by K E O'Connor
“I hope you don’t mind me saying, but she doesn’t seem like that now,” said Helen.
“Well, life hasn’t been all that kind to my Juliette of late,” said Ben. “I know her sense of humor and fun are in there somewhere. She is saddened by the loss of Archie. And as you’ve seen yourself, she doesn’t have a great relationship with Fleur, although Juliette will never tell me about that. When I ask her questions about Archie or Fleur, she dismisses my concerns.”
“It’s important not to keep secrets in a marriage,” said Helen.
“Juliette doesn’t hide anything from me out of malice,” said Ben. “I think she wants to protect me and make sure I don’t worry about things I have no control over. If you stop to consider it, it’s extremely sweet of her.”
I risked peeking around the bush I was hidden behind and saw how close Helen stood to Ben. I also noted the uncomfortable expression on his face. He was not enjoying her attentions.
Helen stroked a hand down Ben’s arm. “Don’t think you are alone in all of this. I can be here for you. Whatever you need.”
Ben cleared his throat and slowly took a step away from Helen. “I appreciate that, but I’m happy with Juliette. She is my soulmate and my best friend. She gives me everything I need.”
Helen nodded. “Well, the offer is there.”
“Thank you.” Ben cleared his throat again and made a strange, tuneless humming noise. “I’d better get on and take my morning walk before it gets too late.”
“Enjoy the rest of your day.” Helen watched Ben walk away, before turning and striding towards the house, muttering under her breath.
“Over here,” I whispered to her.
Helen gasped and then dashed to the bush. “Did you see that? I completely humiliated myself with Ben.”
“You didn’t. You did a great job of flirting with him,” I said to her, struggling to hide a smile.
“It was so embarrassing,” said Helen. “He’s clearly madly in love with his wife. I don’t know why we’ve wasted our time doing this.” She gestured to her tight dress and overly done hair.
“You were perfect.” I gave her a hug. “And what you have done is eliminate Ben as a suspect. If he’s not going to fall for your womanly charms, he’s not going to fall for anybodys. And you’re right; he does love Juliette. He’s not interested in anybody else. What Ben said was romantic. You don’t get many men like that. Juliette is a lucky woman to have found him.”
“I still feel like an utter idiot.” Helen sighed. “But you’re right. Ben was very sweet and genuine. I can’t see how he’d be our killer. He’s not got it in him.”
I stared into the distance, chewing on my bottom lip. “What if it wasn’t the money that interested Ben?”
“What else would he want?”
“Well, if Ben didn’t kill Archie for the money,” I said, “he may have done it for love. We’re both convinced he’s smitten with Juliette. Love makes people do stupid things.”
“You think Ben killed Archie because he’s so in love with Juliette?”
“I don’t know.” A wave of frustration ran through me. Why did Archie have to have so many people who would benefit from his death? “We can discount one of Ben’s motives, but we still need to think about whether he would kill for love.”
Helen gave a groan. “And there I was, thinking we’d just eliminated a suspect.”
“We’ll put Ben at the bottom of the list for now,” I said. “Let’s focus on the other suspects.”
“So who do we target next?” asked Helen.
“Time for us to take a serious look at his business partner, Dexter Sellers,” I said. “That’s where Archie is pointing his ghostly finger. Let’s see what secrets Dexter has to reveal to us.”
“If our investigation of Dexter involves any flirting, you’re doing it this time.” Helen pulled at the hem of her dress.
I grinned at her. “No flirting. Guaranteed.”
Chapter 12
“Will you stop rattling the windows,” I said for what felt like the hundredth time that evening.
Archie glared at me before floating round the living room in the cottage, knocking over cushions and making papers blow off the table.
“I get that you’re frustrated, but we’re doing what we can to discover who killed you. We’ve just about eliminated Ben, and you are convinced your sister has nothing to do with it. That leaves us with your wife or Dexter.”
At the mention of Dexter’s name, Archie spun up to the ceiling before blasting cold air into my face.
“Yes, I know you think it was him. But how do you really know, considering you were pushed from behind?”
Archie frowned before spinning round the room again.
“And how could a push from behind have broken your neck anyway?” I asked him.
He pointed to the staircase that led to the bedrooms and bathroom in the cottage.
“You think you were pushed from the top of the stairs?”
Archie nodded and pointed to the main house.
I gave a shudder. “That would do it.” There was a long staircase in the house that twisted round in a wide arch to the first floor. If you fell at the wrong angle, you would easily break your neck. “So whoever killed you, pushed you down the stairs and then moved your body outside?”
Archie shrugged before jabbing a finger at the stairs.
“Can you be sure that’s what happened? Wouldn’t there have been evidence that you’d been moved? Maybe blood on the stairs where you fell?”
Archie floated up and down on the air currents, considering my questions.
“And whoever pushed you must have known your horse well enough to lead him out into the grounds and stage your accident. From my first meeting with Brutus, he isn’t the easiest of horses to manage.”
Archie grinned at me and nodded.
“And don’t be offended by this, but you’d be difficult to move. Your wife wouldn’t have been able to lift you on her own.” The possibility that Ben could have helped in moving Archie’s body crossed my mind. Could the two of them be in it together?
Archie pointed to his wedding band again.
“Yes, I need to find out more about that,” I said. “If Juliette was thinking about divorcing you, it would give her a good motive to speed things up and kill you, rather than wait for the lawyers to get involved and charge you a fortune for their services.”
The flash of car lights filled the cottage for a few seconds as a vehicle arrived at the main house. I hopped up and looked out the window. I squinted into the gloom but didn’t recognize the car.
Archie placed a cold hand on my arm, before pointing to the main house and vanishing. Looked like he was going to do some investigating of his own.
Helen opened the cottage door and walked in. “I’m late tonight. Got caught up in doing some embroidery on a dress. It’s going to look lovely when I’m finished.”
“I was beginning to wilt with hunger.” I grinned at her.
“You could try your hand at cooking one night.” Helen pulled off her shoes and slumped onto the sofa.
“Happy to serve burnt toast and cold beans if you fancy it.”
Helen wrinkled her nose. “I’ll pass on that kind offer.”
There was a knock on the cottage door, and I opened it to find Zach outside. “I was going to take Jessie for a walk and wondered if you fancied coming with me?” Jessie dashed into the cottage and straight over to Flipper, skipping around him lightly on her paws.
“Sounds like a great idea,” I said.
“Don’t mind me,” said Helen. “I’m going to collapse here for a bit and recover from my day. You two go off and be all sickeningly romantic with each other.”
“Dog walking is hardly romantic,” I said to her.
“It will be if the two of you do it.”
I smiled at her, beckoned to Flipper, and we left the cottage with Zach, the dogs at our heels. The air was cooling fast, and I could sense autumn was approaching
. The leaves had a hint of orange on them, and the summer flowers were dying.
“Did you have a good day in the garden?” I asked Zach as he took hold of my hand.
“Another busy one,” said Zach. “But I’ve planned out everything I want to do for next year. Now, it’s a case of digging up anything that needs it and doing a bit of transplanting; I’ll divide some of the larger flowers into new pots. And I’ve established two new compost heaps. I need to put the rest of the garden to bed as autumn arrives, then everything should be good until spring.”
“Sounds like a lot of work,” I said.
“It is, but I enjoy it.”
“Don’t suppose you bumped into Fleur when you were doing any of that?”
“Would you be jealous if I did?” asked Zach.
“Do I need to be jealous?”
Zach kissed the back of my hand. “Not for a second. I’m sure Fleur has her own appeal, but I don’t see it. And why would I want to look, when I have you?”
I felt my cheeks glow with pleasure at his words. Zach wasn’t one for great displays of affection, but his words were always genuine. “I sometimes wonder if my ability puts you off.”
“Your ability?” asked Zach. “You can’t be talking about your skills in the kitchen.”
I swatted him with my free hand. “Definitely not. I meant the ghosts. Don’t you find it strange what I can do?”
“Yes, it is strange,” said Zach. “And the first time you told me about your ability, I didn’t believe you. I thought it was a quirky thing, you know, like children have imaginary friends when they’re growing up. I assumed it was something like that.”
“I can promise you, there’s nothing imaginary about the ghosts I see,” I said.
“And I know that now,” said Zach. “Even if it did take a kiss from a ghost to convince me. But I’ve had girlfriends with stranger abilities and habits.”
“I doubt that,” I said. “Name one weird ability a previous girlfriend of yours had.”
Zach scratched the stubble on his chin. “I dated a woman who only ate baby food.”
“She did what?”
“She did it as a slimming aid. It was the strangest thing,” said Zach. “I made arrangements for us to go to a fancy restaurant on one occasion, and she brought her own jars of baby food to eat at the table. She even used a tiny spoon to eat them with, so it would last longer. That night, as I was tucking into my favorite stroganoff, I realized she wasn’t the woman for me.”
“Okay, so that is weird. Anything else?”
“There was another woman who always used to sleep upright, so she wouldn’t get wrinkles,” said Zach. “It gave me the fright of my life the first night I spent with her. I woke to find her sitting bolt upright in bed. I thought I was dating one of the living dead for a second.”
I suppressed the twinge of jealousy I felt at the thought of Zach in bed with another woman. “You’ve got me there; that is weird. I’m happy to get a few wrinkles if it means I get a decent night’s sleep.”
“So you don’t have any strange habits in bed you need to tell me about?” asked Zach.
“You’ll just have to wait to find out about that.” I grinned at him.
“That’s something I’m looking forward to.” Zach squeezed my hand tighter. “Oh, and there was this one woman—”
“What’s that?” I heard raised voices behind us and turned round.
“Sounds like an argument,” said Zach.
I spotted a figure running towards us. It was Helen.
“What’s going on?” I asked as she reached my side.
“Come quick, there’s a fight at the house,” said Helen.
Chapter 13
We raced along beside Helen, stopping as we reached a copse of trees, and saw two figures outside the front of the main house. One of them was Ben, and the other was a man I’d never seen before.
“I heard raised voices after you left the cottage,” said Helen quietly. “I snuck out to take a look and saw Ben arguing with this guy.”
“What are they arguing about?” I asked.
“Something about money,” said Helen. “Ben rushed out of the house as soon as the car pulled up and tried to get him to leave, but the man got out and refused to go.”
Juliette emerged from the house, wearing an emerald green wrap. She walked towards the unknown man with a stern expression on her face.
“We need to get closer so we can hear what they’re saying,” I said.
“Be careful. We don’t want them to spot us,” said Zach.
“Let’s go over to those bushes.” Helen pointed to a neat row of squat evergreen conifers. “We’ll be able to hear from there, and they won’t see us.”
We waited a few seconds, before running to the bushes and crouching down. I grabbed hold of Flipper, and Zach took hold of Jessie, to stop either dog running about and revealing our whereabouts.
“You need to leave,” said Ben. “You know you’re not welcome here.”
The unknown man wore a smart dark grey suit and an open necked white shirt. He looked to be in his early forties, with a head of dark hair and a clean shaven sharp jaw line. “I was simply inquiring as to how you are all doing. I don’t mean any harm by coming here.”
“Dexter, now is not the best time,” said Juliette. “Your business dealings were always with Archie, not me.”
“That must be Dexter Sellers,” whispered Helen. “That’s the man we’re interested in.”
“It is,” I said. “And it looks like neither Juliette nor Ben are happy to see him.” I focused back on the conversation.
“But I have some excellent opportunities I want you to know about,” said Dexter. “And I have some unfinished business with your late husband.”
“Your dealings with him ended the day Archie died,” said Juliette. “I was never happy with the work the two of you did together. I do not want our association to continue now Archie is gone.”
“But I do,” said Dexter. “And Archie owes me money.”
“He owes you nothing,” said Ben. “Looking at the business accounts, you were the one making much more money out of the dealings you had with him than he was.”
I saw Dexter sneer at Ben. “I doubt very much whether you know about the business affairs of my best friend. And it’s not your place to go delving into his affairs. Why don’t you stick to what you’re good at? Which is what, by the way?”
Ben’s fists clenched. “I look after this household.”
“You may think you look after this household, but we really know who’s in charge here.” Dexter’s gaze moved to Juliette. “Now, if we can spend a few moments alone, I will outline my repayment plan and how you can pay off Archie’s debts to me.”
Juliette shook her head. “Archie can’t owe you any more money. Everything has been paid for.”
“I have paperwork that suggests otherwise,” said Dexter. “And don’t forget, my dealings with this family helped secure your future. Archie was not known for his acuity when it came to money. I helped him out of several sticky situations and made sure you are now financially stable.”
“That’s not something I know anything about,” said Juliette.
“Perhaps it’s time you learnt about it,” said Dexter.
“It’s time for you to leave,” said Ben.
Dexter smiled sharply. “And are you going to make me?”
“If I have to.” Ben glared at Dexter as he approached him.
Dexter grabbed hold of Ben’s shirt collar and shoved him backwards. “You’re out of your league in all aspects of your life. You’re no match for me or Juliette.”
Ben staggered but righted himself swiftly. “I’ll take you down if you continue to pester Juliette.”
“I’d like to see you try,” said Dexter.
“There’s no need to fight,” said Juliette urgently. “We can come to some arrangement.”
“We’re not giving this money grabbing liar anything,” said Ben.
“I’d be happy to take you both to court to see who is in the right over this matter,” said Dexter. “I have several friends in the legal profession. They will be only too happy to assist me in getting what I am entitled to.”
“He’s lying,” said Ben. “He’s got nothing to show Archie owed him money. And even if he did, Archie is dead. His debts die with him.”
“Not necessarily,” said Dexter. “But that is what I want to talk to you about. I have some opportunities you can invest your money in, and it will wipe out your obligations to me.”
“My husband is right,” said Juliette. “We are not obligated to you in any way.”
The smooth smile slipped from Dexter’s face, and he bared his teeth at Juliette. “I am owed money. And I will collect it from you. But if you don’t have the actual cash, I can collect my debts in other ways.” He raised a hand towards her.
“Don’t you dare touch Juliette.” Ben blocked Dexter from getting any closer, standing in front of Juliette, and balling his hands into fists.
“There’s nothing you can do about it,” said Dexter. “I will take what I’m owed.”
“Not from her, you won’t,” said Ben.
Dexter grabbed hold of Ben and threw him to one side. “Like I said, you’re out of your league.”
“Keep hold of Jessie for me.” Zach stood up.
“Why?” I grabbed hold of Jessie’s collar.
“There’s a bully who needs to be stopped,” said Zach. “That’s enough.” He strode over to Juliette, Ben, and Dexter before I could stop him.
“What’s he going to do?” whispered Helen.
“Break up the fight and stop poor Ben being crushed by Dexter.” My heart was in my mouth as I watched Zach.
“Who’s this?” Dexter sneered. “A hired thug or one of Juliette’s lovers?”
“You’re disgusting,” said Juliette.
“Well, who is he?” asked Dexter as Zach stopped next to Juliette.
“This is our gardener,” said Juliette with a sigh. “Zach, you don’t need to see this.”
“The lady wants you to leave,” said Zach to Dexter. “I would advise you to do just that.” As he pulled himself to his full height, Zach was clearly the taller and broader of the two men, his toned arm muscles stretching as he glared at Dexter.
