A Fair Murder (Julia Blake Cozy Mystery Book 6)

by Gillian Larkin

  “Me too. I’ll go back to the station and see if I can talk with him, he might speak to me if he knows that Lesley has gone missing.” Mum gave Julia Lesley’s address.

  “Thanks for that. Let me know how you get on,” Julia said.

  “You too, love. Bye for now.”

  Julia looked down at the kitchen table. Something felt terribly wrong. People were hiding secrets, and those secrets involved the death of Deborah Paignton.

  Julia collected her bag and coat and drove over to Lesley’s house. It was a neat-looking semi-detached. Julia walked up the path to the back door, she glanced at the pots of herbs and flowers that Lesley was growing. Julia admired people who had the time and patience to grow things in pots. She’d bought seed packets many times but that was as far as she got with her gardening endeavours.

  Julia saw curtains twitching from next door as she raised her hand to knock on Lesley’s door. Good. Nosy neighbours meant information. Julia’s hand paused in mid-knock. The back door was ajar. Julia’s attention was drawn to the lock, it had been forced. The hairs rose on the back of her neck. Someone had broken into Lesley’s house. Julia pushed the door open and cocked her head. And that someone was still inside Lesley’s house.

  Knowing that she should be phoning the police at this moment, Julia threw her common sense to one side and stepped into Lesley’s house.

  Chapter 30

  The noise that Julia had heard was coming from the living room. Julia crept through the kitchen and towards that room. She heard muttering and swearing coming from inside. Julia’s nose twitched as a familiar aroma wafted towards her. Julia pushed the door open and said, “Bessie Maddocks! What are you doing in Lesley’s house?”

  For a big woman Bessie spun around surprisingly swiftly. She glared at Julia, a lit cigarette dangling from the corner of her mouth. Bessie looked her up and down and rudely asked Julia what that had got to do with her.

  Julia stood taller despite her shaking legs. Being alone in a room with someone as intimidating as Bessie Maddocks was not a good idea. Julia said, “This is my friend Lesley’s house. I’m paying a social visit on her.”

  Bessie took out her cigarette and actually spat on Lesley’s beige carpet. Julia flinched. Bessie snarled, “Don’t mention that woman’s name to me! Evil, two-faced cow! Comes across all sweet and friendly when she’s nothing but a …”

  Julia flinched again as Bessie let out a stream of colourful words. When she’d finished, Julia said, “You’re wrong about Lesley, she isn’t like that at all.”

  Bessie took a drag of her cigarette as she glowered at Julia. She then waved the smoking cigarette in Julia’s direction. “She’s got you fooled too, hasn’t she?”

  “I don’t know what you mean. I’ve known Lesley a long time, she’s one of the nicest people I know.”

  “Oh yeah? Does a nice person run off with someone’s husband?”

  Julia frowned. “What are you talking about?”

  “My husband, Seth, the lowlife, has been seduced by that scrawny-looking cow.” Bessie shook her head in disgust. “I should have known something was up. She was always polite to me when we met, asked how I was doing, stuff like that. It was all an act. She had her eyes on my husband all these years.”

  “Are you sure about that? Lesley doesn’t seem the type.”

  “She’s the type alright. My idiot of a husband went to see his brother recently. He came back a few days ago looking secretive. He wouldn’t tell me what was going on with his job at the school, I knew that he’d handed his notice in but he didn’t say a word to me about it. I knew he was up to something. I had my brother follow him this morning. They saw him talking to that lollipop man outside the school, that one with the round face and the limp.”

  Julia took a step closer. “What were they talking about?”

  Bessie shrugged her huge shoulders. “Don’t know, my brother’s not a lip reader. He said they looked like they were arguing about something. Seth walked away but stood by a nearby tree. Then that floozy of his came along and talked to the lollipop man too.” Bessie gave her a sideways look. “Before you ask, no, I don’t know what they were saying. But they were having words too.” She took another drag on her cigarette and added, “Silly cow.”

  Julia wafted the smoke away from her face. “What happened then?”

  “You’re a nosy sod, aren’t you? The lollipop man threw his stick down and limped away. My brother saw him walk towards Seth, they said something to each other, and then they walked away together. They went to Lollipop’s house. The police turned up a bit later. My brother had to leave.” She smirked. “He’s allergic to the police. Anyway, he saw Seth sneak out of the back door and over the back garden. Seth went back to our house, jumped in his car and headed over here.”

  Julia folded her arms. This was getting interesting. “Go on.”

  “The floozy was waiting here for him. Seth came to the door, took her suitcase and helped her into his car.” Bessie snorted. “The tart couldn’t keep her hands off him! She was leaning on him, her eyes almost closed. Seth had his arms around her as they walked to the car. My brother said Lesley looked as if she was drunk, the way that she was leaning on him. My brother phoned me, he couldn’t follow them, he had a … business meeting.” Bessie eyes narrowed. “I came here to look for an address, see where they might have gone.” She turned to Julia and gave her a direct look. Julia was shocked to see that her eyes glistened with unshed tears. In a gruff voice Bessie said, “Why would he do this to me? I thought we were good together. I know I’ve put on a few pounds but I’m still the girl he married.”

  Julia felt a pang of sympathy for Bessie, but it was a tiny pang. “You’ve been forcing Seth to steal things from the school so that you can sell them on!”

  Bessie shrugged. “So? They don’t miss it.”

  “Of course they do! The new head teacher had found out and was threatening to go to the police.”

  Bessie shrugged again. “The police will never find any evidence. What’s your point?”

  “My point is that your marriage isn’t as good as you seem to think it is, not that it’s any of my business.”

  Bessie lowered her cigarette and took a step closer. “Damn right it’s none of your business. Seth had no right to take up with another woman, he’s mine. And when I find him and that tart I’m going to make them pay.” She took another step closer and raised a yellow finger. “Do you know where they are?”

  “No, I don’t. And I think you’re wrong about them.” Julia pushed Bessie’s finger out of the way and immediately regretted it when she saw the anger flare up in Bessie’s face.

  A phone beeped. Bessie lowered her finger but kept her eyes on Julia as she reached for her phone. “Yeah? What? What’s he doing going up the A1? Well of course you should follow him!” She ended the call and glared at Julia. Julia held her breath as she caught a whiff of Bessie’s personal scent. Bessie said, “You’d better keep your nose out of my business. I could snap your skinny neck in two without breaking into a sweat.”

  Julia didn’t say anything. Bessie lumbered out of the room, leaving her scent behind. Julia let out the breath she was holding and ran to the window to see Bessie get into a rusty car and drive away.

  Julia took out her own phone. She knew where Seth was heading, she had to get there before Bessie did. And she needed help.

  Julia ended the call and was about to turn away. She tutted when she saw the mess that Bessie had left on Lesley’s carpet. She couldn’t leave it like that. Julia went into the kitchen and had a look around for cleaning materials. She did find them, but she found something else that made her heart sink.

  Julia’s eyes smarted as she cleaned up the mess. The one possibility that she’d avoiding thinking about now seemed to be the only possibility.

  Chapter 31

  Dad glanced over at Julia as he drove. “You’re very quiet, love.”

  Julia couldn’t meet his look. “I’m thinking.”

 
; Dad concentrated on the road. “Don’t worry about Big Bessie, I’m sure she’s all talk and no action.” He paused. “No, that’s not true, I’ve seen her in action. Do you think Seth was taking Lesley to his cabin?”

  “I think so, he was heading north according to Bessie’s brother. What did Mum say when you told her?”

  “She doesn’t believe there’s anything funny going on with Seth and Lesley. But she does think they’re hiding something. And so is Barney. He still refused to speak to your mum at the station. And that inspector friend of yours was no help.” He laughed. “She’s staying at the police station until she can speak to Barney. She’s as stubborn as you!”

  Julia wished Mum was in the car with them. She wished Mum could be the one who was going to have a difficult conversation soon. “Dad, what do you know about Lesley? I know her husband died a while ago, and that her son lives in Australia.”

  “Craig? Yes. You do know what happened to him when he was young, don’t you?”

  “No, what?”

  “You know that Barney walks with a limp.”

  “Yes. He saved a child’s life by throwing himself in front of a car, everyone knows that.”

  “But do you know whose life he saved?”

  Julia’s scalp suddenly prickled. In a quiet voice she said, “Was it Craig, Lesley’s son?”

  “It certainly was. Now you know why she and Barney are such good friends. She’ll do anything for Barney. According to your mum, who knows all the gossip, Lesley took Barney to evening classes when he needed a break from looking after his wife. Lesley took the evening classes too.”

  Julia’s heavy heart felt even heavier.

  Dad carried on, “Again, according to your mum, Lesley spent a lot of time listening to Seth talk about his loveless marriage.” Dad hesitated and frowned, as if not sure to go on. “I shouldn’t be telling you this, but seeing as you’ve got yourself involved in everyone’s business I may as well. A few years back, Seth was in a low state and he was going to take his own life. Lesley found him and talked him out of it. It wouldn’t surprise me if Lesley found that log cabin for Seth to retreat to. She’s a thoughtful woman.”

  Julia thought about that thoughtful woman. Lesley owed Barney a great debt, and Seth owed Lesley for saving his life. Things were starting to make sense now.

  Dad headed down a familiar road. “We’re nearly there. Will you send your mum a text to let her know? Ta. She wants us to text her after we’ve spoken to Lesley and Seth.” Dad peered ahead. “There’s his cabin, I can see Seth’s car but not any others. Let’s hope Big Bessie and her brother have got lost.”

  Dad pulled up outside Seth’s cabin. The daylight had almost gone. Dad switched off the engine and turned to Julia. His face dropped. “Oh! Julia! What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

  Julia wiped a tear away. “Dad, I need to tell you something before we go in.”

  She told Dad what she had discovered. Dad’s devastated expression matched her own as he listened. She ended by saying, “Dad, it all makes sense, doesn’t it?”

  He gave her a slow nod. “Unfortunately, it does. Come on, love, let’s go and have a chat with Seth and Lesley.”

  As soon as they stepped out of the car, a sombre-faced Seth opened the door to them. “I’m not in the mood for visitors. Can you leave me alone. Please.”

  Julia took a step closer. “Seth, we know that Lesley is in there.”

  Seth started to close the door. “Julia, this is none of your business.”

  Julia held her hands out, “Seth, I have to speak to Lesley. You know I have to. Please, let us come in.”

  Lesley came to stand at Seth’s side. A blanket was draped around her shoulders, her face pale and drawn. She said, “Seth, please let them in. It’s time.”

  “No!” Seth exploded.

  Lesley gently moved him out of the way and opened the door wider. She invited Julia and her dad in. They sat in the same chairs that they’d sat in on their previous visit. Lesley sat opposite them and pulled her blanket more firmly around her shoulders. She gave them a small smile and said, “I seem to be cold all the time nowadays.”

  Seth came to stand behind Lesley, he placed a protective hand on her shoulder.

  Julia looked at the woman in front of her, a woman she considered a friend. She didn’t know where to begin.

  Lesley said, “Julia, I can tell from your face that you know I killed Deborah Paignton.”

  Julia gave her a small nod, still unable to speak.

  Lesley continued, “I think you want to know why I did it.”

  Julia found her voice. “I think I’ve worked that part out.”

  Chapter 32

  Lesley pulled the blanket even tighter and said, “Do you want to begin? I’m finding it a bit of a struggle to talk. I’ll correct you if I need to.”

  Julia looked down at her knees. Her eyes were stinging. She blinked away a tear and looked back at Lesley. “I think you killed Deborah for a number of reasons. She was going to sack Barney. He’d saved your son’s life years ago and you felt that you owed him a great debt. You knew how much that job meant to him.”

  Lesley nodded. “You’re right. I tried to talk her out of it but all Deborah was concerned with was saving money.”

  Julia carried on. “You weren’t happy with how Deborah worked, she was upsetting everyone. Especially Seth. You two are close friends, you probably knew that he was stealing school property and giving it to his wife to sell on.”

  Seth looked away. “Lesley knew, she never said a word. I should never have got her involved in my problems.”

  Lesley looked up at him. “Of course I’d get involved in your problems. You were there for me when I needed to talk to someone about my late husband.” She turned back to Julia. “I could never convince him to leave that terrible wife of his though. I knew Deborah had found out what Seth was up to. She’d already planned to fire him. I was the one who warned him about it.”

  Julia said, “Did you know about Imogen Walters?”

  Lesley’s face twisted in disgust. “Did I know that Deborah’s repulsive husband was blackmailing that poor woman? Yes, I did. I tried to bring the subject up with Imogen many times but she wouldn’t listen. I could see how frightened she was. I couldn’t believe that Deborah and her husband could stoop so low.”

  “Imogen has reported Melvin Paignton to the police. Imogen’s not sure if Deborah knew about the blackmailing,” Julia said.

  Lesley frowned. “I’m not sure I believe that. I saw how she watched him when he was looking at other women. She must have known something was going on. How could Deborah turn a blind eye to that?”

  Julia shook her head. “Perhaps she didn’t know, I suppose we’ll never know for certain. Lesley, did you go to evening classes with Barney?”

  “Yes. And I know your next question. Did I go to winemaking classes with him? Again, yes. I made six bottles of blackberry wine. I’ve still got five bottles in a cupboard in my kitchen.”

  Julia knew that, she’d seen them when she was looking for cleaning materials.

  Lesley twisted a section of the blanket, her knuckles were white. “That bottle on the tombola stand was one of mine. I’d made that wine and given it to Deborah as a present. Then she had the nerve to donate it to the tombola stall! How insulting is that? She knew I was going to be in charge of the tombola stall, she knew I’d see it! It was like she didn’t care about anyone at all!”

  “When did you poison the wine?” Dad asked. He’d been so quiet that Julia had forgotten he was there.

  “I took the wine home with me on Thursday night with all the other tombola donations. I placed tickets on them all. I was going to make sure that Deborah won that wine. I was furious with her! Seth had walked out that week, Barney was happily oblivious in his work, and poor Imogen was run ragged trying to do everything that Deborah demanded of her.

  “I had a word with Deborah before the fair began and suggested that she start the fair off by having a g
o on our tombola stall. I can still see the look of shock on her face when she won my wine.” Lesley paused. “Julia, I’m sorry for getting you involved in all of this.”

  Julia didn’t speak.

  Lesley carried on, “After you placed the wine in Deborah’s office I began to have doubts about killing her.” Her face twisted in hate. “Then she sacked Barney in front of everyone. That was the last straw for me. My plan was for Deborah and her disgusting husband to share the wine at home. But then I thought she might just throw my wine away. I went to her office after the fair and told her what a success it was. You should have seen her face! As if the success was all down to her. I forced a smile on my face and insisted that we celebrate with a glass of the blackberry wine. I quickly poured two glasses and forced one on her. I never let on for a moment that I knew it was my wine.”

  “The coaster,” Julia pointed out. “If Deborah had poured the wine, she would have put it back on the coaster. You told the police that the wine had already been poured, they assumed it had been poured by Deborah.”

  Lesley nodded. “I had to lie. And I had to take a small sip of the wine so that the police wouldn’t suspect me. And it worked.” She looked towards the far side of the room. “Then things started to go wrong. Seth went missing just when I needed to confide in him, Barney wasn’t ever going to get his job back, and Imogen was still being blackmailed.”

  Julia added, “And your health got worse. I heard you talking on the phone to your doctor, I know he’s a cancer specialist. Lesley, have you got cancer?”

  Lesley looked back at Julia. “I have. That’s the main reason that I had for killing Deborah, I wanted to stop her plans. I knew I had nothing to lose. I wanted to help my friends one last time. I knew the police would work it out eventually, with your help, Julia. That’s why I insisted on having you on my stall. I was intending to confess to the police soon.”

  “What about your son? What will he think?”