by Morgana Best
I held up my hands. “We were sitting around the fire after dinner and he asked me. Scorpius was there, and I didn’t want Scorpius to think there was anything going on with me and Lucas. Plus the aunts want me to get him drunk and see if he knows anything.”
Linda scratched her head with one perfectly manicured fingernail. “But how could he know anything?”
“No idea, but the aunts don’t trust him.”
Linda shrugged. “Fair enough, I suppose. Pepper, try not to worry too much. I’m sure Lucas is looking out for you. He won’t let anything happen to you.”
“Well, I certainly felt threatened last night and there was no sign of Lucas,” I pointed out.
“That’s just it, you didn’t see him,” she said. “Still, I’m sure he was there, watching out for you.” Just then, she nodded behind me and my blood ran cold. I hoped it wasn’t Scorpius. To my great relief, Lucas appeared at the table. “Morning, ladies,” he said loudly, clearly for anyone else’s benefit.
“Scorpius Everyman threatened me last night,” I said quickly and in low tones. I would have said more, but Lucas nodded.
“Don’t worry, Pepper, I was there,” he said in little more than a whisper. “I heard everything. I have to go now, but I’ll find a way to be in touch. Continue on with what you’re doing.” With that, he left and walked over to order.
I let out a long sigh of relief. I was so relieved that I was afraid I would burst into tears.
Linda patted my hand. “See, I told you!”
I dabbed at my eyes with a tissue. “That’s a relief,” I said tearfully, much to my embarrassment.
“As much as I hate to tear you away from Lucas, I think we should go before he walks back this way, just in case Scorpius is watching,” Linda said. I nodded. “Where do we go next?” she asked me.
“The hairdresser,” I said, following Linda out of the coffee shop. I could not resist looking back at Lucas.
Linda stopped on the street. “Which one?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “We could go to them all, I suppose. I haven’t been to one since I arrived here at Lighthouse Bay. Hairdressers usually know all the gossip.”
The nearest hairdresser was only a short distance away. Linda and I waited outside to plot. “What will I say?” I asked her.
“I thought you already had something in mind,” she said.
I had to admit that I didn’t. The tiny salon was bare, not a client in sight. The minute the hairdresser looked up, she broke into a smile.
“I just wanted a trim,” I said. “Could you fit me in now, by any chance?”
The hairdresser looked doubtful. “I do have a client coming in soon, but I could fit you in, if you didn’t want your hair washed first?”
“I just washed it this morning,” I lied. “I’m Pepper, and this is my friend, Linda.”
“Mandy.” She gestured to a chair. “What did you have in mind?”
“Just a trim,” I said again, as soon as I sat down. Linda sat in a row of chairs across the front window. “I don’t want any length cut off.”
Mandy ran her hands through my hair. “Well, we could just take some of the heaviness out of the top, and then cut off all the split ends.”
I winced. “Okay,” I said hesitantly, as Mandy was already reaching gleefully for the scissors.
“Are you new in town?” Mandy asked me, while she put clasps all through the top of my hair and then combed the back section.
“I came here from Sydney only recently,” I said. “I’m Pepper Jasper, from Mugwort Manor.”
Mandy’s scissors hovered in mid air. “Oh, you’re a Jasper! Your aunts are lovely people. They come in here on occasion.” She narrowed her eyes in a gesture of disapproval. Clearly, she thought my aunts’ hair needed more regular attention.
“They’ll probably have more time to look after themselves now that I’m here to manage the Bed and Breakfast business,” I said, bringing the subject around to the murder. “Did you know I was the one who found the body the other day?”
Mandy nodded, and I tried to see how much hair had fallen to the ground out of the corner of my eye. “Yes, that must have been terrible, finding a body like that.”
“Yes,” I said, “and the police haven’t found who did it.”
Mandy’s eyes glittered. “Surely they must know who did it even if they haven’t arrested anyone yet. The Task Force is here, after all. It must be something to do with those murders down south. Why, I’m too afraid to go out of my house at night. This used to be a nice quiet town. When I started working here as an apprentice, my mother wouldn’t even bother to lock her house, but these days—well, you just can’t be too careful, can you?”
I shook my head, but Mandy seized it with both hands and held it still. “The police probably have too many suspects,” I said, “given that I’ve heard that Joseph Maxwell wasn’t well liked.”
Mandy made a guttural sound. “That’s the understatement of the century! The whole town hated him. He was single-handedly responsible for the bad internet in Lighthouse Bay.”
“Did you know his cousin, Harry Friar?” I asked her.
She shook her head, so I pressed on. “He’s staying at Mugwort Manor at the moment, in one of the cottages. He told me that he’s here for the reading of his grandfather’s will, and that his grandfather left everything to his cousin, Joseph. Now he’ll get everything in Joseph’s will.”
“Yes, Harry’s going to get that big house, too,” Mandy said. “Joseph Maxwell’s lawyer was old Rod Watson, and his secretary was here this morning to get her usual highlights. She told me that Harry Friar is Joseph Maxwell’s sole heir. He’ll get that big house.”
I was surprised, and didn’t try to hide it. “Harry is going to get a big house? Just how big is it? And is it in a good state of repair?”
“It would be worth well over a million,” Mandy said. “It’s one of those houses on the road to the lighthouse.”
“You mean on that high road, one of those posh houses with good views of the ocean?”
Mandy nodded. “Yes, you can see right down the coast for miles. The houses up there have the best ocean views in these parts. It’s an older house, of course, as are all the houses here with the good views. Joseph completely renovated it.”
My mind was ticking over. “Joseph was wealthy, you say?”
Mandy nodded and held my head still again. She seized a razor-like implement and began removing parts of the top of my hair with a flourish.
“So he probably had a fair bit of cash to leave as well?”
Mandy leant back to admire her handiwork in the mirror. She seized a spray bottle and gave my head a good spray. I wiped some of the water from my eyes. “Sorry about that,” she said, handing me a towel. “Yes, Harry will get all Joseph’s money, plus their grandfather’s estate. I can’t tell you exactly how much money their grandfather left Joseph, because he’d been retired for years. Still, I go to the retirement village every Thursday to do hair, and all the ladies there said the amount was several hundred thousand dollars, at least. He invested it all in the stock market, you see, so they didn’t know the exact figure.”
I nodded. “And Harry Friar inherits all this?”
“According to Rod Watson’s office he does. So their grandfather died and left everything to Joseph, who was already wealthy, and now Joseph has died, and he left everything to Harry.”
I allowed myself a self-satisfied smile. Mandy had been a wealth of information. I wasn’t so sure when I looked in the mirror. I had asked for a trim, but she had taken off far too much.
After I paid her and was out of earshot, I turned to Linda. “That was very helpful. Harry Friar most certainly has a motive for murder. I just can’t understand why the police haven’t arrested him by now.”
“They can’t arrest someone just for a good motive,” Linda said. “Your hair looks nice.”
I eyed her speculatively to see if she was being polite. “Well, surely they sh
ould have called him in for questioning again.”
Linda shrugged. “Don’t forget, there are two Cleaners on the job and they won’t want the police to think that anything supernatural is going on.”
“But don’t you see, that’s exactly my point. If Harry Friar murdered his cousin, then nothing supernatural is going on. Why would Lucas or Scorpius keep that from the police? It doesn’t make any sense. Perhaps I should tell Scorpius this information.”
Linda shook her head and laid her hand on my arm. “No, Pepper, you mustn’t. Keep away from the man. Promise me you will?”
I was surprised by her vehemence. “Why? Why are you so worried? Surely we should tell him what we found out.”
Linda shook her head, more strongly this time. “Pepper, I know you’re new at this, but he’s a Cleaner. You don’t know what they’re like. I know you like Lucas, and he seems okay, I suppose, but Cleaners have a bad reputation. They’re above the law; they answer to no one. They can do whatever they like and they can get away with it. Don’t you remember that I told you they would even get rid of innocent witnesses?”
I nodded, but I found it hard to believe that Lucas would do something like that. On the other hand, I had no illusions that Scorpius would. Linda was still talking. “I’m sure Scorpius already knows this about Harry Friar, and he’s probably looked into all the other suspects as well.”
“I doubt it,” I said. “Linda, I’m sure he’s fixating on you. Let’s go to the police with this information. If it wasn’t a Shifter wolf pack attack, and you said it wasn’t, then it has to be one of the suspects: Harry Friar, Joyce Batson, or Marianne Compton.”
“Or your new boarder—what was his name again?”
“Sam Innis,” I supplied. “I’m having dinner with him tonight, so I’ll see what I can find out.”
Linda looked at her watch. “I have another viewing of a house soon,” she said. “Pepper, please be careful tonight. I’m fairly certain that wasn’t a Shifter attack, which means it was probably someone with a grudge against Joseph Maxwell and trying to make it look like one of those murders down south. Don’t take any chances with the guy.”
I assured her that I wouldn’t.
Chapter 13
I hadn’t wanted to dress too nicely, in case it gave Sam any ideas, and I had suggested a restaurant in a busy area of town. What’s more, I had borrowed Aunt Maude’s car, despite Sam’s protests that we should go in the one car as we were both staying at the manor.
Sam was waiting for me outside the restaurant, dressed to the nines. He would not have looked out of place at one of the finer Sydney restaurants, but this was Lighthouse Bay, a coastal seaside town. I guessed he was dressed to impress.
Sam at once crossed to me and put his hand on the small of my back, no doubt to guide me into the restaurant. I pointedly stepped away.
“You look absolutely gorgeous, Valkyrie,” he said, looking at my cleavage, or where my cleavage would be under the high neckline of my dress.
“Pepper,” I said a little too snappily. “My name is Pepper, but my aunts call me Valkyrie.”
He stepped closer to me. “That sounds like an interesting story. Maybe you can tell me all about it some time.”
I bit my lip. It was going to be just as difficult as I had feared to keep him at arm’s length. The sooner I could get alcohol into him and get him to talk, the happier I would be.
The restaurant wasn’t particularly nice, nor was it intimate. I hadn’t been here before; I had only looked through the windows. Nevertheless, it lived up to my expectations—or lack thereof. The lighting was rather too bright and it looked like an old office building that had been converted into a restaurant. The stark grey tiles gave way to equally cold grey carpet. Black plastic chairs and black metal tables covered with white tablecloths were placed along the floor at intervals. A section of what looked like cheap flat pack shelving served as a barrier between two sections of the room. The cold atmosphere was broken only by the numerous potted palms dotted so profusely around the room that it made it look like a film set for The Day of the Triffids.
The waiter showed us to a table, but once more Sam put his hand on the small of my back. Once more, I shook it off. Couldn’t the man take a hint? As soon as the waiter left, I turned to Sam. “We’re only here as friends, remember?”
He winked at me. That habit was getting old fast. “If you say so, Valkyrie. Oh sorry, Pepper. Playing hard to get, are you?”
“No!” I said it so loudly that other patrons turned to look. I lowered my voice and leant across the table. “Sam, please let me make this clear. I agreed to come to dinner with you as a friend. I have no romantic interest in you.”
Sam laughed. “If you say so,” he said again. “You’re single, right?”
I shook my head with disgust. He was clearly one of those men who thought all single women were prey. I went through my list of questions in my head. I hoped he was a heavy drinker. It was with great relief that I saw a waiter approach the table, and I was even more relieved when Sam ordered wine. He ordered wine for both of us without even consulting me, but I didn’t mind because it played into my plans.
The wine seemed to take an age to arrive, and Sam was playing twenty questions. “So why is a lovely girl like you still single, at your age?” he asked me.
I couldn’t resist rolling my eyes. If that was his pickup line, no wonder he was single—assuming he was. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had a girlfriend, maybe even a wife, tucked away at home. “So, how long have you been a dental hygienist?” I asked him by way of response.
I thought he would try to turn the conversation back to me, but to my relief he didn’t. I soon discovered he liked to talk about himself, and that suited me just fine. “I wanted to be a dentist, but my marks weren’t high enough. I’ve always been fascinated by teeth.”
“Who isn’t?” I said sarcastically.
He nodded enthusiastically. “Exactly! So I trained as a dental hygienist. Oral disease is a serious matter. You’d be surprised how many people have periodontal disease. I used to work at an orthodontic clinic, which was absolutely fascinating.”
“I can imagine,” I said, pulling a face.
Sam continued to nod enthusiastically. “Yes, I made dental impressions. It was just like being an artist. Now I’m going into the sales side of it.”
I held up a finger. “Hey there, wait a moment. I thought you said you were here to apply for a position as a dental hygienist. I’m sure there’s not enough scope for dental sales in this town.”
Sam shifted in his seat. “Yes, you’re right. This position here is just a basic one, such as doing scaling and things like that, but my aim is to get into sales.”
I wondered if I had just caught him out in a lie, whether he wasn’t a dental hygienist at all. He had hardly taken a sip of his wine. I knew my plan to get him drunk and then to talk was a tenuous one, to say the least, but it was the only plan I had. “Don’t you like your wine? You have hardly had any.”
He shook his head. “I’m not a big drinker.”
My spirits fell. I decided to press on with my questioning, regardless. “Have you ever been to Lighthouse Bay before?”
Sam looked down at his glass and twirled it around. “No.”
Something occurred to me. “If you’re not a big drinker, why did you arrive here in a taxi?”
“I thought you could drive me back, of course,” he said with raised eyebrows. “We both live at Mugwort Manor.”
I sighed. “We’ve already been through this, Sam,” I said through gritted teeth. “I said I wanted to arrive here separately, and therefore I want to leave here separately. I am not taking you back to Mugwort Manor. I thought I’d made that clear.”
“Well, maybe if you drink too much, you won’t be able to drive, so you’ll have to get a taxi back, too. Then we can share a taxi.” He winked at me.
I had an idea. “Yes, you’re right. If I drink too much, I will have to get a taxi b
ack and we should share one.” His face lit up. I pushed on. “But I doubt I’ll drink too much, because I only tend to drink when others are drinking with me.”
Sam nodded, but then took a gulp of his drink. At that moment, the waiter arrived to take our orders. I hadn’t even looked at the menu, so I ordered the first thing I saw, something that boasted a caramelised fig balsamic. I was partial to anything that tasted like caramel. Sam took more time, loudly agonising over whether he should have barramundi with rocket, anchovy, and lemon, or risotto with herbed goat curd and truffle oil. I zoned out while he was discussing his selection with the waiter. I moved a little further away from the palm frond that was touching my hair, and then realised that this was an opportunity. With Sam’s attention diverted, I tipped the contents of my wine glass into the palm.
When Sam turned his attention back to me, I said, “Would you pour me another glass of wine, please, Sam? We might have to order another bottle or two.”
Sam raised his eyebrows, but then downed his glass in one gulp. He refilled both our glasses. I resisted the urge to smirk. Maybe it wouldn’t be so hard to get him drunk, after all. I only hoped he didn’t become more amorous after a drink or five.
“Don’t you find life in Lighthouse Bay rather too boring, Pepper?” Sam said after sipping his wine.
If only he knew! “If you find it boring here, why would you want to get a job here?” I asked him. “Surely there are dental hygienist jobs going in more exciting places.”
He narrowed his eyes. I was sure he was not telling me something, but what? It could be something as simple as the fact that he was desperate for money, or that he wasn’t a very good dental hygienist and had to take a job wherever he could—who knows? I would have to delve a little deeper. When he didn’t respond, but continued to sip his wine, I asked again, “Do you know anyone in this town?”
Sam shook his head and placed down his wine glass. “Only you,” he said with a wink.
That habit was already way past annoying. “Where’s the job at? Which dentist?” I asked.