by Emily Selby
'A dependence, I guess. Being dependent on Barry was extremely difficult, and I was so happy to be free again. I want to prove myself before I can move on, you know?'
'Yes, I can see that. It's important to be independent, because, this way, you don't expect the other person to make you happy. It becomes a relationship where these things happen by choice. But on the other hand, you can't be in a committed relationship without committing to it.'
'I know,' Katie whispered. 'And it doesn't make it any easier. I'm scared that it's going too well, and I don't want to jinx it. What if, it is all just a front and once I commit, some ugly things will start coming to light?'
Michelle listened, nodding slowly. 'We all bring our own baggage to relationships, and knowing you as well as I do, I can see where your fears are coming from. '
Katie nodded. 'And I have Julia to think of. She is my number one priority.'
'I agree. We are parents first, particularly when young children are involved, but at some point, you need to prioritise your own needs. I know you well enough to realise you will reach that point and, when you get there, you’ll make the right decisions for yourself and for Julia. Just remember I'm always here for you.'
'Thank you,' Katie said, 'and I'm so grateful for your friendship.'
'Any time, hun,' Michelle said and pulled her into a hug.
'Anyhow, we'd better go,' Katie said and stepped out to the hallway. 'Julia, we're going,' she called out.
Michelle appeared at her side. 'Almost forgot, what did you decide to do with the workshop?'
'I have an appointment with Michel Bower tomorrow to view the new house.'
'Excellent. I've only seen it from the outside - it looks really nice,' Michelle said, adding, 'It’s a great offer, but I also think you should consider using the money from selling the workshop on something you'd love to do, such as going back to university. That would do you a lot of good, you know.'
Katie nodded again. 'Either way, the first step is to take ownership of the workshop. And before I can do it, I need the money.'
'As I said—'
'Yes and thank you so much. I’m going to take you up on your offer. I'm also planning to find an extra job for a while. There’s an opening at the new hotel. I need to pop in there to leave my CV, but I've been so busy today, I forgot.'
'Do it tomorrow then. Here's your girl,' Michelle said waving at Julia and at her two daughters following her down the stairs.
Katie and Julia left in a hurry. It was getting late and she didn’t want to miss a very special guest.
9
The rest of the evening went quickly. Julia had her cake and then, for the first time in ages, Katie welcomed the busyness of her daughter's bedtime routine. Anything but facing her relationship fears.
She enjoyed the way their friendship was developing at the moment, with at least once a week dates and frequent chats on the phone and daily texting. Jack was still living at his parents' cottage, working in the Serious Crime Unit in Carlisle and Newcastle, and only coming to Sunnyvale when there was a... real reason.
Julia was already in bed, reading a book when a message popped on Katie's phone:
'I'm downstairs. Don't want to ring in case it wakes up Julia.'
She told him so many times Julia was no longer a little baby with precious sleep, and that Julia knew he was coming so she wouldn't be anxious about the bell ringing, but he still preferred a cautious approach.
'Better safe than sorry,' he’d said.
When Katie opened the door he was hiding behind a sunflower.
'Jack, you really shouldn't have...' Katie sighed. A whole bunch of butterflies fluttered in her chest.
'I thought you may need a little sunshine. It's made of paper, quite smart, actually. I would have gotten a real one, but they didn't have any in the shop.' He handed her the paper flower. 'I wanted to brighten your day. You've had a lot of stress recently.'
'Thank you,' she took the paper stem gently between her fingers.
'Careful, it's heavy,' Jack warned her and wrapped his fingers around hers, holding the flower. His touch sent a wave of goosebumps over her skin. She closed her eyes for a second, just to savour the sensation.
He stepped closer. The warm smell of his aftershave tingled her nose.
Katie's heart skipped a beat. Her shoulders softened as if pushing her right into his arms, but her brain was still in control, and she straightened her back.
'Oh, you're cold,' she said a little louder than she would like. 'Do come in.' She pulled him inside, and then led him up the stairs.
All the while, she kept hold of his hand, but at a safer distance. She didn't want to lose her head completely.
At least not yet.
She rushed to the kitchen, to place the beautiful paper sunflower in a dry vase, which she proudly displayed in the middle of the table. Then, she put the kettle on, while he took his jacket off in the hallway. There was progress in their relationship - no more jacket on the chair, no more stopping by on the off chance, or under a pretext. This was a casual, but official date.
'I've got plenty of cake,' Katie said, as Jack walked into the kitchen. 'And even more gossip. What would you like first?'
His eyes swept over her face, a corner of his mouth turned upwards.
Katie’s warning system kicked in. 'Tea, I guess,' she said hastily and turned her head to check on the kettle, and to avoid the melting-hot look in his eyes.
'I have updates that would be better discussed before any food,' he said, a note of disappointment in his smooth baritone. 'We've received some details from the autopsy. It seems Benjamin Fischer died shortly after 7 pm on Tuesday night.'
'So, about half an hour before I found Julian.'
'That's right. He had a meal shortly before his death.'
'Shepherd’s pie, I guess?'
Jack’s eyes bugged. 'How on earth do you know that?'
'I'll tell you when you’ve finished,' Katie replied, pouring boiling water into the mugs. 'I've got more news from the café as well.'
'Everything else can be discussed with food. Fire away.'
Katie told Jack about the woman who came to meet with Benjamin at Une Tasse...
'A woman?' Jack's voice brimmed with energy again. 'Did the waitress describe her?'
'Not really. I asked, but Angie didn't reply. She promised to visit the station tomorrow, so don't forget to ask her.'
'No boss, I won't. Did she say anything about the woman's accent?'
Katie carried the mugs carefully to the table. She glanced at Jack. 'Why accents? Angie’s French. I doubt she'd be able to recognise a different regional accent.'
Jack shrugged. 'Just trying to guess. There were two women in Benjamin Fischer's life: his wife and a girlfriend or a fiancée. The wife is Irish, and the girlfriend is from London.'
'Ah, I see,' Katie said walking to the fridge for the cake. 'Have you got hold of the solicitor? Did either of them stand to inherit from him?'
'I have, and the results are very interesting. The wife, although estranged, is entitled to her share, as they are still technically married. It's a strange story by the way. The wife went missing in early 2011, and Benjamin’s has been looking for her for years.'
Katie pulled the cake box off the fridge shelf and reached for a cake stand.
'Wow, what a story. Is she still alive?'
'Apparently so. As there have been more than seven years since she disappeared from his life, sometime last year, Mr Fischer started proceedings to have her declared dead so he could divorce her in absentia.'
'But she's turned up alive.'
'Indeed. When he put a notice in the papers that he was looking for her, she came forward. Apparently, she had been living between Ireland, where she comes from, England and New Zealand.'
'Do you have any of her addresses?'
'In Ireland, yes. It happens to be her sister's address. I've left a message, but she hasn't replied yet.'
'What about the girlfr
iend?'
'In his last will, he left her his London flat, where they have been living. It’s worth about half a million pounds, if not more.'
'Ah, his last will,' Katie said, trying hard not to be overdramatic, but she felt rather proud of her little investigation that evening. Okay, and perhaps a little smug as well. 'There might have been another will signed last night.' She added and explained what Angie had seen.
Jack made the familiar tip-of-the-hat gesture. 'Good work, Watson. That information matches what the solicitor told me. Mr Fischer called him several times last night, on his work mobile, which the solicitor keeps in the office. In the end, Mr Fischer left a voicemail. Unfortunately, it’s a little garbled and difficult to understand. He spoke quietly and the room he called from had a horrible echo. Anyhow, from what the solicitor and I could decipher, Mr Fischer wanted to change his will. He didn't know what to do with the situation, and he wanted to talk to Mr Williams about the best approach. He said he would call him again a little later that evening.'
'But he died before he could call again. How very convenient,' Katie glanced at the stand, making sure the slices were arranged in an aesthetically acceptable way. She pushed the remaining slice of the Black Forest cake in the middle.
'Who for?'
'The killer? No idea who it is, but I'm sure we can find them,' Katie said, carrying the cake stand to the table.
'Indeed. Oh, my,' Jack exclaimed. 'What a selection. Now, I'm going to say, "you really shouldn't have."'
'Not a problem. Got them free from Une Tasse de Bonheur. Take whatever you fancy.' A hot wave flushed her cheeks as he shot her another melting look. 'I mean, the cake on the plate,' she added, putting the stand down. She turned on her heels. 'I'll get the cutlery.'
Whoah! Keep it together, Katie!
She washed her hands in cold water and sprinkled her face discreetly. No sizzling - she checked!
'So, the missing wife is the main beneficiary of his will? What about Julian and his family?' Katie asked while getting the cutlery out of the drawer with a little more noise than usual.
'They will still inherit a lot. I don't have all the details, but the solicitor told me there is a large estate left in a trust for both Fischer children by their parents. This part of Benjamin Fischer's wealth was subject to a prenuptial agreement, so the chances of the wife getting that are very thin, if any.'
'It looks as though Julian will benefit from his brother's death.' Katie put the cutlery on the table. Jack chose a wedge of apple pie. Katie slid a slice of cheesecake onto her plate.
'That's right. And Julian's son, Nathan.'
Nathan, an up-and-coming property conveyancing lawyer in Leeds, who was getting married later this year, according to Miriam.
'Let me guess. Nathan needs money?'
'I'm not aware of it yet, but Mr Fischer junior is coming to town soon. I shall ask him about it.'
Shoots!
By, the looks of things all the Fischers had a motive to want Benjamin dead.
'How is Julian doing?' Katie asked, attacking the lemon cheesecake. It was deliciously sweet and salty - a perfect combination with just the right amount of tanginess from the lemon.
'Still nothing. The doctors are assessing him.'
'What about Miriam?'
'Not much from her either. She and Julian left the house at 6.05 pm and went straight to the Paper Crafts Club meeting. I understand there was a board meeting prior to the main one.'
'Yes, I was invited, as was Ally Baker. We presented our separate visions for the club to the board. By the way, did you manage to speak to Ally?'
'Yes, but I've not got much. She told me she had an urgent call from a friend and spent some time talking to her.'
'What time was it?
'She received a number of calls she couldn't answer just after seven. She says she left the crafts room shortly before 7.10 pm and called the friend from her car. As the result, she went for a drive and returned to the club about 7.40 pm.'
'Hers must have been the car I heard while guarding the body,' Katie thought back to the events of the previous night. 'Ally appeared quite distracted that evening,' Katie carried on. 'I thought it was because of the presentation and the voting but maybe she had something else going on. Maybe to do with the friend she called. It must have been a close friend. Ally isn't easily frazzled.'
'She used a term “an old friend from her university days”.’
'You’ll you check her alibi?'
'Of course. But obviously, by the time Ally Baker left the crafts room, Mr Fischer was already dead.'
Katie cleared the last cheesecake crumbs from her plate and glanced anxiously on the cake stand. No more cheesecake! What a relief - everything else was easier to resist.
'What about the scissors?' she asked, to distract herself from cake-fuelled, and other, thoughts. 'Did you find any fingerprints on them?'
'Just Julian's.'
'But Benjamin didn't die of stab wounds.'
Jack shook his head. 'Definitely not.'
'Did he have all his medication on him?'
'Yes. He used one of those pill organisers: a plastic box with days of the week on the lid. We found it in his briefcase. It was empty.'
Katie chewed on her cheek.
'So, he either took it all last night, or someone forced him to take it.'
'It could also be that someone might have swapped his tablets in the box so that he took the digoxin and the propranolol, but nothing else. We didn't find traces of any other medication in his system. There should have been two or three other types in the box.'
'How would the killer even know which tablets to take out and which to leave in?'
'The digoxin tablets had the name written on it. He had two pillboxes: one for the morning, one for the evening, clearly marked. We found the morning one in his nightstand, in the Fischers' house.'
'That makes it easier,' Katie said. 'The person swapping the tablets didn't have to have medical knowledge. What about knowing about the interactions?'
'Not necessarily. It's really easy to check online for adverse interactions between various medications these days. If you had a chance to see what he was taking, you could do it on your phone in ten-fifteen minutes, even without medical knowledge. That is how long it took me once I knew the names of the offending drugs.'
Katie blew out a breath. 'Wouldn't he know what he was taking? Or the number of pills to swallow?'
'Many people don't look at the medication. They just pop what's in the correct box into their mouth and it's done.'
'What a crazy thing to do,' Katie said and flinched. 'What if someone put some poison in there?'
Jack raised his eyebrows. 'Someone might have done just that.'
'That someone must have known his pills though. Did Benjamin prepare the box himself?'
'I haven't managed to find it out yet. Mrs Fischer said that her brother-in-law arrived with pre-filled boxes. She'd seen them on the nightstand in the guest bedroom.'
'So, anyone with access to Miriam and Julian’s house could have interfered with it?'
'Theoretically. Although practically, the most likely suspects were Mr and Mrs Fischer.'
'Why did Julian use the scissors? He could have just mixed Benjamin's pills in his pillbox,' Katie stated.
Jack nodded. 'Assuming, he knew the pills and understood their interactions, which, given his state of mind, I'm not sure is likely. But don't forget about your friend, Miriam.'
Katie lifted her mug to her lips, thinking to her conversation with Sunita earlier in the day. 'I'm not,' she said slowly. 'I'm just finding it difficult to believe Miriam might have done it, despite what I gathered when talking to Sunita, who happens to be Miriam's best friend and business partner.' Katie gave him a brief summary of the conversation.
'It doesn't surprise me,' Jack fired back. 'I need to talk to Mrs Fischer properly as soon as she is capable of doing so.'
'Which is when?'
'Whenever she feels b
etter or tomorrow midday, whichever comes first. She's been avoiding me, insisting she is far too distressed by what's happened. I've tried to be considerate, but this is a murder investigation, and I’ve run out of patience.'
Katie blinked. That was news - she hadn't yet heard the "m-word' from Jack during this investigation.
'Is it? I thought you weren't excluding the suicide hypothesis.'
'And I'm still keeping that in mind. But the GP, the solicitor, and to some extent Mrs Fischer as well, all believe that ending his life without appropriate preparation was not in Benjamin Fischer's character. I am yet to talk to his fiancée, who I've been trying to get hold of. Her mobile is switched off, and there is no voicemail. I've asked the solicitor to track her.
'And, returning to the suicide hypothesis for a moment, from what I've gathered so far, if Benjamin Fischer was to commit suicide he would have written a goodbye letter. He would also have triple-checked his will, had it validated by his solicitor and ensured it was all received by the right people, before topping himself.'
'I see,' Katie said slowly, massaging her stomach. Was it too much cake or was a doubt-mixed-with-guilt-feeling fighting for her attention?
'Something else makes me doubt this is a suicide,' she said looking away, trying to identify the hunch. 'The scissors are a red herring, right?'
She looked at him carefully. Jack's face was tense, his eyebrows drawn together. He rubbed his cheek for a while, looking into his mug. 'I see what you mean, Katie. Why on earth would someone want it to look like a murder if it wasn't a murder? Why frame Julian Fischer? But, how can we be sure that Julian didn't actually stab his brother's body when he saw him by the bin? Maybe the victim took the pills and knowing his brother- and sister-in-law were both at the Community Centre, tried to get to them before he died. Maybe to say his last words or something. But he collapsed and died by the bin. His brother found him there by accident, and...'
'I can't imagine Julian stabbing anyone,' Katie interrupted, pushing down the image from the crime scene popping up in her mind. 'But then, he has been behaving out of character recently. This must be so devastating for Miriam and Julian at the moment. And I can't even help them.'
