Cream Caramel and Murder

by K E O'Connor

  He arched an eyebrow. “Let’s just say my appraisals take place off site.”

  “Let me guess, at a top-secret location run by some dark shadowy force who oversees the safety of the entire planet.”

  He shrugged. “You’re not far off the mark.”

  “And do they give you gold stars for your work?”

  “Several. Since you’ve been snooping around, you’d better tell me everything you’ve learned.”

  “You probably already know everything,” I said.

  “Tell me in your own words. Leave nothing out.”

  “That’s exactly what I’d planned to do. I haven’t been doing this for any underhand reason.”

  “Good to hear. I’m still waiting.”

  I huffed out a breath. “Okay. I was in the village making my last delivery of cakes. I’d just stopped for a breather before coming back to the castle, when I overheard a posh woman on her phone talking about Kendal’s death.”

  “What did she say?”

  “It sounded like she wasn’t bothered about what happened to him. All she cared about was having to find new guys to fill her social calendar. She caught me listening and asked me what I was doing. I got the impression she thought I was a celebrity hunter or looking to have my photograph taken with her.”

  “You do know who Izzie Northcott is?”

  “All I know about her is that she’s rude and thinks she’s better than everybody else.”

  “Her father set up Kitten Cosmetics. Well, actually, his first wife did, but he took all the credit and divorced her.”

  “Kitten Cosmetics! Don’t they produce makeup that’s supposed to make you look ten years younger?”

  “I’ve never tried it. It’s made the family a fortune.”

  “Does Izzie work for the company?”

  “She has a full-time job as a socialite. No wonder she’s annoyed about Kendal’s death. According to the gossip magazines, he can’t take a bad picture.”

  “You read the gossip magazines?”

  He clicked his tongue. “Continue. What else did Izzie say?”

  “She wouldn’t tell me who she was, so I followed her to the hotel and ... discovered her identity for myself.” I needed to be careful about how much I said. I wasn’t dropping John in it for sharing information with me.

  “You mean you bribed the desk clerk?” He raised a hand. “Don’t even try to deny it. We’ve already been at the hotel. John has told us everything. He said you were very persuasive. Something about triple chocolate fudge brownies?”

  I shrugged. “Cakes are my secret weapon.”

  Campbell’s gaze landed on a container of chocolate flapjacks on the kitchen counter. “Don’t I know it? What did he tell you about Miss Northcott?”

  “That she was rude and ungrateful. Most importantly, he told me that she left the hotel during the exact time window when Kendal was murdered.”

  “And how do you know exactly when he was killed, if you had nothing to do with it?”

  Again, I needed to be careful not to get my sources in any trouble. “Somebody told me the time of his death. Which I found particularly helpful since you weren’t sharing.”

  “It’s not my job to help you. And at the time, I was withholding information because you were a suspect.”

  “But you’re willing to share with me now?”

  His nostrils flared. “What else?”

  “I can’t be certain, but the night Kendal was killed, I saw someone outside the castle.”

  “You reported this to my security team?”

  “No. I thought it was one of your security team. It was a brief flash of movement outside one of the downstairs windows. I assumed it was someone patrolling outside. That was until I’d spoken to Lady Philippa. She also saw someone outside at the same time. It was a woman with blonde hair. Izzie has blonde hair.”

  “That doesn’t mean it was her. There are lots of blonde women, and Kendal had a particular liking for blondes. Was Lady Philippa able to give a positive identification?”

  “No, all she saw was a skinny, blonde woman.”

  “What were your impressions of Miss Northcott when you met?”

  “I didn’t get a single positive vibe off her. She was cold, unfriendly, and thought the world owed her.”

  “She was mean to you?”

  “She may have said Meatball looked flea-bitten, and I was a sweaty mess.”

  He chuckled. “Anything else?”

  “That’s just about it.” I looked away. “Although I did hear that Kendal may have entertained someone in his room the night he died.”

  “Did you now? It appears there are leaks all over the castle,” he said.

  “Is that true? Was he with someone that evening?”

  “It’s being looked into. Would you place money on it being Miss Northcott who was in the room with Kendal?”

  “I don’t gamble, but if I did, then yes. I think she came to Audley St. Mary specifically to see Kendal. She even said they might get married in the future. Maybe she was worried he might be cheating on her so came to see what he was up to. Or Kendal invited her and snuck her in, I don’t know. Maybe they fought while she was here.”

  “She killed him in the castle and took the body outside?”

  “No. She’s really tiny. Izzie couldn’t carry a body. Maybe he escorted her out, and she lured him into the woods. She could have used her feminine wiles.”

  “They can be deadly.”

  “It’s possible Izzie convinced Kendal to go with her and then struck him, panicked, and buried the body. And, when we met, I noticed she was missing a false nail. She could have lost that when she dug the hole. You should look for that.”

  Campbell stared at me in silence.

  “What? Am I in trouble?”

  “Have you thought of a career as a spy?”

  A surprised laugh shot out of me. “Are you kidding?”

  “I never kid. You’re good at noticing the little details. That’s an excellent spy trait.”

  I couldn’t help but feel flattered. Most people would simply call me nosy or tell me to mind my own business, just like Izzie.

  “Tell me what life is like as a spy,” I said.

  “How should I know?”

  “Well, you’re a spy.”

  “I’m not a spy.”

  “You’ve worked undercover.”

  “Have I?”

  “I know you have.”

  “And you know that how? You’ve read my confidential files?”

  I tutted. “No. But you wouldn’t be here if you weren’t great at what you did.”

  “Of course I’m great at what I do.”

  I opened the container of chocolate flapjacks. “Would you like a piece?”

  “Bribery doesn’t work on me. And believe me, I’ve been offered plenty of bribes during my service to this country.”

  “Ah! But has anyone bribed you with flapjacks covered in a rich Belgian chocolate and infused with apricot brandy?” I lifted a piece and held it out to him.

  His eyes glittered and his lips curled up. “Tread carefully, Holly Holmes. You really don’t want to mess with me.”

  “Who’s messing? I’m simply offering you something nice to eat.”

  The kitchen door slammed open. Lord Rupert blundered in, skidding to a halt as he saw me with Campbell. “Oh! I didn’t know you had company.”

  I lowered the flapjack and placed it back in the container. “It’s not a problem. How may I help you, Lord Rupert?”

  His worried gaze shot to Campbell before he looked at me. “Are you on a ... a date?”

  Campbell pulled his shoulders back and clasped his hands in front of him. “No, sir. I’m on duty.”

  “This isn’t a date,” I said hurriedly. “We were just ... talking.” I couldn’t exactly tell Rupert that we’d been discussing his friend’s murder.

  “Oh! My mistake. Still, I didn’t mean to get in the way. I should leave.” Rupert turned and raced out of
the kitchen before I had a chance to stop him.

  I sighed. I didn’t want him getting the wrong idea about Campbell and me. I mean, Campbell was gorgeous, but he was terrifying. If I got on the wrong side of him, he’d simply make me disappear one dark and scary night. And I expect he had all sorts of twisted skeletons lurking in his closet, probably some of them ex-girlfriends. I didn’t want to become one of them.

  “That’s another thing you need to be careful of,” Campbell said.

  “What’s that?” I tore my gaze from the closed door.

  “Lord Rupert. We can’t have Holly the Superspy getting too attached to her employer. I might have to start calling you Lady Holly Holmes. That really sticks in the throat.”

  I gulped. “It’s not like that. We’re just—”

  “Friends?”

  “Exactly. Lord Rupert’s a sweet man.”

  “You have a knack for wheedling your way in with this family. Are you sure you haven’t been trained in the fine arts of seduction?”

  “Seduction! No! I mean, I wouldn’t know how to seduce. I don’t do that. I’m ... I’m not even in a relationship. I’ve been single for ages. I don’t even know how to flirt. I get clumsy around a man I like. I ... I mean, no. I’m not a wheedler.”

  He lifted a hand and chuckled. “Yes, as you’ve just ably demonstrated, seduction isn’t your strong point. Although your food has a certain seductive quality to it.”

  My cheeks felt like they were on fire. “Are you suggesting that I’m seducing Lord Rupert by giving him cake?”

  “There are worse ways to seduce a man. The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. And you always know how to give people what they want when they’re looking for the perfect dessert.”

  “Does that mean you don’t want the flapjack? You don’t want to risk being tempted by my flapjacks and spill your darkest secrets to me.”

  “Did you make them?”

  “If I say yes, will you think I’m trying to seduce you?”

  He grabbed a flapjack out of the container and took a large bite. He thumped his chest with a fist. “It’s official. I’ve just lost my heart to you.”

  “Very funny. I assure you, there’s nothing going on between Lord Rupert and me. Although he did look surprised when he saw us talking. You don’t think ...” It was too ridiculous to contemplate. He was a lord. There could never be anything between us. Rupert couldn’t like me.

  “If I tell you what I think, will you pay any attention to me?”

  “I might. But I don’t want to hurt Lord Rupert’s feelings.”

  “Then maybe you should quit your job.”

  “Quit! I love it here.”

  “Then back off. Back off from your investigation of this murder and back off from being so friendly with your employers, especially Lord Rupert. As you say, he’s a good guy.”

  “I don’t mean to give people the wrong impression about me. I’m just—”

  “Yes, I get it. You’re just friendly. You find out what people love and you make it for them. Some would call that manipulative.”

  “And some would call it simply being a nice person.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Which I am. If you don’t like it, you can stop eating my flapjacks and leave this kitchen.”

  He finished the flapjack and grinned. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “And neither am I. And I’ll be friends with whoever I want to.”

  “Just keep it as friends.”

  “You might be in charge of the safety of the Audleys, but you’re not in charge of me or who I choose to make as a friend.”

  He leaned back against the kitchen counter and shoved his hands in his pants pockets. “If I think your friendship with any of them puts them at risk, it will come to an end.”

  “What are you going to do, tell them I’m a security threat? Suggest they fire me?”

  He arched an eyebrow. “I have much simpler ways of making a person stop doing something I don’t want them to do.”

  I lifted the container of flapjacks, my hands only shaking slightly as I shoved them in the chiller, away from Campbell. No more treats for him.

  “Anyway, you don’t need to chase potential suspects anymore,” Campbell said. “Izzie Northcott is being formally questioned about her involvement with Kendal and where she was when he was murdered. All the evidence points to her.”

  I turned back to him. “Are you sure?”

  “As sure as twenty years of dedicated service to this country will allow me to be. Do you think otherwise?”

  “Izzie’s a good suspect. I suppose if things went wrong between them and Kendal rejected her, she would do something about it.”

  “A woman scorned is a deadly thing.”

  “How would you know? Have you ever been married?”

  I only got a smirk in response to those questions.

  “When a person’s in love and gets rejected,” I said, “it can send them crazy. Maybe Izzie is the person you’re looking for. But what about the others? Have you ruled them all out?”

  “Who are you referring to?” Campbell asked.

  “Kendal’s other friends. Chris, Simon, and Anthony. They were all here that night, and they’d arranged to go shooting together the next day. What if something happened?”

  “You think they all got together and shot Kendal?”

  “No. I know he wasn’t shot.”

  Campbell sighed. “Not only have you found out the time of Kendal’s murder, you also know what the murder weapon was.”

  “Um, not exactly. Maybe that was a lucky guess.” I rubbed my forehead. I needed to be more discreet if I was to continue investigating this murder.

  “Holly, this has to stop now. We’ve got a person of interest in custody, and we’ve spoken to everyone else.”

  “You know where everyone else was when Kendal was killed? You have no doubts?”

  He leaned forward. “Trust me, I know everything. This case is over. No more questions.” He turned and left the kitchen.

  I shook my head, unease running through me. Campbell might think he had all the answers, but I wasn’t so sure.

  There were loose ends to tie up. Until they were sorted, I wouldn’t be satisfied.

  Chapter 14

  “Two more miles and we’ll be home,” I puffed as I leaned over the front of the basket.

  Meatball stood and licked the underside of my chin.

  I laughed as we reached the top of the hill and coasted down it. I remembered the last time I’d done that and made sure to keep my feet on the pedals and my hand lightly pressing the brake. I’d be in complete control just in case I ran into anybody I shouldn’t.

  The bike felt heavy and began to slow even though we were going downhill. I took my hand off the brake, but it didn’t help.

  Metal scraped against the ground, and I groaned. “Just what we need.” I pulled the bike over to the side of the road and hopped off. As I’d feared, the front tire was flat.

  “We could do without this, Meatball. I’m starving. It’s time for our lunch.”

  “Woof, woof.” He wagged his tail.

  I stared at the tire for a second, silently willing it to inflate and get us home.

  “Woof?” Meatball peered over the edge of the basket.

  “No miracle is going to happen this time. We’ll have to fix this ourselves.” It wouldn’t be the first time I’d changed a bike tire, and I always kept a puncture repair kit in the basket with Meatball for just this eventuality.

  I lifted the cushion he sat on and had just eased out the repair kit when a car zoomed up beside me and screeched to a halt.

  “Hey! It’s the cake lady.” Christian sat behind the wheel of a sleek shiny red Ferrari.

  “Hello. Are you going somewhere nice?” I asked.

  “Just meeting the others at the pub for a quick drink. Problem with your bike?” He leaned over and stared at it.

  “A flat tire.”

  “Do you need a hand getting it fixed?”


  I glanced at him. I knew exactly how to fix the bike, but this gave me an opportunity to talk about Kendal. “Yes, please. I don’t know what I’m doing. I could really do with some help.” If I was a mistress of seduction, this would be where I’d flutter my lashes and pout, but I’d told Campbell the truth yesterday: I was terrible at flirting.

  “Give me two seconds.” Christian maneuvered the car to the side of the road and shut off the engine before hopping out. He was dressed in a tight-fitting green polo shirt and smart dark jeans.

  I couldn’t help but notice he had an impressive physique under those clothes.

  “Let’s take a look.” Christian leaned over the bike. “This thing is ancient. Where are your gears?”

  “Oh, well, we do things the old-fashioned way at the castle. My boss thinks it’s charming to offer a bike delivery service.”

  “I bet he doesn’t ride this old thing. It’s an antique.”

  I laughed. “Not a chance.”

  Christian dinged the bell on the front of the handlebars. “My racer’s got fifteen gears.”

  “You like to cycle?”

  “Of course. Keeping fit’s my thing, in case you hadn’t noticed.” He flexed his biceps. “Not bad, huh?”

  My cheeks flushed, and I looked away. “I can see you take care of yourself.”

  “I have to. I’m head of a fitness company. We mainly sell protein drinks, energy bars, that sort of thing, but we’re diversifying into sporting equipment, including bikes.”

  It made sense now why he looked so buff.

  Christian stared at the bike for several seconds before scratching his chin. He squeezed the flat tire in several places. “It’s been a while since I’ve changed a bike tire. Still, it must be just like riding a bike, eh? You never forget the basics.”

  “I’m sure you’re right,” I said. “Did you ever go biking with Kendal?”

  “Ha! Kendal wasn’t into fitness. His idea of a workout was lifting a pint of ale off the bar. The guy was getting sloppy as he got older. You know what it’s like. When you’re young, your body can take punishment and you bounce right back. You can go out on an all-night drinking session and wake up with nothing more than a slight headache the next morning. Not anymore. Kendal tried to deny it, but the drink was getting the best of him.”