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DCI Dexter was walking out of the police station when Maggie returned to the building. His mouth moved briefly when he saw her, almost as if he were trying to smile.
“Ms Kelburn. I’m not surprised to see you here. I saw you walking away with Polly McKenzie earlier. Are you going to grill me about why we brought her in?”
“I’m not going to grill you, but I would like to know why you questioned her.” She expected him to say it was none of her business.
His reply surprised her. “I will tell you why. And I’ll give you some more information about the case. Would you like to take a walk? It’s a lovely day. I fancy an ice cream. Come on.”
He set off down the street. His jovial tone stunned Maggie, but only for a second. She went after him.
“So?” she asked. “Why did you arrest her?”
“We didn’t arrest her. We merely asked her to help us with our enquiries. What do you think about this new salted caramel flavour that’s everywhere? I can’t get my head around it. I’m not sure if I like the mix of sweet and salty.”
“Salted caramel? What are you going on about?”
DCI Dexter stopped at an ice cream van. He pointed to the items for sale. “I had a salted caramel ice cream last week. I’m not sure whether I enjoyed it or not. Have you ever tried it?”
“Of course I have.” Maggie gave him the briefest of smiles. “I like it.”
Without asking whether she wanted one or not, the inspector bought two salted caramel ice cream cones and handed one to her. Then he set off at a stroll along the street. Maggie stared at her ice cream in confusion, then her bewildered look went to DCI Dexter. Why was he acting so human? Was he trying to befuddle her for some reason? If so, he was doing a good job.
Still, she wasn’t going to say no to a free ice cream.
She caught up with the inspector, and asked, “Why did you ask Polly to help you with your enquiries? She said you’d received a tip-off.”
“We did.” He took a big bite of the ice cream which set Maggie’s teeth on edge. “The person who phoned me disguised their voice, but I now know who it was.” He took another bite of the ice cream. “I think this flavour is growing on me.”
“You should try the salted caramel chocolate bars. They’re delicious.”
“They do chocolate bars in this flavour? I’ll look out for those.”
Maggie told him about the special offers on chocolate bars at a local supermarket. She had a voucher somewhere in her bag, but she wasn’t going to hand that over to anyone.
Maggie asked, “Okay, tell me everything about the case.”
“I’ll tell you what I think you should know, and nothing else.”
“Fair enough.”
DCI Dexter wolfed down the last of his ice cream, and then said, “It was Toby who gave us the tip-off about Polly.”
Maggie almost choked on her ice cream. “Toby?”
“Yes. He came into the station not long after Polly.” He tapped his chin. “You’ve got ice cream just there.”
Using the back of her hand, Maggie wiped her chin clean.
DCI Dexter continued, “Don’t choke, but Toby admitted to killing Harvey Chester too. We’ve got him in a cell at the station.”
Maggie nearly did choke. “No! Toby? No!”
“Yes. He had a chat with me. He said he knew how close Harvey and Polly had become. He was jealous. When he knew how close they were getting, he sent many hate-filled messages to Harvey, hoping to scare him away from treasure hunting. All anonymous. But, obviously, his hate campaign didn’t work.”
Maggie nodded. So, it was Toby who’d sent those similar messages. She didn’t know he had such anger in him.”
“Toby knew about Elliott’s plan to plant a treasure box in that tree near your house, and he told Harvey about it. When Harvey climbed the tree, Toby was waiting. He pushed Harvey out of the tree.”
Uncharacteristically, Maggie threw her half-eaten ice cream in a bin. She didn’t feel hungry anymore. She said, “That doesn’t make sense.”
“Which part?”
“All of it. Well, maybe not the bit about Toby being jealous about Polly and Harvey.” She recalled the lies Toby had told her about the non-existent relationship between Harvey and Polly. He noticed something between them after all. “But Toby doesn’t seem the tree-climbing type. And I know Harvey wasn’t because he was scared of heights.”
The inspector gave her a narrow-eyed look. “How do you know that?”
“Someone told me. How did Toby know about Elliott’s hunt? And how did he lure Harvey there?”
“He hasn’t told us yet. Who told you about Harvey’s fear of heights?”
Maggie didn’t answer that question. “Why did Toby phone you about Polly? Why did he want to get her into trouble?”
“He was angry with her. He felt betrayed by her. But after he’d phoned us about Polly, he felt guilty, so that’s why he came into the station.”
“It doesn’t make any sense at all.”
“Not only did he confess to Harvey’s murder, he confessed to Delia’s mugging.”
Maggie stopped walking. “He did? Why did he mug her? Why did he want those notebooks and photos? And did he plant them in Polly’s house?”
“I don’t know yet. I’m going to talk to him soon.” He gave her a wry look. “Get that hopeful look off your face. Were you about to ask me if you could watch me interview him?”
“No,” Maggie lied. “But I thought you were taking me into your confidence.”
“Not really. I was sharing information that might help with your investigation. So, now you know. And you can leave everything to me now.”
“But how did Toby know—”
DCI Dexter held his hand up. “It’s none of your concern now. I’ll get the full details from Toby. And if necessary, I’ll inform Delia Chester. Well, this has been a pleasant walk. I think I am a fan of salted caramel after all. Goodbye.” He swiftly turned on his heels and walked away.
Maggie stared after him. Toby’s murder confession didn’t make any sense. Being jealous about Harvey’s relationship with Polly was one thing, but murder was taking jealousy too far. Wasn’t it? And what about the sawn-through branches? Had Toby done that? And why did he mug Delia? Was there evidence about Toby in Harvey’s notebooks which he didn’t want anyone to see? But what kind of evidence?
Maggie rubbed her forehead. She was giving herself a headache with all these questions.
She realised she’d forgotten to tell DCI Dexter about Harvey booking the party at Roundhay Park. Did that even matter now?
Maggie had a feeling that it did matter. Especially Harvey’s planned celebration cake, and what the message could have been.
And she knew what she was going to do about it.