Julia flapped a hand at him. “It doesn’t matter. It’s all for a good cause. Did Kayla stay long last night? Did you get plenty of knitting done?”
Cain looked swiftly out of the window. “Would you mind if we didn’t talk about Kayla and knitting?”
Julia noticed the wobble in his voice. She wanted to quiz him and find out exactly what that evil woman had done to him. Instead, she said, “Okay. Let’s put the radio on. If you want to talk to me later, you can do.”
“Thanks,” Cain muttered.
Julia put the radio on and drove away. “I never got the chance to tell you about my visit to Denise’s salon yesterday. I met her husband. Do you want me to tell you about it? I made a bit of a fool of myself, as usual.”
Cain turned his face in her direction and gave her a small smile. “What did you do this time?”
Julia gave him all the details as they drove along. Cain’s eyes widened as she told him about the private conversation she’d heard between Denise and Selby. His eyes nearly popped out of his head when she told him what Ivy had said about Blanche’s past. She was careful not to mention Kayla at all.
Cain said, “What do you think it all means? What kind of business do you think Selby was going on about?”
“I did a bit of snooping last night. The sisters own buildings in town. Well, I had a look at the buildings on street view and there aren’t any billboards on any of them. I looked at other buildings alongside them and all of them have advertising of some sort on them. And a lot of them have adverts for Denise’s salon. I think Selby might have asked the Cartwright sisters if he could put advertising billboards on their buildings. They’re in prime locations.”
“Wow. That could mean a lot of business for Selby. Would the sisters get anything in return?”
“Oh, yes. Selby would have to pay quite a lot to rent advertising space on their buildings. It would have been easy profit for them.”
“I wonder why they said no?”
“From what I gather, I think Blanche was in charge of making business decisions. Maybe she thought the adverts looked tacky.”
Cain added, “Or maybe she didn’t like Selby Kemp for some reason.”
“I think a lot of people don’t like Selby Kemp. He said the salon business had been suffering these last six months. Putting those adverts up on the sisters’ buildings would have helped Selby’s business. No wonder he was annoyed if Blanche said no.”
They were silent for a minute or two. Then Cain said, “This is all supposing on your part, Julia. You don’t know for certain that any of this happened.”
Julia wrinkled her nose and smiled. “Yes, I know. But it does sound a possibility, doesn’t it? Selby could have gone round to Cartwright Manor on the night of the knitting class and had an argument with Henrietta upstairs. That could have been what Dad heard. Selby might have been telling Henrietta to change her sister’s mind about the billboards, or else. He could have come back the following morning and confronted Blanche. She said no. He was furious. He killed her, knowing that Henrietta would be in charge now.” She shook her head. “I’m letting my imagination run away with me now. If Blanche didn’t like the idea of advertising Denise and Selby’s salon, then I’m sure Henrietta wouldn’t go along with it either.”
“Erm, Julia. Look.” Cain pointed to a building at the side of the road. “Is that one of the sisters’ buildings?”
Julia’s mouth dropped open as she gawped at the building. She nodded.
Cain spoke again, “And that looks like an advert for Denise and Selby’s salon those men are putting up.”
Julia continued to gawp. She snapped her mouth shut and put her attention back on her driving. Her hands tightened on the wheel. “You know what this means, Cain?”
Cain folded his arms. “I certainly do. Selby Kemp killed Blanche Cartwright. What are we going to do about it?”
“I’ll let DI Clarke know. There’s something else to consider. Does Henrietta know it was Selby who killed Blanche? Is she covering up for him? Or, has Selby threatened to kill Henrietta too if she doesn’t go along with his advertising plans? Is Henrietta Cartwright in danger now?”
Chapter 21
Julia phoned DI Clarke as soon as they reached their first cleaning job. She got his answering service. She left him a short message asking him to contact her. She had no idea whether he would or not. She was sure she’d run into him at some point soon. She always did in the days following a murder. She wouldn’t be surprised if the inspector was keeping an eye on her. Perhaps he had some of his officers following her right at this moment.
Cain cheered up as they started on their cleaning work. He whistled a happy tune as he wiped down the window frames. Julia didn’t want to spoil his good mood by asking about Kayla again, so she busied herself with the polishing of some silverware.
As they drove to their next house, Cain said happily, “I do love cleaning things. It always makes me feel better. I feel like I have some control over things in my life when I clean. I like things to be clean and organised. Do you feel like that too?”
“I do. There’s nothing like having a good scrub when you’ve got something on your mind.” She hesitated. “Have you got something on your mind?”
“I’ve got too many things on my mind. I like cleaning, but I like gardening too. It’s so peaceful when I’m in my garden. No one is making demands on you.”
“Is someone making demands on you?” It was nice that Cain was opening up, but he was taking a long time to tell her what the precise problem was.
Cain laughed. “My weeds are making a demand on me! The cheeky things. I blink and another weed pops up.” He picked at a bit of fluff on his trousers. “I know I need to be patient but do you think any of our clients will let me work on their gardens? I know you only asked them last week. Have you heard anything yet?”
“People are definitely interested. In fact, have a look on my phone. I got a couple of texts last night. You’ll recognise our clients’ names in the texts. I don’t mind you reading them. They want you to give them a quote.”
Cain’s face lit up. “Really?” Then his face dropped. “But how much should I charge? Do I need to get proper business cards and everything?” He picked her phone up and tapped on it.
“Let’s take it one step at a time. I was thinking we could include your price with my cleaning services for now. You’ll get all the gardening money, of course. And when you’ve built up some clients, you could get some cards printed with your name on.”
Cain pulled a face. “I don’t want to be separate from you. I like working for you. Can’t I do both?”
“Of course. We’ll see how it goes. We could have a joint business. We’ll make it all legal. If things turn out well, we could employ more people to help us.”
Cain lowered the phone. “A joint business? You’d do that? For me?”
Julia shot him a glance. “Of course. You’re a hard worker and you’ve got a good business head. And you’re constantly learning new things. Why wouldn’t I want you as a business partner?”
Cain pressed his lips together and it took him a moment to speak. “Thank you. No one’s ever thought good things about me. Everyone’s always told me I’m useless. Apart from Gran. When she died, I didn’t think anyone would support me in the way that she had. I can’t believe how lucky I am to be part of your family.”
Julia felt her eyes watering up. This was not a good thing as she needed to see the road clearly. In a gruff voice, she said, “Have you checked those texts yet?”
Cain said, “I’m looking now. Oh, you’ve got some photos of Blanche’s house. When did you take those?”
“Oh, heck! I forgot about them. I took them on the morning just before we found her. I meant to delete them. Can you delete them now, please?”
“Will do. I’ve found those texts. Oh, that’s such a kind thing for Mrs Robinson to say about me. And look at what Alf has said. I’ll have to get some quotes sorted out. I’ll look online
and see what other people are charging. Then I’ll charge a bit less than them.”
Julia smiled. “Listen to you, all business-like. You’re a natural.” She looked over at Cain as a heartfelt sigh came from him. “What’s wrong?”
“Can I tell you what happened last night with Kayla and me?”
Julia tried to give him a casual look. “Oh. If you really want to.” She pulled over to the side of the road. She didn’t want to hear anything scandalous that might cause her to crash.
Chapter 22
Cain put Julia’s phone back. “I’m sorry I’ve been such an idiot these last few days. I was really taken with Kayla. I thought she was a lovely, shy girl. The kind of girl who would understand me. She certainly gave me that impression when we first met at the knitting class.”
“I think she gave everyone that impression.” Julia was tempted to add that she hadn’t been fooled. But this wasn’t the time.
“We chatted at those knitting classes and I became besotted with her. I even imagined us having a life together. Even getting married! How silly is that?”
“It’s not silly at all. I’ve imagined myself getting married to many a celebrity. They just haven’t been lucky enough to find me yet.” She gave him an encouraging smile. “Cain, it’s normal to think that way about someone new.”
“When Ethel came in that night with news about Kayla knitting items for the hospital, I thought it was the perfect chance to show what kind of a man I am. I wanted to prove I could stay up all night knitting. I wanted to show her how strong I am.”
Julia looked at his skinny body. “Strength can be on the inside too. Was Kayla happy with all the items you gave her?”
“She seemed happy enough. But she said she needed more. She hadn’t been able to knit because she was upset about Blanche’s death. She was worried about letting the hospital down. So, I offered to do more. I told you I found a stash of wool that Gran had put away and I got through a lot of knitting yesterday afternoon. Thank you again for letting me take the afternoon off.”
“You didn’t really take the afternoon off, not if you were busy knitting.”
“I know. But I wanted to do it, for Kayla. When she came round yesterday, she was pleased with what I’d done. But she still wanted more. Her personality changed a little and she wasn’t as shy and thoughtful as before. I was glad when you turned up as I was starting to feel uncomfortable around her. But then you left.”
“Sorry about that. I thought you two wanted to be alone.” Julia didn’t add that Kayla almost threw her out.
“When you’d gone, Kayla made horrible remarks about Denise’s items. She said they weren’t of a high enough quality. She said I would have to knit even more. She didn’t even ask me this time, she just assumed that I would. I tried to make light of it and said my hands needed a rest. She stared at me for a moment and I didn’t like the coldness I saw in her eyes. Then she turned all shy again and said sorry. She didn’t want to push me. She would try and do some knitting herself that night.
“Well, then I felt guilty! So I said I’d do more knitting. I offered her a cup of tea but she said she didn’t want to waste my valuable knitting time. Before she left, she gave me a list of specific items she wanted making. I lied and told her I needed some more wool but as she opened the back door, we found the wool that you’d bought for me.”
Julia asked hopefully, “Did Kayla trip over the bag of wool?”
“No. You must let me know how much that wool cost. I want to pay you back.”
“We’ll settle that later. So, did you do any knitting after Kayla left?”
Cain’s chin lifted and he shook his head. “I came to my senses. People have always taken advantage of me. When I was at school, there was a tuck shop that sold crisps and sweets. The other children could afford to buy crisps and chocolates, but I never could.
“One day, I found 50p on the way to school. I know I should have handed it into the police, but it was only 50p and I didn’t think anyone would miss it. I bought myself a packet of crisps and a chocolate bar. I was all set to enjoy it when one of the popular kids sat next to me. He’d never spoken to me before so I was amazed that he’d decided to do so now. Naturally, I shared my crisps and chocolate with him. Actually, he took more than his fare share. I didn’t mind. I thought I’d found a new friend. But when the crisps and chocolate were gone, he went too. He never spoke to me again.”
Julia’s eyes began to water again. This was proving to be an emotional day. “Cain, that’s awful. Children can be cruel.”
“I know. But people always take advantage of me for some reason or another. As soon as Kayla left me last night, I knew she was doing the same. I didn’t do any knitting for her last night. And I’m not going to do any more for her.”
“Good for you. Have you told her this yet?”
Cain gave her a little smile. “Not yet. But I will do. Now, are you going to tell me what your dad was doing outside my house last night?”
Chapter 23
Julia said, “I suppose I'd better come clean about everything.”
Cain quipped, “Well, you are a cleaner.”
“You won’t be smiling in a minute when I explain myself. You might not like what I’ve got to say about Kayla.”
Cain said, “You can tell me anything. I won’t think badly of you. I’d never think badly of you.”
Julia began to tell Cain everything about Kayla, including the funny look on Blanche’s face when Julia had mentioned Kayla's name. She concluded with her impromptu meeting with Dad last night.
Cain listened intently. When she'd finished, he said, “Why didn't you tell me any of this before? I would have understood. I wouldn't have been mad at you.”
“I just didn't know what to do for the best. Part of me wanted to tell you, but the better part of me told me to leave it alone. I’m glad I did now because you’ve seen for yourself what kind of a woman Kayla is.”
“But what if I hadn't? What if I did start a relationship with Kayla and you continued to feel this way about her? Would you have told me eventually?”
Julia thought about this for a moment. “I’m really not sure, Cain. With Sam and Chloe, I have to let them make mistakes sometimes, and just be there to support them if they need me.”
“I am glad you think of me in the same way as your children. I’m not sure you’re old enough to be my mum. I’m sorry to have put you through so much distress these last few days. And your dad! What have I done to him? I didn't know I'd upset him so much. I’ll have to phone him.” He reached for his phone.
Julia said, “Can you phone him in a minute, please? I was wondering if you'd mind if I found out more about Kayla.”
“Why do you want to find out more about her?” Cain looked at her for a moment and then understanding dawned. “Do you think she might have something to do with Blanche’s death?”
“We don't know anything about Kayla. No one seems to know anything about Kayla and I’ve already told you she's not online anywhere. She's got something to hide, and I have a feeling it's something to do with Blanche. I was thinking I could ask Henrietta about her. They've been going to knitting classes together and they may have spoken to each other a bit. I want to call round to Henrietta’s anyway to return the cleaning money Blanche gave me. It does mean I'll have to explain to Henrietta about the secret arrangement I had with Blanche. I hope she won't be too upset. Do you want to come with me? I don't mind if you don't.”
“No. I’ll come with you. I’m interested to hear what Henrietta has to say about Kayla too.” Cain gave her a hopeful look. “Can I phone Ray now? I can't bear the thought of him being upset for a moment longer.”
Julia told him to do so. She started her car and headed towards their next client’s home. She couldn't help but smile as she overheard Cain’s side of the conversation to her dad. He must've said sorry to her dad a hundred times. The conversation went well because Cain was soon laughing and making plans to meet up with Dad later at th
e pub.
They continued with their cleaning work throughout the morning. At Mr Fletcher’s home, Julia picked up a pile of library books that she’d promised to return on Mr Fletcher’s behalf. He was visiting his daughter this week and had been worried about returning the books. He’d sent her a text to ask if she’d return them for him. Julia had assured Mr Fletcher that she’d see to it.
Julia and Cain went to the library after finishing the cleaning work at Mr Fletcher's. Cain’s phone rang on the way and he was soon chatting and laughing with Dad again. Julia motioned for him to stay in the car while she dropped the books off.
The librarian, Elaine, smiled at her as she returned the books. Elaine said, “Thanks, Julia. He soon gets through these historical romances! I’ve got some more ready for him if you don't mind taking them?”
“I don't mind at all,” Julia said.
Elaine went on, “Isn't it a terrible shame about Blanche Cartwright? I understand you found the body. We’ll certainly miss seeing her in here. Especially on the computers! She was such a whizz at them. I could always rely on her to help any confused members of the public. In fact, she often helped out us staff too.”
Julia was confused. “Blanche? Blanche Cartwright? Are we talking about the same woman?”
Elaine gave her an admonishingly look. “Just because a person is getting on a bit, it doesn't mean they’re useless at technology. However, I must admit Blanche was quite overwhelmed by the computers when she first started working on them. It was one of my colleagues who showed her what to do. But she was a natural and soon got the hang of it. I'd often see her tapping away at the computer while waiting for her sister to do errands around town. Blanche said she was going to get a computer of her own as there were many online projects she wanted to get involved in.” Elaine moved in a bit closer and added, “Apparently, Blanche made many online friends who helped her out with some problems she was having.” Elaine pushed a pile of books towards Julia. “These will be perfect for Mr Fletcher.”
Knitting And Murder (Julia Blake Cozy Mystery Book 9) Page 7
