Jasper looked at Melissa. “It’s not something you would enjoy. So I don’t mind if you would rather soak in a nice hot tub.”
Melissa wanted her alibi and not a nice hot tub, but she didn’t want to raise any alarms so she said she would go and visit her Mum instead, which raised more of a query with Jasper than she intended. She avoided her family like the plague, and he knew it. She explained that she missed her mother’s birthday, and that she had to go see her. Jasper nodded and eventually let it go.
The cars were taking up most of his attention anyways. Melissa turned on her heel and left. There was a silence after the door closed.
Brandy broke it. “Sorry, we seem to have caused a problem for you.”
“Don’t worry.” He answered. “The cars are important. I have to get my priorities right. Uncle Jules will not release the money unless all the right paperwork is in place and from the right companies.” They gathered things together and left in Jasper’s car.
The garage was in a business park with many motor firms in evidence. Jasper realised he would not have known which one to choose left to his own devices. The one they entered was slightly less showy than some, but the man who had stayed behind to meet them was about Jazz’ own age and smartly dressed. He greeted Brandy with a big hug and shook hands with Annabel and Jasper. They sat in his office. The coffee machine was put to use and Jasper outlined what he planned and what he was after.
Martin Berryman listened attentively and smiled. “I think you might be pleased you came.” He said. “Yesterday we took in a stretch limo and I haven’t had one for years. Lucky coincidence. Come and have a look.” He stood up and they followed him through to the garage behind the showroom.
There it stood. A Mercedes stretch limo in white. Not new, but in good condition and capable of being transformed. Jasper opened the driver’s door and slipped inside. The leather was well used, but intact. Martin handed him the key to try the engine. It purred into life and a smile the size of the Golden Gate Bridge spread over his face. “Great.” He said. “How much is it?”
They retired back to the office and the man told them he knew where there was a Bentley for sale that might be what he needed as well, and so the two men talked cars in depth for some time.
Brandy looked across at Annabel. It was obvious that Jasper Conroy was happy in this situation with cars. It was his natural environment. They waited patiently and the two men came to a general agreement and arranged to meet again. Jasper was delighted and drove the two girls to a small restaurant with a big local reputation. The evening had gone well and the three friends were relaxed. Jasper was not surprised to find Melissa had not returned when he got home just after midnight and looked at his figures before climbing into bed.
As Jasper drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face, Vinnie Bart climbed over the fence at the back of Julian Conroy’s property. The man was not an enthusiast about technical things and Vinnie knew there were no cameras about. He gained the back of the house without problems and set about breaking in.
Vinnie Bart was no expert, scratched, and scraped around for some time until the window gave way and gave him access. He climbed in and pulled in the bag with rat poison inside. It had never crossed his mind that poison might be hard to administer in a break-in situation. Inside his head he had thought that maybe a pillow over the face might be the best way if the old man was asleep in bed and the rat poison was back up. He did have a knife as well, tucked into his belt, and he felt as if he was tooled up as they say in the movies.
Vinnie put the bag down and drew out the knife because he was feeling a bit nervous. The thought of the ten thousand pounds that Melissa had promised him kept him going, and he opened the door to the living area. All was quiet. He checked the other downstairs’ rooms. He quietly climbed the stairs and tried three bedrooms in a row, which all turned out to be empty.
Vinnie was becoming more confident and opened the fourth bedroom door. He stopped short to be confronted by Julian Conroy right in front of him with a gun in his hand pointed straight at Vinnie Bart.
Vinnie raised his hands as if in surrender, but Julian thought he was raising his arm to throw the knife and he shot the intruder in the chest. Vinnie crumpled to the floor and Julian stepped forward still pointing the gun, but he could not have missed at that range. He knew that the intruder was dead.
The knife was still in the hand of the dead man. Julian Conroy called the police. He could see that he had shot in self-defence, but stepped over the man after making the phone call to check that he did not have a partner waiting downstairs. Julian kept the gun pointed ahead of him just in case. The man might be elderly and ill, but a gun in the hand does give you an advantage. Conroy had not become a self-made millionaire by giving in to threats.
Downstairs he found the bag with rat poison and decided to hide it away. Someone had come to his house intending to end his life, and Julian decided to find out who. He heard the sirens of the police cars approaching and went to the door to let them in. He was good at keeping his own counsel.
The detectives who arrived were efficient, considerate, and well aware that this man was important in his field and also elderly. In truth, Julian was feeling a bit shaky now that there were officials in the house. “Can we ring someone for you?” Detective Jansen asked. Julian gave them Jasper’s number.
Once he had come out of his sleepy state, Jasper threw on some clothes and was at his uncle’s house in ten minutes.
He ran inside and was stopped by a police officer. “Identify yourself, Sir.” He said. Jasper jabbered out his name and relationship.
Julian heard his nephew and appeared in dressing gown to tell the officer that his nephew had been asked to come.
“What happened?” Was Jasper’s first question. His uncle said that he had shot an intruder who had a knife and the man was dead.
“An intruder. Oh My God. Where is he?”
The detective asked Jasper to take his uncle into the living room, so that the forensic people and the doctor could do their jobs. Julian sank into a chair and Jasper brought him a glass of brandy. He sipped it and colour started to return to his face.
“Tell me what happened.” He said.
Detective Jansen was still there, the police officer thought it would be a good idea to hear the man’s story anyway. He sat down and flipped out a notebook. “Your nephew is right, Sir. Tell us both what happened.”
Julian thought back a moment and then told them that he had gone to bed and watched some television, but when he switched it off he thought he had heard something. “I listened quietly for a while.” He said. “Then I took the gun from the bedside drawer. I have a licence.” He looked at Jansen who nodded. “I could hear the other bedroom doors being opened and when my own door opened, I stood and pointed the gun at him. He stopped and then raised his hand with the knife in it. I thought he was going to throw it at me, so I fired.” He paused. “Couldn’t miss really at that range, but I didn’t mean to kill him.”
“Had you ever seen the man before?” Jansen asked but Julian said the man was a complete stranger.
Another officer came in and handed a paper to Jansen. He read it and said. “Apparently called Jack Cartwright, but went by Vinnie Bart.” His fingerprints were on record, so identity was easy. Does it ring any bells for you?” Both Julian and Jasper shook their heads.
Jansen said, “He has a record of working for a bookie as a sort of guard.”
“Do you think it was a robbery?” Jasper asked the detective and was told the usual answer about an on-going investigation. “But on the face of it, you’re right, looks like a robbery gone wrong.” He turned to Julian. “I think you should have a medical check-up, Sir. How do you feel?” Julian said he was fine, but would have his own doctor run a check.
“We’ll be a little while yet, but if you can stay in here until we remove the body, that would help.” Jansen said. “We’ll be as quick as possible.” The detective
went out. Julian said he would stay.
“I’ll ring Annabel as well. We need to make sure you are safe.” Jasper said pulling out his phone and Julian asked him to ring Henry de Lando as well.
When Annabel’s phone rang, it was Brandy who answered. “Oh my goodness.” She said when she heard the news. “Annabel is in a plane on her way to London. She was called out to work. I was staying here anyway. I’m on my way over.” Jasper rang off and relayed the news to his uncle. Then he rang the doctor who also said he was on his way.
Jasper said, “Tell me again exactly what happened.” The older man went through it all again. He loved his nephew very much, but still kept the rat poison and bag to himself for the time being. His mind was working again after the initial shock and he had started wondering who had sent the man to his house.
The doctor arrived after dressing hastily and came in with his bag and Julian’s usual medications. He took his patient’s pulse, checked his heart rate and blood pressure. “You seem remarkably well considering.” He admitted.
Chapter 5
The doctor wanted to hear the story as well and by the time it was retold Julian Conroy was feeling more like himself. Henry insisted on giving him something to make him sleep. “It will take a little while to take effect. When you do finally get to bed, it should let you drift nicely into a normal sleep.”
Jasper said that he would stay over and make sure everything was settled. Brandy said that she would feel better if she stayed as well.
“I will ring Annabel first thing and update her but tonight I’ll do what she would have done.”
Julian said, “Thanks for that, my dear. You don’t need to do this, but it is so kind of you to offer.”
The doctor said he would come back in the morning to do another check, and the detective looked in to say that the body was removed and they had cleared up as best they could.
“I will come back and go over things again with you tomorrow, but I think you need to rest.”
“My family is going to stay with me.” Julian told him and the police left them in peace.
The doctor followed them out.
Jasper said that he would go and see what damage was done. Brandy came with him and they saw that there were some bloodstains on the floor beside the door.
“I’ll find a rug to cover that.” Brandy said. She looked in the next room. When the mark was covered, they tidied up the room and told Julian he could make it back to bed if he was ready.
“I will feel better knowing the two of you are in the house.” He said and they helped him up the stairs.
“Let’s have a coffee.” Brandy said heading for the kitchen. The two of them sat in the kitchen and went over what had happened.
“The police have boarded up the window where he came in.” Jasper said as he took the mug of coffee. “What a day. What an evening and now what a night.” He flopped down on a chair and thought hard about the whole day. Then he made a decision.
“Brandy. We’ve known each other for a long time.” She nodded. “I am going to lumber you with some knowledge you might rather not have.” Brandy raised her eyebrows and waited. “Melissa said she knew someone who would kill people for money. She wanted to make uncle’s end come quicker than it would naturally.” Brandy’s mouth dropped wide open. “I know.” Jasper went on. “It is very hard to believe, but do you think she----“ He left the question hanging in the air. “I will have to end the relationship. I had already decided that, but…”
“Oh My God.” She said as the full impact hit her. “You mean she might have set that in motion, and then wormed her way into a marriage with you- for the money. Oh My God.” Brandy clapped her hand over her mouth. “Things like that don’t happen in our world.”
“I know.” He said. “I had to talk to somebody. I’m sorry to land it on you. She was away yesterday. Don’t know where.”
“It could simply be coincidence.” Brandy said trying to put a reasonable face on the situation.
“It could.” Jasper agreed. “She has gone to see her mother tonight. That in itself is unusual. They don’t get along at all.”
“If she returns tomorrow what will you do?” Brandy queried.
“I’ll tell her it’s over and I don’t want to see her anymore.” He hesitated. “I think it was probably going to come to that anyway. I’ve been putting off the tantrums it will start.”
“Well that’s a good thing.” Brandy said with a grin. “Annabel and I think she’s awful.”
“I know that.” Jazz grinned back. “Thanks for listening. Let’s sort bedrooms and tomorrow we can offer to take Uncle to see the limo. It’ll take his mind off it.”
As they headed upstairs, Brandy took his hand. “It will work out.” She said sympathetically, but she felt a frisson of electricity run up her arm from his touch.
He rubbed his hand as if he had felt the same sensation and as they parted into separate rooms, he brushed his lips over her cheek and said, “Thanks for being here.”
“No problem, Jazz.” She answered and felt the tingling from the brush of his lips as she closed her bedroom door. Jasper lay a long time listening to any movement in the house even though the burglar was gone and the window boarded up. He thought about Melissa and the more he thought, the more he wondered how far she would actually go to get what she wanted.
The morning found Jasper up early because he wanted to ring Mrs. Cooper, the housekeeper, to forewarn her about what had happened. Brandy knocked on Mr. Conroy’s bedroom door and asked if he would like breakfast in bed. He called her to come in and said thanks, but he would get dressed and be down in ten minutes for his usual toast and coffee. She went down to join Jasper.
“Mrs. Cooper will be here at nine as usual.” He told her.
She replied that his uncle would be down in ten minutes. “He seems none the worse.” She finished. Then added, ”I’ll ring Annabel now before she gets into work.”
These jobs done, they made coffee and toast, found cereal in the cupboard, and were settled at the kitchen table when Uncle Julian arrived down the stairs. He told them he felt fine and started on his breakfast.
“I guess the police will be back in touch this morning.” Jasper started.
Brandy chimed in, “We wondered if after lunch you would like to go and see a limo and the Bentley. The two of us are going and it might be nice to get out.”
“What do you think?” Jasper asked and the old man smiled at them both.
“Thank you both.” He said “For staying and for thinking about me. Yes, I would love to see the cars. I will let Henry fuss and give me a check-up this morning and then enjoy a trip out this afternoon.”
Jasper told him he would go home this morning and come back after lunch. Brandy said she would stay until the doctor arrived and then do the same. Jasper patted his uncle on the shoulder and greeted Mrs. Cooper who had arrived as they spoke.
Then he left to find Melissa. He was not looking forward to the task. Brandy watched him go with sympathy on her face that did not go unnoticed by Julian. “What are you worrying about?” He asked.
After a pause she told him that Jasper was going to tell Melissa it was all over. “It will not be pleasant.” She finished.
“But the right thing to do.” Julian Conroy replied and poured another coffee.
The detectives did arrive mid-morning and asked lots of questions as they went over the ground all over again. The man was dead, but the evidence was so clear that it seemed they would be able to close the case quickly. Julian had a licence for guns from when he had owned a farm. The intruder clearly had a knife and because of Mr. Conroy’s age and health, they would try to clear everything up with as little bother as possible.
The doctor arrived at that point and gave his evidence to the officers about Julian’s health. “Fortunately his heart is strong and got him over the shock of someone breaking in.” He told them, but gave the information that Julian did not have a
great deal of time left to live. The police left with all the information they needed.
Brandy had been part of this and then said she would go and come back after lunch. Henry De Lando accepted an invitation to stay for something to eat and the two men settled down to go over all of the things that had happened.
Julian told the doctor that Brandy thought that Jasper would tell Melissa to go and not come back. “Thank goodness.” He added. The doctor nodded. Then Julian said that he was going to alter his will and asked Henry to ring the lawyer for him and make an appointment for some time in the next few days.
That done and Marlon Corbett booked for two days hence, the doctor took his leave and Julian climbed the stairs to change into something for his rare trip out.
Chapter 6
Jasper found Melissa back in the apartment and ready to throw herself into his arms. She twined her arms around his neck and said “Oh Babes, it has been so long. I thought you would never get here.”
Jasper disentangled her arms from his neck and held her off. “There’s no easy way to say this, Melissa, but this is not working any longer for me. I’m sorry but it’s over. If you have things here you want to put together and take away, do that. I’m sorry.” He said again.
He was sorry. Jasper Conroy never wanted to hurt people. He always avoided arguments like the plague and that was probably why the girl had lasted as long as she had. The thought that she might plot his uncle’s murder was unthinkable.
Melissa stood for a moment as she took in the impact of what he was saying and then she screamed at him. “You nasty, useless excuse for a man. Do you know how many opportunities I have turned down just to be with you? No. I’ve put up with your cars, your bloody uncle, your snooty family, and your miserable, boring personality. You can’t even stand up for yourself with an old man.” She slammed into the bedroom and threw things into a bag.
Jasper said nothing in return and watched her as she stormed around. He said mildly as she paused for breath.
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