Chapter 22
Violet called when Jamie was still ambling along the beach.
She seemed so happy to hear he was out for a refreshing stroll that he neglected to mention he was actually trawling through radio plays in an attempt to glean information about Marguerite’s death.
He also didn’t feel the need to mention his previous day’s activities of questioning the cleaner and the physiotherapist. Instead, he described the calming scenery, then listened to her complain about how busy work was.
As soon as they ended the call, he went back to the radio plays, then grumbled to himself when he realised his phone was almost out of battery.
Time to head back to Sea Haven then.
A smile hit his lips when the black bundle of fur shot from the kitchen to greet him at the door.
“Did you miss me, Shadow?” he asked, using the name he’d started calling the stray.
For a moment, he held the door open, giving her the chance to leave if she felt so inclined, and being thankful that she showed no interest in leaving.
The deep voice that called hello from the kitchen made Jamie miss the coat rack as he was reaching up with his coat. He clutched at his chest to calm his racing heart.
“I told you not to let yourself in!” he grumbled, heading for the kitchen.
Cal and Skye were at the kitchen table, tucking into bowls of cereal. Jamie glared at the pair of them. “Have you seriously been coming in when I’m not here and eating my food?”
“First time,” Cal said, shaking his head. A smirk twisted his lips. “Promise.”
“Your promises clearly mean nothing.”
“Sorry,” Skye said. “We’re just so used to treating Moira’s place like home.”
“We were also wondering why you wanted Emma’s number,” Cal added, milk trickling into his beard as he spoke.
Jamie’s annoyance fizzled, partly because the mention of Emma reminded him of what he’d found in the radio shows. He was eager to chat it through.
Ravenous after his epic beach walk, he filled a bowl with Crunchy Nut cornflakes.
“Did you ask Emma out?” Cal asked. “I feel as though you should have checked with me first but I’ll let it slide.”
“Why should he check with you?” Skye said, beaming. “You’re not Emma’s keeper.”
“I mean just asked for my opinion. That way I could have warned him she was probably going to laugh in his face.”
“I didn’t ask her out,” Jamie said, finally getting a word in. “I have a girlfriend. Also Emma’s not my type.”
“What’s wrong with Emma?” Cal said, setting his spoon down.
“You said she’d laugh in my face if I asked her out. Which seems to back up my earlier comments about her being cold.”
Skye rested her elbows on the table. “You already have a girlfriend?”
“Why do you look so surprised?”
“I thought . . .” Her eyes shifted to Cal, whose shake of the head was so subtle that Jamie almost missed it. “Never mind.”
“What were you going to say?” Jamie pushed.
“Nothing. Is your girlfriend in London?”
“Yeah.”
“And she was fine with you taking a job in Scotland?”
“She wasn’t exactly thrilled, but it’s only for a couple of months and she thought it might be good for me.
” He shovelled another spoonful of cereal into his mouth.
“I wanted her to come with me, but she couldn’t work remotely for so long.
” Or wouldn’t. Maybe if Daniel worked remotely, she might have been more inclined.
He frowned. Where had that thought come from?
Skye stared at him as though he were a puzzle she was trying to figure out. “How did you find Moira?”
“I saw the advert on social media.”
Her brow wrinkled. “Not an official listing on a job website then, or a house-sitting site?”
“No. Nothing that formal. Moira must have been advertising really broadly for me to see it in London, but it kept popping up and I was just drawn to it, I guess. It felt right. I thought it’d be good to visit Edinburgh, too – see the place I was born.”
Which reminded him that he still hadn’t heard from his aunt about his old address. He’d have to chase her for it.
“It’s all a bit strange,” Skye said, wistfully.
Cal glared at her. “Your Coco Pops will be soggy.”
“Yeah.” She picked up her spoon. “Wouldn’t want that.”
“What did you want to call Emma for?” Cal asked Jamie.
The change of subject wasn’t subtle, but Jamie was more than happy to go with it.
“I wanted to tell her what I found out about Marguerite Langford,” he said eagerly.
“But she didn’t seem to like me interfering.
She seems certain Petra had stolen from them.
I guess she thinks she might have been involved in her death somehow.
She wouldn’t tell me much, so I’m not sure if she’s thinking Petra removed the screws or if she thinks she pushed her.
She just told me to leave it to the professionals. ”
“Sounds like Em,” Cal remarked. “She likes to do things alone.”
“I think she’s on the wrong track,” Jamie said. “But she wouldn’t listen to me.”
Skye wiped chocolate milk from her lips. “Why do you think she’s on the wrong track?”
“For one thing, we met Petra. She didn’t seem dodgy.”
Cal stared at him, laughter lines crinkling around his eyes. “Are we talking about the same person? Because everything about her seemed dodgy to me.”
“All right, she may be a little rough around the edges, but I don’t believe she did anything to harm Marguerite.
And I figured out why Marguerite accused her of stealing.
” He filled them in on the podcast and the lines from the radio play which were the same as the quirky statements Marguerite had been making.
“I think she was taking strong pain meds which were making her a bit loopy,” Jamie said eventually.
“The strange things she’d been saying to people were just lines she was repeating from the plays.
The stuff about her daughter wanting to kill her, and about the cleaner being a thief .
. . they’re direct quotes from the plays. ”
“Okay,” Cal said. “But if none of what she said was relevant to her death, doesn’t that mean you think it was an accident?”
Jamie shook his head. “There was one thing I couldn’t find mentioned in the radio plays.
Apparently Marguerite had said to Moira that she thought her husband wanted to get rid of her.
” He raised his spoon, jabbing it in the air to make his point.
“She was upset about him looking at care homes for her. That’s true.
Heather even confirmed it for me. They’d been looking around a specific one. ”
“So her husband was out to get her?” Skye mused. “The plot thickens!”
“I don’t know about that,” Jamie said. “But it’s definitely something I’ve been pondering. Everyone said Marguerite’s operation should give her a new lease of life. So why was Edward looking into care homes for her?”
“Maybe we should visit the care home,” Cal suggested. “See what they know.”
“Do you really think they’d know anything?” Jamie asked dubiously.
“You said the family went to look around it,” Skye said. “They must have spoken to someone there.”
“I’m not sure you can just wander into these places and ask questions,” Jamie pointed out.
“It’s an old people’s home,” Cal declared. “Not a prison. Let’s go.”