Death At The Spa (Julia Blake Cozy Murder Mystery Book 10)

by Gillian Larkin

  Erin said, “It’s called chocolate therapy.”

  “Whoa! Does that mean you’re going to make me stop eating chocolate? If so, I don’t want any part of it.”

  Erin laughed. “Stop eating chocolate? Do I look crazy? No, it’s a range of treatments which use chocolate. We have facials, body scrubs and even a chocolate floatation tank. I’ve tried out the tank, and it’s amazing. If you’ve ever had dreams about floating in a sea of chocolate, then the tank is for you.”

  Julia put her tea down. “Do I need to sign anywhere?”

  “In a moment. I haven’t got to the best part yet. We’ve imported the best chocolate from around the world. During each treatment, you are given a taste of these chocolates, and again, we need your feedback. Some of the chocolate has additives which are supposed to help with memory improvement, brain function, that sort of thing.”

  Julia’s eyebrows rose. “And it’s all free? Is anyone else doing this trial?”

  “You’re the first one I’ve asked. This is the first day of the trial. Shall I put you down for this afternoon, say two p.m.? I’ll send the details to your room.”

  “It sounds wonderful, absolutely wonderful. It’s not what I imagined a spa break to be.”

  Erin’s mouth twitched at one corner. “I can still put you down for a twenty-mile run if you’d prefer.”

  “Don’t you dare!”

  Julia talked to Erin for the next twenty minutes, and they arranged a schedule for Julia. Erin stood up and gave Julia a card with her number on it. “Call me if you need anything. I will see you in the chocolate therapy room at two p.m.” She smiled and walked away.

  Julia got to her feet as Mum approached her.

  Mum smiled and said, “I must tell you about my treatments. You won’t believe what I’m having done.” She held up a key and passed it to Julia. “That lovely manager has just given me our keys. Let’s talk in our rooms. I’m dying to see what they look like. They’re on the first floor. Let’s be healthy and take the stairs.”

  Julia linked her arm through Mum’s and they headed for the stairs. A cold feeling trickled down her back and she looked over her shoulder. Seeing nothing there, she carried on walking.

  Mum chatted all the way as they made their way up the stairs and to their rooms.

  As they stopped outside Julia’s door, Julia spun around and pointed at someone behind them. “Who are you? And why are you following us?”

  Chapter 4

  The woman standing behind them took a step back and held up her hands. “I come in peace. I’m Gemma, Gemma Clarke. We’ve never met but I know all about you, Julia.”

  Julia stared at the woman with the short brown hair and the friendly face. “Gemma Clarke? Not Clarke as in DI Clarke?”

  Gemma smiled. “The very same. DI Clarke is my husband, and I know you’ve had many dealings with him.”

  “But you look normal,” Julia said.

  “What were you expecting?”

  “I’m not sure. Someone who doesn’t mind being stared at with cold blue eyes.” Julia’s hand flew to her chest. “Oh! I’m sorry. That was rude of me. That’s how your husband stares at me most of the time. I’m sure he doesn’t treat you the same way.”

  Gemma laughed. “He’s tried it a few times, but I didn’t let him get away with it. I didn’t mean to startle you. I heard the woman on reception mentioning your name and I wondered if it was the same woman who my husband spoke about often. I’m ashamed to say that I listened to your conversation with that other woman, Erin. And when she said you were a cleaner, I thought I must have the right Julia Blake. My husband has talked about you many times.”

  Julia grimaced. “I dread to think what he says about me. He probably complains that I get in the way of his police investigations. But I really don’t mean to. I don’t mean to get myself involved in murders. It just happens to me.”

  Gemma nodded. “I know. I keep telling him that. And I tell him to listen to you. You seem to pick up on things which the police miss. I’ve told him his murder cases would get solved quicker if he listened to your opinion.”

  Julia smiled at her. “Would you like to come into my room for a cup of tea? You can tell me more about what you tell your husband about me. This is my mum, Kathleen. We’re on a spa break together.”

  Mum said, “Hello there. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve only met your husband a few times, and he seems a pleasant man. How long are you here?”

  “A couple of days. Arnie paid for it. He said I needed a break.”

  Julia paused in the opening of her door. “Arnie? Is that DI Clarke’s name?”

  “Yes. It’s short for Arnold. He was named after his granddad. It’s quite an old-fashioned name and he’s never liked it. He prefers Arnie.” A hint of mischief came into Gemma’s eyes. “Julia, you feel free to call him Arnold the next time you see him.”

  Julia smiled at her. “Oh, I will.” She opened the door wide. “Please, come in. Unless you’ve got a treatment to go to?”

  Gemma sighed. “I only arrived an hour ago and I’m overwhelmed by everything that’s on offer.” She stepped into the room. “Wow!”

  Julia and Mum followed her in. Julia looked down at her key. “Mum, are we in the right room? This looks far too luxurious for me. I don’t need all this space.” Her head tilted. “Although, I do like those patio doors over there. Is that a private balcony?”

  Mum’s voice cracked as she replied, “We have got the right rooms. Your dad’s paid for all this. Just when I’ve decided to be mad at him, he does something like this. Shall I put the kettle on? There’s a kitchenette over there. I could do with another cup of tea. Gemma, are you staying for a while?”

  Gemma moved into the middle of the room and folded her arms. “I’m not leaving. This room is much better than mine. I haven’t got a balcony. Or a separate seating area. Or a kitchenette.” She tutted. “Just wait until I phone that husband of mine.”

  Julia said, “Phone him now. I don’t mind.”

  “I’ll do it later. Ignore me, I’m being silly. My room is lovely. I’ve got all I need. It was thoughtful of Arnie to book it for me. What treatments are you going to have, Julia?”

  Julia said, “Chocolate therapy. Let’s sit down on those sofas by the patio doors and I’ll tell you all about it. Didn’t you get a personal assistant to go through the treatments with you?”

  “Nope. That’s something else I’ll mention to Arnie.” Gemma followed Julia over to the seating area and sat on the sofa.

  Julia settled herself on the sofa opposite and told Gemma about the chocolate therapy. She pulled Erin’s card out and said, “Perhaps you could be part of the trial too? Shall I ring Erin for you?”

  “I can’t expect you to do that.” Gemma held her hand out. “I can ring her. I’ll tell her I overheard her talking to you. If it’s a secret trial, then you won’t get into bother by telling me.”

  Julia handed the card over. Then she stood up and walked over to Mum who was busy in the kitchenette.

  Mum poured milk into a silver jug and smiled at Julia. “Isn’t this lovely? There’s everything you need here. Even your favourite biscuits.” She lowered her voice, “Gemma seems nice, doesn’t she?”

  “She does. I can’t get over how normal she is. She must see something in DI Clarke that I’ve missed.” Julia smiled. “Or Arnold, as I’m now going to call him. Mum, are you okay?”

  “Yes. Stop asking me that. I haven’t told you about my chat with Indigo yet. Let’s take our drinks over to Gemma. I can tell her too. She might want to book the same treatments.”

  Julia helped Mum take the tea things over to the seating area.

  Gemma handed Julia the card back. “I’ve just phoned Erin and she said I could be part of the trial too. I’m booked in this afternoon, shortly after you. Can you believe we get free chocolate?”

  “It’s a dream come true,” Julia admitted. “Right, Mum, I want to hear all about your plans.”

  Mum told the
m a bit about Indigo Sunset first. “Gemma, that really is her name. She tried to change it in her late teens, but then her parents died and she decided to keep it. She worked in an office environment for years but it never felt right to her. She took a night class in alternative healing and trained as a Reiki healer.”

  “Reiki?” Julia said. “Isn’t that someone moves their hands over your body and give you energy?”

  “Something like that. Anyway, she practised on people in her office when they had headaches or backaches. And she was very good. She managed to take away the aches and pains. Word spread and she ended up treating people in her breaks. It wasn’t long before she was arranging for people to come to her house after work for treatments. And it wasn’t long after that before she realised she could charge them. She’s been doing healing work for about ten years now.”

  Gemma said, “Why is she working here? I would have thought she’d be better off working for herself.”

  “I asked her the very same thing. She did work for herself but missed the company of others. She had quite an active social life when she worked in the office and she missed having colleagues. She’s been working here for a few years and she loves it.”

  “Are you going to have some Reiki work, Mum?”

  “I am. I’m going to try all sorts of new things. Indigo listened to me going on about my school job and all the stress I’ve been under. Gemma, I work at a school with children aged five and six. They are lovely, but they need a lot of attention.”

  “I know. My son, Charlie, is the same age. Julia, didn’t you meet Charlie recently?”

  “I did.” Julia pulled a face. “It was during a murder investigation. I hope Charlie didn’t know that.”

  “He didn’t. Arnie’s very good about keeping that part of his job quiet. Charlie looks up to his dad, he thinks he’s some sort of superhero.”

  Mum carried on talking and she told them about the treatments she was going to have. “Indigo thinks I need to balance my energy more, and to think about my own needs. I’ll be doing yoga, swimming, going on mindful walks. There’s even something called a tension buster. I’m not really sure what that is. There will be a lot of talking too. Indigo’s told me that some of these treatments will bring out hidden traumas and issues. She’s assured me that anything I tell her will be treated with confidence. She said a lot of her clients divulge their secrets to her.”

  Julia said, “That’s what Erin told me too. I wonder what kind of secrets their clients have?”

  Gemma picked up her cup. “This sounds like the beginning of an Agatha Christie book. Hidden secrets abound and someone is killed to stop a particularly juicy secret from being revealed.”

  Mum reached for her cup. “Well, they can get murdered another time. Julia has assured me she’s not going to find a murdered body whilst we’re on our spa break. Isn’t that right?”

  Julia nodded and raised her cup. “That’s absolutely right, Mum.”

  Chapter 5

  Julia, Gemma and Mum talked for a while longer. Gemma told them she’d met DI Clarke when she worked for the police.

  “I could tell he liked me by the way he kept staring at me,” Gemma said. “But whenever he had to talk to me, he became all shy and embarrassed. It took him months to ask me out.”

  “I can’t imagine DI Clarke being anything other than efficient,” Julia said.

  They were interrupted by a knock at the door. Julia answered it and found a smiling member of staff standing there.

  He handed her two slim folders. “Hello, Ms Blake. This is a list of your treatments. I have a folder for your mum too. Would you be able to give it to her, please? I’ve knocked on her door but there was no answer.”

  Julia took the folders. “Of course I can. Thank you.”

  She closed the door and gave one of the folders to Mum.

  Mum flicked through it and then looked at her watch. “Crikey. I’ve got a session with Indigo in ten minutes. I’d better get myself sorted out. I haven’t even looked at my room yet. And I promised your dad I’d take photos of our rooms. I won’t be able to go to lunch with you, Julia.”

  Julia checked her watch. “Is it lunch time already? This morning has flown past. I can go to lunch on my own.” She looked over at Gemma. “Unless you’d like to join me?”

  Gemma got to her feet. “I’d love to. I want to hear more about those murder cases you helped Arnie with. And you could show me your list of treatments, if you don’t mind? It’ll give me some ideas.”

  Mum said, “I’ll catch up with you two later.” She looked to the left of the room. “That door must be the one that leads to my room.” She walked over and opened the door. She popped her head through. “Yes, this is my room. I can see my bag on the floor. My room’s the mirror image of this one.” She smiled back at Julia and Gemma before going into her room.

  Julia tucked the folder under her arm and opened the main door. “I hope it’s not all lettuce leaves and celery for lunch.”

  “Me too.” Gemma walked through the door.

  They chatted as they walked down the stairs and towards the dining room. Tantalising smells drifted towards them as they got closer.

  Gemma said, “It can’t be lettuce and celery, they don’t smell of anything.”

  As they approached the large, airy dining room, they heard the sound of quiet conversation and the gentle clatter of cutlery. Light coloured tables and chairs were set along the sides of the dining room. These were occupied mainly by women, and the women were mainly wearing white dressing gowns. Down the centre of the room was a large buffet table, with clean plates piled up at various points along the table.

  Julia’s stomach let out a low rumble. She gave Gemma an embarrassed smile and was pleased to hear a similar rumble coming from Gemma’s stomach.

  A waitress approached them. “Ms Blake, Mrs Clarke, welcome to our dining room. Is it a table for two?”

  Julia nodded.

  The waitress said, “Follow me.” She turned around and headed to the right of the room.

  Gemma mumbled to Julia, “Don’t you think it’s weird how everyone knows our names?”

  Julia gave her a quick nod. She had been thinking the same thing.

  The waitress stopped at a table and opened a hand out towards it. “Please, take a seat ladies. Let me tell you what the specials are today. We have our usual selection of salads and steamed vegetables. Our hot food today consists of pork stir fry, baked cod, pesto chicken, and our vegetarian option is ratatouille. There is yoghurt and fruit salad for dessert, and we also have hot strawberry sponge with custard.”

  Julia took a seat. “That’s a lot of choice. I don’t think I’m going to lose any weight this weekend. Do we help ourselves?”

  “Yes. You’ll find details of the ingredients in front of each dish in case you have any allergies. But, according to your details, I can’t see that either of you has. I’ll bring you some water out. There are fresh fruit juices at the end of the buffet area, along with tea and coffee. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

  “No, thank you. We may be here for a while,” Julia said.

  The waitress gave them a smile and walked away.

  Gemma looked towards the buffet and said, “There’s too much choice. What should we do?”

  Julia stood up. “Don’t worry. I’ve been in similar situations before. If you can’t decide, take a little bit of everything. You can have a mini buffet on your plate.”

  “Good idea.” Gemma followed Julia over to the buffet table.

  They helped themselves to a small portion of the hot dishes. Julia put a little portion of broccoli at the side of the baked cod. “I mustn’t forget my greens.”

  Gemma looked down at her own plate. “I’ll have to come back for my greens later.”

  They took their plates back to their table and tucked in. The waitress brought them a jug of iced water and poured it into their glasses.

  When the waitress had walked away, Gemma said, “I’
m not sure what to make of this place. Everything seems too good to be true. Even the manager. Everything about her is too perfect. And why would she be working on the reception area? She must have staff to do that.”

  “I agree. Whatever she’s doing seems to be working. The guests seem happy, and so do the staff by the way they’re smiling all the time. I don’t think there’s anything untoward going on.”

  Gemma nodded. “You’re probably right. It’s just me with my suspicious nature. It’s from my years of working for the police. I gave my job up when Charlie came along but I do miss it. I’ll probably go back to work when Charlie is older. That’s why I like hearing about you from Arnie. I like how you make your own investigations. I’ve been tempted to contact you and offer my help. I didn’t tell Arnie that, of course.”

  “I can just imagine what he’d say to me if I got you involved in a murder case!”

  Gemma put her fork down and gave Julia a studied look. “I know why he’s so harsh on you. It’s not really to do with you. It’s something, or someone, from his past.” She picked her fork up. “You won’t want to hear it. It won’t interest you.”

  “It certainly will. I’d love to know why he’s so harsh with me.” Julia stood up. “Let me get us some of that hot strawberry sponge and custard, and then you can tell me everything.”

  Chapter 6

  Gemma took a few mouthfuls of the strawberry sponge before talking. “Arnie’s got an older sister called Rachel. She’s great. Very outgoing and confident. She’s not afraid of anything. She used to work with the police here in the UK. She moved around the country a lot and ended up doing undercover work. Arnie didn’t like it and he told her she put herself in too much danger. But Rachel is strong willed and she wouldn’t listen to him.” Gemma smiled. “Sounds a bit like you.”

  Julia shrugged. “Maybe. A little. This sponge is delicious. What happened to Rachel?”

  “She was working on an undercover case which involved some particularly nasty people. Her cover was blown and she was taken prisoner. I’d just started dating Arnie at that point and he was beside himself with worry. He hardly slept and was constantly phoning Rachel’s colleagues to see if they’d got her back. He even offered to exchange himself for her.