The Peridale Cafe Cozy Box Set 4

by Agatha Frost

  They walked down the winding lane, the only tyre prints in the snow those of Barker’s and Jessie’s cars. The temperature was out of the minus figures, but it was still cold enough to keep the snow lingering around for the time being. They emerged into the heart of the village, and Julia was surprised to see the white tent had already been dismantled. The only hint something had even been there was the giant square of squashed grass on the green where the snow had melted. The rest of the grass was a mess of mushy snow mixed with mud thanks to all the pairs of feet that had trampled back and forth the previous day.

  As Julia approached the café, she wasn’t surprised to see that it was empty except for one customer sitting near the window. Julia pushed on the door with the end of the pram, the warmth hitting her immediately. Jessie looked up from a sheet of paper she was reading on the counter. When she noticed Julia, she stuffed the paper in her apron and stood up straight.

  “What are you doing here?” Jessie asked, a brow arched. “It’s dead.”

  “I needed to get out of the house.” Julia unwound her scarf and started to unbundle Vinnie from his layers. “There’s only so long I can stand listening to Barker drumming on that typewriter like he’s angry at it. Has it been like this all morning?”

  Jessie nodded. “She came in half an hour ago, and she’s been staring out the window ever since. She hasn’t even ordered anything. I thought about kicking her out, but she looks so upset.”

  Julia properly looked at the woman for the first time and realised who she was. She passed Jessie her scarf before walking around the counter to grab a large chocolate chip cookie from the display case. She put it on a plate before making a latte.

  “Keep an eye on Vinnie.” Julia pushed the pram behind the counter. “It’ll be time for his lunch in about half an hour. Make him a sandwich but remember to cut the pieces small.”

  “You want me to feed him?”

  “Is that a problem?”

  “What if he bites me?”

  “He won’t bite you!” Julia held back her laughter. “He’s a baby.”

  “He might!” Jessie pouted as she eyed Vinnie suspiciously. “I saw my fair share of crazy babies in the children’s homes.”

  “Well, this isn’t one of them. You’ll be fine. He practically feeds himself anyway, and I’m not leaving if you really need help.”

  Julia approached Camila slowly; the woman hadn’t looked away from the patch of grass on the green. Julia set the plate and cup on the table quietly, not wanting to startle the newly made widow. Camila’s eyes drifted blankly from the green to the items on the table, and then up at Julia. She squinted, as though she couldn’t place the face.

  “Julie,” she said, her Spanish accent giving her name an ‘h’ sound at the beginning. “This is your café.”

  “May I sit?” Julia nodded at the chair, deciding not to correct her name.

  Camila nodded. Even in grief, Camila was still strikingly beautiful. She had thick, bouncy brunette hair, big doe eyes with dark lashes, and plump red lips. Her skin had a sun-kissed olive tone to it, which looked more natural than her late husband’s tangy glow. She was bare-faced, exposing the dark shadows under her eyes. Had the woman slept at all?

  “I’m sorry for your loss,” Julia offered. “I know that doesn’t mean anything right now, but I mean it. You shouldn’t have had to go through that.”

  “Thank you.” Camila half-smiled before breaking off a small piece of the giant biscuit. “It doesn’t feel real.”

  “That’s normal. You’ll get there.”

  Camila put the chunk in her mouth and chewed it awkwardly before taking a sip of her latte. “I’m sure it’s as good as they say, but I’m afraid I can’t taste much of anything right now. Is that normal too?”

  “You’re still in shock.” Julia reached out and rested her hand on Camila’s. “Take it one step at a time.”

  Camila smiled before sliding her hand away and resuming her gaze out the window. Julia had so many questions, but she didn’t want to bombard the grief-stricken woman.

  “I didn’t know where else to go,” Camila said. “Home didn’t feel right without him. I think I was led here because this was the last place we were together. And now I am alone because of Bev. I should have listened to my husband when he said that woman would be the death of him.”

  “Did Tony really think that?”

  Camila nodded. “She was obsessed. Would not leave him alone. They divorced two years ago, but she never let him go. I tried to make her leave before Tony got to the tent, but she would not even look at me. I am the woman who ruined her marriage, or so she thinks.”

  “Were they still together when you met Tony?”

  Camila nodded again. She took a long sip of her latte before continuing. “I was Tony’s assistant. We spent a lot of time together. He would tell me how awful his marriage to Bev was. He wanted to get out for years, but he was scared to leave her. He feared what she would do. It was only when we fell in love that he got the courage to leave, but it might have been easier if he’d stayed.”

  “What did Bev do?”

  “What didn’t she do?” Camila forced a dry laugh. “In the early days, she’d stand outside our house watching us. It was terrifying. We called the police so many times, but she always left before they got there. Then, she started posting notes through the letter-box in the middle of the night, threatening both of us. I was scared to go to sleep because I thought I’d wake up with her standing over me, holding a giant knife. It took her a year, but she stopped in the end. Neither of us had seen her until yesterday.”

  Tears collected in the corners of Camila’s eyes, which Julia took as her cue to leave the woman alone with her latte and biscuit. She had given Julia a little to work with without being pushed too hard, and Julia wasn’t about to start interrogating a grieving woman. She retreated to the kitchen where Jessie was attempting to feed Vinnie sandwiches, but his mouth was clamped tight, and he was tossing his head from side to side.

  “He won’t eat!” Jessie cried. “Why won’t you eat?”

  “Probably because you’re trying to feed him like you’d feed Mowgli slices of ham.” Julia took the sandwich from Jessie and placed it on the little shelf on the pram. It only took Vinnie a second to pick it up and cram it into his mouth. “See. Patience.”

  “When did you get so good at baby whispering?”

  “You’d be surprised how quickly you pick it up.”

  “I’m fine not knowing.” Jessie sighed. “I never want kids.”

  The revelation took Julia by surprise. They’d never talked about the possibility of Jessie wanting kids one day, but she hadn’t expected a flat-out refusal.

  “Ever?”

  “Why would I?” Jessie arched a brow. “They’re so annoying. Why would anyone want a baby?”

  “Well, it’s a little piece of you and another person.” Julia watched Vinnie eat his sandwich; her heart swelled. “It’s magic. You might change your mind one day. You’re still young.”

  “And what about you?”

  “I have you.” Julia pulled Jessie in.

  “But don’t you want a baby that is part you and Barker?” Jessie wriggled away. “A little baker with an obsession for murder?”

  “We haven’t talked about it,” Julia admitted. “We’ve only been married for five minutes.”

  “But is that what you want?”

  “I—I don’t know.”

  “You must know.” Jessie rolled her eyes. “You’ve had all your life to think about if you want them or not. It’s not rocket science.”

  Julia was slightly taken aback by Jessie’s insistence that she answer. Julia had grown up expecting that she would one day have children. She had gone into her first marriage with Jerrad expecting that they would one day have children. Every time she brought it up, however, she was given a blanket ‘we’ll talk about it next year. The timing isn’t right’, and the timing remained ‘not right’ for all the twelve years they were
married. As their marriage waned, Julia had given up the hope she would one day have a child. After their separation, and then their eventual divorce, she’d abandoned the idea altogether. Since then, to stem the disappointment, she hadn’t allowed herself to think about it.

  “Yes,” Julia answered. “I would like to have a child with Barker one day, but we haven’t discussed it yet, so don’t go telling him that, okay?”

  “Promise.” Jessie held up her pinkie. “And for the record, Barker wouldn’t say no. He loves you too much. He’d do anything for you.”

  Julia knew Jessie was right, but the old familiar phrase popped into her head.

  “I don’t think the timing is right,” Julia said, her cheeks flushing as she watched Vinnie slap the tray in front of him like a drum. “Barker is really busy with his second book, and—”

  “And then he’ll be busy with his third book, and his fourth book, and then you’ll be eighty-six and too old. Was the timing right when I broke into your café to steal cakes, and you made the crazy decision to foster a homeless girl?”

  “Well, no.”

  “And was the timing right when Barker’s cottage was destroyed, and he had to move in with us?”

  “Not really.”

  “There’s no such thing as the right time,” Jessie said. “You just have to do things when you want to do them.”

  From the way Jessie’s eyes glazed over, Julia sensed there was another meaning to what she was saying. Julia was about to push and ask what Jessie was up to, but the café bell interrupted them. Leaving Jessie with Vinnie, Julia pushed through the beads.

  “Johnny Watson,” Julia said with a warm smile. “Come to show off your new front page? Too late, I’ve already seen it.”

  “You like?”

  “‘Julia South-Brown refused to comment.’”

  “I thought you’d like that.” Johnny chuckled as he adjusted his glasses. “Actually, that’s not why I came. I have some possible intel for you.”

  “Oh?” Julia pulled Johnny behind the counter, not wanting Camila to overhear. “Just keep your voice down, yeah? That’s Tony’s wife.”

  “Is it?” Johnny’s eyes lit up. “Do you think she’ll—”

  “Want to give you an interview?” Julia jumped in. “Don’t even think about it.”

  “Worth a shot.” Johnny blushed as he ruffled a hand through his curly hair. “I was on the phone to my mum last night, and she brought up Tony Bridges before I did. Apparently, one of my cousins worked for him.”

  “Oh?”

  “A kid called Oliver. I saw him here yesterday, and I knew I knew his face from somewhere. His mum is my mum’s sister, and she’s technically my auntie, but I’ve barely spent more than two minutes with her my whole life. None of them get on with her.”

  “I spoke to him yesterday,” Julia whispered, glancing to make sure Camila wasn’t eavesdropping. “What’s the intel?”

  “Well, that’s it.” Johnny shrugged. “My cousin was the assistant of Tony Bridges, who is now dead. What were you expecting?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. Something useful perhaps? What am I supposed to do with that?”

  “I thought you might want to interview him? I assumed you’d be sleuthing?”

  “You assumed wrong.” Julia’s phone vibrated in her pocket. She pulled it out; Barker had sent her a text message. “Hold on.” She opened the message and read over it twice. “DI Christie has just texted Barker to tell him I was right about the peanut oil, and that it was drizzled over the slice we were going to eat. The rest of the cake was clean.”

  “What does that mean?” Johnny searched Julia’s eyes with an excited smile.

  “It means I’m sleuthing.” Julia tucked her phone away. “It theoretically means that anyone in that tent could have contaminated the cake that killed Tony. Johnny, do you know where your cousin lives? He’ll know more than most about Tony.”

  “Mum said something about the Fern Moore Estate.”

  “Flat number?”

  “I don’t know.” Johnny scratched the side of his head. “Mum didn’t mention it, but she might be able to find out. Like I said, we’re just not that close to that side of the family.”

  “Find out for me.”

  “Keep me in the loop, okay?” Johnny asked. “If I give you Oliver, you have to tell me what you find out. Promise?”

  “Okay, editor. I promise.” Julia felt the familiar buzz of excitement in her stomach at the thought of chasing a lead. “Was there anything else?”

  “Do you want to come to the pub for lunch?” Johnny hooked his thumb over his shoulder. “Roxy and Leah are there now. They asked me to ask you.”

  “I can’t.” Julia sighed as she peered through the beaded curtains at Jessie who was on her phone ignoring Vinnie in his pram. “I’m looking after my brother and, quite frankly, I don’t trust Jessie to keep her eye on him.”

  “Bring him with you. We can discuss the case over a pub lunch.”

  Julia almost refused the offer point-blank, but then a wild thought crossed her mind. If Vinnie were her baby, would she put her life on hold forever, or would she try to incorporate him into her own routine as much as she could? There were, after all, worse places in the world for a baby than a quiet and warm village pub on a Monday afternoon.

  “Okay, count me in.”

  Johnny beamed and turned to leave, saying he’d meet her there. As he walked to the door, Julia noticed that Camila had gone, leaving behind the cookie and the untouched latte. Julia had no idea if Bev was innocent or guilty, but she now felt a duty to discover the truth either way. Julia might not have liked Tony, but she had watched him die, and at least one person on the planet loved him, and she deserved the truth.

  Chapter Six

  The pub lunch with her friends was just what Julia had needed. Leah and Roxy had fawned over Vinnie, keeping him occupied for most of the afternoon. Julia forwent her usual glass of white wine with her lunch for an orange juice, but it felt like a fair compromise.

  Vinnie spent the rest of the day as well behaved as a fourteen-month-old could be. When Brian rang that evening to inform her that Katie had gone into surgery, Julia found she didn’t feel dread in her stomach when he said he wasn’t sure when they could fly home, as it all depended on how the operation went. Julia told him to take as long as they needed.

  On Tuesday, Julia took Vinnie into the café and worked alongside Jessie. Thanks to most of the snow melting and no more falling, the residents of Peridale were more eager to venture out, and the full café meant there were always enough eyes on Vinnie in between his scheduled naps and meals. On Tuesday night, news travelled around the village that Bev had been released from the station without being charged thanks to ‘insufficient evidence’, and despite Julia’s best efforts, DI Christie refused to hand over her home address because Julia had no useful information to trade.

  “I bet you’re still hiding something,” he’d said. “You always are.”

  Although it’d been a fair comment, Julia really didn’t have anything. Even though Vinnie was behaving, it was hard to chase information when no clues were falling into her lap.

  She spent most of Wednesday trying to contact Johnny to see if he’d found Oliver’s address, but he hadn’t been able to get hold of his mother because he was too busy chasing stories for the paper.

  With no way of contacting anyone involved in Tony’s life, Julia almost resigned herself to considering the case a lost cause. She awoke on Thursday ready to let it go until something more substantial came her way. She sent Jessie to work alone and stayed home with Vinnie, which she did contently until the afternoon boredom set in after Vinnie’s lunch.

  “There’s a soft play area five miles away,” Julia called into the dining room. “I’m searching for ‘fun things for babies to do.’ Fancy an afternoon trip out?”

  As it happened, Julia’s distraction came at a moment when Barker desperately needed a break from his revisions. His editor had sent through a f
resh burst of heavy edits, and she could sense he was losing the will to continue with each letter he pounded into the typewriter.

  The soft play area was situated on a quiet, tree-lined road outside the village. It was next door to a petrol station, pushed back from the road by a large, and mostly empty, car park. Julia and Barker gave each other sceptical glances when they pulled into one of the empty spaces. If it weren’t for the giant yellow ‘Little Tots Treasures’ sign featuring a monkey dressed as a pirate eating a banana, Julia would have assumed the sat nav had given them the wrong directions.

  “It looks like a DIY shop,” Barker muttered under his breath as he shut off the car’s engine. “Are you sure this place is safe?”

  “It had amazing online reviews,” Julia replied, just as uncertainly. “Let’s have a look inside. We’ve come this far. We can always leave.”

  Thankfully, the inside looked exactly as Julia had expected. It was colourful and airy, and apart from the exposed industrial ceiling, it bore little resemblance to its stark outer shell. A giant climbing maze with slides and ball pits took up most of the space, with a smaller area more suitable for children Vinnie’s age at the far end. The sound of children’s laughter echoed around the expansive space, only slightly softened by distant pop music playing from hidden speakers.

  “Is this what parents enjoy?” Barker whispered to Julia.

  “I don’t think this is for the parents,” Julia replied. “Although, I think I read that there’s a coffee shop in here somewhere.”

  After paying for Vinnie’s entry, they carried him to the toddler play area next to the promised coffee shop, where all the other parents were hauled up. A couple of them smiled and acknowledged Julia and Barker, but most silently sipped coffee, scrolling endlessly through their phones while their kids played to their hearts’ content.

  “Grab us some drinks,” Barker said as he led a very excited Vinnie into the toddler area. “I’ll watch him.”

  Vinnie broke free of Barker’s hand and ran straight for the shallow ball pit where the other toddlers were playing. Julia retrieved her purse from her handbag and walked to the coffee shop counter, joining the line of three other women.