Chapter 26
No sooner had Julia emerged from the shelter than her phone rang. She stepped back and reached into her handbag. It was Marcia.
‘I have a little something for you,’ she said.
‘You do?’
‘I took that second rhubarb and blackberry cake to work at my client’s office, and there’s about a quarter left. It’s a bit of a strange offer, but I know you loved the cake. It’s yours, if you’d like it.’
‘I cannot believe they left a single slice of that delicious cake! What kind of people are these clients of yours?’ she asked in mock horror.
‘The kind of people who have willpower. Who can say “no, thanks” to a second slice. Weird, I know,’ Marcia laughed.
‘Hard to imagine. Well, I would love to have it, thank you.’
‘I’m at the client’s office in Berrywick now. I can drop the cake off with you when I leave in about half an hour.’
‘I’m not at home. I’m in the village myself, running some errands. Whereabouts in Berrywick are you? I can fetch it if you send me the address.’
Murdoch Enterprises had offices in a small business park at the end of the village.
Julia had driven past it countless times, but never paid it much attention.
Now, she saw that the development housed six or seven companies – an architecture firm, a building contractor and several others, most of them property- or construction-related.
Julia rang the bell and the front door clicked unlocked. She pushed it open and hovered on the threshold, leaning in awkwardly to speak to the receptionist.
‘Hello. I’m here to fetch something from Marcia. But I’ve got a dog…’ she said.
‘Come in, come in, both of you,’ said the receptionist warmly.
Jake’s feet were clean, if a little damp, and the floor was tiled, so Julia did as she was told.
‘I’ll call Marcia for you,’ said the receptionist. ‘I would let you go straight through to her office, but we’ve recently had new carpets laid in the corridor and the boardroom.
They’ve only been in a week or so, and Mrs Murdoch would not be pleased if they got muddy paw prints on them.
’ A hint of an eye-roll suggested that Mrs Murdoch less-than-pleased was something she’d like to avoid.
Jake flopped down onto the floor as she said it, which made the women smile.
‘Make yourself at home,’ the receptionist said, smiling at Jake. ‘I wish I had a little something for you, such a good boy you are.’
‘You’re very kind, but he’s had a few treats on our way round the village.’
‘Well, that’s all right, then,’ said the receptionist and picked up the phone.
‘Could I leave him here a moment and use the ladies?’ Julia asked. The morning’s tea had worked its way through. ‘He’ll just sit there.’
‘Of course. Down the corridor on the right. I’ll phone Marcia.’
The carpet was rather pretty and even smelled nice.
The scent of glue and fabric and newness.
Now, was it left or right? Julia had a bad habit of tuning out directions.
The door to her left was ajar. She stepped over to it and saw it was an office.
A blonde woman sat at the desk, her back to Julia, speaking quietly and forcefully into the phone.
Julia backed away, hearing a snippet of her conversation.
‘You do realise that my entire business is now depending on this… A great deal of money is riding on… Yes, well I did my part to make it go away… I don’t want to hear another word about the squawking… Squawk squawk squawk…’
The voice sounded vaguely familiar, thought Julia, and whoever was doing the squawking must be another of the things Mrs Murdoch was not pleased about.
Hope it’s not Marcia, she thought, as she opened the door on her right.
It was a large, walk-in supplies cupboard, filled with mops and brooms, a big vacuum cleaner, a rake and a spade, and shelves of cleaning fluids, brushes and tools along one wall.
Julia closed the door. The next door was the right one – which she’d have known, if she’d actually looked at the sign on the door!
On her return to the reception area, she found it significantly fuller.
In addition to the receptionist and Jake, there was Marcia, who was holding a Tupperware container, and the blonde lady Julia had seen in the office on her way to the ladies’ loo.
The woman had car keys in her hand and appeared to be on her way out, but she was talking.
‘Oh, and Marcia, I am going to go ahead with the billboard so there will be quite a significant invoice coming in.’
She hadn’t noticed Julia’s arrival, which gave Julia the awkward feeling of being an eavesdropper, even though it was unintentional.
She cleared her throat, but the woman didn’t even turn around.
Neither did Marcia, who was walking alongside the woman towards the door to the car park.
‘Oh, okay…Well, we’re rather stretched on the marketing budget.
I thought the marketing team had decided to go with the leaflets to start with…
The cost differential is significant and, as you know, we’re—’
‘I know. I’ve changed my mind. I’m very bullish about this development.
We need something very bold, very classy, if we’re going to sell all of the units off-plan…
We’re going with the billboard. I’ll let everyone know tomorrow.
I want the billboard, and I want it to go up pronto. You’ll have to find the cash.’
She must have noticed Jake for the first time – although it’s hard to miss a large brown dog in an office reception – because she looked at him in surprise and said, ‘What’s that dog doing here?’
The receptionist looked flustered and said, ‘Ah, well, Mrs Murdoch. He came in with a visitor and she—’
‘He’s mine,’ said Julia. ‘Sorry to bring him in. I popped in to collect something and he was with me.’
The woman turned towards her and said, ‘Oh, I know you!’ At the same time as Julia said, ‘Oh, hello! We met at the choir event for Esmeralda. You must be Mrs Murdoch. I remember now – you told me that you had taken over your family business.’
‘That’s me, Zelda Murdoch,’ said the large blonde lady. ‘I wear a number of hats.’
‘Gosh, well, isn’t this a coincidence? I came in to fetch the cake from Marcia.’
‘That rhubarb and blackberry? I’ve already had two slices! Now, I’ll be going. Good to see you again…’
‘Julia. Julia Bird.’
Mrs Murdoch bustled out, clearly in a hurry. Julia picked up Jake’s lead, ready to leave herself.
‘Well, fancy that! That was a surprise,’ said Marcia, as she handed over the box of cake.
‘Thank you. It’s so kind of you to think of me,’ Julia said, taking it from her. ‘And yes. What a surprise. So she’s the boss? The client you were telling us about at lunch?’
‘She is,’ said Marcia. Together they moved towards the door, with a wave at the receptionist.
‘She seems like quite a powerful personality. Decisive.’
‘Oh yes, Zelda Murdoch gets things done,’ said Marcia. It was a compliment, on the face of it, but there was a tightness to the delivery. ‘And when she wants something done, it’s now. Like the billboard. Complete turnaround in her decision. Has to be done today.’
‘She said something when I met her about it being hard, taking over the business.’
‘It has been. It’s been in the family for two generations. And if she doesn’t make this housing development work, she’ll lose it all.’
‘That must be very stressful for her.’
Marcia made a noise somewhere between a grunt and a laugh. ‘It’s stressful for us all, Julia!’