A Fair Murder (Julia Blake Cozy Mystery Book 6)

by Gillian Larkin

  Mum tapped the table. “Doesn’t he always say that to you? Julia, look at me.” Julia did so. Mum went on, “Our friends have become murder suspects. We can’t let this investigation drag on while the police sort themselves out. You have to somehow clear their names!”

  “I’d like to, but how? I can’t just go up to each person and interrogate them.”

  “I’ve got an idea about that,” Mum said. “We’re having a meeting tomorrow night at the school to discuss how Saturday’s fair went. You need to be there.”

  “Is the meeting still going ahead? After …”

  “Yes, it has to. You come along and keep an eye on everyone, see if anyone is acting particularly suspiciously. And here’s how you’re going to get close to the main suspects.” Mum outlined her plan.

  Julia nodded. “Okay, that might work. Mum, I will make my own investigations but you have to prepare yourself. Seth, Barney or Imogen could turn out to be a murderer. I’ve been taken in before by people’s supposed innocence.”

  Mum gave her a sad smile. “I am prepared for that. Thanks for doing this, Julia.”

  Chapter 12

  When Julia picked Cain up on Tuesday morning she told him all about the meeting at school the previous evening.

  Cain nodded as he listened. “I wish I could have been there but I didn’t want to leave Buster alone, he’s still settling in.”

  Julia smiled as she drove along. “Dad said he took you to get a fishbowl for Buster yesterday.”

  “He did. I got Buster some toys too, a few rocks to swim around and a bridge to swim under.” He chuckled. “I even got him a sunken pirate ship, I think that’s his favourite. Ray told me to get some books on looking after goldfish. I’m glad he did. Having a pet is a lot of responsibility. I imagine it’s like having children.”

  “I imagine so,” Julia said with a smile. “What do you think about Mum’s plan?”

  “I like it. How did Imogen react when she found out?”

  “A bit surprised. Well, you would be surprised, wouldn’t you? When Mum announced that she’d put everyone’s name into a secret raffle and that Imogen had won first prize, well, Imogen didn’t know what to say. But seeing as the first prize was six hours free cleaning from our good selves, she could hardly say no with me smiling over at her. She’s going to ring me later to arrange our first visit.”

  “And what about the other so-called winners? How did they react?”

  Julia turned left into a road of terraced houses. “Seth and Barney weren’t there. Mum tried to ring them but she didn’t get any answers.” She stopped the car halfway down the road. “Which is why we’re outside Seth’s house now. We’re going to pay him a surprise visit and let him know he’s a runner-up in Mum’s secret raffle. I hope he’s in.”

  Cain released his seat belt. “How were people last night at the meeting? Did people talk about Deborah Paignton?”

  “People talked of nothing else for the first fifteen minutes. Mum told them that Lesley was at home now and that she wouldn’t be in school for a while.” She paused and frowned. “There was something though. You know how Imogen has been looking tired and almost frightened lately?”

  Cain nodded. “I’ve seen that look many times in prison from men who are victims of some sort, they look as if they’re expecting their next attack at any moment.” He shook his head. “I saw more crimes committed inside prison than I’ve seen on the telly.”

  “Sorry Cain, I didn’t mean to upset you. Anyway, Imogen looked relaxed last night, as if a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders.”

  “She could be the possible killer,” Cain announced. He caught Julia’s shocked look and held his hands up. “You were thinking the same thing!”

  “I suppose I was, it’s hard not to think of someone as a possible suspect. Come on, let’s have a chat with Seth. If he’s in.”

  Julia and Cain got out of the car. Julia collected the cleaning equipment from the boot and walked up the small path to Seth’s house. The door was opened on her second knock.

  “Yeah? What do you want? I’m not buying anything.”

  Julia looked at the large woman in front of her. Beefy was the word that came to mind. The woman was wearing faded jogging trousers and a bobbled-looking T-shirt. Her short hair was grey and a lit cigarette dangled from her mouth.

  Julia put a smile on her face and said, “I’m looking for Seth, Seth Maddocks. I thought he lived here.”

  The woman took the cigarette from her mouth and looked Julia up and down. Her attention turned to Cain and she looked him up and down too. “He might live here, he might not. What do you want him for?”

  Julia said, “He’s won a prize.”

  “Yeah? What kind of prize?”

  Julia held up her cleaning supply bag. “He’s won four hours of cleaning from me. I’m Julia Blake, I run my own cleaning company. And this is Cain, he works with me.”

  The woman took a drag on her cigarette and narrowed her eyes.

  Julia continued, “My mum works at Cloverfield School. They had a school fair on Saturday and Seth was entered into a draw. Does he live here?”

  The woman took her cigarette out and blow a cloud of smoke towards them. “Course he lives here. He never said anything to me about a raffle. Has he won the last prize? He’s a useless lump, never wins anything worthwhile.”

  Julia bristled. “He won second prize actually. Is he in or not?”

  “Don’t take that tone with me, young lady! You knocked on my door, you’re the one disturbing me. No, he’s not in. I haven’t seen him since Saturday morning. He’s gone to spend some time with his brother.”

  “Do you know when he’ll be back?”

  The woman shrugged. “No idea, he doesn’t tell me anything. I’m only his wife.”

  Wife? Julia hoped the shock didn’t show too much on her face. She had no idea that Seth was married. And married to a woman who seemed to be the total opposite of him.

  Julia started to turn away. “Right, thanks. Sorry to trouble you.”

  “Where do you think you’re going?” the woman shouted. “Anything that Seth’s won belongs to me too.” She stood to one side and opened the door wider. “You can start on the bathroom. I haven’t given it a good clean for a few weeks.”

  Julia winced as smoke fumes drifted towards them from the open door. Part of her felt like running away but she remembered why she was there. Perhaps she could speak more to Seth’s wife once they were inside, find out why Seth had left school so abruptly. And find out why he turned up at the school fair on Saturday.

  Julia stepped into the house. She looked over her shoulder and gave Cain a curt nod. The poor man looked like he wanted to run away too.

  Cain followed Julia into the house. The woman slammed the door behind them and jerked a thumb upwards. “Bathroom’s up there. Keep the noise down, I’m watching my programmes.” She pushed past them and walked into a nearby room. Julia and Cain walked down the hallway and looked into the room she’d just entered.

  Cain blinked and wiped his eyes. He hissed, “Julia! It stinks of cigarettes in here!”

  Julia nodded and whispered, “I know, we won’t stay long.” She looked at Seth’s wife who was now settled in front of a large TV. The people on screen were arguing about who was the real father of someone else’s baby. Julia glanced at the wallpaper, it was yellow. She wasn’t sure if that was its original colour or if it had been coloured by constant cigarette smoke.

  Julia and Cain moved away from the room and headed up the steep stairs. They stopped at the top. Julia said, “You haven’t met Seth yet but he’s one of the kindest, sweetest men you’d ever meet. I can’t imagine him being married to someone like …” She indicated downstairs.

  Cain shrugged. “Maybe he loves her. Do we really have to clean the bathroom?”

  Julia opened the bathroom door. “Seth’s wife did say she hadn’t cleaned it for a few weeks, it can’t be that bad.” She stepped into the room and immediately steppe
d back out. She made a retching noise and put her hand over her mouth. Then she opened her bag up and took out two face masks. She handed one to Cain and said, “We’re going to need these. Brace yourself, we’re going in.”

  Julia and Cain had never cleaned a bathroom so quickly. Julia cranked open the window to let in some fresh air. They still struggled to breathe.

  Through his mask Cain said, “Are you sure Seth lives here? That woman could be lying, we could be cleaning a total stranger’s house.”

  Julia quickly wiped the door handle and pulled the door closed. She pulled her mask down and let out the breath that she’d been holding. “That was disgusting! I hope this is Seth’s wife otherwise I’m going to charge that woman downstairs double!”

  There was a loud knock on the front door. Julia put her hand on Cain’s arm and whispered, “I know that knock.”

  They listened as the woman downstairs swore and then walked towards the front door. She opened it and said, “Yeah? What do you want? I’m not buying anything.”

  A cold voice replied, “I’m not selling anything. I’m DI Clarke. I assume that you’re Mrs Bessie Maddocks.”

  “Yeah, what of it?”

  “I’m here to speak to your husband, Seth Maddocks. Is he in?”

  “No.”

  “Then I’ll speak to you, Mrs Maddocks. May I come in?” The last part was not said as a request.

  Cain looked at Julia and whispered, “Shouldn’t we go downstairs and let the inspector know we’re here?”

  Julia waved a hand at him and said, “In a minute. Shh! I can’t hear what they’re saying.”

  She crept down a few steps, sat down and cocked her head. Cain did the same. The television went quiet. DI Clarke began to speak.

  Chapter 13

  Julia frowned as she heard the mumble of DI Clarke’s voice. “Speak up,” she muttered.

  She didn’t need to tell Bessie Maddocks to speak up, the woman had a voice as loud as the proverbial foghorn.

  Bessie loudly declared, “It doesn’t surprise me that you want to speak to Seth about a murder enquiry! He’s daft enough to get himself involved in something so stupid. Hell knows why I married that lazy layabout! What? Where’s he gone? Off to his brother’s.” There was a pause. “Of course I’ve got his address, hang on.” There was another pause and then Bessie read out an address. Julia tapped it into her phone.

  There was more mumbling from DI Clarke. Bessie answered his question, “I don’t know his movements on Saturday morning, why would I? All I know is that he left me a note saying that he was going to stay at his brother’s. I don’t know when he’ll be back, I’m not his keeper. What did you say about that stupid school job of his?” A pause. “He’s handed his notice in! What’s he done that for? Idiot! How am I supposed to pay the bills now? I can’t get a job, I’ve got health issues.”

  There was even more mumbling from the inspector. Bessie said, “He loved that school job, God knows why, it’s not natural to love working so much. He was always at that school, first thing in the morning ’til last thing at night. I hardly saw him. Not that I wanted to. When he’s at home he gets on my nerves, always whining about my smoking.”

  Julia thought about Lesley’s comment, about Seth spending a lot of time at school. She was beginning to understand why he’d do that.

  Bessie was talking again, “I didn’t know there was a new head teacher, Seth never spoke about it. How should I know how he felt about her? That’s none of my business. Have we finished? I’m missing my programme.”

  There was a bit more mumbling from the inspector and then the sound of people walking. The front door opened and DI Clarke said, “Here’s my card, if your husband returns home tell him to ring me as soon as possible.”

  Bessie gave some sort of grunt in return. She slammed the door and walked away. The television blared out again five seconds later.

  Julia looked at Cain. “Well, what do you think about that?”

  Cain shrugged. “Doesn’t tell us much more. Are we going to see Seth’s brother?”

  Julia stood up. “I think we should.” Her phone beeped, she looked at the message that had come through. Her cheeks flushed. “It’s from DI Clarke, he knows we’re in here. He’s seen my car outside.” She pressed her lips together as she read the rest of the message.

  Cain said, “Is he telling you to stay away from Seth’s brother?”

  She nodded. “He’s added that if Mum or Lesley hear from Seth that they’re to let him know immediately.” She gave Cain a bright smile. “If we happen to drive past Seth’s brother’s house we could always pop in and say hello, we wouldn’t be doing any harm.” Her face became grim as she picked up her cleaning bag. “Time for our escape. Follow me.”

  Julia walked swiftly down the steps, Cain was right behind her. They tiptoed over to the front door and quietly opened it. Julia handed the car keys to Cain and hissed, “Get the car started!” Cain grabbed the keys and ran towards her car. Julia waited a second and then called out, “Mrs Maddocks! We’ve finished! Bye!” She bolted out of the door.

  Just before she had chance to close it she heard a grumbling noise from Bessie Maddocks followed by, “Hang on! There’s more to do.”

  Julia closed the door, raced to her car, threw her cleaning bag at Cain, jumped into the driving seat and sped away as if the very Devil himself was after them.

  Cain said, “I am never going back to that house! How can a bathroom get that dirty?”

  Julia grimaced. “I’ve actually seen worse. The bigger question is, why is Seth married to a woman like that? Has she got some kind of hold over him?” She looked at her rear-view mirror. “I half-expect her to be running after us! Are you okay?”

  Cain nodded and then smiled. “Life isn’t dull working for you.”

  Julia and Cain spent the rest of the day at various houses. Julia still hadn’t heard from Imogen about doing cleaning work for her. And despite leaving several messages, Barney Samson had not got back to her either.

  After dropping Cain off at his house, Julia drove home and was happy to see Dad’s car parked outside. She was even happier when she entered the kitchen and found a hot shepherd’s pie waiting for her.

  Dad took her coat and handbag and steered her towards the table. “Good evening, madam, your table is ready.”

  Julia gave him a quick hug. “Thanks Dad, you’re too kind to me.”

  “I know. How’s your day been?” He put her bag and coat in a cupboard and then joined her at the table.

  Julia told him about her visit to Seth’s house.

  Dad nodded. “Ah, you met Big Bessie.”

  Julia’s fork paused halfway to her mouth. “Big Bessie? Do you know her? Is that what you call her? I wouldn’t dare call her that.”

  Dad folded his arms. “Oh, aye, everyone calls her that. She’s a regular at the pub.”

  Julia waved a now empty fork at him. “How long have you known her? Did you know she was married to Seth? And if so, why didn’t you tell me?”

  Dad moved the fork away from his nose. “You sound like the police. I thought you knew that Seth was married to Big Bessie. Your mum knows, I thought it was common knowledge. Haven’t you heard your mum and Lesley gossiping about them? Saying what an odd couple they are?”

  “I never listen to gossip. Does Bessie go to the pub with Seth? What are they like together?”

  “Seth never goes to the pub. Bessie goes often and she always has something to sell. There are lots of rumours about the kind of things she sells.”

  “Stolen things?”

  “Possibly.”

  Julia ate in silence for a bit longer and then pushed her empty plate to one side. “How can Bessie sell stolen things in the pub, what will the landlord say if he finds out?”

  Dad gave her a gentle smile. “Oh, my innocent daughter. Have you seen the size of Big Bessie? Would you want to tell her to leave your pub? Anyway, the landlord is her brother.” He stood up and took Julia’s plate over to the s
ink. “I’m going to the pub tonight, it’s quiz night. Cain’s coming with me. We’ll keep a discreet eye on Big Bessie, see what sort of things she sells. We’ll see if Seth is involved in anything he shouldn’t be. I can’t see it myself but there’s no harm in finding out.”

  Julia stood up. “I’m coming with you. You and Cain are always going to the pub without me.”

  Dad gently eased her back into her seat. “No, you’re not. First of all, discreet is not your middle name, and secondly, our quiz team is men only. You’d only bring us bad luck.” He pointed towards the oven. “There’s an apple pie warming up in there, it’ll be ready now. You don’t want to leave that to go cold and head off to a smelly pub, do you?”

  The aroma of hot apple pie drifted towards Julia. She said nonchalantly, “I’ll stay here. But I want a full report on Bessie’s movements.”

  Dad gave her a mock salute. “Aye aye captain!”

  Chapter 14

  Cain was full of beans when Julia picked him up the following morning. He got in the car with a beam so huge Julia could see the fillings in his back teeth.

  Cain’s skinny chest puffed out and he announced, “We won! We won the pub quiz! And it was all due to me! Did your dad tell you what happened? It was awesome!”

  Julia smiled at her young friend. “I haven’t spoken to Dad yet, why don’t you tell me what happened? Tell me now before we set off.”

  Cain nodded and grinned some more. “I didn’t think I’d be good at the quiz with having been locked up for the last twelve years. I thought there’d be lots of questions about recent music and events. And there were to begin with.” His smile faded and he shook his head. “I felt useless. I wasn’t answering any questions. I bet Ray wished he’d left me at home.”

  “Dad would never think that. Did the questions get easier?”