Cain flattened himself on the ground and began to inch forward. Julia again did the same. She hissed, “How am I supposed to cover you? I haven’t got a gun. Oh! This is silly. I’m getting up. We’ve got a valid reason for being in these woods, I’m not hiding from anyone.”

She stood up and took a few seconds to stare at the scene in front of her. She hunkered back down and hissed, “It’s not two men talking, one of them is Mildred! She’s talking to Kirk Adams! They’re shaking hands!”

Cain rubbed his ear that was closest to Julia and said, “What do you think they’re doing? Are they still talking?”

Julia stood up and froze. In a normal voice she said, “Hello. I believe we met at the charity shop the other day. Ah, I see you’ve found Cat, she looks comfy in your arms. We’ve been looking for her.” Julia smiled in a friendly way. Cain rose and copied Julia’s smile.

Mildred Hepplethwaite did not return their smiles. She glowered at them as she twiddled with one of Cat’s ears. Cat seemed to be enjoying it, or she might have been too scared to protest.

Mildred took a step towards them and said, “What the hell are you doing on my property? And what were you doing on the ground?”

“Looking for Cat,” Julia explained. “We thought she might have got stuck in a bush. She got stuck the other day.”

“Yes, I know. You two always seem to be hanging about in these woods. You’re trespassing now so clear off.”

Cain made to turn away. Julia didn’t move. “You’ve seen us in these woods before looking for Cat?”

Mildred realised her mistake. “No, I didn’t say that.”

Julia pointed at her. “It was you! You threw the rock through Douglas’ window! You saw me and Cain that day and followed us through these woods to Douglas’ house. Why did you throw the rock through the window? Was it when you realised that Nina was inside?”

“Don’t mention that gold-digger’s name to me!” Mildred spat. “So what if I threw that rock! I saw the way that Douglas looked at Nina as she was taken out on that stretcher. I was glad she’d fallen down the stairs. She should have broken her neck! But no, she had to survive didn’t she? And Douglas had to look at her in that soppy way of his! He was under her spell.”

Julia thought back to what Nina had said about someone following Douglas and listening to his conversations. She took a chance. “You’ve been following Douglas, haven’t you?”

Mildred shrugged. “So what if I have? I was trying to protect him. I knew that Nina Sapphire was up to no good the minute I saw her. I let her work at the charity shop so that I could keep an eye on her. What does she do to repay my kindness? Throws herself at Douglas, the tramp!”

Cain moved closer to Julia and whispered, “She’s scaring me, look at her eyes. She’s going to kill us and bury us in an unmarked grave!”

Mildred hadn’t finished. “I don’t trust that scheming cow. Where has she come from? Who is she to act like the Queen of Sheba?”

“Who?” Cain asked.

Mildred ignored him. “I had to warn Douglas, get him to see sense.”

“Is that why you came to see him on Tuesday night, the night that he died?”

Mildred’s teeth pulled back in a snarl. “What’s that got to do with you?”

Julia was not going to be intimidated. She took a step forward and said, “It’s everything to do with me. Douglas was my friend. Someone murdered him and I’m going to find out who did it.”

“Well, it wasn’t me!” Mildred thundered. “Stop harassing me before I report you to the police. And get off my land!”

Julia put her arms out. “Give me Cat.”

Mildred pulled the cat closer. “Get lost. Cat is mine. Douglas always said I could have her if anything happened to him.”

Julia said, “I’m only going because I want to. You can shout all you like but you don’t scare me. I think I might tell the police about the rock throwing incident. And what were you talking to Kirk Adams about?”

Mildred’s face seemed to crumple. She placed Cat on the floor and spread her arms out. In a broken voice she said, “I was telling Kirk that I would never sell Douglas’ house and land. It’s all I’ve got left of him now. You go ahead and tell the police about the window, I don’t care any more. My life is empty without Douglas.”

Julia wasn’t sure if Mildred was putting on an act. She said, “What will you do with this land?”

Mildred attempted a smile. “I’m going to build a huge cat sanctuary. Imagine the freedom the cats will have. It’s going to be wonderful. Douglas would have loved it.”

Julia wasn’t sure about the last comment. “We’re sorry for troubling you. Goodbye.”

Cain gave Mildred a wave and then followed Julia through the woods and back to Douglas’ garden. He said, “Do you believe her story?”

Julia shook her head. “I don’t believe what she said about Kirk Adams. You don’t shake hands if you’ve just told someone that you’re not going to sell them something. You usually shake hands to seal a business deal. Mildred is definitely up to something. And she’s got a really bad temper, hasn’t she?”

Chapter 21

There was an email waiting for Julia when she got home later. It was from Delilah, the sales agent at the show home: ‘Hello Ms Blake! I’m delighted to inform you that our woodland development will be going ahead! I know you expressed interest in it and I’m sure you’ll be excited as us about the project! Please feel free to call into our Windsor show house to look at the plans! Hope to see you soon!’

Julia wondered if Delilah ever finished a sentence without an exclamation mark.

So, the development on Douglas’ land was going ahead. Which only meant one thing - Mildred had agreed to sell the land to Adams Construction. That must have been what the handshake was about. She shook her head. Mildred had no intention of letting cats run free on that land.

Julia thought about the matter. Had Mildred known that she was the sole beneficiary of Douglas’ will? Probably. Had Kirk Adams found out and approached her direct? That was a possibility. Jealousy and greed were strong motives for killing a person. And Mildred was well built, she wouldn’t have any problems shoving Douglas down the stairs.

Julia picked the phone up and contacted DI Clarke. He answered on the second ring. For once, he didn’t dismiss her opinion. When she’d finished, the inspector said, “I’m glad you’ve phoned, I was going to phone you actually.”

“What about?”

“Some new information has come to light and I need to inform Nina Sapphire of it.”

“What information?”

“I can’t reveal that to you now, I have to tell Ms Sapphire first. But I’d like you to be there when I tell her, the news may upset her, or stun her. Either way, she could do with your support. You seem to be  close.”

Julia smiled. “Do you want me there because you’re scared of Doris?”

There was a pause. Then the inspector said, “I’m a professional policeman, I’ve met many hardened criminals. I’m not scared of an elderly lady who shouts too much. Will you meet me at one p.m. tomorrow at Doris’ house? I’d appreciate it.”

Julia said she would. She had a free two hour slot at that time so she didn’t have to rearrange any client visits.

As soon as her call ended she logged onto the Internet and visited the Adams Construction site. Blimey, they hadn’t wasted any time. There was an artist’s impression of what the new development would look like. The new detached houses looked impressive, and expensive. The gardens seemed to be of a decent size too. She knew that according to Kirk Adams, Douglas had agreed to sell his land, but is this what Douglas would have wanted? She sighed. She wasn’t sure anymore.

This investigation had been going on for too long. Julia hoped that whatever information DI Clarke had would move the investigation closer to a conclusion.

Julia didn’t sleep well again that night but put on a bright smile when she picked Cain up the following morning. As they went to various houses they talked about what the information could be that DI Clarke was going to impart to Nina.

Doris opened the door the moment they walked up her path at one p.m. She threw her hands up. “Thank goodness you two are here! That inspector chap has been here for fifteen minutes, standing in the corner of my room like a useless statue. He won’t sit down, won’t take a cup of tea, he’s just standing there silently! He said he won’t say a word until you got here.”

DI Clarke acknowledged Julia and Cain with a curt nod as they walked into Doris’ living room. Julia sat next to Nina on the sofa and gave her an inquisitive glance. Nina shook her head, it appeared she had no idea why DI Clarke was here.

Doris went up to the inspector and said, “Get on with it then!”

DI Clarke looked over Doris’ head and straight at Nina. He said, “I’m sorry for making you wait. I thought Ms Blake could offer you some support. Also, I thought she might want to hear this information direct from me seeing how she’s conducting her own enquiries.”

Doris said, “I’m glad she is too! She’s kept us more informed than you have. Well? What’s this all about?”

DI Clarke looked down at Doris. “I will tell you if you stop interrupting.”

Doris folded her arms and glared at him.

DI Clarke continued. “We made a thorough search of Mr Pedley’s house and we came across a new will. It had been drawn up the day before he died. It’s an official will, I’ve confirmed this with the solicitor involved.”

Everyone seemed to hold their breath as they waited for him to continue.

He said, “Mr Pedley has left everything to you, Ms Sapphire.”

Nina’s hands flew to her chest, the colour drained from her face. “No! That can’t be! Why would he do that?”

“Apparently, he told the solicitor that he was going to marry you as soon as possible and he wanted all the legal side to be settled before you got married. Ms Sapphire, did you know about this second will?”

Tears ran down Nina’s face. Her hand shook as she took a tissue from Julia. “No, I didn’t. I can’t believe he’d do something like that. I don’t want his property. I don’t want his land. Everything should go to Mildred, that’s what Douglas’ first wife wanted.”

Julia said, “But things changed for Douglas, you came into his life. I know he considered you to be more important than cats.”

Nina shook her head vehemently. “No! I won’t accept it! I’m not having his property. Can the will be cancelled? Can I speak to the solicitor?”

The inspector frowned. “I think you’d have to accept Mr Pedley’s property first and then donate it. It’ll take a while though.”

Julia studied the inspector. “There’s something you’re not telling us. Come on, we can take it.”

DI Clarke’s expression softened. “I’m sorry to say this but if something happens to you, then the property reverts back to the original beneficiary.”

Doris unfolded her arms and pointed at DI Clarke. “So, what you’re trying to say is that Nina’s life is in danger! Mad Mildred will be furious about the new will and will try to murder Nina, just like she murdered Douglas!”

DI Clarke looked uncomfortable. “I’m not saying that at all. We are still making our own enquiries, we’re not ready to arrest anyone yet. I wanted Ms Sapphire to be aware of the situation.”

Nina spoke, “It’s okay, Inspector, I know what you’re trying to say. Don’t worry, Doris, I’ll sort this out. I’ll speak to Mildred and tell her that I’m going to give her the money.”

Doris shrieked, “But she doesn’t deserve it! Miserable old cow. You made Douglas happy. He wanted you to have his property.”

“I can’t take it,” Nina said. “I just can’t take it. What would I do with all that land? I couldn’t live in his house. No, I have to do the right thing.”

Doris pressed her lips together so hard that her mouth disappeared. She stormed out of the room.

DI Clarke raised a finger and made a beckoning gesture to Julia. She followed him outside. He said, “The solicitor has got an appointment with Mildred Hepplethwaite this afternoon, he’s going to let her know about the new will. From what you’ve told me about her temper, she’s going to be furious. I’m going to post some plain-clothes policemen on the streets around this house.”

“You think that Mildred might try to hurt Nina? Do you think Mildred killed Douglas?”

The inspector sighed. “I really don’t know, but it’s looking that way.”

Chapter 22

Julia and Cain waited for the inspector to leave and then they said goodbye to the two women and headed to their next cleaning job.

Julia said, “I wish I could stay and keep an eye on Nina. I don’t want her to speak to Mildred about the will.”

“She’s got Doris to keep an eye on her. And those plain-clothes policemen. She’ll be okay.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Julia said, her heart heavy.

But Cain wasn’t right. Julia closed the door of a client’s apartment a few hours later and said, “That’s it, we’re done for today.” Her phone rang, it was Doris.

She was hysterical. “She’s gone! Nina’s gone! I nipped out for some shopping and when I came back she’d gone!”

“Calm down, Doris, try to breathe. Did you speak to the policemen outside your house?”

There was a pause as Doris took some deep breaths. “Those men are about as useful as chocolate teapots! They said they saw nothing. Where do you think she’s gone?”

“My guess is that she’s gone to see Mildred, to talk about the will.”

Doris swore. “I told her not to do that! I told her Mildred’s a murderer! Do you think she’s gone to the charity shop?”

“I hope so. At least there’s safety in numbers. There’ll be customers in the shop.”

Doris swore again. Julia blinked but didn’t admonish Doris, she didn’t dare. Doris said, “The shop closes early today for stocktaking. If Nina’s gone there she’ll be on her own with Mildred.”

Julia made a quick decision. “I’m not far away from you, I’ll pick you up and we’ll go straight there.”

Julia passed the phone to Cain and said, “Phone DI Clarke and tell him what’s going on. Did you hear everything Doris said to me?”

Cain winced. “I certainly did. She knows some colourful words, doesn’t she?”

Julia ran to her car with Cain at her heels. Cain made the phone call as they drove to Doris’ house. Doris was waiting for them at the kerb, a look of grim determination on her face. Cain jumped out of the passenger seat and held the door open for Doris. He said, “I’ll sit in the back.”

Doris nodded and climbed into the car. She looked at Julia and said, “Step on it. If that miserable cow has hurt my friend I’m going to wring her neck.”

Julia drove as fast as she could get away with. She noticed that two cars followed her and assumed they were being driven by the plain-clothes policemen. She frowned. They were very quick to follow her, she wished they’d shown the same initiative when keeping an eye on Nina. How had Nina got past them? She was a striking-looking woman.

Doris rubbed her round stomach and said, “I’ve got a funny feeling that something terrible has happened, I can feel it in my tummy. Can you drive any faster?”

Julia put her foot down. A few minutes later she skidded to a halt on the road that led to the charity shop. She couldn’t go any further because the road ahead was blocked by two police cars and an ambulance.

“No!” Doris screamed. She opened the door and headed down the road as fast as her old legs would allow. Julia and Cain were at her side in a second. Doris waved her arms and cried out, “Nina! It’s Nina! She’s dead!”

Julia put her arm through Doris’ and said, “Slow down, you’re going to do yourself an injury.”

Doris shoved her to one side. “Let me at her! Let me get my hands on that murdering scumbag!”

DI Clarke stepped out of the shop. He blanched at the sight of the approaching threesome. He held his hands up and shouted, “Stop right there! No one is going in.”

Doris leapt at him, her fists pounding on his chest. “Let me in! Where’s Nina? Where’s that Mildred!”

DI Clarke caught hold of Doris’ flailing hands and said calmly, “You need to calm down. Ms Sapphire has been injured but she’s okay. The paramedics are placing her on a stretcher. She’s in shock, but she’s okay.”

Julia said, “What happened?”

“We haven’t got the full story yet but it appears that Ms Sapphire came here to see Ms Hepplethwaite. I presume she wanted to talk about the will. We got an emergency call from Ms Sapphire a few minutes ago, she was calling from this shop. I was already on my way following the call from Mr Andrews here. Ms Sapphire was calling from the bottom of the cellar steps, she was lucky to get a signal down there.”

Julia’s brow creased. “Why was she at the bottom of the steps.”

“She claims that Ms Hepplethwaite pushed her.” He looked down at Doris and said, “Can I release you now? Can you keep your arms to yourself?”

“I’m not sure,” Doris muttered through clenched teeth. “Where’s Mildred now?”

As if on cue, Mildred was led out of the charity shop, a policeman at her side. She was wearing handcuffs. She kept her head low as she walked past everyone and towards a waiting police car.

DI Clarke kept hold of Doris’ arms as she tried to struggle free. He turned his head as Doris let out a string of expletives.

He pulled Doris to one side as a paramedic came out of the shop. He was holding the front end of a stretcher. They watched in silence as Nina was carried towards the ambulance. She was wearing a mask, her eyes were closed.

Doris said, “I thought you said she was okay! She doesn’t look okay.”

“She fainted when the paramedics arrived, presumably from the shock. Please, try not to worry. She will be okay. She’s going to be taken care of.”

Doris collapsed into the inspector’s arms and began to cry. To his credit, he didn’t push her away. Julia was surprised to see him put an arm around Doris and pat her on the back. He was human after all.

“Can we go with Nina to the hospital?” Julia asked.

The inspector shook his head. “Leave her for a while. I’ll phone you when you’re allowed to visit. I need to speak to Ms Sapphire too.”

Doris looked up at him and said, “Don’t you be badgering her, you’ve done enough damage already. You were supposed to be protecting her.”

A flicker of guilt crossed the inspector’s face. “I know. Would you like a lift home in my car? You can sit in the front.”

Doris sniffed. “Can I put the siren on?”

“No. But you can put the radio on.”

Doris looked over at Julia and said, “I’m going in his car. Yours is too small, and it smells funny. No offence.”

“None taken,” Julia said. They watched DI Clarke walk towards his car, Doris had her hand on his elbow. Julia felt a pang of sympathy for the inspector.

“What shall we do now?” Cain asked.

Julia looked towards the charity shop as several policemen entered. “There’s nothing we can do but wait. We have to talk to Nina, find out what really happened.”

Cain sighed. “I’m glad she seems okay, I thought she was going to be dead. I can get the bus home, the stop is over there.”

“Nonsense. I’m going to Mum’s for tea. You are more than welcome. She always makes too much.”

Cain’s face lit up. “Will your dad be there?”

“Yes.”

“Then count me in.” He grinned, and then added, “Thank you.”

Chapter 23

Cain had just finished his third helping of dessert when Julia received a call from DI Clarke. She finished the call and said to Cain, “We can go and see Nina now. She’s been asking for us.”

Dad said, “It’s a bit late, isn’t it?”

“It’s only eight. We probably won’t be able to stay long. Cain, do you want to come with me?”

“Yes, of course.” He stood up and said thank you to Julia’s mum and dad for tea.

Julia’s mum beamed at him. “You are more than welcome, Cain. It’s nice to receive a thank you for all the hard work I’ve done.”

Dad wrinkled his nose. “Didn’t this food come out of the freezer? Wasn’t it all pre-made?”

“Indeed it did. But who do you think took it out of the freezer and put it in the oven?” Mum asked.

Julia decided to take that moment to leave. She kissed her parents and said an extra loud thank you to Mum. Mum pretended to swipe her with a tea towel. “Off you go before I make you wash up.”

Julia and Cain arrived at the hospital a short while later. Julia’s heart sank as she realised that the last time she’d been here Douglas had been at her side. She forced the sad feeling away and pasted a smile on her face. She wouldn’t be any help to Nina looking so miserable.

They were directed to the same ward as before. There were only two visitors at the side of Nina’s bed - DI Clarke and Doris. Julia’s breath caught as she walked closer. Nina seemed to have shrunk into the bed, her face was nearly as white as the pillow case. Even her black hair appeared paler.

Nina spotted her and held out a shaking hand. She croaked, “Julia, Cain, thank you for coming to see me. Here I am again.” She forced a smile.

DI Clarke stood up and took Julia to one side. “Keep an eye on her, will you? We should have kept a closer watch on her. She should never have gone to that shop on her own.”

Was it Julia’s imagination or did he look guilty?

The inspector turned back to Nina and said, “I have to go now. Thank you for giving me a statement.”

“That’s okay. I hope I haven’t got Mildred into trouble. I’m sure she didn’t mean it.”

Julia heard Doris tut from her sitting position.

The inspector lifted a hand in farewell and actually smiled at Nina.

Julia took the seat that DI Clarke had vacated. Nina’s hand was still outstretched. Julia took it and was shocked to find it was so cold. Cain sat at the other side of the bed.

In a surprisingly gentle voice, Doris said, “Nina, do you want me to tell Julia what happened? You look like you’re at death’s door. No offence.”

Nina gave a small nod.

Doris turned to Julia and said, “Despite me trying to convince her otherwise, Nina decided to pay Mildred a visit. She got past those pathetic policemen outside by wearing a disguise. She wore some of my clothes, including a headscarf. Didn’t those policemen register that I, the real me, had just popped out to the shops? They should have been suspicious about seeing me, I mean Nina, again so soon.”

Cain leant forward and said, “Perhaps they thought all old women look the same.” He hesitated then added, “No offence.”

“None taken, lad. Well, Nina went into the charity shop just as Mildred was getting ready to close it. I’m telling you Nina’s side of the story, bear this in mind. Nina said Mildred wasn’t pleased to see her and tried to close the door in her face. Nina shouted out that she wanted to talk about the will. Mildred flung the door back and gave Nina a piece of her mind.” Doris shook her head. “I’d like to give that Mildred a piece of my mind! Mildred called Nina a few names, Nina won’t tell me exactly what she said, she’s too much of a lady. Mildred calmed down when Nina said she wanted to sign over Douglas’ property to Mildred. She calmed down even more when Nina said she was sure it was what Douglas would've wanted.”

Nina said quietly, “I could tell how much Mildred loved him.”

“It was a weird sort of love,” Doris said. “Apparently, Mildred started acting all friendly with Nina then. She said she was very busy in the shop and would love a hand if Nina could spare the time.”

“I don’t like where this is going,” Julia said.

“No. Anybody else would have told her where to go, but not Nina. She asked how she could help. Mildred said there was some stock down in the cellar and could Nina nip down and get it for her.”

Cain gasped. “The sneaky thing!”

Doris went on, “Nina remembers opening the cellar door and reaching for the light. She felt someone push her and down she went. All the way down to the bottom of the cellar. The door was closed behind her, leaving her in darkness. Nina had just enough strength to phone the police.”

Nina added, “I can’t remember anything after that. Until I woke up here again.” A sob caught in her throat. “When I first woke up I thought I was here after my first fall and I thought that … Douglas was on his way to see me.”

Julia felt her eyes stinging. She moved closer to Nina and hugged the frail woman. Nina sniffed and said, “I’m such a nuisance. I’ve got a habit of falling down stairs.”

Julia released her. “That’s hardly your fault.”

Nina shook her head. “I’m sure Mildred didn’t mean it, she must have been a bit angry.”

“She did mean it!” Doris spat out. “She meant to kill you, like she killed Douglas. You’re lucky you didn’t break anything.”

“Where’s Mildred now?” Nina asked.

“She’s been arrested,” Julia said.

“For pushing me down the stairs?”

Julia waited for a moment and then said, “Yes, for that. But I think she’s been arrested for killing Douglas too.”

Nina withdrew her hand. Her chin wobbled. “I think I’d like to be alone now. Thank you for coming to see me.”

Doris gave Julia a curt nod and said, “Come on, she needs her rest. Bye, Nina, love. We’ll come back to see you tomorrow.”

Nina didn’t reply. She closed her eyes.

Julia and Cain said goodbye too and then walked out of the hospital with Doris. Doris said, “That poor woman. What has she done to deserve this? She was starting to feel stronger after Douglas’ death but now … I’m not sure she’s going to get over this.”

“Is there anything we can do?”

Doris nodded. “Talk to your inspector friend, find out if Mildred has been charged with murder. If she has then at least Nina can put that behind her. Nina needs company. I’ll get in touch with everyone and make sure they visit her.” Doris sighed and Julia realised how tired she looked.

Julia said, “Would you like a lift home in my small and smelly car?”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

After Julia dropped Doris and Cain off at their respective homes she headed for her own home. She was surprised to find DI Clarke waiting for her at the front door. She was even more surprised to hear what he said.

“Mildred Hepplethwaite wants me to visit her?” Julia asked. “Why?”

DI Clarke shrugged. “That’s for you to find out. Maybe she wants to make a full confession. She’s denying that she had anything to do with Douglas’ death or Ms Sapphire falling down the stairs.” He coughed and continued. “To be honest, you’d be doing me a favour. She won’t speak to me until she’s spoken to you. Can you call by the station tomorrow?”

“Of course,” Julia replied.

The inspector strode away without saying another word. Julia called after him, “You are more than welcome!” Her eyes narrowed as she watched him drive away. Was that a smile on his face?

Julia let herself into her house.

What on earth did Mildred want to say to her?

Chapter 24

Julia had to face a dilemma the following morning. She really wanted to see Mildred, but she also had cleaning work to do.

As she voiced her thoughts in the car to Cain, he came up with a solution. “Why don’t you drop me off at the canal side apartments and I can work on my own? I know what work needs doing in each apartment.”

Julia said, “I don’t know.”

She saw Cain stiffen out of the corner of her eye. He said, “You don’t trust me, do you?”

“Of course I trust you! And I’m more than happy to leave you there. My clients know about your background and they’re delighted with your work. They’ve all commented on how clean their windows are since you started working with me. Which is a bit insulting for me, to be honest.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“It’s not fair on you. You shouldn’t have to do all that work on your own.”

“You used to do it on your own. And didn’t you say that your plan is for me to have clients of my own one day?”

“I hate it that you remember everything I say. Okay, if you’re sure. I’ll drop you off then I can go to the police station. I’ll have my phone on at all times, ring me if there’s any problems.”

Cain nodded. “I like it when you nag. You sound like my mother. Well, the mother I wish I had.”

Julia gave him a quick smile and said, “I don’t nag.”

She drove to the canal side apartments, gave Cain the keys and cleaning equipment, and then headed to the police station.

DI Clarke was waiting for her at reception again. Julia didn’t even ask how he knew she was on her way. She said, “Can I see Mildred now? Is she locked up?”

“She is, but I’m going to take you into one of the interrogation rooms, Mildred will join you there. I’ll be standing behind the one-way mirror.”

Julia said, “Will she be handcuffed?”

“Are you afraid she might attack you?”

“Yes. She’s a big woman.”

DI Clarke nodded. “She is. There will be an officer in the room with you. This way.”

Julia was taken into a room. She looked towards the large mirror at the side of the room. Her scalp prickled. She didn’t know if the inspector was standing there yet but she felt as if she was being watched. Julia sat down on a hard metal chair and waited. A minute later Mildred was led into the room by a policewoman. The policewoman indicated for Mildred to sit down, then the policewoman stood behind Mildred, hands clasped at her front.

Julia saw that Mildred looked tired. She supposed it was hard to sleep when you had a guilty conscience. Mildred wasn’t saying anything, she was just staring at Julia.

Julia broke the silence by saying, “DI Clarke said you wanted to talk to me. By the way, Nina is fine.”

Mildred made a noise that sounded like a grunt. She said, “I couldn’t care less about her. I wish she’d broken her neck. She’s a stupid woman, with her stupid name and fancy ways.”

Julia made to stand up. “I haven’t come here to listen to insults about my friend.”

Mildred sighed and said, “I can’t help it. There’s something about that woman that irritates me.” Mildred looked towards the mirror. “I’d like to state that I didn’t kill Douglas Pedley. I loved him, I would never hurt him.” She turned back to Julia. “I wanted to ask you a favour. You can say no if you like.”

“Go on,” Julia said.

“It’s Cat. She’s at my house. She can’t get out, I haven’t got round to getting a cat flap yet. She’ll be hungry. Can you go and see her? Maybe take her to your house?”

“I’m not sure about that.”

“Cat belonged to Douglas, not me. You’d be doing it for him,” Mildred pointed out.

It was hard to argue with that reasoning so Julia said, “Okay, I’ll look after her. How will I get into your house? Have you left a spare key with any of your neighbours?”

“No. I don’t get on with my neighbours. My keys were taken off me at the front desk when I was brought in yesterday. Do you think the police will let you have them?”

Julia looked over to the policewoman who shrugged slightly.

Julia said, “I’ll ask DI Clarke. Was there anything else?”

Mildred stood up and said, “No. I’ve said this once and I’ll say it again, I didn’t kill Douglas.”

She walked towards the door, the policewoman took her by the arm, opened the door and led Mildred away.

Julia stood up. What was it with people and good manners? Had everyone forgotten how to say thank you? She walked through the same door and almost bumped into DI Clarke. He dangled a set of keys in front of her. He said, “That wasn’t a productive conversation, was it?”

Julia took the keys. “That was hardly my fault. Do you want to come with me to Mildred’s house or do you trust me to go on my own?”

DI Clarke began to walk down the corridor. He said, “We’ve already been to Ms Hepplethwaite’s house, looking for anything that might help us with our enquiries. I’ve attached a note of the address to these keys.”

Julia gave an exasperated sigh as she followed him. “Didn’t anyone notice Cat? Didn’t anyone think to take her to a cat shelter or something?”

They reached the reception area. The inspector stopped walking and turned to Julia.

“There’s no need to use that tone with me, Ms Blake. I didn’t go to Ms Hepplethwaite’s house, I don’t know if anyone saw the cat. I want those keys back when you’ve finished.” He turned on his heel and strode away. He called back, “And you can stop bothering me with accusations about Adams Construction!”

Julia shook her head and muttered to herself, “And what am I supposed to do with Cat?”

Chapter 25

Julia drove to Mildred’s house. It was a mid-terraced house and looked in good repair. Julia wasn’t sure what she was going to find when she opened the front door. She told herself not to be silly, the police had been there yesterday and they hadn’t found any dead bodies hidden away, or anything like that. Julia hesitated before she pushed the door open. Mildred could have hidden dead bodies in her cellar or under the floor boards. Julia stepped into the house anyway.

“Cat!” she called out. She didn’t want to spend a minute more in this house than she needed to. It was a dark house, both in colour and in feeling. Julia shivered. Had Mildred planned Douglas’ death whilst sitting on that sofa? “Cat!” she called more urgently. She almost jumped out of her skin as someone rapped at the front door.

A man shouted out, “I know you’re in there! I’m not going away until you open this door!”

Julia recognised the voice. She flung open the door and stared into the angry face of Kirk Adams. “What do you want?” she said to him.

He took a step back in surprise but soon recovered his composure. “Who the hell are you? Where’s that Mildred woman? I want a word with her.” He tried to look over Julia’s shoulder.

Julia folded her arms and said, “Mildred isn’t here. I’m collecting her pet.”

“I don’t believe you. Move out of the way, I bet she’s hiding inside. Shift!”

“No. Stop shouting, Kirk Adams, I’m not deaf.”

Confusion crossed his face. “What? How? Who the hell are you? Tell me!”

Julia raised a hand and said calmly, “I’m not telling you anything until you calm down. Mildred isn’t here, she’s at the police station. She’s been arrested for murder.”

The anger disappeared from Kirk’s face. He rubbed his chin. “Blimey. I wouldn’t have thought she was capable of that. Mind, she’s a big lass.”

“What do you want to speak to Mildred about? Perhaps I can take her a message?”

“Can’t we talk inside?”

“No. Say what you have to, or go away,” Julia said, hoping she sounded more confident than she felt. There was no way she was going into an empty house with a thug like Kirk Adams.

Kirk looked to his left and right. He said, “Me and Mildred had a deal.”

“She was going to sell you the land that belonged to Douglas. Yes, I know about that.”

Kirk’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know about that? Anyway, I’ve found out that she doesn’t even own the land. She lied to me. I’ve lost money on making plans for that land. She owes me.”

Julia shook her head. “She was supposed to inherit Douglas’ land. She only found out recently that it went to Nina.”

“Nina? Nina who?”

Julia realised she’d said the wrong thing. “Doesn’t matter who she is. It’s not Mildred’s fault that you’ve lost money.”

Kirk took a step forward and raised his fist. Julia swallowed. Kirk hissed, “You will tell me who this Nina person is. That land belongs to me and I’m going to get it, no matter what.”

He was suddenly yanked backwards. He fell to the ground and looked up in astonishment. A dark-haired woman in a business suit looked down at him. She said cheerfully, “I think it’s time you left. Or shall I practise some more of my martial arts moves on you?” She flexed her fingers. “I’m a bit rusty. I could do with a work out. What do you say?”

Kirk Adams got to his feet and raised his fists. The woman jumped forward and aimed a hand at his stomach. Kirk collapsed with a howl of pain. The woman said, “Would you like some more?”

Kirk stood up shakily and addressed Julia. “This isn’t over,” he snarled. “I’ll find Nina, and I’ll make her sell that land to me!” He stormed away, holding his stomach as he went.

Julia looked at the woman. She had short hair and a clear complexion. She could be in her thirties or forties, it was hard to tell. Brown eyes twinkled back at Julia. Julia said, “Are you my guardian angel? Thank you for saving me from Kirk.”

The woman laughed and moved closer, her hand outstretched. “No one’s ever called me an angel before. I’m Helena Blossom. And you’re Julia Blake. Pleased to meet you.”

Julia took Helena’s hand and shook it. “First of all, what a lovely name. And, secondly, how do you know mine?”

Helena said, “I’m a private investigator. It’s my business to know everybody else’s business.”

“Who hired you?”

Helena nodded towards the house. “Mildred Hepplethwaite did. I’d be happy to tell you why. I understand that you’ve been making your own investigations into the death of Douglas Pedley.”

Julia nodded. “Would you like to come in? I spoke to Mildred this morning, she’s been arrested. Did you know that?”

“I didn’t.” Helena stepped into the house after Julia.

Julia moved to the sofa and gingerly sat down. It looked like it could do with a clean. She said, “Mildred asked me to pick up her pet, Cat. She used to belong to Douglas but Mildred has taken her in.”

“I didn’t know that either.” Helena grimaced as she joined Julia on the sofa. “This place needs a good scrubbing. I bet you’re itching to give it a going over.”

“Not really. I want to find Cat and get out of here as quickly as possible. There’s an oppressive feel to this house.”

“I know what you mean. I met Mildred here on our first meeting but then I insisted on meeting in cafes. I’ll be brief, then we can both get out of here. Mildred hired me to follow Nina Sapphire. She said she didn’t trust her and suspected that she was cheating on Douglas. I could see what was really going on. Mildred was jealous and wanted to break the couple up. She hired me a few weeks ago. I came here today because she wasn’t answering her phone. Even though Douglas had died she wanted me to keep checking up on Nina.”

“Have you found anything?”

Helena shook her head. “Nothing. She hasn’t been sneaking off to see other men. Hasn’t been phoning or texting anyone. I bugged her phone. It’s all part of the service.”

Julia nodded as if that was acceptable. “I see.”

“I did discover a man that was following Douglas. He’s in his fifties, maybe sixties. When I’ve been watching Douglas and Nina together I noticed that the same man was watching them too. I also spotted Mildred following the couple. I had to tell her to stop doing that.”

“Did the man see you watching him?”

“No, I have a variety of disguises, no one ever spots me. I was wondering if the man was an ex-boyfriend of Nina’s. Perhaps he was jealous. I was going to ask Mildred if she wanted me to follow him, see what he was up to.”

Julia thought for a moment. “Nina told me that when she was out with Douglas sometimes he would stop talking and look over his shoulder. He thought he was being watched. I wonder if it was this man.”

“It’s possible. The man didn’t hide away, it was as if he wanted Douglas to see him.”

“Do you think he might have something to do with Douglas’ death?”

“Again, that is possible. That’s what I wanted to speak to Mildred about.”

“Do you think Mildred is capable of murder?”

“Hell yes! Have you seen the size of her? And the temper on that woman!”

Julia smiled. “I wasn’t expecting that reply. What will you do now?”

“I’ll go to the station and talk to her. If she’ll see me.”

Julia said, “I know Mildred loved Douglas, she said she didn’t kill him. If she is innocent I’d hate for her to be convicted of a crime she didn’t commit. Could you find out who that man is? For me? I’ll pay you of course.”

Helena reached into her pocket and pulled out a card. She passed it to Julia and said, “You don’t have to pay, I was going to find out who he is anyway, to satisfy my own curiosity. I’ll be in touch. Ring me if you need anything.”

Julia stood up. “It was nice meeting you.”

“You too, Julia. You’d better get back to Cain, he’ll be wondering where you are. Bye!”

Helena left the house. Julia looked down at the card. Who was that man? And why was he following Douglas?

Chapter 26

Julia eventually found Cat, she was hiding under Mildred’s bed. Cat hissed at her for a while until Julia finally coaxed her out with an open tin of cat food that she’d found in the kitchen. Once Cat had eaten Julia picked her up and put her on the back seat of her car. She had a quick detour to Dad’s house.

“Hello there!” Dad called out as he opened the door. “For me? How kind,” he said as Julia planted Cat into his arms.

“Can you cat-sit for a while please? I’ll come back for her later. Thanks. Love you!”

Julia was off down the path and into her car without a backward glance. When she drove into the car park at the canal side apartments she found Cain sitting on a low wall outside the nearest apartment block. He was looking at his phone.

Julia walked to his side and said, “Hi, sorry for leaving you so long. Who are you texting?”

“Not texting, playing Furious Fish. Have you ever played it? It’s awesome.”

Julia looked at him. “You can play that in the car. I’ve got a lot to tell you.”

“Okay,” he said. He stood up and walked whilst simultaneously looking down at his phone. Julia shook her head. If she tried that she’d most likely find herself falling down an open manhole. When she sent a text she had to be standing still so that she made sure she pressed the right buttons. Why did the buttons have to be so small on phones?

Cain got into the passenger seat, his attention still on the game. Julia opened the boot and placed the cleaning bag inside. She closed the boot and then screamed.

“Oh! I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. Are you okay?”

Julia nodded to the young woman in front of her and waved a hand, “I’ll be okay in a second.”

The woman said, “I’m Erin Matthews. You don’t know me but I’ve been following you all morning.”

“Are you a private investigator as well?”

The woman looked confused. “No, I work in a bank. I’m sorry, it sounds sinister to say that I’ve been following you. I didn’t have a choice. The police won’t listen to me and …”

Erin burst into tears. Julia immediately opened the back door of the car and indicated for Erin to sit down. Julia went round to the other side and sat next to Erin. Julia said, “Why don’t you start at the beginning?”

Erin sniffed and said, “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For listening to me. The police are not interested at all, they must think I’m some sort of mad woman.” She took a breath. “My granddad died recently. The doctor said it was a heart attack but I know that isn’t the real cause. He’d been hounded for weeks before he died. He’d been followed and he’d been threatened. All the stress weakened his heart.”

Julia had a feeling that she knew where this was heading. Cain had now turned round in his seat and was listening to Erin.

Julia said, “Has this anything to do with Adams Construction?”

“Yes! Yes, it has. Have you had dealings with them too?”

“A friend of mine has. Tell me more about your granddad.”

“He lived on the other side of town. He had a lovely big house with a great big garden. He used to complain about all the new houses that were springing up on either side of him. He said the builders had approached him to sell but he turned them down.

“Then something must have happened because I noticed a change in Granddad. He became more withdrawn and wouldn’t go out. On the few occasions that we did go out, he was always looking over his shoulder. And the amount of times he had accidents with his windows! He told me the windows were old and fragile, and that a slam of the door would break them. I knew he was lying but I couldn’t get him to tell me what the real problem was. He aged quickly before my eyes, and there was nothing I could do about it.”

Tears flowed again down her face. She pulled a tissue from her pocket and wiped her nose. “Then he died. Of a heart attack. That might be true but something had happened to make his heart weak.”

“What makes you think it has anything to do with Adams Construction?” Julia asked.

“They were the builders of the new houses that surrounded Granddad’s house. One of them approached Mum at the funeral about Granddad’s house, his funeral of all places! He asked if he could buy Granddad’s house. Mum didn’t want the hassle of putting it on the market so she said yes. She regrets it now, Granddad’s lovely house is going to be torn down. When I was walking back to the funeral car I overheard the builder on his phone. He was a young man, big build. I didn’t like the way he was smiling, it was like a shark’s smile. He said on the phone that the plan had worked, the old codger was gone and they could have the land now.”

Cain said, “That’s who Kirk Adams must have been talking about when we saw him in the pub.” He explained to Erin about Kirk Adams and the night in the pub.

Erin nodded. “He looked a nasty sort. I know he’s got something to do with Granddad’s death, I just don’t know what. I came across another suspicious death of an elderly man, I think he was called Douglas. The report gave his street address. I drove there. The minute I saw that his house was surrounded by Adams’ houses I knew something suspicious was going on. They must be threatening people until they agree to sell their houses.”

Julia said, “I worked for Douglas. He was murdered by a woman called Mildred Hepplethwaite. She’s in prison.”

Erin’s face fell. “Are you sure she killed him? Are you sure it didn’t have anything to do with Adams Construction?”

Julia looked over at Cain and said, “What do you think?”

Cain said, “I think we’ve got more investigating to do.”

“I agree.” Julia turned to Erin and said, “Give me your details, I’ll give you my phone number.” She stopped, her eyebrows raised. “Hang on, how did you know to follow me?”

Erin looked embarrassed. “After I’d been to your friend’s house I drove to the local police station. I overheard you talking to that man with the bright blue eyes. He told you to stop bothering him about Adams Construction. I knew I had to speak to you.”

“I had no idea that I was being followed. Are you sure you’re not a private investigator? You’d make a good one.”

Erin smiled. “Do you think you could help me find out what Adams Construction are up to, maybe get some evidence?”

“We’ll certainly try,” Julia said. “And I think I know where to begin.”

Chapter 27

As Julia drove away she said to Cain, “I knew that Kirk Adams was up to no good. We  have to collect enough evidence so that the police will take this matter seriously.”

“But what can we do?”

“Do you remember when we went to see Gloria, that ex-neighbour of Douglas’? She told us about her other neighbour, Stan. From what she told us it sounds like Stan might have been threatened by Kirk Adams too. If we could speak to him and find out the full story, then we would have more evidence against Kirk.”

“Gloria doesn’t know where he lives. How are we going to track him down?” Cain looked out of the window. “What are we doing here? Are you going to confront Alexander Adams? Tell him how nasty his son is?”

Julia parked next to the show house that she and Dad had visited previously. “I’m hoping that we won’t be spotted by Kirk or Alexander.” She peered through the front and side windows of the car. “I can’t see anyone working on the new houses, they must be on their lunch breaks.”

“Can you tell me what your plan is?” Cain asked. “You’re not going to sneak into the site manager’s office, are you?”

“Oh, I never thought of that. No, I’m going to find out where Stan moved to, hopefully. And you’re going to help me.” Julia told Cain what she intended to do.

They walked into the show house and were immediately met by Delilah. She beamed at them. “Hello, and welcome to the Windsor. I’m Delilah.” She looked closer at Julia. “I’ve seen you before. You were with your dad. I see you’ve come back for a second look, I don’t blame you! Is this your son?”

“Yes,” Cain said before Julia could say she was far too young to be his mother.

“I can see the family resemblance,” Delilah said with a smile.

Julia and Cain exchanged a quick look. They looked nothing like each other. Julia thought Delilah must be eager to make a sale.

Julia smiled and said, “I was so impressed with this house that I had to bring Cain with me.”

Delilah clasped her hands together. “That’s wonderful news! We don’t have many of these houses left, they’ve been selling like hot buns!”

Julia nodded. “I can quite understand why. As much as I love this house I would prefer to see the ones that you’re going to build on that land behind this one. Do you have any drawings you could show us?”

Delilah’s smile dropped slightly. “Ah, yes. There has been a slight hiccup with our plans. All legal stuff, but it will be sorted out soon!”

“That’s a shame. Do you have any actual plans of the development? I’d like to see the layout of the proposed houses.” Julia moved closer and gave Delilah a knowing look. “I’ve recently come into money and I was planning on buying more than one house. I’d like my family to be near to me.”

Julia could almost see the pound signs lighting up in Delilah’s eyes. Julia felt a pang of guilt for deceiving her, but then she remembered who Delilah was working for.

“Family is so important,” Delilah said. She went to the front door, opened it, looked outside and then closed it. “I don’t suppose it would do any harm if we looked at the plans, just don’t tell anyone! Come into the office.” She unlocked a door at their side and led them in.

Cain took his phone out and started tapping away on it.

Julia said, “Excuse my son, you know what young people are like with their phones.”

“I do,” Delilah said with a nod. She opened a filing cabinet and pulled out some papers. She laid them out on a desk. “These are going to be our finest houses ever. You won’t believe the features that they’re going to have.”

Julia looked over the plans. “Cain, come and look at these.”

Cain tutted and came to her side, still on his phone. He glanced down and said, “Yeah. They just look like houses to me.” He retreated and turned his attention back to his phone.

Julia gave a forced laugh and said, “I’m so sorry. I brought him up better than that. He doesn’t appreciate the beauty of your houses.”

Delilah nodded in an understanding manner. “I quite understand.”

Julia carried on, “He doesn’t even want to look around this house! He won’t listen to me. Mind you, I’m not a brilliant salesperson like you. I bet you could convince him that this house is perfect.”

Delilah clapped her hands together like a small child. “Would you like me to show him around this house?”

“Would you really? That would be so kind of you, thank you.” Julia pulled Cain’s phone out of his hands and said, “Delilah has kindly offered to take you around this house.”

Cain shrugged and mumbled, “What’s the point? It’s just a house, there’s nothing special about it.”

“Young man! This is the Windsor,” Delilah said. “There are features in this house that you have never seen before. Follow me!”

Julia took a chance and said, “Would you mind if I had a closer look at these plans? I think my sister might be interested too.”

Delilah waved a hand at her. “You go ahead!” She addressed Cain, “Let’s go to the kitchen first! You’re going to be amazed!”

Cain shoved his hands in his pockets and shuffled behind her. As he left the room he looked back at Julia and grinned.

Julia felt terrible about Delilah. Then she wondered if Delilah knew what sort of a man Kirk Adams was. If she did, and she was okay with his thuggish ways, then Julia shouldn’t feel guilty. And if Delilah didn’t know about Kirk, then Julia was doing her a favour by exposing him. She nodded to herself, happy that her conscience was now clear.

She cocked her head. She could hear Delilah’s enthusiastic voice intermingled with Cain’s occasional disinterested grunts. He was playing his part well.

Julia waited until she heard them walk upstairs. She went to the filing cabinet and searched through the files inside. She didn’t even know if the information she needed would be in here. Her heart rate speeded up as she came across a file with the name of Douglas’ street on it. She quietly pulled it out and laid it on the table. Her heart thudded in her ears and her hands shook as she looked through the pages.

There! There was Stan’s name. She ran her finger down the sheet of paper.

Bingo! His forwarding address. He might not live there any more but it was a start. Julia jumped as she heard footsteps outside the room. The door opened slightly. Julia felt her heart stop as Delilah began to enter the room. Delilah’s head was turned towards Cain, she hadn’t seen Julia. Cain had. He quickly took in the scene and cried out, “The kitchen! I want to see the kitchen again!”

Delilah said, “Of course! This way.” She left the room.

Julia whipped out her phone and took a photo of Stan’s details. She hurriedly put the file back together and returned it to the filing cabinet.

Delilah waked into the office, a big smile on her face. “I think I’ve convinced your son.”

“Have you? How wonderful! Thank you so much!” Julia realised her voice was a bit too high. She coughed and said, “We really have to be going. You’ve given us a lot to think about. Thank you for your time.”

“My pleasure,” Delilah said.

The guilt washed over Julia again. She pushed it to one side.

As soon as they were in the car Cain said, “Did you find out where Stan lives? Are we going there now?”

Julia pulled a face. “Not unless you want us to be driving for hours. Stan lives in Edinburgh.”

“Oh. What are we going to do?”

“Phone him. There was a number listed for him. Whether he will talk to us, well, that’s another matter.”

Chapter 28

Stan wouldn’t talk to them. Julia tried his number the minute that they returned to the car. As soon as Julia mentioned Adams Construction he hung up.

“At least I got him to confirm his address before he hung up,” Julia said.

“Are we going to Edinburgh then?” Cain asked hopefully. “I’ve never been there before.”

Julia started the car. “I don’t know what we’re going to do about Stan, but we’d better get on our way, Delilah has been staring at us for the last five minutes out of the window. Thanks for helping me in there.”

“I enjoyed it. Although it was difficult to look unimpressed as she showed me around. Have you seen the size of those bedrooms?”

Julia laughed. They picked up lunch at a local shop and then made their way to their next client.

Julia had just finished cleaning her client’s bathroom when her phone rang.

“Hey, Julia! Hope I’m not disturbing you. It’s Helena Blossom.”

“Hi, how are you? Don’t tell me you’ve got some information for me already? Have you found out who that man is that’s been following Douglas?”

“I certainly have. I’m looking at him right now. He’s standing outside the local hospital. It’s the one that your friend, Nina Sapphire, is in.”

Julia gasped. “What’s he doing? Is he looking menacing? Shall I drive over there?”

“You are a woman of many questions! No, you don’t have to come here. I’ve got everything under control. I’ve taken several photos and I’ll know who he is within the hour.”

“That’s great. Thank you. Will you …”

“Keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn’t sneak into the hospital and do away with Nina?”

“Something like that,” Julia said.

“I’ll keep an eye on him. If he moves, then I move too. Catch up with you later!”

“Oh, Helena, just a minute. Can I ask you something?”

“Shoot.”

Julia explained about Stan, and that he wouldn’t speak to her. She also told her about Erin Matthews and how concerned she was about her granddad’s death.

Helena said, “I have ways of making people talk, and not by using force. Listen, I have a contact in Scotland. I’ll give her a ring, she’ll be happy to visit Stan on your behalf. She’ll get the info that you need.”

“Really? That’s so kind of you.”

Helena laughed. “You might regret asking for my help. When all this is over I’ve got a favour to ask you. Bye for now!”

Julia told Cain what Helena had said. Cain said, “What do you think the favour is? Do you think she wants you to assassinate someone? Or act as a spy? That would be awesome! Ask her if I can help too.”

“I hope it’s nothing like that. Are we finished here? One more job and then we’re done for the day. I’ll pop in on Nina after I’ve dropped you off.”

When Julia called in on Nina she was glad to see that she looked brighter. She was surrounded by friends but still had time to make Julia feel welcome. Julia didn’t say anything about the latest developments, she didn’t want Nina to lose her smile.

Julia yawned as she walked through her kitchen door an hour later. Her yawn turned into a scream as she tripped over something. Strong hands caught her before she landed on the floor.

Dad grinned at her and said, “Do you do all your own stunts?”

Julia looked down at what had caused her to fall. “What are all these shopping bags doing here?”

“I noticed you were getting a bit low on groceries. Your mum had me doing our weekly shop so I thought I’d get some things for you too. I was about to put them away. And don’t worry about that cat you dropped off, she’s fine with us for the moment.” He stopped. “Now come on, there’s no need to cry. Sit down, let’s get the kettle on.”

Julia wiped her eyes. “Sorry, Dad. You’re so kind and thoughtful. I’m just tired. A lot has happened today.” She sat down.

Dad reached into the nearest carrier bag and pulled out a boxed chocolate cake. In mock surprise he said, “How did that get there? We can’t let your mum see this. We’d better destroy the evidence.”

A few minutes later they were both tucking into generous slices of cake, cups of tea at their sides. In between mouthfuls of cake Julia brought her dad up to speed.

She waved a fork at him and said, “Mildred pushed Nina down the stairs at the shop, she hates Nina and she’s got a bad temper. I can imagine her doing that. But I’m not sure that she killed Douglas. There’s something going on with Kirk Adams. He’s involved in Douglas’ death somehow.” She yawned again.

Dad patted her hand. “Finish your cake. You need a good night’s sleep.”

“I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep, my mind is too busy.”

Dad stood up and reached into another carrier bag. And, like a magician, he pulled something out. “What’s this doing in here? White wine? Me and your mum only drink red wine. You’d better have this.”

“But I’ve got work tomorrow,” Julia protested.

“One glass won’t hurt. Oh dear, I’ve opened it now. You’d better have a glass before it goes off.” He took a glass from the cupboard and filled it halfway. “Take it into the front room and I’ll put this shopping away.”

Julia stood up and took the proffered glass. “Thank you, I love you.”

“Most people do.” He turned her towards the living room and gave her a push.

Julia sat down, took a sip of her wine and placed it on the table at her side. Her eyes were stinging. She closed them for a moment.

A short while later she was shaken awake. Dad smiled down at her, “I hate to wake you but you can’t sleep in that chair. I’d carry you upstairs but I don’t want to put my back out.” He put his hands out and helped her to her feet.

Julia said thank you again and saw Dad to the door.

She slept better than she thought she would. She certainly did not appreciate the banging on her door early the next morning.

Chapter 29

“Good morning, Julia Blake!”

Julia peered through half-open eyes at her visitor. She croaked, “Do you know what time it is, Helena?”

“I do. I thought you’d be up early. Can I come in?”

Julia opened the door and indicated for Helena to enter. Julia said, “Five-thirty is not early, it’s still night-time. Sit down, I’ll put the kettle on.”

Helena grinned at her. “You’re not a morning person, are you?”

“It’s not morning yet, I just told you, it’s still night-time. Tea? Coffee?”

Helena waved a hand. “None for me thanks, I can’t stay. I’m due to follow a cheating husband in twenty minutes. Listen to this, my contact spoke to that Stan fella.”

“She got him to talk?” Julia reached for the kettle. She definitely needed a caffeinated drink.

“Of course, she’s a professional. You’re right about Stan being threatened. His windows were broken on purpose. He faced up to Kirk Adams but then the nasty scumbag threatened to hurt his grandchildren.”

“No!” Julia slammed the kettle down. “What a … it’s too early for me to put words together.”

“I have many words for men like Kirk Adams. Stan felt he had no choice but to sell up. He moved in with his daughter, then he convinced them all to leave Yorkshire. He said they’re not totally happy living in Edinburgh but Stan is too scared to move back.”

Julia filled the kettle and switched it on. “Wow, that Kirk really got to him.” She looked closer at Helena. “Why are you grinning like that? Have I got something stuck in my teeth?”

“Nope, you haven’t heard the best part yet. Well two best parts, if that makes sense. Before Stan moved away he made a formal complaint about Kirk Adams.”

“Who to?”

“His dad, Alexander Adams.”

Julia reached for a teabag. “And what did he say?”

Helena’s grin threatened to split her face in two. “He said he knew! He knew all about Kirk and his ways. He said he endorsed them.”

“No way! Really?”

“Yes. Stan confronted Alexander Adams in his office when there weren’t any witnesses about, silly sod. You should always have witnesses. Alexander told Stan that he’d taught Kirk to act that way. He boasted that was the reason Adams Construction was so successful. It was his idea for Kirk to threaten Stan’s grandchildren.”

Julia sank onto the nearest chair. “I can’t believe it. I spoke to Alexander Adams, he doesn’t seem the type. Everyone has only good things to say about him.”

“Evil can put on a friendly face, never forget that. I haven’t got to the next best bit, or the last best bit. Listen to this, Stan told my contact that before he agreed to sell his house he got the feeling that he was being followed. He caught sight of a man behind him several times. He gave a description to my contact. It matched the description of the man that was following Douglas.”

Julia shook her head. “This is getting weirder.”

Helena made a shushing motion at her. “Listen! I found out who the man is. He’s called Bobby Saxton and he works for … Alexander Adams!” She moved closer to Julia and closed her open mouth. “I know, shocking, isn’t it? I confronted Bobby Saxton yesterday. He told me he’d been hired by Alexander Adams to follow certain people. Not to attack them or anything, just follow them and make sure that the victim knew they were being followed. Can you imagine that? You’d soon turn into a nervous wreck if you had someone staring at you wherever you went. That was all part of Alexander’s plan. What do you think of that?”

“I think I need a strong cup of tea. I can’t believe you found all that out so quick. Douglas said someone was following him. Kirk, or his dad, must have been the one that pushed Douglas down the stairs. They must have returned to the house after Mildred left.” Julia looked straight at Helena. “Nina! They’re going to go after Nina next! I have to speak to DI Clarke.”

Helena held up a hand. “No need. I’ve already done that. I’ve crossed paths with the lovely inspector before. I called on him before I came here.”

“You did? I bet he was annoyed at you for waking him up. I bet he glared at you with those piercing eyes of his.”

Helena shook her head. “No, he was already up. He’d just returned from his morning jog.”

Julia narrowed her eyes. “That’s not normal. What did he say?”

“He thanked me for coming to see him.”

“Humph! He never thanks me for anything.”

Helena continued, “I gave him supporting documentation and photographs. He said he would be contacting Alexander and Kirk Adams first thing this morning. He’s going to question them again about Douglas’ death, and how they run their business.”

“Will he let me know what happens?”

Helena smiled and said, “He said, and these are his words, ‘I shall inform Ms Blake in due course what the outcome of our enquiries are. No doubt she will be pestering me before I eat my lunch today.’”

Julia gave Helena a small smile. “He’s right about that. Thanks again for your help.” She swallowed. “About the favour you mentioned?”

Helena said, “Can I speak to you later about that? I really have to go. Don’t worry, I won’t be asking you to kill anyone! You can go back to bed now.”

Julia stood up. “I won’t be able to sleep with all this new information in my head.”

Helena opened the kitchen door, threw her a wink and said, “You can go for a jog. Catch you later!”

Julia threw her a disgusted look. “Don’t be ridiculous. Thanks again.”

Julia closed the door and finished making her tea. Did Kirk or Alexander Adams kill Douglas? If so, why did she have this niggling feeling in her stomach that something wasn’t right? There was something she was missing.

She couldn’t shake the feeling all day.

Later on, at a client’s house, Cain said, “I thought you’d be pleased. You always said that Kirk Adams had something to do with Douglas’ death.”

“I know! That’s what’s bothering me. I should feel happy, glad that justice has been done. But I don’t.” She shook her head. “Perhaps I’m being silly.”

“Why don’t you tell DI Clarke how you’re feeling?”

“Ha! I’m sure he’d love to hear about my feelings. You know what he said when he phoned earlier, he’d arrested Kirk and Alexander over their business dealings, and they were looking into Douglas’ death again.”

“Did he say if they’d let Mildred go?”

“No, they’re keeping her for a bit longer. I’m sorry, Cain, I’m not much company today.”

“That’s alright. I know what will cheer you up. There’s an old black and white film on tonight, it’s one of Nina’s earliest films. I’m going to watch it.”

Julia made a note of the film. Nina would be out of hospital soon, it would be great to mention that she’d seen her in a film.

At the end of the day Julia settled down in front of the TV with a glass of wine. She said, “Cheers, Dad,” and took a sip. Why did the first sip always taste so lovely?

The film began. Julia smiled when she saw Nina’s name come up.

As she watched the film tears began to pour down her face. She put her glass down. She reached for her laptop and logged onto the Internet. More tears fell. Her phone rang.

“Julia, it’s me, Cain. Are you watching the film?”

Julia nodded and managed to get out the word yes.

Cain said, “Are you crying? I am.”

Julia nodded again. She cleared her throat and said, “Cain, I never expected this.”

“What are you going to do?”

“The right thing.”

Chapter 30

DI Clarke met Julia outside the hospital doors the next morning. He studied her face and said, “Are you sure you want to do this?”

Julia tried to smile. “Not really, but I have to.”

“Don’t you have clients to visit?”

“I’ve left Cain to do that. He offered to do that, he didn’t want to be here.”

DI Clarke nodded. “I can understand that. I don’t want to be here either.” He took a deep breath. “Come on, Julia, let’s go.”

If Julia hadn’t been feeling so sad she would have mentioned that he’d never called her by her first name before. She followed him into the hospital and down the corridor. Two uniformed policemen were waiting outside the door that led to Nina’s ward. DI Clarke said to them, “Wait here until I call you in.”

Julia’s footsteps felt heavy as she walked after the inspector. He said quietly, “The beds at either side of Ms Sapphire are empty. I asked the nurses to do that. She doesn’t need an audience.”

“I think she does need an audience,” Julia said.

Nina looked up from her bed as they got closer. Her face lit up. Julia noticed how well Nina looked, there was no sign on her face of all the grief she’d been through recently.

Julia couldn’t return Nina’s smile.

Nina’s smile dropped. She placed her hands on her lap and waited for them to sit down at her side. She looked from one to the other and said, “Ah, you’ve worked it out, haven’t you?”

Julia felt her eyes prickle.

Nina nodded. “I thought you would. I knew you wouldn’t leave this matter alone. Although I thought I’d got away with it when Mildred was arrested.”

Julia blinked quickly and forced any tears away. “Why, Nina? Why did you kill Douglas? I thought you loved him.”

Nina chuckled. “I was fond of him. Tell me, how did you work it out? I thought you were convinced that Kirk Adams had something to do with Douglas’ death.”

“I watched one of your films last night. And then I looked on the Internet for facts about you.”

“Which film was it? No, let me guess. It’s the one where I fall down the stairs, isn’t it? That’s my favourite one. You saw that I survived in the film and how I acted afterwards. You must have realised that I acted the same way after I fell down the stairs at Douglas’ house, and how I acted after my tumble at the charity shop.”

Julia nodded. “My dad said something to me recently about doing my own stunts. When I looked online I saw that you did your own stunts. Your special talent was falling down stairs without getting hurt.”

Nina smiled. “I was the best in the business. A peculiar talent to have, but useful all the same. I knew how to fall and how to land. I still have that talent, that’s why I never broke any bones in my recent falls. Did you notice anything else in the film?”

“Yes, there were scenes of you in hospital, surrounded by friends. You said the same things to them that you said to Doris and the others. Like how you didn’t want to be a nuisance. You made people feel sorry for you. The more I watched, the more I realised how much you’d been recreating scenes from that film.”

“My acting has come in useful. I hope Doris isn’t too upset with me. Inspector, shall we get down to business? You’re awfully quiet. Did I fool you too?”

DI Clarke didn’t blink. “I’m not in the habit of being fooled, Ms Sapphire, but I must admit I was taken in by your act. I felt sorry for you.”

Nina nodded. “That was the point! When people feel sorry for you they give you lots of attention. Take Julia here, every night she’d called in to visit me, despite having done a full day’s work. And Doris has been run off her feet trying to make sure I was happy.”

Julia’s sadness was replaced by anger. Nina had made fools of them all! “But why? Why did you kill Douglas?”

Nina said, “You’re a clever girl, I’m sure you’ve worked it out by now. Look at me, an ageing film star. I wasn’t much of a star in my younger days but I had my followers. They loved showering me with attention, and I loved being on the receiving end. It made me feel alive! As soon as I met Douglas I knew he was lonely enough to devote all his time to me. And those women in the charity shop, they felt good being around me and hearing about my time in films. They basked in my fame and attention.”

Julia shook her head and looked away.

Nina carried on, “I was fond of Douglas. I could have married him and settled down to a normal life. But where was the excitement in that? On the night that he died I was still at his house. Inspector, you should have checked up on my alibi. You only had my word for it that I’d left Douglas’ house that night. As it was, I was in the bedroom. The door was closed but I heard the conversations that he had with Kirk Adams and Mildred Hepplethwaite. A plan began to form in my mind based on some of the murder mystery films I’ve been in. As the grieving girlfriend, no, fiancee, I’d get a lot of attention from my new friends.”

Julia’s head snapped back to Nina. “You didn’t have to kill him!”

“But I did. I needed the attention, I craved it. And I already had suspects that I could pin the murder on. It was perfect. Douglas didn’t know what had happened to him, I did it quickly. He came upstairs after Mildred had left to check on me. I pretended to be asleep until he left the room, then I crept up on him as he headed for the stairs. I had to give him quite a push, but he went quickly. Then I cut the carpet, I had to make that look obviously cut as it was all part of the plan to make Douglas’ death look like murder.”

DI Clarke spoke, “Did Ms Hepplethwaite push you down the stairs at the charity shop?”

Nina smiled. “No, fooled you again. Are you going to arrest me now? Julia, don’t look so angry. Think of it as starring in one of my films.”

Julia couldn’t take it any more. She stood up. “This is not one of your films, this is real life. You killed Douglas so that you could get attention from everyone! There’s something wrong with you!”

DI Clarke stood up and took Julia’s arm. He led her away from Nina and towards the doors. He nodded at the uniformed policemen who then came in and walked past them.

In the corridor he released her. “Try not to get so upset.”

Julia clenched her fists. “I feel so used! I cared about her. I was worried for her! And all the time she was using me, and everyone else. Douglas’ life meant nothing to her.”

“Would it help if I told you she’s done this before?”

“What?”

“Not killed any one, but she’s had many falls over the past ten years. After you phoned me last night I did some research. Ms Sapphire has moved all around Europe, picking up friends as she went. She’s been admitted to hospitals in many cities. I managed to speak to some of the doctors who treated her. They remembered her as being charming, and that she always had many visitors. They all said she never broke a bone during her falls.”

Julia shook her head. “I can’t believe someone would crave attention that much. But … why kill Douglas?”

“I suppose she thought she had to take whatever steps were necessary to get more attention for herself.”

Julia said, “Killing Douglas was a step too far. Excuse me, I have to go.”

Chapter 31

Julia found it hard to get through the rest of the day.

Cain said to her, “Don’t let it get to you. She fooled us all, there was something psychologically wrong with her. She’s fooled other people, and she’ll probably fool people in prison.”

“I know but I feel so sad for Douglas.”

Cain added, “You’ve stopped her doing that again to someone. If she’d have got away with murder once, she would have tried it again.”

“I suppose so.” She stopped outside Cain’s house. “Thanks for all your help.”

“Any time.” He grinned and then added, “Mum.”

Julia couldn’t help but laugh. There was no point feeling sorry for herself. There was nothing she could have done to prevent Douglas’ death.

Helena Blossom was waiting for her when she got home. “Hey there, Julia. You look like you’ve had the day from hell.”

Julia unlocked her door and said, “Come in, I’ll tell you all about it.”

“No need. I’ve already spoken to DI Clarke, he’s told me everything. That Nina sounds like a case. DI Clarke told me that the lovely Kirk and Alexander Adams have been charged with something or other, something to do with their business dealings. He said they’ll be contacting Erin Matthews about the death of her granddad.”

“Good,” Julia said. “Are you coming in?”

“Sorry, can’t do. I’ve got some undercover work to do. I came here to make sure you were okay, and to cash in on that favour I mentioned.”

Julia steeled herself.

Helena laughed when she saw Julia’s face. “It’s nothing untoward. It’s my mum. She’s getting on in years and she can’t do as much housework as she used to. She’s tried to hide it from me but I can see the pain in her eyes when she cleans her windows. She has arthritis and it’s really affecting her. I’ve suggested getting a cleaner to help but she’s too stubborn to hire one. She says that cleaners  are a luxury she can’t afford. I’ve offered to pay for one but she says she doesn’t want me to spend my money. Truth is, I could really do with someone to help her.”

Julia smiled. “You can tell her that you’ve won some sort of competition, tell her that you didn’t know what the prize was. And lo and behold! You’ve won my services for a month, or a year, depending on how much you charge for your services. How does that sound?”

“It sounds perfect. Thanks! A month should do it, but if Mum takes to you I’ll pay you on the quiet and tell Mum something. I’ll give you her details. Thanks again, I appreciate it.”

“No problem.” Julia took a piece of paper from Helena. “It was great to meet you.”

“I’m sure our paths will cross again. You have my number if you need any help in any future murder investigations.”

Julia pulled a face. “I am not getting involved in any more murder cases.”

Helena patted Julia on the arm and said, “Don’t fool yourself, Julia. See you later!”

Julia watched her walk away. She still felt awful about the way that Nina had treated everyone, but she was glad that Nina had now been arrested. She smiled when she thought about the last thing that DI Clarke had said to her at the hospital. He’d asked if she’d come with him to explain the situation about Nina to Doris.

The look on his face was priceless as Julia said, “No, thank you. I never interfere in police work.”

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

DEATH TAKES A TRIP

BY

GILLIAN LARKIN

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 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