Charlotte Denver Cozy Mystery Box Set

by Sherri Bryan

  Ruby opened her handbag. “Here, take the pack.”

  “Thanks.” She blew her nose and recoiled at her reflection in the mirror on her lipstick case. “Oh, gross.” She leaned against the window of the taxi and wrote ‘Frankie’ in the condensation left by her breath. As she watched it disappear in the light cast by the streetlamps, she began to cry again. “Oh, Rubes, I need a hug.”

  Ruby held out her arm and Amy snuggled down next to her. “That’s better,” she said, and closed her eyes.

  In the darkness of the taxi, Ruby’s lips curled in a malevolent smile as she stroked Amy’s hair.

  “There, there, Amy. I’ve got you now, I’ve got you…”

  ººººººº

  “Rubes, you left your wedding and engagement rings in the bathroom.” Amy called out through the bedroom door. “I’ll leave them on the kitchen table, okay?” She ran downstairs, feeling a little better for having had a shower.

  She heard Ruby’s footsteps on the stairs. “I’m making a cup of tea—you want one? Ruby! Do you want a cup...” She turned to see her standing in the kitchen doorway. “Oh, you’re here. Do you want a cup of tea?”

  Ruby said nothing.

  “Look, I can’t imagine how upset you must be—you’ve lost Adam as well, haven’t you? Why don’t you come and sit down and let me get you a drink? What would you like? Wine, gin and tonic…oh no, better not with the meds. How about a cup of tea, then? We’ve got it all at Chez Amy, you know! Come on, sit down and I’ll keep you company. I’ll get a box of tissues ready and we can sit and talk about Frankie and Adam—it might make us feel bett…what’s that in your hand?”

  Ruby had changed into a bathrobe, the object she held at her side hidden in its folds.

  “What’s up, Ruby? You look a little strange, like…”

  “For God’s sake! Will you shut up and sit down!”

  Amy dropped into a chair immediately. “Ruby! You’re scaring me. What’s wrong?”

  “D’you know what?” Ruby sat opposite her. “I am so sick of hearing your voice, endlessly whingeing on and on about how you feel because Frankie died. About how your life will never be the same. About how close you were to Frankie. My God, you have no idea.

  “You’re a selfish, spoilt little brat, Amy. All you ever think about is yourself. As long as you’re okay, you couldn’t care less about anyone else, could you?”

  Amy’s eyes were like saucers. “Ruby, I’m sorry. I had no idea you felt that way. Please, I didn’t mean to be selfish. I should have been more sympathetic.

  “Of course, you’ve been upset about Adam, and I’ve not been much support, have I?”

  Ruby laughed. “Upset about Adam? Why on earth would I be upset about Adam? I killed him!” She raised the object in her hand above her head and brought it down on the table in front of her with a crash.

  Amy gasped when she saw the bronze statuette, bearing the plaque, ‘Triathlon Champion 2012’, the plinth on which it stood splattered with dried blood.

  “That’s the trophy from Adam’s study…oh, no, Ruby. No…you didn’t? Not you?”

  Ruby laughed. “Yep, it was little old me.”

  “But how could it have been? You said you left home before Adam was killed.”

  “Yeah, I did. But then I went back again.” She ran her fingers over the statue, her eyes fixed on Amy. “I left early, hung around outside for a while and then sneaked back inside. When I heard Adam go upstairs, I crept into his study and took the trophy from his desk. Poor love, he didn’t know what hit him. Literally!” She laughed again and Amy saw that her eyes were dead and humourless.

  “Oh dear, poor Amy. You have no idea what all this is about, do you? You really have no idea. Think about it—think back to London. Who’s normally the first one in the hot tub? You. Every bloody year, it’s been you. Why couldn’t it have been you this year? It wasn’t supposed to be Frankie! Damn it, Amy—why’d you have to go and ruin everything?”

  Amy frowned as she contemplated Ruby’s words, her mouth falling open as the penny dropped. “It was you who tampered with the hot tub? You disabled the safety mechanisms?”

  Ruby raised a hand. “Yep—me again. When you went to France with Penny, and the guys went off on their weekend jolly, I let myself into your sister’s house and borrowed the keys for London. Frankie and I had a fabulous weekend there…don’t worry; he had no idea what I was up to. He was sleeping when I rigged the tub. And you shouldn’t sound so surprised…when you know what you’re looking for, you can find information on anything you like on the internet. It’s easy—especially for a researcher, like me.”

  “You were the blonde woman? Oh, my God, we thought Elsie was imagining things. Even with you changing your hair colour every five minutes, we never, for one minute, thought it could be you. And you rigged the tub because you thought I’d be the first one in? Why would you want to kill me?”

  “Oh, come on, Amy. Why do you think? I’m sure you won’t have to think too hard.”

  The heat rose in Amy’s cheeks. “Because of me and Adam?”

  Ruby gave her a patronising round of applause. “Oh, bravo. Ten out of ten. What, you think I didn’t know? Don’t flatter yourself, love, you weren’t the only one. I knew about all his floozies. The rest didn’t bother me so much, though ‘cos they weren’t pretending to be my friends.

  “God, you make me sick—you act like butter wouldn’t melt in your mouth, but you think nothing of taking my husband to bed while you’re supposed to be a friend of mine. How could you do that? Did you honestly think I was going to let you carry on under my nose and do nothing?

  “I’ve been waiting for this moment for months. I know how long you were having an affair with Adam. How do you think I felt when I found out, Amy? How could you have done that? How many times were we in each other’s company while you were having an affair with my husband? And how do you think I felt when I found out he’d bought you this apartment with our money?” A solitary tear forced its way out of the corner of her eye.

  “I’ve hated you for so long, Amy. But do you know what made me hate you most of all? I hated you for being able to grieve for Frankie when I couldn’t. Don’t you think Adam would have found it strange if I’d been too upset? I had to keep my emotions bottled up…you think these tears I’ve been crying since Adam’s death are for him? They’re not. They’re for Frankie. I loved him. We were supposed to be together. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Amy. I couldn’t even spend what turned out to be his last days with him, because Adam insisted on coming to London at the last minute and ruined it all.”

  “You and Frankie? What are you talking about?” Amy stared at Ruby. At her hand with its wedding ring finger without its wedding and engagement rings.

  It bore a tattoo that said, ‘We Are One.’

  Amy’s hand flew to her mouth. “‘Together…We Are One.’ It was you?! You were the other half to Frankie’s tattoo? Oh, Ruby, I had no idea. He wouldn’t tell me who it was. Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Why didn’t I tell you? Why do you think, Amy? Because Adam was so addicted to you by the time I fell in love with Frankie, it was as though I didn’t exist. Of all people, do you really think I would have come to you?” she said, incredulously. “Oh, believe me, I wanted to tell someone—I wanted to shout it from the rooftops but I had to keep it to myself. I tried to resist Frankie for so long, I really did, but, in the end, when I couldn’t make Adam love me, I just couldn’t help myself.”

  A knock at the door startled them.

  “Amy. It’s DCI Costello. Can you open the door, please?”

  “What’s he doing here? Did you call him?” Ruby hissed.

  “How am I supposed to have called him, for God’s sake? I’ve been sitting here with you.”

  The door opened slowly. “Ruby, it’s Penny. I’m not going to come in, I’m just telling you it’s me, okay? Is Amy okay?”

  “Yes, I’m okay, Pen! Please get me out of here.” Amy shrieked as Ruby raised
the trophy above her head.

  “Ruby! Put it down.” Nathan stood in the doorway. “Put the trophy down.”

  “Why are you blaming me?,” said Ruby. “Amy’s to blame. If she hadn’t let Frankie get in the hot tub before her, he’d still be alive.”

  “But she’d be dead, wouldn’t she?” Nathan took a step forward. “Just like you’d planned. Now give me the trophy, Ruby.”

  For a moment, it seemed as though she was going to relent but then she ran at Amy with a cry, the bloodied plinth of the statuette swinging wildly as Amy dodged left and right to avoid it.

  As she backed her into a corner and raised the statuette one last time to bring it down on her head, Nathan launched himself at her from halfway across the room and knocked her off-balance.

  It took both Nathan and Fiona to restrain and cuff her, such was her strength. With her eyes wild and her breathing heavy, she spat and swore at Amy. “You’d better get used to looking over your shoulder, because I promise you, I’m going to be back to finish you off when you least expect it.”

  As Fiona Farrell prised the statuette from Ruby’s fingers, she said, “And I promise you, you won’t be back to finish anything off—not where you’re going. Not for a long, long time.”

  Nathan picked up the statuette and dropped it into an evidence bag.

  He had the result he’d been waiting for.

  He had Adam’s killer.

  He had Frankie’s killer.

  It was over.

  Epilogue

  “So, Ruby Pitt killed the tattoo artist accidentally, but her husband intentionally? And she was in love with the tattoo artist? And her husband was in love with one of her best friends? And that friend was the intended victim in the hot tub accident that killed the tattoo artist? And the assistant who’d worked for Adam Pitt for years was the son he never knew existed?”

  Garrett shook his head. “Good grief, I’m glad I’m a fisherman, Nathan—it’s a lot less complicated! Talk about enough material for an entire soap opera season. And this one here figured it all out?”

  Garrett Walton hugged his goddaughter, taking care not to squeeze too tightly.

  “I keep telling her, she’s a natural—I could put her on a case right now and I bet she’d have the bad guys in handcuffs before some of the other officers had finished scratching their heads.” Nathan grinned.

  “And I keep telling you, stop putting all these crazy ideas into her head!” said Laura, wagging her finger at Nathan. “I prefer knowing that my goddaughter’s safe and sound, indoors and surrounded by people who love her. Not out pounding the pavements, having to deal with goodness knows what.”

  “Laura, I don’t think I’ll be squeezing myself into a WPC uniform any time soon, so you can stop worrying.” Charlotte gave her baby bump a loving pat. “And, even if I did want to join the force, which I don’t, I doubt I’d have the time for the next, oh, eighteen years or so!”

  “Well, that’s a relief, love,” said Laura. “I can’t help but worry sometimes that one day, we’ll take a walk down to the marina, find a ‘For Sale’ sign on the door of ‘Charlotte’s Plaice’, and you patrolling the neighbourhood on a police issue bicycle, in a pair of ugly police issue shoes, with a truncheon and a pair of handcuffs your only concessions to fashion accessories.”

  Charlotte giggled. “Oh don’t be daft! If I was going to sell up, you’d be one of the first to know!”

  “Well, I certainly hope you won’t sell up,” said Leo, whose lap was playing host to a very relaxed Pippin. “Harry and I would starve.”

  “Hear,hear! I’ll second that!” Harry touched his pint of beer to Leo’s.

  On a sunny July afternoon, Charlotte had opened the café for a private party. Garrett and Laura, Jess and Ben, Harriett and Leo, Ava, Betty, Harry and Aunt Lola had all been invited for a long, lazy lunch.

  She’d been struggling with being on her feet all day at the café, so the following Friday would be her last full day at work until well after the baby was born. Until she gave up for good, she’d be sharing the days with Laura—50/50.

  Before then, though, she wanted to make the effort to cook a delicious lunch for her friends and family and today was the only day that everyone could get together at the same time.

  “Hi, sorry we’re late!” Jess and Ben arrived with flowers, Champagne and sparkling apple juice for Charlotte. “I bought sparkling for a change so you don’t feel left out when we open the bubbly,” said Jess as she threw her arms around her friend’s neck.

  “Lovely, thank you! Ooh, and it’s chilled, too. Anyone fancy a glass of Champagne now? Yes? Right, can you do the honours, please Nathan. You know how useless I am at opening those bottles.”

  As the corks popped and the friends relaxed in each other’s company, they were warmed by the sun in the turquoise sky and cooled by the breeze that caused the orchestra of wind chimes that hung from the masts to tinkle and clatter. Better than any music, thought Charlotte, happily.

  “These burger appetisers are delicious, Charlotte,” said Betty. “Where did you find such small buns?”

  “I made them. I don’t normally make my own burger buns but I couldn’t find any that small and I just wanted the burgers to be bite-sized, so I made them.”

  “They’ve got a wonderful flavour,” said Harriett. “Not like anything I’ve ever tasted before. Very interesting.”

  “Good, I’m glad you like them. Right, I’ll just go and check on lunch. I won’t be a sec.”

  “Do you need a hand, dear?” asked Ava

  “No, I’m okay, thanks. You just relax and enjoy yourself.”

  “Well, if there’s anything I can do, just give me a shout. I’m very versatile, you know. I can turn my hand to most things.”

  “Okay, will do, but I’m sure I’ll manage.” Charlotte smiled and took her glass of non-alcoholic fizz into the kitchen.

  “Right.” She spoke to herself as she crossed off things from the to-do list on the counter. “Now let me see…starters are all ready, desserts are done. I just need to check on the turbot.”

  She rubbed her back—the twinges she’d experienced in the past had been bothering her again over the last few days but, although the pain was quite intense, it didn’t last long as the twinges came and went. In any case, at her check-up four days before, the midwife had told her that everything was fine so she wasn’t in the slightest bit worried about them.

  As she bent to open the oven door, she was overcome by the most intense pain she’d ever felt. She almost passed out it was so strong. She tried to straighten up but couldn’t. Her instincts told her this was no false alarm. This wasn’t wind or constipation. Doubled up and unable to move, she found her voice and shouted for help.

  “Nathan! NATHAN! Help! Someone, heeeelp! I think the baby’s coming!”

  ººººººº

  “Where is that bloody ambulance?” Nathan held Charlotte’s hand and dabbed her forehead with a cold towel. His forehead was creased with worry but he tried to keep calm for her sake.

  Her contractions were closer together now, and, as relaxed as she was trying to stay, concern was etched all over her face.

  “Nathan, if it doesn’t get here soon, I’m going to have this baby on the kitchen floor.”

  “I thought first babies took hours to be born?” said Betty.

  “I think that’s more usual but they can come very quickly, too,” said Aunt Lola. “Looks like Charlotte’s going to fall into the latter category.”

  “It’s early—it’s not due until August 11th. Is that okay?” A concerned Nathan rubbed the small of Charlotte’s back as she tried to find a comfortable position.

  “Well, it’s not hugely early,” said Lola. “I know people who have had babies far earlier and they’ve been perfectly okay with the right care. The hospital will look after Charlotte and the baby, so try not to worry too much.”

  “Do you think Garrett, Ben, Harry and I have got time to take Pippin for a walk?” Leo called, from th
e bar. “I think he needs to pee.”

  Harriett stuck her head through the hole in the wall to speak to him. “What do you mean? Have you got time?”

  “Well, we don’t want to miss anything—we want to be here when the paramedics arrive so we can cheer Charlotte on.”

  ““Cheer her on?”” Harriett tutted. “She’s having a baby, Leo, not racing a horse. Yes, go on, but don’t go too far and don’t be too long.”

  As Laura held onto one of Charlotte’s hands and Aunt Lola held the other, Ava was busy boiling kettles and pans for hot water.

  “What are you doing?” asked Jess.

  “Getting ready to deliver this baby, that’s what I’m doing,” said Ava. “Hopefully, we won’t have to but it pays to be prepared.”

  Amidst the chaos, she was so calm it was as if delivering babies was something she did every day. “There are enough of us here who’ve had one, for goodness’ sake, I’m sure we can manage between us if necessary. Now, where are the clean tea towels, dear?”

  “Oh, now wait a minute. I’m not sure about that, Ava,” said Nathan. “I know you mean well but I’d really rather wait for the ambulance. No disrespect, but the paramedics are qualified at this.” He looked at his watch. “Where are they? It’s been almost ten minutes since we called.”

  Ava tapped her foot, one hand on her hip. “Nathan, I’ve no doubt that you’d like to wait for the ambulance but perhaps you should consider what Charlotte wants to do? I’m not one for interfering, as you well know, but don’t you think this should be her decision?”

  She crouched down and stroked Charlotte’s sweat-drenched cheek. “What do you say, my dear? Would you like us to give it a go if you need us to?”

  Charlotte looked at the faces around her—Jess, Laura, Ava, Harriett, Betty, Aunt Lola and Nathan. Almost all the people she loved most in the world. She wanted the paramedics to look after her but, if they couldn’t get to her in time, she knew she couldn’t wish for anyone better to try to help her.

  She nodded. “Okay, if needs be.”

  Ava squeezed her hand. “Good girl. Right, let’s get organised.”