“Maybe. Or maybe Mirabelle has organised for a cleaner to come here. Mirabelle likes things to be tidy.”
Connie led Grace to the bathroom. Grace wrinkled her nose. What was that smell? She looked around, fluffy towels were placed on a shelf next to the walk-in shower, half-used candles were placed neatly around the edges of the bath, unopened bottles of luxury body lotions were lined up like soldiers on the window sill.
Grace looked over at Connie and said, “How are you feeling? Is it upsetting you to be in here?”
Connie shook her head and gave her a small smile. “It’s strange, I feel sort of peaceful, as if I’m letting go of my problems. That’s funny, no one has cleaned this room. It looks the same as the night I died. If anyone is living here they’re probably using a different bathroom, I’ve got three.”
Grace was just about to comment when they heard a noise. “What was that?”
“Sounds like the front door, I can hear voices. Are you going to say hello? Introduce yourself?”
Grace silently closed the bathroom door and whispered, “It would be better if I could introduce myself from the other side of the front door, not skulking away in the bathroom. Is there a way out? Does that window open?”
Connie gave her a puzzled look. “Yes but I don’t see why you don’t just go out and say hello. I think I can hear Della’s voice, you said you wanted to meet her.”
Della was Grace’s number one suspect and she didn’t want to meet her like this. Grace carefully and silently moved the body lotion bottles to one side of the window sill. The window opened easily. If she climbed onto the side of the bath she could heave herself up.
Grace did so and managed to get her front half out of the window. Her hips had other ideas and decided to get stuck. Grace cursed all the sweets she had been eating. Maybe if she turned to the side a bit?
Grace felt a sharp tap on her bottom. She froze.
A cold voice said, “May I help you?”
Grace looked back. The furious look in Della’s eyes made the hairs on her arms stand up. Mustering as much dignity as she could manage Grace said, “Yes, thank you. I seem to be stuck. If you could just move out of the way I’ll try to wriggle backwards.”
The world slowed down as Grace inched slowly backwards, fully aware of Della’s eyes boring into her. Grace pulled herself from the window and, with a polite smile on her face, climbed out of the bath. Della’s nostrils flared as Grace directed a bright smile at her.
“Oh, I nearly forgot.” Grace closed the bathroom window and placed the bottles of lotion back into their original positions. She turned to face Della. She soon wished she hadn’t. Recognition lit up on Della’s face. She jabbed a finger towards her and hissed, “It’s you! The stupid cow that destroyed my experiment! What the hell are you doing here? Who sent you? No, you don’t have to tell me. I know who you’re working for! I should just kill you now!”
Della took a step forward, Grace took a step back.
Someone screamed.
It was Anna. She stood in the bathroom doorway, wringing her hands. She called out, “Della! No! No more killing! Please!”
Chapter 36
“Shut up!” Della shouted.
Anna shot forward and grabbed Grace’s arm. “Run! Run as fast as you can!”
Della snarled, “Be quiet, Anna. What do you think she is? The Gingerbread Man? Get back in the living room.”
Anna moved closer to Grace, her lips and chin trembled as if she was on the verge of tears.
Della looked Grace up and down. “Start explaining yourself.”
Grace tensed, she wasn’t going to have Della talking to her like that. In a calm voice she said, “I will explain myself but not here, and not with you talking to me like that.”
Grace put her hand out and firmly pushed Della out of the way. She strode into the living room and sat down on an upholstered chair. She placed her handbag on the floor and waited for Della.
Anna came into the room first, her head bowed. She pulled a wooden chair close to Grace and perched on the end of it. Della marched in and stood in front of Grace, looking her direct in the eye.
“Please sit down,” Grace said.
Della snorted but did as she was asked. She sat on a sofa opposite Grace.
Grace could feel Anna studying her. Surely she had recognised her by now? Anna spoke, “Didn’t I see you in the shop today?”
“Course you did!” Della boomed out. “She’s been spying on us. She works for Nick, she’s trying to get our family recipe, the special one. I hope you weren’t stupid enough to sell her any sweets.”
Anna trembled. She focused on the carpet and said, “Yes, but just the normal ones, not the special ones, not the black ones.”
“Stop talking!” Della ordered. Grace felt a flush of anger. Della was a nasty bully.
Connie sat down next to Della and looked at her as if she was looking at a stranger. She said to Grace, “I don’t know why she’s talking to poor Anna like this, she must be under a lot of stress.”
Grace arched an eyebrow in reply. Stress was not an excuse. She turned her attention to Della and said, “I don’t know who this Nick person is but I certainly don’t work for him. A few days ago I found something that belonged to the Flamingo Sweets, something I wanted to return to the family. I went to the shop today hoping to speak to someone there about it. Unfortunately, I never got a chance to raise the subject with Anna.”
“So you thought you’d come here and break into my home,” Della said with a sneer. “I should call the police.”
“I didn’t break in, the door was unlocked,” Grace said, glad she was telling the truth. “I thought I might catch someone here. I came to Flamingo Hall yesterday and Vincent told me I might find you here.” Grace said the last part with conviction, hoping that her lie wasn’t obvious.
Della looked towards the living room window, the one that faced Flamingo Hall. “I didn’t realise that Vincent knew I was staying here. I moved in after Mum died.” She turned her attention back to Grace. “Your story sounds flimsy, why were you at the factory the other day?”
“Hoping to speak to someone in the family about the item I found. I got caught up in the tour. Sorry about the chaos I caused.” Grace reached into her handbag and brought the recipe book out. She held it up, she had no intention of handing it over to Della.
Della’s mouth dropped open. “Alfred’s recipe book! It still exists. I thought Mum had lost it somewhere. Give it to me, it’s mine.”
Grace drew the book closer to her. “No, it’s mine. I found it inside an old chair.”
Della’s lips drew back in a snarl. “It doesn’t belong to you. You just said you wanted to return it to me.”
“I said I wanted to return it to the family, I didn’t specifically say you,” Grace corrected.
Della stood up. “I know what you’re after, you want money don’t you? I can see it in your face. Well, you’re not getting any! Give me that book before I rip your hand off!”
Anna put a shaking hand on top of Grace’s arm. “Please give it to her, don’t make her angry. You don’t know what she can do.”
Grace stood up and stared Della in the eye. “Don’t threaten me.”
Della moved closer. Grace could smell liquorice on her breath. “You should listen to Anna, you don’t know what I’m capable of.”
“I know what you’re capable of,” a voice coldly said.
Mirabelle came into the room, she took in the surroundings and then looked at Della. “You may as well confess, dear Della, we all know what you’ve done. Anna knows it and so do I. It’s time to confess.”
Della frowned. “Confess to what? I don’t know what you’re talking about. Get out of here, this is Mum’s home, or are you planning to take this away too?”
Mirabelle laughed. “Poor Della, pretending to be concerned about Connie. Just admit what you’ve done.”
“I haven’t done anything!” Della’s voice rose to a shout.
; Mirabelle gave her a false smile, then she turned to Grace. “I don’t know who you are but you should know that Della here is a murderer.”
Della said, “A what? What did you just call me?”
“A murderer,” Mirabelle repeated matter of factly. “Anna knows, don’t you.”
Anna was looking at the carpet again. Grace knelt next to Anna and put a hand on her trembling knee. In a soft voice she said, “Anna, is there something you want to say? Please don’t be scared, I won’t let Della hurt you.”
“Don’t say a word, you idiot!” Della hissed.
Grace carried on, “Don’t pay her any attention. I can tell that you’re frightened about something. Please tell us.”
Anna slowly raised her head, she looked at Della and winced. She turned her head and looked into Grace’s face. She said, “Della did murder her mum, she told me that. And she made me do things, things I didn’t want to do. She said she’d kill me if I didn’t do everything she said.”
Grace looked up at Della. “Is this true?”
Della gave her a bored look and said, “Yes. So what?”
Chapter 37
Della sat down on the sofa, folded her arms and looked between Grace and Mirabelle. Connie sat back on the sofa, reached into her pocket and took out a sweet. She didn’t show any concern over Della’s admission. Was it because she already knew?
Grace felt a trickle of liquorice slip down her throat. Did Connie have to be eating liquorice at a time like this?
Mirabelle gave Grace a satisfied smile, there was more than a hint of smugness there. She pointed a manicured finger at Grace and said, “You heard her admit it, you’re a witness, and so is that feeble-minded idiot at your side.”
An uneasy feeling was stirring inside Grace. Something wasn’t right. She had suspected Della all along so why didn’t she feel satisfied now that Della had admitted it?
Grace addressed Della, “Why did you kill her?”
Della lifted a single eyebrow and said, “I didn’t kill Mum but I told Anna that I had.”
There was a few seconds silence. Grace said, “Why did you do that?”
“Isn’t it obvious? Anna thought I’d killed Mum and she thought I’d kill her too if she didn’t obey my orders. Oh! You should have seen her face when I first told her, it was like she shrunk three inches, it was so funny. And you wouldn’t believe the things that she does for me, I don’t even have to pay her! It’s like having a robotic servant.”
Anna cried out, “But I heard you all! In the shop that night, you were planning to kill Connie, I heard you!”
So, it had been Anna listening to the conversation that night, not Connie.
“I know what you heard,” Della said. “And I know that you told Mum about it. When Mum asked me what you were talking about I told her you were losing your mind, becoming even more of a simpleton.”
Grace could feel her chest tightening with rage, Della was a nasty piece of work. Connie was calmly sucking on the same piece of liquorice. Grace felt another spurt of its juice in her mouth.
Mirabelle gave Della a filthy look and said, “You’re lying, Della, and Anna knows it. I’m going to phone the police.”
“Go ahead, you’ve got no proof.”
Anna had started to cry. Grace reached into her handbag and took a tissue out. “Here, please don’t let her upset you.”
Anna took the tissue. “I don’t know what to think. If she didn’t kill Connie why did she say she did? And why did she make me do those awful things?”
“What did she make you do?” Grace asked, although she suspected that she already knew the answer.
Anna wiped her eyes. “She made me sell special sweets, sweets that had drugs in them. I had to go to nightclubs and sell them there, I was so afraid of getting caught. I don’t like the people in the nightclubs, they scare me when they eat the sweets. And then people came to the shop for sweets, I don’t like them either.”
“It doesn’t matter now,” Mirabelle said, pointing her phone at Della. “We’ll have her locked up soon.”
“Don’t be stupid, I told you I didn’t do it,” Della said. “Why would I want to kill Mum? She was the only one that ever supported me, the only one who ever listened to me.”
Mirabelle said, “You killed her because of your filthy drugs habit, and the fact that you were selling Flamingo sweets laced with goodness knows what. We have a reputation to uphold, we can’t have scum like you bringing it down. Connie probably found out about your nasty sweets and threatened to tell the police, that’s why you killed her. We heard rumours about some dodgy Flamingo sweets but Vincent refused to believe them. The rumours affected his business deal with a big American company, they were going to pay us a fortune. Vincent was planning on opening a museum and now he’s had to put everything on hold until the deal goes through.”
A stronger dose of liquorice burst inside Grace’s mouth. She blinked. It tasted slightly different. What was it?
It was a metallic taste.
Grace’s breath caught as she realised what it was. She looked closer at Connie. Connie met her look, her expression as cold and calculating as Della’s.
Grace felt a chill as she realised what was going on. She said to Della, “Your mum knew about the sweets, didn’t she?”
Della slowly smiled. “Of course she knew about the sweets, she encouraged me to make more. She was amazed at how much money I was making. She used to try some of the sweets too. I’d make special ones for her – some to help with her arthritis and some to help her sleep. We were planning on expanding to other towns.”
Connie swallowed the last of the liquorice and said to Grace, “Don’t look so shocked, we were running a business.”
Mirabelle looked towards the fireplace, she seemed to be thinking about something. Then she walked towards the living room curtains and closed them. She moved to the door, locked it and put the key in her pocket.
“What are you doing? There’s no need to lock me in, I told you I didn’t kill Mum,” Della said.
Mirabelle smiled down at her and said, “Yes, I know that.”
Grace suddenly recalled the smell in the bathroom. It was the same expensive scent that Mirabelle wore. Connie had told her that she didn’t know where the candles had come from on the night of her death. And Mirabelle had just admitted to knowing about the American money and the museum but didn’t Vincent say he hadn’t told her yet?
Grace stood up and faced Mirabelle. “You killed Connie, didn’t you?”
Chapter 38
“I had to,” Mirabelle said in a smooth voice. “She was going to ruin everything. Vincent had this great deal lined up, it was going to change our lives. I’d already put a deposit on a villa in France. But Connie wouldn’t agree to the deal. Vincent said he would talk her round but I wasn’t convinced. I knew there was something going on with Connie and Della, I knew they were up to something. I had to put a stop to their drug business.” She tutted. “Della, you should have kept these curtains closed of an evening, I could see what you and Connie were up to from my bedroom, all that messing about with syringes. And it didn’t take me long to find out where you were selling dodgy sweets. You’ve already damaged our reputation, I couldn’t let it go on. I had to get Connie out of the way.”
Della jumped up and sprang towards Mirabelle, her hands like claws ready to attack.
Mirabelle moved swiftly to one side. Della swayed on her feet, her arms still outstretched. A moan escaped from her pale lips and she seemed to fold in on herself as she collapsed to the floor.
Connie screamed.
Mirabelle said, “I wondered how long it would take to work. That’s a shame. I wanted the police to arrest her first. Oh well.”
Grace said, “What have you done? Quick! Call an ambulance! She can’t breath!”
“Della!” Connie rushed over to her daughter’s side.
“Good.” Mirabelle walked over to the fireplace and picked up a silver box from the shelf above it. She opened it
and took out a syringe. She held it up and tapped her index fingernail against it. “This is what Della’s been using for Connie’s sweets. I’ve been watching them. Della used to inject some of this into Connie’s sweets on an evening. I presumed that’s what helped her sleep. It was usually the liquorice sweets but sometimes the strawberry bombs.”
“Did you put some in Connie’s sweets on the night that you murdered her?” Grace asked.
“I did. I put plenty in, I wanted her to be as sleepy as possible. She was a tough woman, she would have fought me back if she hadn’t been drugged so much. It took a few attempts to get her to quieten down in that bath, she really struggled. She made such a mess, ruined my blue silk dress.” Mirabelle smiled as she examined the syringe. “And earlier on today I put some in those sweets that Della has been scoffing. There should be enough to kill her, hopefully. It would have been so much easier if I could have framed her for Connie’s murder. I did put doubts in Vincent’s head but he’s such a wimp when it comes to protecting family.”
Connie looked back at Mirabelle, her face twisted in anguish. “Mirabelle, I can’t believe you would do that to me, I thought we were friends. Oh! Grace! Do something about Della!”
Mirabelle pointed the syringe at Grace. “Sit down. I wish you hadn’t turned up today. Della was going to die and then Anna was going to tell the police about Della’s admission of guilt. I could have convinced her to say exactly what I wanted her to say. I needed Della out of the way. I’d already paid off Della’s thieving sister and her common boyfriend earlier today. All the loose ends were going to be tied up neatly.
“But then you turned up, whoever you are. It would have been better if Della had died straight after admitting that she told Anna she’d killed Connie, then you could have told the police that. But now you’ll have to tell them what Della said after that. That’s a nuisance. Hmm. What am I going to do about you?”
A Sweet Murder Page 12