A Secret Killer (Julia Blake Cozy Mystery Book 4) (16 page)

Chapter 28

On
Tuesday morning Julia paid a quick visit to Cain. DS Pendleton reluctantly let
her see him.

Julia
asked if Cain had been officially charged.

DS
Pendleton replied,
“
Not yet, I
’
m
speaking to my boss today, I
’
ll give him all
the facts about the case. You
’
ve got two
minutes with him.
”

“
Your
boss? Do you mean DI Clarke? Is he back? Can I speak with him?
”

“
No.
You
’
ve
got less than two minutes now. Do you want to see the prisoner or not?
”

Julia
was led to the cells, and as before, DS Pendleton stood closely behind her.

When
Julia saw Cain she didn
’
t know whether
to laugh or cry. She said,
“
Has my dad been
to see you today?
”
She looked
at the blue jumper that Cain was wearing, one sleeve was longer than the other.

Cain
nodded and ran a hand proudly down his new garment.
“
Look
what he
’
s
made for me. He said he couldn
’
t sleep so he
stayed up all night knitting this. He said it wasn
’
t his
best work as he had to rush to get it finished.
”
Cain held up a sleeve and nodded
admiringly.
“
I
love it.
”

Julia
was glad to see Cain looking happier. She ignored the presence of DS Pendleton
behind her and said to Cain,
“
I spoke to Dinah
yesterday, that book she
’
s writing is
about Hugo
’
s
cases. And Gilbert had been to visit Hugo to ask for more money. Makes them
good murder suspects, don
’
t you think?
”

Cain
was pulling a weird face and indicating his head towards DS Pendleton, as if to
say,
‘
Watch
what you
’
re
saying, he
’
s
behind you!
’

Julia
hoped that DS Pendleton was taking in every word. Julia hadn
’
t
finished. She told Cain about the visit from Walt B. Montague, and Dinah
’
s
subsequent comments about Hugo going to America.
“
Yet
another reason to kill Hugo.
”

There
was a heavy silence, Julia could almost feel the daggers of hate aimed at her
back. DS Pendleton could think what he liked! She was not going to stop with
her investigations until she found the real killer.

“
Well,
Cain, I must be going. We
’
ll have you out
of there in no time,
”
Julia
said confidently.
“
All my clients are backing you, no one
believes that you killed Hugo. See you later.
”

Cain
gave her a grateful smile.

DS
Pendleton escorted her to the front door and even held it open for her. Julia
was expecting harsh words but he didn
’
t say anything.

Julia
’
s
confidence faded as she headed to her car. She was still missing something
obvious, but what was it?
The
thought bothered her all day as she went about her cleaning jobs. Her clients
had many questions about Cain, some were furious with the police. Julia
appreciated their support.

She
tried to speak to DI Clarke but got his answering service every time. Despite
leaving messages he never phoned her back. Was he avoiding her? Did he know that
Cain had been arrested? What did he think about that?

Julia
had a raging headache when she got home. She took some painkillers and decided
to lie down on her bed. As she did so she noticed her washing basket was
overflowing. She
’
d been so caught up in everyone else
’
s
business she
’
d
forgotten about her own.

She
got up, she couldn
’
t lie down peacefully with the basket
staring at her like that. She
’
d fling some
washing in and then return to her bed. As was her custom, she checked through
her pockets. More than once she
’
d found unused
tissues, or even paper money in her pockets.

She
pulled out the piece of paper that Hugo had written on, the one that he
’
d
pinned to his jacket.

She
looked at the notes that he
’
d scrawled
again:

‘
Divorce
papers? Death certificate? Sins of the fathers????
’

The
mention of divorce papers and a death certificate made sense now that she
’
d
found out William Roper
’
s true story.
Hugo must have looked for a death certificate or divorce papers for William
’
s
first wife, Maria. When he hadn
’
t found any such
documents, he must have realised that William was still married. That must have
been what he referred to on the Monday morning to Julia and Cain. He
’
d
said he needed to speak to his client, and that she wouldn
’
t be
happy. That must have been William
’
s daughter, the
one who hired Hugo.

Julia
frowned as she looked at the other words:

‘
Sins
of the fathers????l
’

Fathers?
As in plural? That didn
’
t make sense.

A
realisation began to dawn on Julia. Maybe there was more than one father
involved in this family tree that Hugo had been investigating. But who? She
tapped her chin, what was the name of William
’
s
daughter? Bethany! That was it. What if Bethany had been adopted and Hugo had
discovered who her real father was? Maybe her real father was someone with a
terrible secret.

“
Oh!
”
Julia cried out.
“
Smoking
man! That
’
s it!
”

Hugo
could have found out that Smoking Man was Bethany
’
s
real father. Perhaps Smoking Man had a dark secret and he didn
’
t
want Hugo to reveal it. Maybe that
’
s why Smoking
Man had been following Julia to make sure she didn
’
t
discover his secret either.

Julia
’
s
breath caught in her throat. Maybe Smoking Man killed Hugo!

She
needed to find out more about William Roper
’
s
family tree. She needed a genealogist to help her. She sighed sadly, she could
have done with Hugo
’
s help at this stage.

But
there was someone else, Hugo
’
s bitter rival,
Fred Baker.

Julia
said out loud,
“
Sorry, Hugo, I know how you feel about
Fred, but I
’
ve
nowhere else to turn.
”

She
’
d go
and see Fred in the morning.

Chapter 29

As
Julia parked outside Fred Baker
’
s house the next
morning, she thought about the one time that she
’
d
seen Fred. She had been cleaning Hugo
’
s windows when
she saw a red-faced rotund man storming up Hugo
’
s
drive. He
’
d
rapped on the door so loudly Julia was afraid he would break it. Hugo had got
to the door before Julia.

“
Good
morning, Fred Baker, and how are you today?
”
Hugo had boomed out.

Julia
came into the hall and saw the man prodded a finger at Hugo
’
s
chest as he declared,
“
You thief! You
stole my client! Don
’
t deny it, you vagabond!
”

Hugo
had laughed and moved Fred
’
s accusing
finger out of the way.
“
I presume you
mean Mrs Blackburn? She chose to come to me, she said she wasn
’
t
convinced that you could find out all the information she needed online. She
said she wanted a more personal touch, someone who would make the effort to
visit places where her ancestors had lived. I certainly didn
’
t
steal her.
”

Fred
Baker had carried on for a while in the same vein, and Hugo had defended his
actions. The conversation ended with Fred declaring that he would never speak
to Hugo again as long as he lived. Hugo nodded and smiled amiably.
“
If
you ever need my help, Fred, you know where I am.
”

That
was a few months ago, Julia didn
’
t know if they
had sorted their differences out. For a moment she wondered whether Fred had
killed Hugo. She tutted. She was beginning to suspect everyone!

She
got out of her car and walked cautiously up the paved garden path. The door was
flung open before Julia could even knock. Fred Baker stared down at her and
said,
“
I
thought I
’
d be
seeing you soon. Come in!
”

Julia
did as she was ordered. Fred told her to sit down in his living room. Julia
quickly looked around. The room looked more like an office with all those
charts stuck on the wall and files piled up everywhere.

Fred
waved his hand at the room as if reading her thoughts.
“
It
’
s
chaos, but organised chaos.
”

“
Sounds
like something that Hugo might say.
”

Fred
sat opposite her, his arms resting on his knees, studying her. Julia couldn
’
t
read his expression. He said,
“
Are you going to
ask me if I killed Hugo?
”

“
The
thought hadn
’
t
crossed my mind,
”
Julia
said.

Fred
laughed.
“
You
’
re a
terrible liar. I wouldn
’
t blame you for
thinking that, after the scene you witnessed between me and Hugo a while ago, I
really let him have it!
”

Julia
nodded.

Fred
said,
“
We
were rivals, but we were friends. Hugo was old-fashioned when it came to making
his enquiries on behalf of his clients. I told him he could find out most of
the information he needed online, he didn
’
t
need to go to all those government buildings. But he liked to talk to people,
get a feel for the client
’
s history. I, on
the other hand, preferred to get things done quickly. The client would receive
their completed family tree quicker, and then I could move onto the next
client.
”

Julia
nodded again, trying to gather her courage together.

Fred
leant back in his chair.
“
I
’
ll
wager that you didn
’
t know me and Hugo worked together sometimes.
He
’
d ask
me to look things up on the Internet now and again, and if I needed him to
visit a certain place, then he
’
d return the
favour.
”
He sighed.
“
I
’
m
really going to miss him. Who do you think killed him? Have the police told you
anything?
”

Julia
said,
“
The
police haven
’
t
been very helpful. I
’
m making my own enquiries.
”

Fred
let out a bark of laughter.
“
Hugo always said
that you were nosy.
”

Julia
ignored his comment.
“
I think Hugo may
have been killed by one of his clients, or rather, someone related to one of
his clients. I still think his assistant and brother might have motives, but I
’
ve
got a feeling that I should look into his last client. All of Hugo
’
s
records were stolen, and his computer ruined. All I have is the name of his
last client and a written note from Hugo.
”

“
Tell
me everything,
”
Fred said.
“
I
’
ll do
what I can to help Hugo.
”

Julia
told him all that she knew. When she
’
d finished Fred
nodded and said,
“
We need to find out the identity of
Smoking Man, as you call him. It would be great if you had something with his
DNA on, I
’
ve
got a few contacts who could help me with that side of things.
”

“
But I
do!
”
Julia cried out.
“
I
’
ve
got some of the cigarette ends that he dropped. Look, they
’
re
here in my bag.
”
She
took them out and handed them to Fred.

He
took them and said,
“
How long have they been wrapped in this
tissue? Is it a clean tissue.
”

Julia
said,
“
It is
a clean tissue. Do you think they
’
ll be any use?
”

Fred
shook his head.
“
I
’
m not
sure. We can try though.
”
He put them down and rubbed his hands
together.
“
Right!
Let
’
s get
started. I
’
ll
look into the full history of William Roper, it
’
s a
shame you don
’
t
have his real name.
”

“
Sorry,
I never thought to ask.
”

“
That
’
s
okay. I
’
ll
trace all the appropriate certificates. Do you want to watch me work my magic?
”

Julia
checked her watch.
“
I would, but I
’
ve
got cleaning jobs to get on with. I
’
ll leave you my
number. How long do you think it will take before you have any information?
”

“
Before
the end of the day. Why don
’
t you call back
later?
”

Julia
stood up.
“
I
will do. Thanks so much for doing this.
”

Fred
stood up too and said,
“
I
’
d do
anything to help Hugo. You take care, Julia. There
’
s a
killer out there who probably knows that you
’
re
making your own investigations.
”

Julia
shivered slightly. She hadn
’
t considered
that.

As
she drove away she tried to shrug off the feeling that she was being followed.