Chapter 24
Monday morning got off to a slow start.
Lunch had been delicious and fun – Laine’s parents really were very congenial hosts – and had gone on well into the afternoon.
After demolishing the big farm chicken and a vast bushel of home-grown baby potatoes, as well as roast onions, creamed spinach and the most fantastic salad, they took a walk along the country roads to build up an appetite for pudding.
It was a lovely area to walk in. Being a bit of a distance out of the villages, the properties were fairly large, each with a farmhouse presiding over their fields and gardens.
Most of the owners had well-tended little vegetable patches and orchards, and quite a few kept animals.
On their walk they passed horses, chickens, ducks, goats and bees, in their various stables, paddocks, ponds, runs and hives, as well as the usual dogs and cats, of course.
It was so pleasant, admiring the livestock and the industry, as well as the blooming roses and the spring trees, that they walked rather longer than they’d intended.
As a result, it was late afternoon by the time they got to eat Jono’s lemon gelato and Marcia’s famous rhubarb and blackberry cake, the recipe for which had been handed down from her mother, and her mother before her.
‘Oh, Dad, you do talk nonsense,’ said Laine, cutting off the dreadful fake French accent he had adopted for Madame the Conqueror.
He continued undeterred, in his dramatic voiceover voice. ‘And today, nearly a thousand years later, the cake is made to the exact same recipe by the brilliant and talented cook Marcia, who always makes two because it’s such a winner.’
‘We have the actual recipe book of Gran’s, with the actual recipe in it, written a good few years after the Norman Conquest,’ said Laine. ‘Like, nine hundred or so?’
Mike laughed heartily at his own joke, and at his daughter’s irritated eye-rolling response, which they all knew was delivered with affection. The cake was so unbelievably delicious that Julia wolfed down a slice, slathered in clotted cream, despite not being hungry at all.
By the time Julia had dropped Sean home, picked up Jake and driven herself home, it was dark.
So, yes, Monday started at a leisurely pace with pottering about the kitchen, and feeding pets, and rather too much time on the phone with Facebook and the word games.
She felt no guilt; she had not too much to do, if you didn’t count the filing, which she still hadn’t got to.
She might as well enjoy her tray of tea.
If only she had a piece of that rhubarb and blackberry cake to eat with her tea, she thought, sighing at the memory of the deliciousness of it.
Her mouth actually watered at the thought of it, which reminded her to send a thank-you message to Marcia and Mike.
She wasn’t exaggerating when she said it was a delicious lunch and excellent company.
She’d really enjoyed the day. What nice people.
And goats. She considered asking for the cake recipe, but decided she didn’t know Marcia quite well enough. Yet.
She was still at the kitchen table, googling cake recipes over her second cuppa, hoping to recreate the magnificence of Laine’s gran’s cake (or William the Conqueror’s mum’s cake, depending on which version of the origin story you believed), when Hayley Gibson phoned.
‘I’ve got good news for you,’ the detective said with her customary lack of greeting.
‘Hello, Hayley. I am well, thank you. I hope you are, too,’ said Julia in a teasing voice. ‘Now, tell me the good news.’
‘Tabitha is free to leave town. The superintendent has cleared it. He knows she has nothing to offer, in terms of information. Which I’ve been telling him for weeks, but still. She’s going to Ghana.’
Julia felt a rush of relief and pleasure for her friend. ‘That is very good news. She must be delighted!’
‘I haven’t been able to get hold of her; that’s why I’m phoning you.
I thought you might know where she is. I know she’s been very worried about getting to the wedding and the timing is tight for the trip and the preparations, and I feel bad about all the stress this has caused her. I want to let her know asap.’
‘I don’t know where she is. I would have thought she was at work. But if I hear from her, I’ll tell her to phone you.’
‘Thanks, Julia.’
The tone of Hayley’s voice said she was about to say goodbye. Julia cut in quickly, ‘So how’s the investigation going? Any news on Esmeralda?’
‘The investigation has been one frustration after the next, frankly. There is one development as far as Esmeralda Gray goes, though…’
Julia held her tongue during the pause, hoping that Hayley would spill the beans.
‘I’m telling you, seeing as I have already involved you, but this is between us, okay?’
‘Of course.’
‘The chief finally authorised access to Esmeralda’s full medical records. Esmeralda did not have diabetes. She had no access to insulin, as far as we know. Her death is officially being regarded as suspicious.’
‘Is it now officially a murder investigation?’
Hayley hesitated and said carefully, ‘Officially, we are considering the possible scenario that another person or persons administered the drug to her. In which case…’
‘In which case, you now officially have two people linked to the council, both likely murdered.’
‘That’s what it looks like, Julia.’
‘The motive for the killings must have something to do with their work, surely.’
Hayley said, still in her formal tone, ‘The boss now wants a full review of all the projects the two of them were working on. I got the list from the Council so now we can take a deep delve into that. See if there are areas of shared interest and concern. Where the overlaps are. Where there was conflict. And we’re starting with the developers of Meadow Court. ’
‘You mean Eco Evolve?’
‘That’s the one. We spoke to them when Basil died, of course, but that was before we had this information on Esmeralda.
’ A deep sigh came down the phone line. ‘I’ve got my work cut out for me, that’s for sure.
Walter is on paternity leave, of course, with the new baby still in hospital.
I’ve got someone from one of the other local stations in to do some of the desk research and running around.
Superintendent Frederick organised it. Of course, they’ve sent me their most expendable person, not their sharpest pencil, so I can’t give her the difficult jobs.
’ Hayley sighed. ‘Oh well. I’d better get on with it. ’
‘Good luck, Hayley. If there’s anything I can do to help…’
‘Thanks,’ said Hayley and put the phone down with her customary lack of farewell.
Julia tried to call Tabitha but, as she expected, there was no answer.
Then she replayed the conversation with Hayley in her head.
When two people who worked together were murdered within weeks of each other, it made sense to assume that they had been murdered for the same reason.
And the most likely reason would be that they were working on a project that had upset some powerful or dangerous people with a lot to lose.
One of the developers, maybe. Could it be something to do with Meadow Court and Eco Evolve?
After all, the body was found on their site.
Although, as far as she knew, there was no reason to think they hadn’t done things by the book.
Developing that field might not please the dog walkers and the birdwatchers, but they’d gone through the proper channels, as far as she was aware, and had all the requisite environmental permissions.
Speaking of dog walkers, she wondered if she and Jake would get a walk in that afternoon.
Through the kitchen window, she had been watching large, ominous clouds gathering in the distance.
They were heading towards Berrywick. The weather forecast was spot on – they had said it would be cloudy by lunchtime, and it looked like they would be right about the afternoon rain, too.
‘Well, the garden needs it,’ she said to no one at all. ‘And the farmers will be pleased. This spring has been very warm and dry.’
She pushed herself up from the table. ‘I’d best be getting on with the day.
’ She cleared the table, rinsing the cup in the sink, and putting the milk in the fridge.
The milk was almost finished. As she added it to the shopping list she kept on the fridge door, she had an idea.
It was a short list, and if she dashed out now and walked into the village, she could take care of the shopping and make sure Jake got his exercise before the rain set in.
On impulse, she stood up and called, ‘Come on, Jakey! Who wants a walk?’
Jake! Jake wanted a walk!
He bounded over to her and wiggled his entire body in an ecstasy of anticipation.
‘Okay, settle down,’ Julia said, pushing him away from her clean trousers.
Too late, there was already a streak of slobber on her knee.
She opened the door and let him out, where he could do less damage, while she gathered up the shopping bags and the lead.
She popped a light fold-up umbrella in one of the bags in case the rain arrived earlier than forecast.
They walked briskly, Jake, off-lead, brushing the side of his body against the hedges for a good scratch, investigating the plants, sniffing at the base of trees.
The terrifying ginger cat sat atop his gatepost, looking down at him with his amber lion’s eyes.
Jake approached at a slink, ducking behind Julia for protection, and then galloped past the gatepost under the cat’s disdainful gaze.