In Sickness and in Death

by Alana Ling

  Nineteen

  ‘I’m so confused.’ Sam exhaled when we’d put everything down on our map.

  ‘I know.’ I ordered another round of coffee from Devi.

  ‘We’ve got Rory and Tom, who both wanted to kill her because they wanted to be together. Problem is Rory’s mother would have found him another woman to marry anyway. And she did. But then if they were thinking of eloping, why bother with any of it?’

  Devi put another pot down in front of us and pursed her lips. Sam continued.

  ‘Then you’ve got Lloyd. He was dumped, then Poppy was marrying his brother, and Poppy wants to keep seeing him so she fakes an affair with Robert for Tia’s benefit. But why would Lloyd kill her if he loved her?’

  ‘We might be missing a piece of the puzzle,’ I said. ‘Plus, a lot of people have killed for love.’

  ‘Next, we’ve got Robert himself. He loved Poppy, but she was using him for her own reasons. Maybe he got sick of being a puppet and killed her. Now that’s a love–crime story I can buy.’

  ‘Don’t forget, we’ve got Mother, Tia, who is paying Poppy to marry her son, than finds out she’s seeing Lloyd. What happens when you pay someone a lot of money to follow your order and that order is ignored?’

  ‘But she has an alibi. All of her friends can vouch for her presence at all times during—’

  ‘The woman was paying people to control lives. She could have easily paid someone to do it for her.’ Sam’s expression saw reason to my statement and we moved on to the next suspect. ‘Amanda, who’s being paid to marry Rory. But she has the least obvious motive. Rory himself asked her to take the deal to stall his mother.’

  ‘And lastly, Gemima. She was seeing Lloyd and maybe she found out about those two.’

  We dropped our heads over the map and dragged a long breath out in sync. ‘We’re useless,’ Sam mumbled.

  I slapped my hands on the table. My phone jolted to life and I picked it up.

  ‘Jo, are you okay?’ Daniel asked on the other end. His brownie flavour sweetened my mouth and I put my coffee down.

  ‘Daniel, what happened?’ I asked. Sam’s eyes were glued on me.

  ‘I’m with Tom and Rory. They’ve been out by the pier. Someone messed with Tom’s car brakes. They almost crashed into the Oak Tavern on their way home,’ he said as soon as I put him on speakerphone.

  ‘Are they okay?’ Sam asked.

  ‘They’re fine. They managed to stop the car before anyone got hurt.’

  Both Sam and I breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Do you know who did it?’ I asked.

  ‘Not yet. They were out for dinner. The valet didn’t see anyone, but then again it’s been a busy night, you know, May bank holiday weekend and all,’ he said. ‘Why? Do you?’

  I looked from Sam to the phone and bit my lip. ‘No idea,’ I lied.

  I decided to pay another visit to Amanda, who let Sam and me into her house with a wide smile. We both took a seat on her mustard couch and waited for her to fetch us some water.

  I had no other option than to look around the room and inspect its yellowness once more. There was nothing, other than that particular colour, that betrayed any sort of personality, or any clues as to who Amanda was and what she did for a living. My files told me she was an interior designer. Based on her personal tastes, she was a designer I would never pick for myself, although I felt like I knew a few people who would love her style, Effie included.

  Amanda put down the water on the table. The bouquet of roses and hydrangeas was still the centrepiece and had started to dry out. The faint taste of bubble-gum hit me again.

  We sipped our water and exchanged pleasantries while Amanda’s lime and Sam’s cucumber notes flavoured my water.

  ‘Have the police got any news about who killed Poppy?’ I asked.

  She shook her head and looked down at her knees. ‘No one knows anything. It’s so terrible. I don’t understand how they can’t find the person responsible. Surely there must be prints, evidence, something to point them to the right direction,’ she muttered.

  ‘It usually takes a while for all the reports to come through. And then to put the pieces of the puzzle together. It’s not like on the telly,’ I reasoned with her.

  I couldn’t stand the taste of lime she was producing in my mouth and the more I looked at her, the more agitated I became.

  ‘Would you mind if I use your loo?’ I asked and she nodded.

  ‘Sure. The ground floor bathroom,’ she said, noting the last word with a pride that was too exaggerated when talking about bathrooms, ‘is actually being refurbished, but you can use the upstairs bathroom. Just go straight down the hallway and it’s the last door on the right.’

  I nodded my understanding of her instructions and climbed the stairs. The hallway was striped in beige and egg white, with modern art paintings along the way. I reached the end of the hall and was faced with two sets of doors. The one on the right was surely the bathroom. The other door, on the left, was slightly ajar and a red room called out from inside.

  Surprised and shocked that Amanda would allow any other colour to intrude her house, I tiptoed into the room and realised it was Amanda’s bedroom. A large oak poster bed with red tulle hanging from the top was in the middle of the crimson wall. Two bedside tables with matching lamps and picture frames stood on either side.

  I approached the one on the left and saw a picture of Amanda and Rory. The back of the frame was visible through the glass. That, along with the uneven edges, told me the picture had been cut, along with any other people in it. I checked the other picture frame and a similar picture greeted me. This one was blurry. Rory was in the front, more in focus, and behind him, in the background, Amanda was looking at him. This one also had been cut.

  I looked for my phone and found it in my jeans back pocket. I sent a message to Sam and then found my way back downstairs.

  When I returned to the living room, Sam excused herself and went to the bathroom. I picked up my glass of water and hydrated myself.

  ‘That’s a nice bouquet you’ve got,’ I said, looking at the flowers in the middle of the table.

  Amanda looked at it too and twitched her lips in an effort of a smile. ‘Yeah, it’s from the rehearsal. It’s so nice it felt a pity to throw it away.’

  I nodded and Sam returned to the room with a wide smile. She stood by the door.

  ‘Amanda.’ I called her attention back to me. ‘Why did you kill Poppy?’

  Amanda flinched and her mouth opened agape. ‘Wh…how dare you accuse me of my best—’

  ‘Does it have anything to do with the fact that you had a crush on Rory?’ I took a pause, but before Amanda could retaliate I continued. ‘Sorry, not crush. Obsession. Judging from the pictures you keep by your bedside. I wonder what Detective Anderson would think of them.’

  Amanda shot up. ‘I’m sure he would tell you having pictures of your friends is not a crime and certainly not proof that I would want to kill someone.’

  ‘So, if I have my facts straight, Tia Blakely offered Poppy money, but she was reluctant as she still loved Lloyd. But she took the offer. And you were disappointed she didn’t pick you. After all, you’ve been his friend for most of his life. Why wouldn’t she choose his best friend over a stranger?

  ‘That made you so jealous you couldn’t stand the sight of her. So you killed her and then Tia came asking you to be Rory’s wife. Of course, you had to keep up appearances, but Rory came begging so you took the offer. There was no need to keep up the friend act. You had who you’d wanted since you were a kid. But there was still one obstacle, wasn’t there? Tom. How to get him out of the way? Wait until he goes out, mess with his car and let him die in a horrible car accident. Did you even know Rory was in the same car as him? Did you even think about it before you went chopping under the car?’

  Amanda was crying. The doorbell rang and Sam ran to the door and seconds later, Daniel appeared. He saw the crying Amanda and stood there, briefly acknowledging me.
r />   ‘You don’t understand what it’s like to love someone so fully. Rory was my soulmate. I knew since the day we met. He just needed to spend some time with me to realise that I was his.’

  ‘Rory is gay, Amanda,’ Sam told her.

  ‘So what? Loads of people think they’re something and then when they find the right one they realise they’re not. It happens to straight guys,’ she yelled at Sam.

  Daniel put his arm in front of her protectively. Sam threw him a side glance and smirked.

  ‘But, you’ve been friends forever. What makes you think—?’

  ‘Because if I was married to him then he would see! He would have to fake it for the public, but so many people fake it until they make it,’ she snapped at me.

  I froze. I wanted to console her and calm her down, but I didn’t know what she could do to me. I did not want to end up with a bouquet stuffed in my mouth.

  ‘Amanda, Rory loves Tom. Everything he did, he did so he could be with him. He was planning on running away with him. He was never going to go through with your wedding. He was buying himself time to save more money.’

  Amanda wailed and stuck her head in her lap. Her whole body shook.

  ‘I never planned on killing her. No. I went in to see if she approved of my dress and to confront her about the way she was treating Rory. Seeing two men on the side? How could she not appreciate the beauty of the man she was marrying?’

  Daniel’s body stilled and his head cocked to the side, his eyes trained on Amanda.

  ‘But then she was already on the floor. You should have seen her. Her body still as a stone. Her eyes wide open. I just, I just stopped thinking. There. She gets what she deserves, I thought. But why wait when I could get rid of her there and then?

  ‘So I choked her.’

  ‘With your bouquet, and then when you realised it was ruined, you grabbed hers and snuck back out,’ I finished for her.

  She nodded and exploded in tears again.

  Daniel stepped forward, retrieving handcuffs from his pocket and he read her rights as he cuffed her. A young constable came in and removed her from her house.

  ‘Are you okay?’ he asked me, placing his hand on my forearm. His grip tingled up my arm and across my chest.

  ‘Of course. Never better.’

  ‘How did you know it was her? It couldn’t have been just the pictures?’ Sam asked.

  ‘What pictures?’ Daniel said.

  I pointed at the bouquet. ‘This bouquet was Poppy’s. I saw it last time we were here, but it didn’t click at the time. Then when I saw Gemima’s I realised. Poppy had different bouquets for her and her bridesmaids. She wanted Amanda and Gemima to have white roses, and for hers to have blue hydrangeas to stand out. So when I saw the bouquet again it made me think. Also, a few days ago, I saw a post on Friendzone about Rory’s and Amanda’s friendship anniversary and she’d commented how they’d known each other since they were babies. Seeing the pictures of Rory by her bedside confirmed my suspicions. I put the threads together and it made sense. That’s why I messaged you to excuse yourself when I was back, to check her bedroom and call Daniel.’

  Daniel gestured for us to come out of the house and we followed his lead.

  ‘Promise me you’ll stop now. You got your killer; now go back to party planning. Police work is dangerous—.’

  ‘You do it.’ I sniggered.

  ‘I have the tools and knowledge to protect myself. You don’t.’

  ‘Well, there’s still one more killer on the loose,’ I said as we got back out in the daylight.

  ‘Joanna, please,’ he said and his brownie and peanut butter flavour made me hungry.

  ‘I like you begging,’ I said and kissed his cheek. ‘You’re welcome by the way.’

  Twenty

  After Amanda’s arrest, we went to Bean Therapy and got back to work. Devi brewed our favourite coffee and served us our favourite polenta, lemon and pistachio cake, our laptops were out and ready for work, but our excitement disallowed us from putting any effort into our next project.

  ‘We need to celebrate,’ I told Sam and she didn’t take long to convince. Devi decided to close earlier than usual and join our merriment.

  We, naturally, went down to the Oak Tavern and had a few glasses of wine. Jamie plastered the biggest smile on his face when he saw us.

  ‘I cannot believe what you girls did!’ he shrieked.

  ‘Our work is not done yet,’ I reminded him. We’ve still got a killer on the loose.’

  ‘We’ll worry about the second murderer tomorrow,’ Sam said and we clinked our glasses together.

  An hour or so later, we were running pretty much on empty, so when Devika suggested we move the party to the fine dining category, we did not refuse. By that point, Jamie had also finished work and a nice dinner sounded good to him, if his grumbling stomach was any indication.

  ‘Should we try the Laos restaurant that just opened?’ Jamie asked.

  ‘Uhm, sure,’ I said.

  Devi clapped her hands together. ‘Oh, I love Laos food.’

  We all headed north and out of town. We waited half an hour for a table and sat on a long bench with another group of people, some out-of-towners, if their backpacks were anything to go by.

  Wine was served and so was the food. Devi’s choice was a bit edgy for my stomach, a papaya salad with crab, claws and all, but I went for something more appetising with an Om Gai curry. Jamie crunched on his crispy fried bugs, served with his Beerlao lager and waited for his grilled pork skewers to arrive.

  It was way past midnight when I made it back home. I walked down Oakhill Circus and turned left on Culpepper Mews. The buzz and kick of the Oak had died down long ago as the lights were out and the doors were shut.

  I stood in front of my door number six and fiddled with the contents of my bag, trying to find my keys. A shadow appeared behind me and I turned slowly only to see a hooded figure advance on me. I stepped back. My heel met with the small step behind me and brought me down on my bottom. Hard.

  The hooded man took hold of my forearms and stood over me. He tasted of rubber and smoke and his taste suffocated me.

  I wanted to scream. To call for help. I wanted to do all of those things, but I did nothing.

  ‘Hey!’ someone shouted from behind the man, making the figure jump and he turned to look at the person who’d shouted. ‘What do you think you’re doing?’

  The distraction provided me with some time to gain perspective on my current situation. Pinned to the ground, in front of my house, and a thug standing over me. My brain kick-started and my foot collided with the perp’s groin as someone else came into my peripheral.

  Kit’s hands pulled the yelping criminal off me and pushed him to the pavement. ‘Joanna, call the police,’ he shouted, attempting to tackle the guy.

  Mention of the forces made the hooded man panic and he pushed Kit to the ground and ran off into the darkness. Kit got up and offered me his hand, but I turned it down and helped myself up.

  ‘Are you all right? Did he hurt you?’ he asked.

  I shook my head. ‘I’m fine, really. He didn’t get a chance to do anything. I don’t know what happened to me, I froze. Thank you for the help. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t come to my rescue.’

  That seemed to flare up his ego and a hint of a grin formed, and I could taste the raspberry cheesecake. ‘As long as you’re all right, none of that matters. Do you know who that was?’

  I shook my head. The crime rate in Haven-on-Sea was at an all-time low, save for a nuptial murder or two. Street crime in this town was practically non-existent; although I could think of a few people I’d met recently who could have tried to stop my investigation.

  ‘Would you care for a cup of tea?’ I asked.

  ‘I really shouldn’t. It’s rather late.’

  ‘Oh, please join me, Kit. Think of it as my thanking you. I’m still quite shaken mind you, so you’d be doing me a great favour joining me until my
body is back in tune with my mind.’

  He didn’t need convincing. I found my keys and let him into my dark house. I pointed to the back as I flicked the lights on, and he entered my kitchen before I did. Alfie was lying on his kitchen bed and ran to Kit for the proper introductions.

  ‘Great guard you are!’ I scolded him and Kit chuckled.

  I turned the kettle on and opened my cupboard. ‘Earl Grey, chamomile, or lemon and ginger?’ I asked.

  ‘Chamomile,’ he replied and stood behind me, staring at my cupboard. ‘Wow, that’s a lot of tea!’ he said, looking at my two shelves of tea collection.

  ‘Huh, wait ’til you see my coffee cupboard,’ I hummed. ‘But chamomile it is. I was about to say, nothing is more comforting than a cup of chamomile to wind you down.’

  He sat on the sofa and Alfie climbed onto his lap. ‘Yeah, like a warm blanket on a cold, winter night.’ He looked outside my conservatory windows and then turned back to me and shrugged. ‘Well, you know, even in spring.’

  I laughed and I shocked myself at how loud it was.

  Even Alfie raised his cuddle-begging head to glare at me.

  I turned around to pour the tea and recompose myself. Once I knew both those tasks had been accomplished, I served the tea and sat down opposite Kit and my dog. The little rascal didn’t even bother coming to me for so much as a hello. Traitor.

  ‘I heard what you did today,’ he said over his cup. ‘That’s quite the accomplishment.’

  I took a moment to revel in his comment, hiding my delight behind my own tea, and then it was time to hit at the carotid. The metaphorical one, of course.

  ‘You know what, Kit? When I first met you, I thought you were a right arse.’

  He choked on his drink and coughed, scaring Alfie off his lap, who retreated back to his bed.

  ‘Thanks?’ he said when he had the command of his voice back.

  ‘I’m warming to you now,’ I continued, ‘but I still can’t understand what on earth that attitude was all about that morning. With the cupcakes.And after.’