Julia looked at the image that came through. “Ivy, that’s a picture of your knees. Do you want to try again? Shall I tell you how to do it?”
“No, I think I can remember. Right. That’s it. Have you got it?”
Julia checked again. “I have. He is a handsome man. He must have been quite a heart-breaker when he was younger. Thanks so much, Ivy. Do you mind if I send it to DI Clarke?”
“Course you can, lass. Have you found out anything else about Kayla? How’s Cain doing?”
Julia glanced over at Cain. He was looking at his phone again. Julia said to Ivy, “I’ll tell you everything later.”
Ivy replied, “He’s there with you, isn’t he? I understand. I’ll speak to you later. Bye for now.”
Julia lowered her phone, pressed her lips together, and tried to keep her words in. They came out anyway, “Are you going to phone Kayla? Are you sure you should do that?”
“I don’t know. I feel like I need to give her a second chance. I’ll phone her later.”
Julia’s heart sank. She wanted Kayla out of Cain’s life. She had a bad feeling about Kayla. And Julia had learnt a long time ago to trust her feelings.
Chapter 27
Mum’s lasagne was a welcome treat for Julia and Cain later on. Cain ate like he’d been starving for a week and was soon having a second helping.
With Cain’s permission, Julia had updated them on Kayla’s position. Cain was happy for them to look at the letters.
Mum scrutinised them. “Julia’s right. These probably haven’t come from a child. My guess is that an adult has written them, and I’d guess it was the same adult going by the formation of certain words. Have you phoned Kayla since receiving these letters?”
Cain shook his head. “I haven’t decided what to do about her yet. I’ll talk to Tommy about it later.”
“Tommy?” Mum said.
Cain explained about his tomato plant. Mum and Dad didn’t seem fazed at all that he’d named it and that he was planning to have many conversations with it.
Dad said, “You’ll have to introduce me to him later. Are we still going to the pub?”
“We are, Ray. Have you forgiven me for letting you down?” Cain asked.
Dad patted Cain’s hand. “There’s nothing to forgive, lad. I was young, foolish and in love once.”
“Was?” Mum hovered behind him with a dish in her hands.
Dad gave her a loving look. “Aye. And now I’m old, foolish and even more in love. Is that a strawberry trifle in your delicate hands, my love?”
Mum chuckled. “It is. Cain, would you like some?”
Cain was already holding his dessert bowl out to her.
After a bit more chatting, and a lot more eating on Cain’s behalf, Julia stood up and said she needed to make a move.
Dad stood up and put his arm around her shoulders. “Would you be making a small detour past the pub, by any chance?”
“I wasn’t going to, but I will do. Come on, let’s get going. I’ve got a lot of paperwork to catch up on.”
Cain said meekly, “Can I have a lift to the pub too?”
Julia was tempted to joke with him and tell him no, he could run behind her car. Her heart softened at the hopeful expression on his face. He really didn’t have a lot of confidence in himself. “Of course you can have a lift.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out her car keys. She threw them at Cain and said, “Let yourselves in. I want a quick word with Mum.”
Julia waited until Dad and Cain had left, then she told Mum about her concerns over Kayla. “I don’t want to interfere in Cain’s life but I can’t let her take advantage of him. What should I do?”
“You can help me clear this table while I think of some wise words to say. Those two can wait in the car a bit longer.” Mum picked up Cain’s bowl and examined it. “He hasn’t left one speck of trifle. I think he could do with someone in his life to look after him. But not that Kayla. I don’t like the sound of her at all. If I were you, I’d find out more about this charity work of hers. And then I’d tell Cain. You can’t stand back and let him be made a fool of.”
“Thanks, Mum. That’s what I wanted to hear.” Julia helped her clear the rest of the table. She put the dishes on the side of the sink and rolled her sleeves up.
Mum said, “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Washing up. It won’t take long.”
“Leave it. Your dad will do it when he comes home. It’s his turn tonight and he’s not getting away with it just because he’s going to the pub. You’ve done enough cleaning today. Get yourself home.” Mum gave her a cuddle and kissed the top of her head. When she released her, Mum said, “Julia, you have to dispose of something for me.”
“Okay. What?”
Mum reached under the sink and pulled out a dark plastic bag. “Your dad bought the most disgusting trench coat the other day. I don’t know what he was thinking but he’s not keeping it here. Can you get rid of it for me, please?”
Julia took the bag and told her why Dad had bought it. “I could just keep it in the boot of my car. Then if he asks you where it is, you can tell him I’m keeping it for emergency undercover work.”
Mum laughed. “That sounds perfect.” She frowned as a car horn sounded out. “You’d better get those two louts to the pub.”
Julia said goodbye and walked to the car with the bag held behind her. She put it in the boot and then got into the driver’s seat. Cain and Dad were in the back seat talking about tomatoes.
Julia dropped them off at the pub and then headed towards home. She stopped at a junction and looked right. Kayla drove past her. Her window was down and music was blaring out.
Julia didn’t hesitate in turning left and following her.
Chapter 28
Kayla came to a stop outside a primary school ten minutes later. Julia parked further up the road. She knew this school well. Sam and Chloe had attended it. And her mum still worked here. Kayla left her car and walked into the school. Julia knew the school allowed several community groups to meet in their hall during the week. Julia didn’t know which one was being held tonight so she quickly phoned Mum.
Mum said, “I’ve no idea. The headteacher deals with all of that. Go and have a peep through the rear hall window. You can get to it from the playground.”
“Good idea.” Julia put her phone away and got out of her car. She didn’t want Kayla to recognise her if she suddenly walked back out of the school. Julia sent a silent thank you to Dad, and Mum, as she retrieved the large trench coat from the boot. It almost drowned her when she put it on, but it did cover her up. She pulled the collar up and tried to ignore the fact that she probably looked like some sort of shifty character. Knowing her luck, a nosy neighbour would phone the police. And then DI Clarke would arrive and arrest her for looking suspicious.
Julia put the collar back down and walked confidently across the road. She went down the driveway towards the main school doors and then took an abrupt left turn and ran towards the playground. Keeping her head low, she jogged to the back of the hall and took up a kneeling position in front of one of the windows. With her heart beating like it was going to burst, Julia carefully moved her head up and peeped through the window.
A friendly face immediately saw her and waved to her. It was Sherry Cooper. Julia had met her on a previous murder investigation she’d become involved in. Sherry had been one of the suspects and Julia had helped to clear her name. Julia made frantic shushing motions to Sherry.
Sherry’s hand shot down and she turned her attention to the women who were coming into the hall. Sherry glanced right and her eyebrows rose in question towards Julia. Julia made a rapid ‘I’ll phone you later’ gesture and ducked back down. She’d seen all that she needed to and so returned to her car.
Julia phoned Sherry a few hours later and apologised for peeping through the window.
Sherry laughed. “That’s okay. I’m assuming you’re making enquiries into the death of poor old Blanche Cartw
right. Blimey, you do come across a lot of dead bodies, don’t you?”
“Not on purpose. I was following someone tonight. She’s called Kayla. She was in the hall with you. I was surprised to see her there. You are still running the slimming club, aren’t you? Kayla doesn’t look as if she has problems with her weight. In fact, she’s on the skinny side in my opinion.”
“Mine too. Kayla goes there for support. She used to struggle with her weight and she’s afraid she’ll go back to overeating if she doesn’t have the right support. She’s a lovely girl. She’s got this great idea for keeping her hands out of the biscuit jar.”
Julia had a feeling that she knew what was coming.
Sherry went on, “She knits. She always brings knitting with her to keep her hands busy. She told the other ladies it was the one thing that helped her lose weight. So, naturally, some of them have started to knit too. And those that can’t knit have started to do other craft work like sewing, or making jewellery. Some of them are extremely talented.”
“I see. And what do your members do with their finished items?”
“Well, at first, Kayla started to buy them. Then one of my ladies found out that Kayla donates items to a local hospital. Kayla denied it at first, but then she admitted it was true. She said the hospital are always looking for ways to raise money and she thought she could give all the homemade goods to them. Of course, once we heard about that, we gave her the items for free. I’ve been having a go at making scented candles. They’ve turned out quite well.” There was a pause. “Julia, why are you asking about Kayla? Don’t tell me she’s a murder suspect! No! She can’t be. She hasn’t got an evil bone in her body.”
Julia settled on a half truth. “She’s been meeting Cain and I wanted to know a bit more about her. You know how nosy I am!”
“I’m glad you are, otherwise I might be in prison.”
They chatted for a little while longer and then Julia ended the call. She turned to her laptop and started to type in Kayla’s name. As before, nothing came up. She tried different versions of Kayla, but still nothing came up. She even tried putting in her sister’s name, Chantelle. Again, there was nothing.
Julia then phoned some of the nearby hospitals on the pretence of donating knitted items. She was told by all of them that, for hygiene purposes, they don’t accept such donations.
What was Kayla doing with all these items she was being given? She must be doing something with them. Julia searched for handmade baby clothes online. Far too many results came back. She narrowed down the search to within five miles. A few boutiques came up and Julia checked the names and images. There was nothing that linked Kayla to them.
Julia got herself a fresh cup of tea and then tried eBay and similar sites in case Kayla was selling the items online. The results were overwhelming but Julia trailed through them anyway. She only stopped when the screen in front of her started to blur. She knew her eyes had given up for the day.
As she went to bed a short while later, she vowed to find out the truth about Kayla Booth.
Chapter 29
Cain was full of chatter when Julia picked him up the following morning. He told her all about his visit to the pub with her dad, and what they’d talked about. He then went on to tell her that Tommy had grown in the night. He gave her a knowing look and said, “They grow so quickly, don't they?”
Julia was pleased to see him so happy and carefree this morning and was loathe to bring up the subject of Kayla. But she did so anyway and asked him if he’d thought about whether he was going to phone her or not.
Cain replied, “I spoke to your dad about it, and he agrees with you about Kayla not being good enough for me.”
“I never said she wasn't good enough for you.” Julia paused for a moment. “But I did think it. So, what are you going to do about her? Are you going to ignore her?”
Cain shrugged. “I don't think I’m going to do anything about her. I don't really want to talk about her.”
“So, you won't want to hear what I found out about her last night then? You won't want to hear how I followed her to a slimming class, and what she got up to there?” Julia waited a minute and then got the expected response from Cain.
“Well, you can tell me if you want to. I’m not bothered. It’ll give us something to talk about.”
Julia proceeded to tell him about her activities the previous night. She ended with, “I don't know what she's doing with all those items she’s collecting. I'd love to know, wouldn't you?” She glanced over at Cain and saw he was looking on his phone. “Cain? Are you listening to me?”
Cain nodded. “I’m just having a look at Tommy. I want to make sure he’s alright.”
“What do you mean? How can you see Tommy? Oh! Now I’m referring to your tomato plant by name.”
Cain explained, “I set up my webcam so it watches Tommy. I can see exactly what’s happening with him, right at this very moment. I saw a programme on the telly about some parents who’d set up a camera to watch what their nannies get up to.”
“Don't you think you're going overboard with this? What do you expect will happen?”
Cain gave her an embarrassed grin and said, “I know it sounds silly, but I just can't help worrying about him. And in answer to your other question, I'd love to know what Kayla is up to too.”
Julia drove on and thought about the Kayla situation. An idea suddenly came to her and she said to Cain, “I’ve got a plan, but it involves you meeting up with Kayla again. Would you be okay with that?”
“It depends on what your plan is.” Cain looked out of the passenger window. “What are we doing outside Mr Fletcher's house again? I thought we did all his cleaning work yesterday.”
Julia switched off the car engine. “I’m dropping off his new library books. They'll be ready for him when he comes back. And there’s something inside Mr Fletcher's house that I want to collect. I think you’ll like this. Come on.”
Cain followed Julia into the house. Julia placed the library books on the living room table and left a little note for Mr Fletcher. Then she went into his kitchen and opened a cupboard. She reached inside and took out a small biscuit tin.
“Are you going to pinch his biscuits?” Cain asked. “Do you think he’ll mind if I have some too?”
Julia took the lid off the biscuit box and reached inside. “Do you remember the trouble Mr Fletcher was having with this cat recently? She was going out at night time and returning covered in dirt.”
Cain nodded. “I do, it was driving him mad. He wanted to know where she was going.”
Julia pulled out a small device and showed it to Cain. “Mr Fletcher bought this tracking device and he put it on his cat’s collar. Look how tiny it is! He found out exactly where she was going. But it didn’t make him any the wiser. His cat travelled for miles all over the neighbourhood. He was going to get one of those small cameras but he never got round to it. He said I could borrow this device if ever I wanted to follow a murder suspect.” She let out a couple of tuts. “I don't know why my clients think I’m always after murder suspects.”
Cain said, “Well, isn't that what we're going to do with this tracking device now? I’m assuming you want to track Kayla’s movements and see where she goes with all those completed knitted items.”
Julia nodded at him. “It would involve you meeting up with her again. Would you be able to put this tracking device in one of your knitted items?”
“Yes. I’ve made a baby blanket and it's got an extra thick hem. I’ll be able to put the device inside the hem. When do you want me to do this?”
Julia gave him a hopeful look and said, “As soon as possible. If you're okay with meeting her again?”
Cain reached for his phone. “I want to know what she's up to as much as you do. I’ll phone her now.” He tapped on his phone and walked out of the kitchen.
Julia's nose wrinkled as she smelled something sour. She opened the fridge and saw a carton of milk was out of date. Mr Fletcher wouldn’t want
to come back to that so she emptied it down the sink and rinsed the carton out. She knew he was due back in a few days so she decided to go to the shop down the road and get him some fresh milk.
As soon as Cain had finished with his call to Kayla, they left the house and walked the short distance down the road. As they came out of the shop with a carton of milk, for Mr Fletcher, and a bag of sweets for Cain, Julia saw something that made her heart jump.
She grabbed Cain’s arm and hissed, “Look at that couple over the road! But be casual about it!”
Cain slowly turned his head and observed the elderly couple who were holding hands and walking along the opposite side of the street. Cain slowly looked back at Julia, his eyes wide. “Is that who I think it is?”
Chapter 30
Cain looked back at the couple and raised a pointed finger at them.
Julia hissed, “Don’t point! Don’t draw attention to us.”
Cain turned his back on the couple and said, “Is that Howard Samuels? The man that Blanche was engaged to? Have you still got the photo that Ivy sent you?”
Julia was already looking on her phone. She showed the image to Cain. “It is him.”
“Who’s that woman with him? They look very friendly.”
“Don’t you recognise her?” Julia asked.
Cain took another quick look and shook his head.
“I’m not surprised you don’t recognise her. She’s not wearing her wig. Or her dowdy old-fashioned clothes.”
Cain’s brow wrinkled. “Eh? I don’t understand.”
“It’s Henrietta Cartwright! She looks different with that short, trendy hairstyle. And she really suits those jeans and that top. I wonder where she got them from?”
Cain still looked puzzled. “But why does she look like that now? And what’s she doing with Howard?”
“They’re obviously a couple. I thought there was something funny about her hair when I saw her yesterday at Cartwright Manor. Her wig was lopsided. I suspected it was a wig then but I wasn’t going to say anything. Well, you don’t, do you?” She caught Cain’s look. “What? What’s wrong?”
Knitting And Murder (Julia Blake Cozy Mystery Book 9) Page 9
