The Peridale Cafe Cozy Box Set 4

by Agatha Frost

  “Flora’s your aunt?”

  “Technically.” Skye bobbed her head. “My dad is her younger brother, but we’ve never really been a big happy family. Those two haven’t spoken in years. She was rarely there when I was growing up. She was too busy being glued to Gloria’s side. I almost walked out when I saw her there on my first day, but she asked me to stay. It’s brought us a little closer together, but she’s always kept me at arm’s length. She has her strange ways about her, don’t you think?”

  Julia nodded her agreement. She cast her mind back to talking to Flora at the bonfire. When she had asked if Flora had any family, she had only mentioned her estranged brother.

  “I think she needs some family right now,” Julia said as she scooped coffee into two mugs. “She seems to be going through a tough time coming to terms with Gloria’s death.”

  “I can try, but I don’t think I can help her. Now that she’s not in the choir, we don’t have that space to spend time together. I work every hour I can to pay off my student debts, and when I’m not working, I’m at the choir.”

  “Were you working the morning of my wedding?” Julia asked. “I didn’t see you at the church.”

  “I was stuck in traffic,” Skye said without missing a beat. “A riverbank burst and flooded the roads. I didn’t get anywhere near Peridale until way into the night.”

  Julia poured the boiled water into the mugs. Skye’s story slotted right in, but her promptness to establish an alibi felt somewhat forced. Had Alfie mentioned that she was trying to piece together the events surrounding Gloria’s death? She considered pushing it further, but she didn’t want the young woman to turn on her; she remembered what Dot had said about her being feisty and argumentative.

  “Do you have Rita’s address?” Julia asked, changing direction. “I want to talk to her about some things.”

  “Sure.” Skye looked around and spotted Dot’s shopping list notepad on the wall. She scribbled down an address and passed it to Julia. “It’s the giant house at the end of the Longmore Lane. Willow Cottage. You can’t miss it.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I only know where she lives because she organised a secret meeting a few months ago to put together a rebellion to overthrow Gloria. I was all for it, but the others didn’t want to rock the boat, so it didn’t go anywhere.”

  Julia nodded, not wanting to say another word. She passed Skye the two mugs of coffee, wondering if she realised she had not only strengthened Rita’s potential motive for murder but her own as well.

  Leaving the two freshly-formed couples in the sitting room, Julia slipped out and ran through the rain back to her car. She pulled out the address, but it wasn’t a street name she recognised. She punched the address into the GPS on her phone, which revealed Rita lived in Riverswick, Peridale’s closet neighbouring village.

  She travelled along the narrow, winding lanes out of Peridale, driving carefully in the heavy rain. When she reached the small stone bridge, which had a ‘Welcome to Riverswick’ sign just ahead of it, she finally saw the extent of the damage caused by the recent rain. The river gushed under the bridge, higher than she had ever seen it. She drove slowly over the bridge, and, in the distance, she spotted a team of workers in high visibility coats trying to fix the burst bank.

  “Turn left,” the robotic female voice instructed as Julia came off the bridge. “Then continue straight for two hundred yards. Your destination is on the left.”

  She took the first left turn onto Longmore Lane on the outskirts of the village. As promised, grand homes built of traditional golden Cotswold stone filled the street. Though they were technically cottages, each was triple the size of Julia’s modest home. Every home had its own lavish garden, and, even in the rain, Julia could tell they were meticulously looked after.

  She reached the end of the lane, where Willow Cottage stood. It was by far the grandest home of them all, suiting Rita’s larger-than-life arrogance, but two things set it apart. The first was the unkempt nature of the garden and surrounding hedges, and the second was the ‘FOR SALE’ sign that jutted out in front of the property.

  Already sensing that she had gone on a wild goose chase, Julia left her car and ventured down the weed-covered lawn to the front door. She cupped her hands against the front window, but the cottage didn’t have a scrap of furniture inside. She lingered in the rain, wondering where Rita could have gone.

  “Can I help you?” a booming voice called from behind her. “You’re on private property.”

  Julia whipped around to see an elderly man in a black raincoat with a beagle at his heels in a matching coat. Knowing she had to come up with something quick, Julia’s eyes wandered to the ‘FOR SALE’ sign.

  “I’m supposed to be viewing the property,” she called as she ran down the lane. “I think my estate agent hasn’t managed to get through the flooded roads.”

  “We tell the council every year, but do they listen?” The man shook his head. “You’d be better waiting in your car. You look frozen to the bone, you poor thing.”

  “I just really love this property,” Julia lied. “Do you know anything about the people selling it? I can’t imagine anyone ever wanting to give this place up.”

  “It wasn’t by choice.” The man glanced up and down the road to make sure they were alone. “I live two doors down, and I saw the whole thing. The heavies came from the county court to repossess the place for the bank two months ago. Turfed her out in her pyjamas and only gave her ten minutes to pack her essentials and go. None of us had any idea Rita had fallen so far behind with her mortgage! The way she splashed her cash around, we thought she had a bottomless pit of money, but you don’t stay rich by spending it, and that messy divorce didn’t help.”

  “That’s terrible.”

  “Don’t feel sorry for her!” the man cried. “She was an awful woman. Strutted around like she owned the whole street. Between you and me, we were all glad when she left.”

  “Where did she go?”

  “I heard she moved in with her son.” The man looked down at the dog, who was staring at the ground as the rain pounded around them. “I better get this one home. I’m Rodger, by the way. I live with my wife, Mavis, at Apple Cottage two down. We might be neighbours soon! What did you say your name was?”

  “I didn’t.” Julia scrambled for a pseudonym. “I’m Rain. Rain Road.”

  “Unusual name.” Rodger squinted at Julia. “Do drop by if you end up buying.”

  With that, Rodger left his new potential neighbour ‘Rain Road’ alone and took his dog back home. Feeling like the village idiot, Julia hurried back to her car and set off toward Peridale. Instead of going to her cottage, she drove straight to the Fern Moore Estate, where she knew Rita’s son, Alec Bishop, lived.

  Peridale villagers denied any claim to the troubled housing estate that sheltered hundreds of low-income families, and most avoided the place thanks to its less than favourable reputation. Alec had been the first wedding photographer she had met with, and she had almost thought twice when he gave her his Fern Moore address, but she had adored his work, and his prices were far more reasonable than the competition’s.

  She pulled up in the courtyard, which was unusually empty thanks to the rain. Without wanting to waste another second getting soaked, she ran around the old playground in the middle of the square and straight for the stairwell that would take her to Alec’s flat. She reached the second floor and walked down to Flat 43, retracing her footsteps from memory.

  A rumble of thunder echoed behind her as she knocked on the door. To her surprise, the force of her knock sent the door swinging inwards. She stepped back as the door opened fully. Had Alec left the lock on the latch and not realised? She was about to call out, not wanting to intrude, but a pair of black high heels on the floor caught her eye. They jutted out of one of the rooms and pointed straight up. It took Julia a moment to realise they were attached to a pair of feet.

  “Hello?” Julia called as she crept into the fl
at. “Is everything okay?”

  She heard the fear in her voice; everything was far from okay. A siren blared in the distance as the rain pounded outside, only making the silence within the unlocked flat more evident. She reached the feet and pushed open the door to reveal a photo-developing studio.

  Glossy photographs hung from strings above trays of liquid, but they weren’t where Julia’s attention was drawn. Rita lay stiffly on the floor, swathed in red light. She wore her usual high-necked top and a cream fur coat. Her pearl necklace was missing, but she had a new accessory jutting out of her chest: a large kitchen knife.

  Chapter Ten

  “They’re not linking it to Gloria’s death,” Barker said after getting off the phone. “Christie doesn’t see any pattern.”

  “Because he doesn’t want to see a pattern!” Julia cried, slamming her hands on the dining room table. “That man is a stubborn pig!”

  “The last thing he wants to do is confirm there might be a serial killer on the loose.” Barker rubbed her back. “It would cause a panic.”

  “But there is someone on the loose!” Julia pushed her hands into her curls, already exhausted by the day, even though the sun had only just risen. “He was happy to point out that I was a ‘link’ between both murders because I ‘happened to be there’ both times. He drilled me all last night like I was involved! I went to talk to Rita to try and figure out if she was the one who killed Gloria, and I ended up the prime suspect.”

  “Then it’s a good thing they confirmed the time of death so quickly.” Barker gave her a reassuring squeeze. “She’d been dead for at least twelve hours when you found her, which means we were together in this cottage after my birthday meal.”

  “And if they hadn’t figured that out, they’d be charging me right now.” Julia inhaled deeply, wanting to calm herself and not having much luck. “It’s so obvious what is happening. Why can’t Christie see the connection? Someone is murdering members of the Peridale Harmonics Choir, and I still have no idea why. I should have taken this more seriously from the beginning. I’ve been going with the flow instead of swimming against the tide.”

  “You’ve been through a lot.”

  “Not as much as Gloria and Rita.” Julia sighed and rubbed her temples. “Two women from the same choir are dead. Regardless of how they treated people, they didn’t deserve to die. The same person murdered them. I’m sure of it.”

  “I think so too,” Barker said softly, “but we need to look at the evidence objectively. Gloria was poisoned, whereas Rita was stabbed. That’s not a pattern. It doesn’t mean they won’t link the two eventually, but they’re still gathering evidence for both cases.”

  “And until then?” Julia shrugged off Barker’s hands and stood up. “We wait for more members to die? My gran is part of that choir. What if she’s the next target?”

  Julia paced the dining room as her mind struggled to filter through the noise. Rita had been her prime suspect, and now she was dead. She dug in her handbag for her notepad and flipped to the page of suspects she had made. Only Skye and Percy were left. Before Julia could think about either, a soft knock sounded at the front door.

  “I’ll get it,” Barker said, brushing his hand over her shoulders as he left the room. “Whoever it is, I’ll get rid of them.”

  Julia stared at the notepad.

  Skye.

  Percy.

  She flipped the page.

  Father David.

  “Julia?” Barker called. “There’s someone here to see you.”

  She tossed the notepad into her handbag and walked into the hallway, where Alec Bishop stood with a large backpack over his shoulder. He was wrapped up warm, a woolly hat pulled low and covering his blond hair. Red rings circled his swollen eyes, hinting at a sleepless night consumed by tears.

  “They said you found her,” Alec croaked.

  Julia nodded and motioned toward the sitting room. He closed the front door and dropped his bag before following her in. He sat next to Mowgli on the couch, all the life and energy drained from his body. Barker retreated to the dining room, leaving Julia alone with the young man.

  “I went to her old cottage in Riverswick,” Julia explained after settling into the armchair across from him. “One of the neighbours told me what happened and that she was living with her son. I remembered where you lived from our meeting at the end of summer when I hired you to take pictures for my wedding.”

  “I should have been there.” Alec stared into the fireplace as the wind rattled down the chimney. “I took her out for a meal, and we went back to my flat. Mum wanted to watch a movie, but my friend asked me to go to a bar. Mum told me to go, and I did. I should have gone home after the bar, but I didn’t want to wake her. I was drunk. I was five doors down, sleeping on my friend’s floor, and she was dead in my flat.”

  Tears streamed silently down Alec’s cheeks. He let them drip into his lap without trying to wipe them away.

  “It’s not your fault,” Julia assured him. “If it hadn’t have happened then, it would have happened another time.”

  “The police said it was a robbery gone wrong.” Alec’s eyes snapped to Julia’s, and he frowned. “All her jewellery was taken. They even took the pearl necklace from around her neck. She had to sell everything from the house, but she refused to let go of her jewellery. One of the last conversations we had was about that stupid jewellery. I took her to The Comfy Corner to try and get through to her. She’d lost everything, and yet she was still spending the little money she had. She’d sell a pair of designer shoes and then spend it on a new handbag. I told her I couldn’t look after her forever. I’m going to regret that until the day I die.”

  Julia wanted to offer words of comfort, but she had no idea what would possibly pull him out of the dark hole his mind had fallen into.

  “What was she like as a mother?” Julia asked, wanting to brighten his mood.

  “Tough.” A half-smile pricked up Alec’s lips. “She wanted the best out of everyone and everything. There was no such thing as less than perfect in her world. I didn’t really fit into that. She wanted me to go into music, but I never took to it. I’d sit through hours and hours of piano and singing lessons, and she’d hate that I didn’t want to try. I was always interested in photography, even as a kid. I’d fill disposable cameras with endless pictures of people and places, and I’d pay to have them developed with my pocket money. I grew up wealthy, but even though she was lavish when it came to buying things for herself, she was frugal when it came to me.”

  Alec choked on his words and pushed the heels of his hands into his eyes.

  “It wasn’t even her money,” he continued, “it was my father’s. She met my dad at the Royal Academy of Music. He came from old money, and she clung to him. He became a composer and earned his own fortune. She tried to get her hands on it in the divorce, but it backfired.”

  “How so?”

  “The lawyers proved she’d been stealing his money for years. She walked away with the bare minimum. It was still a large chunk, but she threw it away. She couldn’t seem to understand that money wouldn’t keep coming to her like it always had. She treated it like she always had another stash hidden away. I had no idea she wasn’t paying for the house until she turned up on my doorstep with her bags. She waltzed in and demanded I let her stay until she found her feet.”

  Alex paused when Barker slipped into the room with two cups of tea. He placed them on the table and backed out without saying a word.

  “That was two months ago.” Alec stared at the tea, but he didn’t reach out for it. “She never even got close to getting her own place. I don’t think she wanted to. She was more bothered about that choir. I kept telling her to find a job, but she acted like the choir was her job. She was over the moon when Gloria died because she could finally become the stupid choirmaster. It’s all she’s talked about for years! They kicked her out of Riverswick’s choir because she was always gunning for the top spot. Maybe she thought being in c
harge would be her ticket to easy street, but I knew it was just another distraction, like the designer clothes and the jewellery.”

  “She did seem to relish in taking over Gloria’s position,” Julia said. “That’s why I wanted to talk to her. She seemed to know something about Gloria’s death. I was at the restaurant when you were. I bumped into your mother in the bathroom. She made a comment about dirty laundry being aired.”

  “That sounds like my mother.” Alec inhaled deeply as he looked up at the ceiling. “She always needed the upper hand. She couldn’t bear having people knowing things she didn’t. She wasn’t the type of woman who could look past her own nose to notice how she affected people. And yet, I’m going to miss her. She was my mother. I can’t believe she’s really gone.”

  Julia reached out and squeezed his hand. She knew more than anyone what it was like to lose a mother. Alec gave her a thankful smile as he wiped the dampness from his cheeks.

  “What will you do now?”

  “I’m going to stay with my dad for a while. He’s got a new wife and a bunch of awful step-kids, but he lives in a mansion, and there’s plenty of space. I can’t go back to that flat, and it makes sense to be around family for the time being, especially with Christmas coming up.”

  “That’s wise.”

  “It’s not like my job isn’t mobile.” He let out a watery half-chuckle before patting down his pockets. “Which reminds me. I wanted to talk to the woman who found my mother, but when I found out it was you, I realised I had to give you this before I left town.”

  He pulled something small out of his pocket and handed it to Julia.

  “What is it?” She turned the small metal oblong around in her hands.

  “It’s a memory stick. It has the few pictures and videos I got from your wedding. It’s all raw and unedited, but I thought they belonged with you. I’ve meant to bring them around, but there was no urgency until today.”