Raspberry Lemonade and Ruin: A cozy murder mystery full of twists (Peridale Cafe Cozy Mystery Book 23)

by Agatha Frost

  “Gilbert Holdings Limited,” Julia said before Richie left. “Does that mean anything to you?”

  “Should it?” He shrugged.

  “Nothing at all?”

  “My mum’s maiden name was Gilbert,” he said, pulling open the door. “That’s the only connection I can make.”

  Christie followed him out, leaving Julia and Barker alone in the room. They paced in a circle, and she assumed the same thoughts were spinning around both their heads.

  “It could be a coincidence,” Julia thought aloud. “Evelyn said the universe is full of them.”

  “But from James’s account? Right under his nose?” Barker shook his head. “Very few people would be able to get close enough, and a wife is one of them. She probably thought she was clever, using her maiden name.”

  “She’s been getting away with it for who knows how long. Seems pretty clever to me.”

  “Or lucky James has too much money to count,” he suggested. “Oh, to have that problem, right?”

  “It doesn’t seem to be working out too well for them.”

  “Good point.” He stopped pacing. “What now?”

  Julia assessed their options. With Mindy and James both out of action, there was little to be gleaned from them right now. She didn’t know how much she could get from Richie, and if Ruth had gone for coffee, she hadn’t brought it back to the waiting room.

  “Back to the B&B,” Julia said, stepping through the door Barker held open for her. “I think it’s time to get some style advice.”

  Dot appeared at the end of the corridor, snapping her pad shut.

  “Oh, lovely!” Dot’s hands planted on her hips. “You forgot about me, didn’t you?”

  “No?” Julia lied. “Where did you get off to?”

  “Didn’t see the point in us all following James around like lost dogs.” She gave her notepad a shake. “I talked to the shift nurses first, to see what they knew. Very little, as it happens. Mindy has been out of it for days, but apparently, she said some interesting things.”

  “How did you get into her room?” Barker grabbed the pad and flicked through the notes. “And how long were you in there?”

  “Five minutes,” Dot said, snatching the pad and tucking it away. “And when you dress the part, you’d be surprised what doors open and what questions you can ask in five minutes. Now, I’ll let you read my notes on the way back to the village. I don’t know how you two were intending to waste the day, but I think we should be getting to the B&B to talk to Ed. He’s got a lot of explaining to do.”

  Julia was so impressed as she watched her gran’s long, trouser-clad legs stride away that she could do nothing but follow.

  14

  “How did you get all of these notes in five minutes?” Barker asked after reading them aloud on the drive back. “If this is all true, you really got her to open up.”

  Through the rear-view mirror, Julia watched her gran proudly adjust the red beret.

  “She was ready to get a lot of stuff off her chest,” she said. “And after all that bother when our little group first started, I wanted to make sure that if the chance to interview people came up again, I’d be ready. Mr Goatee was the test run. I’ve been studying.”

  “I should say so. You could teach me a thing or two,” he said, flipping back through the pad. “So neat and concise. I like the bullet points.”

  “Spending all that extra time in the library has been paying off.” Unclipping her seatbelt, she leaned forward and pointed, directing Julia to pull up in front of the B&B. “I’ve spent the last few months checking out police procedural novels and taking notes. Only the best of the best.” Julia could almost hear Dot pushing up her hair. “Turns out an old dog can learn new tricks. And speaking of old dogs . . .”

  Dot was out the door while the car was still rolling to stop. Julia cranked up the handbrake, wondering where the fire was.

  “And here I thought she was just excited to conduct another interview,” said Barker, letting his seatbelt slide back. “Brace yourself.”

  They joined Dot on the pavement, flanking her either side. As Ethel and Peridale’s Eyes approached, Dot grew a few inches and planted her hands on her hips.

  “Off to a fancy-dress party, Dorothy?”

  Ethel immediately laughed at her own joke. The ‘Lazy Eyes,’ as Dot had started calling them, laughed along.

  “Is that all you’ve got left?” Ethel continued when Dot didn’t rise. “I hope your family’s reputation hasn’t had your numbers dropping like flies. I heard Shilpa was like this, dear.”

  Ethel wobbled her hand, and the women behind her chuckled.

  Julia struggled to tell the wash of identical grey perms, pastel blouses, and sensible-length skirts apart. With her lilac-rinsed hair, their leader – and there was no denying she was the leader – Ethel was the only one who stood out. Julia suspected they all frequented the same salon, though Ethel’s do was backcombed to be just a little bigger.

  “This isn’t official Ears business,” Dot replied, and Julia was proud of how collected she sounded. “This is PI business.”

  “You wouldn’t be trying to solve another murder again, would you?”

  “Feeling guilty, Ethel?”

  “Last time I checked” – she pointed at Barker – “he was the PI, and like Shilpa, I heard he was a bit . . .”

  The hand wobbled, and the chorus approved.

  “Last time I checked, and I did on the internet,” Dot called above the laughter, “in this fine country, you don’t have to be licenced to be a PI. You’re a PI if you say you’re a PI.”

  “You’re not a PI.”

  “I’m more of a PI than you.”

  “Then if you’re a PI, I’m a PI.”

  “Hmmm.” Dot shook her head. “You don’t meet the measure.”

  “And you do?” Ethel looked her up and down. “Nice trousers. Are they Percy’s?”

  “Says the woman dressed like that.”

  “You usually dress like this!”

  Dot cast a disdainful glance at their outfits.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Ha!” Ethel rolled her eyes at her crew. “She’ll be bored next week, won’t she, girls? Fickle Dorothy and her many hats.”

  “Nothing wrong with trying on new hats. We’ll all be dead soon. You should give it a go.” Dot tilted her head. “Oh wait, that’s your hair, not a hat. My mistake.”

  One of the women behind Ethel let out a single snort of a laugh. Julia glanced up at the B&B; Evelyn and Ed were watching from the bay window. People were also watching outside the station. And the pub.

  “You’ll be dead long before I am, Dorothy,” Ethel replied cattily. “You are the older one. Much older.”

  “Not that much!” Dot cried. “You’ll be lucky to get here.”

  “Speaking of ancient things.” Ethel snapped at a woman who dutifully produced a charity tin. “Are you going to donate to the roof fund? I’ve signed that damn library petition for you Lord knows how many times. The church roof is something we can actually save. Cough up, and don’t be tight.”

  Ethel shook the tin at them. Dot gave her a few pound coins, Julia a five-pound note, and Barker didn’t have any less than a twenty. Ethel snatched it and slotted it in before Barker could ask around for change.

  “Your donations are much appreciated,” Ethel said over her shoulder. “C’mon, girls. Time for Bridge.”

  And just like that, life resumed.

  “I hate that woman,” Dot insisted, opening the gate. “Shall we get this over with?”

  Julia and Barker exhaled relieved breaths and followed a few steps behind her.

  “Do you think those two realise they’re best friends?” Barker whispered. “Because I feel like somebody should tell them.”

  “Where’s the fun in that?”

  “We wouldn’t have geriatric standoffs in the street twice a week.”

  Julia chuckled. “I meant where would be
the fun for them.”

  When they entered at the B&B, Evelyn revealed that Ed had just gone to have a bath. They waited at a wicker table and chair set in the shadow of one of the many trees in the B&B’s wildflower-filled back garden. Evelyn brought three glasses, iced cucumber water in a jug, and a promise that Ed had agreed to join them soon.

  Soon, as it happened, was a relative term.

  Five minutes turned into ten.

  Ten into twenty.

  After half an hour, the clouds had fully cleared, pushing Dot back inside the B&B. She returned a minute later, pulling off her jacket and beret as she sat.

  “Singing like he hasn’t got a care in the world!” she said, tossing her hat onto the table. “How long? I asked him. Soon. Soon!”

  After another fifteen minutes, they’d drained most of the cucumber water and Julia had been and gone to collect Olivia. She even had time to change her, feed her, and set her up on a blanket on the grass with her banging blocks.

  When Ed finally sauntered out wearing nothing more than a red Speedo, black sunglasses, and a towel over his shoulder, Julia could barely remember why they’d come in the first place.

  “Finally!” Dot croaked, waking up from a nap. “You must have turned to a prune in there.”

  “I didn’t realise I was running on your time.”

  Ed laid the towel on the grass. He waved a finger at Olivia before lying down on the towel in the baking sun. Anyone else might have looked ridiculous, but he was bronzed and shining and made the act look stylish somehow. Julia hoped the glistening skin was from sunscreen and not tanning oil, but the familiar coconut smell suggested otherwise; Katie used to slather herself in the stuff.

  “Can we ask you some questions?” Dot asked, standing over him, her beret back on, though she left her jacket off. “It’s rather urgent.”

  “As long as you stop casting shadows.”

  Dot stepped aside, allowing Ed to bask in the full beam of the summer sun. He wriggled on the blanket before seeming to relax every muscle. Julia put the wicker chair behind Dot, who eased into it. With a raucous throat-clearing, her gran opened her pad.

  Julia couldn’t tell if Ed so much as had his eyes open behind his dark sunglasses.

  “Answer true or false to the following statements,” she started. “And be honest. I’ll know if you’re lying.”

  “How?”

  “Because I’m not going to tell you what I know,” Dot said, wafting the pad the way she so often wafted her hand. “And I have the truth.”

  Mindy could have lied about everything she’d told Dot in those five minutes, but the poor light in which she’d painted herself suggested her rawness was honest.

  “Whatever,” he said, brushing away a fly. “Just get started. I’m trying to enjoy a rare afternoon off. That woman has been working me like a dog for months.”

  “‘That woman’ being Mindy?”

  “Very perceptive.” He frowned. “Get on with it.”

  “True or false . . .” Dot clicked the pen. “Are you having an affair with Mindy Jacobson?”

  “No,” he replied quickly. “But she is having an affair with her personal trainer, Lucas.”

  Dot ticked her pad twice.

  Julia thought back to the first two bullet points Barker had read out in the car: “Denies stylist affair. Admits trainer affair.”

  “You’ve been employed by Mrs Jacobson for how long?”

  “I thought it was true or false?”

  “Have you been employed by Mrs Jacobson for eight months?”

  “Think it’s nearer to nine.” He swatted at another fly. “But whatever, true. She had another guy before me. Henry something or other. I’ve seen the pictures, and let’s just say she’s in better hands with me.”

  “And you dye her hair?”

  “True.”

  “You dyed her hair the day before the garden party?”

  Ed took some time to consider his response.

  “True.”

  “So, you lied about the argument with Mindy being about her going to someone else?”

  “Technically false,” he said. “We did have that argument, just two months ago. And yes, it really did look like a bale of hay.”

  “What were you arguing about?” Dot flipped to another page. “Your attempts at blackmailing her?”

  Ed smiled as he propped himself up on one elbow and ripped off his glasses. He cast a sharp glance at Julia as she rearranged a couple of Olivia’s blocks.

  “That was supposed to be for her ears only,” he said to Dot, though his loudness was clearly directed at Julia. “And I wouldn’t go as far as saying I was blackmailing her.”

  “So, you didn’t tell her that if she didn’t double your pay, you’d tell James she was spending more of his money than he knew?”

  “Fine, true.” He replaced his glasses and settled back down. “And it was more than that. Completely rinsing him.”

  “Gilbert Holdings Limited?” Julia asked.

  “Yeah.” A brow arched above his sunglasses. “Did she finally admit it?”

  Not to James or Dot. The notes were adamant that Mindy had never even heard of the company.

  “How did you find out about it?” Barker asked.

  “What happened to true or false?”

  “Because nobody seems to know where this company name has come from or who’s behind it.” Barker stood, casting a shadow across Ed. “If Mindy didn’t tell you about it, you must have found out about it yourself?”

  Olivia’s gurgling and block-banging broke the silence while Ed considered his response. Julia wondered if he was trying to cook up a lie.

  “I’ve worked around the super-rich my whole adult life.” He looped his fingers behind his head. “I used to work in a tiny backstreet salon. I didn’t have dreams beyond that, but I was young and stupid. I had a wake-up call when a footballer’s wife just happened to stumble upon the salon. She was in town for her cousin’s wedding and her regular stylist had food poisoning. I was only the apprentice, but I’d been left to lock up on my own. So, I went along with her, and my eyes were opened. I made them look horrendous, but I didn’t know that at the time. All I knew was I was never going back to that salon. I made my monthly salary that day.”

  “Mindy’s not a footballer’s wife, though.”

  “Mindy is richer than a footballer’s wife,” Ed said with a dry smile. “Or, rather, her husband is richer than a footballer. It’s the same thing. I filtered through the wags and the reality stars quickly. None of them were loyal. I found Mindy at a party. I could tell she was uncomfortable. Henry had made her look like a kid’s puppet. All hair, blush, and eyelashes. I told her she could do better, look better, and gave her my card. I had a permanent job the next day. She said she liked my honesty.”

  “Honestly blackmailing her?”

  “I’m good at what I do. I deserve a pay rise for that alone.” He sat up, abs flexing as he looked around. “I think I’m going in. Too many flies.”

  Probably attracted to the coconut-scented oil, but Julia kept that to herself. Dot hurried in after him. Taking Olivia with her, Julia followed them back into the sitting room more sedately. His black robe awaited him. He collapsed into one of the armchairs and took off his sunglasses.

  “Aren’t we finished?” he asked, resting his eyes.

  “If you’re good at your job, why did you need to blackmail her to get it?”

  “Because rich people are tight,” he said with a laugh as though it should have been obvious. “Mindy will attend the opening of an envelope, and I’m always there to make her look exactly how she wants. She could have fired me, but she knew I was good. I knew she’d give in to my demands eventually.”

  “Until someone shot her.”

  “I assume she’ll still need her brows and blowouts when she’s let out.”

  “Why didn’t you go to the hospital?” Julia asked. “You know she’s awake?”

  “I’m her stylist,” he said flatly, “not
her friend.”

  “You still haven’t said how you know about Gilbert Holdings,” Barker said, joining them with Olivia’s things packed up in her pram.

  “I was getting there.” He exhaled, opened his eyes, and crossed one leg over the other. “The super wealthy are either so protective over their money that they pinch every penny, or they assume the good times will last forever and spend accordingly. For people like Mindy and James, those good times are all but assured, but it became obvious very quickly that James had no idea how out of control Mindy’s spending had become, so I did some digging. Found some paperwork. I say found, but it was left out all over Ruth’s office desk. I knew Mindy’s maiden name was Gilbert, so I put two and two together.”

  “How did you know her maiden name?” Dot pushed.

  “Because she told me?”

  “I thought you weren’t friends,” Julia reminded him.

  “I didn’t say she didn’t talk constantly. Which she does. This is the most peace I’ve had all year, and I’m afraid you’re ruining it.”

  Ed rose from his seat at the same time Christie and a police officer started walking up the garden path. They let themselves in and cut Ed off before he could reach the door.

  “Would you like to go and get dressed?” Christie asked. “We’d like to ask you some further questions regarding your connection to Mindy and James Jacobson.”

  “Hmmm.” Ed ran his fingers through his hair. “I don’t think I will.”

  “Don’t say I didn’t give you the chance to get dressed.”

  “Don’t worry, Detective,” Ed said in a mock-seductive tone. “I’ll contain myself if you can.”

  It wasn’t the time to laugh, but Julia caught Barker with the same clenched lips.

  Ed didn’t seem to resent being handcuffed. In fact, he almost seemed to revel in it. His reaction to being arrested couldn’t have been more different from James’s, but the circumstances were different.

  Julia’s immediate reaction was the same, though.