Crab cakes killers and a.., p.7
Crab Cakes, Killers and a Kaftan, page 7
On the journey down the staircase, Violet’s front door flew open. “Mum! Oh, thank God you’re okay!”
Violet’s daughter, Sharon, had a baby car seat over each arm and a vast bag of baby paraphernalia over her shoulder. Her nine-year old son, Spencer, trailed behind, carrying a travel cot and standing on tiptoe, trying to see over the red-brick wall into the house next door.
“Of course I’m okay—why wouldn’t I be?” Violet stepped off the stair lift, cooed over her granddaughters and caught her reluctant grandson by the collar as he attempted to dodge out of the way of her kiss. “Not sure I can say the same about Sadie Grey, though. I haven’t seen her since Friday morning and the police are being very tight-lipped, so I’m sure something serious must have happened.”
“Well, as long as you’re okay.” Sharon hurried into the living room where she lifted her daughters from their car seats and settled them in their high chairs. She pointed to the large bag she lifted onto the coffee table. “Right, their lunch is in there, and a tin of soup for Spencer, and a drink each. And there are plenty of nappies, wipes—that sort of thing. If you need a hand changing the girls, Spencer will help, won’t you, Spencer?”
Already engrossed in his phone, Spencer merely stuck a thumb in the air as he rubbed furiously at his cheek in an attempt to remove the imprint of his grandmother’s sticky pink lipstick.
Sharon tore her gaze away from him and shook her head. “If you need help with anything and you can’t prise him away from his phone, just turn the internet off, Mum.” She kissed her daughters goodbye, blew Spencer a kiss and pecked Violet on the cheek. A car horn sounded and she moved the net curtain to one side and waved. “I’d better go, Des and Melanie are waiting and I think the police are going to close the road. Thanks for babysitting, Mum. I’ll see you later.”
ººººººº
“Look, Nan, I just want to go out and have a proper look. All I can see from upstairs are the police cars and that black van parked on the road and the tops of those two police officers’ heads. I can’t see what’s actually going on. I just want to see what I can see from the street. Oh, pleeeeeease, Nan. It’s only next door.”
“I’d rather you stayed here, love,” said Violet, peering through the curtain. “At least until your mum gets back from the garden centre. If she says it’s okay, you can do what you like but while I’m looking after you, I want you to stay here.”
Spencer kicked the back of his left foot with his right. “’S’not fair. How am I supposed to be the man of the family while dad’s away if everyone treats me like a kid? And how am I ever going to be a reporter if I’m not allowed to investigate stuff?” He flung himself, face down, onto the couch.
Violet felt a tug at her heartstrings. After checking on the girls who, having rubbed most of their lunch into each other’s hair, were now fast asleep in their oversized cot, she settled herself at the end of the couch. “Alright, you can go,” she said, patting Spencer on his shoulder. “But don’t be out more than ten minutes, don’t go anywhere else, and be careful.”
Spencer jumped up and planted a kiss on his grandmother’s cheek. “Really?! Thanks, Nan! I won’t be long.”
On the very short walk, Spencer talked quietly into his smartphone as he videoed his steps. “Hi, Spencer here. It’s Sunday afternoon and I’m on my way to investigate some suspicious goings-on at famous author, Sadie Grey’s house. As I’m first on the scene, I can give you a clear shot of the house, and the road, because there are no other news stations here yet. As you can see, there are three police cars and a van parked outside, and a police cordon has been set up on the drive with two police officers guarding the entrance. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot else to see so we don’t know exactly what’s happened.” He held the phone up and moved it from left to right to get a full video sweep of the surroundings.
“I can confirm, though, that neighbours report not having seen the author since Friday morning. Where has she been since then? And where is she now? All these questions will soon be answered when I report back with more news but until then, this is Spencer’s Scoops, signing off.”
He ran back to his grandmother’s house. “I’m back, Nan!”
“Sssh, you’ll wake your sisters.” Violet came to the door, wiping her hands on a tea towel. “Well? What’s going on?”
Spencer shrugged. “I dunno. But whatever’s happened, at least I’ve got a video of a real-life crime scene to put on my blog. Not that there was much to see but at least I was on the spot, reporting live, as it happened.”
His expression and his mood were so joyful, Violet didn’t have the heart to tell him she didn’t think he should put a video of whatever was going on at Sadie Grey’s house on the internet.
Oh, why spoil his fun? I won’t bother saying anything. After all, who’s going to ever see one of Spencer’s videos?
ººººººº
At Charlotte’s Plaice, Charlotte and Jess were taking a break during a lull in their busy day.
“So, anyway, I’ve been thinking of having a kid’s party here. Sharon, from the Mother & Toddler group, was telling me there’s a guy who makes animals from balloons and he’s fantastic. The kids love him, apparently. I was thinking about opening up especially to have it on a Saturday.” Charlotte sat at the end of the bar and flicked through the pages in the diary. “I was going to ask Mike to help out, though, so you could come along? I mean, you can work if you want to, but I thought it might be nice if you were a guest.”
“That’d be great,” said Jess. “I don’t get to see Molly as much as I’d like so it’d be fab to spend a whole afternoon with her. And if Mike’s working, Garrett and Laura will be pleased, because he’s Garrett’s favourite nephew, according to Laura, and they don’t get to see him much.”
Charlotte nodded. “Yeah. I’ve been thinking about it for a while now, but I’ve been waiting for the refuse collection strike to be resolved. It’s not nice having rubbish sacks piled up on the marina, is it? It spoils the outlook, doesn’t it?”
“Don’t worry about it,” said Jess. “Everyone’s in the same boat, aren’t they, so no one will be bothered about it. If you wait for the strike to be over, you could be waiting weeks.”
“Hmm, that’s true, I suppose,” said Charlotte. “Okay, I think I’ll go ahead and plan it.”
“Brilliant!” said Jess. “I love a party!”
“What party?” said Ava, stepping in from the terrace.
“A children’s party I’m thinking about having here soon,” said charlotte. “With Balloon Man Bradley.”
“’Balloon Man’ who?” asked Ava, with a blank expression. “Tell you what, dear, tell me more about it tomorrow, will you? Now, I must pop to the ladies’ room before I embarrass myself. Will you tot up our bill for me, please, Jess? There’s a dear.”
“I’ll be glad when I can sit down at home with my feet up.” Behind the bar, Jess ran off Ava’s bill before filling the glass washer. “Or, better still, I think I’ll get out my foot spa.”
“I love it when it’s like this,” said Charlotte. “You know, when we’re busy all the time—it makes the time pass so quickly.” She looked onto the terrace to see a tall, blonde woman on rollerblades crouch down to make a fuss of Pippin.
“What a cute dog! Is he yours or is he a stray?”
“He’s our guard dog, Pippin,” said Charlotte. “You can see how vicious he is, can’t you?”
Pippin was lying on his back, waiting for the woman to resume her tickling of his tummy.
The woman laughed, her curls bobbing like golden springs around her face. “Yes, I’m sure all the bad guys get licked to death!”
“Actually, all joking aside, he saved me from someone who was about to fly at me with a knife a few years ago.”
“You’re kidding?”
“No, he really did. He’s my hero,” said Charlotte, with pride.
The woman took off her rollerblades and padded into the café in her socks. “Ava and Derek have told me a million times that I must come in and say hello. So I thought I’d come in and say hello! I’m Liz Faraday. I’m Derek Whittington’s dance partner. Temporary, dance partner, actually. I’m standing in for Rita. She got hit by a motorbike.”
“Hi. Yes, we’ve heard all about you,” said Charlotte. “Belated congratulations on winning the competition, by the way.”
“Liz, dear! I thought I recognised the voice,” said Ava, emerging from the ladies’ room. “You must have walked right past me—I was sitting outside. How are you?”
“I’m really well, thanks. Fancy bumping into you. Have you got time to sit and chat for a while?”
“Well, I’m just about to pay our bill so I should be going, really. “ Ava looked out to the table to see Harriett and Betty still in deep discussion about wallpaper samples. “But I’m sure I’ve got time for a little chat. Here, help me get up on this stool, will you?”
“Can I get you anything while you’re here?” said Jess. “Charlotte’s baked a fabulous Lemon Drizzle cake. How about a slice with a nice cup of tea?”
Liz patted her stomach. “Don’t tempt me. I’d love some but I’m on my way to rehearsal and I never eat anything solid for two hours before. Can I just order a strawberry and banana smoothie, please?” she said, settling herself next to Ava. “I know it looks like we just prance about the place but dancing takes an awful lot of sacrifices and stamina.”
“I can vouch for that,” said Ava. “Derek’s as fit now as he was when I met him sixty years ago. It takes a lot of dedication and training to be a dancer.”
“I don’t doubt it.” Jess tossed some yoghurt and fruit into the blender and whizzed up a smoothie in seconds. “You only have to look at the guys on Strictly Come Dancing to see that.” She slid the drink across the bar.
“It’s not just the men who have to work hard to look good, you know!” Liz laughed and took a sip.
“Isn’t your brother involved in the dance company, too?”
“Yes. He’s the choreographer. That’s Jeremy, my older brother. My other brother, Graham, is just a pain in the backside.”
“Is he the one doing the job for Leo and Harriett? If so, I met him briefly,” said Jess, recalling the attractive man with the not-so-attractive addiction to pork scratchings.
“Yeah, that’s right,” said Liz, taking another sip of her smoothie.
“Must be nice to have brothers. I always wanted a brother,” said Jess.
“Yeah, me too.” Charlotte chimed in from the kitchen.
Liz nodded. “They’re good guys but I’ve always been stuck in the middle of them. They don’t get on too well, y’see, but I get on with both of them so it falls to me to be mediator.”
“It’s quite common for siblings not to get on, though, isn’t it? My sister and I used to fight like mad over our toys when we were young. There was hair-pulling and everything,” said Jess.
Liz chuckled. “I’m afraid Jeremy and Graham’s disagreements were a little more serious than that. They used to get so physical, I’d end up pulling them apart.”
Ava put her hand over Liz’s. “Oh, my dear, how dreadful. Didn’t your parents intervene?”
“Hmpf. Not likely. They were always too busy having their own arguments—they’d scream blue murder at each other most nights. Luckily for Jeremy, he left home as soon as he could but after he’d gone, the arguments between mum and dad got worse and Graham and I were just stuck there. I think that’s why neither of us have any kids, or got married—it kind of put us off the idea.”
Having had an idyllically happy childhood, Charlotte found it difficult to understand what it must have been like to live in such an environment. “Yes, I can imagine it would,” she said. “Are your parents still together?”
Liz shook her head. “No way. When I was seventeen and Graham was fifteen, mum divorced dad, which was ironic, really, because she was the one who caused most of the problems between them. I never understood why dad didn’t divorce her years before—she made him so miserable.
“Still, it meant we didn’t have to put up with any more arguments.” She checked her watch and slurped the last of her smoothie. “Right, I’d better get to rehearsal,” she said, pulling on her rollerblades. “Nice chatting to you. And good to see you again, Ava.”
“Bye, dear. Say hello to Derek for me. Oh, by the way, Charlotte was just saying there’s going to be a party here soon if you’re not doing anything. Balloon Man Bradley’s the star turn, whoever he is. It’s a kiddie’s party, obviously. I can tell Derek to let you know when the date’s been confirmed if you’re interested? You might like to think about it—we always have a fabulous time when we all get together.”
Liz raised her eyebrows and laughed. “Thanks, but it’s not really my idea of fun. I know Bradley, though. And his girlfriend, Ellie. They’re students in my Saturday evening salsa class. Nice couple. Anyway, hope it goes well for you. See you all again, I hope.”
Ava slid off the barstool. “Well, I’ll pay up and get on my way, dears. As Molly’s with Laura today and Derek’s at rehearsal, the girls are coming back to my place to watch The Bake Off. I’ve recorded the last two weeks so we’re going to spend the rest of the afternoon drooling over that chap with the blue eyes. He’s such a dish. Toodlepip for now!”
ººººººº
As she plated up the last Sunday lunch of the day, Charlotte looked out to the terrace where a young girl was sitting with her parents, engrossed in an electronic device, and directing forkfuls of food into her mouth as both eyes stayed firmly fixed on the screen.
“Oh, Gina, I wish you’d leave that thing alone for five minutes. Or at least long enough to eat your pudding and engage in a little conversation with us.” The woman Charlotte assumed to be the girl’s mother shook her head as she poured cream over her strawberry and peach trifle.
“Hey, the police are at that author’s house, Mum,” said Gina. “The one you like.”
“What author?”
“Sadie Grey. Don’t know what’s happened but there’s one of those police thingies outside.”
“What thingies?” said her mother, taking the device from her daughter’s hand. “Spencer’s Scoops’? What on earth is ‘Spencer’s Scoops’?”
“It’s Spencer Donovan’s blog. You know, Spencer from school? He wants to be a reporter.” Gina rolled her eyes. “He’s always posting stuff on it. Most of it’s boring but some of it’s quite interesting. He’s got quite a few followers, too. Not that many from school, though—most people think he’s a weirdo.” She took back her electronic companion and continued to swipe through items of interest.
“Excuse me.” Jess approached the table. “We didn’t mean to eavesdrop but my friend and I couldn’t help but overhear you say there are police at Sadie Grey’s house?”
Gina nodded. “Yeah. See.” She brought up the page again and played the video for Jess.
“Oh, wow. Thanks—sorry to have disturbed you.” Jess filled her tray with dirty cups and glasses and took them inside. “We heard right, Charlotte. There are police at Sadie Grey’s house. Don’t know why, but they’ve put up a police cordon.”
Charlotte’s mouth fell open and she stopped washing down the worktops. “Oh, blimey! They only use them when something really serious has happened, don’t they?” She shuddered as she recalled what Ava had told her about Sadie’s altercation in the St. Eves’ Arms. “I wonder if someone’s tried to bump her off because of that book she’s threatening to write?”
Jess turned from the glass washer and wagged a finger in the air. “Listen, you. Don’t you go getting all sleuthy again! You’ve got Molly to think of now so the last thing you need is to be getting involved in whatever’s happened to Sadie Grey. Okay?”
“I wasn’t ‘getting all sleuthy’, I was just voicing my thoughts.” Charlotte squirted the stainless steel splashbacks with antibacterial spray, stopping to answer her phone when a picture of Nathan lit up the screen.
“Hi. Oh, okay, not to worry, I’ll see you when you’ve finished. ’ll have to put Molly to bed, though, I can’t keep her up that long. Is it the Sadie Grey case that’s keeping you working late? What’s happened?”
She jumped and held the phone away from her ear. “Ouch! There’s no need to shout! I know about it because someone who came in for Sunday lunch showed Jess a video. I don’t know—some video that someone’s put on the internet. Hang on, I’ll ask her...Jess, d’you remember where that video was? It was on a blog called ‘Spencer’s Scoops.’ No idea...hang on again...ah, right, The blog belongs to some school kid who wants to be a reporter, apparently. Um, I don’t think they’re still here...no, they’ve gone. I’ve no idea who they were. Okay, I’ll see you later.”
“I take it Nathan’s not impressed that news about the investigation’s been leaked before it’s official?” said Jess.
“You could say that.” Charlotte rubbed her ear. “Talk about heated!”
“Did he say what’s going on?”
“No, he just said there’d been an incident.” She knew that Nathan would probably tell her later on but she didn’t like to push him. She’d wait until he was a little less fraught before she broached the subject again.
ººººººº
“There’s a video online! A video! Can you believe it?”
Nathan searched for the blog, ‘Spencer’s Scoops’ on his phone. “We haven’t even informed the next of kin. Have any of you seen anyone videoing since you’ve been out here?”
Ben and PCs Milton and Willis shook their heads. “No, no one.”
Fiona’s cheeks turned pink. “Um, actually, I saw a boy a while ago but I didn’t pay much attention. He had a phone with him but I didn’t know he was videoing—I thought he was talking to someone. He hung around on the opposite side of the road for a while and then he disappeared. Sorry if I missed something, Chief.”
“Well, we won’t know if it’s anything to worry about until we’ve seen the video. Right, here it is...’Spencer’s Scoops’.”
