A Party To Die For (Julia Blake Cozy Mystery Book 3) (2 page)

Chapter 5

Clara
was brilliant. She had the children, and the grown ups, laughing with her
antics. Even Fiona smiled. She became a volunteer in the show at Clara’s insistence.

Megan-Rose
laughed the hardest when Clara produced flowers from her mother’s ears and
nose. I thought she was going to have an accident when Clara pulled a bunch of
flowers from  Fiona’s rear end. I was pleased to see that Fiona took it well.
She finally seemed to be enjoying herself.

When
Clara had finished Fiona told everyone that the food was ready.

The
children raced over first and little hands grabbed at sandwiches and crisps.
The pyramid of sausage rolls was demolished by the first child.

Anna
looked horrified but I pointed to the fast emptying plates and said, “I hope
we’ve brought enough food. These children are acting as if they’ve never been
fed!”

We
did have enough food, although we had to restock from the van a few times.

I
put a few sausage rolls to one side for Clara. She beamed when she saw them.

“How
kind of you. Can you do the catering at all my parties? I usually have to bring
my own food, people must think that clowns don’t need to eat!” Clara laughed
loudly.

I
asked Clara how long she’d been a clown.

“It’s
only recent. I’ve tried so many jobs, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you how
many. I once worked in an office. That was a mistake.”

“Why?”
I asked.

“I
couldn’t get my big feet in the revolving door!” Clara winked at me.

I
asked Clara for her card, in case anyone needed a clown. I was tempted to ask
her to come to my next birthday celebration.

Fiona
walked over to our almost empty table. Clara saw her and quickly walked away.

Fiona
gave a tired smile. “I’m so sorry for shouting at you earlier. It was uncalled
for.”

“That’s
okay. You’ve had a stressful day,” I said.

I
heard Anna at my side giving a small sniff of disapproval.

Fiona
touched my arm and moved me to one side.

“You
always understand, Julia. I wish I was more like you. I just wanted today to be
perfect for Megan-Rose. I’m not very good at showing how I feel about her, I
know I spend too much money on her and not enough time.”

“I’m
sure she appreciates it,” I said.

“I
hope so. It’s been difficult these last months, doing everything on my own.”

I
had noticed the absence of Fiona’s husband but I didn’t like to ask where he
was. I didn’t need to.

“Mr
Doyle has been working overseas for months now. He couldn’t even find the time
to come back for his only daughter’s birthday,” Fiona said sadly.

I
was shocked to see her like this. Fiona was one of the strongest women I knew.

“Why
don’t you go upstairs and have a lie down for a while. The party is going well,
everyone’s enjoying themselves. We can take care of everything,” I offered.

“Oh!
I couldn’t. What would people say?” Fiona looked mortified.

“They
can say what they like. You’ve just given one of the best children’s parties
that people around here have seen. Even Kim Blackburn seems impressed!”

Fiona
smiled. “That woman is never impressed with anything, she always thinks she can
do better. I’m sure she’ll be planning little Lily’s next birthday party to be
better and bigger than this one.”

“You’ll
never please everyone, so don’t even try,” I told Fiona. “Now go upstairs and
have a lie down for thirty minutes. The world won’t stop because you have a
rest.”

Fiona
put her hand to her forehead. “Perhaps you’re right. I can feel a bit of a
headache coming on. I’ll just lie down for a while. Are you sure everything
will be alright down here?”

“I’m
certain,” I said and I gave Fiona a gentle push towards the stairs.

“Will
you come and check on me in thirty minutes please? If I’m not awake, give me a
shove.”

“Will
do,” I promised.

But
I broke my promise. We were so busy tidying up that I forgot to check on Fiona
in thirty minutes, it was nearer to one hour.

And
when I did check on her, it was too late.

Fiona
was dead.

Chapter 6

When
I walked into Fiona’s bedroom to check on her, I knew immediately that
something was wrong. The air felt too still and quiet. It took me a moment to
realise that even though I could see Fiona lying on the bed, I couldn’t hear
her breathing.

I
walked slowly over, dreading what I knew I was going to find.

Fiona
was staring up at the ceiling, her mouth was open as if gasping for breath. I
checked her pulse. As I suspected, there wasn’t one.

It
wasn’t the first time I’d found a dead body so I had an idea of what to do. I
didn’t touch anything in Fiona’s bedroom in case the police wanted to check for
fingerprints.

I
left the bedroom, closing the door behind me.

As
I approached Anna she must have known something was wrong by the look on my
face.

“Something
terrible has happened,” I told her.

Anna’s
hands flew to her chest. “Food allergies! Is some poor child in hospital
because I gave them the wrong food? It’s not my fault, I double checked
everything on the list that Fiona Doyle gave me.”

“It’s
not a child,” I said.

Anna
wasn’t listening. “I’ll be sued! The parents round here have got loads of money
for fancy solicitors. They’ll take everything! I can’t afford to be sued,
Julia!”

I
was almost tempted to slap her, like they do in old black and white movies. But
I was quite sure she’d slap me back, harder.

“Be
quiet!” I hissed. “It’s nothing to do with you. It’s Fiona, she’s dead.”

“Dead?
Did she eat some of my food?” Anna panicked.

“It’s
nothing to do with your food! I’ve got to phone the police without anyone
knowing about Fiona, especially Megan-Rose. Can you politely ask people to
leave quickly? Without anyone getting suspicious? And don’t let anyone go
upstairs.”

“I’ll
try,” Anna said. She looked a bit calmer now she knew she wasn’t going to be
sued.

Anna
walked towards the guests, she had an abnormally large smile on her face as she
talked to them. She looked quite scary but whatever she said must have worked
because people began to say their goodbyes to each other.

I
went into the kitchen to use the phone there. I spoke to the police, they said
they’d send someone round immediately.

I
glanced through the kitchen window. It was open and I could see somebody on the
patio. Had they heard me on the phone just now? I moved closer to the window to
see who it was.

It
was Kim Blackburn. She had turned slightly away from me but I could see what was
in her hand.

It
was Fiona’s phone. It was quite distinctive and I recognised it immediately. Kim
was scrolling down and reading things. It looked like she was reading Fiona’s
messages or contacts.

Why
would Kim Blackburn be doing that?

Chapter 7

I
went outside and over to Kim. She was too engrossed in Fiona’s phone to notice
me standing there.

I
gave a polite cough.

Kim
froze. Then she looked up from the phone. I noticed her cheeks getting redder.

“Isn’t
that Fiona’s phone?” I asked.

“Yes!
Yes it is. She said I could have a look at it. I wanted to know who she’d used
for Megan-Rose’s party, you know, party planners, caterers, entertainers etc.
Hasn’t it been a wonderful party? I’ve never seen anything like it! My Lily
would love something like this, she’s only two but you’re never too young for a
party!”

“When
did Fiona say you could look at her phone?” I asked. The Fiona I knew would
never have agreed to that.

“I
popped into her bedroom and saw she was having a nap. Her phone was next to her
so I thought I’d have a quick peep. I’m sure Fiona won’t mind. You won’t tell
her, will you? I can put it back before she wakes up.” Kim was beginning to get
more flustered.

I
wasn’t going to be the one to tell her that Fiona was dead. I would leave that
to the police.

From
what Kim had just admitted to me I thought she could be a suspect. I would let
the police know about this conversation when they arrived.

I
put my hand out and said, “Why don’t I give it back to Fiona? Save you the
trouble.”

Kim
looked at the phone as if there was more she wanted to look at, but then she
must have thought it would be less trouble for her if I took the phone.

With
a false smile she handed me the phone.

“I
must go and find Bob. He gets worried when he can’t see where I am. He’s so
possessive!” she trilled. She tottered past me and into the kitchen.

I
wasn’t sure about Bob being possessive. Whenever I’d seen Mr and Mrs Blackburn
together he seemed to have eyes for any other woman but his wife.

I
went back inside and found Anna.

“Nearly
everyone’s gone,” Anna told me. “But Julia, I think we’ve made a terrible
mistake.”

“Why?”
I asked.

“One
of these guests have probably killed Fiona, and we’ve let them go! What will
the police say?”

I
had thought of that too but I knew we had names and addresses of everyone who
attended the party. Fiona had made sure that someone marked down who arrived so
that she could send thank you letters after the event. Also, there had been
many photos taken during the party. So if someone declared that they weren’t at
the party I’m sure we could prove that they were.

I
really hoped it wouldn’t come to that though, or I’d be in big trouble with the
police.

Anna
nudged me. “I think the police have arrived.”

“Where’s
Gina and Megan-Rose? They need to be told about Fiona first,” I said.

Anna
pointed over to the corner of the room. Megan-Rose was sitting on the floor
surrounded by birthday presents. She was laughing and showing something that
she’d just unwrapped to her Auntie Gina.

They
had no idea that their world was about to collapse. I was so glad that I wasn’t
going to be the one to tell them.

I
hoped it wasn’t going to be DI Clarke who would be investigating this murder.
We’d met a few times and he always made me feel guilty with his piercing stare.

I
heard an commanding voice boom out, “Who told these people they could leave?”

I
instantly recognised the voice, my heart sank.

Anna
pointed meekly in my direction.

DI
Clarke glared at me.  He stormed over and said, “Ms Blake! I don’t believe
this. Did you find the body this time?”

I
nodded and tried to smile. My smile failed.

“This
is the third time in three months that this has happened to you. This is
becoming quite a hobby, isn’t it?” the inspector said.

“I’m
sorry, I’m not doing it on purpose,” I said quietly.

DI
Clarke looked as if he was about to launch into a lecture, but someone stopped
him by tugging on his coat sleeve.

It
was Megan-Rose. “Have you found a body? In my house? Whose is it?” 

Chapter 8

DI
Clarke looked down at the little girl. His face softened and he smiled.

Gina
came rushing over. She looked closer at the inspector. She must have soon
realised who the body belonged to because she gave the inspector a small nod
and then led Megan-Rose away.

“Where
is the body?” DI Clarke asked me more quietly.

“This
way,” I said and I headed towards the stairs. The inspector and two uniformed
officers followed me. As we went upstairs I told the inspector who Megan-Rose
was.

I
led them into Fiona’s bedroom and without really needing to, I pointed to her
lifeless body.

DI
Clarke walked over to her. He stared at her face for a while and then said, “It
looks like suffocation. The bedclothes aren’t disturbed too much so it looks
like she didn’t thrash about. She was probably asleep, or nodding off to sleep
when someone came in and put a pillow over her face. She most likely didn’t see
her killer.”

“Do
you think they used the pillow next to her?” I asked. I had noticed Fiona’s
lipstick on the adjacent pillow.

DI
Clarke nodded. He told one of the officers to take the pillow away as evidence.

“How
long had she been upstairs, Ms Blake?” he asked.

“Not
long, about one hour. She wasn’t feeling well so I suggested she had a lie
down. I wish I hadn’t now.”

“Did
anyone come upstairs whilst the victim was having a lie down?”

“Fiona,
she was called Fiona Doyle. The only person for sure that I know about is Kim
Blackburn.” I then told him about the phone incident.

“Have
you still got the phone?”

I
told him yes and then handed it over.

DI
Clarke looked at the phone for a while and then said, “Do you think Kim
Blackburn had a motive to kill Fiona? Had you heard them arguing about
anything?”

“No,
Kim gave the impression that she was always best friends with Fiona. Fiona
didn’t feel the same way, she told me several times. She said Kim was like a
leech that would latch onto her and copy her in any way she could.”

“I’ll
be having a word with Kim Blackburn. I take it she’s one of the people you told
to leave the party?” DI Clarke asked me with a glint in his eyes.

I
felt my cheeks go warm. “Yes, but she only lives next door.”

DI
Clarke had a quick look around the room. “We’ll have to question everyone about
their movements, see if anyone else came upstairs.”

“Somebody
must have. Look, there’s a glass of water on the bedside table,” I pointed out.

“Couldn’t
Fiona Doyle have brought that up herself?” DI Clarke questioned.

“She
could have but she always uses a coaster, she keeps them inside the table
drawers. Fiona was quite fussy about things like coasters.”

DI
Clarke considered that for a moment, then he told the same officer to take the
glass too.

“We
need to examine this room a bit more but I shall have to tell that little girl
about her mother, before anyone else does,” the inspector said.

We
went back downstairs. Anna was waiting for us with a worried look on her face.

“I’ve
just remembered something that I saw earlier, when Fiona was having a rest
upstairs,” Anna began.

“Go
on,” the inspector said.

“I
saw someone go upstairs with a glass of water. It was Fiona’s sister, Gina.”