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Death Shows Up (Julia Blake Cozy Mystery Book 7) Page 4
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Page 4
Julia couldn’t help but laugh when Dad and Cain came onto the stage. They over-acted and their antics reminded her of the Laurel and Hardy films that she used to watch. Cain gave a convincing, if rather long, death scene. He lay on the floor with a smile on his face. Brandon shouted over and told him to remove the smile.
Eric came on to the stage. Julia was surprised at how well he acted. She expected him to be flamboyant but he played the part of a timid police inspector exceedingly well.
Julia suddenly felt a tingling sensation on the back of her neck as if someone was looking at her. She turned in her seat slightly and glanced over her shoulder - directly into the gaze of a young man. He was dressed completely in black, even his shoulder-length hair was black.
The man jumped as Julia stared right back at him. He got to his feet and hurriedly left the hall. Was he a stalker? A critic? Someone who had wandered in?
Julia turned her attention back to the stage and was startled to see that the play had reached the end.
Brandon clapped and said, “We have a lot of work to do but that was a good start. You have a quick break while I look at the costumes. We’ll go over a few of the trickier parts after the break. I believe Yvonne has brought refreshments again.”
There was a strange noise from the corner of the room. It was Yvonne. She cried out, “The biscuits! I’ve forgotten the biscuits! I’m so sorry everyone, I’ll nip out and get some. The tea and coffee are all ready to be poured. Sorry!”
“Really, Yvonne!” Eric gave her a hard look.
Yvonne grabbed her handbag and scuttled out of the room, her eyes downcast.
Brandon said, “Help yourselves to tea or coffee. The costume room is just down the corridor. I won’t be long.” He looked at his watch. “It’s just after eight, let’s have a twenty minute break.” He jumped off the stage and headed towards a door next to the stage steps.
Yvonne had reminded Julia of something. She walked over to where Dad, Cain and Louisa were. “I need to buy some new rubber gloves, I’ll pop to the supermarket, I won’t be longer than ten minutes.”
They gave her a nod as one and went back to discussing the play.
Julia found the rubber gloves straight away in the supermarket but she took the opportunity to pick up a few other items whilst she was there. She made her way back to the town hall and jumped as the town hall clock chimed the half-past note.
Julia’s attention was caught by a small window at the back of the town hall. The window was on street level and was frosted. Julia could see the silhouette of someone. She stopped and looked closer. That looked like Cain’s silhouette. What was he doing? And whereabouts in the town hall was he?
Julia was about to carry on walking when another silhouette appeared behind Cain, the person’s hands were outstretched. Julia’s breath caught in her throat as the second person put their hands around Cain’s neck and began to squeeze.
Julia shrieked and raced down the road, up the town hall steps and inside. She headed down a corridor in the direction of the room that Cain was in. She ran into a room that was full of racks of clothes. She found Cain on the carpeted floor, his eyes closed.
“Cain!” Julia screamed. She threw herself down and put her hand to the side of his neck. “Cain! Speak to me!”
Cain opened his eyes. “Hiya, what are you doing?”
Julia blinked at him. “I … I … thought you were dead! I saw you from outside, someone had their hands around your neck!”
Cain chuckled. “That was your dad, we were practicing our murder scene, he’s gone back into the hall. I’m only pretending to be dead.” He rolled his head to one side, his smile suddenly froze. He pointed towards something behind Julia. “I don’t think he’s pretending to be dead though, I think he really is dead.”
Julia turned her head and looked into the unseeing eyes of Brandon Briggs who was lying a few feet away from them.
Chapter 9
Cain left the costume room and made the necessary phone calls. Julia stayed in the room, a few feet away from the body. After a while, she decided to get a closer look. “It looks like he’s been hit on the back of the head, there’s a pool of blood there,” she muttered to herself.
A stern voice called out, “Ms Blake, kindly remove yourself from this crime scene.”
Julia stood up and looked at the tall thin man who had just spoken to her. His blue eyes stared down at her. “Hello, DI Clarke. You got here quickly. The murdered man is Brandon Briggs, he’s down there on the floor, behind this rail of clothes.”
“I think I can find the body on my own,” the inspector replied. “And I know who he is. Your friend, Mr Cain Andrews gave me plenty of information when he phoned me a few minutes ago. Do I even need to ask what you’re doing here?”
Julia tried to smile but it was difficult under their penetrating stare that was coming from the inspector. “My dad and Cain have joined the local amateur dramatics group and they were rehearsing here tonight. Brandon Briggs was the director and writer.”
“And you’re here to support your father and friend?”
“Yes, and my other friend, a client actually, Louisa Porter. She was supposed to be going to a slimming club meeting on Monday, but she ended up joining the amateur dramatics group instead.” Julia wavered, aware that she was babbling on.
“I trust that you haven’t touched anything,” DI Clarke said.
Julia shook her head. “This isn’t the first time that I’ve come across a murder scene.”
The inspector’s mouth lifted slightly at one corner. “Yes, I am aware of that fact. Ms Blake, we don’t actually know if this is a murder scene yet. We will make our usual investigations before confirming that. I would like you to leave the room now, and, as I’ve told you before, leave the police work to us.”
“Of course, I would never get myself involved in police work.” Julia gave the inspector a small smile and then left the room.
She walked back into the hall and could tell immediately from the atmosphere that everyone knew about Brandon. She heard something coming from the corner of the hall, she looked that way and saw Eric Murphy with his arms around a distraught Yvonne who was sobbing quietly. Dad was standing with Cain and Louisa. Even from this distance, Julia could see how pale Louisa looked.
Julia walked over to Dad, Cain and Louisa. She said, “The police are here now.”
Dad shook his head. “I just can’t believe it. That poor chap was up on stage less than an hour ago, full of life. Are you sure he’s dead?”
Julia nodded. “It looks like he’d been hit on the head with something. How long was he in there? Did anyone go in to see him?”
Cain thought for a moment and said, “Brandon went into the costume room just after eight. Yvonne had left before that to get some biscuits, and you left a minute after her.” He looked over his shoulder and then turned back to the group. In a lower voice he said, “I saw Eric Murphy leaving this room a few minutes after Brandon, he was holding a script and muttering to himself about a change that needed doing. I think he might have been on his way to see Brandon.”
Dad added, “Hang on, didn’t Yvonne say something when she came back into the hall with the biscuits? Something about seeing Sherry Cooper coming out of the town hall?”
Louisa nodded. “Yes she did, I thought it was a strange thing to say. Yvonne came back into the hall about twenty past eight, or thereabouts, and said that she’d seen Sherry running down the town hall steps outside. I thought that was funny as I never saw Sherry come into this room. What would she even be doing here anyway?”
Julia said, “Maybe Sherry had found a new venue for the slimming club meetings and wanted to tell you about it. She might have looked in here, seen how busy you were and decided not to bother you.”
There was silence for a while as everyone became lost in their thoughts. Julia frowned and said, “So we know that Eric might have gone into the costume room, and that Sherry Cooper was seen on the front steps of the town hall. Di
d anyone else go and see him?”
“I did.”
Dad, Cain and Julia looked in surprise at Louisa.
Louisa continued, “I wanted to talk to Brandon about my part, and I wanted to thank him for letting me be part of the show. I went into with the costume room just after Yvonne had returned with the biscuits. When I went in there I couldn’t see Brandon. I called out his name but there was no reply so I left the room. I was only in there for a minute and then I came back to the hall.”
Julia, Dad and Cain all nodded in the same slow manner and at the same time as they absorbed this disturbing information. Julia noticed that Cain took a small step away from Louisa. Julia couldn’t help but remember her first instincts when she saw Brandon and Louisa together, she’d felt that there was something going on between them. She didn’t know what it was but wondered if they’d known each other but hadn’t let on.
Louisa must have picked up on the suddenly uncomfortable atmosphere because she gave a forced laugh and said, “I will tell the police about my visit to the costume room. I didn’t kill Brandon Briggs, please don’t think that I did. I can see it on your faces.”
Julia gave her a tight-lipped smile and said, “We don’t think that at all.” She indicated her head towards Dad and continued, “You and Cain were in the costume room too. The police will ask you what you were doing in there.”
The colour drained from Dad’s face. In a strangled voice he said, “Am I a murder suspect?”
Cain said, “I’m afraid so, Ray, I’m a murder suspect too. In fact, I think everyone in this room is now under suspicion.”
Julia said, “What were you two doing in there anyway?”
Dad pulled at the collar on his shirt and said, “We were going to talk to Brandon about our murder scene, we thought we could change it a little bit.” He swallowed and looked at the ground. “I can’t believe that poor man was lying dead just feet away from us whilst we were messing about. I feel terrible.”
Julia moved over to Dad and put her hand on his arm. “This isn’t your fault. You didn’t know. The police will deal with everything now.”
“But I don’t want to be a murder suspect, Julia. Will you help the police?” Dad implored. “You’ve helped them before.”
Julia shook her head. “I’ll have to leave this one to the police.”
Cain gave Dad a reassuring pat on his other arm and said, “She always says that, she can’t help but get involved.” He looked at Julia. “And I’ll help you.”
Julia pressed her lips together and said nothing. She looked at the people scattered around the room. It was possible that someone in this room had murdered Brandon Briggs. But who was it? And why did they kill him?
Chapter 10
It was another two hours before the police allowed everyone to go home. Everyone had given full statement along with their contact details.
Julia gave them details about the young man dressed in black who had been watching the rehearsal earlier in the evening. It seemed that she was the only one who had seen him.
She gave Louisa a lift home because it was too dark for her to walk on her own, and because Louisa was still upset about Brandon being murdered.
Julia said, “I wonder if the play will still go ahead.”
“It will, I’ve just received a text from Eric Murphy. He says the show must go on and he is sure that’s what Brandon would have wanted.”
Julia said nothing and concentrated on her driving. She dropped Louisa off and told her to ring at any time. Julia wished her good luck for her forthcoming interview.
It took a while for Julia to get to sleep that night. She kept replaying the events surrounding Brandon’s murder. Was she missing something obvious?
The next day was Thursday. As Julia and Cain got on with their cleaning jobs, they talked about the murder. They both agreed that Eric Murphy appeared to be the number one suspect. Julia told Cain about the young man she’d seen at the back of the hall.
“How young?” Cain asked.
“About your age. Maybe a bit younger. Probably about the same age as Brandon, you know, late twenties or so.”
“Do you think it’s possible that they knew each other?”
“I think so. I wonder why he was there.”
Julia’s phone rang. It was Mum. “Julia, good news, your friend, Sherry Cooper, will be able to use the school hall for her slimming club meetings on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Can you let her know? Can you give her the school’s phone number so that she can contact Mrs Warren and confirm everything?”
Julia hesitated before speaking. She had better tell Mum about Sherry and her possible involvement in Brandon’s murder.
Mum listened to Julia’s explanation and then pointed out that Dad and Cain, and possibly Julia, were all suspects. Mum said, “I’ll let Mrs Warren know but I think she’ll be happy to go ahead anyway, some of the council members know Sherry well and can vouch for her. I’d better go, your dad keeps texting me. He’s not taking this murder thing well. He says he can’t leave the house as he’s worried that everyone will stop and stare at him. He’s being so dramatic!”
Once the call had finished Julia relayed the details to Cain. Cain nodded slowly and said, “Poor Ray, he’s so sensitive. I think I’ll take him for a pint tonight, cheer him up. I might even let him win at darts.”
Julia tried to hide her smile. “That’s very kind of you, Cain. I think we’ve got time to call on Sherry before our next job.”
“Why don’t you just phone her?”
Julia looked down at her cleaning cloth and picked off a piece of fluff. In a casual voice she said, “I thought I might mention the murder to her, and the fact that she was spotted outside the town hall.”
Cain let out a snort. “I thought you weren’t going to get yourself involved?”
Julia looked up. “Sherry might want to talk to someone, you know what she said last time, it feels good to talk about things.” She flicked the cloth at Cain. “Alright! No need to look at me like that! I do want to know what she was doing there last night. And so do you!”
“Of course I do. I want to find out who killed Brandon, I don’t want Ray to suffer any longer than he has to.”
“Me neither,” Julia added as an afterthought.
They packed up their cleaning equipment and drove over to Sherry’s house. She welcomed them in and insisted on making them a cup of tea. She passed a tin of biscuits to Cain. Julia smiled at the label on the tin – ‘Emergencies Only!!!’
Once they were settled with tea, Julia told Sherry about having her slimming club meetings at Cloverfield School’s hall.
Sherry’s eyes welled up and she was unable to speak for a moment. When she did her voice wobbled, “Julia, that is so kind and thoughtful of you. The school hall would be perfect, it’s within walking distance for me and I’m sure all my members will be able to get there. Oh! I can’t believe it! Thank you!”
Julia gave Sherry Mrs Warren’s details and then wondered how she should tactfully bring up the subject of Brandon Briggs’ murder.
Cain came to her rescue. He dunked a biscuit in his tea and said, “Did you hear what happened to us last night? At the town hall?”
Sherry’s hands flew to her chest. “About the murder? Yes, it’s all over the news. Isn’t it awful, that poor man.”
With his mouth full of soggy biscuit, Cain nodded and gave Julia a meaningful look as if to say it was over to her now.
Julia said, “I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but you were spotted at the town hall last night. Someone saw you coming out.”
Sherry picked up her cup and said, “I may as well confess.”
Chapter 11
Sherry carried on, “I was there at the town hall last night. Let me explain. As it was a Wednesday I normally have the slimming club meetings in the evening. But as there wasn’t a meeting I decided to go for a walk. I walked past St Andrew’s and noticed that there weren’t any cars parked outside. I tried the door to the hall b
ut it was locked. Of course, Reverend Thompson chose that moment to appear. He thought I was trying to break in. Once he’d calmed down he explained that the amateur dramatics group were meeting at the town hall. Oh! I was so annoyed! The church hall was empty and I could have been using it.
“I was so mad that I decided to go and confront that Brandon chap, let him know how much losing the hall meant to me. I walked all the way to the town hall and I must admit that I calmed down on the way. It must have been after quarter-past eight because I heard the town hall clock chiming as I was got closer. You know how it chimes every fifteen minutes. I went into the building and looked into the main hall. I couldn’t see Brandon Briggs, I knew what he looked like because I’ve been reading that blog thing that Yvonne Murphy’s been doing. Well, I didn’t see him but I saw Louisa standing with Cain and your dad. She looked so happy. All my anger disappeared. I knew I couldn’t confront Brandon and be angry with him, not if he’d made Louisa look that happy. So I left and walked back home.”
Julia and Cain looked down at the table. There was silence for a moment.
The silence was broken by a loud gasp from Sherry. Cain and Julia looked at her. Sherry’s eyes were wide. “You think I killed Brandon Briggs! You think I was so annoyed with him that I decided to get rid of him!”
Julia shook her head. “I don’t think that at all. I believe what you said. But you’ll need to let the police know.”
Panic crossed Sherry’s face. “But then everyone will know I was there. And they’ll know that I had a reason to get rid of him. Oh! The school won’t want someone like me coming to their hall!”
“Mum already knows about you being at the town hall. She thinks you can still go ahead with your meetings. Why don’t you phone Mrs Warren and let her know why you were there?”
Sherry gulped. “Do you think it will be okay?”
“Yes, from what Mum’s told me, Mrs Warren is a lovely person,” Julia said.
Sherry gripped Julia’s hand. “But what will people think? I can’t bear the thought of people talking about me.” She began to shake. “Julia, what am I going to do? Can I do anything to speed up the police investigation? Can you do anything? Please? I’ve heard that you’ve helped the police before.”