A Sweet Murder

by Gillian Larkin

  “Do you still think that?” Grace asked.

  Vincent looked towards the old desk for a moment. Then he looked back at Grace and gave her a bright smile. “Of course not. Mum died in an unfortunate accident.” He stood up. “I don’t mean to sound rude but I really have to get on, I’ve got some important calls to make.”

  Grace stood up and shook Vincent’s outstretched hand. James appeared and escorted her all the way to the van.

  As they drove away Connie voiced what Grace was thinking, “He knows something, what’s he hiding?”

  It seemed to Grace that all of Connie’s children were hiding something.

  Chapter 29

  Grace had been driving for ten minutes when her phone rang. She pulled over to answer it. It was Lucinda.

  After a short conversation they agreed to meet at a nearby cafe. Lucinda was intrigued about Grace’s comment regarding family business.

  Connie didn’t speak as they drove to the cafe.

  Lucinda was already sitting at a table inside. Jamie was at her side, holding her hand. Connie hissed when she saw them. “What’s he doing here? She knows I don’t like him. And why are they holding hands? What’s going on?”

  Grace ignored the venom in Connie’s voice and put a smile on her face. Lucinda looked much happier than when she’d last seen her at the storage unit office.

  Lucinda introduced Jamie and Grace sat down opposite the couple. She explained to Lucinda about the family chair she had come across. Connie hovered behind Jamie, glaring down at him.

  Lucinda nodded. “I know the chair you mean but I don’t understand why you would have it. I haven’t been to the original shop since ... for a while, I had no idea everything had been taken out.”

  Grace didn’t want to tell Lucinda about Vincent’s plans for the museum, she presumed it was still a secret. She said, “I can’t tell you why the items were in the unit but I discovered something inside the chair. Look.”

  She held the plastic covered recipe book out to Lucinda. Lucinda’s eyes widened as she freed her hand from Jamie’s and took it. “Is this what I think it is? The original recipe book?”

  “It looks like it. Did you know it existed?” Grace asked.

  Lucinda pressed her lips together and shook her head. Jamie gave her a quizzical look and said, “What is it? I can tell when you’re lying, Lucy. There’s no need for secrets anymore.”

  “You don’t have to say anything in front of me,” Grace said with concern.

  Lucinda sighed and said, “I did know about it but I didn’t think it really existed. Della told me about it. She said Mum had shown her it one day and told her not to tell anyone else. Della said Mum had told her about it because she loved and trusted Della more than me.”

  “I never said that!” Connie exploded.

  Jamie patted Lucinda’s hand. “Don’t get upset, she can’t hurt you any more.”

  Lucinda gave Jamie a little smile. “I know, but it’s hard to let go, to stop thinking about all the hateful things she used to say to me. I knew Mum liked Della more than me, I didn’t need reminding all the time.”

  Connie looked as if that was news to her.

  “Why did you think that?” Grace asked.

  “Della was the golden girl, still is. She’s the youngest and got spoilt by Mum, she got everything she ever wanted. She loved working in the factory, in the inventing area. She thought she was better than anyone else, and she used to let people know it. I never wanted to work for the family. I tried to speak to Mum many times about it but she wouldn’t listen.”

  Connie folded her arms and said, “She was being stubborn, I knew what was best for her.”

  Lucinda went on, “When Della told me about this book I thought she was telling me another one of her lies. I told her to prove it but she couldn’t produce the book. When I asked her about it she said Mum had put it somewhere safe but that she’d find it one day. I didn’t care either way. Please take it back, I don’t want anything to do with it.”

  Jamie caught Lucinda’s hand as she moved it towards Grace. He said, “Perhaps you should take it, just to stop Della getting her grubby hands on it.”

  Connie prodded Jamie on the back, her finger sank through his shirt. “How dare he talk about my Della like that! After all I’ve done for him.”

  Grace needed to ask more questions. She took the book back and said, “Jamie, how long have you worked for Flamingo Sweets?”

  Jamie gave a bitter laugh. “On and off since I was a lad. I only worked there so I could be close to Lucy.” He turned to Lucinda and gave her a tender look. “It was love at first sight. I used to see her walking to that posh school of hers when she was young.”

  Lucinda laughed. “He used to whistle at me. My friends thought he was so common.”

  “But you fell for my good looks and charm,” Jamie added.

  “I did. I knew Mum would have a fit if she knew I stopped to talk to you on the way to school, but I couldn’t help it. I didn’t care what anyone thought. Nobody knew about our relationship. It was my idea for Jamie to ask Mum for a Saturday job. She said no at first but I convinced her to take him on, I told her she didn’t have to pay him much.”

  “I would have worked for free to be near you. I started doing stuff in the shop and factory. When I passed my test I went out on deliveries. I had other jobs as well because Mrs Flamingo still wasn’t paying much.”

  “I paid more than he was worth! It makes my blood boil to think he’s been sneaking around behind my back! The pair of them! Pah!”

  “I’m not the only reason you stayed at Flamingo’s though, am I?” Lucinda said.

  Jamie frowned. “No.” He sighed heavily. “What are we going to do about her, Lucy? Will she be all right when we go?”

  Grace’s scalp prickled. Who were they talking about? And, more importantly, where were they going?

  Chapter 30

  Grace paused. She didn’t feel comfortable firing questions at them. Connie didn’t care, she walked around the table to face the couple. “Where are they going? Are they running away? Grace, don’t just sit there, ask them!”

  A sudden thought came to Grace. She said, “I went to the original shop when I was young, I went with my family. I remember seeing your mum, and I saw another woman, she was wearing glasses. I saw an article online about your mum, when she’d passed away, and that same woman was in the photograph. Is she a member of your family? Do you think she’d like to see this book?”

  Jamie and Lucinda looked at each other. Lucinda gave Jamie a slight nod and said, “Tell her about Anna, and then I’ll tell her about the other thing. It doesn’t matter who knows now.”

  Jamie turned to Grace. “That woman is Anna, my sister. She’s older than me and not very bright.”

  “You could have said that a better way,” Lucinda gently admonished him.

  Jamie shrugged. “Well, it’s true. She’s kind-hearted but doesn’t know when people are taking advantage of her. When I got that Saturday job at Flamingo’s shop she used to tag along with me. She’d help me clean up and easy stuff like that. Lucy’s mum said she could do a few hours at the shop. I was surprised, she wasn’t often kind. Sorry, Lucy, but you know how I felt about your mum, she was a cold-hearted ...” He shook his head and pressed his lips together as if trying to keep his words in.

  “The feeling’s mutual,” Connie said coldly.

  “Anyway, Anna loved working there. I’m sure Connie would have paid her in sweets if she could have got away with it. I haven’t seen Anna much since Connie’s funeral, we’ve been busy.” Jamie looked at Lucinda. “Actually, we haven’t seen her for quite a while. If all the shop fittings are in that locker has the shop closed down? When did we last speak to her?”

  Lucinda said, “I spoke to her on the phone last week. She was her usual happy self, she didn’t say anything about the shop closing. I wonder if she’s working in the factory. Oh, Jamie! We’ve been so wrapped up in our own problems that we haven’t given A
nna a second thought! I’ll give her a ring now.”

  “No, Lucy, we’ll ring her later when we get settled in. She can come and live with us if she wants to. Please don’t look at me like that, I know I’m being hard but we have to put ourselves first, we have to go ahead with our plans. I’m sure Anna will be okay for a little while longer.”

  Connie pointed to Jamie. “What’s he up to? What are these plans he’s talking about?”

  Jamie put his arm around Lucinda and pulled her closer. Grace could see the love between them. She said, “It must have been hard keeping your relationship a secret.”

  Jamie released Lucinda. “It was but we’re having a fresh start now.” He looked at his watch. “We should be setting off.”

  Lucinda said, “Let me explain it to her, she was kind enough to offer us the recipe book.”

  “Okay, as long as she doesn’t go running to the police,” Jamie added.

  For the second time that day Grace felt wary. Were Lucinda and Jamie going to confess to the murder of Connie? It was obvious that they were planning to go somewhere.

  Lucinda said, “I never wanted to work for the family company but I put up with it for Mum’s sake. I could just about cope with it until I found out how much Mum was paying Della to mess about with sweets in the factory. Jamie was furious, he said I should confront Mum. I couldn’t, I was too mad. I wish I had though. I did something else, something I’m ashamed of. For the last year I’ve been, what’s the best term? Fiddling? Yes, I’ll go with that, I’ve been fiddling the books. I deal with all the vending machine rentals and I’ve been charging more than I put down in the accounting records.”

  Jamie leant forward and slapped his hand on the table. “She took what she was entitled to! She should have taken more!”

  Lucinda shook her head. “I shouldn’t have taken any, I should have confronted Mum. Anyway, the accountant that we had was old and he never checked the books properly. We got a new accountant and he noticed straight away. He started to ask questions, he knew what I was up to. I was so worried that he was going to tell Mum. I didn’t want her to feel ashamed of me.”

  Lucinda looked down at the table. Grace glanced at Connie, the strawberries on her dress had faded. Connie said quietly, “Why didn’t she come to me? We could have talked about it.”

  Jamie carried on with the facts. “I couldn’t bear to see Lucy so worried. I knew what she was up to, I didn’t blame her. I told her I would take the blame if Connie ever found out. She already had a low opinion of me. I had some money saved up, I told Lucy it was time to make a fresh start.”

  Lucinda looked up. “I had to do something before the accountant told Mum.”

  “What did you do?” Grace asked, dreading the answer.

  “We planned to run away, leave everything behind. I went to see Mum at home, to say goodbye for the last time. I said I was going away for a few days. The truth was that we were running away.”

  Connie said, “I remember that goodbye, she gave me a long hug. I thought that was strange at the time because we never hugged.”

  Lucinda’s eyes filled with tears. “That was the last time I ever saw her, she died that night.”

  Chapter 31

  Jamie said, “Come on, love, dry your tears. I’ll tell Grace what happened next. We ran away that night, we planned to start a new life. We switched our phones off so we didn’t know about Connie’s death until the day after. Vincent phoned us. We came back immediately and didn’t tell anyone where we’d been. Or what we’d done.” Jamie looked at Lucinda. “Shall I tell her?”

  Lucinda wiped a tear away. “I’ll tell her, I like saying it. The day that I said goodbye to Mum was the day that Jamie and I got married.”

  Grace heard a gasp from Connie, she had turned a grey colour. Grace hoped she wasn’t going to freeze.

  Lucinda said, “I wanted to invite all the family but I knew Mum wouldn’t go. And, to be honest, I didn’t want Della to be there either. We drove up to Scotland to get married in an old castle. It was a beautiful ceremony and I don’t regret it for a moment. The only thing I regret was being so far away from Mum when she died. If she’d been at our wedding ... maybe things would have been different. She wouldn’t have been in the bath that night.”

  Lucinda began to cry again. Jamie pulled her close. Lucinda spoke through her tears, “We had our disagreements but I loved Mum. I admired her strength. I knew she would have come round to liking Jamie eventually.”

  Connie moved round to Lucinda and put an arm around her, it hovered above her back. “You should have spoken to me.” She sighed. “I should have listened more.”

  Jamie planted a kiss on Lucinda’s head. “We really have to go.”

  Grace handed Lucinda a tissue and said, “Where are you going? If you don’t mind me asking again.”

  Lucinda wiped her cheeks and smiled. “I don’t mind you asking. We’re running away again! We’ve got a house sorted out in Brighton, it’s one of our favourite places. We’ve got enough money saved. Actually, thanks to a family member, we’ve got more than enough! It seems the accountant was about to go to the police and tell them about my activities but he’s been silenced and we’ve been given money to disappear. Jamie thinks I should wait for my share of the will money but I don’t feel like I deserve it, not after what I’ve done.”

  Jamie said, “This isn’t your fault! Your mum should have respected your decision to leave the business. And don’t worry what the vending machine owners are saying about you, let the rest of your family sort that out, they get paid enough to deal with problems.” He stood up and helped Lucinda to her feet. Grace noticed the slight swelling of her tummy.

  Lucinda caught her look and placed a hand on her tummy. She nodded and said, “If it’s a girl I’m going to call her Constance.”

  “Over my dead body!” Jamie said.

  Connie laughed. “I don’t blame him! It’s an awful name.” She paused and looked at Jamie. “He really loves her, doesn’t he? I think he’ll take good care of her.”

  “You’ll come round to the name,” Lucinda told Jamie. She turned her attention to Grace. “Be careful if you meet Della, she’s got a nasty streak in her. When I heard that Mum had died my first thought was that Della had done it. She’d do anything to get her own way. I’d heard her talking on the phone several times about a new product that she was creating. She said that she’d get the money out of Mum somehow to make sure the product would go ahead.”

  Jamie’s eyes narrowed. “I wish I could disagree with you about Della being capable of murder but I’ve seen her in a rage. Come on, Lucy, we really have to go.”

  Lucinda gave Grace a final smile and said goodbye. Connie floated down into the chair that Lucinda had been sitting in. They watched the couple walk out of the cafe. Connie said, “I’ve never seen her look so happy. I’ve been such a fool. Why didn’t I let her live her own life?”

  Grace whispered, “I’m sure you did what you thought was right at the time. I think it’s time I spoke to Della.”

  Connie looked back at Grace. “Della didn’t kill me. I know that you think she did but I know she didn’t, she wouldn’t.”

  Grace’s phone rang. It was Frankie, he sounded tired. He asked if she could come back to the shop as he wasn’t feeling well.

  When Grace returned to the shop she was shocked at how grey Frankie’s face was. “You’d better get yourself to bed, how are you feeling? Shall I call for a doctor?”

  Frankie yawned, “No, I’ll be all right, I’m just tired. Thanks for coming back.”

  Grace watched with concern as Frankie dragged himself through the shop and towards the kitchen and stairs.

  “Look at what those drugged sweets have done to him. Whoever’s selling them needs to be stopped,” Grace said to Connie.

  Connie bristled. “You’re thinking about Della again, aren’t you? You think she’s the one behind these drugged sweets and you still think she’s the one that killed me. You haven’t even spoken to
her! How can you judge her?”

  Pearl appeared. “Stop talking to Grace like that! She can think what she likes. She doesn’t have to help you, she could tell you to clear off and take your dysfunctional family with you!”

  “It’s okay, Pearl. Connie’s right about Della, I shouldn’t form an opinion before I meet her properly.”

  The two old ghosts glared at each other, arms folded and pulled tightly against their chests. Connie gave in first. She sighed and said, “No, I’m sorry, Grace. A mother is often blind to their child’s faults. I shouldn’t tell you what to think.”

  “No, you shouldn’t,” Pearl added. She turned to Grace and said, “Right, tell me everything.”

  Grace told Pearl about Vincent and Lucinda. Pearl nodded as she listened. When Grace had finished talking Pearl said, “We still can’t rule Vincent out, where was he when Connie died?”

  Grace shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  Pearl went on, “Who paid Lucinda to disappear? Was it Vincent? Or is Della behind this somehow?”

  Grace shrugged again. “Sorry, don’t know that either. I’m not very good at questioning people.”

  Pearl gave her a kind smile. “Don’t worry, you’ll get better. You can practise again tonight.”

  Grace frowned. “Tonight? Am I going somewhere?”

  Pearl answered, “You’re going to The Black Panther nightclub to buy some drugs.”

  Chapter 32

  Grace didn’t know which was more gut-wrenchingly embarrassing – wearing her Christmas trousers with the only evening top she had, or that she was standing on her own in the queue outside The Black Panther. As another group of girls looked her up and down she decided she was more embarrassed about her outfit. What was she supposed to wear? She hadn’t been out to a club in years. Her top had some sequins around the collar and looked fine at home. But going by the short, tight fitted dresses that women were wearing tonight she felt frumpy and out of date.