Paper Crafts Club Mystery Box Set Book 1-3

by Emily Selby

  'When you finished talking, you went to your car. Where was it parked?'

  'By the church hall.'

  'What did Mr Livermore do?'

  'I'm not sure. I didn't look. I think he walked towards the community centre. That's on the other side of the car park. I couldn't see him from where I was.'

  'Did you see anyone else around the place?'

  'There were still a few cars in the car park, if I remember correctly, but I don't think I saw anyone walking. It started to rain a little.'

  'Did you see or hear anything unusual when you were sitting in your car?'

  'No, I don't think so.'

  'Is there anything else about that meeting, the place or what happen last night you think might be relevant?'

  'No.'

  Jack closed his notebook. A deep line appeared on his forehead.

  'Thank you, Mrs Gibson. One more question. When was the last time you saw your husband?'

  Olivia gulped.

  'I think it was during the fete. He came to our booth to ask how we were doing. I can't remember the exact time as we were so busy.' Olivia glanced at Michelle. 'Do you remember?'

  'Just before lunch. He asked if we wanted any food.'

  'And your call to your husband, it was when?'

  'I can't remember.'

  'Surely you can check it on your mobile phone.'

  'Well, I could I suppose,' she replied in the same wooden voice and sat immobile, glaring at the table. The atmosphere was tense. Katie rolled her shoulders back. Her muscles were beginning to ache. This was a very uncomfortable conversation and she had a hunch that Olivia wasn't telling the whole truth. Katie nudged Olivia.

  'Your phone... Do you want me to fetch it?'

  'Oh,' Olivia shuddered back to life. 'Sorry. It's on the kitchen counter.'

  Katie jumped to her feet, grabbed the phone and passed it to Olivia. She fumbled with it for a while.

  'I can't find it,' she said eventually. 'I think he might have done it on FaceTime, but for whatever reason it's not showing here.

  She dropped the phone on the table. Katie flinched. The knot between her shoulder blades tightened. She could do with a massage. Or at least a heat pack.

  Jack pushed himself to his feet.

  'Thank you very much Mrs Gibson. I'd need all of your husband's contact details, his FaceTime ID, social media accounts, everything you can think of.' He passed her a piece of paper and his pen. She wrote on it and handed it back to her. 'And could you please let us know if you hear from him?'

  Olivia nodded. Jack crossed to the door. Katie followed him to hallway. She opened the door and they stepped outside the house.

  'I think she's lying,' Katie said quietly, holding the door. 'Or not telling the full story.'

  'Evidence?' He asked her with a hint of urgency in his voice.

  Katie straightened her back. She’d had time to think it through.

  'Remember what Michelle said about the call? Olivia was surprised Alex had brought the USB. Now, she's saying she rang him, asking for it.'

  He pursed his lips and nodded.

  'Yes, I've noticed. But then, it may be just a memory slip. Anything else?'

  'She mentioned she'd received a text message from Alex but didn't tell you about it. Apparently, it disappeared.'

  Jack nodded again.

  'Yeah... There are some holes in her story. I've got to go now. Are you in tomorrow morning? I'd like to talk to you about the Gibsons. Please let me know if you find out anything.'

  'No problem, Jack. I'm happy to help.'

  She watched him walk back to his car. She was more than happy to help find the murderer, and she was also more than happy for an excuse to work alongside Jack. Even though she kept pushing the second reason out of her mind.

  She returned to the house and bumped into Michelle, whose face was ash-white.

  'Can you take me to the police station, Katie?'

  Katie blinked.

  'What for?'

  'I've got an interview with that detective of yours.'

  Katie opened her mouth to protest that Jack Heaton was not 'hers' but managed to swallow the comment.

  'Another one? What about?'

  'The murder, of course. He's asked me to be at the station at 10 am. We've only got a few minutes, we have to hurry up.'

  Katie buttoned up her jacket. She hardly recognised her friend... But at least, there was someone else who felt Michelle's behaviour needed further investigation.

  'Olivia,' Katie called, 'we've got to go. Give me a ring if you need anything.'

  Olivia appeared in the kitchen door. Her face was even redder than before.

  'That's fine. You go, girls. Thanks for stopping by.'

  Katie and Michelle rushed from the house.

  8

  Once in the car, Katie rushed to talk to Michelle.

  'What's that all about?'

  'No idea,' Michelle replied, keeping her eyes averted. Katie’s stomach clenched. Why was her friend lying to her? It really hurt. She wanted to shout at Michelle and shake her up.

  'Michelle,' she said, controlling her voice. 'I don't like it at all. You're hiding something from me. What is it?'

  Michelle turned her head to face Katie. A tear rolled down her cheek.

  'I'm sorry Katie,' she said, her voice trembling. 'I haven't told you the whole truth about my meeting with Jeff, but honestly I have no idea what the inspector wants me to talk about. This whole case is driving me nuts. I promise to tell you all about the interview after it's finished.'

  Katie hesitated. A large brick formed in the pit of her stomach and was growing. The pain in her back intensified. On one hand she wanted to trust her friend. On the other hand, over the past couple of months she had to learn that people were not always who they appeared to be. Even people she thought she knew quite well. She hoped Michelle was right.

  'Okay, thanks,' she said slowly.

  They travelled the rest of the way to the station in silence.

  When Michelle disappeared through the double glass door, Katie took a notebook from her handbag. She had used the same notebook previously to jot down her thoughts during the previous cases. It would come in handy for this investigation as well. She opened it to the first available page.

  "Jeff Livermore's murder - Timeline". She wrote at the top of the page.

  7.00 - fete finishes for the day.

  7.10 - church hall locked from the inside. Clearing begins.

  7.15 - 7.30 – Olivia meets Jeff in the car park.

  7.25 - 7.30– Katie, Linda and Ally leave the storage room.

  7.40 – Katie arrives at Michelle's place and goes upstairs. Presumably, Michelle leaves to meet Jeff.

  7.50 - 8.00 – Michelle sits in her car by the community centre. At some point, Jeff sends Michelle a message he can't meet with her (no exact time given).

  8.00 - 8.05 – Michelle walks around the building and meets Alex.

  8.05 – 8.10 – Michelle returns home.

  8.15 – Olivia arrives.

  8.40 - 8.45 – Olivia leaves.

  9.20 - 9.25 – Katie leaves.

  9.30 - 9.35 – Katie arrives at the community centre.

  9. 36 – Katie discovers the body, makes the emergency call.

  Apart from the final entry the timings were approximate. She could only retrieve the time of her call to the emergency services.

  According to what Jack told her when he discovered the body, Jeff Livermore had been shot less than an hour but more than 30 minutes before she discovered his body. This would make the approximate time of death between 8.35 and 9.00 pm. Which also meant Michelle couldn't have murdered him. At that time, Katie was at home with her, Kevin and the girls. Katie blew out a long, slow breath. The pain between her shoulder blades eased.

  But who could have shot him?

  She turned the page and printed at the top:

  "Suspects"

  She underlined the word and stopped. Olivia definitely behaved in a s
uspicious way. She hid information from the police. Maybe she was protecting her husband? It would make sense. Olivia struck Katie as somewhat infatuated with her husband. Fair enough, they hadn't been married too long - just over a year. Their relationship was probably still in the honeymoon phase. From what Katie had heard, Olivia and Alex hadn’t known each other long before they got married. Neither of them was a local, so the usual sources of intelligence wouldn't work. If she was going to help Jack crack the Gibsons, she'd have to come up with access to information about them.

  Katie ran through a mental list of people she knew, and the only person she could think of was Trish Bollard. Not exactly a friend, more an acquaintance from the Paper Crafts Club, but at least she was someone with a connection to Olivia and her disappearing husband. Trish's long-term boyfriend, Rob Heron was Alex Gibson's friend, and Katie was sure she’d seen Trish and Olivia hanging out together in town.

  It was the time to meet with Trish for a coffee and a little chat. She just had to come up with the right excuse. Before she could change her mind, Katie took out her phone and typed,

  'Hi Trish. Need to talk to you about something. Can we meet?'

  Michelle emerged from the police station just as Katie sent off the confirmation message to Trish.

  'See you at lunchtime in the Royal Oak.'

  Michelle was fuming. She slid into the car and slammed the door.

  'He's full of himself, this one,' she said pulling her hair back. 'Oh, I just feel like strangling him. Nosy one. Raking up old stories...'

  Katie's heart accelerated - Michelle wasn't someone who got angry easily, on the other hand - it was good to see her alive and talking again.

  'I guess you talking about Inspector Heaton,' Katie said in a matter of fact way. Maybe Michelle would stop calling Jack 'the dishy inspector' or otherwise alluding to Katie's interest in him. The more Katie tried to hide her growing attraction for the nerdy but oh-so-good-looking-and-funny policeman, the more Michelle pushed her to admit to it. But Katie was not at all ready for another relationship, and even less, to talk about it.

  'Yeah. How can you even work with him? Nosy Parker! So blunt!'

  'What did he rake up?'

  Michelle glanced at Katie, her hazel eyes throwing little daggers.

  Katie sat for a moment in silence, counting. She was keen to hear what happened, not only because of her curiosity, but also because she wanted to clear her friend of suspicions in her own mind. She wanted Michelle to become that old trustworthy Michelle again.

  'It's his job to be nosey and blunt. He has to find the murderer.'

  'Are you defending him?' Michelle's face softened. 'You like him, don't you?'

  Katie's cheeks burned.

  'This had nothing to do with whether I like him or not. He's a good cop. And this is a murder investigation. So, can you tell me why he annoyed you so much?'

  Michelle waved her hand as if trying to get rid of an annoying fly.

  'He's been through all Jeff's financial records.'

  'How do you know?'

  'Because he asked me about the last money transfer Jeff had made to me.'

  'You told Jack about the loan, didn't you?'

  'I did,' Michelle drawled, 'but the stupid bum, Jeff made a comment on the transfer.'

  'What did he put there?'

  'I can't remember exactly,' Michelle said reluctantly, 'but it was something about paying me so I’d stop blackmailing him.'

  Katie blinked. Whoa!

  'Really?'

  'Yeah. Jeff was that type of guy. Never afraid of telling you what he thought of you, which was usually negative.'

  'Did you explain to Jack the context of it?'

  'Of course I did.'

  'What did he say?'

  Michelle shrugged.

  'What do you think? You know what they're like. They just want you to talk, but never let you know what they think.'

  Katie agreed.

  'Is that all he asked you about?'

  Michelle took a deep breath.

  'You know when I told you I deleted all the messages that I had from Jeff?'

  'Yes. I think you also told Jack about it.'

  'Yeah. Apparently, they were able to recover them all.'

  'Were they?' Katie's heart skipped a beat. Was her friend digging a hole for herself? 'What did they recover?'

  Michelle rubbed her temples with her thumbs.

  'The message that I sent to Jeff that evening.'

  'What did you say?'

  'I treated him to some of his own medicine,' Michelle said. 'I told him to go to hell. I made a comment about him not keeping his promises as well. It was rude. I can't remember my exact words.'

  'Did you make any threats?'

  'No, but I think I might have made a comment that he was the most disgusting person I've ever met.'

  'Did he provoke you?'

  'He did. He made a comment about missing my pretty face and some other parts of my body. It accounts for my reaction, and was the reason I deleted all his messages.'

  Whoa! And another whoa!

  'But the police recovered them all?'

  'I don't know, but I hope so.'

  Katie nodded slowly. She could see why Michelle had such visceral reactions to anything to do with Jeff.

  They sat in the tense silence for a while.

  'I've tried to make a timeline,' Katie said eventually. 'According to what I know you couldn't have killed him. You were at home with me, Kevin and the girls at the time he died.'

  Michelle's face relaxed. A weak smiled appeared on her lips.

  'Thank you, Katie. I'm glad you don't suspect me anymore. Can you tell this to DI Heaton?'

  A pang of guilt hit Katie's chest. Suspecting a friend was one thing but telling her about it was another. Maybe she shouldn't be sharing her suspicious thoughts with her nearest and dearest so openly. She had still so much to learn about the investigation game.

  'Home now?' Katie asked putting her hands on the wheel.

  Michelle massaged her temples once more.

  'Yes please, I think Kev and the girls are starting to get anxious about us now.'

  9

  When Katie arrived at the Royal Oak, the local was full and buzzing with life.

  Sunday lunch.

  She waded through the crowd. Her friend Zuza was behind the bar, smiling and laughing, serving drinks. Katie waved at her. She hadn't spoken to Zuza since Zak's murder. She’d stopped coming to the Paper Crafts Club meetings. Katie heard rumours that Zuza was thinking of leaving the town. After all, now her boyfriend was dead, she didn't really have any ties to Sunnyvale.

  'Katie!' Zuza greeted her, a broad smile lighting her pretty face. She flicked her blonde hair backwards. 'What can I get you?'

  Katie ordered a glass of orange juice for herself and a long black coffee for Trish.

  'We'll be over there in the corner by the window. I'm expecting Trish Bollard.'

  Zuza nodded.

  By the time Katie sat at the table, Trish arrived. Katie waved at her. Trish looked her usual stunning self. Her long brown hair fell in luscious waves. She was wearing well-fitted jeans and a red jacket. A waft of warm, musky perfume filled the air.

  'Hello Katie, how are you?' Trish said, giving Katie one of her broad, sparkling smiles.

  However, the perfectly applied make-up hid puffy eyes and dark circles.

  Trish hasn’t been doing very well?

  Trish, the owner of a local fitness studio, had been a health and wellness fanatic, and she always looked her best. Even though she tended to overdo the fragrance part of her outfit.

  'I'm okay. And you?'

  'Been better than that,' Trish replied. She had a reputation for being honest and direct.

  This was a good opening for Katie’s intended investigation.

  'Any trouble with your fitness studio? I thought it was doing rather well. I've heard people saying your new back strengthening program is great. By the way, I'd love to join it, I'v
e been having some problems lately.' Katie reached up a hand to rub the back of her neck and winced a little, but only a little. She did have some back problems after all. And this was a good excuse to talk to Trish.

  Trish waved a hand, showing off her long, beautifully manicured fingernails.

  How did she manage to maintain this level of nail care while being so active?

  'Oh, you can try some simple exercises at home. Where is the pain?'

  Katie described her recent problems. It wasn't hard as the knot at the back of her neck tightened again.

  'I'm not a back specialist, mind,' she said smoothly, 'but it looks like stress-related to me. I had a good leaflet with some easy exercises but gave them all away.' She paused and wrinkled her perfectly shaped nose. 'I think I might have left one on the board in the crafts room a while ago. I thought the crafters might find it helpful. I don't think anyone would have taken it off, would they? Did you see it?'

  'No. Must have missed that one. I'll get it next time. Thanks.'

  The room would be closed off for a while, but she wasn't in a rush to share this thought with Trish.

  'No problem. My business is doing well. Although I wouldn't mind expanding it a little,' Trish added a hint that Katie could not quite decipher.

  'You know Michelle and Olivia have got into something together. It's related to self-esteem and helping women feel better about themselves. I thought your expertise would add greatly to their business venture,' Katie said smoothly. Her plan was to switch to Olivia as soon as it was possible.

  Trish narrowed her big green eyes.

  'Funny that you should say so,' she said sharply. 'That's exactly what I thought. Unfortunately, neither of the ladies involved was of the same opinion.'

  Katie wriggled under Trisha's piercing glance.

  'I didn't realise. Did you talk to them about it?'

  'Of course I did.' Trish fired back. 'They said they weren't interested at this stage. Fair enough. I don't bulldoze in where I'm not wanted. I wish them very well, though.'

  'Do you think they’ll succeed?' Katie asked gently trying to steer the conversation towards the topic she wanted to broach.

  Trish opened her eyes wider.

  'Is this a real question?'