Chocolate, Lies, and Murder (Amber Fox Mysteries Book #4)

by Sibel Hodge

  ‘She’s been getting threats to kill her.’

  ‘So?’

  ‘Have you been sending her threatening letters?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘How about knickers?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Your name has come up as someone who might have a grudge against Aleesha.’

  He raised a disinterested eyebrow. ‘Oh?’

  ‘Can you give me any answers that contain more than two letters and don’t have an O in them? We’ll probably be here all day otherwise.’

  He thought about that for a moment, chewing on his bottom lip. ‘What do you want to know? I don’t want to talk about her any longer than I have to. Even her name brings me out in hives.’ He pulled the neck of his T-shirt down and pointed to his skin. ‘Have I got hives forming?’

  ‘Not yet.’

  ‘OK, you’d better make it quick, then. When they come up, they’re so itchy I’m scratching for days.’

  ‘Can you tell me about your relationship with her and what happened when she sued you over the sex video?’

  He sighed. ‘Well, she called me out to look at a blocked drain, and I’ve had nothing but shit off her since! Actually, it was her brother, Nathan, who arranged the job. So I went over to her place and sorted out the blockage in the downstairs toilet, and she was, you know, prancing around the house pretty much naked and flirting with me.’

  A few red dots appeared on his neck, but I didn’t tell him. ‘Then what?’

  ‘Well, we had a bit of a thing.’

  ‘A thing?’

  ‘OK, we had sex. Everywhere. In the Jacuzzi, in the bedrooms, in the kitchen, in the—’

  I held up my hand. ‘OK, OK, I get the gist.’

  ‘Then she says she wants to film it, so I thought why not? It’s a bit of a turn on, you know. So we went into her bedroom, and she had this video camera set up at the end of her bed, all ready, like. And we had some more sex.’

  ‘Right. So after the sex part?’ I gestured for him to hurry up, trying not to imagine them together.

  ‘Well, she gave me the video and said it would make a nice souvenir for me. Then she pretty much hinted that I should put it on the Internet.’

  ‘Hinted how? What exactly did she say?’

  He stared up at the sky above my head, thinking. ‘Well, I can’t remember exactly, but she said something like, “Wouldn’t it be a shame if this got leaked?” Then she winked at me, paid me for the plumbing work with a hefty tip, and pretty much chucked me out of the house.’

  ‘So, you made the video public?’

  ‘Yeah, why not? It was what she wanted, and I didn’t care. The camera was pointing so you couldn’t see my face, just hers. But it was a setup, because then she sued me for every penny I had. Said I caused her emotional distress and damage to her reputation.’

  I snorted.

  ‘Yeah, exactly. I lost my house to pay the legal bills, and I had to give her all my savings for damages. I was left declaring myself bankrupt. I’ve lost everything, and I’m living in this dump.’ He paused. ‘I’d love to kill her, believe me. I’d love to get my hands round her throat and squeeze really tightly.’ His hands mimed a throttling action, and he shook back and forth, the muscles in his arms flexing with built up tension. ‘But I’m not the kind of person who’d threaten to do it first. I’d just do it.’ He scratched at some red, lumpy welts on his neck. ‘See! I’ve got hives now. I should be suing her for emotional distress. I don’t want to talk about her anymore.’ And he slammed the door in my face.

  I took the stairs back to the car park. Could it be Curtis? He was angry enough to do it, but he didn’t strike me as the type of person who’d pussyfoot around sending the letters first, although the vigour of the throttling put a serious question mark over his head.

  When I got to the Toyota, I examined it for new graffiti.

  ‘I wish my wife was this dirty’ was keyed into the dusty bonnet.

  Still, at least they’d spelled it correctly, which was something.

  Hacker phoned as I made my way to Tracy White’s house. ‘Yo, I analyzed the handwriting from the threatening letters and the note Dr Spork gave you, and it’s not a match. He didn’t write them.’

  ‘OK, cool, thanks.’

  ‘And Brad just phoned in to say if you need him, his phone will be turned off for a while because he’s going to Elstree Studios with Aleesha to film Real Women, and then onto some modelling shoot she’s doing.’

  ‘What sort of modelling shoot?’ My stomach twisted at the thought of him seeing her naked. Even though he’d obviously seen her naked before, like most of the world, it didn’t make it any better.

  ‘I think she’s doing a spread for Playboy.’

  Yeah, ‘spread’ being the operative word. Good job I hadn’t had any breakfast; I might’ve just thrown it up.

  ‘Great,’ I huffed.

  I heard Tia’s voice down in the background. ‘When can I do the stakeout? Please, please, let me do it!’

  I had to hand it to her; at least she was enthusiastic. ‘Tell her I need to go and see Tracy first, then we’ll know how many suspects we need to tail to see if they post anything.’

  ‘Yo to that,’ Hacker said.

  I hung up and thought about what Curtis had said. It sounded like Aleesha had organized the sex video for publicity. Maybe Brad was right, and I should look closer to home. What if she really was sending the letters to herself to get her name splashed in the tabloids again? I could easily see her doing that. I tucked that thought into my frontal lobe for later and pulled up outside Tracy’s flat in another rundown area.

  Parking in the communal car park, I feared for the car’s safety again. The places I was going lately, the Toyota would end up with the whole Urban Dictionary on it soon.

  I dodged a rusty old child’s bike in the corridor and knocked on Tracy’s door. A little girl, about six with shiny ginger hair, opened it.

  ‘Hi.’ I waved. ‘Is your mummy in?’

  Her eyes grew huge. ‘Are you from social services again?’

  I smiled. ‘No, sweetie.’

  She shut the door again. A woman in her mid-thirties opened it a few minutes later. Her blonde hair was pulled up in a messy bun, and she had frown lines etched in her forehead.

  ‘Yes? Can I help you?’ she asked anxiously.

  ‘Are you Tracy White?’

  She nodded, frown lines deepening. ‘Yes, who are you?’

  ‘I’m Amber Fox. I’m investigating some threats that Aleesha’s been getting.’

  Her face flushed with anger. ‘What’s she accusing me of this time?’

  ‘Nothing. But she’s been getting some threatening letters.’

  ‘You’d better come in.’ She tilted her head inside the flat. ‘So, someone’s threatening her, are they?’ Tracy sat down on a sofa. It sunk under her weight, as if all the stuffing had gone out. Her shoulders slumped like the stuffing had gone out of her, too. Her daughter stood next to Tracy, sucking her thumb and staring at me with big, innocent eyes.

  Tracy patted her daughter on the arm. ‘Go and play in your bedroom, darling. And stop sucking your thumb, you’re getting too old.’ Tracy gave her daughter a kiss on the head, and the little girl waved at me as she skipped out.

  I sat down next to Tracy. ‘Aleesha’s been getting letters and other things in the post.’

  ‘And you just assumed it was me, because of all that rubbish she said before about me stealing her phone?’ She shook her head. ‘Typical. Just blame the hired help.’

  ‘I’m not assuming anything, Tracy.’ I smiled. ‘I just want to clear this up as quickly as possible.’

  ‘I’ve got a criminal record for theft now because of her.’ She rubbed at her forehead wearily. ‘No one’s going to hire me as a cleaner now, are they? And I haven’t got any other skills.’

  ‘There’s no Mr White to help you out?’

  She tutted. ‘Not likely. He hasn’t been around since Lisa was born.’

>   ‘Why don’t you tell me what happened with Aleesha?’

  ‘I told the police, and they didn’t believe me.’

  ‘So tell me. I’m listening.’

  ‘Why should I trust you?’ she said, but it wasn’t in a nasty way. Just a dejected, ‘sick-of-life’s-knocks’ kind of way.

  I glanced around the flat. It was clean and tidy but cheaply decorated and sparse. Tracy’s daughter seemed well cared for, but it was obvious social services had been round at least once to check on them. Tracy looked like a woman living below the poverty line and trying to make the best of a bad situation. If she wasn’t the one threatening Aleesha, then I wanted to make sure she didn’t get any more knock backs.

  ‘I want to help, if I can,’ I said.

  She exhaled a tired sigh. ‘I think Aleesha set the whole thing up for publicity. She knew I didn’t have much money, and she knew my phone had stopped working, so she said she’d give me her old one. It was very out of character for her, because usually she just ignored me. She thought I was the lowly cleaner. It was Nathan who always gave me her lists of what she wanted cleaning that day.’ She stared down at the threadbare carpet. ‘Nathan was really sweet. He was always chatting to me while I worked and trying to get me to drink the horrible nettle tea he liked, or passing the day with some sort of chit chat, but she obviously thought she was above me.’ She paused.

  ‘Go on.’

  ‘Well, anyway, I’d told Nathan about my mobile phone not working. It was only a cheap thing, but I don’t have a home phone since I can’t afford to pay for both. I couldn’t afford a new phone, and I was worried about what would happen if Lisa had an accident or something and I needed to call an ambulance in the middle of the night. I think Aleesha must’ve overheard me. When I left that day, she said she had a few spare phones lying around that she didn’t use, and did I want one.’ Tracy shrugged. ‘Well, of course, I said yes, please, and didn’t think anything more about it. But the next thing I knew, there was a piece plastered in the press about me selling her text messages to the tabloids and trying to sell the phone on eBay.’

  I frowned. ‘So you didn’t contact the press or put the phone up for sale?’

  ‘No! I think she must’ve done it herself, but the police wouldn’t believe me. Apparently, someone emailed The Daily News, saying they were me, giving them a list of all Aleesha’s dirty text messages to various men. Someone had also set up an eBay account in my name from an anonymous Internet café and had the phone listed for sale. I don’t even know how to use the Internet.’ Her eyes welled up. ‘The police arrested and charged me, but they said if I admitted it and gave the phone back, I wouldn’t have to do any time, I’d just have a record.’ She glanced towards Lisa’s bedroom. ‘I couldn’t risk going through a trial, even if I was innocent. What if they tried to say I was an unfit mother and took Lisa away? Or what if I got banged up in prison? So, for a quiet life, I admitted it.’

  ‘Did you confront Aleesha about it?’ I remembered Aleesha had told me she’d also been arrested for hitting Tracy.

  She bit her lip. ‘I shouldn’t have done, I know, but I was so angry. I mean, I hadn’t done anything wrong. I went to the house and tried to ask her what was going on, and she started screeching at me. Then she literally flew at me, smacking me in the face and pushing me off the front step. Well, I wasn’t having that. Not after everything she’d done, so I phoned the police that time and reported her. I had a massive black eye.’

  ‘And what happened?’

  ‘She was arrested for assault, but the police wouldn’t file any charges. One rule for her and another for the likes of me, I suppose, since she’s a celebrity and all.’ She said the word ‘celebrity’ like it was a swear word.

  I squeezed her hand. ‘I’m sorry that happened to you.’

  ‘Thanks. Not much I can do about it now, is there?’ She sighed. ‘I’m just trying to survive on the money I get from benefits at the moment, but it’s not easy.’

  ‘Well, if I hear of any cleaning jobs, I’ll put in a good word for you.’

  ‘Really? So you believe me?’ Her face crumpled with gratitude.

  ‘Yes.’ Not only did I believe her, but I was building up a bigger picture of exactly the kind of things Aleesha stooped to for any kind of publicity she could get. Right about then, I wouldn’t have minded killing her myself.

  Chapter 9

  My stomach rumbled with hunger as I left Tracy’s place. Hurrah! My appetite was returning at last. Or maybe it was anger bubbling away inside me. Aleesha was a menace to society and didn’t care who she stepped on to get her name in the papers. I was betting more and more that either Aleesha or Nathan sent the notes themselves. If she thought she could play havoc with innocent people for her own gain, then she had another thing coming. Knowing the way she operated, she’d probably blame it on some innocent person who would also end up with their lives ruined.

  I realized I was near the mall and thought I could kill two birds with one stone. I’d get a progress report from Mum and Dad about whether anyone suspicious was buying chocolate knickers, and I could get my wedding night undies from Lace at the same time.

  I parked up in the huge car park outside the mall and wandered past the shops. Riding the escalator up to the first floor, I thought about what to buy. A thong or lacy cheeky knickers. Ooh, maybe a basque? They would have to be cream-coloured, or else they’d show under the dress. I imagined Brad peeling them off me after the wedding. With his teeth. Yum. A slow grin spread across my lips.

  Dad sat on a wooden bench outside the shop, pretending to read the paper but really scanning who went in and out of Lace. Mum was inside, picking up bras and pretending to study them while checking out the chocolate knickers display.

  I winked at Dad and strolled into the shop. It was underwear heaven. Bras, basques, thongs, knickers in all shapes, colours, and sizes. Plus, they had dress up outfits, like the French maid one Mum wanted, a leather Catwoman suit, and lots more. I wondered if they had a sexy Wonder Woman costume I could get.

  ‘Amber! What are you doing here?’ Mum put down the lacy bra she was holding and rushed over.

  ‘I need some honeymoon undies.’ I picked up a cream basque finished in lace and satin.

  ‘So the wedding’s still on? Only you had me a bit worried yesterday.’

  I gritted my teeth, trying not to think what Brad was being subjected to at the Playboy shoot. ‘Yes, of course it’s still on.’ I wandered over to some cream satin, cheeky knickers and picked them up, looking for my size.

  ‘They’re lovely.’ Mum eyed them wistfully. ‘Maybe I’ll get a pair, too.’

  I rolled my eyes.

  ‘Try them on.’ She nudged me with her elbow.

  ‘Don’t they get all funny if you try underwear on? Like if you try them, you have to buy them or something?’ I stared at the knickers. They were pretty nice.

  ‘Mmm, I think they do, actually.’

  ‘So how do you know if they’re going to fit? Usually, I just buy my knickers and don’t bother, but these are special wedding knickers. I want them to be just right.’

  ‘Good point.’

  I shrugged. ‘I know what to do.’ And I pulled them on over my skinny jeans. Luckily, there were no security tags on them strategically placed to cause maximum discomfort, probably due to the fact they’d damage the delicate material.

  I walked to the mirror, turned round, and examined my bum. OK, so the knickers over jeans wasn’t the final look I was going for, but at least I knew if they fitted or not. And they did. Very snugly. Yep, my bum looked hot in them, if I do say so myself.

  ‘What do you think?’ I glanced at Mum.

  She gave me a thumbs-up. ‘They’re lovely. Elegant and sexy.’

  I nodded approvingly. ‘Just what I was thinking. Now, what about a bra?’ I turned my attention to the bras hanging on a rack above the knickers and picked out one that matched the bottoms. Satin with lacy straps and lace cups. I stroked my fingers over the
material and imagined Brad’s fingers doing the same with me in it. Perfect.

  ‘Someone’s at the chocolate knickers display,’ Mum whispered. ‘I’m going to keep my eye on them.’

  I glanced up and didn’t recognize the woman at the display as a possible suspect, so I studied the bras again, grabbing my size on a little glittery plastic hanger. I was heading to the tills to pay when some display bottles of perfume and body lotion caught my eye. I picked up a couple of pink perfume bottles and sprayed a tester on my wrist. Not bad. How about some body lotion, though? There were a couple to choose from. Vanilla Spice, Strawberry Temptation, or Tantalizing Jasmine. Ooh, vanilla sounded nice. Very edible. Or lickable. The perfect honeymoon accompaniment. I grabbed the bottle and squeezed some on my finger, then rubbed it into my hand.

  My skin got all hot and tingly. What kind of body lotion did that?

  I peered at the bottle, which read, ‘Vanilla Spice Edible Pleasure Gel’.

  I quickly scanned the area to see if anyone had noticed me trying out pleasure gel in the middle of the shop, but luckily, no one had. I stashed the bottle back on the shelf out of pleasuring distance and headed to the checkout.

  The sales woman was so busy security tagging some new stock at the till that she didn’t notice me standing there for a while.

  ‘Hi,’ I said to get her attention, handing over the bra.

  ‘Oh, I’ve got one of these bras.’ She smiled. ‘They’re so comfy.’

  I smiled back. ‘It won’t be on long enough to be comfy. It’s for my honeymoon.’

  ‘Congratulations!’ She carefully wrapped up the underwear in some tissue paper and popped it in a glitzy bag before ringing up my purchase.

  Handing over some cash, I thought it was definitely going to be money well spent.

  ‘Have a great day!’ She gave me my change and purchase and turned her attention back to the security tags.

  Heading out the door, I waved goodbye to Mum, who gave me a horrified look.

  Oh, crap. Mum must’ve seen me trying out pleasure gel!

  I cringed inwardly and, armed with my paper Lace bag, I strode out of the shop, avoiding her gaze. As I walked past Dad on the bench, his eyes widened when he saw me, his expression matching Mum’s.