by K E O'Connor
Smoothing my hands over my hair, I unlocked the door and walked out, forcing a smile on my face.
Colin was sitting at the table, flicking through recipe books. He looked up as I approached. “Maybe I’m being too ambitious with the figs. I could just stick to my nut cheese and gammon.”
I slid into the seat opposite him. I needed answers. “That could be tasty. Was this the combination you were trying when you worked with Pete?”
He closed the recipe book. “No, that was ground beef, nut cheese, and sage and onion. It was too traditional for my taste. I move with the times with my nut cheese, but Pete wanted something his customers would love, so I went along with it. Today’s market likes to try new things. I’ve even come up with a few plant-based pie options.”
“Are you going to finish creating the pie you’d planned with Pete? It might be a nice way to remember him.”
Colin’s shoulders drooped. “I don’t know. I still can’t believe he’s gone. I expect him to wander through the door and demand to be fed. He always said my pies were the best he’d ever tasted, although he made me swear I wouldn’t tell anyone that in public, otherwise his pies would look below par.”
“Did you think his food was below par?”
Colin’s gaze slid to the side. “It was always hit and miss. I was surprised because when you find a good supplier you stick with them. I’ve had a few of Pete’s pies over the years. They always tasted different. I had the chicken pot pie on three occasions. Each time, it was like somebody different made them. Pete said there’d been a few changes to the recipe and not to worry about it. But now and again, the quality wasn’t good. I never said anything. It was his business, and he was doing well.”
“It sounds like you did most things with Pete,” I said.
“That’s what best friends are for,” Colin said.
“Were you planning on taking a holiday together?”
His eyes narrowed. “No, we’ve never been away together. Why do you ask?”
“I saw Pete’s vacation plans on his laptop. He was looking at flights to Australia.” That was technically true. I didn’t need to tell Colin that I’d only seen those plans after Pete had been killed.
Colin’s head lowered. “He never mentioned a vacation to me.”
“Perhaps he was going with a girlfriend.”
“No, no vacation and no girlfriend.” His hands flexed around the recipe book.
“If not a vacation, was he taking some time out? Maybe doing some traveling.”
“No.” Colin tapped his fingers on the table.
I nodded slowly. “He wasn’t relocating to Australia, was he?”
His lips pursed. “No! It was all talk. He was never serious when he discussed selling up. Pete only mentioned it when he was drunk.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Pete was leaving for good? He wanted to emigrate?”
Colin tipped his head back and stared at the ceiling for a second. “He shouldn’t have kept it a secret. I couldn’t believe it when I heard him making plans. He was negotiating to get a cheap deal on the phone. He managed to charm the agent into giving him ten percent off the price.”
“When did you hear him do that?” I tried not to sound eager, but this could be the missing piece I was looking for.
Colin was quiet for several seconds. “I ... don’t remember.”
I discreetly pulled out my phone and checked it. There was no response from Campbell. I was on my own when it came to squeezing a confession out of Colin.
My gaze ran over him. He didn’t look like a strong man and was only a few inches taller than me. I might be able to take him, but there were lots of sharp objects in this food truck. I needed to be careful, or I’d end up just like Pete.
“It must have been hard on you when you learned Pete was leaving, especially since you were so close. Good friends are hard to find.”
“I wish he’d just told me what he was doing,” Colin said. “We could have gone together. I’m not a fan of the sun, but I could have put up with it. I’m sure Australians would love my nut cheese. Pete never mentioned it, though. Now, it’s too late. He won’t be going anywhere.”
“Did you hear Pete talking about his travel plans when he was at the food fair?” I asked.
Colin looked away, and his jaw wobbled. “It doesn’t matter now. Pete’s gone. He can never go to Australia and leave me on my own.”
My heart thudded like I’d just run a marathon. I leaned closer. “Colin, did you confront Pete? You must have been angry that he didn’t tell you his plans. They didn’t include you. You must have hated that.”
He slid the recipe book away and stood before pacing the length of the food truck. “Pete was my best friend. We told each other everything. He was the only person who ever stood up for me. Everyone teased me about my cheese. I knew I was onto something good, and Pete agreed with me. He pushed me when no one else thought I stood a chance.”
“Which is why it must have been difficult when you learned he was no longer going to be around. He was your support system, and he was ripping it out from under your feet.”
Colin shook his head as the pacing increased. “We were working on a pie together. He couldn’t just leave. Pete was booking a flight that left in two weeks’ time.”
“And you got angry about that, didn’t you,” I said quietly. “You felt let down.”
Colin scrubbed at his face. “Of course. Pete was supposed to be my friend, but was just the same as everybody else. He didn’t like me. He simply saw me as a business opportunity. He recognized that I’d found a profitable niche and wanted in. He decided we could use his nasty pies, add my cheese, and we’d have a whole new market open to us.”
“Did he tell you that?”
“He didn’t have to. The fact he was going to walk away was proof enough that I wasn’t really his friend. I was convenient and offered him something. A way to make more money so he could fund his new life in the sun. Once he stepped on that plane, I’d have never heard from him again.”
“Did you see his laptop with his plans on? Pete had been looking into flights while he was working that day.”
Colin glared at me. “You know a lot about this. Were you going with him?”
“No! But I understand that you’d have been furious after hearing that conversation and seeing the information.” I’d always thought this murder was personal and not some opportunistic theft gone wrong.
Colin dropped his head into his hands and groaned. “I’ve always been alone. Most of my life I’ve been desperately lonely. It changed when Pete showed up. He was like this ball of energy. He made me believe in myself. Then he turned his back on me. He showed me that I didn’t matter. I never mattered to him. I never matter to anyone.”
“I’m sure there are people who care for you,” I said.
“Who? My parents are dead. I’m an only child. I never had any friends at school. Then I started making my nut cheese, and all I got was ridiculed. I was on the verge of giving up when Pete stepped in and suggested I had a good product.” He swallowed loudly. “He turned out to be the biggest traitor of them all.”
“Why did you put Pete’s laptop in Dennis’s food truck?” I asked.
Colin’s head jerked back, but then he shrugged. “Why not? He’s a hateful man who bullied me. He was always taunting me. He said my cheese tastes like old socks that had been left out in the sun. As you’ve just proven that’s not true. Unless you were lying too?”
I raised my hands quickly. “Absolutely not. You have a great product. But you shouldn’t have framed Dennis.”
“The world would be a better place with him behind bars. Dennis is a bully, and he hated Pete.”
I summoned every ounce of courage. “He may have hated Pete, but you killed him.”
Colin stared at me, his right eye twitching and his body shaking. “It was an accident. I wasn’t in my right mind. I overheard him on the phone, and I saw red. I’ve never felt rage like it.”
“W
here were you when you heard his conversation?”
“Outside the marquee. I was walking around, working off the aches in my calf muscles from standing all day. I heard Pete’s voice and stopped to listen. I couldn’t believe it. I checked no one was watching and crept under the side of the marquee. Pete had his back to me. He sounded so smug and sure of himself. Then I saw the open laptop which confirmed my fears. He was booking a one-way ticket to Australia.”
“That’s when you grabbed the pie slicer and killed him?”
“I couldn’t let him get away with it. Pete used me and was throwing me away like a piece of trash.” Colin’s gaze met mine, and his eyes filled with tears before they hardened. “I wish you hadn’t come here, Holly. I genuinely like you.”
My throat tightened as I stood slowly. “And I like you, Colin. But what you did was wrong. You have to tell the police.”
“No! What I have to do is leave. No one suspects me, other than you. I still can’t figure out how you put it all together.”
I glanced at the closed cabinet containing the wigs. “Let’s just say I had a little help.”
Colin blocked the door as I went to move. It was my only way out. “I’ll make this easy on you. It doesn’t have to hurt, but I can’t let you leave. You’ll tell that security guy who’s been sniffing around what I’ve told you. I don’t hold up well under pressure.” He pulled off his cap and scratched his balding head.
Scuffling came from the closed truck door. Meatball must have sensed I was in trouble and was trying to get in to help.
“You’re not a cold-blooded killer.” My voice wobbled. “You acted out of character because of your ... difficult situation. The police will understand that, but they won’t be lenient if you kill me too.”
“If they cross-examine me, I’ll break, just like I did with you. Everyone’s right when they say I’m a weak man. I was an idiot to let my guard down and allow someone in. Look where it’s gotten me.” He reached for a crumb covered knife.
I shook my head, my insides wobbling and my brain screaming at me to run. But there was nowhere to go. Colin had me trapped.
His hand shook as he held out the knife. “Close your eyes, Holly.”
“You’re not thinking clearly. We’ll go and talk to the police together. They’ll understand that there are mitigating circumstances. Pete lied to you. He lied to a lot of people.”
“No! You don’t get to say a bad word about him. Even after his betrayal, he’s still my best friend. My only friend. You don’t insult him.”
“But you do? You killed him. That’s the biggest insult you can give to a person.”
Meatball barked loudly from outside.
Colin’s gaze hardened. “That’s enough. This ends now.”
I grabbed the gammon and fig pie as Colin lunged at me, dodging to the left to avoid the knife strike as I slammed the pie, china plate and all, straight into his face.
There was a horrible crunching noise. Colin squealed as blood gushed from his nose. He staggered back, dropping the knife.
The door to the food truck was yanked open. Campbell charged in, a blur of contained fury and muscle.
Meatball was right behind him, barking loudly.
I pointed a shaking finger at Colin. “Here’s your killer.”
Chapter 22
The hill I cycled up felt particularly steep this afternoon. I reached the top and pulled up, petting Meatball on the head as I looked out over the stunning vista that surrounded Audley St. Mary. My home. Beautiful, and safe once again.
I cocked my head as the rumble of trucks drew near. It was the remaining trucks from the food fair leaving the village.
I lifted a hand and waved them goodbye as they trundled past.
Everything at the castle was back to normal. The marquees were being dismantled and the last of the vendors were gone.
I might not have won the cake competition, but I’d helped to solve a murder and catch a killer. That felt like success to me.
I was about to freewheel down the hill, when a sleek black limousine pulled up beside me. The window rolled down and Lady Philippa stared out at me.
“Holly! May we offer you a lift?” She rested a manicured, ring-covered hand on the door.
“Goodness! This is the first time I’ve seen you out of the castle,” I said. “Is this a special occasion?”
“It is.” Alice’s head appeared. “We’re going out for lunch.”
Rupert’s head poked past Lady Philippa’s shoulder, and he gave me a cheery wave.
“I convinced them to let me out of my prison for the afternoon,” Lady Philippa said in a conspiratorial whisper.
I chuckled. “Good for you.”
An angry yipping came from inside the limousine.
“And you’re taking Horatio too,” I said.
“Not that he appreciates it, the lazy old hound,” Lady Philippa said. “He’d much rather sleep on my bed and get his fur everywhere.”
Meatball barked in response to Horatio’s yapping, which only made him worse.
“We’re going to see Olivia Brown,” Lady Philippa said. “After our conversation the other day, I thought it might be nice to mend a few bridges. We used to have a laugh when we were younger. If I apologize for my comments, we might be able to have some fun together again.”
I smiled brightly. “That’s a perfect idea. I expect you’ll have a great time.”
“You must come with us,” Alice said. “The whole village is talking about what happened in the food truck with Colin.”
“I’d never have figured him as the killer,” Rupert said.
“And that’s why he made the perfect killer,” I said. “He went almost unnoticed.” It seemed like that was the rather sad story of Colin Cheeseman’s whole life.
It had been two days since I’d narrowly escaped being killed by Colin. Campbell had frogmarched him away from the food truck, and he’d been charged after confessing to Pete’s murder.
Since then, I’d kept a low profile. Mainly because I knew Audley St. Mary would be alive with gossip about the incident, but almost getting stabbed was a shock to the system. I’d needed some down time to recover.
“The worm definitely turned in this case,” Lady Philippa said. “I always say that you need to watch the quiet ones. They’re only quiet because they have dark thoughts in their head that they’re focused on. Although I did get to try his nut cheese. It was tasty. It’s a shame there won’t be any coming to the castle.”
“Even though he did a terrible thing,” I said, “I feel sorry for him. Colin was mistreated by a lot of people. He was never taken seriously. He worked hard on something he believed in.”
“That doesn’t give him an excuse to stab someone in the back with a pie slicer,” Alice said. “You’re too kind-hearted, Holly.”
“I’m just glad my pigs, wigs, and figs solved it for you.” Lady Philippa winked at me.
“What’s all this?” Rupert asked.
“Oh, nothing important,” I said.
“Please come with us,” Alice said. “There’s plenty of room in the limo. You can put the bike in the trunk. Granny will keep hold of Horatio so he can’t be mean to Meatball. Olivia would love to have a first-hand account of how you were inches from death and saved the day by breaking Colin’s nose with his own pie.”
I winced. I had hit him hard. His face was so swollen when he’d been taken away that he was almost unrecognizable.
I looked to the horizon, where the castle proudly stood. “I should get back to the kitchen. Chef Heston has me on double shifts. I have a mountain of vegetables to peel.” Despite coming second in the cake competition, Chef Heston hadn’t budged on the deal we’d made. I was peeling, scrubbing, and working extra hard in the kitchen. Although I had noticed a little bonus in my wage packet yesterday, so maybe he wasn’t quite as mean as he liked to make out he was.
“I can order you to do this,” Alice said. “You know that if anyone disobeys my orders, they end up
in the tower. And the really naughty ones—”
“I know, they end up having their heads chopped off.” I laughed. “With an offer like that, how can I refuse?”
The limo driver climbed out, and I lifted Meatball out of his basket before the bike was slid into the trunk.
The front passenger door opened, and I stepped back as Campbell appeared. I hadn’t seen him since he’d interviewed me and taken Colin away.
“A word, Holly.” He led me a short distance from the limo.
I grimaced. I was no doubt about to be reprimanded for interfering in yet another investigation. “Just one word?”
The side of his mouth quirked up. “I want to commend you on your work. Colin’s confession stands up. Although you really didn’t need to give our killer a broken nose.”
“Broken nose! Oh! I didn’t realize it was broken. I was only trying to stop him from killing me.”
“I’m glad you did. You did an excellent job,” he said. “When I received your text, I wasn’t sure if it was a joke. Fortunately for you, I had some spare time and came to investigate.”
“Lucky me,” I said.
“And thanks to your noisy dog, I knew exactly which truck was Colin’s.”
“He is a wonder dog.” I cuddled Meatball tighter. He’d been there when I needed him, helping to keep me safe.
Campbell drew in a long breath. “Since it appears you want to keep poking around in dangerous investigations, it’s time you had training. You need to be prepared the next time you take on a killer one-on-one when you’re unarmed and in a confined space.”
I shook my head. “Oh, no. There’s not going to be a next time. I’m all done with solving murders.”
“I recall that you said that the last time you confronted a killer,” Campbell said.
I grinned. “I mean, there’s a certain satisfaction in finding out who did it. And I didn’t mean to get trapped in the food truck with Colin. He enticed me with his pies, then everything clicked into place.”
“You need to be more careful about going off with strange men.”
“Duly noted. Do you consider yourself to be a strange man?”
“One of the strangest.” He rapped his knuckles on my cycle helmet and then petted Meatball. “If I tell you to keep away from future investigations, will you?”