Murder on the Levels: An Exham on Sea Cosy Mystery (Exham on Sea Cosy Crime Mysteries Book 2) (15 page)

Marina frowned. “I suppose he had a mouthful or too of the poisoned food. Just enough to make himself ill. No one suspected him, at all. I can understand how he made sure Kevin died, but why Vince?”

“I was puzzled by that, as well, until I met Vince’s neighbour. He told me Vince had a heart condition and took medication. I bet Vince’s medical records show the doctor prescribed a form of digitalis to keep his heart regular. The dose from the sandwiches, combined with his regular tablets, gave him a fatal overdose. Vince’s death was just an accident.”

Libby suddenly remembered something else Vince’s neighbour had said. “Members of the club used to visit Vince, when he first had trouble with his heart. Simon must have been in the house. He could have gone to the bathroom, found Vince’s medication and helped himself to some. He wouldn’t have to go to the trouble of collecting foxglove leaves. All he had to do was crush Vince’s tablets and dissolve them.”

Angela shivered. “You’ve told us how he managed it, but not the reason. Why did Simon Logan kill Kevin Batty?”

“It goes back ten years, I’m afraid, to the day your husband died.”

Angela gasped, her face suddenly pale. “I’m sorry,” Libby said. “No one suspected foul play, when Geoff crashed his car, because he was driving far too fast”

“That’s true,” Angela whispered.

“Simon Logan had loosened a wheel nut on Geoff’s car, making it steer all over the road, knowing Geoff would eventually go too fast and crash off the road. He could have tampered with the car any time. Maybe several days before the crash. All he had to do was wait. No wonder he was certain he’d got away with it.”

Angela’s knuckles were pressed to her face. Libby swept on, keen to finish the story. “One day, Simon was in the Lighthouse Inn with Kevin and Alan, and they got talking about the old days and their favourite subject, cars. Alan mentioned the loose wheel nut on Geoff’s Porsche. Simon Logan was shocked. After all, the murder had been unsuspected for ten years. Kevin saw his face, and jumped to the right conclusion. Unfortunately for Kevin, he tried a spot of blackmail. I imagine Simon played along, maybe even made a payment or two, all the while plotting to kill Kevin.”

Max put in, “We all know Kevin was brighter than people gave him credit for, and he loved money.”

Angela was shaking her head slowly, dazed. “I don’t understand. Why would Simon want to kill Geoff? They were friends. At one time, I thought they’d be partners, but then Simon went off to make money from his jingles. Why did Simon hate my husband?”

Back in business

If only Libby didn’t have to tell the whole tale. She’d give anything to leave matters there, but Angela deserved the truth. Libby sighed, and let the words tumble out. “Simon killed Geoff out of jealousy, partly because you married him instead of Simon.” Angela flushed scarlet.

Libby braced herself to deliver the final blow that was going to break her friend’s heart. “Simon did nothing about it. They stayed friends. After all, Simon’s career was solid, while Geoff had yet to make his mark in the world. He was even willing to help his old friend out. But then, Geoff double-crossed Simon, and stole his work. It was the last straw.”

All the colour drained from Angela’s face. “Stole his work? What do you mean?”

“You remember the different style of writing on the last few pages of Geoff’s manuscript? It was nothing to do with a sprained wrist, or tiredness, or anything like that. It was Simon’s writing. He composed the music. Geoff had a block and he couldn’t finish the quintet, so his friend did it for him.”

Angela walked over to the window, to gaze out towards the smooth green knoll behind the house. Her words were strangled when she spoke, as though her throat had constricted. “It’s true Geoff was having a few problems. He told me once he thought his creativity was drying up, but then he seemed to get over it. If only I’d realised he was struggling.” She twisted the cord of her glasses, tying it in knots. “I never realised. Oh, Geoff, why didn’t you tell me?”

Libby said, “He asked his old friend to help him out. Then, by the time he was famous, he didn’t think it mattered that the work wasn’t his own.”

Angela scrubbed at her eyes, the ball of tissue close to disintegration. “I knew Geoff could be selfish, sometimes. His work always came first, but I would never have believed he’d let his friend down, like that. How could he be so dishonest?”

Marina heaved herself off the sofa to offer Angela an expensive, scented handkerchief. “And the attempt on Steve?”

Libby remembered the scene at the rehearsal. Friends, enjoying the sun on the patio. Mandy getting her rival drunk, Simon explaining how Geoff always drove too fast. “Steve was there when we talked about the manuscript. How the writing was different from Geoff’s. Simon told me about Geoff’s accident. He must have been trying to put me off the scent. I was getting too close, asking about Kevin, then talking about the manuscript.”

Her shoulders sagged. “That was when he decided he had to get rid of me. First, he had to deal with Steve, who remembered Geoff’s accident, so clearly. One day, Steve might put two and two together, like Kevin did. It must have been easy, driving up close behind Steve, forcing his motor bike off the road. The police will find the scrapings of paint on Steve’s bike match Simon’s car. Then, Simon came to finish the job and kill me. He would have succeeded, too, but for Mandy. She’s the real hero of the day.”

Angela’s damp smile wavered, but she said, “Mandy’s quite a girl, even if she does her best to put everyone off with those awful tattoos.”

Libby opened her mouth, then closed it again. No need to tell anyone her suspicion that Mandy’s tattoos were fake. The girl was entitled to a little deception.

Libby’s phone rang. She slid it out of her pocket and pressed the green button. “Mandy? Is everything OK?”

“More than that. Frank’s out of jail, and the bakery’s opening again tomorrow. Frank says, please bring plenty of chocolates, because he’s contacted the press and they’ll all be there in the morning.”

***

Ali rang, that evening. She gave a blow by blow account of the journey to South America, complete with love-struck declarations of Andy’s kindness, cleverness and street-wisdom. As her phone battery was dying, she asked, “Anything exciting happened in Exham, Mum? Did you solve the great food-poisoning mystery?”

Libby took a deep breath. No point getting Ali in a flap, not when she was on the other side of the world. “It’s all sorted out. Fuzzy and I are having a quiet evening. Enjoy yourself.”

It was late, by the time Libby put the finishing touches to the batch of chocolates. Proud, she counted the trays and the pile of cardboard ballotins. Tomorrow, they’d be on sale at the bakery. Every single member of the local history society had put in a huge advance order.

Max had brought her home after the meeting, trying to persuade her to get an early night and promising to meet next morning, to walk Shipley and Bear on the beach.

Libby waved him off, glad they were friends again. However maddening the man could be, she knew she could turn to him whenever she needed help.

Friendship was quite enough, for now. She was ashamed to think how quickly she’d succumbed to Simon Logan’s false charms. So much for her proud boast of independence. Her powers of intuition obviously needed a reboot if she wasn’t to fall for every attractive killer she met.

The cat stretched out on the sofa, catching the last rays of sun. Libby poured a glass of wine, curled up beside Fuzzy and stroked the soft head. For once, the cat let her.

Who knew what would become of Max and Libby in the months to come? He was still investigating AJP Associates. Pritchards were innocent of Kevin’s murder, but they were still in Max’s sights for fraud and money laundering, and he’d be off on his travels again soon, gathering evidence. At least he’d promised to leave Bear with Libby in future.

Libby still had to get to the bottom of Trevor’s involvement. Maybe tomorrow she’d think about it. There were still loose ends to be tied up, like Trevor’s strange instruction not to sell the house for five years.

Tonight, it didn’t seem to matter. Libby sighed, contented, pleased that Mandy would be back soon, from another visit to Steve. For the first time, Libby felt at home in Exham. She buried her face in the cat’s warm fur. “I think we’ll stay here a while longer, Fuzzy.”

Thanks for reading

Thank you for reading Murder on the Levels. I hope you had fun with the inhabitants of Exham on Sea. If you liked the story, please tell other readers.
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About the Exham on Sea Mysteries

Love cozy crime? Feed your little grey cells on The Exham on Sea Mysteries, a series of short murder mysteries set in a small seaside town in Somerset. Murder on the Levels is the second story in the series.

In the first story, Murder at the Lighthouse, Libby Forest arrives on the coast after years in a disastrous marriage, determined to build a new life making cakes and chocolates in Exham on Sea, where she discovers her talent for solving mysteries. Aided and abetted by Bear, an enormous Carpathian Sheepdog, Fuzzy, an aloof marmalade cat and handsome, secretive Max Ramshore, she puts together the pieces of the jigsaw to find the culprit.

The stories include a cast of local characters, including Mandy the teenage Goth, Frank the baker and Detective Sergeant Joe Ramshore, Max's estranged son. The green fields, rolling hills and sandy beaches of the West Country provide the perfect setting for crime, intrigue and mystery.

For lovers of Agatha Christie novels, Midsomer Murders, lovable pets and cake, the series offers a continuing supply of quick crime stories, each one short enough to read in one sitting, as Libby solves a mixture of intriguing mysteries and uncovers the secrets of the small town's past.

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Secrets, lies, murders and mysteries abound at Thatcham Hall, a fictional grand country house set in the green, rolling hills of 19th century Victorian England, where the Thatcham Hall Mysteries take place.

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Philomena, a determined orphan from the slums of Victorian London, tumbles from one disastrous plan to another, haunted by terrifying dreams of a man with cold green eyes.

Impatient with the social conventions she encounters in the great English country house, Thatcham Hall, she meets and crosses swords with the handsome, widowed Lord Thatcham, complicating life still further by falling for a man with secrets of his own.
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