Barney shrugged. “I’ve never asked him, it’s none of my business. I suppose I should let the police know about his made-up brother. Anyway, I’d better go home and let Sharon and my wife know about my job. I didn’t want to tell them yet. Much as I love my wife I do need a break now and again.” He tutted. “That sounds so selfish, doesn’t it?”
“Not at all. If you need a job they’re always looking for help in the charity shops,” Julia pointed out.
Barney nodded. “That’s a good idea. I’d like to do something like that. Is there anything else you want to know about Saturday?”
Julia smiled at him. “No, thank you. Would you like a lift home? I’ve still got your pirate book in my car.”
Barney patted his leg. “No, thanks. If I don’t get my regular exercise this old leg of mine will seize up. Can you give me a hand up, Cain?”
Cain jumped to his feet and pulled Barney up from the bench.
Julia told Barney to keep in touch and they watched him limp away.
Cain said, “What a lovely man. Why did Deborah Paignton have to sack him?”
“All part of her plan to improve the school, I suppose. I wish we could talk to Seth. He was in school shortly before Deborah died. And I saw his tea and coffee caddies on her desk, he must have put them there for some reason.”
Her phone rang. She answered it and spoke for a while. She put her phone away and looked at Cain. “That was Imogen Walters. She wants us to go round to her house tomorrow and do some cleaning. She sounded reluctant and said she’d rather give her prize to someone else.”
“And you made her feel guilty for refusing our services,” Cain pointed out. “I heard your side of the conversation.”
Julia gave a small shrug. “I wouldn’t use the word guilty. Don’t forget that Imogen went into Deborah’s office when the fair had finished. Imogen was alone with the wine at one point. And we know that Imogen was scared of Deborah for some reason.”
Cain nodded. They headed out of the park. Cain said, “There’s something I want to know.”
“Go on.”
“If Barney doesn’t want the colouring-in book, who are you going to give it to?”
Julia looked at his hopeful face and laughed. “Would you like it, Cain?”
He grinned. “I know it sounds silly but we never had things like that when I was young.”
“You’ve never had a colouring-in book?” Julia was shocked.
Cain looked at his feet as he walked. He muttered, “Nope.”
Julia’s heart twisted. Poor Cain. She kept forgetting about his terrible background. She said, “You can have that book. I’ve got some old crayons somewhere at home, I’ll dig them out for you.”
Cain glanced up at her and said, “Thanks, Julia. You’re like a mum to me.”
Julia gave him a playful shove. “You know I’m too young to be your mum.” They walked on for a moment. She added, “Alright, I know what you’re thinking. Yes, I am old enough to be your mum.”
“I wasn’t thinking that at all,” Cain said with twinkle in his eye.
Chapter 17
The next day was Thursday and Julia and Cain were tied up with work all morning. After a quick lunch they made their way over to Imogen’s house.
As Julia pulled up outside Imogen’s house she indicated her head towards the front door. “Look! It’s that man again! He’s talking to Imogen.”
“What man?” Cain asked.
“That little bald man, I’ve seen him at the school.”
Cain peered at the man who was now jabbing his finger at Imogen. “Who is he? He doesn’t look very friendly.”
Julia turned the engine off and released her seat belt. “I don’t know who he is but I don’t like the way he’s talking to Imogen. She looks petrified. Come on, I can’t sit here and do nothing.”
Julia jumped out of her car and jogged towards Imogen’s house. Neither the little bald man nor Imogen noticed her arrival.
Imogen said, “Please, just leave me alone. I can’t do any more. I’ve had enough.”
The little bald man sneered and said, “I’ll tell you when you’ve had enough, Imogen dear. Just do as I say and everything will stay the same.”
Julia gave a polite cough which made Imogen jump. The little man turned and glared at her.
In a wobbly voice Imogen said, “Oh, Julia! I’d forgotten you were coming round.”
“I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” Julia said, knowing full well that she was.
The little man let out a snort and turned back to Imogen. He said darkly, “I’ll be in touch.”
Imogen gave him a shaky smile. “Goodbye, thanks for coming round, Mr Paignton.”
Cain passed the bald man as he walked along the path carrying their bag of cleaning supplies.
Julia waited for the bald man to walk away before she burst out with, “Mr Paignton? Is he Deborah’s dad?”
Imogen gave a nervous laugh. “No, he’s her husband. Haven’t you ever met him?”
Julia’s eyes narrowed. “No, but I’ve seen him hanging around the school a few times.” She turned and watched Mr Paignton drive away. “Her husband? I can’t believe it, he’s not what I expected at all.” She looked back at Imogen. “To be honest, Imogen, I didn’t like the way he was talking to you. He sounded as if he was threatening you.”
Imogen waved a hand in the air and said, “No, he wasn’t threatening me. He wanted me to carry on doing more work for the school. I told him I wanted to spend more time with my children, but he insisted the school needs me now more than ever. Perhaps he’s right.” She stood to one side. “Do come in.”
Cain and Julia shared a look as they entered the house. It was obvious that Imogen was lying.
“What a lovely house,” Julia said as they walked into the living room.
Imogen laughed and said, “Thank you, excuse the mess.”
Julia looked around. “What mess? I don’t think there’s anything for us to clean.”
Imogen gave her a small smile. “I did try to tell you that but you and your mum insisted that I claim my prize.”
Cain stepped forward. “I can clean your windows, if you like.”
Imogen clasped her hands together. “Oh! Would you? That’s the one job I hate. No matter how much I wipe those windows I always seem to leave smears.”
Julia nodded towards Cain. “He’s very good at windows. Is there anything you’d like me to do?”
Imogen surveyed the room and pulled a face. “I don’t think so. Unless … do you have time for a cup of tea and a chat? With looking after my family and helping out at school, I don’t get much time to just sit and chat.”
“That sounds great,” Julia said. She turned to Cain and said, “Off you go, young man, work your magic on those windows.”
Imogen said, “I’ve got some cake in the kitchen. Cain, I’ll save you a couple of slices to take home with you.”
“Thank you. I’ll start upstairs.” Cain left the room.
Imogen insisted that Julia sit down while she got the tea and cake ready. Imogen went to the kitchen and left Julia alone in the living room.
Julia felt a pang of guilt as she remembered why she was there. Could Imogen be the one that killed Deborah? Julia couldn’t see it but she had been wrong about people before.
Julia looked at the photos on the wall. What lovely children Imogen had. And her husband was a handsome chap. They looked like the perfect family. Julia shook her head. Surely Imogen wouldn’t throw this all away.
Julia thought about Deborah’s husband. Why had he been spying on the school? Was he in charge of some sort of security? Had Deborah asked him to keep an eye on certain members of staff? And why had he really shown up at Imogen’s door? Julia didn’t like the look of him at all.
Imogen returned with a tray of tea things. She set it down on a table in front of the sofa. She poured the tea and handed a plate with a slice of cake on it to Julia.
Julia said thank you. She looked to
wards the photos and said, “You’ve got a lovely family.”
Imogen sat opposite Julia and smiled. “I know, I’m very lucky. I never thought I’d be so fortunate.”
Julia took a sip of her tea and then said, “How did you meet your husband?”
“At a pub in Leeds. I never thought I’d have a chance with him, I thought he was totally out of my league. He thought otherwise.”
“What does he do for a job?” Julia asked. She caught Imogen’s surprised look and added, “Sorry, I’m very nosy. You don’t have to answer.”
“No, that’s okay. I don’t mind talking about Scott, I’m very proud of him. He works at an engineering firm in Leeds. He’s doing very well. I had a number of part-time jobs before we met, I even did some modelling. We got married and had children and Scott convinced me to stay at home.” Imogen laughed. “I didn’t need much convincing. I love being at home with my family.” She glanced towards a photo of her children. “I love my family, I’d do anything to protect them.”
Julia almost choked on her cake. That was a peculiar statement for Imogen to come out with. Julia washed the cake down with tea. Then she said, “I still can’t believe that man is married to Deborah. Or should I say, was married.”
Imogen put her cup down. “I know what you mean. Who knows why some people fall for each other. Have you met Seth’s wife? Now there’s an odd couple. Sorry! I shouldn’t be gossiping!”
“You go ahead. I don’t mind. I think the police are still looking for Seth. He was at the fair on Saturday. I didn’t see him but he signed in after twelve o’clock.”
Imogen pushed her cup to one side and gave Julia a direct look. “I know for a fact that Seth didn’t kill Deborah.”
Chapter 18
Imogen wouldn’t say any more about Seth despite Julia’s subtle digging. Imogen steered the conversation back to Julia and asked how her business was doing. Cain picked the moment that Julia was singing his praises to enter the room. He quickly turned his attention to the windows, Julia noticed that the tips of his ears were red.
Julia had not given up on her questions. She asked Imogen, “Have the police spoken to you about Saturday? They spoke to me, I had to give them a full statement.”
Imogen nodded. “I didn’t have much to tell them. I was in the hall for most of the morning. The only time I went into Deborah’s office was just after I spoke to you and Lesley. I took in the fair’s takings and left them in a drawer in Deborah’s desk so she could put them in the safe later. I left a note out to tell her what I’d done with the money. I could see her outside talking to those residents. They looked as if they were having a go at her. I told the police that I noticed the wine on the coaster and I remembered that Deborah had won it earlier on your stall.”
“Did you notice anything else?” Julia prompted.
Imogen frowned and thought for a moment. “Yes, I saw some tea and coffee caddies, they looked just like the ones that Seth kept in his room.” She shook her head. “I can’t think of anything else. Oh! Hang on, I did see Barney’s stick, the one he uses when he’s working. It was propped against the wall.”
Julia nodded. Imogen had noticed quite a lot on her visit to Deborah’s office. A silence fell. Julia couldn’t think of any other questions to ask without seeming incredibly rude.
Cain turned away from the window and said, “That’s it, I’ve done them all. Is there anything else for me to do?”
Imogen stood up and looked at her watch. “I didn’t realise it was so late.” She smiled at Cain. “Thanks for doing the windows, not a smear in sight! I’ll pack some cake up for you.” She left the room.
Julia walked over to Cain and whispered, “Well? What did you see upstairs? Anything suspicious?”
Cain nodded and whispered back, “Yes, a suspiciously tidy and clean house considering that young children live here.”
Julia tutted. “I didn’t mean that!”
Cain moved closer. “Did you mean, did I find any bottles of arsenic?”
“No! Well, yes. Did you?”
“Nope.” Cain looked over Julia’s shoulder and smiled as Imogen returned to the room.
Imogen handed him a foil package. “I’ve put three slices in there, that should keep you going for a while.”
Julia shook her head and smiled. “I don’t know why, but all my clients feel the need to feed Cain.”
Cain took the package. “I don’t mind. Thank you.”
Imogen clutched her hands together and looked nervously at Julia. “Would you be offended if I asked you not to come back? I do my own cleaning and I prefer it that way. Could I donate my cleaning prize to someone else?”
Julia had more questions for Imogen, she knew she was hiding something and that it had something to do with Deborah’s husband. But she could hardly force herself on the poor woman. “I’m not offended at all, we don’t have to come back to do any more cleaning. It’s been lovely having a chat with you. I’ll give you my card and if you ever feel like meeting up again, give me a call.”
Imogen took the card. “Thank you. I’ll see you to the door.”
They exchanged goodbyes and Imogen stayed at the door as she watched them drive away. As soon as they were out of Imogen’s sight Julia said, “I’m not sure if that was a worthwhile visit or not. We need to find out more about Deborah’s husband.”
Cain said, “Do you think he was having an affair with Imogen? Maybe Deborah found out and threatened Imogen, maybe Deborah was going to tell Imogen’s husband.”
“Possibly. Or Deborah’s husband could have been the one that killed her. He was there on Saturday, I saw him. I wonder if DI Clarke has spoken to him.” She sighed heavily. “I think I might need to speak to DI Clarke again. I know he thinks I’m interfering but it’s hardly my fault if I stumble across new information, is it?”
Cain thought for a moment. “Well, it is your fault we were at Imogen’s house under a false pretence.”
Julia pulled a face. “That was Mum’s idea. I’ll leave that part out when I talk to him.” She glanced in her rear-view mirror and frowned. She drove on for a while and looked again. “Right! That does it!”
She pulled the car over and stopped. She jumped out of the car and headed towards the car that had stopped behind her. She rapped on the driver’s window. The window lowered. A face that looked slightly familiar glared at her and said, “What?”
Julia pointed at him. “Don’t you ‘what’ me! You’ve been following me. What’s your problem? Who are you working for? Is it DI Clarke? You can tell him that I’m not doing anything wrong!”
Cain came to Julia’s side and tried to grab her hand which was waving around madly.
The man in the car snorted and folded his arms. His eyes narrowed and his mouth moved into a sneer.
Julia stopped waving her hand and looked closer at him. She looked over her shoulder at Cain and raised her eyebrows.
Cain nodded and said quietly, “Julia, this is one of my brothers, Gary.”
Julia turned back to Gary and studied him for a moment. He did have Cain’s eyes but the rest of his face was rough-looking. He hadn’t shaved for days, or washed by the look of it. He had one of those faces that you would cross the road to avoid.
Gary looked Cain up and down. “Cain, I’m disappointed that you haven’t been round to see the family since you got out of the nick. What’s wrong with you? Ashamed of us?”
Cain gulped and tried to smile. “I … I haven’t had time.”
“I don’t believe that for a moment. Look at you, working for a woman. You’ve turned soft in prison.”
Julia placed her hands on her hips. “Don’t you dare talk to him like that after what he’s done for you! He spent time in prison for you and your brothers!”
Gary shrugged. “We did nothing wrong, you’ve got no proof.”
Cain stood a bit taller and said, “What do you want? If it’s money, I haven’t got much.”
Gary let out a cruel laugh. “I’ve got more than
enough money. I want you to come back to the family home, for a welcome home tea. That’s all. The family wants to have a catch up with you.”
Julia felt fear trickle down her spine. She took a step back. There was something menacing in Gary’s tone.
Cain said firmly, “I don’t want anything to do with you.”
Gary cast a look at Julia, and then back to Cain. “I know what you two have been up to, I know that you’ve been asking questions about that woman who was murdered. That woman you were speaking to just now, that blonde, I know something about her. She’s got a dirty secret. I can tell you what it is – if you come back to our house.”
Julia said, “Cain, no. Don’t go, it’s a trick.”
Gary laughed again. “I think Cain can make his mind up, can’t you little brother?”
Cain took Julia to one side and said quietly, “I’ll go with him. If I don’t, he’ll only follow us around. And if I do go with him, I can find out what he knows about Imogen.”
Julia shook her head. “No! I don’t trust him. I don’t care about Imogen’s secret.”
Cain pushed her gently to one side. “I knew they’d track me down. I might as well face them now. Have we finished for the day? The sooner I go, the sooner I’ll get it over with.”
Julia watched helplessly as Cain got into Gary’s car. Gary winked at her as he drove away at high speed.
Julia’s stomach clenched with fear. Something terrible was going to happen to Cain, she just knew it.
Chapter 19
Julia couldn’t stop thinking about Cain for the rest of the day. She sent him several texts but he didn’t reply to any of them. She phoned him but only got the answer service.
In desperation, she phoned Dad. She broke into tears as she spoke. “Dad! I’m so worried, you should have seen Gary’s face! He looked so evil. What can we do?”
“We can’t do anything, Cain’s a grown man. He can make his own decisions. Come on, love, calm down.”
“I can’t help it. I feel responsible for him. Dad, I think Gary and his family still live on the Clover Estate. Do you think I …”
A Fair Murder (Julia Blake Cozy Mystery Book 6) Page 7
