A Fair Murder (Julia Blake Cozy Mystery Book 6) Read online

  Julia Blake – A Fair Murder

  For Joan – thank you for your support and friendship

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  Julia Blake - A Fair Murder

  Chapter 1

  “Julia, how long would I get if I murdered someone?”

  Julia Blake clutched the phone tighter and sat down on her sofa. Was she about to get herself involved with another murder investigation? “Mum, what have you done?”

  “Nothing yet. Would I get more than twenty years? Would the judge take into account the character of the victim? What’s it like in prison? Would I cope?”

  “You’re starting to worry me,” Julia said.

  Mum sighed over the phone. “Ignore me. It’s been a long day. How are you? How’s your cleaning work going? Dad said you’ve got more clients since you hired Cain. Oh! I’d forgotten that Cain’s been in prison. Maybe I should ask him what it’s like.”

  “Mum, tell me what’s going on. Has something happened at school today? Has someone upset you? Was it one of the children in your class?”

  Mum laughed. “My children never upset me, they make me laugh every day. If it wasn’t for their little faces I would have left this job years ago. Well, ten months ago.”

  “Ah. Now I see. Has this something to do with your lovely new head teacher, Mrs Paignton?”

  “It certainly has. She’s the one I’m thinking of doing away with! And I’m not the only one. She’s upset so many people since she started working at our school. I’m all for change and bringing the school up to date, but it’s the way she goes about it! She’s so harsh, doesn’t give a hoot about anyone’s feelings, or how long they’ve been at the school!”

  “Mum, calm down. It’s not like you to get so upset. Tell me what she’s done. She hasn’t sacked you, has she?”

  “I’d like to see her try. She hasn’t sacked anyone as such, but Seth has left. Gave in his notice and walked out today and said he wouldn’t be coming back. He left the school with a face like thunder. I just know it’s something to do with Deborah Paignton.”

  “Seth? But he’s been at that school forever. He’s not just the caretaker, he does everything,” Julia said. “Do you remember years ago when I got stuck in the snow after dropping Sam and Chloe off one morning? He came out with his shovel and had me free in no time. How is the school going to survive without him?”

  “I don’t know. I’ll have to speak to him, find out why he really left. But I’ve got more pressing matters to think about. And I need your help,” Mum said.

  “Is it about the school fair? I’ve already said I’ll help. And Cain has offered his services too.”

  “I know, love, thank you for that. It’s the cleaning at the school. Seth usually does it. He was going to give the hall a thorough going-over before Saturday. He usually gives the tables and chairs an extra clean too. Do you think …?”

  “Yes, of course we’ll do it.”

  “Oh, thank you. That’s a weight off my mind. You’ll get paid of course! I’ve already spoken to Deborah and she’s happy to have you in the school. I say happy, I wasn’t entirely sure, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her smile.” There was a sound of papers being shuffled. “Today’s Wednesday and we’re setting the tables up for the fair on Friday. Which leaves tomorrow. What do you think? It’s short notice. And you’ll only be able to clean after 6 p.m. The after-school club doesn’t finish ’til then. Am I asking too much?”

  Julia already had her diary open. “Tomorrow is a good day. We’ve nothing after three o’clock so we can have something to eat before we come over to the school.”

  “Do you think Cain will come too?”

  Julia laughed. “Cain will do anything for you and Dad. All the times that you’ve given him a cooked meal has set you up in favours for years to come. Will you be there tomorrow?”

  “No, I’ve got my yoga class. I need it! My stress levels are far too high. Thank you again, Julia.”

  Julia chatted for another minute and then said goodbye to Mum. She wasn’t used to hearing Mum so upset. What had the new head teacher at Cloverfield School been up to?

  That’s the same question that Cain asked Julia the following morning in the car as they drove to their first client’s home. He said, “Do you think she’s been following staff around the school, observing them as they take their lessons? Has she made them pay for their own tea and biscuits? Made them do extra paperwork?”

  Julia gave him a swift look as she drove. “You seem to know a lot about schools. Have you got a secret job in a school somewhere?”

  Cain said, “No, I saw a programme on the telly about teachers and how stressed they are. The teachers were saying all the emphasis is on the results of the school as a whole, rather than on individual children. They were saying that all their free time was taken up with lesson planning and evaluations. I think schools are being run more like businesses nowadays.”

  Julia smiled. “You sound very wise. Mum’s been at that school for nearly twenty years. I went to that school, and so did Sam and Chloe. Mum teaches the younger ones, ages five to six. She loves that job.”

  “Doesn’t she want to leave? She must be heading towards retirement age. Not that she looks old! Don’t tell her I said that. I know your dad has got many plans for when your mum retires.”

  Julia laughed as she pulled into a driveway. She switched the engine off. “I know what Dad’s plans are! I think that’s why Mum plans to work for as long as possible. Perhaps you should go on some of the planned adventures with Dad.”

  Cain’s face lit up. “I would love that. Your dad is awesome!”

  “Shall I mention it to him about the plans?”

  Cain grabbed her arm. His look was intense. “Would you really? Don’t joke about such matters.”

  Julia patted his arm. “Of course I’ll ask him. Come on, we’ve got work to do. Don’t use all your energy up, we’ve got the school cleaning job tonight.”

  Cain moved his hand. “Do you think that head teacher will be there tonight? She sounds scary. Is she scary?” His eyes widened. “What if we get there and find out that somebody has done away with her? We might find her murdered body in the staffroom!”

  Julia frowned. “Don’t talk about murder. We are not going to get ourselves involved in any more murder cases.”

  Chapter 2

  Just after 6 p.m. Julia drove into the Cloverfield School car park. There were a few cars parked at the far side.

  A lady with short dark hair opened the main door to them. She beamed at Julia. “How lovely to see you again, Julia. Do you know, your mum talks about you all the time! She’s so proud of how you’ve set up your own business. And this must be Cain Andrews, I’ve heard all about you.” She opened the door wider. “Come in! We can’t thank you enough for doing this. Mrs Paignton had to leave early but she wanted me to forward her thanks to you.”

  Julia walked through the open door. She said to Cain, “This is Mrs Humphries, she’s been at this school for …”

  Mrs Humphries laughed and held up a hand. “Don’t say for how long! Most of my working life has been spent here. And please, call me Lesley, you’re not one of the children.”

  Cain followed Julia into the school. He looked from left to right. “Wow! My school never looked like this. I love all this colour.”

  Lesley nodded. “We like our children to express themselves.” She glanced towards an office which had the head teacher’s name on it. “I hope we stay like that.” She walked over to a book and handed Julia a pen. “Could you sign in please?
We have to make sure all our visitors do that. The head is very keen on making sure everything is done correctly. And don’t forget to sign out as you leave.”

  Julia signed on behalf of her and Cain. She said, “It’s a shame about Seth leaving so abruptly.”

  Lesley shot another glance at Mrs Paignton’s door. “Yes, it is a shame. Anyway, let’s not dwell on that. Did your mum explain about what needed cleaning?”

  “She mentioned the hall, and the tables and chairs that you’ll be using at the fair. Do you want us to clean anywhere else?”

  “Would you mind giving the toilets a quick going-over? Thanks. I’ll make sure they’re stocked up with toilet roll and soap. I didn’t realise Seth did so much for us!”

  Cain’s head swivelled from left to right as he followed Lesley and Julia down the corridor and towards the hall. Julia looked at the pictures that had caught his attention. It was lovely to see the children’s work. She remembered all the times that Sam and Chloe had proudly brought home paintings that they’d worked on in school. She remembered one that Chloe had done at nursery school. The paper had been covered in orange circles, some small and some large. The nursery teacher had taken one look at Julia’s confused face and explained, “It’s a painting of baked beans on a roundabout.” Julia still had that precious painting.

  Lesley led them over to a door which had a sign saying ‘Caretaker’s Room’. She took a key from her pocket and opened it. “This is where you’d usually find Seth if he wasn’t in the playground or doing jobs around the school. I don’t think there was ever a time that I was at school and Seth wasn’t. For a while I suspected that he slept here! Come in, mind all the bags and boxes at the side. These are the donations that parents have sent in for the fair.” She stopped and sighed. “Seth was going to take them home and sort them out for the tombola. I’ll have to do that now.”

  Julia said, “I can help, if you like. Is it a matter of sticking numbers on each item?”

  Lesley nodded. “It is. I wouldn’t dream of asking you to help me do that, you’re doing enough already. Seth has some cleaning equipment at the back of his room, help yourselves. I’ll make a start on moving these boxes and bags. I hope they’ll fit into my car!”

  Cain said, “I’ll help you.” He bent down and lifted a big box. “Where’s your car?”

  Lesley waved a hand at him. “No! You don’t have to.”

  Julia said, “Let him, you’ll get the job done quicker. I need to see what cleaning supplies Seth’s got in here, that’ll take me a while.”

  Lesley hesitated. Then she smiled and said, “Okay, thank you. I’ll get this bag. Follow me.”

  Julia watched them leave the room. That was nice of Cain to offer to help. She frowned. She hadn’t seen Lesley Humphries since she came to Mum’s barbecue a few months ago. Lesley looked tired, there were new flecks of grey in her hair. What was worrying her? Was the new head teacher having the same negative effect on Lesley that she was having on Mum? Julia couldn’t wait to meet Deborah Paignton and see what sort of a person she was.

  Julia walked further into the room. She smiled as she saw that everything had been labelled and put in its right place. She looked at some shelves that were higher up. She nodded in approval as she saw that bottles containing hazardous chemicals had been placed out of reach of little hands.

  Being the curious type, Julia walked past the supplies and even further into the room. There was a small window at the end which looked out onto the main school gates. Seth had set up a small table with two chairs under the window. There was another table pushed against another wall, on the table stood a kettle with tea and coffee canisters at its side. Julia smiled when she saw the small fridge tucked under the table. Seth had everything he needed right here. Her smile dropped. She couldn’t believe that he had just walked out. What was the real reason for him leaving?

  She was about to walk away when a movement outside caught her eye. She looked through the window and saw a small bald-headed man standing at the school gates. He was craning his neck as if he was looking towards the car park. He stared for a second, gave a small shake of his head and then walked away.

  Julia didn’t recognise him. He wasn’t one of the teachers but he could have been one of the parents. Julia tutted to herself. She really was becoming a nosy busybody!

  Chapter 3

  Mum sent her a text the following morning to say thank you for cleaning the school. She added that Lesley had been impressed with Cain’s good manners.

  Julia smiled. Everyone was impressed with Cain. She was glad she had taken a chance and employed him despite knowing that he’d recently served a prison sentence for manslaughter. Everyone knew that he’d been covering up for his no-good brothers. She sometimes caught Cain looking over his shoulder as if expecting one of his brothers to be there. If they ever turned up in front of Julia she’d give them a piece of her mind!

  Cain couldn’t stop talking about Cloverfield School as they drove to the home of their first client that Friday morning. “What an amazing place! Did you see all the play equipment they had in the playground? We never had that at my school, we never even had a football. I wish I’d gone to a school like that. I wish your mum could have been my teacher. Did you hear what Lesley said about retiring?”

  “No. What did she say?”

  “I didn’t mean to sound rude but I asked if she had any plans for her retirement. She laughed and said she never wanted to retire but she did have plans. But then her laugh stopped abruptly and it was like her smile fell off her face. She said retirement might come quicker than she wanted it to. What do you think she meant by that?”

  Julia stopped at a red traffic light. “I don’t know. There’s something funny going on at that school. I don’t like it. I think it’s got something to do with the new head teacher. We might get to meet her tonight. Are you still coming to the school to help set up for tomorrow’s fair?”

  Cain nodded. “I am. Ray’s going to be there. He said we could go to the pub afterwards.”

  “You know more about my dad’s life than I do. And watch yourself at the pub! Know your limits. Dad can drink a lot more than you.” She glanced at his skinny frame. “Pace yourself.”

  Cain grinned and looked out of the window.

  The light changed to green and Julia drove away. She was looking forward to finally meeting Mrs Deborah Paignton. Could she really be that scary?

  It was a busy day for Cain and Julia. As Mum climbed into Julia’s car later that evening she said, “Julia, you don’t have to help. You look tired. Why don’t you drop me off at the school and go home?”

  Julia shook her head. “No, I said I’d help. I’ll perk up when we get there.”

  From his position in the rear of the car Cain popped his head through the front seats. “Hi, Mrs Rosenthorpe.”

  Julia’s mum waved a hand at him. “I’ve told you before, Cain, call me Kathleen. I’ve had enough of being Mrs Rosenthorpe today, I’ve had enough of small children calling out my name. We were collecting insects from the school garden this morning. Jason Bell thought it would be fun to set them free inside the classroom. So if you see a centipede crawling out of my cardigan you’ll know why!”

  Cain swiftly sat back in his seat.

  The school car park was almost full when Julia pulled into it a short while later. She managed to get a space near the far end. She and Cain helped Mum carry the boxes that Mum had placed in the boot earlier. They headed towards the school.

  “Blimey, Mum! What have you got in here?”

  Mum pursed her lips and then said, “Books. Mainly cookery books. Your dad’s always buying them. He doesn’t try the recipes, he likes looking at the pictures. He’ll occasionally leave one open at a certain recipe in the hope that I’ll make it. I’ve found these books all around the house, and in the garden. Knowing my luck, he’ll probably buy them all back!”

  The main doors of the school had been propped open. Mum nodded to a smiling woman and called out the
full names of Julia and Cain. The smiling woman wrote everyone’s names in the signing-in book.

  They walked into the hall. Julia winced at the activity in the hall as people opened tables and piled items on top of them. Cain voiced her concerns, “Look at our floor! We spent ages yesterday giving it a good clean. Look! I can see cake crumbs over there!”

  Julia said, “I know. But I suppose floors are for walking on, not looking at. I’ll have to put this box down soon before I drop it.”

  They followed Mum over to a table that already had piles of books on it. A young woman with long blonde hair smiled at them. Mum said, “Hello Imogen. Have you got room for any more books?”

  “Plenty of room. They always sell well. Put those boxes under the table, Kathleen, I’ll sort them out later. I’m still trying to get through these paperbacks. Some of them are not suitable for a school fair at all!” A slight blush appeared on Imogen’s cheeks.

  Julia glanced at the book in her hand. She’d read that one to see what all the fuss was about. Nothing, as it happened. She’d been bored by chapter three.

  Cain placed his box under the table. He took Mum’s and did the same. He reached for Julia’s and whipped it out of her hands before she could object.

  Mum moved around to Imogen and said, “I’m down to help you with this stall. Why don’t you get us a cup of tea and I’ll make a start. You look as if you could do with a strong tea.”

  Imogen gave her a grateful smile. “Thanks, Kathleen. I haven’t stopped all day. Does everyone want a tea?”

  Cain said, “I’ll help you. Show me the way.”

  Julia and Mum watched them walk away. Mum said, “I’m worried about Imogen. She does far too much for the school. She’s got two young children of her own, both of them of an energetic nature. And then she helps out on the parents’ committee. She never misses a meeting. She takes on far too much. I’ve told her to leave all the organising to someone else but she refuses. It’s almost as if she’s scared to stop.”