The Peridale Cafe Cozy Box Set 4

by Agatha Frost

  “You have a good one there,” the woman next to her said, nodding at Barker as he sat by the ball pit with Vinnie. “I could only convince my husband to come here if they started serving beer and playing the football on a TV. Is that your first?”

  Instead of correcting the woman, Julia found herself nodding instead. It was easier to pretend Vinnie was her son than explaining that her father’s wife was also their age.

  “I’m on my fourth.” The woman pulled back her jacket to reveal a petite, but firm bump. “Let’s just say it was a nice little surprise when I turned forty-two. I thought my days of changing nappies and doing midnight feeds were long behind me, but I guess I get to experience it all over again. Are you thinking of having any more?”

  “Who knows,” Julia said, unable to look the kind stranger fully in the eye. “I think so.”

  “Don’t wait too long.” The woman pushed on the bottom of her back, her face twisting. “It’s true when they say it gets harder the older you get. I barely felt any different when I had my first in my twenties, but this feels like I have a fully grown adult living inside me. And the morning sickness! Don’t get me started on that. I laughed it off when my midwife called me a ‘geriatric mother’, but geriatric sums up how this baby is making me feel.”

  They shuffled down the line, and the woman ordered herself a cup of decaf coffee and a large chocolate muffin. While the young girl made up her order, the woman turned and watched Barker play with Vinnie.

  “You really did marry one of the good ones,” she said. “He actually looks like he’s enjoying himself.”

  The woman paid for her order and gave Julia a final smile before retreating to her table, where she resumed looking through her phone while she took large bites out of her muffin. Julia looked around the large space, and even though she hadn’t noticed at first, Barker was the only man in there.

  “I do have a good one,” Julia whispered as she turned to the young server.

  “Sorry?” the girl grumbled. “Actually, can you wait a minute? I was supposed to go on my break five minutes ago. Let me go see where Beverly is.”

  The girl pushed through a staff door, leaving Julia to stare at the cakes in the display case. They were almost certainly store-bought, probably delivered in plastic wrappers that morning, but she’d skipped lunch, and the double-chocolate muffin was calling her.

  “Sorry about that,” an older and deeper voice said; a hint of cigarette smoke wafted on her breath. “Kids these days are so impatient, aren’t they? What can I get you?”

  Julia’s eyes met the new server’s, and they recognised each other during the same split second.

  “Bev,” Julia said, her throat drying. “Hi.”

  “Hello.” Bev’s spine stiffened, and her smile slid off her face. “You were the other judge at the bake-off, weren’t you?”

  Julia nodded.

  “What are you doing here?” Bev snapped.

  “I’ve brought my baby brother to play.” Julia hooked her thumb over her shoulder. “I didn’t know you worked here.”

  Bev seemed to relax at hearing that Julia hadn’t come specifically to see her, although her sunken, beady eyes remained unblinking.

  “How are you doing?” Julia asked.

  “You mean after I had to watch my ex-husband die and then be accused of murdering him?” Bev’s voice was flat and cold. “I’ve never been better.”

  Julia scrambled for something to say to the woman whom everyone thought had taken advantage of her ex-husband’s peanut allergy to kill him. Though she had been ready to let the mystery go, now that she had access to one of the key players, the investigative fire within her had the spark it needed to burn bright.

  Before Julia could launch into the dozens of questions she wanted to ask Bev, another woman joined the line behind her. Not wanting to be directly overheard, Julia ordered two cups of coffee with two double-chocolate muffins. She paid and took them to the table closest to the toddler play area and waited for Barker to join her. When he did, he was red-faced and panting, but he seemed to be enjoying himself just as much as Vinnie.

  “He has so much energy,” Barker said as he collapsed into the chair next to Julia. He sipped his coffee. “I’m jealous.”

  “Do you remember Tony’s ex-wife?” Julia whispered to Barker. “The one who baked the killer red velvet?”

  “The pig lady?”

  “Don’t call her that!”

  “So, you’re telling me you didn’t think that when you saw her?” Barker gave her a playful smile.

  “That’s not the point.” Julia pouted before drinking her coffee. “Don’t look now, but by some weird twist of fate, she works here.”

  “Where?” Barker craned his neck and looked directly at Bev. “Oh yeah, she does.”

  “What part of ‘don’t look now’ didn’t make sense to you?” Julia sank in her chair, embarrassed by her husband’s lack of subtlety. “I’m surprised she’s back at work so soon.”

  “Well, for what it’s worth, I don’t think she’ll be a free woman for much longer. Christie couldn’t charge her because the evidence is purely circumstantial and it would never hold up in court, but he’s hellbent on cracking the case.”

  “And he’s already decided that Bev’s guilty?”

  “It was her cake.”

  “You agreed that something felt off.”

  “And it still does,” Barker said before taking a bite of his muffin, “but you have to look at what Christie’s working with. No one is admitting to adding oil to that cake. He interviewed every single person who was in that tent, and he has nothing. His only lead is Bev, and he won’t stop until he can prove that she did it.”

  As Julia watched Vinnie play, she felt increasingly more uncomfortable with DI Christie’s investigative style. He was too stubborn and hot-headed to consider all the possibilities. If he thought something was true, he would mould an entire case around his assumptions, regardless of the evidence. Julia wasn’t surprised she’d beaten him to the punch on so many cases since his ascendance to Barker’s former position. When Barker had been Peridale’s detective inspector, it had been a meeting of minds, even if Barker had tried to keep Julia at a professional distance. With Christie, she constantly butted heads. Unless Julia had useful information to trade, Christie didn’t care what she thought, even if she ended up being right in the end. Of course, she was an ordinary woman who ran a café in a small village, and she had no right sticking her nose into official police business, but even she could see that she had a natural knack for unravelling mysteries, and that bothered men like Christie.

  “Penny for your thoughts?” Barker nudged Julia’s arm. “You’ve barely touched your muffin.”

  Julia tore off a piece and tossed it into her mouth. It looked moist, but it was stodgy and dry; she could have baked better blindfolded, standing on one leg in the middle of a power cut.

  “What time does this place close?” Julia asked after forcing the mouthful down.

  “Five.” Barker checked his watch. “So, in two hours. Why?”

  “Do you think it would look odd if we hung around until closing?”

  “A little. You’re going to talk to Bev, aren’t you?”

  “I just want to hear her side of things.” Julia circled her finger around the top of the coffee cup’s plastic lid. “Besides, Vinnie is having the time of his life.”

  Chapter Seven

  An announcement at ten minutes to five asked parents to collect their children and head for the exit before the soft play area closed. Tears and tantrums broke out all over the building, and Vinnie was one of those noisy children. It took all of Julia and Barker’s combined strength to get him out of the ball pit and back in his warm outdoor clothes.

  After successfully wrangling Vinnie, Julia carried him outside. The sun had almost set, and light flakes of snow tried their best to stick to the ground but melted on impact.

  “Go home without me,” Julia said as she passed Vinnie to Barker
. “There’s a cottage pie I made this morning in the fridge. Warm it up in the oven for half an hour, but make sure to let it cool down a little before giving it to Vinnie.”

  “How are you going to get home?”

  “I’ll call a taxi.” Julia pulled her pink peacoat tight and buttoned it up. “We can’t both stay here if we want to keep Vinnie in his routine.”

  Barker obviously didn’t like the thought of leaving Julia, but she knew he would. He pursed his lips before letting out a reluctant sigh.

  “Be safe.”

  “I always am.” Julia kissed Barker and pinched Vinnie’s cheek. “Go on, I’ll be fine. I’ll be home before you know it.”

  One by one, the other parents wrestled their unruly children into their cars, leaving Julia standing outside the entrance alone. She peeked through the window and watched as the staff members cleaned up the area after a long day of children running around the place.

  Twenty minutes later, the lights turned off, and, one by one, the staff members left, all bundled up in warm coats and scarves. When Bev emerged with another woman, Julia sank into the shadow of the large warehouse.

  “Fancy a quick one at the pub, Pat?” Bev asked the similarly aged woman locking the doors. “It’s been a while since we caught up.”

  “Not tonight, Bev,” Pat said as she unlocked a panel on the wall with another key. “Another time.”

  Pat punched in some numbers on a keypad and stepped back. Metal shutters slid down, concealing the door for the evening. Without giving Bev a farewell, Pat tucked the keys away and headed to the last car. She climbed inside and sped off as though wanting to get away before Bev could speak to her again.

  Still stuck to the side of the building, Julia observed Bev as she reached into her pocket for something. She had expected Bev to leave work alone, which meant that she’d been silently watching in the shadows for far too long. If she spoke now, Bev would be too freaked out to answer any of Julia’s questions.

  Not daring to breathe, Julia watched Bev pull a cigarette from a packet. She pushed it between her thin lips and attempted to light it, but the lighter sparked and fizzled.

  “Dammit!” Bev tossed the lighter onto the ground after running her finger along the flint several times. “Just my luck!”

  Bev yanked the cigarette from her mouth and forced it back into the carton. She pushed her hands into her pockets and set off across the car park in a diagonal line.

  “What’s the difference between sleuthing and stalking?” Julia whispered as she carefully followed behind, being careful to keep a safe distance.

  Julia’s heart stopped when her phone beeped in her pocket. She froze to the spot and scrambled for an explanation as she waited for Bev to turn around. However, luck was on Julia’s side. Bev didn’t turn around to bust her, and instead of vanishing into the night, she walked onto the brightly lit forecourt of the petrol station. Julia followed and lingered by the cash machine while Bev walked inside.

  Unaware that she was being watched, Bev procured a shopping basket and began scanning the aisles. She grabbed a frozen microwave toad-in-the-hole, a bottle of red wine, two bars of fruit and nut chocolate, a box of cat food pouches, a fresh packet of cigarettes, and two lighters. While watching Bev count her coins from a tatty old purse, Julia considered her options. She could walk into the shop and pretend to bump into Bev, or she could continue following her until it felt like the right time to approach. Neither option felt ideal, leaving Julia to look around the petrol station for inspiration.

  Julia spotted Pat filling her car, seemingly unaware that Bev was inside. Pat hadn’t offered to give Bev a lift home, and Julia hadn’t seen any other cars, which meant Bev was either walking to wherever she lived, or she was catching a bus from the dimly lit shelter across the road.

  Not wanting to waste any time, Julia hurried across the forecourt and crossed the quiet road. She leaned against the bench in the bus shelter and steadied her breath so it didn’t look like she had just run there. From where she was, she could watch the petrol station perfectly. If Bev left and didn’t head to the bus stop, Julia could at least see where she was going and come up with another plan then.

  While she waited for Bev to leave the petrol station, Julia retrieved her phone to see what had caused it to beep. It was a picture message from Barker. She clicked on the photograph to load it, and while it did, she looked up to check on Bev. She had left the petrol station and was walking slowly under the bright lights in Julia’s direction. Pat, who had just finished pumping her petrol, spotted Bev but didn’t try to catch her attention.

  The moment of truth came when Bev reached the pavement. She lingered on the corner under a streetlamp and reached into her handbag for her purse. After a quick rummage, she pulled out what Julia knew was a bus ticket. Concealing her pleased smile at being right, Julia looked down at her phone, but her smile sprang free when she saw the picture Barker had sent to her. It was a selfie with Vinnie, who was grinning at the camera. Julia forgot all about what she was there doing and let the joy of the moment warm her through.

  Julia only tore her eyes away from the screen when she sensed Bev had sat down next to her. Not wanting to seem too eager, Julia replied to the message before putting her phone away. Out the corner of her eye, she watched Bev finally light her cigarette. A sense of calm appeared to wash over her as she sank onto the bench. Without saying a word, she offered the packet to Julia.

  “No, thank you. I don’t smoke.”

  “Good choice.” Bev sucked hard on the cigarette. “I gave up for twenty years. I only started again this week. I didn’t even realise I’d bought the things until I was unwrapping them at home. Can you blame me after the week I’ve had? I’ll give up tomorrow.”

  Julia decided against mentioning that she had witnessed Bev buying a new packet of twenty only minutes ago. For whatever reason, Bev wasn’t questioning Julia’s presence at the bus stop, and that was enough for her.

  “Where’s your husband and kid gone?” Bev asked after finishing her cigarette and blowing out the last of the smoke.

  “Home.”

  “Separated already?” Bev tossed the cigarette stub onto the ground and crushed it under her shoe.

  “Oh, no. We’ve only been married since Christmas. And the baby is my brother, Vinnie. I’m looking after him at the moment.”

  “Congrats on the wedding.” Bev’s voice lacked any of the sincerity Julia was used to. “Your brother is a baby? Don’t tell me, your dad ditched your mum and married someone half his age?”

  “Something like that,” Julia replied. “Although, my mother died when I was a girl. But you’re right about him marrying someone younger. Katie. She’s the exact same age as I am.”

  “Isn’t that awkward?”

  “It was at first.” Julia nodded. “It took nearly five years for me to get used to the idea, but, strangely enough, we’re as close to a big happy family as you could get now.”

  “Lucky for some.” Bev forced a bitter laugh. “Can’t say I had the same experience. Well, not that it matters now that my ex-husband is dead and everyone thinks I killed him. If my luck carries on like it has, I’ll be banged up behind bars before the end of next week. Evidence or not, they’re going to fit me up for it, I can feel it. When I watched the police rip my house apart for a second time, all I could think was that, wherever he is, Tony would be finding all this hilarious.”

  “Did they find anything?” Julia asked, the cold chill in the wind forcing her to pull her coat tighter around her.

  “There’s nothing to find,” Bev replied with a bite. “If I’d done it, they would have found something by now. It’s been four days. It doesn’t take that long to figure out if they’ve got something real. It would only take a single drop of peanut oil in my kitchen to charge me, but they won’t find anything unless they decide to stitch me up. I didn’t even have a bag of nuts in the cupboard. After two decades married to someone with a severe allergy, you get into the habit of not buy
ing certain things.”

  Julia wasn’t sure if she should believe her, but she found that she wanted to. She liked to think she was a good judge of character, and she didn’t feel like Bev was lying to her.

  “I was married for twelve years before I met Barker,” Julia started, wanting to keep the conversation rolling. “I know what it feels like to be left for a younger woman.”

  “What was your replacement like?”

  “Blonde, late-twenties, tall, thin.” Julia allowed herself to smile while saying it; four years of distance since the end of her first marriage was enough to see the humour. “I came home from a long shift working in a cake factory to find all my possessions crammed into four black bags. He changed the locks and wrote me a formal letter to inform me he’d been having an affair with his receptionist and that he wanted to marry her.”

  “Bloody hell.” Bev sucked the cool night air through her teeth. “And I thought I had it bad. How did you manage not to kill him?”

  “I wanted to,” Julia admitted with a chuckle. “I’d given him what I thought were supposed to be the best years of my life, but when I came back to Peridale, I realised he’d done me a favour. It took me a while to rebuild my life, but it was for the best.”

  “You were still young,” Bev said quietly. “It’s not so easy to start again in your fifties with no money.” She paused and pulled out a fresh cigarette. “I knew he’d been having an affair with Camila for a while. Years, in fact, but I looked the other way. They weren’t exactly subtle. I was upset, broken even, but I wasn’t surprised. What’s that old saying? You lose them how you get them. I wasn’t Tony’s first wife.”

  “You weren’t?”

  Bev shook her head as she lit the second cigarette. She glanced at an approaching bus but stepped back into the shelter and let it pass by.

  “Judy Bridges,” Bev mumbled out the corner of her mouth as she balanced the cigarette between her lips. “They met during Tony’s years working for the BBC. He was a news presenter covering the tiny stories nobody else would, and Judy was one of the weather girls.”