It was Bob Blackburn. He looked me up and down and smirked. It made my stomach heave a little.
Kim flushed. “I wasn’t expecting you home so early, darling. I’m just asking Julia here for a quote to clean the house.”
“Great idea! Why don’t you come into my office, Julia dear, and we’ll discuss the money side of things. Kim’s no good with stuff like that. This way,” Bob indicated towards a door.
“I’ll come with you,” Kim quickly said.
“No need, we can manage. Be a love and put the kettle on. I could do with a cuppa,” Bob said to his wife. His eyes were still on me.
Kim blinked rapidly a few times and then she walked away.
Bob put his hand on my back and led me forwards. It felt too intimate a gesture and I felt like slapping his hand away.
A few minutes later I did actually slap him.
Chapter 12
Bob led me into his office, his hand still placed on my back.
He closed the door behind us and then walked in front of me. He leant against his desk, his legs spread wide, an evil glint in his eyes. He smiled.
“So, Julia,” he began. He looked me up and down again.
I crossed my arms protectively.
“What sort of work do you offer?” he asked.
“The usual kind of cleaning work, dusting, vacuuming, polishing.”
He grinned. “Anything else?”
“It depends what you want. I’d be happy to consider most things. But not ironing, I don’t do that,” I told him.
Bob stood up straight and walked slowly towards me. I could see his big tummy straining against his shirt.
He licked his lips. “How about any extra work? Just for me?”
I looked around his office and said, “I can clean in here too.”
Bob laughed. “I don’t mean cleaning, Julia. I think you know what I mean. Shall I spell it out for you?”
I knew from the way he was looking at me what he meant. I could actually feel my toes curling up in disgust. I wasn’t going to be intimidated by the likes of Bob Blackburn!
I took a step closer and looked him right in the eye. “I’d like you to tell me exactly what you mean.”
Bob gave a sly grin and then told me exactly what he wanted me to do.
That’s when I slapped him. Hard. I was secretly pleased to see that I left a red hand mark on his fleshy cheek.
“What was that for?” Bob’s hand flew to his injured cheek.
“For insulting me. I certainly won’t be doing any kind of cleaning work for you, or your wife, ever!” I said and I stormed out of the room.
Straight into Kim Blackburn. She must have been listening at the door.
“I knew it! You’re after my Bob!” she jabbed her finger at me.
“What?” I said incredulously. Had she looked at her husband recently?
“You’re just like that trollop, Fiona. She was after him too! She thought I didn’t notice how she looked at him!”
“What?” I said again.
“My Bob said she was always texting him, asking him to come over. I knew what she was after!” Kim was almost screeching.
Bob came to his office door. He took one look at Kim’s red face and quickly closed the door.
Coward.
“How do you know Fiona was sending him texts? Is that what you were looking at yesterday, on Fiona’s phone?” I asked.
“Well, I had to check, didn’t I?”
“And what did you find?”
“She’d deleted them all! Because she had something to hide, obviously.”
It wasn’t obvious to me at all. I was quite sure that Bob wasn’t Fiona’s type. I’m not sure he was anyone’s type. Apart from Kim.
“Why did you think Fiona was after Bob?” I asked.
“He was always going round there. He said she’d asked him for help with little jobs.” Kim had calmed down a bit by now.
I knew that Fiona kept a list of contractors in her kitchen, everything from electricians to plumbers. It didn’t make sense that she would ask Bob for help. It sounded to me like it was Bob who was after Fiona. And Bob was in her house on the day of her murder.
An awful scene came into my mind. Perhaps Fiona had been having a lie down when Bob came into the room. Bob might have tried to get into bed with her but Fiona pushed him away. Bob could have lost his temper and suffocated Fiona.
Or Kim could have been so consumed with jealously that she killed Fiona. She had been in Fiona’s room and picked up her phone.
I had a sudden desire to leave the Blackburn’s house.
I didn’t need to think of an excuse.
Kim put her nose in the air and said, “I don’t want you to clean my house. I can’t employ someone who I don’t trust. I’ve seen how you look at Bob.”
With disgust, I thought to myself.
“It’s alright, Mrs Blackburn, I wasn’t going to offer my services to you anyway. Goodbye.”
I left the house with a feeling of relief.
Chapter 13
DI Clarke’s car was still parked outside Fiona’s house. I decided he should know about my suspicions over the Blackburns.
Gina answered my knock at the door. She looked terrible, as if she’d been crying all day. I explained why I was there.
“The inspector is in Fiona’s office, looking through some paperwork. Can I get you a cup of tea, Julia?”
“That would be lovely, thank you,” I said.
I followed Gina into the kitchen and waited while she made us both a cup of tea. We sat down at the table.
“How are you? And how’s Megan-Rose?” I asked.
“We’re both heart broken. Megan-Rose cried herself to sleep last night. This is going to be awful for her, every year on her birthday she will remember that this was the day that her mum died.”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” I said.
Gina sipped her tea.
“Is Megan-Rose’s father coming home?” I asked.
“He’s flying in tomorrow,” Gina said. “Can you believe it, he said he had an important meeting today that he just couldn’t cancel! His daughter needs him and he isn’t here.”
Gina had a bitter look on her face.
“Thank goodness you’re here,” I said. “Megan-Rose needs her auntie.”
“Auntie...yes...that’s me,” Gina said thoughtfully.
“Who will look after her? Will her father be at home more?”
“I doubt it. He seems to forget that he has a daughter. Fiona was planning to send her away to boarding school. He’ll probably still go ahead with that.”
“You’ll miss her if that happens. You two seem very close,” I said carefully.
Gina gave me a searching look. I began to feel uncomfortable.
“You know, don’t you?” she said.
“I don’t know anything,” I replied.
“But you suspect, don’t you?”
I sighed. May as well admit the truth. “I suspect that you’re Megan-Rose’s real mum.”
Gina gave a little smile. “I am. The truth will probably come out soon. Do you know all about the surrogacy business? That I bore Megan-Rose for Fiona?”
I nodded.
“It was Fiona’s idea. I found out I was pregnant from a one night stand. It’s not like me to have one night stands! I don’t know what came over me that night. Anyway, there I was, pregnant with no father on the scene. I can’t remember his name, never mind what he looked liked. I told Fiona and she came up with this surrogacy plan.”
“Couldn’t you have had the baby and looked after her yourself?” I asked.
“I was too embarrassed. I had no money and no job. Fiona was very persuasive. She said I could live nearby and see Megan-Rose every day. It seemed the best solution for everyone.”
“Didn’t Fiona want her own children?”
“She married for money, not love. Her and Richard are seldom in the same country,” Gina said.
“Do you regret gi
ving her up?” I asked.
“Every day,” Gina looked down at the table.
“Can’t you tell the truth now? You could have full custody of Megan-Rose,” I pointed out.
Gina said, “Fiona had a contract drawn up. I don’t even know if it’s possible to gain custody.”
I put my hand on top of Gina’s. “You have to try. She’s your daughter.”
Gina nodded. “You’re right. But I can’t tell Megan-Rose just yet. It’s a lot for a little girl to take in, especially when she’s still grieving over Fiona. Thanks for listening, Julia.”
“You’re welcome. I wonder if the inspector is free yet?” I said.
I said goodbye to Gina and left the kitchen. I had to go past the stairs to get to Fiona’s office. As I did so I thought I heard footsteps upstairs.
DI Clarke must be up there, I thought and I headed up the stairs.
As I got to the top of the stairs I saw someone coming out of Fiona’s bedroom.
It wasn’t DI Clarke.
Chapter 14
A woman stared at me. She looked familiar.
She smiled. “Hello, it’s Julia Blake, isn’t it?”
I nodded. This was awkward. She knew me but I couldn’t place her.
“Are you with DI Clarke?” I asked.
“Yes, yes I am. I’d better go downstairs before he starts yelling at me!” she said and she quickly walked past me and down the stairs.
I wondered what she had been doing in Fiona’s room. Had the police found new evidence?
I looked behind me, no one was coming up the stairs. I went into Fiona’s room.
The bed had been stripped. Evidence I presumed. I had a swift look around, I couldn’t see that anything else was missing.
Something scurried across the carpet. It was a spider. It scuttled under the bed.
“Not you again,” I said to it. I wasn’t sure if it was the same spider that I’d seen in the kitchen yesterday but I knew I’d have to get rid of it. Fiona couldn’t stand spiders. She was dead but I could do this last thing for her.
I got down on my knees and peered under the bed. I saw the spider and reached out towards it. I tried to grab it but the pesky little thing ran away. As it ran towards the wall I noticed something lying on the carpet. As my arm was outstretched I picked it up and brought it towards me.
I sat back on my heels and examined it.
It couldn’t be!
I blinked and looked again.
Not her? Surely.
But how else would it have got here?
There was no time to lose, she could already have left the house.
I stood up and ran down the stairs.
Where was DI Clarke? He wasn’t in Fiona’s office. Or in the kitchen.
I looked in the room where the party had been held the previous day. The woman I’d met coming out of Fiona’s room was on her hands and knees, peering under a table.
I walked over to her and said, “Are you looking for this?”
She turned around and looked at me. She saw what I was holding out. She stood up and faced me.
“Where did you find that? I’ll need to give it to the inspector,” she said.
“You don’t work for the inspector though, do you? You had me fooled for a moment but now I recognise you. You’re Clara Chuckles. You look different without your clown make up on.”
Clara gave a little smile. She was still looking at the red pompom that I was holding out.
“Is this yours?” I asked. “It looks just like the one you had on your shoes at the party yesterday.”
Clara thought for a few seconds and then said, “Yes, it’s mine. I lost it somewhere.”
“I found it in Fiona’s bedroom. Under her bed. What were you doing in there?”
Clara folded her arms. “I don’t have to answer to you.”
I took a big breath and asked the question that I was thinking, “Did you kill Fiona?”
Clara sneered. “Why would I kill her? I didn’t know her.”
A thought came to me. “You have similar websites. Fiona had special features that were unique to her style, I noticed you had something like that on your site.”
Clara didn’t respond so I carried on, “Although of course, Fiona’s style was more professional. I don’t mean to be rude but yours was more amateur. Did you copy one of Fiona’s websites?”
Clara practically erupted, “I didn’t copy her! She stole the designs from me!”
“So you did know her.”
Clara glared at me, a cold look in her eye. “We used to work together years ago. We were partners, or so I thought. She stole my designs and claimed them as her own. When I got wise to her she framed me for a theft from a big client. I had to leave the company that we’d set up together. I couldn’t get a reference so I’ve had to do stupid little jobs, just to bring money in.”
I didn’t like the look on her face so I took a step back and said again, “Did you kill Fiona?”
“Yes I did. I didn’t plan it though. I didn’t even know that Fiona lived here until I turned up on the doorstep yesterday. She didn’t recognise me, she didn’t even give me a second glance.”
Clara looked around the room we were in. “Look what she ended up with. The perfect house, the perfect life. This is what I would have had, what I should have had if it wasn’t for her. As the party went on I suppose I got more angry. I saw her going upstairs and decided to tell her who I was, and how she’d ruined my life. When I saw her lying down with her eyes closed...”
“I don’t want to hear any more,” I said. “I’ll have to let DI Clarke know what you’ve just told me.”
Clara gave me a knowing smirk. “I’ll deny it. It’s your word against mine.”
I held up the pompom. “And what about this?”
“You removed it from Fiona’s room. Now there’s no evidence to say that I was ever there.”
A cold feeling washed over me as I realised she was right.
Chapter 15
“She’s right. So it’s a good job I overheard everything,” a voice said behind us.
It was DI Clarke.
“I was standing in the hallway, I heard everything.” He turned to me and stared at me intensively until I began to squirm. “Ms Blake, don’t ever remove evidence like that again. You could have seriously jeopardised this case.”
“I won’t,” I mumbled. I passed the pompom to him.
DI Clarke turned to Clara and read her her rights. She didn’t even look sorry. The friendly clown look had definitely gone.
Two uniformed officers led her away, leaving me with DI Clarke.
“Alright, you can give me a lecture. I know I got in your way. I know you told me to keep my nose out. I can’t help it if I find out things, can I?” I said.
He said, “You seem to get yourself involved quite easily in other people’s business.”
I nodded. That was true.
He went on, “I just wanted to say thank you. If you hadn’t found that little fluffy ball then we wouldn’t have found out who killed Fiona.”
“So it was a good job that I was around.”
“ Don’t push your luck. Don’t be offended, but I hope I won’t be seeing you anytime soon. Goodbye.”
I smiled as the inspector walked away. At least I’d got a thank you.
Gina walked into the room with Megan-Rose. They were holding hands.
Gina said, “I am going to do that thing that we talked about earlier. I’ve made an appointment with a solicitor. It’s my duty to look after this little one. Will you still come back and clean Fiona’s house until we get everything sorted out? I don’t know if Richard is going to sell it yet.”
“Of course I will. And if you need anyone to talk to...about that thing you’re going to do...I’ll be more than happy to listen to you.”
Gina smiled. “Thank you, Julia. You’re a good listener. I bet people tell you their problems all the time.”
They did. And I was finding more often th
at their problems were leading to murder.
I hoped this was the last one that I became involved in.
I had a nagging feeling that it wouldn’t be.
About the author
I’ve always loved mystery stories and used to devour Enid Blyton’s Famous Five books when I was young. When I got older I discovered Agatha Christie. Some of her plots can be confusing but her characters are so vivid and full of life, apart from the murdered ones of course. My favourite detective has to be Hercule Poirot as I love the methodical way that he solves mysteries.
I’ve wanted to write murder mysteries for a long time - and now I have!
Julia Blake’s first story ‘Virtually Scared To Death’
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Click here for Amazon UK
Julia Blake’s second story ‘A Deadly Renovation’
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Click here for Amazon UK
To see more of my work, and to connect with me, please visit :
www.gillianlarkin.co.uk
Best wishes
Gillian
A PARTY TO DIE FOR
By
GILLIAN LARKIN
KINDLE EDITION
www.gillianlarkin.co.uk
Published by Gillian Larkin on Kindle
Copyright 2013 by Gillian Larkin
Cover illustration by Vectorstock.com
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, electronically or mechanical without permission from the author.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
A Party To Die For (Julia Blake Cozy Mystery Book 3) Page 3
