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When the women had gone, I was left alone with Christina who was at the counter, tidying up. I still wanted to give her space to figure out her feelings, and so I went upstairs. I wrote for an hour before going next door to walk Bailey. I needed to clear my head, even if it meant going outside, where the sun was. I’d put on a lot of sunscreen. Again. It made me so sticky that someone could probably throw me against the wall, and I’d stay there.
There were a few customers in the shop, and Bailey was lying on the floor. Only his tail moved while I approached him.
I had to look twice when I caught sight of Emblyn dusting one of the shelves with small statues of goddesses. She was so focussed she didn’t even notice me.
Nancy was at the counter, ringing up a customer. She was still wearing the golden necklace that Gus had given her. When she was done, she turned to me, and when I nodded towards Emblyn, she said: “Best to keep the enemy close.”
I hadn’t expected her to take a chance on Emblyn so soon, but it meant that perhaps she’d taken a liking to the girl. Apart from the one stealing incident, she was actually a sweet girl. And lonely. The latter was something we could remedy here in Castlefield.
“I’m glad you are giving her an opportunity to make amends,” I said.
“I won’t go easy on her, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“Perish the thought,” I said with a grin and grabbed the leash from under the counter. “I’m taking him for a walk, even if it means braving the big fireball in the sky.”
“I am so proud of you,” she said in an exaggerated tone.
“You should be. This is England, we should be having clouds and rain all 365 days. This is a huge betrayal.”
Emblyn looked up as I was leaving, and I winked at her. She beamed back at me.
I was beginning to like her. She’d get along with my aunt just fine.
Bailey trotted alongside me as I walked past the village square. By now Eddie and Sophia were gone, and I suspected he’d taken her for a picnic. It was his go-to date in summer, spring, and even autumn.
I went in the direction of the local park and then I’d walk past a few cottages and make my way back to the church, so I could check out the cemetery. It was unlikely anything was hidden there, but it was on my way.
There were plenty of people in the park, despite the heat. Families with small children were feeding ducks, and there was someone with a fancy camera taking pictures of the two swans in the pond.
I had made it halfway around the pond when, on a bench, was Rachel. She was staring at the water, a frown on her face. But at least she looked better than the day before.
Bailey sniffed around, but I tugged him along towards the murder suspect. What’s a mystery author to do?
“Hi,” I said. “May I?”
She looked at the bench as if she’d only just noticed it. “Yes, of course,” she said and made room for me.
“How are you holding up?” I asked after scratching Bailey’s chin. He moved over to Rachel who bent down to stroke his ears.
“You’re pretty much the only person who’s spoken to me. Well, apart from the police,” she said.
“I’m sorry about that. It’s because you threatened him. I mean, you did say you were staying here so you could talk to him. Did you ever do that?”
“No. I was still planning on what to say to him, as well as mentally preparing myself. He could be very charming.”
“I highly doubt that,” Detective Black said.
Me too.
“Can you think of a reason someone would want him dead?”
“Plenty. He was a thief. It wouldn’t surprise me if all his manuscripts were stolen. I don’t think he had a creative bone in his body,” Rachel said. “I also think he enjoyed doing it. Fooling women. He was a user, and he only cared about himself.”
I contemplated this.
“Not that I want to speak ill of the dead,” she added.
Detective Black scoffed.
A few minutes later I left Rachel to continue brooding while I resumed my walk with Bailey. Normally he was relieved to get some exercise, but it was so hot that he seemed offended that we were even contemplating moving around. He soon changed his tune when we ran into a Beagle.
Eventually we reached the church, and I entered through the iron gate. There were still standing tables and lots of people were taking a moment to chat and have a drink or snack. I had to walk around the church to reach the cemetery. Bailey dutifully followed me as I looked for anything unusual. There were no patches of ground that looked like someone had recently overturned them. It had been a long shot, but still I found myself disappointed.
“The best thing to do when you hit a dead end,” Detective Black said, “is to do nothing and let the murder simmer.”
“Simmer?”
“Or float? Drift? Ripen? You’re the one who does the metaphors. Now, come on, the best way to get your mind off this murder is to get into the fictional one.”
“Good point. Come on, Bailey.” I turned around and shrieked, not having expected someone to be there.
“Well,” Lily said with a scowl, “you’re no prize either. I’m sure you pride yourself on being odd, but what are you doing skulking around in the cemetery like some...some...skulker?”
“Impressive vocab,” I said dryly.
She narrowed her eyes at me.
“I’m looking for clues. Remember, the one Ava told me about?” I said.
She gasped. “That’s right. I already forgot about that. My mind is all over the place, like confetti. You know, I’m having the most terrible day. It started off well enough, with all the excitement brewing over potential clues that we found in the books, but ever since then it’s been dreadful.”
“That was half an hour ago.”
“Exactly. All that dread packed into thirty minutes.”
“And what exactly happened that was so awful?” Lily could be a tad dramatic, but only after she drank white wine. Nothing else, just white wine.
“I was planning on returning home, to check out some more about those authors that came here, when I ran into my dear friend Pam, and she talked me into getting an ice cream. It is summer after all, but then I dropped my ice cream and it stained my shirt and Pam laughed. Laughed, I tell you. I can still hear it. Not only that, but the stain probably won’t come out of this shirt,” she said as she pointed, “which means that this shirt is ruined and from now on will remind me of my failure. Then something even more awful happened when I went on my way home, because I came across Pandora and she was about to chase me, but then she chased a red tabby.” She scowled. “A cat was more alluring than me, apparently. Who does that chicken think she is with all those feathers and those eyes?”
“Indeed, ho—”
“And then when I came home, feeling dejected, I bit my tongue, so that was rather disappointing. Also, to make matters worse, I’ve got a new dining room table. And it’s actually not that nice. So there’s that. I came back here with my head held high, though, to show everyone how strong I am. And mostly because I’m peckish, and they’re handing out sausage rolls.”
“You enjoy your white wine?”
She blushed. “How did you know?”
“A hunch.” I was about to leave.
“Wait, there was something else I was going to tell you.” She took a moment to think. “Ah, yes. The handsome lawyer who bought the Pembroke,” she started.
“Yes?”
“There’s this woman who keeps going into his house. Sometimes with groceries.”
“Kelly I think her name is. She works for him,” I said.
“She bought Extra chewing gum on Wednesday morning,” she whispered as if it was a major secret.
“How is that important?”
She sighed. “I thought you were supposed to be good at this. Carl popped that chewing gum after every meal, probably because he thought he’d be making out with one of the women here. And yes, I was one of the women he hit on. Not successfully, of course. I’d rather lick a lamp post.” She put her hand in front of her mouth. “Did I just say that? I think I’ve had too much wine.”
“You definitely have. But thanks, bye.” I picked up Bailey and ran to Nancy’s shop so I could drop him off, but I’d barely reached the village square before I started sweating as if I’d run a marathon. I started speed walking instead. I’d soon be in an air-conditioned space, I just had to hang on.
“Wait, can’t you just work on your novel instead?” Detective Black said.
I shook my head vigorously.
Emblyn was near the entrance and looked up when I approached her. “Hi, Maggie,” she said.
I placed Bailey in her arms and with a frown on my face, continued on to the Pembroke.
“Bye, Maggie,” Emblyn called after me.
––––––––
I LET MYSELF IN WITH the key that Miles had given me. The place was quiet, and I shouted Miles’ name. I wasn’t sure if Kelly was there, but since Miles was now on holiday, I figured he was doing his own groceries.
I took out my phone to ring Miles, when he came past the staircase.
“Maggie, what a nice—”
“Where’s Kelly?” I asked.
“She’s off.”
“Is she going on holiday, do you know?”
“No, I don’t. What’s this about?” he asked.
“Call her and get her over here, and I’ll call Alistair. We’ll need him.”
“For what?”
“Do you chew bubble gum?”
“Good heavens, no. That stuff is terrible.” He made a face. “What am I? A cow?”
“Then it’s very likely that Kelly gave Carl a room in this building. All his belongings will be here. If she didn’t get rid of them.”
He frowned. “I really hope that is not true.”
I called Alistair while Miles called Kelly. Both of them picked up, and both of them were on their way. Kelly had no idea why; Miles had said it was an emergency and nothing more. Technically, it was, so that wasn’t a lie.
While we waited for both of them to arrive, I filled him in on what Lily had told me.
“That means his phone could be here as well,” he said.
“And that will definitely come in handy. It’s quite possible that he texted the killer, or the killer texted him.”
“Why would she let him stay here without telling me, though?” Miles asked.
“Apparently he could be charming. I didn’t see it, but a lot of women did. It’s possible he thought this hotel was available; the website is still running. He probably wanted privacy, to not have anyone see his comings and goings. Maybe because of Wendy, I don’t know. But Gregor told us that Carl came here because of a woman. That he told them he was staying with her.”
“Maybe she is that woman,” Miles said.
“Right.”
Kelly was the first to show up. She wasn’t how I pictured her to be. She was in her thirties, chubby and pretty. Her hair short, no makeup.
Miles didn’t waste any time and questioned her as if she was on the stand. He presented the witness account and fired questions at her. I watched her frown, then burst into tears. He really was something.
Alistair came in just as she was crying on Miles’ shoulder.
I filled him in, and we waited for her to calm down.
“Alright, I helped him. He had a room on the second floor,” she said.
Miles shook his head.
If someone had secretly let a stranger stay in my home, I’d probably do more than shake my head.
“Why did you help him?” Alistair asked.
She made a face, as if she was tasting something foul. “He—he was my half-brother,” she said.
“What?” we all said simultaneously.
“His father had an affair with my mother. He left him and his mother behind to be with us. He had me and my sister and never got in touch with Carl or his mother again. Not that I know of, anyway. Carl contacted me a few years ago, and he was nice at first. But he’d always make these remarks that were designed to make me feel guilty. And it worked. I loaned him a total of five thousand pounds and never got it back. And when he told me he wanted to stay in the Pembroke Hotel, even though I informed him it wasn’t a hotel right now, I still felt pressured to give him a room.” She glanced at Miles. “I’m so sorry.”
Miles touched her shoulder. “Show us the room,” he said.
She sighed, probably relieved we would no longer focus on her, and led the way to the second floor. It was the first room on the right. None of the doors were locked, since the hotel wasn’t open, and so we could just stroll in.
“Have you touched anything?” Alistair asked.
She shook her head. “No, I’ve not even been in here. Not even the maids have been in here.”
“And why didn’t you tell anyone after he died?” I asked.
She teared up again. “Because I felt relieved that he was dead, and then I felt bad about feeling that way. I also didn’t want anyone to know that I’d let him stay here. I didn’t want to disappoint Miles.” She started sobbing again.
Miles pressed his lips together but didn’t comfort her this time.
They both lingered near the door while we went inside. There was one suitcase, and packets of bubble gum were scattered across the desk. Other than that, it was surprisingly tidy. There was no sign of a statuette of a quill, but his phone was charging on his night stand.
Alistair took out gloves and picked up the phone. “Password protected,” he said. “I’m sure we’ll be able to crack that at the station. Eventually.” He sighed.
“He was very vain, you should try his birthday. Do you know it?” I asked Kelly the latter.
She shook her head.
Alistair put it in a clear plastic bag that he apparently always carried around. At least he was prepared. He put the phone in his breast pocket. “I’ll take this back to the station. It doesn’t appear as if there’s anything else, but I’ll get a few constables to come pick up his stuff. I’ll wait here until they arrive. You guys wait downstairs.”
At least we finally had some more clues.