Sienna’s hand shot out and she grabbed Harry’s shirt. She pulled him close and said, “So it’s true? This whole, disgusting scheme you’ve got going on?”
Harry tried to wriggle free. “I didn’t kill Erin. I swear!”
Julia said, “Sienna, where’s Indigo now?”
“She’s in the Reiki treatment room. She’s with a guest.”
Julia’s vision blurred and her knees buckled. She collapsed on to Mum’s knee. Mum patted her on the head.
Julia pushed herself up. “Gemma! Gemma’s with Indigo!” She ran out of the room and down the hallway. “Gemma! Where are you?”
Chapter 33
Julia slammed her hands on the reception desk - again, and yelled, “Reiki! Where’s the Reiki room?”
The man behind the desk took a step back. “I think you need to calm down, madam. I can book you in for hot stone massage, it’s extremely relaxing.”
“It’s down this way,” Sienna called out from behind her. Sienna had one arm around Mum’s shoulder, and one arm around Harry’s neck as she marched past the reception desk.
They walked along a hallway and came to a stop outside a room. Julia tried the handle. “It’s locked.”
“Damn! I haven’t got my keys with me. Let me throw this piece of scum at the door.” Sienna pushed Harry Lewis at the locked door. He thudded into it and slumped to the floor. Sienna dragged him to his feet. “You’re useless. Let me try again.”
Julia ignored the crazed look in Sienna’s eyes and was glad she wasn’t on the wrong side of her. Julia spotted the store cupboard and raced towards it. She flung open the door, grabbed the cleaning trolley and raced with it towards the locked door.
“Move out of the way!” Julia shouted. She thrust the trolley at the door and heard the splintering noise of breaking wood. The door swung open. Julia froze at the scene in front of her.
Gemma was laying on a therapy table and Indigo was sitting on a chair at the top end of the table. Candles flickered in the dim room and gentle music tinkled out. Everything seemed calm.
The only thing wrong was the way Indigo had her hands around Gemma’s neck. There was nothing calm about that, or the way that Gemma was gasping for breath.
Julia roared and shot forward with the trolley. She ran into Indigo and knocked her from her seat. Indigo screamed and fell on to her back. Julia pushed the trolley closer and pinned her underneath it.
Indigo yelled, “Get off! What are you doing? It was self-defence. That woman was trying to kill me. She killed Erin. The police found a letter in her room.”
Julia looked down at her. “You can stop lying now. We know what you and Harry have been up to. And I know you killed Erin. It was you who got the letter from Erin, wasn’t it? She found out what you were up to. And it was you who planted it in Gemma’s room.”
Indigo tried to push the trolley away but Julia’s anger made her stronger and she didn’t let the trolley move.
Julia felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Gemma. In a hoarse voice, she said, “Julia. It was Indigo. She bragged about it before she tried to kill me.”
“Are you alright?” Julia asked.
Gemma rubbed her neck. “I will be. Thank you for rescuing me.”
A loud voice boomed out, “What sort of treatment is this? What’s going on in here? Ms Blake, is that a person you’ve got trapped under your trolley?”
“It is, DI Thostlewaite. It’s the person who killed Erin.”
The inspector made his way over to Julia and prised her hands from the trolley. “Okay. You can let go now. I’ll take over.”
“But I need to tell you everything. I need to tell you about Harry and his magic water.”
DI Thostlewaite gave her a kind smile. “You can tell me later. Someone needs you.” He indicated his head towards the door.
Mum was waving at Julia. “Hello. When did you get here? I’ve got a treatment soon with Indigo. Or was it with Harry? I can’t remember.”
Julia’s eyes filled with tears. What had those evil people done to her mum?
Chapter 34
“There, my love, is that blanket alright for you? Do you need another cushion? Another cup of tea?”
Mum shooed Dad’s hand away. “Ray, I’m fine. You can stop making a fuss of me now. The police have already told you what was in that water and tea. It’s all out of my system now, and there won’t be any permanent damage. I’m just glad to be home.”
Dad smiled. “I’m glad you’re home. Both of you.” He looked over at Julia who was sitting next to Mum on the couch. She was swaddled in a blanket, thanks to Dad. “Julia, can I get you anything else? You can stay here another night. In fact, why don’t you sell your house and move in here permanently? Then I can keep an eye on you.”
“Dad, I don’t need anything. Can you loosen this blanket a bit, please? I feel like a human sausage roll.”
“I will do, my little love.” Dad pulled a corner of the blanket away and Julia could breathe freely again. “Do you want me to put another DVD on? Shall I get you some more chocolate? I can make you a cake. It won’t take me long.”
“Ray, we are both fine. We’ve been back home for over twenty-four hours. We’re over the shock. You can stop making a fuss of us.”
Dad sank into the chair at Mum’s side. “I can’t help it. It makes my blood boil to think what that evil man and woman did to you. Are you sure you don’t need to go into rehab? I can book you into a clinic.”
Mum smiled at him. “I’m perfectly fine, apart from feeling like such an idiot for being taken in so easily. I’m just glad to be home with you.”
Julia said, “Shall I tell you again what DI Clarke said to me?”
“You’ve already told us three times,” Mum said.
“I know. But I like replaying the conversation. I can’t believe he was so nice to me.”
“Well, you did save his wife’s life,” Dad said. “And you did help catch a killer. I thought he was going to tell you off for interfering in another police case.”
“So did I. But he said he was glad I was there, and that Gemma had met me. If we hadn’t have met, Gemma wouldn’t have had anyone to help her clear her name. He did accuse me of getting in the way of the investigation, but he said he was glad I did.”
“And Gemma’s still doing fine?” Mum asked
“She is. She’s going to phone me later. We’re going to stay in touch.” Julia laughed. “I can imagine how pleased DI Clarke will be about that. Or should I say, how pleased Arnie will be about that.”
Mum said, “You didn’t call him Arnie over the phone, did you?”
“My tongue tried, but my brain wouldn’t let me. Perhaps I’ll try it the next time I meet him.”
Mum raised one eyebrow. “The next time?”
Julia quickly recovered herself and said, “When I meet up with Gemma. I’ll most likely bump into him at some point. I didn’t mean I’d meet him the next time I find a murdered body. Because that isn’t going to happen. Ever again.” She gave Mum a reassuring smile. “I’ll leave murder investigations to the police.”
A note from the author
I’m having a lot of fun writing new adventures for Julia. She won’t be having a rest anytime soon! If you enjoyed this story, would you be able to post a quick review? Thank you, I really appreciate it.
This story has been checked for errors by my team. If you do spot any errors I would love it if you could email me to let me know about them – thank you.
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Gillian
A Julia Blake Murder Mystery
Death At The Spa
By
GILLIAN LARKIN
www.gillianlarkin.co.uk
Front cover images by coverkicks.com
Copyright 2016 by Gillian Larkin
All rig
hts reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, electronically or mechanically without permission from the author.
This is a work of fiction and any resemblance to any person living or death is purely coincidental.
Death At The Spa (Julia Blake Cozy Murder Mystery Book 10) Page 13
