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Geoff didn’t take his car, so we decided to follow him on foot, much to Eddie’s dismay; he was forced to leave any and all snacks behind.
“You know, maybe I should stay in the car. My hair does stand out,” he tried as we walked along the sidewalk.
“You wish,” I said.
He puffed up his cheeks in indignation. “Hey, it does. When I was seven, Mary-Sue didn’t want to go steady because she said that I reminded her of a freckled tomato.”
“That’s mean,” Miles said.
“I know. Joke was on her, though, because that summer holiday she ended up sunburnt and looked bright red for weeks. My classmates called her Lobster the entire year. Not me, of course.”
Around that time I was still living with my parents and didn’t have many friends because by that time my mother was already known for being...eccentric. The kids in my class acted as if mental illness was contagious. At first I hated the idea of coming to Castlefield and not being with my dad, but I soon loved it. Eddie was a huge part of that.
We continued following Geoff at a respectable distance. Far enough he wouldn’t immediately be able to make us out, but close enough not to lose him.
“Do you remember when you tried making balloon animals for me that following year? It was the first year we were classmates and the teacher had invited a balloon person—I don’t know what you call it.”
“I think he referred to himself as a balloon artist,” Eddie said with a smile.
“Right. Well, I was so excited by what he could do that you brought balloons the following week and blew them up, which took you forever, and then tried making animals.”
“You did?” Miles glanced at Eddie with a raised eyebrow.
Eddie shrugged. “She’d really liked them.”
I chuckled. “You ended up popping three of them and the other shapes you made resembled blobs. Drunken blobs.”
Miles laughed at this.
“I did my best.”
“True,” I said and put my arm around him. “I appreciate that. It’s what made us friends.”
Eddie smiled. “Yeah, you’re right. I forgot that was what sealed the deal.”
“Okay, this was pointless.” Miles abruptly came to a stop. I bumped into him.
“What is?”
Miles pointed at the pub Geoff entered.
“Great, he’s just going for a pint.” Eddie sighed.
“We don’t know that.” I hurriedly crossed the street to make it over to the pub, but stayed to the side of the building. Miles and Eddie followed me.
“What? You think he’s meeting someone?” Miles asked from behind me as I peered through one of the windows. There was a couple sitting by the window that didn’t even notice.
“Not necessarily, but what if he is? Then I’d like to—Oh, there he is. Look, isn’t that David?” I pointed towards the bar, but Miles and Eddie would have to press themselves to the window in order to spot them, like I was.
The couple by the window looked up just as I was about to tell Miles and Eddie to look. They visibly startled and I waved apologetically. Then I backed away and out of sight.
“So, Geoff is meeting his drama buddy David. The one that had been having an affair with Valerie. Do you think they do this all the time or that they have something to discuss?” I wondered out loud.
“I’ll find out,” Eddie said and made his way to the door.
“Woah.” I grabbed his arm. “How?”
“I’ll figure something out, don’t worry. I do my best work while improvising.”
“You do?” I frowned.
“Yeah.” He smiled at us and went inside.
“Should we be worried?” Miles asked.
“I think we should be a little worried.”
A few seconds later Eddie walked out with a triumphant smile on his face.
“What—how are you here so quickly?” I felt the worry in the pit of my stomach increase tenfold.
“They apparently meet up regularly,” he said. “I asked the bartender. He recognised them.”
“Smart,” Miles said with a nod.
“So David and Geoff are pretty good friends.” I filed away that information. I wasn’t sure if it was important yet.
“Does this mean we’re done? I’m cold.” Eddie pouted.
“You just want to go back to where the snacks are.” I punched him on the arm.
“And where my game controller is.” Eddie looked at Miles who got the message and looked at me.
“Sure, let’s go so you guys can game.”
We walked back to the car while Miles and Eddie discussed gaming strategies.
––––––––
THE NEXT MORNING IT was time for my next stake-out session, and this time I’d be on my own.
Detective Black coughed loudly.
And with my loyal detective.
Geoff would be working, but when I had looked into Brenda, I had discovered that she had recently quit her job as a librarian. Recently, as in a few days ago. I thought the timing was odd.
So I was back at their home the next morning. At first, it was very quiet, but I’d brought my notebook for some book plotting.
Brenda left her home around eleven o’clock in the morning to get groceries, then she left about an hour later to visit a beauty salon where she stayed almost two hours, driving me insane with boredom.
She left the beauty salon not particularly looking any different, but if Christina had been with me, she would have undoubtedly noticed. Next, I followed her to expensive-looking boutiques before she finally ordered something to go from a coffee place in Woolfield and took a stroll through a nearby park.
Woolfield was slightly bigger than Castlefield, and in my opinion Castlefield was a lot more cosy than this village. Of course Woolfield had one amazing thing that we did not: the lack of a vindictive winged monster.
I parked the Land Rover and got out. The wind was colder than yesterday and I pulled up my collar. Perhaps it was time to hurry up and buy a new scarf.
Brenda was on top of a bridge overlooking a small pond in the middle of the green grass and wooden benches. Ducks were drawn to the bridge, hoping that Brenda brought some snacks, but all she did was sip her hot beverage and stare at the water.
There was a jogger in the park, as well as a few young families and people passing through.
“Hey,” I said as I approached her.
Her made-up eyes widened as she noticed me. “Maggie, right? What a surprise to see you here.” She looked different than before. Her make-up heavier, as was her perfume. She had put down the handful of shopping bags and her eyes darted down to them.
“I was in the neighbourhood,” I said with a smile.
“Yes,” Detective Black said. “It is always better to make them lower their guard.”
Not that I believed that Brenda ever did that. Not truly.
“Are you still looking into that poor girl’s death?” There was a sharpness in her tone that she failed to hide.
“I am. She was killed with my scarf.”
She narrowed her eyes. “What was she doing wearing your scarf?”
“I guess she was cold.”
Brenda sniffed. “She liked to take what wasn’t hers.” Then she looked away, as if she wanted to hide her expression.
It wasn’t as if I was surprised. She clearly hadn’t liked Valerie and she certainly wouldn’t have approved of her having an affair with David.
“I’m sorry you lost your job,” I said. “As a librarian.”
She frowned at me. “How do you know about that? You know what, it doesn’t matter. Why are you bringing it up? What exactly are you accusing me of?”
I smiled again. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel like I was accusing you. I was just wondering why you quit your job. As a writer I love libraries, and librarians do important work.”
At this, she looked more pleased. Her shoulders drooped and the corners of her mouth turned upwards. “Thank you. I did enjoy it, I suppose. But it’s not my dream. Acting is my dream. And I wasn’t fired. I quit.”
“You’re lucky you can afford to live off one salary then. Everything is crazy expensive.”
“Well, Geoff has gotten a few wealthy clients lately so we are both very lucky. It also helps our financial situation that we never had any kids.” She regarded me with a cool expression as if daring me to express sympathy.
I simply nodded. “I can understand that. Well, I’m glad you can follow your heart. The new play looks really good and you’re very talented.”
This time she actually smiled at me. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”
“What do you like most about acting?” I asked.
She tilted her head as she considered that, then took a sip of her drink. “That I get to experience what it’s like to be someone else.”
“That’s what I like about writing as well.”
She nodded at me. “Artists always understand each other.”
Great. Now I was bonding with a murder suspect.