A Deadly Restoration (Julia Blake Cozy Mystery Book 2) (3 page)

Chapter 11

I
kept thinking about Mr Heap and his possible involvement in Leo Kennedy’s
death. By the end of the day I had convinced myself that Mr Heap had sneaked
into Leo Kennedy’s house and pushed the tiles onto him.

I
wasn’t sure what his motive was though. Perhaps Leo had found out that Mr Heap
had made a fortune with his crooked council business and that he wanted a piece
of it. Maybe Leo was bribing Mr Heap.

That
motive fitted together nicely. Too nicely perhaps.

When
I arrived home later on I saw John Thomas’s van parked next door. He was
loading tiles into the back. As I drove nearer I could see that some of the
tiles had blood on them. Shouldn’t they be kept as evidence?

I
pulled into my driveway and quickly got out of my car. I was hoping that I
wouldn’t be spotted by the builder.

I
put my key in the front door lock. I got a prickly feeling at the back of my
neck, as if someone was watching me. I looked behind me. John Thomas was looking
at me, he was holding up a blood stained tile. He winked at me and then turned
away.

I
got into my house in double quick time and locked, and bolted, the door behind
me. I didn’t feel safe on my street any more, not with Leo Kennedy’s killer
still on the loose.

I
made some tea for myself but I didn’t eat much. I felt uneasy for some reason.

A
while later I peeped through my front window. John Thomas’s van had gone. That
made me feel better and I began to relax.

I
never did finish my bath from the other night so I decided to try again. I had
been in the bath for a good twenty minutes when I heard the sound of glass
breaking.

I
was instantly alert. I had an immediate vision of John Thomas and Razor
breaking into my house. I didn’t want to be dragged down the street in Razor’s
slobbering jaws.

I
jumped out of the bath, quickly dried myself and threw on some clothes. I
wasn’t going to be caught in my dressing gown again.

I
armed myself with a toilet cleaning brush and quietly opened the bathroom door.
I listened but couldn’t hear any movements. I crept along the landing and into
each upstairs room, my toilet brush raised. The rooms were empty.

I
gathered my courage together and went downstairs. My hands were shaking and my
knees had a horrible wobbly feeling.

Within
minutes I had checked each room. There was no intruder in my house. And there
wasn’t any broken glass anywhere.

So
where had the noise come from?

I
opened my back door and looked over the fence to Leo Kennedy’s house. The glass
in his door had been broken.

I
looked at the upstairs windows. There was a beam of moving light, as if someone
was shining a torch around. I could also see a faint silhouette at the window.

I
recognised the big nose.

It
was Mr Heap.

Chapter 12

I
did the sensible thing and phoned DI Clarke.

“Stay
inside your house, Ms Blake. Don’t confront him, he could be dangerous. We’re
on our way.”

“Okay,
I’ll stay right here,” I confirmed.

I
waited for a minute then I went back outside. What if Mr Heap left before the
police got here?

I
could see from the torch light that he was still upstairs.

I
stood on my bin and climbed over the fence. I dropped down onto the grass. I
quietly pulled Leo Kennedy’s bin over to the fence in case I needed a quick
getaway.  I entered through the back door, avoiding the broken glass. I wasn’t
going to confront Heap, I just didn’t want him to get away.

I
walked through the front room and stood at the bottom of the stairs. I could
hear the sound of drawers being opened. I looked around the room. The moon was
shining through the window and I could see blood stains on the wooden floor.
The moon reflected off something in the corner of the room. I walked over for a
closer look.

I
bent down to see what it was.

I
heard a creak on the stairs behind. Heap was coming down!

I
straightened up and made to move.

“You
again!” Heap yelled.

I
didn’t wait to answer. I bolted from the room and out of the back door.

Heap
chased after me.

I
tried to climb onto Leo’s bin in readiness to leap back over the fence. My foot
slipped and I fell to the ground. Heap grabbed my arm.

I
wriggled free and ran towards the back garden. The moon’s rays hadn’t reached
the back garden and it was dark. I ran blindly onwards. I could hear Heap
behind me.

All
of a sudden the security light came on. It startled me and I fell into a hole.
I tried to scramble to my knees but Heap had caught up with me. He grabbed my
hair and pulled me to my feet.

“Why
are you following me?” he snarled.

“Let
go off my hair, you’re hurting me!” I gasped

Heap
let go. “Why were you in that house? Are you from the council? Have you been
spying on me?”

“No,
I saw a light on and wondered who it was. I was just being a concerned
neighbour,” I  said as convincingly as I could.

Heap
glared at me. “I don’t believe you.”

He
raised his hand.

“Don’t
kill me!” I cried out.

“Why
would I kill you? I was going to help you out of that hole.” He looked
offended.

I
was in a hole, literally, so I decided to say what was on my mind.

“Did
you kill Leo Kennedy?”

“No!
What sort of person do you think I am?”

“Someone
who takes bribes to make sure people get planning permission for work they
shouldn’t be doing.”

Heap
looked down at me. He really was a shifty looking fellow. “So what if I take
bribes? Or a fee, as I like to call it. It doesn’t cause any harm. And anyway,
you can’t prove that I take bribes, I always cover my tracks.”

“That’s
interesting, you’ll have to tell us more, Mr Heap,” a voice behind us said. It was
DI Clarke. “Step away from Ms Blake.”

Heap
did so.

DI
Clarke looked at him and said, “Would you like to explain why you were in Mr
Kennedy’s house?”

“He
owed me money,” Heap said. “I was looking for it.”

“Bribe
money?” I asked.

“None
of your business.” Heap glared at me.

DI
Clarke motioned to a uniformed officer. “Take Mr Heap down to the station. He
has a lot of explaining to do.”

The
officer led Heap away. I was still standing in the hole. It was where Cora
Robert’s apple tree had been.

DI
Clarke put his hand out to help me. I tried to move but my foot was caught on
something.

“Look
at this,” I told the inspector, my voice barely above a whisper.

He
did so. “Is that what I think it is?”

“It
is,” I answered.

I
thought for a moment about the things I’d heard people say over the last few
days.

“I
think this is a motive for murder. I’ve got a feeling I know who killed Leo
Kennedy,” I said.

Chapter 13

I
took DI Clarke into the front room of Leo Kennedy’s house and showed him what
I’d noticed earlier. I explained who I thought had brought it into the house.

“That’s
not enough evidence to convict them,” he said.

“Can
I talk to them? On my own and see if I can get them to confess?” I said.

“That’s
not police procedure. We’ve got enough evidence in the back garden to arrest someone.”

“But
if I could go in first and have a chat, and get all the details?”

DI
Clarke didn’t look convinced.

“It
might save you a lot of time. Just five minutes?” I asked hopefully.

He
gave me one of his searching looks and then finally said, “Five minutes, then
I’m taking over.”

“Thank
you. Shall we arrange a visit for tomorrow morning? I’ve got their phone
number.”

DI
Clarke nodded. “Okay. But five minutes is all you’re having, Ms Blake.”

The
next morning I drove up to the house of the person I was visiting. DI Clarke
had followed me in his car and parked behind me. I got out of my car and looked
at him. He held up his hand to indicate five minutes. I nodded. I should have
asked for ten minutes, this wasn’t going to be an easy conversation.

I
knocked on the house door.

Cora
Roberts opened it and smiled at me. “Hello Julia, right on time. Do come in.
I’m dying to know what you want to talk to me about.”

I
followed Cora into her living room. Stephen was there. He didn’t look happy.

“I
don’t know why you want to have an ‘important conversation’ with my mother, and
I certainly don’t know why I have to be here. I’m a very busy man, you know.”

Cora
gave him a loving look, “I’m sure Julia won’t take up too much time, Stephen,
love.”

I
sat down in a chair opposite Stephen. Cora sat next to her son on the settee.

“Tea,
Julia? And help yourself to a bun. I had to make some more of Stephen’s
favourite ones. He just loves them!” Cora laughed.

I
took a cup of tea but declined the bun. My throat already felt tight from what
I had to say.

Stephen
took a bun and ate it in two bites. Crumbs and little silver balls dropped onto
his suit.

I
took a sip to help my throat feel better. Then I began to speak.

“The
police know who killed Leo Kennedy, and they think they know why.”

Cora
put her cup down and looked at me. Stephen crammed another bun into his mouth.

“Before
he died, Leo Kennedy arranged for your apple tree to be dug up. I accidently
fell into the hole where it had been. I landed on a skeleton,” I explained.

Cora
gave me a sad smile and said, “That would be my husband, Derek. I killed him
and buried him under the tree.”

“Don’t
say another word, Mother!” Stephen spluttered.

Cora
put her arm on Stephen’s and said, “It’s okay love, let me tell Julia exactly what
happened.”

She
turned back to me and said, “Derek used to hit me when we were married. I put
up with it. That’s just what you did in those days. But then he started on
Stephen and I couldn’t let him get away with that. You wouldn’t, would you
Julia? You wouldn’t let someone hurt your baby?”

I
gave a little nod. I could understand that.

“When
you told me that Mr Kennedy was going to pull up the tree I knew that he’d find
the body, so I killed him too. I didn’t like that man, not after what Stephen
told me,” Cora said.

“What
did you tell her?” I asked Stephen.

Stephen
shifted a bit in his seat, he brushed crumbs off his suit. “I told mum that Leo
Kennedy should have paid her more for her house, a lot more.”

“And
it’s money that goes to Stephen when I die. It was like Mr Kennedy was stealing
money from Stephen, hurting him just like his dad did.”

There
was a knock at the door.

“That
will be DI Clarke. Shall I let him in?” I asked.

Cora
smiled. “No, I’ll do it. Then I’ll tell DI Clarke exactly what I’ve told you. I
expect he’ll take me to the police station. I’ve never been inside a police
station before.”

Cora
stood up and left the room. I could hear the door opening and Cora chatting.
She sounded cheerful, as if she let policemen into her house every day.

I
looked at Stephen. He didn’t meet my gaze. He reached for yet another bun.

He
didn’t seem too bothered that his mum had just admitted to killing two men.

Chapter 14

DI
Clarke came into the room, followed by a smiling Cora.

She
looked at Stephen. You could see the love radiating from her.

Cora
invited the inspector to sit down. He said no to her offer of tea.

“Has
someone confessed to the murder of Leo Kennedy?” D I Clarke asked me.

“It
was me. I did it. I’ll get my bag and then we can go to the police station,”
Cora said.

I
said, “I’m not sure how you got to Leo Kennedy’s house that night, Cora.”

Cora
stopped smiling and thought for a second, “I got the number 53 bus.”

“It
doesn’t run past 6 o’clock,” I told her.

“Yes!
Of course. I got a taxi,” Cora corrected herself.

I
highly doubted that Cora had spare money for a taxi.

I
carried on talking, “So how did you kill Leo?”

Cora
glanced at Stephen. He was examining his trouser leg.

“Tiles.
I pushed tiles onto him.”

“Those
tiles were heavy. I’m surprised you had the strength to push them, aren’t you
surprised Stephen?”

Stephen
shrugged. He reached for another bun. I whipped the plate away before he could
reach them.

“Haven’t
you anything to say? About your mum’s confession?” I asked.

There
was silence as we all waited for Stephen to speak.

He
didn’t speak.

“It’ll
be awful for your mum in prison, won’t it?” I prompted.

Stephen
still didn’t speak.

I’d
had enough. “For goodness sake! Are you going to let your mum lie for you? What
sort of man are you?”

He
threw his hands up and said, “Alright! Mum didn’t kill anyone. I did it. I
killed that nasty crook, Kennedy. I knocked him onto the floor and then pushed
tiles on top of him. He deserved it, stealing my inheritance!”

Cora
moved closer to her son. “No Stephen! It was me. I’m going to prison, not you!”

Stephen
stood up and moved over to his mother. He leant down and gave her cuddle.

“No,
Mum. I won’t let you take the blame for what I’ve done, even though I know you
would happily do that. I’m a terrible son, I don’t deserve a mother like you.”

I
gave a little nod of agreement.

D
I Clarke interrupted, “And what about the skeleton in the garden? Who wants to
admit to that?”

Stephen
put his arm around his mum and said, “That was me too. It happened when I was
about sixteen. I couldn’t bear to see him hitting my mum anymore. I whacked him
on the head with a shovel. Then used the shovel to dig a hole under the apple
tree.”

“Did
you know about that?” I asked Cora.

She
nodded. “It was self defence. Derek was having a real go at Stephen, and then
he turned on me. I knew he was buried under the apple tree. I thought he was
going to turn the apples sour, but he didn’t. We got some lovely apples the
year after. “

I
suddenly thought about the apple pies Cora had made me over the years. My
stomach felt queasy.

“I’ll
need to talk to you further about that, Mrs Roberts. Self defence or not, you
should have reported your son at the time. One of the skeleton’s arms is
missing. Can you explain what happened to it?” D I Clarke asked.

Stephen
frowned. “He was  in one piece when I buried him.”

My
hand flew to my mouth as I remembered something. “Razor has it! That’s the dog
that belongs to John Thomas the builder. He ran off with a couple of bones the
other day.”

DI
Clarke shook his head. “I hope he hasn’t eaten them.”

Stephen
looked at me. “How did you know it was me that killed Leo Kennedy? I didn’t
leave any evidence.”

I
pointed to the buns that Stephen had been scoffing. “You left a couple of
little silver balls in Leo’s front room. They must have been stuck to your
clothing and then rolled off in his house.”

“Kennedy
could have made those buns!” Stephen interrupted.

“He
didn’t look the baking type. And besides, he didn’t have an oven. When I saw
the skeleton in the garden I knew it must have been you or your mum that killed
Leo, you’re the ones that would have a motive to do so.”

“Mum!”
Stephen interrupted me again. “She’s too frail to kill anyone.”

“You
should have seen her whack a woman in the supermarket the other day over a
piece of fish,” I said.

“It
was a haddock,” Cora added.

I
continued, “When I saw the little balls I knew it must have been you who
dropped them. Your mum doesn’t like those buns.”

We
all looked at the buns.

“Caught
by the balls.” Stephen gave a little smile.

DI
Clarke stood up and read Stephen his rights. Cora clung onto her son.

He
kissed the top of her head and said, “It’s okay, mum. I have to own up to what
I’ve done.  You can come and visit me in prison as often as you like.”

Cora
started to cry as Stephen was taken away. I put my arm around her.

“You’ll
probably see more of him when he’s in prison,” I said in what I hoped was a
reassuring manner. A thought crossed my mind that Cora might be charged with
concealing a murder, but I kept that to myself.

Cora
wiped her tears away. “Will they let me take some baking in to him? I don’t
want him to starve. I’ve seen those programmes on the telly, they make
prisoners eat pig swill.”

“I’m
not sure. But if they do I don’t think Stephen will want the silver ball topped
buns ever again.”

Cora
shook her wrinkly fist at the buns. “Stupid buns! Why did I make them? If I
hadn’t Stephen would have got away with it!”

“Would
you have wanted him to?” I asked.

Cora
thought for a moment. “No, I wouldn’t. I’m still proud of him. He’s a better
man than his father ever was. I’ll throw these buns away. I can’t bear to look
at them. Unless you want them?”

I
looked at the buns and shook my head. They would only make me think about the
murdered Leo Kennedy, and the restoration work that would never be completed.