Murder on the Menu

by Fiona Leitch

  There was still a hint of the old Cheryl there though, because she noticed my none-too-surreptitious once-over and rallied enough to say, ‘Tea?’

  I stared at her for a moment, mouth open in disbelief. She had ruined Tony’s life and all she could do was stand there and offer me a mug of PG Tips? She held my gaze defiantly for a few seconds, but then her bottom lip trembled and her eyes filled with tears. Here it comes, I thought, and it did. Her whole face crumpled as she put her head in both hands and wept, hard. Despite my initial anger and disgust with her, I felt for her. She seemed lost and bewildered, not the Cheryl I had briefly known and disliked before all this. I walked over and pulled her into a hug. I expected her to resist and pull away, but she didn’t, just buried her head in my shoulder and cried harder.

  I led her over to the sofa and sat her down, fumbling in my pockets for a tissue. Then I sat next to her, put my arm around her, and waited for her sobs to subside.

  She finally calmed down, the tears drying up even though her breath was still ragged and shuddery.

  ‘So,’ I said. ‘What the bloody hell is going on?’ She looked tearful again. ‘I’m not going to have a go at you,’ I said quickly, ‘but I need to know what happened, so I can help.’

  She took a deep breath and wiped her eyes, blew her nose and offered back the tissue. I waved it away.

  ‘Nah, you keep it… Tell me what happened on Friday night.’

  ‘I don’t know where to start…’

  ‘Okay, then let me tell you what we’ve worked out so far.’

  ‘We?’

  ‘The police. And me and Tony.’ Her eyes welled up again at his name, and I felt a little lurch in my tummy. Maybe she genuinely did love him. ‘He’s fine, by the way. Worried about you, of course.’ And worried about going to prison for three murders he didn’t commit, I thought, but I didn’t say it. I didn’t want her crying again.

  ‘We found your pawn tickets,’ I said. ‘You needed money fast. Someone was blackmailing you, weren’t they?’ She looked at me, amazed, and then nodded. ‘You were having an affair—’

  ‘No!’ She shook her head vehemently. ‘I wasn’t. It wasn’t like that…’

  ‘Craig?’

  She looked at me with something like shame, and then nodded. ‘We … we had a relationship. It was still going on when I met Tony, but as soon as I realised it was getting serious, I finished with him. It never felt right. I know we aren’t really brother and sister, but we were brought up as if we were. When I moved in with my uncle and aunt I was fifteen and Craig was seventeen, and the minute I saw him I just wanted him so much, and he felt the same. We resisted but on my eighteenth birthday we…’

  ‘It had been going on that long?’ I was shocked. That was years.

  ‘No, no. After that night we avoided being alone together, and for a while it was almost like we’d got it out of our systems. He went away for work and it was all forgotten. But then he came back. And it was like we were teenagers again.’ She studied her nails. ‘The stupid thing is, I didn’t even like him by that point. He’d always had this cruel sense of humour, but it had got worse while he was away. He was cynical and bitter. But he just had this hold over me. I don’t know why…’

  ‘What happened when you finished with him?’

  ‘He didn’t seem to care at first; he just smirked and said I’d be back. But when he met Tony, he was furious. He said he couldn’t believe I’d dumped him for someone like Tony.’

  ‘You mean someone kind, funny, and decent?’ I felt a rush of indignant fury on Tony’s behalf. She nodded.

  ‘Exactly. He pestered me for ages but I thought he’d finally accepted it. Then, when we decided to get married, he threatened to tell Tony and I panicked. I offered him money to leave us alone, and that was it.’

  ‘So, Friday night. You obviously weren’t expecting to see him there?’

  She shook her head. ‘No. I’d given him some money that day in exchange for him promising to stay away. And then he turned up…’ She looked at me, a look of pleading on her face. ‘It was like … he’d come for me; I was never going to get away and maybe I should just give in and go with him. Do you understand?’

  I did. I’d worked with enough abuse cases in my old life to recognise gaslighting when I saw it. ‘He controlled you. He made you feel like you needed him.’

  She looked almost relieved. ‘Yes. What with Mel having a go at me – at first I thought she knew about him, and that she was going to tell Tony – and then Craig appearing, it all felt impossible. Even when I realised that Mel didn’t know, it was like fate warning me it was just a matter of time.’

  ‘When I came up and checked on you, were you planning to run away?’

  She sighed and stood up, then walked over to the sink to get a glass of water. She cooled her forehead against the cold glass before speaking.

  ‘I didn’t know what to do. I decided to tell Tony after the party and see if he still wanted me. And then I thought I’d write him a letter, in case I couldn’t bring myself to say it.’

  ‘But you never got further than “Dear Tony”,’ I said, and she shook her head.

  ‘I didn’t get the chance to.’ She gulped at her drink. ‘Craig rang me and told me to meet him in the garden, otherwise he’d go straight back in the bar and show Tony a photo. And he sent me the photo. It was…’

  ‘I think I can guess what it was,’ I said. ‘He sent a couple of A4 prints to your house and Tony got them the next day.’

  ‘Oh God…’ She looked away, but I could tell she was crying.

  ‘Tony didn’t care,’ I said. ‘Well, he was upset of course, but he wouldn’t have cared if you’d told him.’

  ‘I know.’ She pulled herself together. ‘I was so stupid. I should have gone straight back down to the bar and found Tony, but instead I went out into the garden to plead with Craig to leave me alone. Mel was putting the dog in the car so I sneaked past her.’ She was trembling, so I went over and held her hand. I might not have liked her, but it was impossible not to feel some sympathy for her. ‘When I told Craig I wasn’t going with him he just snapped. He spat in my face and told me he wouldn’t let anyone else have me. I thought he was going to kill me.’

  ‘What did he do?’

  She didn’t speak, but she pulled at the neckline of her hoody, which was done up all the way to the top. There were bruises around her neck, distinct enough that I could actually make out the shape of Craig’s fingers. She looked at me, her body trembling but her gaze steady.

  ‘I tried to get away but I couldn’t. I was starting to black out when all of a sudden, he let go.’

  ‘He just let go?’

  ‘It was Mel. She must’ve heard us. She had this big rock in her hand and she hit him on the head with it. But it wasn’t hard enough to kill him.’ I could see the panic and fear rising in her eyes as she remembered, and I squeezed her hand. She took a deep breath to calm herself. ‘He turned around and grabbed the rock off her, and then smashed her in the head with it. The next thing I know, she’s on the ground and he’s on top of her, strangling her, although it looked to me like she was already dead. So I picked up the rock from where he’d dropped it, and hit him as hard as I could. And I killed him.’ She swayed. I took the glass from her fingers before she dropped it and half-carried her back to the sofa.

  ‘So it was self-defence,’ I said, and she nodded.

  ‘Poor Mel,’ she said, starting to cry. ‘She was just trying to help me…’

  ‘So, what I don’t get,’ I said carefully (I didn’t want her getting hysterical on me again), ‘what I don’t get is what happened next. Why did you move Craig’s body? Why didn’t you call the police?’

  ‘I don’t know. I panicked,’ she cried. ‘I called my uncle, but he didn’t answer. I suppose he was in the bar and didn’t hear his phone. So I rang Aunty Pauline instead. I just wanted someone to tell me what I should do.’

  ‘Why on earth would she tell you to move the body? And wh
y leave Mel’s? I don’t understand.’

  ‘She said the police never believe women in cases like that. She said they’d see the photos Craig had taken of me and they’d know we were lovers, and they’d think I’d killed them both to stop them telling Tony.’

  ‘That’s rubbish. If you’d gone straight to the police and told them, they’d have believed you, especially with Craig’s reputation. And what about Tony? You just left him, not knowing what’d happened to you.’

  ‘Pauline says the police think I killed them both and they’re looking for me. Tony must know he’s better off without me. That’s why I’m hiding here, until my uncle and aunty help me leave the country.’

  I laughed scornfully. ‘Pauline is off her trolley. Everyone thinks you’re dead. And the police have arrested Tony for the murders of all three of you.’ I didn’t mention that they’d let him go; apart from anything else, unless I could hand her in to the police, I wasn’t entirely sure they wouldn’t arrest him again.

  ‘But that’s … Tony would never hurt anyone!’ Cheryl looked genuinely shocked. ‘Why didn’t Pauline tell me? I don’t understand—’

  ‘You don’t understand what?’ We both jumped and turned to see Pauline Laity standing in the side doorway. ‘You! What in God’s name are you doing here? You’re just the caterer! Why is it you seem to do everything but bloody cook? Cheryl, sweetheart, I don’t know what this woman has told you, but you have to ignore her. She’s making a play for Tony and wants you out of the way.’

  ‘That’s rubbish!’ I said. ‘Cheryl, your aunty here is bonkers. If she’s the one who told you to move Craig and dump him in the marsh, she’s made everything a hundred times worse than it could have been.’

  ‘You dumped him in the marsh?’ Cheryl looked horrified. ‘I thought… You said you’d bury him! He was your son! How could you…?’

  ‘How could I help the woman who killed him?’ sneered Pauline, and all of a sudden I wondered how anyone could think of this woman as mouse-like. She’d fooled Tony; she’d even fooled DCI Withers, who had fallen for her grieving mother act. ‘How could I help the woman who broke his heart and took him away from me?’

  ‘You’re not helping her,’ I said, realisation finally dawning. ‘You’re making her look guilty.’

  ‘She is guilty! She killed him!’

  ‘In self-defence,’ I said calmly. ‘You know that, otherwise why go to all this trouble to incriminate her and make it look like she’d planned it? Only we know she didn’t plan it.’

  ‘You don’t know anything,’ spat Pauline, but she was looking less sure.

  ‘No? We know it was Roger’s car that moved Craig’s body. We know it was parked in the lay-by while the two of you dragged his body through the long grass and over the fence. We know it went onto the marsh. Whether it was you or him driving, I don’t know. I’m thinking you roped Roger in to do it while you brought her down here. You knew he’d do anything to help her.’

  Cheryl looked confused. ‘What makes you say that?’

  Pauline glared at me. ‘Do you know how many years it took Roger to accept Craig as his son? He was only four when we married; he was just a little boy and he needed a daddy. Every time Roger introduced him as his ‘stepson’ it broke my heart. And then you came along, perfect little missy.’

  ‘But Uncle Roger never—’

  ‘But he’s not her uncle, is he?’ I said. Cheryl looked at me, eyes wide, while Pauline looked at me in the same way a cat looks at a mouse just before it pounces. Nasty. She slowly walked over to the kitchen and opened a drawer, taking out a large knife and placing it on the counter. I watched her hands as she spoke.

  ‘Men are so stupid. It took him a while to catch on, but I knew the minute she turned up,’ said Pauline. ‘That’s why your mother ran away, dear … because she knew the baby she was carrying wasn’t her husband’s but her brother-in-law’s. I knew it, I just knew it. And then of course when Roger finally realised… You do know he changed his will? Everything that should have been Craig’s is yours. And I just had to go along with it, treat you like you were my daughter. As if I hadn’t already had to live with the knowledge that he would never love me the way he’d loved your mother.’

  ‘Did you know about the relationship? Did you know what Craig was doing to her?’

  She laughed again. ‘What he was doing to her? She used him until she found someone else who she thought had more money than he did. She’s just like her mother.’

  Cheryl leapt to her feet and started towards Pauline, but I jumped up and grabbed her arm.

  ‘No,’ I said quietly. Pauline laughed and picked up the knife, studying the blade.

  ‘I’ve never felt the slightest urge to kill anyone,’ said Pauline. ‘I never planned to kill you, not even after you killed my lovely boy.’

  ‘The lovely boy who was a nasty, gaslighting abuser? You did a great job there, Pauline. There must be some kind of Mother of the Year award with your name on it,’ I said, taunting her. I wanted to get her out from behind the counter. I gently pushed Cheryl behind me, towards the French doors. Outside, a dog began to bark. I recognised that bark…

  ‘You’ve made things worse for her by turning up,’ said Pauline, still looking at the knife in her hand. ‘I was just going to keep her here for as long as possible, locked up until she went mad, and then turn her over to the police, by which time she’d look so guilty she’d go down for both murders. Or maybe until she did herself in, I don’t know. I hadn’t really planned that far ahead.’

  I stepped back, forcing Cheryl to step back too. Pauline came out from behind the counter.

  ‘Oh no, you’re not leaving so soon?’ she said, advancing on us.

  Outside, the barking got louder; Germaine had performed her escape act and was right outside the French doors. I half turned and pushed Cheryl towards them as Pauline came at me, knife raised—

  And then everything happened at once. Cheryl had just stretched out her hand towards the French doors when they flew open to reveal Withers standing on the steps, with Tony right behind him. Germaine dashed in and launched herself at Pauline, who shrieked and turned towards her, knife beginning its descent…

  ‘You leave my dog alone!’ I shouted, swinging the fire extinguisher, which I’d spotted by the TV earlier, at her head. It connected with a loud THUNK! and left Pauline lying insensible on the floor of the caravan.

  ‘Are you all right—?’ Withers began, then stopped as he saw me standing over Pauline’s prostrate body.

  ‘Things were getting a little heated,’ I said, waving the extinguisher. ‘All sorted now.’ I laughed weakly and sank to the floor, where Germaine overwhelmed me with excited doggy kisses.

  Chapter Thirty

  Pauline came round a few minutes later, much to my relief. I’d initially been aiming for her arm, intending to make her drop the knife rather than knock her out, but when she had turned on Germaine I’d just seen red. She looked like she regretted waking up, as she found herself handcuffed and under the watchful gaze of old Davey Trelawney. An ambulance arrived, and she was hauled to her feet and taken off to be checked over before being escorted back to Penstowan police station.

  Cheryl flew into Tony’s arms and sobbed all over him. Tony was clearly relieved that she was okay, but I couldn’t help noticing that he seemed uncomfortable and maybe even a little distant towards her.

  ‘You okay?’ said Withers. I was sitting in the front seat of his car. I’d been wrapped up in a blanket – it was one of those things I’d always automatically done when dealing with someone in shock, without really knowing why, and it was actually quite comforting to start with but now it was making me hot (or was it just the presence of DCI Withers?). Someone had brought me a coffee and Germaine was lying at my feet. I got the feeling she might never let me out of her sight again and that Daisy would probably do the same once we got home. If I told her.

  ‘I’m fine,’ I said. ‘But very, very glad to see you. You timed it just right.’


  ‘That was a bit of a close call,’ he said. ‘I don’t suppose that will persuade you to stick to cooking from now on?’

  ‘Of course it will, DCI Withers,’ I said with a grin. He laughed.

  ‘Oh my God, you actually enjoyed that, didn’t you?’ He shook his head. ‘I can see I’m going to have to keep you under surveillance in future.’

  I shrugged off the blanket before I caught fire. I was sure it was just the sun making me hot, and not the thought of DCI Withers keeping a close eye on me…

  ‘So how did you find me?’ I asked. ‘Did Tony call you?’

  ‘God, no. I went round there to arrest him again and he was just on his way out.’ He grinned at me, and I realised he was joking. ‘He burst into the station babbling about some voicemail message you’d left him, so I thought I should come down here before you got yourself into trouble.’

  ‘Too late,’ I said lightly.

  ‘As usual.’ He gave a wry smile. ‘I should have known you’d have solved the case by the time we got here. Your mad dog had just got herself out of the car as we arrived, so we followed her and she led us to the caravan.’

  We watched as the paramedics finished checking Cheryl over and nodded to Withers, who in turn signalled another plain-clothes officer to take her away. She was gently put into a waiting police car and driven away.

  ‘What’ll happen to her now?’ I asked. He shrugged.

  ‘I’m not sure. It’s pretty clear she killed Craig in self-defence, and that all this nonsense was orchestrated by Pauline Laity, not her. She’ll go down, I reckon, but not for long. She’s not a danger to anyone. Pauline, though … she’s scary.’ I laughed, but he was right; she was bonkers. ‘She and Roger will both go down for perverting the course of justice, being accessories to murder after the fact… It sounds like Roger would have done anything for his little girl.’