A Party To Die For (Julia Blake Cozy Mystery Book 3) Read online

  Julia Blake – A Party To Die For

  Chapter 1

  “I can’t believe all this is for a children’s party. I’m glad you asked me to do the catering, I wouldn’t have missed this for the world!” Anna said with a laugh.

  “Well, you are my favourite sister. Who else would I ask?” I said.

  Anna gave me a pitying look. “For the millionth time, I’m your only sister. I don’t know why you have to say that, it’s not even funny.”

  I thought it was, and I intended to use it again whenever I got the chance.

  Fiona Doyle walked over to us. “How’s everything going, ladies? Did you get my most recent email, Julia? The one I sent first thing this morning?”

  “The one at 6 am? About the little boy who’s allergic to chocolate? Yes, we’ve got a special chocolate free cupcake just for him,” I reassured her.

  “And what about the other children with allergies?” Fiona asked.

  “All taken care of,” Anna replied and she pointed to plates that were placed separately at the end of the catering table. Each plate contained a certain child’s name.

  Fiona gave us a little smile. “Thank you for being so understanding. I wouldn’t want to get sued because some child had a fit or something. Why do children’s parties have to be such a nightmare!”

  Fiona wandered off to check on something else.

  Anna shook her head. “How can it be a nightmare for her? She hasn’t done anything.”

  I corrected my sister, “She’s been sending emails out for the last four months about this party. It has to be perfect.”

  “I don’t know how you can do cleaning work for her. I bet she follows you around the house, making sure you’ve scrubbed everything perfectly.”

  “She’s okay, just very organised and business like. A bit like you really,” I said.

  Anna tutted. “There’s nothing wrong with being organised, you should try it sometime. Stop chatting to me and go to the van for the sandwiches.”

  “Yes sir!” I mock saluted Anna. A tiny smile crossed her face.

  I walked through the dining room and into the enormous kitchen. I had given this room an extra scrub yesterday and it still looked gleaming.

  Was that a spot of dirt? I moved closer to the work surface. It wasn’t a spot of dirt, it was even worse – it was a spider.

  “Come on you, you don’t belong here,” I said. I cupped the little creature in my hands. I’d have to give the surface a quick wipe down now.

  I walked over to the back door, it was slightly open so I nudged it open more. I carefully put the spider on the ground and told him politely to clear off.

  I heard something coming from the nearby Wendy house. It sounded like sobbing.

  I went over and peered through the window. I saw who was making the noise.

  I opened the door and crouched inside. I came face to face with a little girl. A little girl whose birthday it was today.

  “Megan-Rose, whatever’s the matter? You can’t cry today, it’s your birthday. Shouldn’t you be inside getting ready for your party?”

  Megan-Rose wiped her runny nose on her party dress sleeve. “I don’t want a party! I never did. It’s Mummy who wants a party. I don’t like my mummy and I know she doesn’t like me!”

  “That’s not true. Your mummy loves you.”

  “Then why does she want to send me away?” Megan-Rose began to cry again.

  Her sobs were so heart breaking that I felt like joining in.

  Chapter 2

  I took Megan-Rose’s hand and led her back into the house. Fiona spotted her immediately. She could see that her daughter had been crying. If it was me, I would have given Megan-Rose a big cuddle and asked her what was wrong.

  Fiona didn’t do that.

  She frowned disapprovingly and said, “Is that...snot on your sleeve, young lady?”

  Megan-Rose looked at the floor and nodded.

  Fiona gave a big dramatic sigh. “Go upstairs and change at once. Our guests will be arriving soon.”

  “Would you like me to take her?” I offered.

  “No, she’s a big girl, she can manage to dress herself. Anyway, Julia, haven’t you got work to do?”

  Megan-Rose let go of my hand and ran towards the stairs. Fiona walked away towards the kitchen.

  I’d noticed before that Fiona wasn’t the motherly type.

  I went out through the side door to Anna’s catering van, I didn’t want to meet up with Fiona in the kitchen. I took out two trays of sandwiches.

  When I returned to the catering table Anna said, “Where have you been? I thought you’d done a runner on me.”

  I explained about Megan-Rose.

  Anna shook her head. “Well, it’s not surprising, is it?”

  “What isn’t?”

  “That Fiona isn’t the maternal kind.”

  “Well, I think she tries,” I said.

  “But she isn’t Megan-Rose’s real mother,” Anna said.

  “Isn’t she? How do you know that?”

  Anna smiled. “You never do keep up with gossip, do you Julia? I thought everyone knew about Megan-Rose’s real mother. It’s Fiona’s sister.”

  “Gina? I didn’t know that.” I was amazed. I’d been cleaning for Fiona for years. I’d often met Gina. I never suspected she was Megan-Rose’s real mum.

  “She was the surrogate for Fiona. Apparently, Fiona can’t have children. As Gina wasn’t married she was in a good position to offer to be the surrogate. I think Fiona and her husband paid her good money too.”

  I thought for a moment and then said, “Did she use Fiona’s eggs, or her own?”

  Anna’s eyebrows shot up. “How on earth would I know that? And what does it matter anyway?”

  “If Gina used her own eggs then she is the biological mother and not Fiona. I think that means she has rights over Megan-Rose.”

  Anna gave a wry smile. “This is the first time I’ve met Fiona but she seems the type that would make sure Gina signed away all her rights.”

  “You’re probably right.”

  We carried on putting the food out. The table looked inviting.

  Anna looked at me and said, “Would you ever be a surrogate for me? If I decided I actually wanted children.”

  I thought of the weight gain, tiredness and painful piles that I’d suffered with my two. “Absolutely not. Find someone else.”

  She gave me a little nudge and said, “I thought I was your favourite sister!”

  Talking of sisters, I saw Gina come into the house. She quickly spoke to one of the party helpers, who then pointed towards the kitchen. Gina smiled and walked over to the kitchen.

  The spider! I suddenly remembered the spider that had crawled on the worktop. I’d forgotten to clean it. As inconspicuously as possible I followed Gina.

  Chapter 3

  I peeped into the kitchen before I walked in. I didn’t want to find Fiona and Gina standing there. I would have to explain to Fiona what I was doing.

  The kitchen was empty. I went over to my store cupboard. Fiona was a client who let me keep cleaning products in her house. I needed a lot to clean Fiona’s house, it was huge.

  The fluid I wanted was at the back so I got down on my hands and knees so that I could reach it. I grabbed it along with a fresh cleaning cloth.

  As I turned back around I found myself staring at a pair of enormous red sparkly shoes, shoes that had fluffy red pompoms on them.

  Had a giant been invited to the party?

  I looked up into the face of a grinning clown.

  The clown held out a white gloved hand to help me up.

>   I took the hand and stood up.

  The clown grinned even more. Or perhaps it looked like a bigger grin because of the painted smile.

  “Hello there! I’m Clara Chuckles. I’m looking for an 8 year old birthday girl. Have you seen her?”

  “Yes, she’s upstairs getting changed. I’m Julia Blake. I’m helping with the catering today. I’m assuming you’re the entertainment?”

  Clara pointed to my cleaning fluid. “Are you doing a spot of cleaning whilst you wait for the party to start? I’ve heard that Fiona Doyle works people hard but I didn’t think she’d have you doing two jobs. Perhaps I’m expected to help too! In which case – lead me to the vacuum cleaner!”

  Clara started to laugh. It was such a booming laugh that I couldn’t help but join in.

  I explained about my day job and the spider incident.

  “I will leave you to it. I shall try and find the birthday girl. By the way, Julia, did you know you’ve got something behind your ear?”

  “What?” I reached up to my left ear. There was nothing there.

  Clara reached towards my right ear and gave it a little tug. She showed me what she’d found.

  “A one pound coin! What a peculiar place to keep your change!” Clara laughed again.

  I laughed too, I knew it was a trick but it made me feel about ten years old.

  “Do help yourself to food later, we’ve got plenty,” I told her.

  Clara gave me the pound, waved goodbye and then did a funny walk out of the kitchen.

  I put the pound in my pocket. Clara Chuckles seemed the perfect person to cheer Megan-Rose up.

  I squirted my cleaning fluid onto the offending work surface and gave it a good wipe down. When I was satisfied that it was clean I took my supplies back to the cupboard. As I got down on the floor again my knees gave a little creak of protest. It was lovely that I had a cleaning cupboard here but I wished Fiona had given me one a bit higher up.

  As I struggled to stand up I could hear voices outside in the garden. They were arguing. I crouched back down. My cupboard was near the kitchen window and I didn’t want to pop up suddenly and let whoever was arguing think I was listening to them.

  So I stayed where I was to listen instead.

  One of the voices belonged to Fiona, I thought the other one was Gina’s.

  “But you can’t send her away! I’ve told you before that I’ll look after her,” Gina was saying.

  “And I’ve told you before that I’m her real mother, not you. What have you got to offer her? You’ve no husband and no proper job. Hardly a worthy role model,” Fiona replied.

  “I’d make sure she’d be happy and well looked after,” Gina said more quietly.

  “She’s going to be fine at the boarding school. It’s the best in the country. I can’t stand here arguing with you, I’ve got things to do!”

  I heard heels clicking across the patio.

  Then I heard Gina mumble to herself, “I’ll never let you send my daughter away.”

  Chapter 4

  When I was sure that Gina had gone I straightened up. I walked back into the main party area and over to the food table.

  “I wish you’d stop disappearing,” Anna grumbled. “I’ve had to sort out the sausage rolls on my own.”

  I looked at the sausage rolls, they were arranged artfully in a pyramid. I didn’t like to point out that the first child to see the pyramid would probably take the bottom roll, just to see it collapse. Anna wasn’t used to catering for children.

  The door bell rang and guests were ushered in. Fiona greeted them all in the manner of a queen welcoming her subjects.

  I heard a few people ask where the party girl was. Fiona mentioned that she’d gone to change into her very best outfit.

  At that moment Megan-Rose ran down the stairs. She was not in her best outfit. She was wearing grubby jeans and a T shirt. They were crumpled as if they had been in the washing basket for a few days.

  Fiona gave her daughter a horrified look. Megan-Rose pulled herself up as tall as she could and walked regally past her mother.

  I couldn’t help but give a little smile. Not many people stood up to Fiona Doyle.

  “What a tremendous party! Must have cost you a fortune!”

  A shrill voice rang out. It was one that I recognised. It belonged to Kim Blackburn, Fiona’s neighbour.

  “I’ve been watching out of our window all morning to see how young Megan-Rose was celebrating her birthday, haven’t I Bob?” she went on.

  Bob nodded, his cheeks wobbled.

  “You haven’t spared a penny, have you? The beautiful decorations, the tables and chairs! And the cake! Just perfect for a princess, isn’t it Bob?”

  Bob nodded again. I noticed his eyes were fixed on Fiona’s cleavage.

  Fiona must have noticed too because she firmly guided the Blackburns towards the main party area.

  Fiona fairly jumped when Bob Blackburn gave her a ‘friendly’ tap on the bottom.

  I was too busy staring at the guests in all their finery to notice a hand sneaking towards the sausage rolls. Until Anna slapped the hand away.

  “No food till I say so!”Anna warned.

  “But Julia said I could help myself.”

  Anna looked pointedly at me. When I saw who had tried to steal a sausage roll I smiled.

  “I did say that. Come on, Anna, how can you say no to a clown?” I said.

  Clara Chuckles gave a huge crinkly cheeked smile. “I’m going on soon. I need some energy and those look delicious. Did you make them yourself?”

  Anna said, “I did. I suppose you can have one roll, just take it from the top.”

  “Will do, thanks.” Clara took a roll and bit into it. “Yum. I may come back for more soon.”

  There was a clicking sound. We looked over to see Fiona clicking her fingers at us.

  “I don’t pay you to stand around and chat! You, clown person, it’s time for you to go on now. You’d better be good, or I’ll demanding a refund.”

  “Wish me luck,” Clara muttered.

  She needed it. I’d never seen Fiona look so angry.

  Chapter 5

  Clara was brilliant. She had the children, and the grown ups, laughing with her antics. Even Fiona smiled. She became a volunteer in the show at Clara’s insistence.

  Megan-Rose laughed the hardest when Clara produced flowers from her mother’s ears and nose. I thought she was going to have an accident when Clara pulled a bunch of flowers from Fiona’s rear end. I was pleased to see that Fiona took it well. She finally seemed to be enjoying herself.

  When Clara had finished Fiona told everyone that the food was ready.

  The children raced over first and little hands grabbed at sandwiches and crisps. The pyramid of sausage rolls was demolished by the first child.

  Anna looked horrified but I pointed to the fast emptying plates and said, “I hope we’ve brought enough food. These children are acting as if they’ve never been fed!”

  We did have enough food, although we had to restock from the van a few times.

  I put a few sausage rolls to one side for Clara. She beamed when she saw them.

  “How kind of you. Can you do the catering at all my parties? I usually have to bring my own food, people must think that clowns don’t need to eat!” Clara laughed loudly.

  I asked Clara how long she’d been a clown.

  “It’s only recent. I’ve tried so many jobs, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you how many. I once worked in an office. That was a mistake.”

  “Why?” I asked.

  “I couldn’t get my big feet in the revolving door!” Clara winked at me.

  I asked Clara for her card, in case anyone needed a clown. I was tempted to ask her to come to my next birthday celebration.

  Fiona walked over to our almost empty table. Clara saw her and quickly walked away.

  Fiona gave a tired smile. “I’m so sorry for shouting at you earlier. It was uncalled for.”

  “That
’s okay. You’ve had a stressful day,” I said.

  I heard Anna at my side giving a small sniff of disapproval.

  Fiona touched my arm and moved me to one side.

  “You always understand, Julia. I wish I was more like you. I just wanted today to be perfect for Megan-Rose. I’m not very good at showing how I feel about her, I know I spend too much money on her and not enough time.”

  “I’m sure she appreciates it,” I said.

  “I hope so. It’s been difficult these last months, doing everything on my own.”

  I had noticed the absence of Fiona’s husband but I didn’t like to ask where he was. I didn’t need to.

  “Mr Doyle has been working overseas for months now. He couldn’t even find the time to come back for his only daughter’s birthday,” Fiona said sadly.

  I was shocked to see her like this. Fiona was one of the strongest women I knew.

  “Why don’t you go upstairs and have a lie down for a while. The party is going well, everyone’s enjoying themselves. We can take care of everything,” I offered.

  “Oh! I couldn’t. What would people say?” Fiona looked mortified.

  “They can say what they like. You’ve just given one of the best children’s parties that people around here have seen. Even Kim Blackburn seems impressed!”

  Fiona smiled. “That woman is never impressed with anything, she always thinks she can do better. I’m sure she’ll be planning little Lily’s next birthday party to be better and bigger than this one.”

  “You’ll never please everyone, so don’t even try,” I told Fiona. “Now go upstairs and have a lie down for thirty minutes. The world won’t stop because you have a rest.”

  Fiona put her hand to her forehead. “Perhaps you’re right. I can feel a bit of a headache coming on. I’ll just lie down for a while. Are you sure everything will be alright down here?”

  “I’m certain,” I said and I gave Fiona a gentle push towards the stairs.

  “Will you come and check on me in thirty minutes please? If I’m not awake, give me a shove.”

  “Will do,” I promised.

  But I broke my promise. We were so busy tidying up that I forgot to check on Fiona in thirty minutes, it was nearer to one hour.