Chocolate Cake and Chaos (Peridale Cafe Cozy Mystery Book 4)

by Agatha Frost

  “And the wreath?” Julia asked, not wanting to let them forget about it. “Did you find out who ordered that?”

  “I found out about your little visit, but of course, that was before you officially reported it, and before – ya’know – Jim’s death. I got a description of the girl who placed the order, but aside from that, we haven’t been able to identify her yet.”

  “Are you still suspecting that it’s connected?”

  “Honestly? No,” Bradley said as he pushed his plate away and rested a hand on his stomach. “We’re looking into the angle of a random attack. We found Jim’s wallet in the bush where Billy found the phone, and they had taken his cash and cards.”

  “Why ditch the phone?” Julia asked.

  “Phones are traceable,” Barker said. “Usually when there is a mugging, the victim can walk away to tell the tale, so tracing the phone isn’t necessary. When it turns into a murder case, it’s one of the first things the police do, so the murderer is likely to dump the phone the first chance they get.”

  “Did you check the bus station CCTV?” Julia asked.

  “We did,” Bradley said with a nod as he dabbed at his hot, bright red cheeks. “It was dark and raining on and off that night. We’re looking into a couple of suspicious people who were around that area at that time, but again, it’s proving difficult to pin down. This isn’t the first attack of its kind recently though. There have been a spate of muggings and break-ins across the Cotswolds in the last couple of weeks, so we’re looking into those cases to see if we find anything in common.”

  “You won’t find anything,” Julia said firmly, not realising she had spoken the words at the same time she had thought them. “This wasn’t random. Murder doesn't happen on your doorstep for the sake of a mobile phone and a wallet. Surely if they wanted something of value they would have broken into the cottage after killing Jim? Was anything taken, Barker?”

  “Not that I know of.”

  “This wasn’t random,” Julia confirmed. “Somebody wanted to kill Barker, and they hit the wrong man, which means Barker’s life is still at risk.”

  “Has anybody threatened your life since, boss?” Bradley asked, turning to Barker.

  “No,” Barker said uneasily. “Not yet.”

  “Then there’s no reason to suspect they will, right?” Bradley replied, nodding resolutely. “We’re looking into many interesting lines of inquiry, so I’m sure we’ll crack the case in no time!”

  It took everything in Julia’s power not to sigh with exasperation. Bradley seemed like a lovely man, and she was sure in any other circumstance she would enjoy his company, but in the capacity of acting Detective Inspector, she found him infuriating. He felt more like a comedy character plucked from a detective show, than a man capable of solving a real murder case.

  When the conversation turned to football and beer, Julia knew Bradley had told them everything he knew. She had expected to hear some grand revelation, but she was left hungry for more information, and also full from too much meat and potato pie. She wasn’t surprised Billy’s alibi had fallen through, nor was she surprised Jeffrey was in the area, but Bradley was right about the evidence so far being purely circumstantial. Until she discovered a real clue, it was going to be difficult to prove if either man was truly involved in the murder.

  She finished her orange juice and excused herself. She thanked Bradley for the invite, and he stood up, knocking the table with his stomach once more. Barker walked her to the front door, his hand on the small of her back.

  “He’s better at his job than he comes across,” Barker whispered to her, having sensed her apparent reservations of his abilities. “You just need to get to know him. He’s one of the better ones we have. It just takes him a little longer to funnel his energy. He’ll get there.”

  “I’m sure he will,” Julia said, forcing a smile. “Go and finish your pint. I need to get back to work anyway.”

  “I’m going to ask if he’s heard anything about my job,” Barker said after kissing her on the cheek. “I feel like I should have heard something after Jim.”

  “I’m sure it will be any day now,” she said as encouragingly as she could. “Will I see you at my cottage tonight?”

  “Only if I’m invited.”

  “You’re always invited,” Julia leant in and kissed him on the lips. “See you later.”

  Barker winked at her and walked back to the table. Julia stepped out into the daylight, shielding her eyes from the bright sun. She dusted a little flour off her apron as she walked past a group of tourists drinking beer at one of the outside tables. She smiled at them before heading to the edge of the road. Traffic in Peridale was usually quiet, but she looked both ways as she always did. When she looked in the direction of the B&B, she saw a familiar shade of red moving amongst the tall flowers in Evelyn’s garden. If it hadn’t been for the CCTV footage she had just seen, she might not have thought anything of it, but she had Billy Matthews fresh on her mind.

  Julia crossed the road so that she was opposite the B&B, not wanting to arouse suspicion. She walked past the police station, smiling to a young constable she recognised from around the village. When the constable jumped into a police car and pulled out of the small station car park, she took her opportunity to cross the road without being seen.

  Ducking under the B&B wall, she peered over the ‘NO VACANCIES SIGN’ to see Billy creeping around the side of the cottage, glancing over his shoulder as he did. Julia followed him around the building, staying as low to the ground as she could, but sure that her curls were darting up and down; she just hoped the flowers were enough to hide them.

  Luckily for Julia, the cottage was on the street corner so she could see directly into its entire garden. She saw Billy knock on the backdoor as he skittishly made sure nobody was watching him. He looked in Julia’s direction, forcing her to duck out of view. She heard the door open, but she didn’t dare look.

  As it turned out, she didn’t need to see the person on the other side of the door to know who it was. In the peace and quiet of the sleepy village afternoon, she heard a very clear voice say something very familiar.

  “I foresaw you would come, Billy,” she heard Evelyn say. “Come in. Did anybody see you?”

  The door closed, stopping Julia from hearing the rest of the conversation, not that she needed to. She tried to think of an innocent reason Billy would be visiting Evelyn, but he didn’t seem like the type of person who would enjoy a cup of Moroccan tea and a tarot reading. Julia didn’t want to think Evelyn was capable of anything other than friendly conversation, but her mind was taking her to dark places.

  Before she could dwell on them any longer, somebody tapped on her shoulder, causing her to jump up. She was relieved to see it was just her gran, who was wearing her brightest neon workout clothes yet.

  “Dare I ask what you are doing?” Dot asked as she marched on the spot, looking at the ground where Julia had been.

  “Tying my shoelaces,” Julia said quickly, glancing to the cottage and hoping that nobody was looking out of the windows. “Must dash. Need to get back to the café.”

  Julia kissed her gran on the cheek as she hurried down the road and back to her café. She kept her head down, unsure of who she was hiding from, but feeling like she needed to. It wasn’t until she was walking through her café that she noticed her ballerina flats didn’t even have laces.

  “You took your time,” Jessie said as she juggled making an espresso and a cup of tea. “Where have you been?”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Julia whispered, taking over the making of the espresso. “But I think Evelyn is connected to this mess revolving around Barker, I just don’t know how.”

  Chapter 9

  The morning of Jim’s funeral came around quicker than Julia would have liked. She had hoped she would have landed on something vital to crack the case so she could look Jim’s family in the eye without being consumed with guilt, but luck had evaded her.

  She had kept o
ne eye firmly trained on Evelyn and another on Jeffrey, and despite neither of them appearing to slip up, it had been easier than she had expected to play spy. Evelyn had been visiting her café every day for tea and a scone. At first, Julia had suspected Evelyn had known about her over-the-wall peeking, but if she did know, she was a better actress than Julia had thought. Jeffrey, on the other hand, had been popping up in people’s gardens all over the village, no doubt thanks to Dot’s glowing recommendation and the juicy titbit about his criminal past. The sound of lawn mowers had been echoing around the village so much, Julia had wondered if she had developed tinnitus on more than one occasion.

  She assessed herself in the mirror and attempted to brush Mowgli’s cat hairs off her black dress for the fourth time. She picked up her mother’s pearls, the only jewellery she had inherited after her death, and held them up to her neck. Squinting, she stepped back, deciding about the jewellery.

  “Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?” Jessie asked, appearing in the mirror behind Julia.

  “You stay home and enjoy your day off,” Julia said as she turned to brush cat hairs off her backside. “You’ve earned it this week covering for me.”

  “I don’t mind,” Jessie said with a shrug as she sat on the edge of the bed. “I’ve enjoyed it. If you dropped dead tomorrow, I think I could slip into your shoes, although not those shoes. I don’t do heels.”

  Julia looked down at the black heels, wondering if they were too much. She could hear her sister’s voice in the back of her mind telling her they were the only shoes that would go with the dress, even if they did make her calves burn on the few occasions she had worn them.

  “Are they inappropriate?” Julia asked as she wobbled on her six-inch stilts. “They’re not me, are they?”

  “Yes and no,” Jessie said, rolling onto the bed to stroke Mowgli, who was curled on top of Julia’s pillow. “But who cares? Did you even know the guy?”

  “Not really,” Julia said. “I knew him as Barker’s boss. I only saw him a couple of times, but I want to be there to support Barker. We did find the body as well. I feel like I need to pay my respects to his family.”

  “Speaking of Barker, he’s in the living room.”

  “How long has he been here?”

  “Ten minutes?” Jessie muttered, more interested in Mowgli. “Maybe half an hour.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “You told me to enjoy my relaxing Sunday.”

  Julia left Jessie stroking the cat and hurried through to the sitting room, where Barker was fiddling with his tie in the mirror above the fireplace. Julia stepped in front of him and pushed his hands down. She unwrapped the tie and started again, carefully wrapping and looping the fabric. When she was satisfied, she brushed lint off Barker’s jacket and kissed him on the cheek.

  “I did my father’s tie on the morning of my mother’s funeral,” Julia said as she stood behind him and met his eyes in the mirror. “I was only twelve. That was my first funeral.”

  “I guess I was lucky. My first one wasn’t until I was thirty.”

  “Somebody close?”

  Barker suddenly looked away and started fiddling with his cufflinks. Just when she thought he might answer her question, he walked towards the window and stared up at the sky.

  “Looks like it’s going to rain,” he mumbled.

  If it weren’t for today’s funeral, Julia might have pushed it. It hadn’t gone unnoticed to her that his first funeral when he was thirty must have been around the same time as Jeffrey's sentencing. She wondered if this was the tragic event from his past that he had hinted at. He had said it was a story for another day, but it was obvious today wasn’t that day.

  Julia had attended her fair share of funerals at St. Peter's Church, but never one as busy as Jim Austen's. By the time they arrived, which was still twenty minutes early, the church grounds were fully packed. If Julia had to guess, she would say there were over one hundred people there, a lot of whom were in official police uniform. She had encouraged Barker to wear his uniform, but he had thought it would be insensitive considering his current job status, so he opted for a simple black suit, which he still looked handsome in, but didn’t quite feel right for his Chief Inspector’s funeral.

  When the hearse pulled slowly into the village and circled the green, followed by two black cars, all of the uniformed officers removed their hats and bowed their heads. She spotted Bradley wiping under his eyes with a tissue. She looked to Barker and was surprised when she saw him crying too. She pulled her handkerchief from her bag and discreetly pushed it into his hand.

  “Great man,” Barker said firmly as he dabbed at his eyes. “Great man.”

  Julia looped her fingers through his and squeezed as tightly as she could. He squeezed back to let her know that he appreciated her being there. She had done the same for her father on the day of her mother’s funeral in the very same church over two decades ago. Her father hadn’t squeezed back.

  When the hearse pulled up outside of the church, a group of uniformed men stepped out of the second car and put the coffin on their shoulders. Julia felt a lump rise in her throat when she noticed the police hat on top. A group of weeping mourners got out of the first car, Julia’s eyes instantly landing on a grey-haired woman who was sobbing silently into a silk handkerchief. She guessed this was Jim’s wife, Pauline, and the young pregnant woman who was comforting her was their daughter, carrying their first grandchild. She looked away, her mind jumping back to that night they had found his body. When she looked back, she was sure she caught the woman scowling in their direction.

  The service was a long one, detailing every achievement of Jim’s long police career, as well as his large family, and his many hobbies. Julia learned that he had three children, who she could see standing next to their mother at the front of the church. He had started out in the police force as a cleaner and had been inspired to join when he met his wife, who was a constable at the time. He also enjoyed fishing and Italian cooking. It had been easier for Julia to cope not knowing much about the man she had discovered dead, but the reality of the situation was hitting her, and she was even more determined to uncover the truth.

  When the priest delivered his final words, the curtains around the coffin closed and John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ played through the crackly speakers. Julia and Barker were two of the first to leave the church, having stayed at the back. Julia had told Barker to join his colleagues at the front, but he had insisted on staying where he was.

  “Boss,” a young constable said to Barker with a nod of her hat. “Good to see you.”

  “You too, Sarah.”

  “Shame it’s not under better circumstances,” she said, taking off her hat and holding it against her chest. “Jim would be proud of the turnout.”

  “He was a popular man,” Barker said. “And a good friend.”

  “That he was,” Sarah said, resting her hand on Barker’s arm. “See you at the wake?”

  “I don’t think so,” Barker said with a small shake of his head. “Not my scene.”

  “Mine neither, but I think Pauline needs all of the support she can get right now. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow?”

  Sarah narrowed her eyes and stared at Barker, appearing unsure of what to say. She waited for him to figure out what she was talking about, but when he didn’t, she lifted a hand to her mouth and blinked slowly.

  “Nobody has told you, have they?” She whispered, looking over her shoulder at her fellow officers as they filed slowly out of the church. “You didn’t hear this from me, okay?”

  “Hear what?” Barker asked, glancing to Julia, puzzlement evident on his face.

  “On the night Jim was murdered he was coming to tell you about your investigatory meeting, which is happening tomorrow. I’m surprised nobody has told you.”

  Barker gritted his jaw and flared his nostrils as he looked into the faces of his colleagues as they passed him without paying him
attention.

  “Me too,” he replied sternly. “Thank you, Sarah. Your name won’t be brought up.”

  She thanked him with a smile and walked away, leaving Barker and Julia to retreat to the shade of the large oak tree. Julia tried to think of something reassuring or positive to say, but she knew nothing would make a difference.

  “What is an investigatory meeting?” Julia asked after a moment’s silence.

  “It’s bad news,” Barker said, a shake in his voice. “It means they’ve reviewed all of the evidence and they want to hear my side of the story.”

  “Isn’t that a good thing?”

  “It doesn’t usually get to this unless they’ve found something they don’t like,” he said, looking darkly into her eyes. “I never thought it would get this far. I’ve never heard of one of these things going well.”

  “Surely if you can explain what happened, everything will be okay?”

  “I have to plead for my life in front of the Chief Superintendent and whoever has replaced Jim as Chief Inspector, as well as the men in suits from the Independent Police Complaints Commission.”

  “This is all my fault,” she mumbled under her breath. “Barker, I’m so – I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s not your fault,” he said, cupping her cheek in his palm. “Whatever happens, I’ll get through this.”