A Secret Killer (Julia Blake Cozy Mystery Book 4) (8 page)

Julia
waved a hand at him.
‘
No! I can
’
t ask
you to do that. For all we know they might be talking about a book he wants to
borrow.
”
Even to Julia
’
s
ears, that sounded lame.

Cain
said,
“
You
can
’
t
follow them, Dinah knows what you look like. And didn
’
t you
say that man was a book agent?
”

“
Yes,
he came to Hugo
’
s house a few times whilst I was there.
Pestering Hugo to write a book about all the cases he
’
d
dealt with, said people would buy anything that was indirectly linked to
Summersdale Secrets. Hugo refused, he said his clients
’
confidentiality was of the utmost
importance, he had no intention of publishing their private details.
”

Cain
pointed towards the stairs.
“
I
’
m
going to follow them. For all we know, Dinah might have killed Hugo.
”

“
I had
thought of that too. She might have finally declared her love for him, he could
have gently let her down and then, thwack! She could have bashed him on the
head. Are you sure you want to follow them?
”

There
was a glint in Cain
’
s eyes.
“
Try
and stop me! I haven
’
t had this much fun in years.
”

Julia
had misgivings about getting Cain involved, but she really wanted to know what
Dinah was up to. She said,
“
I
’
ll
wait outside for you. Be careful!
”

Chapter 14

Five
minutes later Cain plonked himself down at Julia
’
s side.
“
That
was quick,
”
she said.

Cain
didn
’
t
look at her. He mumbled,
“
I was asked to
leave.
”

“
Why?
”

Still
looking down he said,
“
I couldn
’
t
order anything. I didn
’
t have money, so
they asked me to leave.
”

Julia
looked at the young man, her heart twisted. Did he have any money at all?
Couldn
’
t he
afford to buy food? Is that why he was so skinny-looking?

She
reached into her handbag and was soon handing him a twenty-pound note. She
grabbed his hand and thrust the note into it. He tried to give it back.
“
No! I
can
’
t
take this. I wasn
’
t dropping hints.
”

She
pushed his hand away.
“
Think of it as
an advance on your wage. Keep it.
”

Cain
shook his head vehemently.
“
No, I
’
m on
trial, you shouldn
’
t be paying me if I
’
m on
trial.
”

Julia
held her hand up.
“
I
’
ll
decide if I should pay you or not. You
’
ve done a
magnificent job so far and I intend to give you a full wage by the end of this
week. Don
’
t
even think about arguing with me!
”

Cain
looked down at the note. He straightened it out and then held it up.
“
I
’
ve
never had a twenty-pound note before. I
’
m
guessing it
’
s not
worth as much nowadays.
”

“
It
’
s
still worth something. Do you need any more?
”

Cain
carefully folded the note and put it in his pocket.
“
No,
thank you, this will last me a while.
”

Julia
doubted that but she let the matter rest. She said,
“
Did
you manage to find out what was going on with Dinah and that book agent?
”

Cain
nodded.
“
I sat
at the table behind them. It was the agent who was doing most of the talking.
He said the book deal could go ahead, he asked if Dinah had plenty of material
for at least another three books. She said she had plenty, and that she
’
d
been keeping notes. Then the agent said a TV company was interested and asked
if they could have access to Hugo
’
s house. He said
the book would carry a link to Summersdale Secrets and that would make sales
rocket. Dinah said she knew the new owner and that there would be no problem. I
saw him give her a wad of legal-looking papers, she put them in her bag.
”
He paused.
“
That
’
s
when the waitress came over to take my order. And that
’
s
when I had to leave. Sorry.
”

“
That
’
s
okay. You got a lot of information.
”
Julia tapped her chin.
“
I
wonder what Dinah is up to. And I wonder what her book is about.
”

“
There
’
s
something else,
”
Cain
said.
“
You
said that Dinah was in love with Hugo because she was doing all that flirting
stuff.
”

“
Yes?
”

“
She
was doing the same thing with that agent.
”

Julia
let that information sink in.
“
She could have
been doing it to get a better deal.
”

“
I
’
m not
sure. As I was leaving the agent mentioned that he was sorry to hear about Hugo
’
s
death. Dinah giggled, and it was a giggle not a laugh, and then she said that
every cloud has a silver lining. There was a hardness in her voice that sent a
shiver down my back.
”

“
You
’
re
quite a sensitive man, aren
’
t you?
”

Cain
looked away from Julia.
“
I had to learn
quickly how to read people
’
s moods in
prison. There were times when I needed to be away from certain people pretty
fast.
”

Crikey.
Julia didn
’
t
think she could feel any more sympathy for Cain but a fresh wave overtook her.
In a gruff voice she said,
“
Come on, let me
buy you some dinner. How does burger and chips sound?
”

“
Lovely.
Thank you.
”

After
a meal at the nearest burger place Julia drove Cain to their next job. More
apartment cleaning but this time on the other side of the canal.

Cain
yawned as they drove home.
“
Same time
tomorrow?
”
Julia said as she stopped outside
his house.
“
You
can have a day off if you like, I don
’
t mind.
”

Cain
gave her a tired smile.
“
No, it
’
s a
good kind of tired. I like it. See you tomorrow.
”

A
few minutes later Julia drove down her street. She slowed down as she saw a man
standing near a lamp post. She hadn
’
t had a good
look at the man last night because it had been dark, but he seemed to be of the
same build. And he was smoking. He was looking towards Julia
’
s
house. Was it another of DS Pendleton
’
s men? Julia
made sure her car doors were locked then she drove slowly towards where the man
was standing. She saw his hand freeze as he lifted a cigarette to his mouth, he
must have sensed her approach. Julia got her phone ready, she was going to take
a photo of him and if it was a policeman she could attach it to her complaint
form.

She
never got chance. Without turning round the man flung his cigarette to the
ground and took off running down the street. He leapt over a fence that
surrounded a nearby park. All Julia got was a glimpse of his greying hair. Part
of her felt like running after him, but she knew that was foolish. There was
one thing she could do. She stopped the car near the lamp post and got out.
There were about six cigarette ends on the ground. She pulled a tissue from her
pocket and scooped them up. She had no idea what she was going to do with them.
But still - it was some sort of evidence.

When
she got in her house she discovered that Dad had left her a note informing her
that he
’
d
made a lasagne, and that it just needed warming up. Julia
’
s
eyes prickled. He was so good to her. She didn
’
t
thank him enough.

She
jumped as her phone rang. It was DI Clarke.

“
Oh! I
’
m glad
to hear from you,
”
Julia
began.

The
inspector interrupted.
“
This isn
’
t a
social call. DS Pendleton has informed me that you
’
ve
been hampering his investigation, is that true?
”

“
No! I
…”

“
You
need to let him get on with it. I
’
ll admit that he
’
s
like a bull in a china shop but he gets the job done.
”

“
But I
…”

“
I don
’
t
have time to chat. If you
’
ve any
questions, speak to him direct. I
’
m going out of
town for a few days.
”

Julia
could feel her chance slipping away.
“
When can I go
back to Hugo
’
s house?
”

“
Why
would you want to do that?
”

“
He
’
s
paid me to clean his house for the next month. I
’
d
like to do it.
”

There
was a pause. Julia could almost hear him thinking. Finally he said,
“
The
scenes of crime team have finished but we
’
ll
leave it for a few more days in case they need to go back. You don
’
t
have to clean, we
’
ll send our own team in to clean up the
fingerprint dust.
”

“
But I
’
d
like to. I feel like I owe him.
”

There
was a sigh.
“
You
’
re a
funny one. Okay. I
’
ll let you know when you can go in. You probably
won
’
t be
allowed into his office so don
’
t go snooping
about.
”

“
I don
’
t
snoop,
”
Julia said.

There
was a heavy silence. DI Clarke broke it by saying,
“
We
both know you
’
re
lying. Direct any further enquiries to DS Pendleton.
”
He rung off without a further
word.

Julia
gripped her phone in frustration. She wanted to tell him about Dinah Wells. And
the smoking man who had been watching her. There was no way she could speak to
DS Pendleton about any of this.

Her
eyes began to prickle again as she thought about her last meeting with Hugo.
She wiped a tear away and said,
“
Okay, Hugo, if
you
’
re
listening, I
’
ll
find out who murdered you. But if I end up in prison it
’
s all
your fault!
”