‘That’s something I wasn’t sorry to put behind me,’ Alexi said sympathetically, nodding to towards the hockey field which was now occupied with girls who seemed less than enthused by the frigid conditions.
‘Oh, I don’t know. I can just imagine you in your little hockey skirt, with blue knees and a red nose, running up and down, shouting out orders to your team mates.’
Alexi scowled at him. ‘This could just turn out to be the shortest relationship on record, Maddox.’
Ty chuckled. ‘Don’t spoil my fantasy.’
‘You’re sick.’
He blew her a kiss. ‘That’s not the worst thing I’ve ever been called.’
Alexi rolled her eyes. ‘Why am I not surprised to hear it?’
‘Ah, but you love me anyway.’
‘I wonder what happened to Greta’s hair,’ Alexi said pensively a short time later.
‘That is a very good question,’ Ty replied, subsiding into deep thought.
Chapter Seventeen
Alexi’s head was full of unanswered questions, and not just about their interview with Mrs Bagshaw. She really shouldn’t be thinking about her night of passion with Ty at such a time. But, selfish, shallow creature that she was, she couldn’t seem to focus her mind on much else. He had way surpassed her expectations, proving with his skill and thoughtfulness that he didn’t just talk the talk. Alexi was hooked, her lingering doubts well and truly eradicated and she wanted to know where they went from there.
But now wasn’t the time to ask. They had a murderer to expose first or, at the very least, the interests of Hopgood House and its temperamental chef to protect. Besides, since making the comment about hockey players, Ty had been unnaturally quiet for the drive back to Lambourn. Her head told her he was deep in thought about something Mrs Bagshaw had said. Something that hadn’t registered with her but had lodged itself in his quick brain.
‘What next?’ she asked, as Ty turned his car into Hopgood House’s car park.
Ty glanced at the dashboard clock. ‘It might be a good moment to catch Anton.’ Alexi checked the time too. It was ten-thirty.
‘Yeah, that ought to work.’ She released her seatbelt. Cosmo leapt from her lap the moment she opened the door and disappeared around the side of the hotel to patrol his territory. ‘They’re not due in the kitchen for another half-hour.’
‘I’ll catch you up in a minute,’ Ty said, branching off for the stairs. ‘I need to check in with Cassie and make a couple of calls. I’ll only be a few minutes.’ He touched her backside briefly and dropped a kiss on the top of her head. ‘Don’t start without me,’ he said in a provocative drawl.
‘I’ll see if I can get Anton to come up to the house,’ she said. ‘He’ll never open up if we talk to him in the annexe with the cameras rolling.’
‘Good thinking.’
Cheryl was in the kitchen alone, rocking the baby in her arms. She took one look at Alexi and her face broke out with a broad smile.
‘About time,’ she said smugly.
‘For what?’ Alexi asked, feigning ignorance as she headed straight for the coffee pot.
‘Ha, like your face doesn’t tell its own story. You look like a lady who’s been lit up from inside and there’s only one activity I know of that creates that sort of look. How was it?’
Alexi took a seat and couldn’t help grinning right back. ‘Well worth waiting for.’
‘But?’ Cheryl peered at her intently. ‘You’re having doubts.’
‘Not doubts precisely.’ Alexi blew on the surface of her coffee and took a cautious sip.
‘I’m well aware that you’re cautious of being burnt again but Ty isn’t another Patrick. Not all men are selfish jerks. Anyway, we don’t live in the dark ages anymore. If it proves to have been a mistake, you could just go your separate ways and chalk it up to experience. Might be a bit awkward, what with you working this case together, but still—’
‘Yeah, you’re right. I’m overanalysing, as usual.’ Alexi grinned. ‘Blame it on my occupation. I never take anything at face value because things are seldom that straightforward. I’m always on the lookout for hidden agendas.’
‘Ty’s not-so-hidden agenda has been to get it on with you. It was obvious when you worked the Parker case. You were the only one who didn’t seem to notice.’ Cheryl smoothed the now sleeping baby’s downy head. ‘I’m glad you took the plunge. You’ve been a man-free zone for quite long enough and Ty is just the guy to break the drought with.’
‘He’s made a few oblique remarks about ‘a relationship’.’
‘There you go.’ Cheryl looked smug. ‘Told you he had morals.’
‘Who has?’ Drew asked, coming in the back door and rubbing his hands together. If he didn’t dress in T-shirts and go coatless as if it was the middle of summer, he might not feel so cold, Alexi thought.
‘Just the man I was looking for,’ Alexi said, adroitly changing the subject. ‘Before you get warm, you wouldn’t pop over to the annexe and ask Anton if he could spare me a moment, would you? Ty and I thought we’d take the opportunity to have a word with him about that money he borrowed.’
‘I live to serve,’ Drew said, sending her a little salute and disappearing again.
‘How’s Marcel?’ Alexi asked while they waited.
‘Ready to cut his throat. He’s driving himself crazy, trying to think how his fingerprint got on that bedside cabinet. Some of the weird theories he’s come up with defy belief.’ Cheryl sighed. ‘I never thought I’d say this but being subdued doesn’t suit Marcel. I’d even welcome a few of his famous tantrums right now.’
‘Don’t give up hope yet,’ Alexi said, realising how worried Cheryl must be about the future of the hotel. Alexi only had a small investment in it which she could afford to lose. To Drew and Cheryl, it was their everything. ‘We both know Marcel didn’t do this and somehow we’ll find a way to prove it.’ Alexi wondered if she was making promises she wasn’t in a position to keep. ‘You’ll see.’
‘Did you learn anything at that school to help you?’
Alexi frowned. ‘I think so but I’m not sure what to make of it.’
Alexi told Cheryl all about the bad blood between the girls, brought on by Juliette stealing the gardener from Greta; something she hadn’t shared with her before.
‘Blimey,’ Cheryl said, looking taken aback. ‘What do you make of all that?’
‘I’m not sure what to make of it, whether it’s relevant to her death—’
Cheryl widened her eyes. ‘You think Greta killed her?’
‘I haven’t ruled anyone out but still don’t see how it was done.’ She sighed. ‘It’s so damned frustrating.’
‘I have an ideal cure for frustration,’ Ty said, grinning as he joined them.
‘I’ll just bet you have,’ Cheryl replied, ignoring Alexi’s scowl.
Anton and Drew came through the back door at that moment, rubbing their hands against the cold. Drew and Cheryl beat a hasty retreat whilst Anton took a seat at the table, looking uncomfortable.
‘Are you about to get the thumbscrews out?’ he asked.
‘Actually, I was going to ask you both if you’d like coffee,’ Alexi said, thinking how much she liked Anton and how much she hoped he wasn’t the guilty party. ‘But I can do thumbscrews if you’d prefer. With or without sugar?’
Anton chuckled. ‘Coffee, mon.’
‘How’s the atmosphere over there?’ Ty asked, pointing a thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the annexe.
‘Pretty grim. None of our hearts are really in the competition anymore but we all still want to win.’ He waggled a hand from side to side. ‘Kinda contradictory, I know, and it makes me mad as hell that I can’t find the fire that got me this far. Juliette would laugh her knickers off…not that she wore them too often, from what I hear. But anyway, it would be the ultimate laugh for her if she thought her death had affected our commitment.’
‘She would achieve in death that which she tried to do wh
ile breathing,’ Alexi said. ‘Which was to rig the result.’
‘Other than winning it herself then yeah, she’d settle for upsetting the applecart.’ Anton stretched his long legs out in front of him and laced his fingers behind his head. ‘We have Paul Dakin all over us, overdoing the sentimental ‘let’s make it work for Juliette’ angle. It’s sickening to see him. But do you know what the worst part about it is?’ Ty and Alexi shook their heads simultaneously. ‘Well, I figure all the viewers will lap up that shit.’
‘Very likely,’ Ty agreed.
‘Personally, I hate public outpourings of grief, so even if I was grieving, I’d do it in private.’
‘What are you saying amongst yourselves?’ Alexi asked. ‘You, Greta and John. I know you do have moments when you can speak off camera and you wouldn’t be human if you didn’t have theories of your own about why Juliette died and at whose hand.’
‘We have no idea who killed Juliette, and that’s the God’s honest truth. Trust me, if I had even a suspicion, I’d tell you or Vickery. Our problem is that too many people seemed to dislike her for us to be able to draw up a shortlist.’ He straightened up in his chair and leaned forward on his elbows. ‘But one thing we do know. It wasn’t Marcel. He’s been set up.’
‘Agreed,’ Alexi said.
‘You disliked Juliette,’ Ty pointed out. ‘So your name would have to be on any shortlist. Greta’s and John’s too for that matter.’
‘Yeah.’ He raked a hand over his dreadlocks. ‘Point taken. But in our own defence, she was a prize bitch.’
‘Perhaps you all did it,’ Ty said, not sounding as though he was joking.
‘I almost wish we had, mon,’ Anton replied. ‘But if I went about bumping off everyone I disliked, I could patent my solution to world over-population.’
‘In other words, you had no motive,’ Ty said.
He flashed his teeth. ‘Right.’
‘Tell us about your run in with Juliette,’ Alexi said softly.
‘Incriminate myself, you mean?’ Anton shook his head. ‘I ain’t stupid.’
‘Look, the police know about all that money you borrowed,’ Ty told him.
Alexi noticed tension ripple through Anton’s previously relaxed pose. ‘Shit!’ he said softly.
‘Juliette’s father did background checks on all the opposition,’ Ty said, ‘presumably so Juliette would have leverage against them. Knowing what we do about her character, it’s a stretch to believe she didn’t use it. We had to pass that information on to the police.’
‘They haven’t talked to me about it yet,’ Anton replied gloomily. ‘But I guess I can expect to be hauled in again.’
Alexi was surprised it hadn’t happened already. Did that mean they’d already decided they had their man in Marcel or were they busy working other leads?
‘Talk to us about it,’ Ty said. ‘We don’t think you killed her but there are gaps in the camera footage, which means you had the opportunity. Now the police might think you also had a motive. But we can help you if you tell us the truth. Why were you desperate enough to borrow money from such dodgy people?’
Anton sighed. ‘Juliette was a fucking bitch!’ he said savagely. ‘She was all over John, getting him so worked up he couldn’t think straight, right before we had to cook off against each other. She knew precisely what she’d done to the poor guy. I tried to warn him but he told me I was jealous and to leave him be. Juliette appreciated his finer qualities and he had a date with her.’ Anton shook his head. ‘Like that was gonna happen, mon.’
‘We know it didn’t,’ Alexi said, ‘and that John feels like a prize fool. But we don’t think he killed her over it.’
‘Nah, he doesn’t have it in him.’
‘What about Greta?’ Ty asked.
‘She lived in fear about the scathing things Juliette would probably say on camera about their schooldays, putting Greta down and saying how she only fitted in thanks to Juliette. Greta was frustrated because she couldn’t tell the truth. I dunno what the truth actually was, but I dare say Juliette’s scheming somehow made life uncomfortable for Greta when she was no longer of use to Juliette. It’s just the sort of thing a user like Juliette would do.’
‘Did she talk to you about that loan?’ Alexi asked.
‘Oh yeah. Couldn’t wait to tell me she knew all about it and that she’d make sure it got me thrown off the show if I didn’t cock up my dishes.’
‘How did you respond?’ Ty asked.
‘I laughed in her face. Told her to do her worst.’
‘Not the reaction she was expecting,’ Alexi said, thinking that she hadn’t expected it either.
Anton shared a look between her and Ty. ‘She couldn’t do anything to hurt me. There’s no law against borrowing from a loan shark and I was rather looking forward to her mentioning the subject on camera.’
‘You were?’ Alexi glanced at Ty. ‘Why?’
‘So I could put her in her place.’ Anton rubbed his face in his hands. ‘My grandma raised me back in Trinidad, taught me good values, kept me on the straight and narrow. I owe her everything.’
‘What happened to your parents?’ Alexi asked.
He shrugged. ‘My ma buggered off when I was little, left me with Gran, my father’s mother. My dad was a musician. A calypso god in Trinidadian terms and, if you’ve never been there you need to know that calypso rules, especially at carnival time. He went off to America in search of fame and fortune but was killed in some gangland fight that he wasn’t part of. Wrong place at the wrong time and all that. Gran was persuaded by a Miami-based lawyer to seek compensation for the loss of her son and received a decent sum when the case was settled out of court. Most of it is invested and she can’t get her hands on it for another few months. But she needed to go to Miami for a hip replacement operation. She said she’d wait but I wasn’t having that. She was in constant pain and I wasn’t willing to let her suffer when I could do something to prevent it.’
‘So you borrowed the money to pay for the operation, aware that you can repay it in full when her investments mature,’ Ty said, his concerned expression clearing.
Anton nodded. ‘Right, but I was damned if I’d tell that bitch the truth. Let her make a fool of herself.’ He spread his hands. ‘She didn’t understand the concept of playing fair so why should I stop her?’
‘What you did for your Gran,’ Alexi said, reaching out to touch his hand. ‘That’s the nicest thing I’ve ever heard.’
Anton shrugged, looking uncomfortable with the praise. ‘Gran is the only family I have left. Families look out for each other. It’s what they do.’
‘How did you finish up in this country?’ Ty asked.
‘I won an all-Caribbean cookery contest for young talent which meant I could come to England to train with a London chef. Ha!’ He barked a bitter laugh. ‘Act as underpaid dog’s body is what my great opportunity turned out to be. That’s why I was so keen to get accepted onto this show and let the viewing public see what I could really do. But, the thing is, I wouldn’t have known how to boil an egg if it weren’t for Gran. She’s the best cook I’ve ever known and doesn’t possess a single cook book. She’s just instinctive; loves experimenting and got me hooked from an early age. If it weren’t for her, I’d never be where I am now. I owe her everything. More than I could ever repay.’
‘Well,’ Ty said. ‘You obviously didn’t have any reason to kill Juliette.’
‘Other than disliking her, absolutely none.’ Anton drained his coffee and stood up. ‘Right, if there’s nothing else I’d best get back to the grindstone.’
‘Thanks for telling us, Anton, and I hope your gran will be okay,’ Alexi said.
He smiled. ‘Oh, she’s doing great. She had her operation last week and is already up on her feet again.’
‘I’m glad.’
‘Me too.’
Anton let himself out of the back door and they watched through the window as he sauntered back to the annexe with his gangly gait, he
ad bobbing as though keeping time with music only he could hear.
‘He told us the truth, didn’t he?’ Alexi asked.
‘It would be easy enough to check his story but I’ll leave that to Vickery. I didn’t see any of the obvious signs that he was lying.’
‘I think he really was looking forward to showing Juliette up on camera.’ Alexi smiled up at Ty. ‘I don’t blame him for that and am glad he’s not the killer.’
‘Which leaves us with Dakin, or possibly Guy Salter,’ Ty said, ‘and so far Cassie hasn’t come up with anything that will help us to prove that either of them did it.’
‘Then what—’
‘Knock, knock.’ Mike poked his head around the back door. ‘Can I come in?’
‘Sure, Mike.’ Alexi smiled at Drew’s part-time helper. ‘I didn’t know you were due in again today.’
‘No classes for me today so I thought I’d see if Drew needed me. I can always do with the cash.’
‘This is Ty Maddox. Ty, this is Mike. He helps out here sometimes.’
The men shook hands.
‘Any progress on the case? It’s all over school that Marcel did it.’
‘Damn!’ Alexi muttered. ‘On what basis?’
‘Oh, you know how it is. People see shadows where none exist. Marcel’s known to be tetchy so it has to be him.’
‘Or someone’s started spreading rumours,’ Ty muttered.
‘Personally, I like Marcel,’ Mike said. ‘He’s all right; just doesn’t suffer fools gladly. Of course, he gets impatient and loses his rag sometimes. Like that time when his new wine coolers got mixed up with other stuff on a delivery lorry. The first time around the wrong ones had been delivered and he was pissed off about that. Wouldn’t wait for me to find the new ones and bring them to him. He had to plough into the back of the lorry himself and look for them.’
Alexi and Ty shared a look. ‘When was this, Mike?’ Alexi asked. ‘And what else was on the lorry?’
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