Ada's Death (Cara Daniels Cozy Mystery Book 5) (5 page)

Chapter
9

Maria
came back into the kitchen. She walked over to Ada and placed a hand on her
shoulder. “Ada, Ben’s coming over. We can talk about your future. Perhaps you
should ask Cara to go, this is a private family matter.”

“I
don’t mind,” Cara said.

Ada
said, “Cara’s practically family. She can stay, I’m sure she’d like to hear
about my future plans. Cara, if I do go into that home, will you come and see
me?” Her voice broke as she continued. “And will you keep an eye on my house?”

“Of
course,” Cara added. She flicked a glance in Maria’s direction and was glad
that Ada couldn’t see the evil look on Maria’s face.

Cara
asked Ada about the home whilst they waited for Ben. Cara wiped her palms on
her jeans as she half-listened to Ada. How was she going to start her
accusations? Should she ask Ada to leave the room? She was bound to be upset
when she heard what her son and daughter-in-law had been up to.

Ben
walked into the kitchen a short while later. He smiled at everyone. “What’s
this? An afternoon tea?”

Cara
quickly said, “Your mum was telling me about her visit to a residential home
for the elderly.”

Ben
frowned and sat down. “Why did you go there? Were you visiting someone?”

Cara
saw Ada’s confused look. She decided to speak for her. “Maria took her there,
she said it was your idea.”

Maria
shot out, “I never said that! Ada’s confused, again.” She pointed at Cara. “Can
you go now?”

“I’m
not going anywhere.” Cara took a deep breath. “I’ve something to say. Ada, I’m
really sorry, I don’t want to upset you but I have to tell you what’s been
going on.”

Ada
gave a shaky chuckle. “Whatever do you mean, Cara?”

Maria
moved to the seat next to Cara and gave her a cold look. “Yes, whatever do you
mean?”

Cara
launched into the speech she had been mentally preparing for the last ten
minutes. She said she had been concerned about Ada’s health and she followed
her and Maria to the residential home. She confessed to listening to their
conversations, and made another confession about planting the bugging devices
in Ada’s home. She finished by giving her opinion on what she thought Ben and
Maria had planned for Ada’s future.

There
was a deathly silence.

Ada’s
face held the same confused look it had since Cara started her speech. Maria
sat back in her seat and folded her arms. “What a thing to say about us! Ben,
can you believe her? Can we prosecute her for spying on us?”

Ben
folded his hands on the table. “Yes, we can prosecute her. Cara, bring me one
of those spying devices.”

Cara
pushed her chair back and walked on legs that suddenly felt as if they were
made of jelly. She picked up a button-shaped object from the window sill. She
put it on the table in front of Ben.

“Where
did you get these?” Ben asked, his voice cold.
“I don’t want to say, it’s not important,” Cara replied. She wasn’t going to
get her gran caught up in this mess.

Ben
picked the device up and silently studied it for a moment. He looked over at
Maria and quietly said, “Open your bag, put the contents on the table.”

Maria
flung her hands up. “Are you kidding me? Call the police! Don’t listen to this
nutcase! Ada, she’s making it all up.”

Ben
repeated, “Open your bag. If you don’t do it, I will.”

“Fine!”
Maria spat. She picked up her bag and emptied the contents onto the table.

“I
didn’t know we’d switched to full fat milk,” Ben said coldly. “Mum drinks that,
did you take it from her fridge? And is that the cup that I bought for Mum’s
birthday? Right next to the salt and pepper pots that I got Mum two years ago.”

Ada
peered at the items. “I’ve been looking for those. Where did you find them?”

Maria’s
face turned red. She pointed a shaking finger at Ada and said, “You! You put
them there! Everyone knows you’re going mad! That’s why Ben employs that
nurse!”

Ben
said, “Employing a nurse was your idea. Maria, what’s going on? What have you
been doing to my mum?”

Maria
swore and sat back down. “It’s not my fault! It’s all hers. I can’t stand the
way you run around her! Always making her a priority. We couldn’t even move out
of this lousy town because you want to be near her! So what if I’ve been
playing a few tricks on her? Swapping her tea bags and putting laxatives into
her food now and again! It isn’t going to kill her.”

“What?”
Ben’s voice rose. “You’d better tell me exactly what’s been going on. Now!”

Maria
swore again. “I just wanted her out of the way! We could have her house and her
money, make a fresh start somewhere else. Then we could try for a baby.”

Ben
stood up. His voice was icy as he said, “I thought we already were trying for a
baby.” Maria looked away from him. He rummaged through the items on the table.
“I see, contraception pills. What’s this? Chilli powder? Were you trying to
kill Mum?”

Maria
didn’t look at him as she mumbled, “I just wanted her out of the way.”

Ben
rubbed his head and turned his attention to Cara. “You were wrong about me
being involved. I would never hurt Mum, I could never hurt her.”

Cara
nodded. “I’m sorry for accusing you. I know I shouldn’t have got involved but
…”

“I’m
glad you did. Could you show me the footage that you took of Maria earlier?
I’ll need it when I divorce her.” He held a hand up to silence Maria who spat
yet another swear word at him. He said, “You don’t get to talk.”

Maria
picked her empty bag up, grabbed her car keys and stomped out of the kitchen
door.

Cara
looked at Ada. She was silently crying. Cara rushed to her side. “Oh, Ada! I’m
so sorry that you had to hear that!”

Ada
continued to cry. Suzanne walked through the open door and took in the scene.
“Have I come at a bad moment?”

“Yes,
I’ll explain everything later,” Ben said. “Would you mind keeping an eye on
Mum? There’s something I have to do.”

“Of
course,” Suzanne pulled a chair up next to Ada.

Ben
took Cara’s arm and led her outside. “Can we do this quickly? I’ve got a
feeling that Maria’s going to make a run for it. I always suspected that she
didn’t like Mum, but I didn’t know she hated her.”

Cara
showed Ben into Gran’s office. He raised an eyebrow at the equipment there but
didn’t say a word. Cara showed him where the footage was and left him to it.
She wanted to check on Ada.

As
she came out of the house she saw Suzanne about to get in her car. She jogged
down the path to her. “Suzanne! Hi! How’s Ada?”

Suzanne
put her bag in the car. “She’s sleeping. She wouldn’t stop crying and then she
became hysterical. I gave her a sedative to calm her down. She’s asleep on the
sofa. The sedative will wear off in a few hours.” Suzanne wobbled and grabbed
hold of her car door. “Oh, I thought I was going to faint then.” She shook her
head. “I’ve only had a few hours sleep over the last two days. All of my kids
decided to get sick at the same time.”

Cara
looked closer at her. “You do look tired. Do you want to come in for a strong
coffee?”

Suzanne
pointed to a flask on the dashboard. “I’m prepared. I’ll have a quick drink and
then be on my way.” She got in her car and closed the door.

Suzanne
didn’t look at all well and Cara was about to insist that she stay for two coffees
when Robin appeared at her side.

“Cara!
Quick! It’s Ada! She’s going to die in two minutes!”

“What?”
Cara spun on her heel and raced up Ada’s drive. She ran into the kitchen and
through to the living room. Ada was lying on the floor, her hands clasped
around her throat.

“She
can’t breathe!” Cara ran over and threw herself on the floor. She put her hands
under Ada’s head and lifted her up. “Ada! Talk to me! What’s wrong? Robin! What
can I do?”

Robin
put his hand on Ada’s chest. “I can feel her life ebbing away. Cara, do
something!”

“I
don’t know what to do!” Cara tried to get Ada into a sitting position. Ada’s
hands dropped and her breathing slowed down. “No!” Cara screamed. She laid Ada
back down and raced outside. Suzanne was starting to drive away. Cara threw
herself in front of her car and slammed her hands on the bonnet.

Suzanne
screeched to a halt. Cara pulled her door open and shouted, “Ada! She’s dying!
Quick!”

Suzanne
ran after Cara. She took one look at Ada’s grey face and knelt at her side. She
ordered Cara to pass her things from her bag. Cara did so and then wrung her
hands as she waited. “Don’t die, don’t die,” she muttered.

Robin
stood behind the sofa and silently watched the scene.

Ada
suddenly gasped and made a retching noise. Suzanne rubbed her arms and talked
softly to her.

“Is
she alright” Cara took Ada’s hand. “Ada, can you hear me?”

Ada
opened her eyes. “Good grief! What am I doing on the floor? Cara, why are you
crying?” She coughed and then winced. “Oh, what have I done to my throat? Cara,
are we still going to the seaside tomorrow?”

Cara
wiped a tear away and smiled. “Absolutely, we can go every day.”

Suzanne
turned a horrified face to Cara and said, “You’d better call the police. I
almost murdered Ada.”

Chapter
10

A
few hours later Cara sat on Gran’s sofa and cried. Robin passed her a tissue
and then patted her head. “This is becoming a habit,” he said. “You don’t need
to cry, everything has been sorted out. Suzanne is going to be alright.”

Cara
wiped her nose. “Are you sure about that? I can still see the look on her face.
I don’t think she’ll ever forgive herself for giving Ada the wrong medicine to
calm her down.”

“She
explained why she did it, she was overcome with tiredness. She knows she
shouldn’t have been working.”

“She’s
going to feel guilty for a long time. She told me she’s going to give up
nursing and stay at home with her children. Poor Suzanne.”

Robin
patted her hand and then pulled a face when he touched her wet tissue by
mistake. “Ada isn’t going to press charges. She’s got too much on her mind with
that Maria business. Cara, you saved Ada’s life, and you stopped Suzanne from
murdering Ada, although I think it would have been classed as manslaughter.
Either way, you saved her soul, remember that.”

Cara
scrunched the tissue up. “But it’s always at the last minute! Why can’t I get
there earlier! I’m useless!”

Robin
put his hands on either side of her head and turned it towards him. “Now listen
to me, Cara Daniels! You are not useless, you are doing an excellent job. And
when I can be bothered to stand up and open my wings I shall let you have one
of my beautiful feathers. You kept going with this job, you didn’t stop until
Ada was safe! You’re like an annoying terrier dog.” His hands dropped and he
looked away.

Cara
grabbed his sleeve. “What’s wrong? You’ve gone all sad-looking.”

Robin
turned back to her, a silver tear trickled down his cheek. He took the damp
tissue from Cara and wiped it away. “It’s Nigel. He … he didn’t get there in
time to save the life that he was supposed to. He’s not like you, he moves too
slowly, he doesn’t get emotionally involved.” Robin sighed. “He’s feeling all
sorts of emotions now. I’m not sure he’ll ever want to do any more soul saving
jobs.”

“Poor
Nigel,” Cara said. “Are you okay?”

“I
think so. I’ll be blaming myself for a while, thinking I could have done more.”
He smiled. “I’m spending too much time with you and your wide range of
emotions.” He looked down at his knees. “Erm, because Nigel isn’t fit for work
at the moment I told the angels in charge that you’d be happy to do more jobs.”
“Did you now?” Cara said.

Robin
looked at her and gave her a weak grin. “You don’t mind, do you?”

Cara
smiled at him. “Of course not, it’ll give me a chance to improve. Right, stand
up and give me one of your feathers. Then go into the kitchen and get me a
glass of wine. Have you seen how many bottles Gran has? I’m sure she won’t mind
if I have a bottle or two.”

Robin
stood up. “And what are you going to be doing whilst I wait on you hand and
foot?”

Cara
closed her eyes and said, “I’m resting my soul saving powers.” Her eyes sprang
open as she heard the familiar beep of Robin’s watch. “Another job? Already?”

A
note from the author

I’ve
been writing murder mysteries for a few years now. I recently got the idea that
I wanted to write stories about someone stopping murders from occurring in the
first place. I realised that person would need some sort of
paranormal/supernatural help to let her know when the possible murders would
occur and I came up with angels. That got me thinking: if you knew someone was
going to be murdered soon, what would you do to stop it?

Read
Cara’s other stories, you can find details of them on my website :

www.gillianlarkin.co.uk

If
you sign up to my newsletter through my website you will receive 3 short
stories in pdf form as a thank you gift.

You
can contact me on :
[email protected]

Best
wishes

Gillian