A Secret Killer (Julia Blake Cozy Mystery Book 4) (10 page)

Chapter 17

Julia
couldn
’
t
leave Hugo
’
s
house without giving it a quick going over. With Cain at her side, the job was
quickly completed.

Julia
sniffed.
“
There
’
s
still an underlying aroma of chemicals, but not as much now.
”
She looked at her watch.
“
We
’
ve
got some free time. Would you like to come back to my house for lunch? We could
do a bit of online snooping about Gilbert and Dinah.
”

“
That
sounds good to me,
”
Cain
said.
“
The
lunch and the snooping. I must admit, I
’
d
like to get to the bottom of this mystery.
”

“
Me
too,
”
Julia added. She noticed that the
office door was still open. She pulled it towards her and sent a silent message
to Hugo to let him know she wouldn
’
t stop
‘
snooping
’
until she found his killer.

As
they pulled up outside her house Julia nodded towards a car parked in her
drive.
“
Dad
’
s here
again. He
’
ll be
happy to see you.
”

“
Will
he?
”
Cain said as he released his seat
belt.

“
Yes,
he
’
s got
a surprise for you. I won
’
t say any more
than that!
”

They
got out of the car and walked towards the house. In a voice tinged with sadness
Cain said,
“
I
wish I had a dad to look out for me. It must be wonderful having your dad
around so much.
”

Julia
nodded.
“
It
is, I
’
m so
lucky. Since he retired Dad helps me out a lot. He
’
s
always doing little things around the house, he takes messages from clients, he
even makes meals for me. And it
’
s not just me he
looks after, he spends time at my sister
’
s
house too. She
’
s
called Anna, you
’
ll have to meet her sometime.
”

“
What
does your mum do? Has she retired too?
”
Julia
laughed.
“
I don
’
t
think she ever will retire! She loves her job too much. She works at a local
school, with the younger children. She says they make her feel young. Dad wants
her to retire so that they can go on adventures together, his words. But Mum
says she can fit enough adventure into the holidays that they do have. Dad
likes to be doing something all the time.
”

“
Talking
about me?
”
Dad stepped out from the kitchen
door. He beamed when he saw Cain.
“
How are you? How
’
s my
daughter treating you? I hope she
’
s not making you
do all the work! Ha! She
’
s a bit bossy is
my Julia. And her temper! Don
’
t ever be on the
wrong side of that!
”

“
Dad!
I
’
m not
that bad. We
’
ve
got some free time so I
’
m making us some
lunch. Shall I make you something too?
”

Dad
grinned.
“
As
long as you don
’
t give me food poisoning again!
”
He winked at Cain.
“
She
once made me a chicken sandwich. Within ten minutes I was running to the
toilet. I
’
ve
never felt the same about chicken since!
”

“
I was
only five, I didn
’
t know that the chicken was off,
”
Julia said.
“
How
about a toasted cheese and ham sandwich?
”

Dad
patted his tummy.
“
Lovely. White bread or brown? Tell me
you
’
ve
got white bread.
”

Julia
moved Dad gently out of the way.
“
You know I don
’
t
have white bread, and you know you
’
re not allowed
it.
”

Dad
nodded sadly.
“
Aye,
that
’
s
true. Julia
’
s mum
keeps forcing me to eat healthily. It
’
s so boring. Now
then, Cain, you haven
’
t said a word.
How are you?
”

Cain
smiled.
“
I
’
m
fine, thank you. I
’
m enjoying my work.
”

Dad
studied him for a moment.
“
You do look
better. When we met you the other day it looked like you had a ton of worries
on your shoulders.
”

Cain
’
s
smile grew.
“
People
have been so kind to me, I
’
m not used to
it. Julia
’
s
clients keep giving me cake.
”

“
What
kind of cake? Chocolate?
”
Dad asked with a wistful note.

“
All
sorts. I
’
ve
got loads at home. You can have some if you like.
”

Dad
gave a sad sigh.
“
Better not.
”

Julia
popped her head out of the door.
“
Are you two
coming in or not? The sandwiches will be ready soon.
”

A
few minutes later they were sitting at the kitchen table. Julia noticed that
Cain savoured every bite of his sandwich, almost as if it was his last meal.

Dad
waved a sandwich at Julia and said,
“
Did you tell
Cain about my surprise?
”

“
No, I
think he
’
s
dying to know but he
’
s too polite to say anything,
”
Julia said.

Cain
’
s
cheeks went red.
“
I didn
’
t
want to mention anything.
”

Dad
put his sandwich down and stood up,
“
I
’
ve
got two surprises actually.
”
He reached into a carrier bag at the
side of the fridge and pulled out two balls of wool. He held them up.
“
Blue
or green?
”

“
Pardon?
”
Cain replied.

“
Which
one do you prefer? For your jumper. I can make a start on it tonight.
”

Cain
gulped.
“
A
jumper? For me?
”

“
Of
course! I need to practise my knitting skills. That Jean at the knitting group
has been sneering at my buttonholes. Pah! She thinks she
’
s
better than me at knitting, just because she
’
s a
woman!
”

Cain
blinked rapidly.
“
I
’
d
love a blue jumper. That
’
s very kind of
you, Mr
…
oh! I don
’
t
know your name!
”

“
It
’
s
Ray, Ray Rosenthorpe. Call me Ray.
”
He put the wool back and then said,
“
And
what colours do you want for your house? Julia said it needed painting. I
’
ve
got a variety of colours in the boot of my car. I can help you paint, if you
like. We can have a look at the colours when you
’
ve
finished your sandwich.
”
He moved closer to Cain and lowered his
voice,
“
I
think she
’
s put
too much cheese in, but don
’
t tell her that.
”

Julia
said,
“
I can
hear you. If you don
’
t like the sandwich, then don
’
t eat
it.
”

Dad
sat down and picked up his sandwich.
“
I have to eat
it, your mum
’
s
giving me salad for tea. I need something decent in my stomach, I
’
ll
wither away.
”

Julia
’
s
glance flicked to her dad
’
s rounded tummy.
He had a long way to go until he withered away. She looked at Cain. He was
concentrating on his sandwich but Julia could see the wetness in his eyes. He
looked as if he wanted to cry.

“
Cain,
are you okay?
”
she asked.

He
blinked rapidly again. His voice was hoarse as he said,
“
It
’
s
just that everyone is being so kind to me. I don
’
t
know what to say.
”

“
You
don
’
t
have to say anything,
”
Dad said.
“
It
makes me feel good to do something useful so you
’
re
actually doing me a favour.
”

Julia
gave her dad a grateful smile. She thought about the jobs she had lined up for
that afternoon. There were only two and she could manage without Cain. She said,
“
Dad,
why don
’
t you
go over to Cain
’
s house this afternoon? You could make a
start on the painting.
”

Cain
said,
“
But I
thought we had cleaning jobs lined up? And weren
’
t we
going to do some snooping?
”

Dad
burst into laugher.
“
Has she got you doing her detective work
now? If she says you can have the afternoon off, you
’
d
better come with me now before she changes her mind.
”

Cain
looked at Julia.
“
Are you sure?
”

Julia
stood up and picked up the empty plates.
“
I
’
m
sure. Off you go. I
’
ll phone you later about the jobs we
’
ve
got tomorrow.
”

Cain
didn
’
t
move.

Dad
stood up and grabbed the poor boy by the arm. He yanked him to his feet and
cried out,
“
Quick!
Let
’
s
make a run for it!
”

Julia
laughed at the confused expression on Cain
’
s
face. He must be wondering what sort of a family he
’
d got
himself involved in.

Dad
opened the kitchen door and pushed Cain through. He grabbed his carrier bag of
wool, pecked Julia on the cheek, and then made a show of running out of the
door.

When
she was sure they had gone Julia went into the living room and got her laptop
out.

Time
for snooping.

Chapter 18

It
wasn
’
t
hard to find information online about Gilbert Barnes. In fact, he seemed so
famous that Julia was surprised she hadn
’
t
heard of him before. Hugo had never mentioned having a brother - and now she
knew why.

From
various sources of information she discovered Gilbert Barnes had been given his
share of the Barnes
’
fortune
after his parents had died. There was also a story that he had stolen most of
the valuable wines which had been stored in a cellar inside Barnes Hall. He had
then sold the wine at a huge profit when Summersdale Secrets had become a TV
hit. He
’
d
unashamedly linked the wine to the show, and people had paid more than they
should have. It seemed the producers of the show were not happy and had tried
to take Gilbert to court. But the wine had all been sold by then and Gilbert
claimed there was no evidence to link him to anything.

Julia
wondered how Hugo had taken all this news at the time. Was that why he was so
willing to let the TV producers film their programme in his house? Also,
Gilbert had said in the office earlier that day that Hugo could have got more
money from the TV company. Perhaps Hugo
’
s
idea of a huge amount of money was vastly different to Gilbert
’
s.

Julia
read on and discovered that Gilbert loved the high life. There were many
photographs of him enjoying himself at various exotic locations. An attractive
female, or two, were usually at his side. No photos of him with Dinah though.
When did those two meet?

It
was no surprise to discover that Gilbert soon ran out of money. There were
rumours about his debts, and also news of some dodgy dealings he was involved
in.

Julia
found him mentioned on a social website. The writer had written
‘
in confidence
’
that Gilbert Barnes was heading
north to the barren wasteland known as Yorkshire where, it was rumoured, his
money problems would be sorted out once and for all. The source further
reported that Gilbert would be catching the nine o
’
clock
train to Leeds on Monday morning.

Julia
nodded her head in satisfaction. It was the Monday that Hugo had been killed.
So, Gilbert had been lying about his whereabouts on Monday.

“
Hang
on!
”
Julia told her laptop.
“
It
wasn
’
t
Gilbert who lied about his whereabouts, it was Dinah! She spoke for him.
”

Julia
then typed in Dinah Wells
’
name. All that came up was a photo of
her at the library at a literature festival. Julia was about to click off the
photo when something stopped her. She enlarged the photo. There was that agent
man that she
’
d
seen Dinah with at the library on Tuesday. She scrolled down to the listed
names: Toby Marshall from Toby Marshall Literary Agent.

When
was this festival? She looked at the date - ten months ago. Julia thought for a
moment. That was about the time that Hugo started getting calls from an agent.
Had Dinah met Toby Marshall at this event and then suggested he contact Hugo?
Or had it been the other way round? Either way, Hugo had refused to have
anything to do with the agent, even when the agent had shown up on his
doorstep. Hmm. So now Dinah was in contact with the agent. What sort of book
was she writing? Julia hoped it wasn
’
t anything to do
with Hugo
’
s
cases, particularly those sensitive ones that he mentioned to her sometimes.

Julia
searched for Toby Marshall
’
s company. There
he was. And look! Under
‘
News
’
was mention of a forthcoming book
-
‘
Great
news for all Summersdale Secrets fans! An amazing book will be released soon -
and there is talk of a TV show! Fingers crossed!
’

Julia
then went onto a forum that Hugo had shown her before. It was run by die-hard
Summersdale fans. If anything new was mentioned about the show they were on it
instantly. Yes, there it was, a link to Toby Marshall
’
s
site and his
‘
News
’
.
There was a lot of speculation, most people assuming the new book would be
about the cast members. Julia scrolled down. Oh, that was interesting. An
anonymous person had posted that the book wasn
’
t
about the show but about the man who lived in the house where the show was
shot. The person went on to say the book was about his job and the secrets he
had uncovered during his investigations. The post ended on a disgusted note
saying that it had nothing to do with Summersdale, and that the agent and
writer were cashing in on the show
’
s success.

There
were many posts after that one asking for more information but the anonymous
writer didn
’
t
reply. Julia wondered if the person was a disgruntled employee who worked for
Toby Marshall.

She
sighed and closed her laptop down. She wasn
’
t
much closer to finding out who killed Hugo. She knew that Gilbert and Dinah
were lying. She
’
d have to confront them. It briefly
crossed her mind that she should let DS Pendleton know what she
’
d
found out. That thought was followed up by the one about letting the sergeant
know about Hugo
’
s note, which was still in her pocket.

Julia
sighed again. She was beginning to sound like some sort of wind instrument.
Yes. she
’
d
have to let the sergeant know.

She
looked at her watch. She couldn
’
t do it now, she
had a client to visit.

Julia
spent the rest of the afternoon on her cleaning jobs. She couldn
’
t
stop thinking about Hugo. He had been a good boss to Dinah, he
’
d
brought her gifts back from his visits. Julia had overheard them many a time
discussing cases in his office. She
’
d always seemed
keen to do her work. Why would she kill a boss who
’
d
treat her like that?

A
phrase lodged in Julia
’
s brain,
something to do with good bosses. What was it? Something she
’
d
heard. She tried to pin the thought down, but it flew away.

She
closed her laptop down and headed. As she drove home later that day, she
noticed that Smoking Man wasn
’
t standing under
any lamp posts near her home. Maybe it was just a coincidence that he
’
d
been there. He could have just been an ordinary man, minding his own business.

Julia
phoned Cain when she got home. He said they
’
d
made a good start on the painting. Julia told him about her Internet search.
Cain seemed a bit disappointed that she
’
d
snooped without him. Julia assured him that she
’
d
include him on her next snooping mission. Cain ended the call by thanking her
for being a good boss.

A
good boss! The thought that had started to bloom earlier now came out in full
force. Julia said a hurried goodbye to Cain and then flung her phone down. She
whipped open her laptop and was soon tapping away.

Good
boss! That was it!

And
there he was.

The
man in the blue car.