Judy's Death (Cara Daniels Cozy Mystery Book 2) (3 page)

Chapter 6

Cara didn’t get to the library at eight
o’clock as she’d planned. She’d slept right through her alarm. It was her own
fault for staying up until the small hours reading Judy’s story. She hadn’t
been able to put it down.

Cara drove to the library car park and
pulled into the last space. She grabbed her handbag and jumped out of the car.
Her steps slowed as she saw an army of little girls and their parents walking
towards the library. The girls were dressed as princesses and fairies. Cara
smiled as she remembered the name of the first children’s author that was about
to do a reading. How lovely to be so young and to believe in magic.

Robin hadn’t appeared this morning.
Perhaps he’d turn up later. Cara hoped he would, she wasn’t ready to deal with
Judy’s possible murder on her own.

Cara stood to one side as the little
princesses and fairies walked into the library. Cara followed them but came to
a stop when she saw Judy standing behind the reception desk. Judy had her arms
folded and her lips were pressed tightly together as she looked at the person
in front of her. Lauren Ellis was the person who Judy was listening to. Neither
women had spotted Cara. Cara took a few steps to the left and hid behind a book
display. She peeped through one of the open shelves. Judy’s lips had almost
disappeared as they tightened even more, as if she was trying to keep unspoken
words locked inside her mouth.

Lauren Ellis pointed a finger at Judy
and snapped, “I knew this would happen! I knew you weren’t fit for the job!
You’ve made a terrible mistake, one that you’ll pay for! Mark my words, Judy
Wallace, this is your last year on the literary festival!”

Lauren looked Judy up and down and then
stalked away. She pulled out a phone and punched a button. As she walked past
the book display that Cara was hiding behind, Lauren spoke into her phone, “We
have to do something about that woman! And soon.”

Cara waited a few seconds and then came
out of her hiding place. She walked over to Judy and was dismayed to find her
wiping away a tear. She was even more dismayed to see that Judy’s death line
was thicker. Was Lauren Ellis going to murder Judy? She certainly had it in for
her.

Cara walked around the desk and put her
hand on Judy’s arm. She said, “I heard what Lauren just said to you. What’s her
problem? Why was she shouting at you?”

Judy tried to smile. “She was
complaining, she’s always complaining about something. She said I hadn’t put up
enough banners to publicise Snake-Eye’s visit. She said he was threatening to
walk away from the event.” Judy sighed. “Perhaps she’s right, I should have let
her take control of the festival. Maybe I should step down from the committee.”

“Don’t you dare!” Cara shot out. “I’ve
seen how much care and attention you’ve put into everything. Would Lauren have taken
the time to prepare thank-you bags for the authors? I doubt it. People like
Lauren think they can get their own way by shouting and being a bully! Don’t
pay her any attention.”

Judy laughed. “Okay! You need to calm
down, Cara, your face has gone red.”

Cara’s hands touched her hot cheeks.
She smiled and said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t like the way she spoke to you.”

“Never mind about that now,” Judy said.
She nodded towards the children’s library. “The first event is about to start.
We’d better bring the author out, we don’t want those little princesses and
fairies turning on us!”

Judy went into the staffroom and
returned with a young woman who was dressed as a princess. Cara followed the
princess author and Judy towards the children’s library.
 
She winced as piercing screams shot out
of little mouths. Who knew children could be so loud?

Cara stood at the back of the room with
Judy as they listened to the author. She was wonderful with the children. Cara
looked again for Robin, he would have enjoyed this.

Once the princess author was finished a
male author came in. The little princesses and fairies were joined by a group
of boys. The male author read out disgusting facts from his book about bodily
functions and noises. The children loved it. Judy moved closer to Cara and
said, “His books are absolutely disgusting, but strangely compelling! Don’t
tell anyone but I’ve read them all.”

When the author had finished and the
last child had left the library, Judy turned to Cara and said, “Do you want to
come with me to the basement room? Watch your step though, the stairs are
narrow. I’ve slipped many a time. I don’t want to be breaking my neck today,
I’ve too much to do!”

Fear trickled down Cara’s back. Was
Judy about to die? Was someone waiting to give her a push down the steps? Robin
had told her that Judy was going to die at the town hall, but he could be
wrong.

Cara insisted on going in front of Judy
as they went down the narrow stone steps. She half-joked to Judy that if Judy
slipped she’d land on Cara. Judy laughed and said, “I’d squash you to death if
I landed on you!”

Cara was surprised to find that the
basement room was light and airy, rear windows looked out towards the town.
Judy said, “There’s a street-level door that leads directly to this room. You
know what this town is like for having hills everywhere. We are supposed to use
that entrance as it’s safer but it’s quicker to go down the old steps.”

Cara looked around the room. There were
old black and white photographs on the walls. Glass-fronted cabinets lined the
walls.

Judy said, “This is our local history
room. We’ve got a local author who’s written a fascinating book on our town.
His talk starts in thirty minutes. Can you help me put some chairs out? I
should have done it yesterday but I never got the chance.”

They walked towards a stack of chairs
at the back of the room.

“No you don’t!” a voice boomed out.
They both turned to see Thomas walk into the room from the street-level door.
He pointed at Judy and said, “Put those chairs down! That’s my job!”

“I can do it,” Judy called back.

Thomas strode over to them and took the
chair from Judy’s hands. He looked down at her and smiled gently. “I know you
can do it, Judy Wallace, but I’m going to do it for you.”

Judy laughed and placed a hand on his
arm. “Thank you, Thomas.”

“Get your hands off my husband!” a
shrill voice shot out.

Cara felt the hairs on her arms lift as
an older woman stormed into the room. She wore an expensive-looking dress and
her short black hair was cut in a fashionable style. The red lipstick that she
wore didn’t suit her.

Judy took a step back from Thomas. Her
hand flew to her pearls and she began to fiddle with them. She said, “Oh, hello
Millie. I didn’t see you come in. Are you going to help us today?”

Millie stalked over to Judy and shot
her a disgusted look. “Of course I’m not going to help out at your dreary
festival, I’ve got a life. I saw how you were looking at my Thomas! You just can’t
help yourself, can you? Find your own husband!”

Thomas thundered, “Don’t you dare talk
to Judy like that! She’s our friend.”

Millie sniffed. “I know she wants to be
more than friends with you. She’s always making excuses for you to do work on
her garden.”

Thomas said coldly, “I offer to do her
garden. Haven’t you got a hairdresser’s appointment?”

Millie’s eyes narrowed. She turned to
Judy and cast an obvious look at Judy’s grey hair. She said, “Yes, I do have an
appointment. I like to keep myself looking good.” She turned back to Thomas.
“Don’t stay too late. We’ve got that dinner tonight. Don’t let me down, again.”

Throwing in another disgusted look at
Judy, she walked away and out of the room.

Thomas muttered, “I’m so sorry, Judy.”

“Think nothing of it. Let’s get these
chairs sorted.”

“Does anyone want a sandwich? I’m going
to nip out for one myself,” Cara said. She had a sudden urge to follow Millie.

“Yes, please,” Judy and Thomas said
together. Then they laughed.

“What kind?” Cara asked, already backing
towards the door.

“Ham and cheese,” they both said at the
same time again. They looked at each other and grinned.

“Got it!” Cara said and she half-ran,
half-walked across the room and out of the street-level door. She looked left
and right. Where was Millie? Ah! There she was!

Millie had stopped outside a shop to
talk to someone. Cara walked closer and pretended to look in the window of a
butcher’s. She glanced towards Millie to see who she was talking to.

It was Lauren.

Cara strained to hear what they were
saying.

Millie said, “We’ve got to do something
about her!”

Lauren smirked and said, “Don’t worry,
I’m going to sort it out tonight, at the town hall.”

Millie patted Lauren on the shoulder
and said, “Make sure you don’t get caught.”

Lauren smiled and said, “I won’t, Mum.”

Cara frowned. Mum?

Chapter 7

Cara bought the sandwiches and headed
back to the library. What were Lauren and her mum up to? Neither of them liked
Judy and it sounded like they were planning on doing something about that.
Would they turn to murder? Cara shook her head as she walked into the basement
room. She just didn’t know what people were capable of.

Judy and Thomas were chatting
comfortably as they put the final row of chairs into position. Cara wondered
what their story was. It was obvious that Thomas liked Judy, but how did Judy
feel about him? Were they having a secret affair? Cara stopped suddenly. Was
Thomas going to be the one to murder Judy? No. That couldn’t happen, look at
how he was gazing at her. Cara carried on walking and handed the sandwiches
over. She’d also bought coffee, which she handed out too.

They sat down and chatted amiably for a
while. Thomas was interested in the work that Cara did. He waved a half-eaten
sandwich at Cara and said, “I don’t understand computers at all. And what’s all
that about surfing? How can you surf on a computer? Doesn’t make sense at all!”
He looked at Judy. “I don’t know how you manage on that laptop of yours, you’re
amazing.”

Judy blushed and said, “I only do my
writing, I don’t do anything complicated.”

A member of the library staff appeared,
an apologetic look on her face. “I’m so sorry, Judy, but three of our
volunteers have phoned in sick. It seems there’s some sort of bug going around.
They were due to help with this evening’s events.”

Judy put her sandwich down and sighed.
She thought for a moment. “I suppose I could phone around for more help. It is
short notice though.”

“Whoa! Don’t you be doing that!” Thomas
declared. “I can help out.”

“But you’ve got that dinner thing with
Millie,” Judy pointed out.

Thomas snorted. “I hate going to those
events. I never know anyone and they all look down on me. I’m coming to help
you tonight and that’s that! No arguing.”

“And I’ll be there,” Cara added.

Judy’s eyes glistened. “Thank you, both
of you. Cara, why don’t you go home for a few hours?”

“What are you doing now?” Cara asked,
hoping that she didn’t sound too keen.

“After this history event I’m going
over to the town hall. Everything is ready but I want to check everything
again.”

Cara nodded. There was no way she was
going to let Judy walk into the town hall on her own. She said, “I’ll come with
you. You can tell me more about the other stories you’ve written. I loved that
one that you gave me yesterday. You really should publish them yourself.”

Judy laughed. “That’s just a dream for
other people.”

Thomas tutted and said, “Judy Wallace,
you’re amazing but you’re as stubborn as a mule when it comes to putting
yourself first.”

They finished their sandwiches and then
Thomas left, with the promise that he would return later.

Judy collected some leaflets and files
from the staffroom along with her coat and handbag. She smiled at Cara and
said, “I won’t be coming back into the library again today.”

Cara tried to smile even though her
throat felt dry. If she didn’t stop a murder from happening, Judy would never
be returning to this library.

They both stopped in their tracks as
they walked out of the library door.

“Good heavens! Have we crossed into
hell?” Judy exclaimed.

Cara shook her head as she looked at
the hordes of vampires, werewolves and witches that were walking about the
streets. Cara said, “They must be here to see Snake-Eye Jones.”

Judy laughed. “Either that or the dead
have risen! I didn’t know he had so many fans. Come on, don’t let a vampire
bite you.”

They made their way through the
creatures and into the town hall. Once again, they walked up the flights of
stone steps. Cara looked around as they ascended. Where was Robin? After their
chat in the car last night he’d abruptly disappeared. Would she see him again?

The rest of the afternoon flew by as
Judy and Cara made various checks. Members of the library staff began to appear
along with volunteers. Staff from local bookshops came into the town hall laden
with books that would be sold and then signed by the authors.

A buzz began to build as the author
events got closer.

A rather different type of feeling
began to grow in Cara as she realised Judy was getting closer to being
murdered. Her death line was noticeably thicker. Cara wondered how thick the
line would get as Judy got closer to death. Did the line disappear altogether
when a person died? She hoped she wouldn’t be finding out. She was going to be
Judy’s shadow all night. No one was going to get their hands on her.

Judy suddenly screamed and dropped the
leaflets she was carrying. A man had his arms around her waist and was pulling
her to one side.

“Stop! Murderer!” Cara screamed. She
launched herself at the man and sent herself, Judy and the man tumbling to the
floor.

Judy blinked and straightened her
skirt. “Good grief, Cara! What happened?”

Cara stood up and pointed at the man.
“He attacked you!”

The man laughed, got to his feet and
helped Judy up. He smiled and said, “I didn’t attack her, I was hugging her.”
He put his arms around Judy and gave her a big hug. Judy let him. Cara frowned.
What was going on?
Once Judy had been released she said, “Cara, this is Andrew. Also known as A. J.
Moss.”

Cara’s mouth dropped open. She’d just
wrestled with a world famous author. What if she’d have broken his hands! Cara
stuttered, “I’m so sorry … I didn’t realise …”

Andrew smiled. “Doesn’t matter. Judy,
is this your bodyguard?”

Judy laughed. “No, this is Cara, a
lovely volunteer. She’s been …” Judy faltered as she looked at something behind
Cara.

Cara spun around. Lauren and Millie
were standing there. Both had unnaturally bright smiles on their faces. They
looked far more sinister than any of the dressed-up fans of Snake-Eye Jones.

Millie said to Judy, “I must apologise
for my behaviour earlier. I should do more to help my local community. I’m
putting myself forward as a volunteer. Thomas sends his apologies, he can’t
make it tonight, he’s got errands to run.”

Lauren mimicked her mother’s overly
sweet tone and added, “Judy, Mum can help you with this evening’s events.”

Millie gave a laugh that made Cara
shiver. Millie moved closer to Judy and said, “Let’s make this an evening to
remember.”