A Fair Murder (Julia Blake Cozy Mystery Book 6)

by Gillian Larkin

  “Of course.”

  “Well, anyway,” he looked uncomfortable. “I’ve told my wife about the previous cases where you’ve got yourself involved. For some reason, she respects you and thinks it’s right that you got yourself involved.” He tutted and shook his head. “She seems to think that you might notice things that I don’t.” He tutted again. Julia folded her arms, not sure where this conversation was going. “My wife thinks you should give me your thoughts on this case, see if you’ve noticed anything that I might have missed. I told her that you’re likely to waffle on about unfounded gossip, but I promised her I’d listen to you.”

  Julia’s mouth dropped. She closed it again. Her arms dropped to her side. Did she just dream that?

  DI Clarke pulled at his collar. “Ms Blake, did you hear me? I would like your thoughts on this case.”

  Chapter 24

  Julia gave the inspector a sideways look. “Is this a joke?”

  He shook his head and looked straight at her.

  “Okay then,” Julia began. She wasn’t sure what the inspector was up to but if he wanted to hear her thoughts, then he was going to get them. “Deborah Paignton was poisoned by a bottle of home-made blackberry wine. That wine was donated by someone connected with the school, we don’t know who. That wine could have been poisoned before it got to the school. Or it could have been poisoned after it was put into Deborah’s office, many people saw that she had won it.” Julia paused. “Are you going to take notes.”

  “No. Continue.”

  “I put the wine on Deborah’s desk just before the fair began at ten o’clock. Her door was unlocked. Anyone could have gone in and tampered with the wine at any time. Barney arrived at the school fair just after midday. He collected his lollipop stick,” she paused as she saw the inspector’s lips twitch. “Barney collected his traffic-control stick from Seth’s room, he has a key, and then he went out to the main road. He was spotted by Deborah from her office window and she went outside to have a word with him.” Julia folded her arms, a look of disgust on her face. “And she sacked him. Barney came back into the hall, told us what Deborah had done, and then he put his stick in her office. He told me that he was so annoyed that he bashed his stick against the wall. Then he left the school.”

  “Go on.”

  “Barney saw Seth Maddocks on the way out of school. Seth told me that he’d signed in out of habit and then he went to his office to collect some personal belongings. He took his tea and coffee canisters into Deborah’s office and put them on her table. He was alone in there.” Julia frowned as she recalled seeing the canisters. There was something wrong with the image, something out of place. But what? She shook her head, it would come back to her.

  “Was there anything else?” DI Clarke asked. Julia didn’t miss the bored tone in his voice.

  “Yes. Imogen Walters went into Deborah’s office when the fair ended just after one. She took the fair’s takings in and put them in a drawer. She wasn’t in there long. She told me and Lesley that she saw Deborah outside talking with some residents.” Julia pressed her lips together and thought for a moment. “If the wine was tampered with after it was put into Deborah’s office then Barney, Seth or Imogen had opportunity to touch the wine. I’m not sure why Barney or Imogen would want to kill Deborah but Seth could have been forced into it by his wife. Maybe Bessie wanted Deborah out of the way so that another head teacher would take over, one that she could intimidate.”

  “Are you finished?” the inspector started to rise.

  “No,” Julia held up a finger. “I think Deborah might have been blackmailing Imogen.”

  “Why?” the inspector sat back down.

  Julia told him about Imogen’s past, her cheeks getting warmer by the minute. It was disconcerting talking to someone who stared at you so intently. She trailed off. “That’s it, that’s what I think about the case. Have you found out where the wine came from originally?”

  “That’s not public information.” DI Clarke stood up and put his hands behind his back. “As I suspected, it seems that my wife was wrong about you. Goodbye, Ms Blake.” He turned away and walked out of the café.

  “Well, really!” Julia huffed to herself. She watched through the café window as the inspector walked towards his car. He stopped at his car and took out a notebook. He wrote for a minute and then got in his car.

  Julia convinced herself that he was writing down her invaluable thoughts, and not his shopping list.

  She returned to Cain’s bedside and told him and Dad about her conversation with the inspector.

  Dad said, “I don’t think I have much faith in the British justice system if they are relying on a nosy cleaning woman for information.”

  “Dad!” Julia burst out. Dad gave her a direct look. Julia deflated and said, “I was thinking that too.”

  Cain raised his hand. They both looked his way. Cain said, “Maybe it’s a ploy, to stop you interfering. You’ve told the inspector all you know, you don’t need to phone him again.”

  Julia’s chin jutted out. “Well! The sneaky … inspector.”

  Dad said, “Maybe you should leave everything to DI Clarke now.” Cain yawned. Dad continued, “Time to leave, Julia. You’ve tired Cain out with your chattering.”

  Julia and Dad stood up and said goodbye to Cain. As they drove away from the hospital Julia told Dad about Cain’s attack and who the real suspects were. Dad kept calm but Julia saw his hands tighten on the steering wheel.

  Julia was prepared to leave the investigation alone, until she returned to her parents’ house.

  Mum greeted her with, “Julia, we have to do something about Lesley, she’s going to kill herself.”

  Chapter 25

  Julia was busy with her cleaning work on Monday morning. It felt strange to be working on her own, she’d got used to having Cain around. It would be a while before he was fit enough to work with her again.

  At lunchtime Julia drove to Imogen Walters’ house, she needed to discuss something with her. Julia could have phoned Imogen but she preferred talking face-to-face.

  As Julia pulled up outside Imogen’s house she saw a car reversing out of the drive. Julia waited to see who it was.

  The driver was Melvin Paignton. He had a smug look on his face as he drove past Julia. What was he doing at Imogen’s? Julia knew it was none of her business but she really wanted to find out what was going on with him and Imogen.

  When Imogen opened the door to her a minute later it was clear that she’d been crying. She dabbed at her eyes with a tissue and gave Julia a wobbly smile. “Oh, hi Julia. Don’t mind me, I’m just feeling a bit emotional this morning. What can I help you with? You haven’t come round to clean, have you? I told you I didn’t want the rest of my cleaning gift.”

  “Well, it was the cleaning gift I wanted to talk to you about. I was wondering if you could donate the rest of your hours to the school.”

  Imogen frowned. “You’d better come in and explain that, I’m not following.”

  Julia followed Imogen into the living room. Imogen indicated for her to sit down. Julia did so, then she explained herself. “Ever since Seth left the school, Lesley has taken it upon herself to do the cleaning. Mum spoke to me yesterday, she’s worried about Lesley’s health, she thinks she’ll kill herself if she carries on as she is. Not literally, of course.”

  Imogen sat next to Julia. “I saw Lesley last week too, she doesn’t look well at all. Do you think that poison is still in her system? Did she get checked out by a doctor?”

  “Yes, she did. I’m not sure what’s wrong with her.” Julia didn’t add that Lesley could be the victim of ongoing poisoning campaign. Julia was sure in her gut that Imogen couldn’t have killed Deborah, but her gut had been wrong before. Instead, she said, “I wanted to use those cleaning hours that you’d won for the school. If Lesley knows I have to use them up on your behalf then, hopefully, she won’t be offended by me going in to the school. I don’t want to barge in and demand that she let
s me do the cleaning. What do you think?”

  Imogen smiled. “I think that’s a great idea. Have you got time for a cup of tea?”

  Julia nodded. “I’ve got thirty minutes before my next cleaning job. For some reason I’ve worked quicker without Cain at my side. I prefer him being there though.”

  “I’d heard about Cain. How is he?”

  “Better. He’s being brave. I think he likes the attention that the nurses are giving him. There’s one nurse in particular that makes his eyes sparkle. He should be coming out in a few days, he’s going to stay with Mum and Dad.”

  Imogen shook her head. “I can’t believe someone would do that to him, he’s such a lovely man. Do the police know who attacked him?”

  Julia paused. She felt an opportunity for taking their conversation in another direction. Should she? Yes.

  “Imogen, Cain met his brother, Gary, the other day. Gary took Cain back to the family home on the Clover Estate. The attack on Cain happened later that night. This is difficult for me to say.” Julia looked down at her lap, not sure if she could continue. She took a breath and looked back at Imogen. “Gary had been following me and Cain. He saw us leaving your house, he saw you. He recognised you.”

  Imogen frowned. “I don’t think I’ve met any of Cain’s brothers. Is he a parent at the school?”

  “No. He recognised you from your modelling work, and from your videos.”

  Imogen blanched. She stared at Julia and said nothing.

  Julia felt awful but she had to carry on. “Is that why Melvin Paignton has been coming round here? Has he been blackmailing you? Is he threatening to reveal your past?”

  Imogen’s hands flew to her face and she burst into tears. Julia put her arm around Imogen’s shoulders and held her until the crying subsided.

  Imogen removed her hands, the grief on her face made Julia’s heart twist. “Oh, Julia, I’m so ashamed. I wish I could run away from this terrible mess.” She started to cry again.

  Julia said, “I’ll put the kettle on, then you can tell me all about it. If you want to.”

  Imogen nodded through her sobs.

  A few minutes later, Julia placed a cup in Imogen’s hands. Julia sat next to Imogen, a cup in her hands too.

  Imogen took a drink and placed the cup down. She shook her head. “It’s such a mess. I made so many mistakes when I was young, I was stupid and naïve.”

  “We all do stupid things when we’re young.”

  Imogen gave her a wry smile. “Some of us do stupid things that are recorded for all the world to see. Yes, I had photographs taken of me, and yes, I appeared in videos. I had a manager at the time, he told me to do the photos and videos, he said it was the only way to become famous. I believed him. But it didn’t take me long to realise what was going on. My manager wanted me to make even more extreme videos. I ran away from it all, I changed my name, even changed my hair colour. I moved north and got a job working in the bars. That’s where I met Scott. He knows nothing about my background. It would destroy him if he found out.” She looked towards a family photograph. “It would destroy my family, I can’t let that happen.”

  Julia put her own cup down.

  “How long has the blackmail been going on?”

  “Not long after Deborah became head at the school. Her husband came to a parent association meeting once, he looked at me a certain way and I knew that he recognised me.” She pulled her cardigan tighter. “He used to stare at me all the time. I saw him in the car park looking for my car. I even saw him using binoculars! Can you believe that?”

  “I can, I’ve seen him.”

  Imogen shook his head. “He told me that he knew my secret, he said he would tell Scott, and then he would tell the whole school. Everyone would know what I’d done. I begged him not to. He said he wouldn’t if I did more work for the school. I think he wanted me there as much as possible so that he could … look at me. He told me that Deborah knew about my past and she was disgusted with me. She thought I should give my time freely to the school, to make up for my sins.”

  “She said that?”

  “According to Melvin. I thought things would get better when Deborah died, I know that’s an awful thing to say. I thought Melvin would be too grief-stricken to bother me. But …” she was unable to continue as a fresh bout of crying overtook her.

  Julia shook her head. “Don’t tell me, Melvin wants something else from you.”

  Imogen lowered her head. “I’m so ashamed. I keep telling him to go away but he won’t listen. I don’t know what to do.”

  “I know exactly what you should do,” Julia said. “And I’m going to help you.”

  Chapter 26

  Julia finished the rest of her cleaning jobs before heading to Cloverfield School. She arrived at 6 p.m. and saw the last of the children being picked up from the after-school club.

  Lesley was surprised to see her. Julia was even more surprised to see the changes in Lesley. Apart from looking tired, Lesley’s cheekbones were more prominent than Julia remembered and her hair seemed thinner. Julia swallowed her concern and pasted a bright smile on her face. “Congratulations! Your school has won some of my valuable cleaning hours! Well, not the school exactly. Imogen won them but she’s donated them to you. Where shall I start?”

  Lesley smiled and shook her head. “I’d heard about Imogen winning your time, I must admit, I was jealous. I’ve barely got the energy to look at my vacuum cleaner these days, let alone use it. You are a welcome sight! Come in.”

  Julia was glad Lesley wasn’t going to refuse her services, she had been prepared to argue with her if necessary.

  Lesley signed Julia’s name into the signing-in book. “Everyone’s left for the day,” Lesley said. “It feels so strange not to have Deborah breathing down my neck. And not to have Seth in his room, that will take a lot of getting used to. He phoned me this morning, apologised for not being in touch. Still, there is one silver lining, as acting deputy head, I’ve given Barney his job back. For now anyway, I think the zebra crossing is still going ahead.”

  “That’s good news. Where would you like me to start?”

  Lesley waved a hand towards the end of the corridor. “Would you mind starting on the classrooms? I’ve been trying to keep them tidy myself but children are so messy! Are you sure you don’t mind doing this? I know cleaning schools isn’t your usual line of work.”

  Julia smiled at her. “A mess is a mess. I’ll get started.”

  “I’ll be in Deborah’s office if you need me.” Lesley shook her head. “I must stop calling it that.”

  Julia had brought her own cleaning supplies with her but she went into Seth’s room for bin liners and the vacuum cleaner. The door was open. Julia stepped in and looked around. Everything was neat and tidy. She glanced towards the end of the room, Seth’s table and chairs had gone.

  Julia got to work on the classrooms. Lesley was right, children were messy. Julia found crayons in the sand pit and more than one glue stick inside children’s pumps.

  Julia was on her third classroom when Lesley walked in holding two cups of tea. “I thought you could do with a break, Julia.”

  “I could, thank you.” Julia took the tea gratefully. She hadn’t stopped for many breaks during the day, she suddenly realised she hadn’t stopped to eat either.

  Lesley eased herself into a small chair and said, “How are Sam and Chloe getting on? They’re both at university, aren’t they?”

  “They are. I do miss them. They’ll be home for the holidays soon. Mum told me you’ve got a son, Craig?”

  Lesley’s face lit up. “I do. He’s living and working in Australia. He’s married to a lovely girl, I’ve met her once, and they’ve just had a daughter! He sends me photos all the time. I’m so proud of him.”

  “You must miss him, Australia is so far away.”

  Lesley nodded. “I do, but I’m planning to retire soon. I’m going to live in Australia. Don’t tell anyone, will you? I was going to tell your mum l
ast week but with all this business with Deborah … it didn’t seem right to tell anyone my good news.” She shifted in her seat. “I know why children don’t keep still in these chairs, they’re very uncomfortable.”

  Julia laughed. “I wouldn’t dare try and force my bottom into one, I’d be stuck in it for months.”

  Lesley looked down at her cup and frowned. “I used to get stuck in these chairs. I must have a lost a bit of weight recently. Must be the stress, or something.” She stood up and gave Julia a bright smile. “I’d better get back to the office, there’s always something to do. Do you think you could give the hall a quick mop? That’ll be enough for today, thanks so much.”

  Julia caught the wince of pain on Lesley’s face as she walked out of the classroom. Something was definitely wrong with her.

  Julia quickly drunk her tea and got back to work. She finished with the classrooms and headed towards the hall. Lesley was on the phone in Deborah’s office as Julia walked past. Julia stopped as she heard Lesley say a familiar name, “Yes, Doctor Konchella, I’ll call in tomorrow.”

  Julia frowned and carried on walking. Doctor Konchella, she’d heard that name before, but where?

  Julia used the last of her energy to mop the hall floor. Lesley said thank you a dozen more times and then walked Julia to her car.

  “Are you going home now?” Julia asked.

  “I certainly am. I’m exhausted!”

  “You’ve still got a couple of hours left of my cleaning time. I can come back at the end of the week.”

  Lesley put her hand on Julia’s arm and said, “Thank you, Julia, you don’t know how much I appreciate it.” Lesley walked back to the school, her steps slow.

  Julia gripped her car door. If someone was slowly poisoning Lesley she would …oh! She didn’t know what she would do. Who would want to hurt Lesley?

  That was the same question that she asked Mum on the phone when she got home.

  Mum said, “No one would want to hurt Lesley. I’ve asked her several times if she’s okay but she won’t open up to me. She’s good friends with Barney, he helped her through her husband’s death, and Lesley has helped Barney with his wife and her problems. It was Lesley who recommended the nurse for Barney’s wife, and it was Lesley who told Barney to take some time out for himself at those evening classes. She might have confided in Barney about what’s wrong with her.”