Death Takes A Trip (Julia Blake Cozy Mystery Book 5) (11 page)

Chapter 18

“
But what was
she doing there? How does she know Douglas?
”
Julia waited
while her thoughts caught up with her.
“
She must have killed Douglas!
”

Dad rubbed his head and stood up.
“
You
’
re giving me a
headache with all this shouting. I
’
m going. I
’
ve nothing
else to report. Cain, do you want a lift?
”

Cain stood up gingerly.
“
Thanks, Ray. Thanks for the water, Julia. I
’
ll see you tomorrow.
”

Julia gave them both a vague wave, she was too lost in
her thoughts to talk.

What was Mildred doing there?

There was one, or two people that might know the answer
to that. Julia made a quick phone call to Doris who told her to come round in a
few hours.

That gave Julia enough time to finish making her soap
and allowing it to cool. When they were ready she packaged up a couple of bars
and put them in her bag.

When Doris opened the door later, Julia handed the
bars over with the clear instructions that there was one bar for Doris, and one
bar for Nina. She didn
’
t want Doris taking both of them.

Doris sniffed the soap and said,
“
That
’
s a nice
fragrance. If you
’
re going to
make any more I
’
d prefer rose.
Follow me through to the patient.
”

Nina was sitting in a comfy armchair. She stood up
when Julia came in and gave her a hug. Nina looked much better. If she had been
crying, she
’
d made a good
effort of covering the evidence up.

Julia sat down and brought them up to speed with what
had happened. They both gasped when Mildred
’
s name was mentioned.

Doris pressed her lips together tightly and nodded her
head. She looked at Nina and said,
“
I told you about that woman but you wouldn
’
t listen! You always try to see the good side of people but that Mildred
Hepplethwaite doesn
’
t have one.
”

Julia looked from one woman to the other.
“
Am I missing something?
”

Nina spoke.
“
Doris told me that Mildred is in love with Douglas, and has been for
years. She told me to watch my back.
”

“
Too right I
did. And I was right, wasn
’
t I? Sneaking off to see your Douglas when you weren
’
t there! Hussy!
”

Julia said,
“
Do you think they were having an affair?
”
She couldn
’
t imagine that happening but she had to ask.

“
In her dreams!
”
Doris spat.
“
Let me tell you about Mildred Hepplethwaite. She was at school with Val,
Douglas
’
first wife. Val knew that Mildred liked Douglas but I suspect she never
knew that Mildred was in love with him. Val couldn
’
t get rid of Mildred after they left school. Mildred hung around Val
like a bad smell. I think that
’
s because it was the only way she could still see Douglas.

“
It was Mildred
’
s idea for Val to adopt those cats. It wouldn
’
t surprise me if Mildred told Val to adopt them for Douglas
’
sake, seeing
as Val couldn
’
t give him a
child. She
’
s a devious
one is Mildred. She was always turning up at Val
’
s on some excuse or other, something to do with the cats.

“
When Val died
she must have been worried about how she was going to still see Douglas. He
came into the shop a few times and I actually heard her say that Val would want
him to continue adopting cats. Poor Douglas, what was he to say to that? He was
under the impression that Val and Mildred had been good friends. I think Val
put up with Mildred because she was too kind to tell her to get lost. Anyway,
Douglas adopted a cat, just the one. Again, she made excuses up to go and see
him often.
”

Julia looked at Nina.
“
Did you know about this?
”

Nina nodded.
“
She came round one day when I was there. She
’
d brought a new brand of flea powder for Cat. She didn
’
t know that Douglas and I were seeing each other. I
’
ll never forget the look on her face when she saw me in Douglas
’
front room.
”

Doris said,
“
A face like thunder, no doubt. She
’
s never taken to you. As soon as you volunteered to work at the charity
shop she took against you. It was even worse when she found out about you and
Douglas. That
’
s why she made
you work in the stockroom so much.
”

“
I didn
’
t mind. I could understand how she felt. Poor Mildred.
”

“
Did Douglas
know how she felt about him?
”
Julia asked.

Nina said,
“
He thought they were just friends. I didn
’
t point out that she was in love with him, that would only make things
uncomfortable between them.
”

There was silence for a while.

Then Julia said,
“
Do you think that Mildred killed Douglas?
”
“
Yes!
”
Doris shot
out.

“
No,
”
Nina said.
“
Why would she do that?
”

“
Jealousy
springs to mind. When Mildred went to Douglas
’
on Tuesday
night he could have told her about your engagement.
”

Doris nodded and said,
“
Then the jealous cow flew into a rage and pushed him down the stairs!
”

There was another silence. Julia broke it again.
“
Oh! Nina, that
’
s what I meant to ask you the other day. I know Douglas didn
’
t have any children so who inherits his property?
”

Nina looked down at her knee and said,
“
Val wanted to leave everything to a charity, the cat charity.
”

“
Not the one
run by Mildred?
”
Doris asked.

Nina looked up and nodded.
“
Val trusted Mildred, and so did Douglas, he saw no reason to change the
beneficiary of his will. His property goes direct to Mildred so that she can
proportion it out to various cat charities in the area.
”

Doris stood up and put her hands on her hips.
“
So she gets all his money! The scheming
…
oh! Julia, she
must have killed Douglas! She was there on the night he died and she had
motive!
”

Chapter 19

Julia didn
’
t disagree. She couldn
’
t, the facts spoke for themselves.

Nina began to cry.

Doris stood up and walked over to her.
“
Not again, Nina love. I thought you
’
d stopped crying.
”

“
This is all my
fault! If I hadn
’
t have moved
here then Douglas would still be alive.
”

“
Nonsense. Mad
Mildred could have killed him at any time. I
’
ve never trusted her, there
’
s a mad glint in her eyes.
”
Doris looked over at Julia and said,
“
So, what are you going to do now? Are you going to have it out with her?
”

“
I don
’
t know where she lives, do you?
”
Julia asked.

“
No. But she
’
ll be at the shop tomorrow. I
’
ll have a word with her,
”
Doris threatened.

Julia stood up.
“
No, don
’
t do that. I
’
ll have to let DI Clarke know about this. I want to know how far he
’
s got with his own investigations.
”

Doris made a noise of disapproval.
“
He probably hasn
’
t questioned Kirk Adams yet.
”

“
Well, I
’
ll still have to talk to him.
”

“
Are you going
to the police station now? I
’
ll come with you,
”
Doris said.

“
Let the poor
girl go home,
”
Nina said as she dried her tears with a blue handkerchief.
“
She
’
s got a life
of her own. We can
’
t be sending
her out on errands on our behalf. She
’
s even got her family involved now. Julia, go home. You look into
Douglas
’
death when you can.
”

Doris made another clicking noise and folded her arms.

Julia said,
“
I want to find out who killed Douglas, for his sake and yours. I
’
ll let you know how I get on.
”

Doris showed her to the door without saying a word.
She didn
’
t need to
speak, Julia could feel the disapproval wafting towards her like a bad perfume.
Julia would continue with her investigations, but not today. She was going to
phone her children and make sure they were okay. She needed to hear their
voices.

The following day was Monday. Cain was waiting for her
outside his house. He looked much brighter than he had the previous day. As he
climbed into the car Julia said,
“
You actually look as if you
’
re alive. How are you feeling?
”

“
Great! I slept
most of yesterday. Your dad said I could go with him to the pub this Friday.
”

“
I thought you
were never going to drink again.
”

Cain nodded.
“
Ray told me that I just need to get used to it. He
’
s so wise. You
’
re lucky to have him as a dad.
”

Julia didn
’
t say anything as she drove away. She knew she was lucky to have Dad but
she didn
’
t approve of
his plans to corrupt Cain with beer. Still, Cain had a lot of catching up to do
and she was rather he did it with Dad at his side.

They were busy with cleaning work all day. Julia
deliberately didn
’
t tell Cain
about the new developments concerning Mildred, she didn
’
t tell him she
’
d been to see Nina and Doris after he
’
d left. She knew that he
’
d offered to help her, but it wasn
’
t fair to take up his time. She
’
d got herself involved in this investigation, she could deal with it on
her own.

After she
’
d dropped Cain off at home that evening she drove to the police station.
DI Clarke wasn
’
t waiting for
her at the door this time, he was waiting in the reception area.

“
Good evening,
Ms Blake. Yet another happy coincidence, us both being here at the same time.
”

“
Well, you work
here,
”
Julia pointed out.

“
Exactly. Which
brings me neatly to my first question. What are you doing here?
”

His blue eyes seemed to pin her to the spot. She
fiddled with the handle on her handbag and said,
“
I may have stumbled across some information that might help you.
”

DI Clarke
’
s left eyebrow rose.
“
Is that so? Is it something to do with the death of Douglas Pedley?
”

“
Yes,
”
Julia mumbled.
She wished he
’
d stop staring
at her like that, it was unnerving.

DI Clarke tapped his chin.
“
But I don
’
t understand,
Ms Blake. I specifically told you to leave the investigations to me.
”

Julia dropped the handle of her handbag. She gave the
inspector a direct look and said,
“
Do you want to know what I
’
ve found out or what?
”

The corner of the inspector
’
s mouth lifted a fraction.
“
Of course I do. I was having a little joke with you. Come into my
office.
”

“
Can you let me
know in advance when you
’
re having a little joke because I can
’
t tell,
”
Julia said.

She followed DI Clarke down a corridor and into a
corner office. She said,
“
Oh, this is nice. You can see out in two directions.
”
She looked a
bit closer.
“
You can see
the road. Oh! You must have seen me driving down that road. That
’
s how you knew I was going to walk in.
”
She paused.
“
You assumed I was coming in here, I could have just been driving past.
”

“
I doubt that.
Take a seat.
”
DI Clarke sat behind a large desk. Julia saw the backs of some picture
frames as she lowered herself into a chair. She wondered who the photographs
were of. His wife? Children? His pet dog? Maybe she could ask him.

He tapped his watch and said,
“
I haven
’
t got all day.
”

Maybe she wouldn
’
t ask him about the photos. She said,
“
Have you spoken to Kirk Adams yet?
”

“
I have. And I
believe your father and Mr Andrews have too. It
’
s another happy coincidence that they were at that particular pub at the
same time as Kirk Adams.
”

Julia ignored the last comment.
“
So you know about the old man who died at the other side of town. Have
you checked how he died?
”

“
I have. It was
a heart attack. Let me save you some time, Ms Blake. I
’
ll tell you what I know about Kirk Adams. You interrupt me if there
’
s anything new to add. Let me tell you too that we didn
’
t find any fingerprints on the rock that came through Mr Pedley
’
s window.
”

Julia listened as DI Clarke told her everything that
she already knew.

She said,
“
Do you know the identity of the woman that Kirk saw as he left Douglas
’
house?
”

“
My wife goes
to charity shops often and, unfortunately, drags me along sometimes. I had a
suspicion that the description matched Mildred Hepplethwaite who works at the
cat charity shop.
”

“
Have you
spoken to her?
”

“
I spoke to her
this morning. She said she did go to Mr Pedley
’
s house on the evening that he died. She had a cat collar that she
wanted to give to his pet. She stated that she stayed for ten minutes and then
left. She confirmed that Mr Pedley was alive when she left.
”

“
And you
believe her?
”

“
My opinions
don
’
t matter. Let
me just say that Ms Hepplethwaite has now become a person of interest. We are
trying to establish a motive for her.
”

Julia waved her hand at him.
“
I know why she did it!
”

“
Really?
”
His left
eyebrow went on an upward journey again.
“
Do you have hard facts, or is it gossip?
”

Julia thought for a moment.
“
A bit of both. Do you want me to tell you?
”

DI Clarke studied her for a moment and then said,
“
You may as well.
”