by Agatha Frost
Many would have rushed forward knowing what Julia knew, but she hung back until she heard the roar of Alfie's motorbike making its way up the winding lane. The hooded figure turned around to face the bright headlights as Alfie pulled up only metres away from Julia. Luckily for her, she was well hidden in the shadows, and Alfie was too preoccupied with his cobbled-together plan.
"You came," Alfie said as he unclipped the gate and walked towards the shadowy figure. "Did you get me some money?"
"Do you think this is a game?" they hissed in reply. "You can't just expect me to pull up money because you asked for it. I'm broke, Alfie! I don't have a penny to my name, and I don't think for a minute you'll tell the police about what you saw. You know as well as I do that it doesn't mean anything."
"Do I?" Alfie replied abruptly. "I'm not playing around either. I'm doing the right thing for once. I need something to get away, so I can start a new life for my sister and me. You must have something."
"Do you want to check my pockets?" they cried. "Here! Have my watch. What about my ring?" They tossed the items onto the ground. "Does this make you feel big to blackmail someone when they're at rock bottom? I have nothing to give you!"
Alfie scooped up the ring and the watch, pocketing them after checking them over. He seemed satisfied, but he did not immediately head back to his motorbike.
"I need cash too," Alfie said. "I won't be able to pawn these until the morning. You must have something."
"Don't push it, Alfie," they cried, their finger extending. "I like you, but don't push me. You don't know what I'm capable of."
Julia stepped from her hiding place and slipped through the open gate. Neither of them noticed her creep towards them, both preoccupied with staring the other down.
"He might not know what you're capable of," Julia started, her voice loud and clear, "but I do, Mikey."
The architect ripped back his hood, his platinum blond buzz cut shining ethereally in the darkness. He squinted at Julia as the rain intensified and dribbled down his face.
"What is this?" Mikey cried, looking at Alfie. "Double teaming? I thought better of you, Julia. I thought you were nice. You know I'm broke. I told you everything."
"Yes, you did," Julia said with a nod as she considered her approach. "I just needed a few more pieces to see the bigger picture. After you told me about your heartbreak with your ex-husband, I urged you to not give up on love, but you told me you’d found someone and that it had ended. I didn't realise you meant you'd ended Shane's life."
Alfie glanced down at Julia, looking as uncomfortable as Mikey did, but from the lack of shock in his gaze, she knew he had figured it out too.
"You hear about people so unable to accept their true selves that they resent the very thing that makes them unique," Julia continued as the rain soaked through her coat. "I can't imagine it was easy for Shane coming to terms with being gay, which explains why he lashed out and called people 'queer' every chance he got. It was a defence mechanism. He was saying 'look over there because there's nothing to see here', but you saw everything, didn't you, Alfie? That's why we're here tonight. The day I was at the B&B delivering a cake for Evelyn, you walked in on Shane and Mikey in bed together, and your boss was so horrified that his secret might get out, he didn't even bother putting clothes on before threatening you. If only the door had been a little more open, I might have seen you, Mikey, and you might not have had to kill Harriet too. Of course, this is only a theory, but neither of you are jumping in to tell me how wrong I've got things."
"I - I - I -" Mikey stuttered. "You're -"
"Right," Alfie jumped in. "She's right. That's exactly what I saw, but I didn't say anything because I didn't want to believe you were involved in his death. I thought you knew already, Julia. When we talked in the pub before I saw your locket, I thought you were talking about Mikey and Shane, but you must have been talking about his divorce. When you asked me again in the hall at your cottage yesterday, I realised you didn't know after all, and that's when I realised I still had a bargaining chip if I needed to use it. The police didn't want to talk to you, so I left it alone."
"Until you realised you could use it to get something you wanted," Julia said with a sigh. "Two wrongs don't make a right, Alfie, but I understand where you're coming from. I even understand where you're coming from, Mikey. It couldn't have been easy to be rejected like that, which is why you killed Shane?"
"What do you know?" Mikey snapped before spitting at Julia's feet. "You're just a little café owner."
"I know that your divorce broke you and that you were looking for love wherever you could find it," Julia continued. "You told me very early on that you'd worked with Shane on many projects before. If Shane was really as hateful as he came across, I doubt someone like you would keep him around, even if he was the best builder in the world. I just didn't see it at first because it was the furthest thing from my mind, but when I saw the flowers again - the flowers Shane bought for you as an apology - everything clicked. Where did Shane spend Valentine's Day, Mikey?"
The question caused Mikey's sharp jawline to tighten.
"With her," Mikey snarled. "With that woman. Candy marked him the second she saw him. I tried to tell her to stay away, but she didn't listen. I loved Shane, and she just wanted a new plaything. The only reason I even agreed to come to Peridale before the build started was to be in the same place as Shane for Valentine's Day. We'd been seeing each other for almost a year. It was going to be the first holiday we'd spent together, but he spent it with her."
"And that's why he sent you the flowers," Julia jumped back in. "The card said 'I'm sorry. I love you'. I assumed the card had been written by someone apologising for killing Shane, but I was wrong there. I saw the flowers right where we're standing now. You left them right where you killed him."
"I didn't leave them here," Mikey scoffed with a shake of his head. "I threw them over the garden wall in a fit of rage. I spent a whole year trying to get him to accept himself, so we could be open and live our lives, but he wouldn't be a man and admit who he really was. He ran back to women like he was proving something to himself. He broke my heart over and over, and I let him because I wanted my second shot at happiness. I thought if I gave him enough time, he'd come around but -"
"You realised he'd never come around," Julia said, her heart aching for Mikey. "He might have apologised with the flowers and professed his love, but he saw her again, didn't he? In fact, I know he did. After he ran out on you in the B&B, he met up with Candy the night you killed him."
"When he'd finished with her, he called me crying, admitting his love again," Mikey said, his tone mocking. "I was tired of it! I couldn't do it anymore! I wanted to be happy, not to keep living behind lies. I just wanted the happy ending that I deserved. He begged me to meet up with him, but I didn't want to go. If he hadn't cried over the phone, he might still be alive, but it broke my heart to hear him sobbing my name, so I met him. We went for a burger out of the village, and then we came here to talk away from prying eyes. It was going well at first, but I gave him an ultimatum. I told him he'd have to end things with Candy for good and out our relationship to the world. I wanted him to do it the next day at the building site. He laughed in my face. He told me I was crazy, and that it was never going to happen. He said I was his little secret, and that's how it was going to stay. I felt so cheap and dirty. I realised nothing I could do or say would change him. So - so I - so I -"
"Picked up the nearest brick and hit him," Alfie whispered, the words heavy. "Oh, Mikey. I thought you were one of the good ones."
"I didn't mean to kill him!" Mikey cried, tears collecting across his thick lash line. "I just wanted to hurt him, but there was so much blood. I panicked, and I ran, and I kept quiet. I thought if I got on with my work and I kept my head down, it would go away, but Candy was relentless. She kept picking and picking at me, and it drove me insane. It's like she knew what had happened. She didn't even seem upset about his death. He was just her toy
. I loved him. I never wanted to kill him."
"But, you did want to murder Harriet," Julia said, her heart heavy. "She was my friend, and you stabbed her in the neck. I visited her about the flowers you left. She claimed not to know who had left them, but I think I put a bug in her mind. That's what Harriet was like. Did she figure it out?"
"She called me when I was at the pub with you," Mikey continued, his eyes glazing over as he stared through Julia. "I ran to the bathroom to throw up, and an unknown number called. I thought it might be one of the suppliers, so I answered. When I realised who it was, I thought she must have seen the flowers. They were only here for about an hour. I came right back and got rid of them, but you must have seen them first. If you hadn't gone to her, she wouldn't have figured it out. Shane went to the shop and bought the flowers with cash. I doubt she knew who he was then, but I suppose him manhandling her at the demolition a week later shook the memory loose. Shane didn't want to be seen with the flowers, so he paid her to deliver them. He gave my number as the contact. She delivered them to me at the B&B. When she called me, she said 'you're the architect'. I guess my voice gave it away. It's not like I sound like most other men, is it? She told me to meet her at her shop, so I went to see what she knew. She had most of the pieces, and I knew she'd figure it out soon enough, so I did what I had to."
"You stabbed her in the neck with her gardening scissors?" Julia whispered as she pushed her wet hair from her face. "You didn't need to do that. I can understand your motive for killing Shane, but Harriet deserved better."
"I fell in too deep," Mikey cried, the rain on his cheeks looking like tears. "I couldn't stop it. I've come too far to go to prison for this. I won't last two minutes. You can't make me."
With that, Mikey burst forward and pushed Julia into Alfie. They both tumbled backwards, falling with a thud on the wet concrete foundation. Julia scrambled to her feet before helping Alfie up, but Mikey was already sprinting away to the back of the plot.
"We should chase him!" Alfie cried. "He killed two people!"
"Just wait," Julia whispered as she shielded her eyes from the rain. "I had a feeling this would happen."
Just like clockwork, Jessie and Barker appeared from the dark bushes at the back of the plot. Mikey ground to a halt, unsure of which way to turn. Jessie advanced first, followed quickly by Barker who overtook her. He dove onto the slender architect, knocking him clean off his feet in what looked like the world’s most unfair game of rugby ever.
"DS Christie?" Julia called out, not needing to look over her shoulder. "I really hope you're waiting with the handcuffs."
The creak of the gate let her know her quickly cobbled together plan had worked flawlessly.
"I hate it when you're right," DS Christie mumbled as he walked past. "Let's get this over with."
"You did an excellent job of creeping up the lane," Julia called after him as she looked at the two police cars parked silently in the dark lane behind them. "Points for keeping the headlights off."
Barker held Mikey securely while DS Christie attached the handcuffs, the rain lashing down around them. As he read Mikey his rights, he dragged him towards the gate where a uniformed officer was waiting to open the door. When Mikey was securely in the back of the car, Julia finally let go of the breath she had been holding.
"Any more funny business like that, and I'll make sure you live to regret it," Julia whispered to Alfie out of the corner of her mouth as Jessie and Barker walked over arm in arm. "Do you understand me, Alfred?"
"Loud and clear, cake lady," he replied. "Jessie was right when she said you could be scary."
Julia grinned at Alfie, and he grinned back. Deep down, she knew she had nothing to worry about.
"That was ace!" Jessie called into the rain, her dark hair stuck to her face. "He went down like a bowling pin! Alright, bro."
"Alright, sis."
"I heard you were going to kidnap me."
"Something along those lines," Alfie replied uneasily. "I had a mad moment."
"It's cool," Jessie replied, nudging him with her arm. "You'll get used to those in this family. Have you met Dot yet?"
Jessie looped her arm through Alfie's, and they set off towards the gate, chatting into the rain as though they had never been separated a single day in their lives.
"What happens now?" Barker asked, shielding his eyes as the police car sped back down the lane. "I'm not used to being on this side of the law."
"There's only one thing to do," Julia said, wrapping her hand around Barker's before following Jessie and Alfie towards the gate. "We go home and have hot chocolate and a cupcake."
15
Work on the building site ceased the next day with Candy officially ending the project. No one was sure if it was because her architect had been charged on two counts of murder or because she was about to start a costly divorce, but no one seemed especially sad about the news.
Harold checked out of the B&B before breakfast, skipping his complimentary tarot reading. He did not stop by the manor nor did he leave a forwarding address. Julia hoped wherever he had gone that he would carve a new life for himself like she had once had to do.
Candy, who was still hiding at the manor, had yet to show her face in the village. Word of her involvement with Shane had spread like wildfire, not just around Peridale, but across the internet too. Pictures of her throwing Harold's clothes out of the window had been uploaded next to headlines featuring words such as 'psychotic', 'washed-up', 'bitter', and 'irrelevant'. Even if she decided to stay in Peridale, the shine had definitely dulled on her star, and Julia suspected it would not be long before her father and Katie gave her an official marching order. A small part of Julia knew that Candy would love the attention.
Just like after any significant event in the village, Julia's café became the central point of gossip for all who wanted to indulge. Dot held court, recounting her discovery of the body, and Julia's final confrontation with Mikey. Both stories had been heavily embellished, but Julia quite liked the part in Dot's story where Julia fought off Mikey with expert karate moves not seen since Bruce Lee himself.
When the café finally quietened down, Billy walked in with his tail between his legs. To Julia's delight, their awkward argument at dinner was already a distant memory for Jessie.
"Before you try to apologise, don't," Jessie demanded before pecking Billy on the cheek. "I get it, okay? Turns out you were sort of right. I've got some cupcake deliveries if you want to help out? Not quite what you were on at the building site, but it pays."
"Sure, babe," Billy said with a relieved smile. "But I doubt I'll see any of that money. They never paid me a penny."
"Leave it to me," Julia assured him. "I'll have a word with Candy myself. I'm sure she doesn't want the press to hear about how I was witness to her tax avoidance cash-in-hand employment scheme. You'll get your money."
Now that he was officially back at work, Barker walked into the café dressed once more in one of his usual suits. Julia pushed forward the slice of chocolate cake she had already cut for him and got to work making his Americano with an extra shot.
"Hectic day," Barker said as he sat down in the seat across from Dot. "Murder cases bring out the worst in everyone. I picked a bad day to go back."
"Well, if your book takes off, you won't have to slog it out for much longer," Dot announced before pouring herself another cup of tea from her pot. "You'll both be living in the lap of luxury. Don't forget who your first fan was when you're a millionaire."
"You're a fan of my book?" Barker asked sceptically. "I didn't know you'd read it."
"Well, I haven't," Dot replied as she pushed her curls up. "Not technically. It's not even out yet, but Julia gave me the highlights, and it didn't sound entirely awful. I'm waiting for the book-on-tape version. I don't have the attention span for reading these days. I'm much more a woman of the spoken word."
"Especially when it comes to gossip," Julia said as she passed Barker his coffee. "Do you know w
hen Harriet's funeral is?"
"This Tuesday," Dot exclaimed as though it had slipped her mind. "I wonder who'll do the flowers for it?"
Julia and Barker both gave her the exact same look before they both rolled their eyes.
"Well, I'm only saying what everyone is thinking!" Dot cried. "We're without a florist now. Give it another couple of years, and Peridale will be like every other town in this country. Every shop will either be selling pasties, phones, or things for a pound. Mark my words, Julia! Gentrification is coming, and we must stop it!"
"For once, Gran, I might agree with you," Julia said as she thought about the cold, metal structure that was even more unsightly than Barker's half-destroyed cottage. "I like our little village just the way it is, and next time another actress rolls around, I might sign that petition."
Jessie pushed Billy through the pink beads, a stack of white boxes covering his face. He made his way awkwardly around the counter as Jessie thrust him forward.
"Say it back to me!" Jessie exclaimed. "I want it perfect this time."
"Angel cakes for Malcolm," Billy mumbled from behind the boxes. "And custard slices for Amy?"
"No!" Jessie cried. "C'mon, Billy. You're almost as bad as Julia, and she's -"
Before Jessie could finish her sentence, the bell above the café jingled, and Alfie stepped in, wearing the same biker outfit he had worn the day he first arrived in Peridale. His bike was parked exactly where it had been, his large bag strapped to the back of it.
"Evelyn let me check out a little later," Alfie said sheepishly as he looked around the café. "I guess that makes me homeless."
"Does that mean you're leaving?" Jessie asked, her eyes on the bike outside. "Where will you go?"
Alfie looked back at his bike and then at Jessie before turning to Julia; she could sense what was coming next.
"Actually, sis, I was going to ask if I could crash on your floor until I get on my feet?" he asked, his smile wide but his voice faltering. "I hate to ask, but I wasn't expecting this job to get cut short so quickly, and I only got paid for the first week, so -"
