Peridale Cafe Mystery 19 - Brownies and Bloodshed
Page 20
“Almost the exact same.” Jessie barely held in her laughter. “I’d have been confused too.”
“Funny old world.” Evelyn laughed to herself. “Dot’s right. I should get back to the B&B for the evening tarot readings. I’d hate to disappoint my guests. Night, all!”
Evelyn hurried up the street, her bright kaftan glowing in the dark until she turned the corner.
“That woman’s mind is like a dusty old attic!” Dot announced as she checked her watch. “Full of stuff you don’t know what to do with, but it’s there. Every so often you pull out a treasure, but not often enough. Speaking of attics, I’ll need you to go through all your old childhood stuff, Julia. We’ll need all the space we can get, now Percy’s moving in.”
“Moving in?”
“Isn’t it marvellous?” Percy cried, clapping his hands together. “In the run-up to the wedding we weren’t so sure what we’d do, but after all that has transpired, this seems like the only natural choice.”
“We had a long discussion last night.” Dot held Percy’s hand. “Life’s too short. Although, I shall keep my surname as South. No offence, Percy, but now that two Croppers are behind bars for murder, I’d rather not be tainted by association.”
“Right you are, my Dorothy.” Percy patted her on the hand. “To tell you the truth, I was thinking the same. Why don’t we just throw all tradition out the window and I’ll change my name to South while we’re at it?”
“Steady on, dear,” Dot replied with a subtle head shake. “We don’t want people thinking you’re not your own man.”
“Right you are, dear.”
“What are you going to do with your flat?” Jessie asked.
“Ah!” Percy clicked his fingers together. “Well, the flat used to belong to the council, but I bought it from them in the 80s, under Thatcher’s reign, for next to nothing. The mortgage was paid off by the time New Labour came along.”
“Who and what?”
“Oh, you’re too young for all that, dear.” Percy laughed deep in his belly. “What do they teach in school these days?”
“The flat is worth a small fortune now,” Dot said, almost under her breath. “Ten times what he paid for it.”
“Yes, but we’ve decided not to sell,” Percy added calmly. “Money isn’t everything. I’m too old to spend it all anyway – something Ian should have realised when he was my age. Instead, young Alfie will rent the flat from us at a considerable discount.”
“We offered to let him stay.” Dot sighed. “He thinks he’ll cramp our style. I will miss him. It’s been nice having a young man around the house.”
“I’m here to put a stop to that.” Percy winked at Dot and patted her hand again. “But he’ll only be around the corner, and I couldn’t think of anyone better to look after the old place.”
“Are we going to stand out here all night?” Jessie asked, forcing back a yawn. “Some of us have empty flats to get to.”
“There’s just one more thing,” Dot said, her eyes meeting Julia’s. “A tiny thing.”
“An exciting thing!” Percy added. “Ask them, my Dorothy.”
“What is it, Gran?”
“A honeymoon!” Dot exclaimed, fluffing up her curls. “Now, the old me would have just booked it and forced you to come along, but Percy, being the sensible one, talked me out of that. So, we’d like to ask if you would join us on our honeymoon.”
“Not just our honeymoon, dear,” Percy corrected. “A honeymoon for all of us. Technically, you two never had one, did you?”
Julia and Barker shook their heads.
“Then it’s settled!” Dot announced, checking her watch. “I’ve picked the resort. It’s fabulous, trust me on that. Jessie can look after the café. I’ll get it—”
“They haven’t said yes, dear,” Percy pointed out. “Your excitement and passion are two of the things I love most about you, but Julia and Barker aren’t two retired old biddies like us.”
“Speak for yourself, dear.”
“You know what I mean.” Percy grinned. “They can’t just drop everything, and Julia is expecting. Although we talked to a doctor friend of mine this morning, and he said the best time to travel pregnant is between three and six months.”
“Which is why we’re planning to go away in early August,” Dot interjected. “You could be on holiday for your birthday, Julia! What better way than to turn forty than under the sun. We’re paying and, honestly dear, I’m almost offended you haven’t said yes immediately.”
Julia looked at Barker and then to her gran. She could tell Barker had reservations about going abroad with Dot, but the look in his eyes was clear; he needed a holiday, and so did she.
“Yes,” Julia replied before she could overthink it. “We’ll come.”
“Excellent!” Dot said, rechecking her watch. “Time to get home before the ten o’clock news. C’mon, Percy. The walk will do us good.”
“Right you are, my Dorothy.”
Dot and Percy bowed out of the conversation, leaving only Julia, Barker, and Jessie. Julia found her car keys as they walked to the parking spot in front of the closed library.
“Well, that was all madder than a box of frogs,” Jessie said as she climbed in. “Suppose that’s me uninvited from crashing on their sofa for another night. Although my bedroom was left untouched, I just don’t like the thought of sleeping under that creepy paint on the wall. Room for another one at yours?”
“Nope,” Barker said, smiling at Julia as they set off. “We’re taking you home.”
Minutes later, Julia pulled up in the space between the café and the post office. They climbed out and stood in front of Jessie’s flat door as they had done the morning of the break-in, although this time, the door was back on its hinges and fitted with new locks.
“What are you up to?” Jessie glared at them. “I’ve been through enough this week.”
“Go in and find out.” Barker reached into his pocket and pulled out a shiny new key. “You’ll need this.”
Jessie unlocked the door and crept up the dark stairway into the flat, Julia and Barker following close behind. When she reached the top, the lights flicked on, and Alfie spread his hands wide.
“Ta-da!” he cried.
“What the…” Jessie’s voice trailed off as she looked around her flat, which was no longer just an empty shell. “I don’t understand. It looks almost identical.”
“That’s the point,” Julia said, her heart glowing from the shock on Jessie’s face. “We knew how adamant you were about building your home yourself, so we wanted to put things back together as closely as we could. I couldn’t help buying you slightly nicer curtains and bedding though.”
“This is crazy.” Jessie crashed down in one of the giant beanbags and gazed around her flat, shaking her head as her eyes drank in every detail. “Is this why you were all acting so weird and sneaky today? I thought none of you wanted to spend time with me. I got stuck playing Scrabble with Percy. And I thought I was a bad speller. I spent ten minutes convincing him Constantinople isn’t a real word!”
“Sis,” Alfie said, rubbing the back of his head, “it is.”
“I know.” Jessie yawned. “But I couldn’t let him win, could I?”
“But it’s a proper noun,” Alfie explained, sucking the air through his teeth. “You can’t have those in Scrabble anyway, so you’d have been better off just following the rules instead of convincing the poor guy he was going crackers.”
“Since when have you been a Scrabble expert?”
“How do you think Dot and I spent our evenings?”
Barker cleared his throat. “I take it you like what we’ve done then?”
“I do.” Jessie’s eyes landed on the television. “Although I wouldn’t have minded if you’d bought me a slightly bigger TV. Beggars can’t be choosers. How much do I owe you for all this?”
“Nothing,” Julia replied. “Split between the three of us, it didn’t cost that much. You don’t quite have Ba
rker’s taste for antiques.”
“My tastes are refined,” Barker replied as he straightened one of the picture frames, a shot of the three of them on Julia and Barker’s wedding day. “Oh, and we’ve installed an alarm system with a camera outside to stop this happening again. I’m not sure I can afford another two beanbags.”
“You think you’re so funny.”
“I am.” Barker flashed Jessie a cheesy grin. “I’ll come and show you how to use it tomorrow, not that I think Rex Davis will bother any of us for a long time.”
“Oh?” Jessie’s ears pricked up. “Did they catch him?”
“Police found him this morning in Plymouth, trying to bribe a fishing boat to get him across the Atlantic.” Barker’s smile grew. “Turns out, he has enough arrest warrants back home that the embassy was more than happy to fly him back free of charge.” He checked his watch. “He should be in the air by now. Officers will arrest him the second his feet touch American soil.”
“Happy endings all round then.” Jessie jumped up and pushed Barker towards the stairs. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’ve spent enough time with you both tonight. No offence, but I’m bored, so clear off and let me get used to this Twilight Zone version of my flat. I need to get these beanbags worked in. Alfie, you can stay.”
“Cheers, sis.” Alfie pulled a four-pack of beer from the fridge. “Bought these just in case. Might crash on your floor tonight and give Dot and Percy some space.”
“Good idea,” Julia replied as she followed Barker to the stairs. “Tonight’s their first night as a married couple without murder looming over them.”
“Oh, no.” Jessie clenched her eyes and shook her head. “Gross mental images. Leave before you say anything else.”
Jessie followed them down the stairs, locking the door behind them. She slotted the new chain across, something she wouldn’t have done pre-break-in.
“What about Phyllis?” Barker asked as they climbed into the car. “Or Winifred?”
“For what?”
“Baby names.” He pulled his seatbelt across. “Both Dot and Evelyn have predicted it will be a girl.”
“A baby girl,” Julia reminded him, slotting her keys into the ignition. “As lovely as they are, they strike me as bingo-age names.”
“What’s wrong with bingo?”
“What if it’s a boy?”
Barker thought for a moment as Julia reversed out of the tight alley.
“Barker Junior.”
“No.”
“We’ll talk about it nearer the time,” Barker replied, hushing Julia with his hand. “Barker Junior. Has a little ring to it, don’t you think?”
“Never going to happen.”
“Little Barker Junior.”
“Stop.”
“BJ for short.”
“Barker…”
“I’m kidding!” He laughed, holding his hands up in surrender. “Sort of.”
Even though the usual chaos filled the air in the cottage, Julia couldn’t have been more content. She slid the scan picture back under the magnet in the kitchen, and after staring at the tiny greyscale image of her baby for longer than she had intended to, she settled in the armchair in the sitting room. She looked down at a messy pile of Vinnie’s books, and an old, dog-eared copy of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by LM Braun caught her eye.
Though the gender and name were still a mystery to her, Julia couldn’t wait to meet the little bundle of joy. She pulled the book from the pile and opened it, and the ‘Property of Dot – Age 7’ wobbly pencil declaration put a smile on her face.
Flicking to the next page, she rested her hand on her tiny bump and began to read aloud. By the third page, she needed to run to the bathroom.
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The Peridale Cafe Series
Book 1-10 Boxset
1. Pancakes and Corpses
2. Lemonade and Lies
3. Doughnuts and Deception
4. Chocolate Cake and Chaos
5. Shortbread and Sorrow
6. Espresso and Evil
7. Macarons and Mayhem
8. Fruit Cake and Fear
9. Birthday Cake and Bodies
10. Gingerbread and Ghosts
11.Cupcakes and Casualties
12. Blueberry Muffins and Misfortune
13. Ice Cream and Incidents
14. Champagne and Catastrophes
15. Wedding Cake and Woes
16. Red Velvet and Revenge
17. Vegetables and Vengeance
18. Cheesecake and Confusion
19. Brownies and Bloodshed
20. Cocktails and Cowardice
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Contents
Copyright
About This Book
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Also by Agatha Frost
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Book 20 Cover
Thank You!
Also by Agatha Frost
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