The Marmalade Murders

by Elizabeth J Duncan

“I’m not sure.”

  “Bear with me. I’m still trying to work this out. Gaynor … marmalade … Florence … marmalade. I feel I’m grasping for something that’s just out of reach. It dances through my mind, and then it’s gone.” She closed her eyes and placed her hands over her face. A moment later, she lowered her hands and her face was transformed. “I’ve got it. At least I think I have. Here’s what could have happened.” Victoria set her wineglass down and leaned forward. “We’ve been going at this the wrong way. We’d assumed someone wanted Florence’s marmalade out of the competition because of the phone call, and that’s true, or sort of true. That was Delyth. But it wasn’t the marmalade she wanted out of the competition; it was the cake. But that’s not the reason Florence’s marmalade wasn’t in the competition. Oh, this is so complicated; I’ve got to try to explain it properly.”

  Penny took a moment to organize her thoughts.

  “Florence’s marmalade got taken out by mistake,” she began. “Mari Jones said Elin wanted Gaynor’s marmalade out of the competition. Whoever took Florence’s was actually after Gaynor’s, not Florence’s. Think about it. Both jars looked the same. Florence’s had a red cloth gingham top, but Gaynor’s had the metal top with the red-and-white gingham pattern printed on the lid. Apparently, she uses that jar and lid every year and the locals know it’s Gaynor’s jam, but the judges don’t know, because they come from out of town. Wrexham or somewhere, I think it said in the program.”

  “So you think someone took the wrong jar?”

  “I do. We just have to work out who that was.”

  “Well, the obvious person is Elin, isn’t it? You said she was the one who wanted Gaynor’s marmalade out of the competition.”

  “Elin’s the obvious one, but did she have the opportunity? Mari said she and Elin left when they saw Joyce and Barbara in the marquee.”

  “She could have come back.”

  “She could have.”

  “Yes, because someone entered the tent and murdered Gaynor Lewis.”

  “Maybe we’ll see Elin at Macy’s birthday party on Sunday. I hope so. If she’s there, maybe we’ll have the chance to ask her a few questions.”

  Twenty-seven

  Michelle Lewis’s house was easy to spot. Half a dozen helium-filled balloons in graduated shades of pink were tied to a gate. They bobbed and swayed in a light breeze as Victoria drove slowly down the narrow street, lined on both sides with parked cars. Unable to find a parking space in front of the house, they continued on to the swimming pool car park, where they left the car; then, carrying their manicure supplies, they walked back to the house.

  Penny’s assistant, Eirlys, who had come along to help with the manicures, knocked on the door, and seconds later it flew open, revealing an exuberant Macy. She raised both hands to straighten the silver-coloured tiara with its glued-on coloured stones, then politely welcomed Penny, Victoria, and Eirlys to her birthday party and invited them in.

  The happy sounds of little girls at play greeted them as they entered the small sitting room off the entry hall. The cardboard boxes that had been piled up on Penny’s last visit were gone. Michelle Lewis sat on a slightly faded red sofa with a woman about the same age. The women’s chatter fell away as the newcomers entered the room, and when the two women stood, the string of Beauty and the Beast–themed pennants taped to the wall above them fluttered slightly. “Right. Time I was on my way,” Michelle’s friend said. “Sorry I can’t stay to help with the party, but I’ll be back at five to pick up my two. Have fun!”

  “I’ll be off, as well,” said Victoria to Penny, handing her a case filled with supplies. “Just ring me when you’re ready to leave.”

  “I’ll see you both out,” said Michelle. “If you wouldn’t mind just keeping your eyes on that lot,” she said to Penny, “I’ll be right back.” When she returned, she pointed to a table covered with a Beauty and the Beast paper tablecloth at the other end of the room. “I thought you could work here,” she said, raising her voice slightly to be heard above the girls’ laughter. “When you’re finished, we’ll clear everything away and then I’ll set up the table for their tea.”

  Eirlys and Penny laid clean white towels on the table, then arranged their manicure equipment and chairs so they could do two manicures at the same time. “There’s just six children, so it shouldn’t take long,” Penny said.

  “I’m so glad you suggested manicures as the birthday party entertainment. So much more fun than the usual clown, and we don’t have a garden for a bouncy castle. You’ve really lifted Macy’s spirits,” said Michelle as Eirlys disappeared into the kitchen to fill the two soaking bowls. “She’s thrilled to be getting her first manicure.” She choked on the last couple of words. “Sorry. I’ve been thinking about Mum, and her not being here today, and all the rest of Macy’s firsts she’s going to miss. When all’s said and done, she was still Macy’s grandmother, but I told myself I wouldn’t go there today. Don’t want to spoil it for the girls.”

  Michelle pulled herself together as Penny murmured all the right sympathetic noises and then commented, “It’s been a long time since I was at a child’s birthday party, so thank you for having us.”

  When Eirlys had placed the soaking bowls on the table, Michelle called out, “Right! Who’s first? Who thinks the birthday girl should go first?” The little girls squealed their approval, Michelle told Macy to choose a friend to have a manicure with her, and the two girls raced to the table.

  “What colour would you like, Macy?” Penny asked. “You can choose any colour you like.” Macy rested her chin in the palms of her hands as she surveyed the range of pinks, greens, blues, and purples in the bottles of nail varnish in front of her. Penny pointed to a bottle of pale pink with added glitter. “This one’s called Princesses Rule! What do you think of that one?”

  “Yes, please!”

  “Right. Now just dip your fingers in the water and we’ll get started.”

  “My nain isn’t coming to my party,” Macy said. “She can’t be here. But my taid is coming after he’s fed his chickens. He’s still got them, you know.”

  “Oh, I’m glad to hear that.”

  “Yes, me, too, because my nain said they were going to take them away from him.”

  “Who was going to take them away?”

  Macy shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s bringing Elin to my party. I don’t like Elin.”

  “Do you not?” Penny asked. “Why is that?”

  Macy shrugged. “I don’t know. I just don’t, that’s all. They’re coming for tea. Elin and my taid. Do you like cake?”

  “I do. It’s my favourite thing, especially if it’s chocolate and has lots of icing.”

  “Me, too!”

  When she’d finished the manicure, Penny warned Macy that her nails would be sticky for the next little while, so she’d have to be very careful not to touch anything. Macy promised to be careful, and skipped off to show her glittery pink nails to her mother.

  She stopped at the sound of a loud knocking on the door. “You’ll have to answer the door, Mum,” she said. “My nails are still wet.”

  Elin Spears entered the sitting room, carrying two large recycled gift bags with wrinkled pink tissue paper spilling over the tops. “Where should I put these?” she asked Michelle.

  “Oh, just over there with the other presents, thanks. Macy’ll open them after they’ve had their tea.”

  “And remember to save all the bags and wrapping,” replied Elin. “There’s no point in wasting good money buying more gift bags when you can reuse these. I can’t bear waste. And here’s a jar of my strawberry jam that Macy likes on her toast. I’ll just put it in the kitchen.”

  At the mention of the word jam, Penny looked up from the set of little fingernails she was painting. Elin, jar of jam still in her hand, looked trim in a pair of black trousers paired with a white blouse topped with a black-and-white-striped sweater. Penny’s gaze wandered to her partner, Carwyn Lewis, who was standing in the c
entre of the room admiring his granddaughter’s painted fingernails. He wasn’t dressed in typical farmer’s clothes, but in a smart pair of well-pressed trousers and a pale blue shirt, open at the neck. Over the shirt was his puffy green vest with the pins on it.

  “Thanks, Elin,” Michelle said. “Did you make the jam yourself?”

  “Of course I did. Do you think I would give you someone else’s conserve?”

  Someone else’s.

  The words danced through Penny’s mind, teasing her, taunting her, bringing her back to the time she’d heard them spoken by a broken woman lying on the floor of the Green Bedroom in Speke Hall.

  “Penny?” The small voice from the child in front of her snapped her attention back to the upturned face, a frown creasing the child’s forehead.

  “Sorry. I was just trying to remember something.”

  “Well, you have to leave it alone,” said the little girl. “And then, when you aren’t thinking about it, it will pop right into your head when you least expect it. That’s what my mum always tells me.”

  “That’s good advice. I’ll do that.”

  Just as Penny finished the child’s manicure, Macy let out a loud wail. She ran to Penny and held out her hand, revealing a fluffy white feather stuck on the freshly painted fingernail of her right hand.

  “It’s all smudged,” Macy cried. “We’ll have to do it all over again.”

  “No we won’t,” Penny assured her. “We can fix this. Would you like to see a bit of magic?”

  “I would!”

  “Where did you get that feather?” Penny asked as she lifted it gently off Macy’s fingernail with a pair of tweezers and wiped it off onto a towel.

  “Off my granddad. It was on his vest. I guess from when he checked up on the chickens before he came here. It’s a new vest. He hasn’t had it very long. I liked the old one better. It had a red lining. But the pins are the same, so that’s good.”

  Penny glanced at Carwyn, who was seated on the sofa. “So, Macy, how long has your granddad had this new vest?” Penny asked as she removed the cap from a bottle of nail varnish remover and poured a drop into it.

  “I don’t know,” said Macy. “Not very long.”

  “Well, let’s think now. Did he have it before or after the agricultural show?”

  She dipped a cotton-tipped swab ever so lightly into the cap, then used it to gently smooth the roughed-up nail polish on Macy’s fingernail.

  “After the show, because it was too hot for him to wear his old vest at the show.”

  “That’s right. It was warm in the tent, wasn’t it, when we went to see him. Remember? We walked over to the tent together after the pet show, you and I and Haydn Williams.”

  “That’s right,” Macy agreed. “We did.”

  After giving the newly applied nail varnish remover a moment to dry, Penny applied another coat of Princesses Rule! nail polish.

  “There!” she said. “All done. What do you think of that?”

  Macy held out her hand, examined her fingernail, declared it perfect, and ran back to join the party. With the last manicure done, Eirlys began packing up their supplies, while Penny had a word with Michelle.

  “I’m going to stay and help with the tea,” Penny told Eirlys. “I’ll call Victoria to let her know. Would you like her to give you a ride home?”

  “No, I’ve got a friend lives near here, so I’ll just walk over to hers.”

  “Okay. Leave everything here and I’ll take it all away with me when I go.”

  They left the house together, so Penny could call Victoria from the relative quiet of the street, away from the party noise. She waved good-bye to Eirlys as she set off, and after making arrangements with Victoria, she returned to the house, where Michelle was setting the table with paper plates and napkins that matched the tablecloth.

  “I’m not sure how this works,” said Penny, “but as I recall it’s children only at the table. Is that right?”

  “It is. And the grown-ups eat later. You’re welcome to stay for that.”

  “Oh, thanks, but I’ll be off as soon as the children are sorted.”

  “I do appreciate you helping me,” said Michelle as they moved into the kitchen. “I’m sure Elin would, but, well…”

  “You want to keep her out of the kitchen?”

  “Exactly. She’s got such definite ideas about how things should be done, and I’d really rather just be left to do things my own way.”

  “Well, tell me what you need me to do.”

  Michelle switched on the cooker. “Just give that a few minutes to warm up, and then you can pop in the sausage rolls.”

  “I’m curious to know more about your father’s chickens,” Penny said as she unwrapped the packet of sausage rolls and set them on a baking tray.

  Michelle scoffed. “His chickens. Honestly, you’d think they laid golden eggs, the way he goes on about them. They’re called Silkies and they’re so fluffy, they look like they’ve got fur, not feathers. And they moult like crazy. Apparently, they’re what’s known as an ornamental breed; they exist more for their good looks and show. My mother hated them, but he just adores them. You should see where they live. It’s the Taj Mahal of chicken coops. He even brings in special ones to breed here.”

  “When you say ‘brings in,’ do you mean imports?”

  Michelle nodded as she released a set of Beauty and the Beast paper cups from their cellophane and handed them to Penny.

  “I expect that’s a terrific amount of paperwork, with all the EU regulations governing every aspect of farming,” Penny remarked. “I’ve heard farmers complain about that before. How complicated and difficult it is trying to get anything done.”

  “That’s true.”

  “And does Elin ever look after them?”

  Michelle laughed. “Are you kidding? As if he’d let anyone else near his Silkies. He does let Macy hold one occasionally, though.”

  Clutching the paper cups, Penny turned to find Elin standing in the doorway. “What are you two talking about?” Elin asked.

  “The European Union regulations regarding the importation of chickens, would you believe,” said Michelle.

  “Oh, how interesting.” She surveyed the kitchen worktop, and at the sight of a pink-and-chocolate-brown-striped box from the local bakery, commented, “Well, I wish you’d have let me bake Macy’s cake. I do make a rather nice celebration cake, you know, having won Best in Show, in case you’d forgotten.”

  “I know,” said Michelle, “and I’m sorry. It’s just that Mum used to bake Macy’s cakes, and I thought it would be less upsetting for Macy if she got to choose a store-bought cake this year, and she opted for a Beauty and the Beast cake to go with her theme. But it was kind of you to offer, Elin, and I do appreciate it.”

  “Maybe you could have brought the WG silver cake server,” Penny offered. “Or perhaps you were going to but you left it at home.”

  Elin crossed her arms and glared at Penny but said nothing, and after a moment, she wandered back to the sitting room.

  “That was a very naughty thing to say,” Michelle said with a lopsided grin as she took a plastic container filled with sandwiches out of the refrigerator. She arranged them on a small platter and handed the plate to Penny. “Here you go. Can you manage that with the cups? And then, if you wouldn’t mind, you can pour the drinks. Just half a cup, so there’s less danger of a spill. You’ll find a bottle of orange squash in the fridge.”

  Penny set the platter of sandwiches on the table, then made her way around the table, placing a drinking cup at each place. She returned to the table with the bottle of orange squash and circled the table, filling each cup halfway.

  The girls were seated in a circle on the floor, playing a board game, as Elin and Carwyn sat on the sofa, talking quietly. As one child rolled the dice and the others leaned forward to look at the numbers, Penny overheard Elin say to Carwyn, “… talking about EU regulations and chickens.” Penny moved on to the setting at the end of
the table, and with a sidelong glance, she watched as Carwyn turned slowly toward her and returned her gaze. Their eyes met briefly, and for a reason she couldn’t explain, her heart began to pound. Her hand trembled as she filled the last cup.

  Michelle emerged from the kitchen, a tea towel over her shoulder, and announced, “Tea’s ready.” The girls cheered and scrambled to find their places at the table.

  “We were just saying we think we’ll be heading home,” Elin remarked.

  “Oh, but Taid, you have to stay!” cried Macy. “You have to watch me open my presents!”

  “Your granddad’s going rock climbing tomorrow morning, and he’s got a lot to do to get ready.”

  “For God’s sake, Elin, she’s only a little girl,” Michelle hissed through clenched teeth so that the children couldn’t hear. “It’s you who wants to leave, not Dad. Can’t you even let him be with Macy on her birthday?”

  “You should talk!” Elin retorted. “You and your mother were planning on taking her to live in Spain. Do you have any idea how that upset him? She always just thought of herself, Gaynor did. She never cared how her actions might hurt someone else. Or maybe she did, and that was the whole point.”

  Someone else. There it was again. Penny wasn’t sure, yet, how all the pieces of the murderous puzzle fit together, but she knew where the starting point was.

  Taking extra care with the towels that had been used during the manicures, she gathered up her supplies, thanked Michelle, and wished Macy the happiest of birthdays. A few minutes later, Victoria picked her up and they set off for home.

  As she put the car in gear, Victoria asked how the party had gone.

  “The person who killed Gaynor Lewis and Barbara Vickers was there,” Penny replied calmly. “Or maybe I should say persons.”

  “I wasn’t expecting to hear that,” Victoria sputtered. “I was expecting you to say that a group of noisy little girls drove you mad and you couldn’t wait to get out of there!”

  “Oh no. The girls were adorable. But a couple of the grown-ups, not so much. I haven’t worked out all the details yet, so I’d rather wait until I’ve got it all straight in my mind before I explain it to you. But I can tell you, the mix-up over Florence’s marmalade set in motion a cascade of unfortunate events. But before that happened, Elin Spears forgot to bring the silver cake service.”