Once Upon a Crime

by Mona Marple

  She opened her eyes, feeling as though she could sleep for another several hours. There was no alarm clock by the bedside in Coral’s spare room, in fact, there was nothing more than a bed and a few boxes of paperwork and other junk that called the spare room home.

  Sandy reached down for her phone and saw with horror that it was 8am. She dived out of bed but realised she was trapped until Coral finished in the shower, as she couldn’t leave without at least a basic wash. She closed her eyes, just for a moment, and then woke with a jolt twenty minutes later.

  Panicked, she burst out of the spare room to find Coral sitting in her bedroom, straightening her hair in an relaxed manner.

  “Do you know what time it is? We’re both going to be late!” Sandy exclaimed, darting past her into her bathroom. There was no time for a shower, she’d have to just strip and scrub herself at the sink.

  “I have nowhere to be.” Coral called. “I’m not at work today.”

  “I need you to come with me, then.” Sandy called from within the bathroom. “Please, Coral, come and serve for me while I bake? I could really do with a hand.”

  She heard Coral laugh from her bedroom but hoped she would realise the request was serious. As bad as Sandy felt for Bernice needing a second job, she had already called her in for more extra hours for the month than she could afford.

  She brushed her teeth, gave herself a quick wash, then brushed her hair and applied deodorant. Anything else would have to wait for another day.

  She opened the bathroom door, to find that Coral’s bedroom was empty.

  She shook her head, resigning herself to a busy day of managing the counter and baking the cakes, and made her way downstairs.

  Standing by the door, already in her little pixie boots and coat, was Coral.

  “Come on, sis, you said we were late.” She said with a grin, then added. “I hope you know what you’re letting yourself in for.”

  **

  Coral was a complete mess in the kitchen, putting things in the wrong place and breaking every rule of food hygiene, especially when she saw the mixture for the red velvet cake that Sandy was making and stuck a finger in to have a taste. She carried the dirty pots one at a time, instead of the piled and balanced towers that Sandy and Bernice carried to save time. And she spent a lot more time texting on her phone than Sandy would allow if she was paying her.

  But, Coral was an absolute winner with the customers. While Sandy’s shyness meant she took the orders as they were given, it turned out that Coral was an expert saleswoman.

  “You’re liking that book, hey?” She said to one man, who was sitting at a table in the cafe working his way through a book on antiques while eating a full breakfast. “Let me ring this through the counter for you, save you a job for later.”

  And with that, she had taken his money for a book he may well have planned to browse and leave behind. He looked utterly startled but didn’t protest.

  Sandy shook her head in amazement.

  For the entire morning, not a single customer had only a drink. They would place their order for a tea, or a cappuccino, and Coral would reply, “And to eat?”

  Sandy was certain that some of the first-time visitors thought it was mandatory to order food!

  “You’re amazing!” Sandy whispered as Coral appeared in the kitchen with a single used plate.

  “Oh stop, no, tell me more.” Coral joked, but she was enjoying herself.

  “You need to tell me your secrets.”

  “People are in here to spend money, Sandy, just help them!” She said, as if it was that simple, and then returned to her public out front.

  Sandy moved to the counter and watched her work her magic.

  Jim Slaughter was ordering a coffee to go.

  “And which cake shall I pack for you to save for lunch?” Coral asked.

  Jim, never one to disobey a direct request, was an easy target, but Sandy would never dare ask the question.

  “Erm, I’ll take two slices of the hazelnut torte.” He said, then spotted Sandy. “Are you hiding?”

  “Busy baking.” She said, moving forward and cutting two slabs of the torte for him, placing each one in a separate brown paper bag. “I overslept this morning.”

  “That’s not like you. Are you feeling okay?”

  “I’m good, thanks for asking.” She said, taking his money and ringing the order in the till. “I hope you and your mum enjoy the cake.”

  “Oh,” Jim said, his cheeks flushing red. “Yes, yes… thank you.”

  “He’s a strange man,” Coral said, the second he was gone.

  “He’s harmless,” Sandy said. “But he’s not sharing that cake with his mother.”

  Coral laughed. “Dorie Slaughter is the only woman in his life, she always has been.”

  “Not true. Dorie hinted herself that he’s found love.”

  “Oh dear, I pity the woman who has to compete with Dorie for first place in his eyes.”

  “Coral!” Sandy scalded, then returned to the kitchen. The red velvet cake was in the oven, she had already made the hazelnut torte, and she was about to make fruit scones. She always had plenty of thick double cream and strawberry jam, and seeing those in the fridge made her fancy eating a scone piled high with lashings of them on. Sometimes, the best reason to bake a particular cake was that she felt like eating some of it herself.

  She busied herself with the ingredients, keeping an ear out for Coral’s sales techniques, smiling to herself. It was nice having her sister around.

  **

  Sandy could hardly believe that the till total was genuine.

  “We’ve made more than double today what I did yesterday!” Sandy said, pulling a few notes from the pile and holding them out for Coral.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Take it, you’ve been an absolute lifesaver today.”

  “I haven’t done it because I want money, sis,” Coral said.

  “I know that, but please, we’ve done really well and, you’re letting me stay with you, you’re doing so much…”

  “Oh, please. Put it away.” Coral insisted. “You’re my sister. And, truth be told, I’ve had a blast today. It’s been a few years since I’ve worked in retail, I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed it.”

  “Don’t suppose you want to be my Saturday girl, do you?” Sandy half-joked.

  “I’ll help you out anytime, and sure, I don’t mind pulling a few shifts to get things moving. But I do nothing you and Bernice couldn’t do, it’s not magic. I see it as a challenge to make sure nobody leaves empty-handed.”

  “You want them to have empty wallets, not empty hands!” Sandy said with a laugh. She was washing the dishes, while Coral stood at the counter eating a scone.

  “Well, it’s better for you that way isn’t it,” Coral said, in between bites. “Mmm, this is so good. How did you get the baking gene?”

  “You got the beautiful-hair-like-mum gene,” Sandy said, gesturing to Coral’s deep red hair. She had hated the colour as a child, but ever since she transformed into a beautiful teenager, Coral had adored her hair colour and wore it well.

  “True.” She admitted. “So, Elaine Peters didn’t show her face today.”

  “Thankfully.”

  “How do you think we’re going to get proof?”

  “I keep thinking a bright idea will come to me, but nothing yet.”

  “My best ideas come to me in the shower,” Coral said.

  “Well, I’d better wake up earlier in the morning tomorrow then.”

  **

  The shower wasn’t needed.

  The idea came to Sandy as she walked home with Coral that afternoon.

  “I’ve got it.” She said, waving at Bernice who was in the chip shop again.

  “What? I can’t have fish and chips again!”

  "No, I’ve got it. I know how to get proof. I’m going to show Elaine the CCTV.”

  “Are you insane?” Coral asked, stopping and facing Sandy. Her eyes were full
of concern.

  “I’m going to confront her, show her only the bit showing her walking past, so she won’t know that I know she tried to set me up. I’ll offer to help her, to keep her secret, and I’ll really be recording her.”

  “That sounds really dangerous,” Coral said. “dangerous.”

  “There’s no other way,” Sandy said. “In fact, I’m going to do it tonight. I can’t wait any longer.”

  **

  Coral insisted on driving Sandy to Elaine’s house and remaining outside in the car, although Sandy wasn’t sure what good she thought she would do from out there.

  Coral had had to edit the CCTV clip and send the small clip showing only Elaine reappearing to Sandy’s mobile.

  “You promise me you’ll be safe? If anything goes wrong, come and stand by the window and I’ll call the police straight away.” Coral said, her hands shaking on the steering wheel. She had parked a couple of houses away and had already shut the headlights off so the car was in darkness.

  “I’ll be fine, Coral, don’t worry.” Sandy said, hoping her words sounded more convincing than they felt. She gave Coral a kiss on the cheek, then opened the passenger door and got out.

  The cold night air hit her, causing her to do a sharp intake of breath. She pulled her yellow mac tighter around her, then walked toward Elaine’s cottage.

  She knocked on the door three times, aiming for a knock somewhere between aggressive and timid. The living room light was on, but the curtains were drawn. So much for Coral’s plan of appearing in the window to signal for help. She couldn’t hear anything within the cottage for a few seconds and wondered if Elaine was even in.

  “Who is it?” Elaine called then.

  “It’s me, Sandy. Can I come in?”

  Elaine laughed from inside. “Oh yes, dear.”

  She unbolted the door and held it open, allowing Sandy to enter. Sandy hadn’t been in Elaine’s home for some time. Since Elaine had withdrawn from village life she had always answered the door and accepted delivery of parcels and remained neighbourly, but there had been no invitations over for dinner as there had been years before. Elaine lead Sandy into the living room, where a small lamp was lit and a candle was burning on the coffee table. Classical music played.

  “Can I get you a drink?

  “Ooh, a cup of tea would be wonderful, please.” Sandy said, stalling for time. Elaine smiled and left the room, padding down the corridor to the kitchen.

  While she was alone in the room, Sandy took the chance to look around. It was a perfectly normal living room. A fresh bunch of flowers stood in a vase by the hearth, and a photograph of Elaine on her wedding day stood atop the mantelpiece. Her late husband was absent on the photo.

  “Here you go,” Elaine said, returning to the room quicker than Sandy expected, while she was still standing up and looking at the wedding photograph.

  “You have such a beautiful home, Elaine.”

  “Do you need something, Sandy?” Elaine asked, placing the tea on a mat on the coffee table.

  “I need to show you something,” Sandy said, taking her phone from her pocket. She found the video clip and gestured for Elaine to come and sit by her, which she did. “This is CCTV showing the outside of Reginald’s cottage on the evening he was killed.”

  Elaine gulped.

  The footage played, and Elaine appeared on screen, looking nervous and in a rush.

  “That’s you, isn’t it?” Sandy asked.

  “Well, it’s grainy.” Elaine said. The flush in her cheeks told Sandy that she had recognised herself. “Is there any more?”

  “This is all we’ve found at the moment. I have to present it to the police, you know that. This places you as the last person to go near Reginald’s cottage.”

  “I don’t know what you mean, it’s not a crime to walk past a house.”

  “It isn’t, but look how nervous you look, Elaine. I think the police will wonder why you looked so nervous.”

  Elaine opened her mouth to speak, but there was a sudden noise from the back room. Elaine jumped up and Sandy moved away from her, to the window. She hadn’t managed to pull the curtains open when a man appeared in the doorway.

  “Elaine.” He said, cloaked in darkness from the hallway. “Let me deal with this.”

  Sandy tried to reach behind her to find the curtain parting, without taking her eyes off the man in the doorway, but her attempts were in vain.

  The man moved into the room, revealing his identity, and Sandy gasped.

  “Jim!” She exclaimed.

  “Sandy.” He replied, walking over to Elaine so they stood so close to each other they almost touched. “Sit down.”

  Sandy moved away from the window and reclaimed the same spot on the settee.

  “I can explain everything,” Jim said.

  “Jim, don’t.” Elaine pleaded.

  “We have to, Elaine.” He said, sounding more assertive than Sandy had ever heard.

  “You can tell me,” Sandy said, attempting to reassure them that she was on side. When she made her plan, she had been confident that she could fight Elaine off if necessary, and she hadn’t taken a single sip of her tea. She had never expected there would be two of them.

  “Elaine was nervous, you’re right,” Jim admitted, and to Sandy’s horror he turned to Elaine and smiled. “But she was with me.”

  “You’re not on the CCTV,” Sandy said.

  “She’d left me by then, but I can vouch for her whereabouts before then.”

  “Are you saying it wasn’t you?” Sandy asked Elaine. She had been certain that, confronted alone, the woman would confess. She’d read an article about killers years before that said they all wanted to be caught deep down, and she’d remembered that when she hatched this plan.

  “Of course it wasn’t me, Sandy!” Elaine exclaimed, her eyes wide with horror at being accused. “How could you think such a thing?”

  Sandy gulped, losing her nerve. “I didn’t think it, I came to show you the CCTV and ask you about it. Give you chance to explain.”

  Jim sighed. “The truth is…”

  “Let me.” Elaine said, placing a hand on Jim’s arm. She sat down on the settee opposite the one Sandy was sitting on, and Jim sat beside her. “Sandy, Jim and I have been dating.”

  “Dating?”

  Elaine nodded. “It’s still early days, but we’re having a wonderful time together.”

  “We really are.” Jim agreed, and Sandy realised who the second slice of torte had been for. He looked smitten. “Elaine was with me the day Reginald was killed, we went out of town for lunch and a movie. It was an off day for me.”

  “Why do you look so nervous on the footage?” Sandy asked.

  Elaine gave a small laugh. “Jim had dropped me off a few doors away and I was nervous someone might have seen.”

  “Why, is it a secret?”

  Elaine’s face fell and she whispered. “There are times I feel so guilty I cancel plans to see him.”

  Jim squeezed her hand. “I know how losing a husband never really leaves you, I watched my mum go through it. We spent our first date getting to know each other and I heard as much about Martin as about Elaine. I can handle the broken plans and the guilt, she’s worth it.”

  “But we can’t handle the gossip, not yet,” Elaine said, her eyes damp with tears. “I can work a way through my own judgement, but not other people’s.”

  “What are you scared of?” Sandy asked, realising that her suspicions were entirely false. She had caught a woman in love, not a killer.

  “I don’t want anyone to think I’m disrespecting my husband’s memory. I couldn’t handle that.”

  “Is that the reason for the photograph?” Sandy asked, and Elaine’s cheeks flushed.

  “Yes. I can’t believe I’ve done that to him.” Elaine said, breaking down in tears. The same words she’d said to Dorie Slaughter in the cafe. How foolish Sandy felt. She had overheard two widows discussing moving forward with their lives. "The ph
oto of me reminds me that I’m married, comforts me on the bad days. But I’m not strong enough to see his face every day. Not when I’m laughing and joking with Jim, I can’t manage that.”

  “You know Elaine, it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. If you feel ready, and this feels right, that’s it. And I think everyone in the village would be pleased for you.”

  “We will tell people.” Jim blurted. “But not yet. Not until Elaine is sure she is ready.”

  “I just felt so silly that night,” Elaine said with a sigh. “I had no idea Reginald had been killed. I’d had the most wonderful time with Jim, and then there I was doing the walk of shame in those silly shoes. I decided on the walk home to call it a day,, I felt so strange about it all. And then I heard the news, and I realised how much I wanted to give it a go, for real.”

  “And that’s what we’re doing,” Jim said, with a smile. “It feels like being a teenager again, sneaking around, but I kind of like it.”

  “I think you make a lovely couple,” Sandy said, and she meant it. Jim was such a gentleman, an easy-going gentle soul who had been overpowered all his life by his mother. It was nice to see him with a woman as gentle as he was. Sandy remembered her earlier belief that Elaine was the murderer and felt her cheeks flush with shame.

  “So do we,” Jim said, beaming at her with pride.

  “Thank you for coming over and showing me the footage, Sandy,” Elaine said. “I appreciate you giving me the chance to explain. I know you still have to let the police see it for themselves.”

  Sandy pulled the phone out of her pocket and held the screen up to them both as she clicked delete. “There, it’s gone. As you said, it’s hardly a crime walking past a house.”

  Elaine let out a long breath in relief. “Thank you.”

  Jim looked at the floor, no doubt debating whether or not the footage had been evidence.

  “Sandy, I’ve been trying to speak to you for a couple of days. I wanted you to know that I know you’re innocent. If there’s anything I can do to help, I’m always here for you.” Elaine said.