Chapter 31
Julia had been chivvying Sean along ever since breakfast, because she wanted to get to Tabitha’s house early. ‘A good half hour early,’ she said. ‘So we can catch up on things before the others arrive.’
Now here they were, the two women, trotting briskly down the path towards each other, exclaiming with little shrieks of delight. They flung themselves into each other’s arms.
‘One might think Tabitha had returned from a long, hard year on the frontlines, not a couple of weeks of wedding festivities,’ Sean said good-naturedly.
‘It felt very long,’ Julia said, and hugged her friend again. ‘So much has happened!’
‘And I want to hear all about it.’
‘Well, I want to hear all about the wedding first!’
‘It was marvellous – the wedding, the family reunion, the visit. Oh, and the singing! Marvellous. Luanne’s daughter was the most beautiful bride. I’ve got loads of pictures to show you. Oh, and Aunt Jemima sends her love and a big hug. Come, come inside.’
Julia was delighted to hear the visit had been such a success after the very stressful lead-up, when it had seemed Tabitha might not be able to go at all.
Tabitha led the way into the kitchen, which was filled with a rich, spicy aroma. Steam rose from pots on the stove. And, on the table, a battalion of little pies arranged in neat rows on a cooling rack, each pie semicircular, encased in a flaky crust, brushed golden on top and pricked with a fork.
‘Oooh, pasties,’ said Sean. ‘And don’t they smell delicious? I’m actually drooling.’
Julia’s mouth was watering, too.
‘They do smell delicious, but please, they’re not pasties,’ said Tabitha, putting her hands on her hips in mock irritation. ‘They are meat pies. Ghanaian meat pies. You’ll have one as soon as they’ve cooled a bit. No special occasion or celebratory gathering is complete without them.’
‘That is an excellent tradition that should be adopted the world over,’ said Sean approvingly. ‘What’s the difference, Tabitha? Between the Ghanaian pies and a Cornish pasty?’
‘What’s in these?’ asked Julia.
‘Mince, onion, carrots and special spices. Lots of black pepper. Definitely not swede and potatoes – not that I’ve anything against root vegetables, in their place. But this is not their place. And I made foo foo, of course, and peanut soup, your favourite, Julia, and…’
Looking over the crowded simmering stovetop and the glistening pies, Sean asked, ‘Invited a rugby team, did you?’
‘No, just Hayley and Sylvia – I wanted to let the detective know there were no hard feelings – and Wilma and her new chap.’
‘Oh, so we’ll get to meet Douglas!’ said Julia. ‘That’s very exciting. Diane and I have been following this budding relationship from the word go. I do hope he’s very nice.’
‘I’m sure he is. She wouldn’t choose a bad egg,’ said Tabitha.
Julia had seen a good many good people choose bad eggs, but now was not the time for cynicism. ‘Gosh, you must have been cooking all day yesterday. All this delicious food. Aren’t you tired from the trip?’
‘Not at all. It was so lovely, I feel invigorated! That’s why I’m continuing the celebration back here in Berrywick.’
It was true that she looked five years younger than she had when she’d left. Her face looked smooth and relaxed, her grey curls soft and held back by a colourful piece of cloth.
‘New earrings?’ Julia asked. They were gorgeous, shiny and golden – copper, perhaps – and made to look like ropes with knots in them.
‘A gift from Luanne,’ said Tabitha, smiling as she touched them, setting them swaying and glimmering. ‘They’re from a hot local jewellery designer. Very special. She bought them to thank me for coming all that way, and for all the things I brought and errands I did.’
‘You certainly did some Olympic-level shopping. Was Aunt Jemima pleased with her Terry’s Chocolate Oranges?’
‘Terry’s Chocolate Orange ORIGINAL! you mean,’ said Tabitha, laughing. ‘Yes, delighted, and with her English teas, and all the rest. Everyone was very happy about everything.’
‘That’s very good to hear,’ said Sean. ‘You deserved to have a super time after what you went through before you left.’
Tabitha’s face clouded over at the memory of it. ‘You must tell me what happened. How did it all pan out?’
‘Where to start?’ said Julia. ‘Well, it turned out that property development was at the bottom of it all.’
‘Money. What’s the saying? The root of all evil?’
‘Yes. In this case, money and, oddly enough, birds.’
‘Birds?’ Tabitha asked, making a flapping motion with her hands and frowning.
‘Yes. So this property developer, Murdoch Enterprises, had a piece of land they wanted to develop for housing. And as they were within spitting distance of getting the official go-ahead, Basil Crow discovered that these rare birds, the Lesser Spotted Squawkers, lived right there. Which meant there would be no permission granted, and no expensive housing built.’
‘So they killed him?’
‘Indeed. Mrs Murdoch had taken over the family business, and things weren’t going particularly well.
In fact, she was in trouble. Her father left the business to her, over her brothers, and she felt a huge need to prove herself and honour his memory and what he had built.
This housing development was her big hope. ’
‘So she killed him?’ Tabitha said again.
‘Yes. She is obviously quite unhinged.’
‘How awful. Poor man, just doing his job.’
‘Exactly.’
The doorbell rang, a long ding-dong chime, like a church bell.
‘It’s open…’ Tabitha called, walking to the door.
Hayley and Sylvia were barely visible behind the munificent bouquet of spring flowers. The two women looked as if they were hiding in a flower bush.
‘Welcome home,’ Hayley said, holding the flowers out to Tabitha. Julia recognised the bouquet as coming from Blooming Marvels, the best florist in Berrywick and the neighbouring villages. ‘I’m sorry you left under such difficult circumstances. Really, I am.’
‘It wasn’t ideal, but I know it wasn’t your fault, Hayley. It came from above. No hard feelings.’
‘That’s very good of you. I’ve felt very bad about it. Still do.’
‘Consider it in the past!’ Tabitha said. ‘Now, Julia, will you arrange these lovely flowers while I check on the food?’
‘Should I get everyone drinks?’ Sean asked. ‘We brought wine, and Julia’s home-made elderflower cordial.’
A pleasant bustle ensued, as flowers were arranged in vases and drinks in glasses.
Another ding-dong announced the arrival of Wilma. All eyes were on the door. She walked in looking lovely in… a dress! And not any dress, a floaty, floral dress and sandals and no watch!
So accustomed was Julia to the hybrid casualwear-meets-stylish-athleticwear that Wilma wore to work, that she found this version of Wilma rather discombobulating.
And then there was the man on her arm. My word, but was he a looker!
George Clooney level. And slim and fit. Who knew that such gems were to be found paddling along in the online dating pool?
One heard such terrible stories of scoundrels and bounders.
Douglas went round introducing himself. He’d obviously been fully briefed, because he knew who everyone was.
When he got to Julia, he said warmly, ‘And you must be Julia Bird, the retired social worker turned charity shop volunteer?’ He lowered his voice and added, in a conspiratorial sort of undertone, ‘And amateur crime solver?’
‘I’m Julia Bird. Not sure about the rest.’ She smiled and shook his hand, while studiously avoiding Hayley’s eyes. She wasn’t pleased to be identified as an amateur crime solver in the presence of the official crime solver.
‘On the subject of crimes,’ said Tabitha. ‘I want to hear the rest of the story. So Julia, are you saying that this Zelda Murdoch person killed Basil Crow?’
‘Yes. She killed him in the office – and had to replace the carpets.’
Hayley added, ‘It seems she had asked him to come and discuss the situation with the squawkers. I don’t think she intended to kill him, but things got out of hand. She hit him on the head with the office fire extinguisher. The forensic team found the blood.’
‘The one thing I don’t understand is why she left the body at the meadow,’ said Julia. ‘That development had already been given the go-ahead. The Murdoch shopping centre was not going to be passed.’
‘Good question,’ Hayley said. ‘She wanted it off the premises, and she thought she might as well use the opportunity to make things tricky for Colin Williams and Eco Evolve. She hates that man. Sworn enemy. It turned out that she was also the one who phoned Jim and tipped him off to the story. She thought that some media coverage would make Eco Evolve look bad.’
‘I wouldn’t like to be on the wrong side of Zelda Murdoch,’ said Tabitha with a shiver. ‘Did she kill poor Esmeralda, too?’
‘She did,’ said Hayley. ‘Mrs Murdoch realised that killing Basil hadn’t made the problem go away.
She had already killed one person and thought she’d got away with it.
She thought if she made this one look like an accident, it wouldn’t draw attention.
Her late father was a diabetic, and she still had some of his insulin in the house.
She agreed to meet Esmeralda Gray in the woods where the Lesser Spotted Squawkers had been seen.
To chat about the problems Esmeralda was having at work.
She injected the young woman and pushed her into the river, where she drowned. ’
‘You can read all about it in the paper today,’ said Julia. ‘Jim has written a big article and it has been picked up by the Sunday Times. Front page. It’s a sorry tale, but a big scoop for Jim. I brought you a copy; it’s in my bag.’
‘Oh, let’s see!’ Tabitha held out her hand towards Julia, wiggling her fingers in a beckoning gesture.
‘Let’s not talk about sad things. Let’s talk more about the wedding! You can read it later. When we’re gone.’
‘What Julia isn’t telling you is that she features quite strongly in Jim’s piece,’ said Wilma. ‘There’s even a picture of her at Murdoch Enterprises’ offices. Go on, Julia, get the paper.’
Julia made a dismissive hmmph sound. She didn’t think of herself as a vain woman, but she detested the picture of her that was on the front page of the Sunday paper, which Jim had snapped with his phone while they were in the supplies cupboard, moments after Mrs Murdoch went down.
She had hoped to avoid having everyone she knew in the whole of England seeing the picture, or at least, all the guests at Tabitha’s lunch.
But now it seemed they would all see it while she was actually there in person.
With a sigh, she took the newspaper from her basket, unfolded it, and held it up for them to see.
There Julia was, holding the can of furniture polish with which, just moments before, she had dosed Mrs Murdoch.
Some of the polish had got into Julia’s right eye, which was closed in the photo, and her mascara was running down her face.
She had been telling Jim to put the phone away, because her mouth was half-open at a funny angle, and she had an annoyed scowl on her face. At her feet lay Mrs Murdoch.
‘Gosh,’ said Wilma, looking from the paper to Julia and back again.
‘That is a very dramatic picture. She’s not dead, is she?’ asked Tabitha.
Sean answered in his doctor voice. ‘No. She was lucky to land the way she did when she fell. She impaled herself on her own knife, but missed all the major organs and blood vessels. Rather a nasty incision into the side of the abdomen, a nick to the spleen, and a lot of blood lost.’
Julia felt queasy at the memory of that blood leaching out of the woman and pooling on the floor at her feet. Julia had been convinced that she was dead.
Hayley continued. ‘Fortunately, the ambulance that Julia and Jim called was there in minutes. They stemmed the flow and got her to the hospital and into the operating theatre quickly. The operation went well. I saw her this morning, in fact, and asked some preliminary questions. She will be discharged into police custody tomorrow.’
‘So the birds are all right, then, are they?’ asked Sylvia. ‘The development won’t go ahead?’
‘Take a look at page six,’ said Hayley, indicating towards the newspaper.
Sylvia picked it up and turned the page. ‘Birders flock to Cotswold Village! Oh, my, look at that. Says here, Birds thought to be near extinction have been sighted in a little-known hamlet in the Cotswolds.’
‘Birders flock!’ said Julia.
‘Little-known hamlet!’ said Wilma.
Sylvia continued reading aloud from the newspaper. ‘Already, ornithologists are making the pilgrimage to try and find these elusive feathered creatures.’
‘I did see two chaps with serious cameras and binoculars when I drove past on my way to pick up Wilma,’ said Douglas. ‘They were in full camouflage, practically invisible, they were, but luckily I saw them right at the last minute and swerved so I didn’t run them over.’
Wilma laughed heartily, a trilling, tinkly laugh, and batted him on the arm. ‘Oh you – you’re a card!’
‘I think we can safely say there will be no housing development at West Woods,’ said Hayley.
‘Well, that’s good news,’ said Julia. ‘I’m just sorry that it had to happen in such an awful way.’
‘Quite right. Me too. But I’ve had a thought,’ said Sean. ‘A good one.’
All eyes turned to him expectantly.
‘Surely those pies must be cool now?’
* * *