Death Shows Up (Julia Blake Cozy Mystery Book 7)

by Gillian Larkin

  “Eric,” Cain answered immediately. “Everyone would listen to him. I must say, Julia, I didn’t feel comfortable on the stage last night with Eric so near. I told your dad that we should think about leaving the show but he thinks we should stick it out, at least until we know who the murderer is.”

  “I can understand how you feel. We could be totally on the wrong track. The town hall is open to the public, anyone could have sneaked in and attacked Brandon.”

  “But why? It doesn’t make sense.”

  Julia released her seatbelt. “Come on, we’ve got work to do.”

  They worked in silence for the rest of the morning, both lost in their own thoughts.

  Julia jumped as her phone rang. What now?

  It was a tearful-sounding Louisa. “Julia, I’m so sorry to bother you at work. Would you be able to come round to my house please? It’s urgent.”

  “Louisa, what is it?”

  There was a sniffing sound and then Louisa said, “It’s the police. They’ve found some of Brandon’s belongings in my handbag.”

  Julia was too stunned to speak for a moment. Cain saw her expression and moved to her side.

  “Julia? Are you still there?”

  Julia said, “Yes. I’m confused. What belongings? And … how did they get in your handbag?”

  “The belongings are Brandon’s phone and wallet. And they were found in my handbag. The side lining had been cut and Brandon’s things were inside.” Julia heard a small sob. Louisa’s voice was shaking now. “Julia, I don’t know how those items got in there, or how the lining in my handbag was cut. I think someone must have planted them there. The police are still here, they’re searching my house. I have to go to the station with one of them to make a statement. Will you come with me? Please?”

  Julia said, “We’re on our way. We’ll be about ten minutes.”

  Julia and Cain quickly packed up their cleaning things and headed to the car. Julia said, “Someone must have planted those items in Louisa’s bag. I didn’t even know that Brandon’s things were missing.”

  Cain said, “We wouldn’t know, the police don’t have to give us that sort of information.”

  They arrived at Louisa’s house a short while later. Julia’s heart twisted at the sight of Louisa’s distressed face. Hadn’t the poor girl been through enough recently? Julia took hold of Louisa’s hands and said, “Everything’s going to be alright, you’ll see.”

  Louisa shook her head. “I don’t think it will be alright. What will I do if they lock me in a cell? I’m no good in small spaces.”

  “I’m sure it won’t come to that,” Julia said, not sure of that at all.

  An unsmiling police officer appeared at their side and told Louisa that she’d have to come with him to the station. Julia asked if she could drive Louisa there but the police officer gave her a curt ‘no’ and turned away.

  Julia said to Louisa, “We’ll meet you there.”

  Louisa’s eyes filled with tears. “I don’t understand what’s happening. Look at all these policemen and women, they’re looking through all my personal things!”

  “It’s just procedure. That police officer is glaring at you, you’d better go. We’ll be right behind you.”

  Louisa was led away. Julia and Cain followed but were stopped by a policewoman who wanted to know who they were and why they were in Louisa’s house. She even searched them before they left to make sure they weren’t hiding any evidence.

  By the time they got to the police station, Louisa had been taken into a private room. DI Clarke was standing near the reception area as Julia and Cain rushed through the station’s doors.

  DI Clarke said, “I thought you might turn up. Hello, Mr Andrews, you’re looking well.”

  Cain grinned. “Hello, inspector, you’re looking well too.”

  “This isn’t the time for chit-chat!” Julia exploded. “What’s going on with Louisa? Why have you arrested her?”

  DI Clarke said, “I haven’t arrested her, we’re questioning her, that’s all. Would you mind keeping your voice down, Ms Blake, we’re not in the middle of a football field.”

  Julia folded her arms. “I’m not leaving until we get some answers.”

  DI Clarke’s mouth lifted at the corners. “Am I supposed to be scared? Don’t bother answering that. I will give you some information, I know what a good friend you’ve been to Ms Porter. We received an anonymous call early this morning. This person said they saw Louisa Porter coming out of the costume room on the night that Brandon Briggs was killed. Apparently, Ms Porter was carrying something which she hurriedly put in her handbag. This caller said it looked like a phone and wallet. The caller also described Ms Porter’s handbag.”

  Julia frowned. “I think she’s only got one handbag. Was this caller male or female?”

  “We don’t know, they disguised their voice. And they used a throw-away phone so we can’t trace which number they were calling from.”

  Cain shook his head. “I don’t like the sound of this anonymous caller.”

  “Neither do I,” DI Clarke admitted. “I’ve had many cases where the anonymous caller has turned out to be the killer, they were trying to divert attention on to someone else. But there is the matter of the alleged kidnapping.”

  Julia shot out, “Alleged? What do you mean by that?”

  “I mean that there has never been a record of it. Ms Porter could have been making the whole thing up. She was at school at the same time as Brandon Briggs, and they were a couple, our searches have confirmed that. But as for the kidnapping, it could be something that Ms Porter made up, for some unknown reason.”

  Julia threw her arms up. “You are unbelievable! You saw how upset she was the other day! How much effort it took for her to tell you what happened!”

  “We have to consider all options. The fact is that Brandon Briggs’ belongings have been found inside Ms Porter’s handbag. We have to look into it further.”

  Julia felt her eyes stinging and quickly looked away. This was all so unjust. She felt a light touch on her shoulder, it was the inspector. In a softer tone he said, “Ms Blake, I will make sure we don’t detain Ms Porter for a minute more than we have to. I have my own opinions on this case but I’m not at liberty to share them with you. I hope you understand.”

  Julia gave a small shrug. “We’re going to wait here until Louisa is finished.”

  DI Clarke shook his head. “No, you’re not. I’m going to wait for Ms Porter. I’ll give her a lift home. I want to have an informal chat with her about the kidnapping. I’ll let her know that you were here.”

  Julia and Cain didn’t move. The inspector raised his hand and pointed towards the door. He said, “It’s that way, the way that you came in. Off you go before I arrest you for loitering.”

  “Fine,” Julia muttered and walked towards the door, Cain walked behind her after saying goodbye to the inspector.

  They had a quick lunch at a nearby café and then returned to work. They decided by the end of their working day that Louisa had definitely been framed. They just had to work out who did it.

  Julia phoned Louisa the minute she got home. There was no reply. Julia tried a few more times during the evening but Louisa never answered.

  Chapter 26

  Julia didn’t sleep well that night and decided to get up and do something useful. She made a strong cup of tea and then logged on to the Internet.

  There must be something about Brandon’s past on here, Julia mused. She recalled that Fabian Black had referred to Brandon as a thief. Her fingers paused over her keyboard. Fabian hadn’t actually named Brandon as the thief, Julia was making assumptions. She shrugged, she’d carry on making assumptions and see where that led. If Brandon was a thief, what did he steal? Was it the script as Julia previously thought, or was it something else? Or … someone else?

  Julia thought back to what Louisa had told her about Brandon’s character, how he manipulated her. If he was that sort of person would he change when he g
ot to university? Or would he have become worse?

  Louisa had told Julia the name of the university so she typed that in. She had to click back through the years to when Brandon was there.

  She smiled. There he was, in a photo with … she zoomed in … Fabian Black. They were both smiling at the camera and holding up a trophy between them. Julia read the article. It stated that the two young man had won the award for being the most promising students in the drama department. The article went on about how their first play had been greatly received amongst the rest of the university, how real the characters seemed with their mannerisms and speech.

  Julia’s blood ran cold as she read that the play was about a young woman who had been kidnapped and kept captive in a cellar. An audience member had commented that the young girl’s emotions were so real and raw that he almost thought he was in the cellar with her.

  Julia blinked away a tear and bookmarked the page. This was evidence, this was something she was going to show DI Clarke to prove that Louisa wasn’t making up her ordeal.

  Julia hadn’t finished with her search. She looked at more images and articles on the university website. She saw a few photos of Brandon and Fabian at social gatherings. At one point, Fabian had his arm around a blonde-haired girl. The same girl appeared in a few more photos, always entwined with Fabian. Then, as the photos moved on in time, the girl seemed to have switched her attentions to Brandon.

  Interesting. Could Brandon have stolen Fabian’s girlfriend? And if Brandon had a relationship with that girl, did he start to give her the same treatment that he’d given Louisa?

  Julia enlarged the girl’s face and then did a photo search on her.

  Bingo. There she was – Saffron Kershaw. Julia found a website for her, she was an interior decorator now. Saffron was also a member of many social networking sites.

  Julia clicked on one of the more public sites and wondered if it went back as far as Saffron’s university days.

  It did. And Saffron liked to post comments. There was a lot for Julia to look through. She sighed and made herself another cup of tea. She didn’t care how long this took, she was determined to find a way to help Louisa.

  Julia skipped through Saffron’s late teenage years and then found the ones that referred to her university days. There were a lot of posts about parties and many events involving drink. Julia scanned the posts quickly until she found mention of either Brandon or Fabian.

  Yes, there was the first mention of Fabian. It seemed that Saffron quickly fell in love with him. There were no posts for a few days and then Saffron declared that she had a new love in her life - Brandon. Julia got a sense of déjà-vu as Saffron described to her friends how attentive Brandon was, how he wanted to know her every thought. As Julia suspected, posts then appeared which stated how annoyed Saffron was with him for forgetting a date, or forgetting to ring her. Julia’s blood ran cold again as Saffron suddenly stopped posting. It was another two months before a post appeared, and Saffron’s chatty tone had disappeared. Her posts were now shorter and mainly concerned her university work rather than any social events.

  Julia opened another page on the Internet and looked for any kidnapping events that might have occurred in that area and at that time.

  Nothing.

  Had the same thing happened to Saffron that had happened to Louisa? There was no way of telling, unless Julia contacted Saffron direct.

  Julia didn’t hesitate. She went on to Saffron’s interior design website and found her contact email. Julia sent her a short message about Brandon and a possible kidnapping that he might have been involved with before he went to university. Julia stated that she was a concerned friend of the kidnapping victim who now needed help. Julia wondered if Saffron could provide any information about Brandon.

  She pressed send and hoped for the best. If Saffron decided to ignore her, then so be it. At least Julia had tried.

  Julia drained the last of her tea and thought about the other matter. If Fabian had gone to the town hall about a possible stolen script, how had he found out that it was about to be produced as a play? Was there a third party who had informed him? Had this third party something to gain by Fabian confronting Brandon?

  Julia shook her head and stood up. Too many questions and not enough answers. She walked towards the sink and put her cup in.

  She jumped as her phone rang out in the quiet house. She really must turn that ringer down, she was sure it was getting louder each time. She reached for her phone and answered it.

  “Are we having a day off?” Cain asked.

  “Pardon? No, of course not, it’s Friday.”

  “It’s just that I’ve been waiting outside my house for the last thirty minutes and you haven’t turned up.”

  Julia’s look darted to the kitchen clock. “Oh Cain! I’m sorry! I didn’t realise what time it was. I’ll be there in ten minutes.” She looked down at her pyjamas. “Make it fifteen.”

  Chapter 27

  Cain was sitting on his garden wall looking like a lost boy when she arrived.

  He climbed into the car with a sulky look on his face. “I thought you’d gone to work without me. I thought you’d forgotten all about me.”

  “As if I’d forget. I’ve been on the Internet.”

  “Shopping?”

  “Don’t be so sexist. No, looking into the backgrounds of Fabian and Brandon. Listen to this.” Julia filled Cain in on all the information that she’d discovered.

  Cain nodded and made appropriate noises at the appropriate times. “Well,” he said. “If this Saffron person tells you that Brandon pulled the same nasty trick on her, then you can tell DI Clarke that it’s unlikely that Louisa was making her kidnapping up.”

  Julia gave him a firm nod. “That’s what I’m counting on.”

  “Although,” Cain went on. “Confirming the kidnapping will also prove that Louisa had a strong motive. She might have wanted to get her revenge on Brandon. Maybe she made the same enquiries that you did, found Saffron and her posts, and came to the same conclusion. She might have wanted to stop Brandon from ever doing that to anyone else.”

  Julia sighed, her heart suddenly felt heavy. “I never thought of that. I tried phoning Louisa last night but she never answered. Would you try her again now? My phone is in my handbag.”

  Cain reached over to the back seat and retrieved Julia’s phone. He yelped as it suddenly rang. The phone shot up in the air and landed with a thud in Cain’s footwell.

  “My phone!” Julia cried out, swerving slightly.

  “My heart! How loud is your phone? Are you deaf?” He picked the phone up and grimaced.

  Julia pulled the car over to the side of the road and stopped. Cain avoided her stare as he handed the phone to her.

  Julia turned it over in her hands. “It looks like it’s only the screen that’s cracked. Send me a text, see if it still works.”

  Cain took his own phone out and did as instructed. A peculiar sound came from Julia’s phone. Cain said helpfully, “It sounds like a dying chicken. Did you get my text?”

  Julia shook her head. “I’ve got a blank screen.”

  “Maybe it’s time to get a new one, that one’s seen better days.”

  Julia looked fondly at her phone. “But I know how to work this one. I’ll take it to John in the market, he’s performed technical miracles for me before.”

  Cain smiled. “Like when you spilt wine on your laptop?”

  Julia ignored his smile. “That was an accident that could have happened to anyone.” She pulled her phone to her chest. “How am I going to manage without my phone? What if Louisa rings me? What if Saffron Kershaw gets back to me?”

  Cain shrugged. “Have we got time to go to the market now?”

  Julia shook her head. “We’re already running late. We might get time at lunch.” She reverently put her phone back in her handbag and then continued driving.

  Cain said, “We’re having an extra rehearsal at the church hall tonight. Eric’s arra
nged it for us. Louisa might turn up.”

  “I hope she does. I hope she isn’t going to turn into a recluse again. Whilst you’re sitting there doing nothing, phone my mum and see if she can give you Louisa’s number. Then you can phone her.”

  “Won’t your mum be in a lesson now?” Cain pointed out.

  Julia gave a heavy sigh. “Yes, she will. Everything’s going wrong for me today.”

  Cain said, “I’ll leave her a message, she can phone us back when she gets the chance. Will that do?”

  “Yes, thanks.”

  They arrived at their first client’s house and started on the cleaning work. Julia was aware that they were behind schedule and so worked harder and quicker.

  Mum phoned Cain at one point to give him Louisa’s number. Mum said to him, “She didn’t turn up to the slimming club meeting last night. I had to work late at school and so I saw who turned up to the club. I do hope she’s okay.”

  Julia had a quick word with Mum. “Do you think I should go round there, Mum? It’s out of my way but I’m concerned about her.”

  “She’s a grown woman, I understand your concerns but maybe you should give her a bit of time. She might want to be alone for a while. I have to go, speak soon.”

  Julia borrowed Cain’s phone and tried Louisa again. There was still no response. Julia left yet another message. She said to Cain, “I’m tempted to ring DI Clarke. He said he was going to drive her home yesterday, he would know what state she was in. What do you think?”

  “I’m not sure the inspector would speak to you, you know what he’s like. I think I agree with your mum, let Louisa have a bit of time to herself. If she doesn’t show up for the rehearsal tonight, then we could pay her a visit.” Cain took his phone back and checked the time. “Are we still going to see John in the market about your phone? It’s just after one o’clock.”

  “Already? We’ve got a busy afternoon. But I do need my phone. If I park nearby in an hour or so, will you run in and give it to John? He might be able to fix it by this afternoon.”