A Secret Killer (Julia Blake Cozy Mystery Book 4) by Gillian Larkin Read Free Book Online Page A

”
    Julia
shook her head in disbelief. Mrs Boyce smiling and chuckling - and now giving
away cake! Cain was having a strange effect on her clients. She was going to
start bringing plastic tubs for all this cake he was acquiring. She was sure he
wouldn ’ t
mind sharing with her. She took in his skinny body. Perhaps he ’ d be
better eating the cake himself.
    Mrs
Boyce stood on the doorstep, waving merrily as they drove away.
    Cain
looked at the metal cake tin on his lap. “ Would
you mind if I had a slice now? I didn ’ t have time for
breakfast. ”
    “ You
go ahead, ” Julia said. She gripped the
steering wheel. She ’ d love to go inside his house and see
how much food, or not, that he had. Her mouth watered as the scent of lemon
filled the car.
    “ Would
you like some? There ’ s plenty, ” Cain offered.
    “ No,
thank you, I ’ m
full, ” Julia said. It was only half a
lie. She ’ d had
breakfast but there was always room in her tummy for cake.
    “ I ’ ll
save you some, ” Cain said kindly.
    There
was a silence for a while as Cain ate the cake. Julia noticed from the corner
of her eye that he picked up every crumb that he dropped and put them in the
cake tin. He was so neat and tidy.
    She
said, “ I
wish I could remember who that man was that we saw yesterday, the one who was
driving in as we were driving out of Hugo ’ s
house. I ’ m
sure it ’ s
something to do with a television programme, but I ’ m
equally sure that it ’ s nothing to do with Summersdale
Secrets. ”
    “ It ’ ll
come to you. That ’ s what Gran used to say to me. ” Cain picked up another slice of
cake and bit into it.
    “ I
wonder if that man was a client. Perhaps Hugo had uncovered something unsavoury
from his past and the man didn ’ t want anyone to
know about it. That would give him a motive to kill Hugo. ”
    “ But
if he was a client, he could have just cancelled his business with Hugo, told
him not to finish his family tree. ”
    “ That ’ s
true. ” Julia negotiated a roundabout. “ Perhaps
a relation of his asked Hugo to look into their family tree, and Hugo came to
the man in the car. The man found out and knew a terrible secret would be
revealed soon. Then Hugo might have said he couldn ’ t
discuss the case as the man wasn ’ t his client.
That might drive him to murder. ”
    “ Good
point. I ’ d
better put the top on this tin or else I ’ m
going to eat another slice. ” Cain put the lid on and drummed his
fingers on the top. “ When we were at the house yesterday Hugo
referred to a female client, he said ‘ she wouldn ’ t be
happy ’ . ”
    “ We
need to find out who his clients were. And I know just the person to ask. ”
    Cain
said, “ Do
you think we should interfere with police business? That police officer, the
one with the scary eyes …”
    “ DI
Clarke? Yes, he has got scary eyes. It ’ s like they bore
right into your soul. I think he practises that look in the mirror. ”
    Cain
shivered. “ I don ’ t
think he ’ d be
happy about us getting in the way of their investigation. Didn ’ t he
tell you not to? ”
    Julia
sighed. “ I
suppose you ’ re
right. We ’ ll
let them get on with it. ” She turned left, and then added, “ For
now. ”
     

 
     
    Chapter 11
     
    They
spent the rest of the day on cleaning jobs. About fifty per cent of her clients
were at home during their visit, mainly the older generation. It seemed that
word had got out about Cain. Julia was relieved to see that no one objected to
having an ex-convict in their homes. The people that weren ’ t in
were the ones that worked all day. She ’ d have to let
them know about Cain, and to see whether they were happy to have him in their
homes. She knew that some would object, she ’ d
deal with that later.
    As
they left their last client, Julia said, “ I
suppose we ’ d
better head down to the police station and give our statements. I hope it doesn ’ t
take too long. ”
    Cain
said, “ I
wouldn