by Agatha Frost
“Isn’t Dom a bit young for you?” Barker asked with a wink.
Julia nudged him in the ribs with her elbow before they took up the two free seats on the couch. She looked at the TV, her head resting against Barker’s shoulder. She tried to focus on the moving pictures, but her mind was somewhere else entirely.
Even though she only liked Johnny as a friend, he was a good friend, and one of only a handful of people she could say she had known and liked her whole life. If people at the station were hoping to pin the guilt on him, it only made her even more determined to discover the truth.
For tonight, however, it could wait. She sunk into Barker’s side as the setting sun washed her cottage in its brilliant orange and pink hue. She was going to spend the rest of the fading evening enjoying the patchwork family that had formed around her.
5
“I can’t believe you’re getting involved in another murder,” Sue, Julia’s sister, said as they walked back from The Comfy Corner after their usual weekly catch-up. “Have you ever considered that you’re putting yourself in danger for no reason? I want my avocados to have their Auntie Julia in their lives.”
Sue rubbed her growing baby bump through her blouse. She was now sixteen weeks pregnant, and she was positively radiant, despite carrying twins. Her skin and hair were glowing in a way Julia had never seen before, and her cheeks and chest were starting to fill out to match her pert bump.
“It’s not like the other times,” Julia said as they headed towards Mulberry Lane. “This is Johnny’s case. I’m just tagging along and doing what I can.”
“You found a man’s body!” Sue exclaimed with a strained laugh, her cheeks flushing. “Sometimes I think you’re too macabre, Julia. It’s not healthy.”
“I don’t go searching for death.”
“No, but it somehow always finds you.”
They turned onto Mulberry Lane, which was the oldest known street in Peridale. It wound like a snake, twisting and turning in an organic way. Its seventeenth century cottages had survived two world wars, storms and floods, and yet their sagging roofs and crumbling Cotswold stone exteriors were almost unchanged. Most of the cottages had been converted into small boutiques, with flats above them. Unlike the heart of the village where Julia’s café was, Mulberry Lane attracted a wealthier clientele, most of whom travelled from out of the village.
After browsing Tiny Threads, a small baby clothes boutique with overpriced outfits, they headed to the antique barn at the end of the lane. Julia’s stomach clenched when she saw their father talking to a customer. It had been so many years since he had worked in the barn, it felt odd to see him back in his old position. It dragged up memories of their father burying himself in his work after their mother died, which resulted in his daughters being raised by their gran. Julia pushed those memories back, remembering he was not that man anymore. Over the last few months, he had been trying his best to be part of their lives since taking over the business after his old business partner, Anthony Kennedy, had been murdered. Just knowing her father was spending more time in the village and less time cooped up in Peridale Manor settled Julia. It had been nice passing him in the street, and she still felt an almost childlike excitement when he walked unexpectedly into her café, something he had rarely done in the two years since it had opened.
“Girls!” he exclaimed when he spotted them. “What a lovely surprise. Here to do some shopping? I can give you a good discount. I’ve just had a beautiful grandfather clock come in that I think will suit your cottage, Julia.”
“We’re just passing,” Julia said, holding out the small bag she had been carrying. “We had dinner at The Comfy Corner, and I thought I’d drop in a slice of cheesecake.”
“Katie will kill me if she finds out,” he whispered with a playful wink as he accepted the bag. “But what she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.”
“How’s the baby?” Sue asked as she rubbed her own stomach.
Julia could hear the strain in Sue’s voice despite her friendly smile. It had been a blow to the both of them when they had found out their father’s wife, Katie, was pregnant and carrying their baby brother. Katie being the same age as Julia did not help matters either, but Sue’s discovery that she was carrying twins had made her feel like she had the upper-hand over their step-mother. For the sake of the next generation, they were all trying their hardest to build bridges before the babies arrived.
“They’re both doing really well,” he said as he peeked into the bag. “She’s eating everything in the kitchen, which is ironic because she’s got me on a diet. No gluten, no sugar, no wheat, no dairy, and –”
“No fun?” Sue jumped in.
“I’m allowed a piece of fruit in the evening,” he said with flared nostrils as he ran his hands through his thick hair. “I feel like a rabbit, but it’s for the baby. I’m already up against it with my age, so I want to be here for as long as possible.”
Julia was surprised by how selfless he was being, especially considering how little he had been in their lives. She was glad the new baby would benefit from having two parents.
Leaving their father to finish up for the day, they headed back down Mulberry Lane. They both paused when they came to the florists, Pretty Petals. A man in a wheelchair struggled to push himself through the doorway. Without needing to think about it, Julia and Sue both hurried over and held the door open for him. The man wheeled over the threshold, smiling his thanks behind obvious embarrassment.
“You never know how difficult this village is until you see it from my level,” he grumbled as he ran his gloved hands over his bald head, glancing over his shoulder to the owner of the florists, Harriet, who was fiddling with the pencils in her hair, unaware of her customer’s struggle. “This is why I don’t go out much.”
“I can’t imagine it’s easy getting in and out of these old buildings,” Julia said as she glanced down at the bouquet of white lilies on the man’s lap. “White lilies.”
“Mum’s favourite,” Sue whispered with a half-smile. “You have good taste.”
“They’re my wife’s favourite,” he mumbled, his eyes dropping to the flowers. “Well, they were.”
Julia and Sue glanced at each other, both unsure of what to say. Julia opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn’t find the right words. The man looked like he was only in his late-fifties. He was slender, his top-heavy frame hinting at many years spent in the chair. He had a kind, open face, but his pale green eyes were filled with sadness. Whoever he had lost, it must have been recent.
“Our mum is gone too,” Sue offered. “It gets easier with time.”
“Does it?” the man asked with a disbelieving laugh. “It feels like everywhere I look there’s a reminder. I can’t even look out of the window without seeing her in the garden. She spent most of her time there.” He paused and considered his words for a moment before looking up at the two women with a kinder smile. “Thanks for your help. I’d better set off. My daughter will be wondering where I am.”
With a firm grip, the man pushed himself down the winding lane until he reached Ladies Locker, one of the many boutique clothes shops. He rested outside and then waved through the window. Seconds later, a young black woman emerged, wearing a pale blue apron over her clothes. She hadn’t bought anything, so her hands were free, but instead of pushing the man, she walked alongside him, talking down to him as they headed up the lane.
“I think that’s Yolanda Turner’s husband and daughter,” Julia thought aloud, “He said he couldn’t look out of the window without seeing her in the garden. He must’ve been talking about Yolanda’s flowers.”
“Poor guy,” Sue said with a sigh. “Sometimes I think we were lucky with Mum. At least cancer gives you a warning and some time to prepare. Crashing your car into a tree is so final. I should head home. We’ve got the antenatal class at the village hall at six. I think Neil is keener than I am. Sitting in a circle panting and breathing with my legs spread is not my idea of a fun evening.”<
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They reached the top of the lane, kissed each other on the cheek, and then parted ways. Julia glanced at her watch as she headed back into the village. If she hurried, she could help Jessie clear up before closing the café.
Julia rounded the corner onto the street where Edgar’s cottage was. She paused to stare through the windows, her stomach turning uneasily. She had been trying not to blame herself for the poor man’s death, but she could not help thinking that if she had been a little faster, she might have been able to save the man’s life.
“It’s a terrible shame,” a voice cooed from behind her. “It’s no way to go.”
Julia turned quickly, unsure of where the voice had come from. She stepped forward, peering over the wall surrounding Evelyn’s B&B. Julia let out a sigh of relief when she saw Evelyn sitting amongst her wild flowers. She was wearing a yellow turban with a matching kaftan, her legs crossed with the soles of her feet pointing up to the sky. Her hands rested in her lap, opening them to reveal a large crystal. She smiled up at Julia without opening her eyes.
“Did you know Edgar well?” Julia asked as she leaned against the wall.
Evelyn began to hum, and she started to rock back and forth in a circular motion. Julia wondered if the B&B owner had even heard her, or if she was too deep in her trance. Julia considered walking away to leave her to her meditation, but Evelyn sprung up suddenly like a clockwork toy. She lifted the crystal to the sky, reached up on her tiptoes and let out a groan before doubling over. She bobbed up and down before standing up normally to look Julia in the eyes with a peaceful smile.
“Hold this,” Evelyn said, offering Julia the lilac crystal. “I’ve loaded it with the energy of the universe. It will help your guilt subside.”
“How do you know I feel guilty?” Julia asked as she accepted the crystal, unsure of what to do with it.
“I saw it in the cards,” Evelyn said with a knowing nod. “Feel better?”
Julia looked down at the glittering piece of rock. She waited for a sense of calm to wash over her, but nothing came.
“Maybe I’m not in tune enough for this,” Julia said with a shrug as she passed it back.
“You just need to unblock your chakras,” Evelyn said with another knowing nod. “I have some amazing tea inside that will help. I bought it from some monks in Tibet on one of my travels. It’s not technically legal, but it will take you on a journey you’ll never forget.”
“I’m okay, for now,” Julia said with an awkward smile, hoping Evelyn was not offended that Julia did not want any of her illegal hallucinogenic Tibetan tea. “I should get back to the café.”
“You asked if I knew Edgar,” Evelyn said, stepping barefoot over a patch of nettles. “I knew him as much as a neighbour would, but nothing more. I always sensed his aura was pure at the Green Fingers’ meetings.”
Julia suddenly remembered seeing Evelyn at the meeting. She looked around her garden, but it did not look like it had ever been tended to. It was beautiful in its own way, even if it did not possess any of the thought or refinement of the other Green Fingers’ gardens she had seen. It was wild and unruly.
“Have you been a member for long?” Julia asked, eager to find out more about the dynamics of the club.
“I dip in and out when I’m not travelling,” Evelyn said with a wave of her hand. “They mock my holistic approach to my garden.”
“Holistic gardening?”
“I don’t cut the plants,” Evelyn said as though it should have been obvious. “I let them decide how they want to grow. Don’t you think it’s a little barbaric to trim off their leaves? How would you like it if I cut off your toes and ears because I thought you were prettier that way?”
Julia laughed awkwardly, but she immediately stopped when Evelyn did not join in. Julia straightened out her expression as she looked around Evelyn’s garden once more.
“It is very pretty,” she said feebly. “What you do really works.”
“Thank you,” Evelyn said with a wide grin as she rested her hand on her chest. “I like to think so. I spiritually guide them the best I can, but every living thing has its own destiny. Emily thinks it’s a load of codswallop. She even went as far as threatening to kick me out because she didn’t see the point! Yolanda never questioned me.”
“Is Emily a tough president?”
“I think dictator is the right term,” Evelyn said with a sigh. “It’s all rather oppressive. If it wasn’t for the magazine, I might have left by now. Ten thousand pounds is ten thousand pounds. I’m not one for material wealth, but just think of the places I could visit with that money.”
“It is a lot of money,” Julia agreed.
“Far too much for a prize, if you ask me,” Evelyn whispered as she leaned in. “It’s changing people. Somebody tossed oil over my gardenias, but I’m not surprised they were sabotaged before the judging.”
“Emily did mention that she really wanted to win,” Julia thought aloud. “You don’t think –”
“That Emily sabotaged my garden?” Evelyn jumped in. “The cards did say I would be betrayed by a leader. Yes, perhaps she did.”
When the conversation turned to the weather and local gossip, Julia excused herself to set off back to her café. Before she reached the door, she spotted the man in the wheelchair and the young woman heading in the direction of St. Peter’s Church. They passed through the gravestones before pausing to lay down the flowers. Neither of them tried to force back their tears as they held each other.
Not wanting to stare, Julia turned to her café, her hand closing around the door handle. She cast one more look their way, but something else caught her eye. The village hall door opened and Emily and Amy slipped out. They were talking to each other, Emily’s hands flapping as though she was telling Amy off for something. They headed for the exit of the church grounds, but when Emily spotted the man and young woman at the gravestone, she put her hand in front of Amy. They retreated into the shadows of the church where they waited until the young woman pushed the man out of the church grounds as he sobbed into his gloved hands. When they crept out of the shadows, they hurried back into the village hall, closing the door softly behind them.
“What are you doing?” Jessie asked through the window, making Julia jump.
“Observing,” Julia replied as she hurried into the café. “There’s something going on in that club, and I think it’s the key to figuring out these murders.”
6
Leaving Jessie in charge of the café, Julia met Johnny for lunch in The Plough the next afternoon. She had not been surprised to receive a phone call from him soon after sunrise asking to meet. When she asked what he wanted to discuss, he had told her he did not want to talk about it over the phone. She had wondered if he thought her phone had been bugged, or if it was because he had somehow sensed that Barker had been lying next to her, even though he had been fast asleep.
To Julia’s relief, Johnny looked like he had slept since their last meeting, even if he did not look entirely himself. As soon as they were sitting, Johnny pulled a thick pile of paperwork from his canvas bag.
“I’ve been digging,” he said as Julia cast her eyes over the pub’s lunchtime menu. “I’ve been collecting every scrap of information I can find on the three victims.”
“And?” Julia asked, looking up hopefully. “Anything good?”
“Nothing!” he exclaimed. “Parking tickets, marriage certificates, tax returns, ancient out-dated qualifications, but nothing to link them, apart from being a part of the Peridale Green Fingers.”
“Founding members too.”
“I’d figured that part out,” he said with a sigh as he sat back in his chair underneath a dreary watercolour painting of Peridale’s surrounding countryside. “These people led normal, dare I say it, dull lives. The most exciting thing any of them ever did was garden. There’s nothing to suggest any of them did anything offensive enough to warrant being murdered.”
“Sometimes the facts say one thing, bu
t it is not the whole picture,” Julia said as she settled on fish and chips along with half a pint of Peridale Smooth lager. “For example, on paper, I’m a divorcee who runs a café, has a mortgage, and a foster daughter, but in reality, there’s so much more to me than the facts.”
“That is true, in your case at least,” Johnny said. “On paper, I’m an English Language graduate who works at a newspaper, and in reality, I’m – well, I’m just an English Language graduate who works at a newspaper. There’s nothing more to me, I’m afraid.”
“Of course there is,” Julia said reassuringly. “You’re a sweet guy with a kind heart who picked up a case nobody else believed in.”
“Did you believe me?”
Julia looked guiltily down at the menu. She was not about to lie to Johnny, but she did not know how to frame her answer without upsetting him. When she opened her mouth in hopes that something interesting would fall out, she was saved when Shelby, the feisty landlady, came over to take their orders. Johnny asked for the exact same order as Julia’s; he hadn’t even looked at the menu.
“Please tell me you have something,” Johnny said as he cleaned his glasses on a napkin. “I feel like I’m running on empty, and now that the police are sniffing around me, there’s even more pressure to nail this.”
“I have a plant in the club,” Julia said hopefully. “I convinced my gran to join. She wasn’t keen at first, but after Edgar died, I think she saw an opportunity to grasp some glory.”
“Has she discovered anything yet?”
“She says they argue a lot,” Julia said. “Mainly about the best types of feed for different flowers, but she says there’s definitely a lot of tension in the group, and it seems to be directed at Emily.”
“Their new president,” Johnny said with a nod. “She’s your neighbour. What do you know about the woman?”
