by Agatha Frost
“You’ll be hiring more people in no time,” Julia assured him. “You’ll find this village is very supportive of local businesses. People have taken those fifty business cards I put on my counter.”
“And if it doesn’t work, we’ll have to go back to storing our stuff in Billy’s dad’s shed,” Alfie said with a chuckle. “Although, between you and me, I think he was tired of battling through our stuff to get to his lawnmower.”
When Billy and Jessie returned from their tour, they got to work laying out the muffins on the table. Alfie ventured inside and came back with a crate of champagne and a bag of plastic flutes. When he popped the first cork, the guests started arriving.
After twenty minutes, most of the muffins had gone, and the champagne was running low. It seemed their invitations had worked, and Alfie and Billy were both kept busy answering questions.
“Where’s Barker?” Jessie asked through a mouthful of muffin. “These are good by the way. Not as good as mine, but good.”
“You’re so deep into the muffin lie that you actually think you baked those shop muffins yourself,” Julia said as she reached into her bag for her phone. “Oh, he’s texted me. ‘Can’t make it. Stuck in a conference call. Company is fuming about Izzy leaving. Having to figure everything out on my own until they find a replacement. Tell the boys I’m sorry! Have fun’. Looks like he’s too busy.”
“He’s always too busy these days,” Jessie said with a huff. “Who thought his book would take off like this? I probably should have read it.”
“You didn’t?”
“I skimmed it,” Jessie admitted with a shrug. “I kept falling asleep. I’m more a fan of the moving pictures, cake lady. I don’t think I’ve ever finished a full book in my life. I’m not good with the big words.”
Julia was about to offer to read the book to Jessie, but the arrival of Keith, Sandra, and Kylie distracted her. Keith had dressed up in a suit, and Sandra was wearing a creased blazer with one of the arms pinned up. She was wearing a leather glove on the other hand, which she pulled off with her teeth and tucked into a small bag strung across her shoulder. Kylie was in her Oakwood Nursing Home uniform, but her hair and make-up were as perfect as always. The trio walked over to Alfie. Keith and Sandra shook his hand to congratulate him, but Kylie leaned in and kissed him on the lips. Jessie’s eyes popped out of her face as her brows scrunched up, creating lines all over her smooth forehead.
“Why did that girl just kiss my brother?” Jessie spat. “Isn’t she one of those weirdo Crump people?”
“Kylie Crump,” Julia said casually, not wanting to admit that she had known about their relationship for a while. “Maybe they’re dating?”
“Why wouldn’t he tell me?” Jessie asked, her brows scrunching up even more. “We tell each other everything.”
Julia could hear the jealousy in Jessie’s voice, and she suddenly understood Alfie’s reluctance to tell his sister about his dating life. She imagined it had been less to do with Jessie not liking Kylie, and more to do with Jessie not liking anyone that Alfie dated. With the siblings only having had two full months to get to know each other, Julia could tell that Jessie was envious of anyone spending time with Alfie that was not her.
Deciding it would be better to tackle things head on, Julia looped her arm through Jessie’s and set off across the busy yard. When Alfie spotted them making their way over, he took a step back from Kylie, his face reddening.
“Nice to see you again,” Keith said to Julia, barely looking her in the eye. “I’m sorry about the other night. You caught me on a bad day.”
“Don’t mention it,” Julia said as she smiled at him. “It must be nice to see life in this old place again.”
“It is,” Keith replied as he looked around. “It’s just a shame I was forced to hang up my toolbelt, but it looks like it’s in safe hands.”
Alfie smiled awkwardly, his attention on Jessie, who was staring Kylie into the ground. Kylie had not noticed and looked like she wanted to be anywhere but where she was.
“Kylie, this is my sister who I’ve told you about,” Alfie said with a shake in his voice. “Jessie this is my – my – erm – my girlfriend.”
Kylie held her hand out for Jessie, but Jessie merely stared at it, her hands not moving out of her black hoody pockets. She looked like a child who had just found out Santa Claus was not real.
“You look just like your brother,” Kylie offered, dropping her hand when she realised Jessie was not going to accept it. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Whatever,” Jessie grunted. “I’m going to find Billy.”
Jessie walked away and stood next to Billy as Evelyn read his palm. She glanced over at Alfie before turning fully away and pulling her hood up.
“Well, that went exactly as I expected,” Alfie said, forcing a small laugh into his voice. “Don’t take it personally. She’s at that age.”
“She’ll get used to it,” Julia offered. “I think she’s just surprised that you didn’t tell her.”
“I didn’t know Kylie was coming,” Alfie said, his cheeks blushing again. “Although I’m glad you did. It’s good to see you.”
“Of course, babe,” Kylie said as she looked around the yard with little interest. “Wouldn’t have missed it.”
Alfie smiled, not seeming to notice Kylie’s lack of enthusiasm. Julia did not dislike Kylie, but she did not like her either. She came across as cold and guarded, and not at all like the type of person she thought Alfie would be attracted to. She was visually beautiful, but her personality was less colourful.
“I remember Kylie at that age,” Sandra said after a moment of uncomfortable silence. “Oh, the mood swings! I was so glad when she grew out of them. You could throw tantrums like a baby right up until your early twenties!”
Sandra laughed, the scent of beer hot on her breath, but Kylie simply smiled tightly as her eyes wandered around the crowd surrounding them.
“She’s mellowed out now though, haven’t you?” Keith said, nudging his niece in the arm. “You’re a good kid.”
“I’m not a kid,” Kylie snapped back. “Are there any drinks left? Might as well enjoy my lunch break.”
Kylie broke away from them and walked over to the table without waiting for a response. The four of them looked around, the awkward smiling making it clear none of them knew what to say.
“She’s got a lot on her plate at the moment,” Sandra offered, her mouth slurring the last couple of words together. “Her grandad isn’t getting any better.”
“I thought it was something I’d done,” Alfie said as he watched Kylie pour herself a glass of champagne. “She’s been off with me all week. I can’t seem to do anything right.”
“She’s a good girl under it all,” Keith said, as though he was trying to convince himself rather than Alfie. “She’s just going through a phase.”
“It’s a lot to process,” Sandra added.
“Yeah,” Alfie said, sounding less convinced. “I’m sure she’ll come back around.”
They watched Kylie down the champagne in one swift gulp before topping it up again.
“Have either of you seen Donna recently?” Julia asked, deciding to push the conversation in a more useful direction. “I was hoping to speak to her.”
“Not since the party,” Keith said. “My sister hasn’t had much to say to me since Kylie decided not to move to Wales. She thinks I twisted her arm, but Kylie was adamant she didn’t want to move. What did you want to speak to her about?”
Julia considered telling them about Shannon’s theory surrounding the gun, but she decided against it. She had yet to share that information with the police, and she did not want it to look like she was withholding information, especially when she had no actual facts to prove what Shannon had shared with her.
“It’s nothing,” Julia said with a shake of her head. “I just wanted to see how she was doing. Last time I saw her, she seemed to be in a bad way.”
“It’s probably for
the best that you stay away,” Sandra offered, her voice low as she leaned into Julia, the stench of beer even stronger up close. “If she sniffs a shred of kindness in you, she’ll try to get something from you. She’s the sort of woman who would convince you to give her your last cigarette. But we learned our lesson, didn’t we, Keith?”
“Hmmm,” Keith replied. “Let’s not talk about it. It’s ancient history, and we’ll never see the money again.”
“Money?” Julia echoed. “Does that have anything to do with the money she borrowed from Mabel?”
“Mabel?” Sandra replied with a shake of her head. “If she owed her mother money, I didn’t know about that. Keith had a little money saved up from his army days, and Donna came begging. She said she was going to lose her house because that husband of hers had lost his job. We gave her a couple of thousand, but it was all we had. She ran off to Wales not long after, and I doubt the bank ever saw that money. She came back about a month later asking for more to set up her new life in Wales. We didn’t have it, but she could never take no for an answer. She lost her temper and started going through the drawers, so Keith kicked her out. We didn’t see her again until Peter’s party, but she pretended like nothing had happened.”
Julia wondered if this was the same day as the 2008 spring fête. If it was, Shannon’s story about Donna vanishing for a couple of hours lined up with it, but it did not explain Mabel’s return to the village on the same day, and it still did not prove anything about her death.
“Where are Sue and Neil?” Alfie asked as he looked around the crowd. “I saw them both this morning, and they said they were coming with the twins.”
“I saw a woman with twins heading to the library just before I came here,” Sandra said. “I went in to see if they had re-opened. I had some books to take back, and I can’t afford any late fees. The guy who runs the place wasn’t in, so I just left them on the desk.”
“I’m sure they’re just running a little behind,” Julia assured him. “They’ll be here soon.”
Their conversation drifted to the weather, and Julia’s brain tuned out. She desperately wanted to speak to Donna about what happened on the day of the spring fête. She was sure the woman would not be honest with her, but if she caught her out in a lie, it could be the thread that she needed to unravel the mystery. When Julia tuned back in, Alfie and Keith were talking about his army days, and Sandra had walked over to join Kylie by the food and drink table.
Julia was about to rejoin the conversation when her phone rang in her bag. She pulled it out, glad to see it was a call from Sue.
“Hey,” Julia said down the phone, stepping away from the men. “Are you running late?”
“J-J-Julia,” Sue sobbed down the phone. “I – I – I -”
“Sue? Are you there?”
“A gun,” Sue said, the words almost choking her. “I’ve f-f-f-found a gun.”
“What? Where are you?”
“Library.”
Without taking a second to excuse herself, Julia turned on her heels and set off running towards the gate. She hurtled down the narrow lane, past her father’s antique barn, and sprinted to the top of Mulberry Lane.
“I’m coming,” Julia called down the phone. “I’m almost there.”
Julia skidded around the corner at the top of the street where the library was. She almost knocked Betty Hunter off her feet as she walked out of her charity shop, but she had no time to stop and apologise. It was only when Julia burst through the door in the library and saw Sue standing behind the counter that she hung up.
“What’s going on?” Julia demanded as she caught her breath. “Are you okay?”
Sue silently lifted her hands, a gun resting in her palms as though she was presenting a gift. Her lips trembled as she tried to form words, tears tumbling down her mascara-stained cheeks. Julia fished a cloth handkerchief from her bag and wrapped it around the gun before taking it from Sue. As though her energy had just been drained, Sue dropped backwards looking as though she was seconds from fainting.
Julia looked down at the shiny gun before placing it on the counter; it was heavier than it looked.
“Where did you find this?” Julia asked firmly. “Sue? Where did you find this gun?”
Sue tried to speak, her teary eyes trained on Julia. She stumbled backwards, catching herself on the desk. Julia ran around to support her, and Sue melted into her like a cube of ice on a hot day.
“In there,” Sue croaked as she pointed to a black laptop bag on the floor. “I was looking for P-P-P-Pearl’s blanket, and –”
Sue threw herself into Julia’s arms, overtaken by sobs. Julia stared down at the bag, not liking where her mind was taking her. At that moment, the doors to the library opened, and Neil walked in with a plastic bag.
“I know you said you were watching your figure, but I picked us up some fish and –” Neil’s voice trailed off. “Oh, Julia. Sue? Why are you crying? What’s happened? Is it the twins?”
“Get away from me!” Sue cried, breaking away from Julia and knocking over a pile of books in the process. “I know it was you! I know you killed Mabel. I found your gun!”
Neil’s eyes wandered down to the gun on the desk. He dropped the plastic bag as he took a step back. He looked up at Julia, clearly at a loss for words.
“I – I – I’ve never seen that before,” Neil protested, his eyes flicking desperately between the two sisters. “I swear! Sue! You have to believe me!”
Police sirens pierced the silence, causing Neil to whip around. He looked back to Sue, his distress evident.
“You didn’t,” he whispered to Sue. “Sue, please tell me you -”
But before he could finish his sentence, two police cars screeched to a halt outside the library. Julia stepped back and grabbed Sue as she sobbed against the edge of the desk. Neil looked desperately around the library as though looking for an alternative exit, but it only took seconds for the police to rush through the door.
As the twins screamed and Sue sobbed, all Julia could do was hold Sue tight and hope Neil had a logical explanation.
13
Later that evening, Julia gathered the people she trusted the most around her dining room table. The only person missing was Dot, who was looking after the twins at her cottage. After checking on Sue, who had fallen asleep on the couch after crying herself to the brink of exhaustion, Julia carefully closed the dining room door. Alfie, Jessie, and Barker looked expectantly at her, all sharing the same pitying smile.
“I just called the station,” Barker said, tapping his phone on the table. “Neil isn’t talking on advice from his lawyer, but they’ve found something, and it’s not good news.”
“Go on,” Julia urged. “We need to know the facts here.”
“Did you know Neil’s father, Dennis, was in the army?”
“No,” Julia said, her memories of Dennis confined to Sue and Neil’s wedding day. “Why is that relevant?”
Barker inhaled, looking around the table. Alfie nodded for him to tell Julia, making her stomach turn.
“Neil doesn’t have a criminal record, but his father has one conviction.” Barker paused to sip his coffee as though he was trying to delay the inevitable. “He was arrested in 2003 for stealing a gun from his barracks. He was given a delayed sentence of five years, and the only reason he didn’t go to prison was because he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.”
“How do you even steal an army gun?” Jessie asked. “Aren’t they locked up?”
“I don’t know, but according to one of the boys at the station, it’s more common than you’d think,” Barker explained. “He said hundreds of guns have gone missing over the last decade, and they don’t always turn up. Dennis was only caught because the cameras saw him doing it.”
Julia sat at the table, and her fingers drummed on the wood as she mulled over the information.
“So, you’re suggesting that Dennis stole another gun and got away with it?” Julia asked. “And Ne
il stole that gun to kill Mabel?”
“It’s a theory,” Barker said with a shrug. “I never said it was a good one.”
“Why did he have the gun today then?” Jessie asked.
“Maybe he was getting rid of it?” Alfie suggested. “It’s just come out that Mabel was shot, so he would have wanted to hide the weapon before the police connected him.”
“Neil is the nicest bloke in this village,” Jessie said bluntly, her annoyance at Alfie’s secret girlfriend still in her voice. “And if he was going to get rid of a gun, why carry it around in a bag and then leave it somewhere where anyone can find it? It makes no sense.”
“You’re right,” Julia said. “It makes absolutely no sense, which is why we need to figure this out, right here and now, for Sue’s sake. Even if Neil is innocent, they could still charge him with possessing a firearm, couldn’t they, Barker?”
“I’m afraid so,” Barker said, almost apologetically. “If they can’t prove otherwise, Neil is going to be up against it. Judges aren’t lenient when guns are involved.”
Julia’s fingers continued to drum as she considered the possibilities. Even though she had suspected Neil, she was now more than certain he had been set up.
“The Crumps,” Julia said as she stared blankly at the wall. “Neil wasn’t the only one with a connection to a gun. Shannon thinks Donna could have easily obtained a gun from an ex-boyfriend in Wales. If that’s true, maybe she came to the village today and planted the gun on Neil?”
The group considered the theory, but Jessie’s nose screwed up, something not appearing to sit right with her.
“Why would Donna want to frame Neil?” Jessie asked. “Does she even know him?”
Julia thought about it, but neither had mentioned the other.
“Neil worked for Mabel,” Barker suggested. “Mabel was Donna’s mother.”
“But they hated each other,” Jessie said, leaning onto the table, her fingers also drumming on the wooden surface. “If they didn’t get on, why would Donna know who her mother worked with? And why Neil? Of all the people Donna would want to plant a gun on, why would she plant it on the librarian? And why plant it anyway? If she’s had a hidden gun for ten years, why risk being caught stuffing it in Neil’s bag?”