Julia Blake – A Deadly Restoration

Chapter 1

The radio blared out. I groaned. It wasn’t the best way to be woken up.

It wasn’t even my radio, it was the one next door.

I grumpily climbed out of bed and walked over to the window. I pulled back the curtains and shot the builders next door an annoyed look. They didn’t even notice me, they were too busy singing.

It was too early for me to be up but there was no way I could get back to sleep with that level of noise, not just the radio, but the banging and thudding that the builders were making.

I decided to make the best of it and got myself ready for the day.

My client list of cleaning jobs for today didn’t look too bad, I might even have time to pop to the supermarket.

After breakfast I collected everything I needed and let myself out of the house.

Oh no! Joan was trying to get my attention from across the road. I liked Joan but I didn’t have time for a gossip.

Don’t look at her! Look in your handbag, look at the ground. Just don’t look at her!

“Julia!” she waved.

“Morning,” I called back as I frantically grabbed my car keys. Perhaps I could drive away before she got any closer.

It was no use. Joan was determined to talk to me. She practically ran over.

“Have you heard the noise? And look at the mess!” she pointed towards next door. “It’s a disgrace, an absolute disgrace! When are those builders going to be finished? And do they have to play that radio all day?”

Joan asked questions but she never waited for answers.

“I’m sure it won’t be forever,” I said. I moved my car keys towards the lock.

Joan grabbed my arm. “You’re too soft, Julia! The noise must be worse for you, living next door. It wasn’t like this when old Cora Roberts lived there, was it? Gives me a headache this noise. How long does it take to renovate a house anyway?”

I shrugged and sneakily put my key in the car lock.

Joan gave my arm a tug. “Look! That man’s here again, the shifty looking one with the big nose.  Do you recognise him?”

I looked over to next door. “He does look familiar. I think I’ve seen him around here before.”

“He’s from the council, building planning department. I bet he’s made a deal with the new owner of that house. Planning permission should never have been given for the work that’s going on now. We wanted a small extension on our kitchen, but the council wouldn’t let us have it.”

I nodded sympathetically.

“There’s something fishy going on. I’ve a good mind to go over there and have a word with that council man.”

“I think you should,” I said hopefully.

Joan let go of my arm, put a determined look on her face and said, “I’m going over!”

I opened my car door and got in before she changed her mind.

I almost felt sorry for the shifty looking man. But when I looked over at the house next door, I realised that Joan was right. There was an awful lot of restoration work going on, they were almost rebuilding the house.

Chapter 2

I managed to get to the supermarket at lunch time. As I walked down the dairy aisle I saw a familiar face, or rather a familiar back hunched over the ‘reduced to clear’ section.

“Hello there,” I said. I put my hand onto the stooped back of the elderly woman.

She turned around. Her face crinkled up as she smiled. “Julia! How lovely to see you!”

“We were talking about you earlier, me and Joan.”

Cora’s face crinkled even more. “I bet it was Joan talking, and you doing the listening. I hope you were saying something nice about me.”

“Of course. We were saying what a lovely quiet neighbour you were, compared to the noisy man who bought your house,” I said.

“Are you having that fish or not!” a voice rudely interrupted us.

Cora glared as a young woman leant into the reduced item area and put her hand on a piece of fish. Cora slapped the hand away.

“That’s my haddock, young lady! I saw it first.” Cora quickly grabbed the fish and dropped it into her basket.

The young woman rubbed her hand and grumbled, “Can you stop chatting and let me have a look at what’s left then?”

Cora gave her a scathing look and then graciously moved to one side.

I peeped into Cora’s basket. It was full of cut price food. I looked a bit closer at Cora. She seemed to have aged a few years since I last saw her, and that was only two months ago.

“I’m just on my way to a cleaning job near your house,” I lied. “Would you like a lift?”

“Oh Julia, that would be lovely, if you’re sure you don’t mind? My legs seem to get more tired every day.”

I offered to carry Cora’s shopping basket but she stubbornly refused.

On the drive home Cora asked how Chloe and Sam were getting on at university.

“Having the time of their lives. They’re both coming back in the holidays so I’ll have a noisy house again. How’s your Stephen?”

Cora’s eyes twinkled. “He comes to see me as often as he can, but he’s very busy with his work. You know how it is.”

I didn’t say anything.

Cora asked how the building work was going on next door. “I bet I wouldn’t recognise my old home now.”

“You wouldn’t. Leo Kennedy has done all sorts to it, new windows and doors. And you know he’s having that extension built? I think he’ll have to dig up your lovely apple tree because it’s in the way.”

“No! But I planted that when our Stephen was young. Don’t let him dig it up Julia!”

Cora looked as if she was going to cry.

When we arrived at her house I quickly picked up her shopping bag and helped her along the front path. She leant on me as we walked. I was starting to get worried about how frail she was.

Cora opened the door of her little bungalow.

When I saw how it looked inside my heart almost broke.

Chapter 3

There was rubbish piled everywhere. And there was an awful smell, like something had gone off a long time ago.

Cora still seemed weak so I helped her move by bags and boxes until I found a small settee. I sat her down and said I’d make her a cup of tea.

She tried to wave me away but I ignored her. I found the tiny kitchen, this too was full of rubbish.

This wasn’t like Cora at all. When she lived next door to me she was so house proud that she was almost obsessive. I love cleaning but Cora’s efforts put me to shame.

I quickly put her shopping away and then put the kettle on.

A few minutes later I took a cup of tea through to Cora and sat down next to her. She took a few careful sips and then gave me a little smile.

“You must be wondering what’s going on. If this really is my home? I know it looks like a pig sty and I’m so ashamed. I didn’t want anyone to see me living like this,” Cora said sadly.

“I’m just surprised. Where did all these bags come from?” I asked.

“It’s all my things from my old house. I didn’t have time to sort it all out before I left. Leo Kennedy was in such a hurry to move in that he said he’d pack for me.”

“But you moved months ago. Didn’t Leo Kennedy offer to unpack for you when you got here?” I said.

Cora shook her head. “He left everything out on the road. I had to bring everything inside as the neighbours were complaining. And now I haven’t got the strength to sort things out.”

“What about your Stephen? Can’t he help?” I asked.

Cora said fondly, “I don’t want to bother him. He’s too busy.”

I wouldn’t mind bothering him! And that Leo Kennedy too!

“Well, Cora Roberts, this is your lucky day. You know I can’t stand a mess so I’m going to help you sort these boxes and bags out.” I looked around. “Well, we might not finish it all today, but we can make a start. We’ll sort out things that can go to charity, stay with you or be thrown away.”

“Oh no! Julia, I can’t expect you to do that!” Cora cried out.

I stood up. “You don’t have a choice. I’ve nothing else to do today. I’ll just pop to my car, I forgot to lock it.”

I went back to my car and phoned my afternoon clients up to cancel my cleaning jobs. There was no way I was leaving Cora living in that mess.

As I worked at clearing the rubbish I got madder and madder at Leo Kennedy for forcing Cora to move out of her home so quickly. I was ready to give him a piece of my mind.

And when I finally got home and saw what he’d done to my drive way I was ready to do more than give him a piece of my mind!

Chapter 4

Piles of roof tiles were on my driveway. I couldn’t park my car there, and as the rest of the street had been taken up with builders’ vans, I parked on the next street down.

I got more annoyed as I walked back to my house. I was definitely going to give Leo Kennedy a talking to!

But someone had beaten me to it.

John Thomas, the builder, was standing on the doorstep of Leo Kennedy’ house. His face was bright red.

“You ordered those tiles and you are going to pay for them!” John shouted.

Leo Kennedy faced him, his arms folded. He was standing a few steps up and looked down at the builder. “I’m not paying the price you’re asking for them. We agreed a lower price a few weeks ago. It seems that your costs are going up daily.”

“You just don’t want to pay, you tight fisted sod! I’ve bought those tiles out of my money and I want paying now!”

“No, I refuse to pay,” Leo Kennedy said calmly. “And I think I’ll look into using another builder. Your work is shoddy and not up to my standards at all. I’d like you to get off my property now.”

John Thomas went even redder in the face. I saw him clench his huge fist.

I stepped forward and said as politely as I could, “Can someone move those tiles off my drive. Please.”

John Thomas turned around to me and snarled, “Nothing to do with me! Those are his tiles, he can move them.”

Leo Kennedy gave a little laugh. “I don’t think so, Mr Thomas. They’re your responsibility.”

I could see that I wasn’t getting anywhere and I didn’t want to get involved in a macho argument so I went to my house.

The tiles were piled up in stacks and there wasn’t much room to squeeze through. I sucked in my tummy and tried to get through a gap.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t suck in my bottom and it knocked into a pile and sent tiles crashing to the ground.

“Oi! My tiles!” John Thomas shouted.

“You can pay for those breakages!” Leo Kennedy threatened.

I looked over at the two men. I stood as tall as I could and said, “You’ve both denied owning these tiles. I’m assuming that if they’re on my property that they now belong to me. And if I want to, I can break the whole lot!”

The men looked at each other for a moment. Then John Thomas gave a resigned sigh and walked towards me.

“I’ll sort these out,” he grumbled to me.

“Thank you,” I said and I opened my front door.

As I went in I’m sure I heard John Thomas add, “And I’ll sort that Kennedy out too.”

Chapter 5

I didn’t hear any more raised voices as I prepared my tea. I looked out of the kitchen window and at the garden next door. I noticed that Cora’s apple tree had already been cut down. There was only the stump left. There’s something so sad about cutting healthy trees down.

I settled down to eat my tea and soon forgot about the building work going on next door. I hoped it would be finished soon.

I phoned my dad to see if he’d got any telephone messages about new cleaning jobs for me.

“There’s a couple,” Dad said and he read out the addresses.

“Oh, the better part of Leeds. I am going up in the world!” I said with a laugh.

Dad asked how the work was going on next door. He wasn’t impressed when I told him about the tile incident.

“Do you want me to come round and sort them out?” he offered.

I was almost tempted but I told him I was old enough to look after myself now.

After tea I looked out at my drive. The tiles had gone. I didn’t want to leave my car parked in the next street so I took my keys, left the house and headed down the next street.

I was two steps away from my car when I heard someone calling out my name.

It was Joan. Twice in one day, what had I done wrong?

“Julia! What are you parking here for? Is someone in your drive? I bet it’s those annoying builders,” she said.

I didn’t really want to get into the tile story so I just nodded and unlocked my car.

I got in and was quite surprised when Joan got in too.

“You may as well give me a lift. I know it’s only the next street but my feet are killing me! I suffer terribly with bunions. Have I ever shown you my bunions?”

I drove as quickly as I could and was soon pulling into my driveway.

Joan was pointing to Leo’s house. “Who’s that? It’s not one of the builders. He looks familiar though. Is he shouting? I can’t hear anything sitting here.”

She almost leapt out of the car and then blatantly moved closer to the fence between my house and the one next door. She cocked her head to one side.

I got out and tried to head towards my door. I didn’t want to get involved in any more arguments that Leo Kennedy was having.

Joan stopped me. “I know who it is. It’s Cora Robert’s son, Stephen. Listen to that! He’s having a right go at that Leo Kennedy. Something about paying less than what the house was worth, and something about forcing his mum to sell the house.”

“We shouldn’t be listening,” I said and I tried to walk away.

“Shhh! I can’t hear what they’re saying. Leo Kennedy is going on about all’s far in business and that Stephen’s mum should have contacted a solicitor.”

She didn’t need to tell me Stephen’s reply to that. I could hear him clearly enough.

“You’re a scumbag Kennedy! Taking advantage of a frail old lady. I don’t know how you’ve got the nerve!” Stephen yelled.

“You’re not bothered about your mother. All you want is her money. I bet you haven’t been to see her for months,” Leo Kennedy retorted.

I nodded to myself, that was probably true.

“I see my mum as often as I can! She doesn’t want me bothering her all the time,” Stephen defended himself.

I couldn’t help myself. I leant over the fence and said, “She does want you to bother her! She needs your help. Have you seen the mess she’s living in? Boxes and bags of goodness knows what piled up in her living room.”

Stephen glared over at me. “What the hell has my mother got to do with you, Julia Blake?”

“I’ve been trying to help tidy up her home. When you’ve finished arguing perhaps you could pay her a visit. I think she’s lonely.”

Stephen had the decency to look ashamed.

He pointed to Leo Kennedy and said, “I haven’t finished with you yet.”

I turned away from the fence.

Joan said, “Stephen sounded just like his father then. Before you moved here his dad used to shout at him and his mum constantly. Oh! The arguments I used to hear.”

“I didn’t know Stephen’s dad used to live with them. Cora never spoke about him.”

Joan sniffed and gave a disapproving look to the house next door, “Well she wouldn’t would she? Not when he ran off with that floozy of his. No one’s seen him since.”

Chapter 6

I didn’t sleep well that night. I couldn’t stop thinking about all the noise and disruption that was going on next door. I didn’t like the thought of living next door to a man like Leo Kennedy. I briefly considered moving. I didn’t want to though, I loved living here.

I got up early and made my plans for the day. I would catch up with the people that I had to cancel yesterday, see if I could call round today instead. Hopefully, I would be busy enough all day to stay away from home. Maybe that’s something I would have to do everyday until the house next door was finished.

My clients were happy for me to call round so I had a wonderfully busy day. There’s nothing like cleaning somebody’s mess up to make you forget the problems in your own life.

I even had time to call on Cora Roberts again. I’d promised her yesterday that I’d take some  bags of rubbish away.

Cora was delighted to see me.

And I was delighted to see that all the rubbish had been removed from her home.

“My Stephen came round. He worked so hard to clear everything away,” Cora said proudly.

I thought that he probably felt guilty when he saw the state his mum was living in, but I didn’t say anything.

I stayed at Cora’s for a while.

“Have a bun, Julia, I made these for Stephen whilst he was tidying up. They’re his favourites. He loves these little silver balls on top! When he was little he used to pretend he was eating real silver. He said it made him feel like a super hero! There’s only a few left and I don’t like them. The little balls get stuck in my dentures.”

It would have been rude for me to refuse them. I politely ate two buns while Cora talked about Stephen.

“He told me he’d had an argument with that nice Leo Kennedy. He said Leo Kennedy hadn’t paid me enough for the house. I can’t believe that, can you Julia?”

I didn’t say anything about the house, Leo seemed like exactly the sort of man to swindle a pensioner. I changed the subject to Cora herself and asked how she filled her days.

“Well, now that my house is tidier I was going to invite some of my new neighbours round.”

“That sounds lovely.” I smiled at her.

As I stood up some of the silver balls fell off my lap and onto the floor.

“Oh! I’m sorry, let me get them,” I said.

Cora chuckled. “Stephen’s just the same. The amount of times I found those little things in his bed!”

When I finally arrived home that night it was getting dark. The builders had gone and there wasn’t anybody having arguments on doorsteps.

I decided to have a long soak in the bath. All the cleaning work I’d done today was starting to catch up with me.

When the bath was ready I gratefully sank into it. I placed a cup of tea on the side of the bath. Bliss. What more could a person want?

Suddenly there was a loud crashing noise. It sounded just like the tiles did yesterday when I knocked them over.

“What’s he up to now?” I asked myself.

I wanted to know where the noise was coming from but I didn’t want to leave my warm bath. I tried staying there for a while longer but curiosity got the better of me.

“I’ll just have a quick look,” I promised myself.

I got out of the bath, put on my dressing gown and looked out of the front window. I couldn’t see anything unusual. I looked out of the side and back windows. I noticed that Leo Kennedy’s back door was open. None of the lights were on in his house.

Strange.

But as that had nothing to do with me I decided to go back to the bathroom and my warm bath.

I stopped halfway. Perhaps I should take a quick look, just to make sure he hadn’t had an accident or anything.

A few minutes later I was wishing that I’d stayed in my bath.

Chapter 7

There had been no answer when I knocked on the open door. I called out ‘hello!’ but no one answered.

I soon saw why.

Leo Kennedy was buried under a pile of tiles in his front room. My hands flew to my mouth and held in the scream that was about to come out.

I took a few deep breaths and then put the light on. I checked the pulse of the hand that was sticking out from the rubble.

There was no pulse.

I looked around the room and spotted a telephone. I phoned for an ambulance and the police.

I took a closer look at Leo Kennedy. There were only a few parts of him visible beneath the tiles but it was definitely him, I recognised his fancy designer shirt.

What were roof tiles doing in his living room? And who had pushed them on top of him?

While I waited for help to arrive I took a look around the room. The walls had been replastered and the ceiling recovered. It looked nice, very professional.

I moved into the kitchen. New units had been fitted. Not my style but very sleek. There was a brochure lying open on the worktop. I picked it up, it was for new ovens.

“Ms Blake! I hope you’re not contaminating the crime scene!” a voice rang out.

I dropped the brochure back onto the worktop and looked up at the angry face of DI Clarke.

We’d met before. I’d forgotten how piercing his eyes could be.

“I haven’t contaminated anything!” I blurted out.

“You seem to have a habit of finding dead bodies. Is there something you need to tell me?” he asked.

“I live next door and noticed that the back door was open. I just came round to make sure everything was alright.”

DI Clarke raised an eyebrow. “In your dressing gown?”

I pulled my belt tighter and said, “Yes, in my dressing gown. That’s not a crime is it?”

DI Clarke gave a little smile. “You’ll have to give us a statement. Do you want to go home and change first?”

I nodded. It’s hard to be dignified when you’re wearing a dressing gown with cute ducks on it.

I returned five minutes later and gave DI Clarke a statement. I told him about the noise which I now knew to be slates crashing onto Leo Kennedy.

“It doesn’t look like an accident. Can you think of  anyone would want to kill Mr Kennedy?” DI Clarke said.

“I can think of two people straight away,” I said. Then I hesitated. I felt disloyal to Cora but I had to tell the inspector about the argument that her son had had with Leo Kennedy.

Was he the one who had killed him?

Chapter 8

It took a long time for DI Clarke to take my statement. He kept asking me to repeat the things I’d overheard. I was tempted to point him in the direction of Joan’s house, I’m sure she knew more than me.

The next morning I was having a lie in when there was a thudding at my front door.

I muttered to myself as I pulled on my dressing gown and stomped downstairs.

“Yes?” I asked as I opened the door.

John Thomas, the builder was glowering down at me. He was so big that he was blocking out the sun. A vicious looking dog was slobbering at his side.

“What have you been saying to the coppers? You told them that I killed Leo Kennedy!”

I took a step backward. “I didn’t! The inspector asked me if he had any enemies and I told him about your argument over the tiles.”

“That doesn’t mean I killed him. You’ve no right spreading lies,” John Thomas said angrily.

“I didn’t say you killed him! But you must admit that it’s suspicious that your tiles were the ones that crushed him,” I pointed out.

He shrugged. “I just piled them up in his living room, to teach him a lesson about not paying my bills. If I wanted to kill him I wouldn’t have wasted good quality tiles.”

He had a point. I’d seen him with all sorts of tools that he could have used instead.

“I’m sorry if I’ve upset you.” I tried to smile. It was like smiling at a thunder cloud.

Suddenly his face cleared and he returned my smile. “It’s not the first time I’ve been accused of murder. I must have one of those faces. Ha!”

I didn’t know what to say to that. I looked closer at the dog. It was slobbering all over my front step. I’d have to clean that when he’d gone.

John Thomas saw me looking. “He’s a smasher isn’t he? Ugly as sin but a great hunting dog. Watch this.”

He took the lead off the dog and within a second the dog raced away into Leo Kennedy’s  garden.

John Thomas laughed. “Keep watching, he’ll come back with something soon.”

About a minute later the dog returned from a garden further down the road. It had various things in its mouth, all of them covered in dog dribble.

“Well done, Razor, what have you found? Couple of bones and a football.  Good job, lad.”

I didn’t like to point out that the things belonged to other people. John Thomas was not a man that you argued with.

“We’ll be off then,” he said to me. Then he leaned closer, pointed a chunky finger at me and said, “Don’t be telling any more tales to the police about me. Me and Razor don’t want to have to visit you a second time. Cheerio!”

I watched the two of them walked away.

Had I just been threatened by Leo Kennedy’s killer?

Chapter 9

I didn’t know whether to phone DI Clarke to let him know what John Thomas had said. I thought about it for a while then decided not to bother as I’m not sure what the inspector would do with that information.

Also, I didn’t want a second visit from the builder and his dog.

Thirty minutes later I set off for my first cleaning job.

I arrived at Mrs Claybourne-Brent’s detached house twenty minutes later. She greeted me at the door, immaculately made up as usual.

“Can you do the bedrooms today, please, Julia?” she asked. She wrinkled her nose and continued, “My teenage son had his friends round for a sleepover last night and I must apologise in advance for the aroma.”

“That’s okay. I’m sure I’ve smelt worse,” I said.

“I wasn’t keen on him having friends over but it seems to be the done thing now, and you know I like to keep up with everyone else!”

I smiled. That was an understatement.

“One of his friends lives at the end of Prospect Road, you know, in one of those big houses? His parents have had the most amazing conservatory built. He showed me photos on his phone,” Mrs Claybourne-Brent said.

I walked up the stairs towards the bedrooms. Mrs Claybourne-Brent followed me. It seemed she had more to say.

“Anyway, I was surprised that they’d got planning permission for it because it’s an old house. He didn’t know anything about that, so I phoned his mum.”

I opened the door to the son’s room. I nearly keeled over from the smell. I took a deep breath, walked quickly over to the window and opened it.

Mrs Claybourne-Brent was still talking. She didn’t seem to notice the smell, perhaps she was used to it.

“So I phoned his mum and asked how she got planning permission. She gave me the name of this man at the council who, apparently, is very understanding.”

I gave her a look. “Understanding in what way? Did she have to pay him?”

Mrs Claybourne-Brent frowned. “She didn’t say. Anyway, I got his number, this chap at the council, and he’s coming round today to look at our kitchen extension.”

“What’s wrong with your extension. It’s beautiful,” I said.

“Yes, but it’s not big enough. My sister’s is much bigger,” she said wistfully.

Her kitchen was plenty big enough. I should know, I’d cleaned it enough times.

The doorbell rang.

“Oh! That’ll be him now.” She looked in a nearby mirror, patted her hair and adjusted her pearl necklace.

I was left alone to get on with the cleaning. I made a start on the window. I could hear Mrs Claybourne-Brent talking to the man from the council. I looked out of the window at the doorstep below to see what the man looked like.

I recognised him. It was the shifty looking man with the big nose, the one who had called on Leo Kennedy shortly before his death.

Chapter 10

What was he up to? And what sort of council services did he provide? Going by what Mrs Claybourne-Brent had told me, it seemed he was willing to put illegal planning permissions through the council – perhaps for a price?

Is that why he’d spent time at Leo Kennedy’s house? Had Leo paid him to put the plans for the house through?

I thought about this as I rubbed the window clean.

I had to find out exactly what sort of man he was. I zipped through the cleaning work in the bedroom as quickly as I could. I headed downstairs on the pretence of asking Mrs Claybourne-Brent if she’d like the bathrooms doing.

She was in the kitchen with the shifty looking man. She had her back to me.

“So you see, Mr Heap, it’s not really big enough is it?” she said.

Mr Heap was making notes on a clipboard and hadn’t noticed me listening by the door.

“I see your point, Mrs Claybourne-Brent,” he said. “How much bigger would you like it?”

Mrs Claybourne-Brent gave a silly giggle and said, “How big can I have it?”

Mr Heap smiled and carried on writing, “As big as you like. It will cost you...”

He looked up and noticed me. He stopped talking.

Mrs Claybourne-Brent looked around. She seemed annoyed to see me standing there. “Yes, Julia? What is it?”

“Would you like the bathrooms cleaning?” I asked politely.

She waved a hand at me dismissively, “Yes, just do upstairs today. Mr Heap and I are in the middle of a business meeting. You don’t need to bother with the kitchen.”

Mr Heap gave me a sly look. He turned to Mrs Claybourne-Brent and said, “Perhaps we should continue our conversation in the garden? I could measure out how big you want your kitchen.”

Mrs Claybourne-Brent giggled again.

Mr Heap took her arm and led her outside.

Bother! I wouldn’t be able to hear what they were saying now!

Unless...

I ran upstairs and into the en-suite bathroom that faces onto the back garden. I opened the bathroom window. I could hear the murmur of voices but not actual words. I climbed onto the bath and leaned out. I could see the heads of Mrs Claybourne-Brent and Mr Heap. The sun glinted off Mr Heap’s nose. It really was an exceptionally big nose.

They couldn’t see me but now I could hear what they were saying.

“Are you sure we can get planning permission?”

“Of course, and I can make it happen within weeks. For a small fee,” Mr Heap said.

Mrs Claybourne-Brent asked what the fee was.

I nearly fell into the bath when I heard the amount. It wasn’t small at all!

Mr Heap was definitely a crooked council man.

Did he have something to do with Leo Kennedy’s death?

Chapter 11

I kept thinking about Mr Heap and his possible involvement in Leo Kennedy’s death. By the end of the day I had convinced myself that Mr Heap had sneaked into Leo Kennedy’s house and pushed the tiles onto him.

I wasn’t sure what his motive was though. Perhaps Leo had found out that Mr Heap had made a fortune with his crooked council business and that he wanted a piece of it. Maybe Leo was bribing Mr Heap.

That motive fitted together nicely. Too nicely perhaps.

When I arrived home later on I saw John Thomas’s van parked next door. He was loading tiles into the back. As I drove nearer I could see that some of the tiles had blood on them. Shouldn’t they be kept as evidence?

I pulled into my driveway and quickly got out of my car. I was hoping that I wouldn’t be spotted by the builder.

I put my key in the front door lock. I got a prickly feeling at the back of my neck, as if someone was watching me. I looked behind me. John Thomas was looking at me, he was holding up a blood stained tile. He winked at me and then turned away.

I got into my house in double quick time and locked, and bolted, the door behind me. I didn’t feel safe on my street any more, not with Leo Kennedy’s killer still on the loose.

I made some tea for myself but I didn’t eat much. I felt uneasy for some reason.

A while later I peeped through my front window. John Thomas’s van had gone. That made me feel better and I began to relax.

I never did finish my bath from the other night so I decided to try again. I had been in the bath for a good twenty minutes when I heard the sound of glass breaking.

I was instantly alert. I had an immediate vision of John Thomas and Razor breaking into my house. I didn’t want to be dragged down the street in Razor’s slobbering jaws.

I jumped out of the bath, quickly dried myself and threw on some clothes. I wasn’t going to be caught in my dressing gown again.

I armed myself with a toilet cleaning brush and quietly opened the bathroom door. I listened but couldn’t hear any movements. I crept along the landing and into each upstairs room, my toilet brush raised. The rooms were empty.

I gathered my courage together and went downstairs. My hands were shaking and my knees had a horrible wobbly feeling.

Within minutes I had checked each room. There was no intruder in my house. And there wasn’t any broken glass anywhere.

So where had the noise come from?

I opened my back door and looked over the fence to Leo Kennedy’s house. The glass in his door had been broken.

I looked at the upstairs windows. There was a beam of moving light, as if someone was shining a torch around. I could also see a faint silhouette at the window.

I recognised the big nose.

It was Mr Heap.

Chapter 12

I did the sensible thing and phoned DI Clarke.

“Stay inside your house, Ms Blake. Don’t confront him, he could be dangerous. We’re on our way.”

“Okay, I’ll stay right here,” I confirmed.

I waited for a minute then I went back outside. What if Mr Heap left before the police got here?

I could see from the torch light that he was still upstairs.

I stood on my bin and climbed over the fence. I dropped down onto the grass. I quietly pulled Leo Kennedy’s bin over to the fence in case I needed a quick getaway.  I entered through the back door, avoiding the broken glass. I wasn’t going to confront Heap, I just didn’t want him to get away.

I walked through the front room and stood at the bottom of the stairs. I could hear the sound of drawers being opened. I looked around the room. The moon was shining through the window and I could see blood stains on the wooden floor. The moon reflected off something in the corner of the room. I walked over for a closer look.

I bent down to see what it was.

I heard a creak on the stairs behind. Heap was coming down!

I straightened up and made to move.

“You again!” Heap yelled.

I didn’t wait to answer. I bolted from the room and out of the back door.

Heap chased after me.

I tried to climb onto Leo’s bin in readiness to leap back over the fence. My foot slipped and I fell to the ground. Heap grabbed my arm.

I wriggled free and ran towards the back garden. The moon’s rays hadn’t reached the back garden and it was dark. I ran blindly onwards. I could hear Heap behind me.

All of a sudden the security light came on. It startled me and I fell into a hole. I tried to scramble to my knees but Heap had caught up with me. He grabbed my hair and pulled me to my feet.

“Why are you following me?” he snarled.

“Let go off my hair, you’re hurting me!” I gasped

Heap let go. “Why were you in that house? Are you from the council? Have you been spying on me?”

“No, I saw a light on and wondered who it was. I was just being a concerned neighbour,” I  said as convincingly as I could.

Heap glared at me. “I don’t believe you.”

He raised his hand.

“Don’t kill me!” I cried out.

“Why would I kill you? I was going to help you out of that hole.” He looked offended.

I was in a hole, literally, so I decided to say what was on my mind.

“Did you kill Leo Kennedy?”

“No! What sort of person do you think I am?”

“Someone who takes bribes to make sure people get planning permission for work they shouldn’t be doing.”

Heap looked down at me. He really was a shifty looking fellow. “So what if I take bribes? Or a fee, as I like to call it. It doesn’t cause any harm. And anyway, you can’t prove that I take bribes, I always cover my tracks.”

“That’s interesting, you’ll have to tell us more, Mr Heap,” a voice behind us said. It was DI Clarke. “Step away from Ms Blake.”

Heap did so.

DI Clarke looked at him and said, “Would you like to explain why you were in Mr Kennedy’s house?”

“He owed me money,” Heap said. “I was looking for it.”

“Bribe money?” I asked.

“None of your business.” Heap glared at me.

DI Clarke motioned to a uniformed officer. “Take Mr Heap down to the station. He has a lot of explaining to do.”

The officer led Heap away. I was still standing in the hole. It was where Cora Robert’s apple tree had been.

DI Clarke put his hand out to help me. I tried to move but my foot was caught on something.

“Look at this,” I told the inspector, my voice barely above a whisper.

He did so. “Is that what I think it is?”

“It is,” I answered.

I thought for a moment about the things I’d heard people say over the last few days.

“I think this is a motive for murder. I’ve got a feeling I know who killed Leo Kennedy,” I said.

Chapter 13

I took DI Clarke into the front room of Leo Kennedy’s house and showed him what I’d noticed earlier. I explained who I thought had brought it into the house.

“That’s not enough evidence to convict them,” he said.

“Can I talk to them? On my own and see if I can get them to confess?” I said.

“That’s not police procedure. We’ve got enough evidence in the back garden to arrest someone.”

“But if I could go in first and have a chat, and get all the details?”

DI Clarke didn’t look convinced.

“It might save you a lot of time. Just five minutes?” I asked hopefully.

He gave me one of his searching looks and then finally said, “Five minutes, then I’m taking over.”

“Thank you. Shall we arrange a visit for tomorrow morning? I’ve got their phone number.”

DI Clarke nodded. “Okay. But five minutes is all you’re having, Ms Blake.”

The next morning I drove up to the house of the person I was visiting. DI Clarke had followed me in his car and parked behind me. I got out of my car and looked at him. He held up his hand to indicate five minutes. I nodded. I should have asked for ten minutes, this wasn’t going to be an easy conversation.

I knocked on the house door.

Cora Roberts opened it and smiled at me. “Hello Julia, right on time. Do come in. I’m dying to know what you want to talk to me about.”

I followed Cora into her living room. Stephen was there. He didn’t look happy.

“I don’t know why you want to have an ‘important conversation’ with my mother, and I certainly don’t know why I have to be here. I’m a very busy man, you know.”

Cora gave him a loving look, “I’m sure Julia won’t take up too much time, Stephen, love.”

I sat down in a chair opposite Stephen. Cora sat next to her son on the settee.

“Tea, Julia? And help yourself to a bun. I had to make some more of Stephen’s favourite ones. He just loves them!” Cora laughed.

I took a cup of tea but declined the bun. My throat already felt tight from what I had to say.

Stephen took a bun and ate it in two bites. Crumbs and little silver balls dropped onto his suit.

I took a sip to help my throat feel better. Then I began to speak.

“The police know who killed Leo Kennedy, and they think they know why.”

Cora put her cup down and looked at me. Stephen crammed another bun into his mouth.

“Before he died, Leo Kennedy arranged for your apple tree to be dug up. I accidently fell into the hole where it had been. I landed on a skeleton,” I explained.

Cora gave me a sad smile and said, “That would be my husband, Derek. I killed him and buried him under the tree.”

“Don’t say another word, Mother!” Stephen spluttered.

Cora put her arm on Stephen’s and said, “It’s okay love, let me tell Julia exactly what happened.”

She turned back to me and said, “Derek used to hit me when we were married. I put up with it. That’s just what you did in those days. But then he started on Stephen and I couldn’t let him get away with that. You wouldn’t, would you Julia? You wouldn’t let someone hurt your baby?”

I gave a little nod. I could understand that.

“When you told me that Mr Kennedy was going to pull up the tree I knew that he’d find the body, so I killed him too. I didn’t like that man, not after what Stephen told me,” Cora said.

“What did you tell her?” I asked Stephen.

Stephen shifted a bit in his seat, he brushed crumbs off his suit. “I told mum that Leo Kennedy should have paid her more for her house, a lot more.”

“And it’s money that goes to Stephen when I die. It was like Mr Kennedy was stealing money from Stephen, hurting him just like his dad did.”

There was a knock at the door.

“That will be DI Clarke. Shall I let him in?” I asked.

Cora smiled. “No, I’ll do it. Then I’ll tell DI Clarke exactly what I’ve told you. I expect he’ll take me to the police station. I’ve never been inside a police station before.”

Cora stood up and left the room. I could hear the door opening and Cora chatting. She sounded cheerful, as if she let policemen into her house every day.

I looked at Stephen. He didn’t meet my gaze. He reached for yet another bun.

He didn’t seem too bothered that his mum had just admitted to killing two men.

Chapter 14

DI Clarke came into the room, followed by a smiling Cora.

She looked at Stephen. You could see the love radiating from her.

Cora invited the inspector to sit down. He said no to her offer of tea.

“Has someone confessed to the murder of Leo Kennedy?” D I Clarke asked me.

“It was me. I did it. I’ll get my bag and then we can go to the police station,” Cora said.

I said, “I’m not sure how you got to Leo Kennedy’s house that night, Cora.”

Cora stopped smiling and thought for a second, “I got the number 53 bus.”

“It doesn’t run past 6 o’clock,” I told her.

“Yes! Of course. I got a taxi,” Cora corrected herself.

I highly doubted that Cora had spare money for a taxi.

I carried on talking, “So how did you kill Leo?”

Cora glanced at Stephen. He was examining his trouser leg.

“Tiles. I pushed tiles onto him.”

“Those tiles were heavy. I’m surprised you had the strength to push them, aren’t you surprised Stephen?”

Stephen shrugged. He reached for another bun. I whipped the plate away before he could reach them.

“Haven’t you anything to say? About your mum’s confession?” I asked.

There was silence as we all waited for Stephen to speak.

He didn’t speak.

“It’ll be awful for your mum in prison, won’t it?” I prompted.

Stephen still didn’t speak.

I’d had enough. “For goodness sake! Are you going to let your mum lie for you? What sort of man are you?”

He threw his hands up and said, “Alright! Mum didn’t kill anyone. I did it. I killed that nasty crook, Kennedy. I knocked him onto the floor and then pushed tiles on top of him. He deserved it, stealing my inheritance!”

Cora moved closer to her son. “No Stephen! It was me. I’m going to prison, not you!”

Stephen stood up and moved over to his mother. He leant down and gave her cuddle.

“No, Mum. I won’t let you take the blame for what I’ve done, even though I know you would happily do that. I’m a terrible son, I don’t deserve a mother like you.”

I gave a little nod of agreement.

D I Clarke interrupted, “And what about the skeleton in the garden? Who wants to admit to that?”

Stephen put his arm around his mum and said, “That was me too. It happened when I was about sixteen. I couldn’t bear to see him hitting my mum anymore. I whacked him on the head with a shovel. Then used the shovel to dig a hole under the apple tree.”

“Did you know about that?” I asked Cora.

She nodded. “It was self defence. Derek was having a real go at Stephen, and then he turned on me. I knew he was buried under the apple tree. I thought he was going to turn the apples sour, but he didn’t. We got some lovely apples the year after. “

I suddenly thought about the apple pies Cora had made me over the years. My stomach felt queasy.

“I’ll need to talk to you further about that, Mrs Roberts. Self defence or not, you should have reported your son at the time. One of the skeleton’s arms is missing. Can you explain what happened to it?” D I Clarke asked.

Stephen frowned. “He was  in one piece when I buried him.”

My hand flew to my mouth as I remembered something. “Razor has it! That’s the dog that belongs to John Thomas the builder. He ran off with a couple of bones the other day.”

DI Clarke shook his head. “I hope he hasn’t eaten them.”

Stephen looked at me. “How did you know it was me that killed Leo Kennedy? I didn’t leave any evidence.”

I pointed to the buns that Stephen had been scoffing. “You left a couple of little silver balls in Leo’s front room. They must have been stuck to your clothing and then rolled off in his house.”

“Kennedy could have made those buns!” Stephen interrupted.

“He didn’t look the baking type. And besides, he didn’t have an oven. When I saw the skeleton in the garden I knew it must have been you or your mum that killed Leo, you’re the ones that would have a motive to do so.”

“Mum!” Stephen interrupted me again. “She’s too frail to kill anyone.”

“You should have seen her whack a woman in the supermarket the other day over a piece of fish,” I said.

“It was a haddock,” Cora added.

I continued, “When I saw the little balls I knew it must have been you who dropped them. Your mum doesn’t like those buns.”

We all looked at the buns.

“Caught by the balls.” Stephen gave a little smile.

DI Clarke stood up and read Stephen his rights. Cora clung onto her son.

He kissed the top of her head and said, “It’s okay, mum. I have to own up to what I’ve done.  You can come and visit me in prison as often as you like.”

Cora started to cry as Stephen was taken away. I put my arm around her.

“You’ll probably see more of him when he’s in prison,” I said in what I hoped was a reassuring manner. A thought crossed my mind that Cora might be charged with concealing a murder, but I kept that to myself.

Cora wiped her tears away. “Will they let me take some baking in to him? I don’t want him to starve. I’ve seen those programmes on the telly, they make prisoners eat pig swill.”

“I’m not sure. But if they do I don’t think Stephen will want the silver ball topped buns ever again.”

Cora shook her wrinkly fist at the buns. “Stupid buns! Why did I make them? If I hadn’t Stephen would have got away with it!”

“Would you have wanted him to?” I asked.

Cora thought for a moment. “No, I wouldn’t. I’m still proud of him. He’s a better man than his father ever was. I’ll throw these buns away. I can’t bear to look at them. Unless you want them?”

I looked at the buns and shook my head. They would only make me think about the murdered Leo Kennedy, and the restoration work that would never be completed.

About the author

I’ve always loved mystery stories and used to devour Enid Blyton’s Famous Five books when I was young. When I got older I discovered Agatha Christie. Some of her plots can be confusing but her characters are so vivid and full of life, apart from the murdered ones of course. My favourite detective has to be Hercule Poirot as I love the methodical way that he solves mysteries.

I’ve wanted to write murder mysteries for a long time - and now I have!

To buy Julia Blake’s first murder mystery story ‘Virtually Scared To Death’

Click here for Amazon Com

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To see more of my work, and to connect with me, please visit :

www.gillianlarkin.co.uk

Best wishes

Gillian

A DEADLY RESTORATION

By

GILLIAN LARKIN

KINDLE EDITION

www.gillianlarkin.co.uk

Published by Gillian Larkin on Kindle

Copyright 2013 by Gillian Larkin

Cover illustration by Vectorstock.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, electronically or mechanical without permission from the author.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

About the author

Copyright