Donald's Death (Cara Daniels Cozy Mystery Book 1) (3 page)

Chapter 7

Cara was surprised at how quickly Gran
ran towards her car, she had trouble keeping up with her. Gran was driving away
before Cara even had her seatbelt fastened.

Gran said, “There’s a little tablet device
in the side pocket of my handbag. Take it out, find the app that’s got a number
plate symbol on it and tap it.”

Cara did so. “Now what?”

“Type in Donald’s plate number. Can you
still see his car? He’s in the one two cars ahead.”

Cara waited for a curve in the road so
that she could see Donald’s number plate on the back of his car. She typed it
in. “An address has come up, and so has Donald’s name. Is this even legal?”

“No. There’s no time to worry about
that now. Read the address out.”

Cara read the address. Gran nodded. “I
know where that is. It doesn’t matter if we lose him in traffic, we know where
he’s headed.” She gave Cara a brief look. “What’s wrong?”

“I think I’m discovering a new Gran.
You’ve been leading a double life. Is there anything else you want to tell me?”

“I’ve plenty to tell you, later. Cara,
I didn’t want this job, I didn’t want to see angels. They kept bothering me
until I agreed to do one job for them. Once I’d done that first job I knew how
important it was and so I agreed to taking on more jobs. I’ve learnt a lot
along the way.”

“I don’t think I could do this. My
stomach keeps flipping over every time I think about Donald being killed.” Cara
shuddered. “I can’t stand the sight of blood. I don’t even like watching
hospital programmes.”

“Neither do I. We’ll get there before
there’s any blood. Hopefully. Cara, one of the people I saved from being
murdered was a special person. He’d been mistaken for someone else. An irate
husband thought this man was having an affair with his wife. He attacked this
innocent man from behind. I got there in time. As soon as I turned the man
around the irate husband realised his mistake. He fell to pieces, he couldn’t
believe how close he’d come to murdering someone who was innocent. Then he
realised that he shouldn’t have been committing murder at all. I think his
words were, ‘I’m not going to prison for that tart’.”

“Who was the innocent man?”

Gran smiled as she stopped at some
traffic lights. “The love of my life, your granddad. I told him about seeing
angels and all the rest. He believed me and supported me in my work. He even
came out on some jobs with me.” The lights changed and she drove off. She
added, “I miss that man so much.”

“I miss him too,” Cara said. “I thought
I’d found someone like Granddad, but I was wrong. Oh, are we here?”

Gran stopped the car and wound down her
window. “Donald has pulled into his drive, I don’t want to park too close. Time
for my gadgets.” She bent over and pulled out a small briefcase from under her
seat. She opened it up. “I can’t do my job without these.” She handed some
small binoculars to Cara. “Tell me everything that’s happening.”

Cara opened the binoculars and put them
in front of her eyes. She jumped. “These are strong! I can see Donald’s nose
hair.”

“Zoom out.” Gran placed a little box on
the dashboard. “This will pick up sound. Looks like something is happening.
Tell me what you can see.”

Cara said, “An old man has come out of
the neighbouring house. He’s waving a stick at Donald!”

There was a cackle from the little box.
Gran bashed it. Voices came out.

The old man said, “I’m going to let you
have it this time! I warned you! I don’t care if I go to prison!”

Cara dropped the binoculars. “Gran! We
have to go! He’s raising his walking stick over Donald!”

Gran put up her hand. “Not yet. Keep
looking.”

They heard Donald say, “Mr Smith, what
is it this time? Please put your stick down.”

“I’m going to put this stick down right
in the middle of your head! You know what your dog has done. He’s pooped in my
garden again!”

Cara looked through the binoculars
again. “Donald is shaking his head. The old man looks really angry. He’s moving
closer to Donald. Shall we get out?”

“No, hang on a moment.”

Donald said, “Mr Smith, my dog hasn’t
been making a mess in your garden.”

“He has! I saw him! This morning!”

Cara cried out, “Gran, he’s moving his
stick!” She watched the scene. “Donald’s caught it in his hands. The old man is
trying to get it back.”

“Give me that back, you thief! I know
what I saw. I saw your smelly dog messing up my lovely garden!”

They heard Donald sigh. “Mr Smith, I
don’t have a dog. He died two months ago. I’ve told you that before.”

There was a silence. Then Mr Smith said
in a quieter tone, “Aye, you did tell me that. I’m sorry, my eyes must be
playing tricks on me. That’s what happens when you get old.”

Cara said, “The old man, Mr Smith is
shuffling back to his house. Donald is rubbing his hands over his eyes. Poor Mr
Smith, it must be awful imagining such things. I think I can see tears in his
old eyes.”

Gran removed the little box from the
dashboard and put it back in her briefcase. Cara narrowed her eyes as something
caught her attention. Before she could look closer Gran took the binoculars
back.

Donald got in his car, reversed out of
the drive and drove away.

Cara said, “What are we going to do
now? Is he out of danger? Was Mr Smith the one who was going to kill him?”

“No. You probably didn’t see it from
this distance but I could feel the black line around him, it’s still there,
he’s still in danger.”

Cara frowned. “How can you feel it?”

“Years of experience. Let’s go back to
the golf centre. I want to know what Jason is up to. I haven’t ruled him out as
a threat.”

“No need,” a voice said behind them.

Cara and Gran turned in their seats to
see the smiling face of Edward.

Gran said, “Have you got an update for
us?”

“I have indeed. Donald Ackroyd is due
to be murdered sometime between ten a.m. and midday tomorrow,” Edward
announced.

Gran let out a sigh. “That’s good. I
prefer a more specific time.”

“Are you sure about that time?” Cara
asked.

Edward chuckled and said, “Angels don’t
lie. How are you feeling, Cara? I’m thinking you must be delighted that we
showed up at your home today! What an adventure you’re having.”

“I’m not sure I’m enjoying this
adventure,” Cara admitted.

Gran said, “I’ll take you home now. You
can get back to your computer and your virtual friends.”

Cara blinked in surprise. “I haven’t
thought about my computer for hours.”

Gran smiled. “And yet the world carries
on without you being sat in front of one.” Her smile faded. “Thank you for
coming with us today. You don’t have to come with us tomorrow.”

Edward said, “Yes, she does.”

Gran shot him a look. “Don’t forget
that we have free will!”

Cara said, “I do want to come with you
tomorrow. I’m not sure I’ll sleep tonight!”

Edward tapped her on the shoulder. “Are
you sure you’re not dreaming now? This is a peculiar situation that you’ve
found yourself in.”

Gran said, “Don’t say things like that,
she’s already having doubts.”

Cara was dropped off at her home a
short while later. Despite her offer, Gran and Edward didn’t want to come in
for tea. Did angels even drink tea?

Cara did sleep that night. But she
dreamt about angels.

Chapter 8

At nine-thirty the next morning Gran
pulled into the car park of Clydes’ Golf Centre. She parked in a space far from
the main entrance. She switched off the engine and looked at Cara. Gran said,
“You look like you’re going to throw up. Are you sure you want to come with
me?”

Cara nodded. “I do. I have to. I want
to know what happens to Donald. Why have we parked so far away?”

Gran reached under the seat and took
her gadgets out. She handed the binoculars to Cara and put the listening device
on the dashboard. “We need to be prepared for what’s going to happen. I can feel
that danger is imminent. I can feel it in my tummy, it’s like wind.”

Cara aimed the binoculars at the
building and Gran switched on the listening device.

Cara said, “I can see Emma at the
reception area. Jason is near the golf equipment doing something with the
display. I can’t see Donald anywhere. Do you think he’s inside?”

“His car’s in the staff car park, next
to Emma’s,” Gran said. They listened for a moment. “I can’t hear him though.
Let’s go inside.”

Gran put her gadgets away and drove
closer to the entrance. She got out of the car and opened the boot. “I’ve
brought my own clubs today, you can use them too.”

Gran walked confidently towards the
main doors and stepped through. Cara rubbed her tummy, she was feeling more
than just wind there. She felt like her stomach was tying itself into knots.

Emma greeted them with a warm smile.
“How lovely to see you again so soon! And you’ve brought your own clubs. Do you
want to go on the driving range or the golf course?”

Cara saw Donald walk out of his office.
Her breath caught as she noticed the black line around him was even thicker.

Gran must have noticed Donald too
because she said, “I think we’ll have a tea first, wake ourselves up a bit. Can
we order two teas, please?”

“Of course. You sit down, I’ll bring
them over.”

Gran and Cara walked past Jason as he
moved some golf clubs from a side shelf and laid them on top of a golf trolley
that was already supporting a full golf bag.

Donald Ackroyd gave them a friendly nod
as they headed towards a table.

Everyone jumped as a loud crashing
noise sounded out.

Donald cried out, “For goodness’ sake,
Jason! What have you done now?”

Jason looked down at the mess on the
floor. The trolley had fallen over and golf clubs were scattered around the
floor. Golf balls ran freely around the toppled golf equipment. Jason mumbled,
“I was trying to make the display look better.”

“Do you know how much those clubs are
worth? More than your weekly wage!” Donald threw his hands up. “I’ve a good
mind to sack you!”

Jason’s head whipped around. “Then why
don’t you? I hate this job, I’m only doing it so Mum stops nagging me. You’re always
accusing me of something, like you did yesterday!”

Donald put his hands on his hips. In a
quieter tone he said, “This isn’t the time or place to talk about our private
conversation yesterday.”

Jason looked over at Emma and yelled,
“Do you know what he accused me of yesterday? Stealing! He said I was taking
cash from the register. And that I was pinching golf clubs! As if I’d do that!”
He paused and gave a small shrug. “I might have given my mates a few free games.
But I’d never steal money or golf clubs!”

Gran and Cara shared a look. Is that
what Jason had been up to?

Donald sighed. “It was a
misunderstanding. Things have gone missing and I merely asked if you knew
anything about it. I wasn’t accusing you.”

Jason folded his arms. “You were.”

Donald shook his head. “Think what you
like. If you want to keep your job, clean this mess up and then get out on the
driving range to collect balls.”

Jason stuck his chin out. “Are you sure
you trust me to drive the truck? Aren’t you worried I’m going to steal it?”

Donald gave him a wry smile. “You won’t
get very far, it only goes ten miles an hour. It’s designed for picking up golf
balls, not speeding down the motorway.”

Jason dropped his arms and mumbled,
“Whatever.” He turned back to the display and began to pick up the balls.

Donald mouthed an apology to Cara and
Gran as he walked back into his office and closed the door.

Gran moved her head closer to Cara’s
and said, “Look at Jason’s face.”

A chill shot down Cara’s back as she
saw that Jason’s face was twisted with hate.

Emma brought the teas over. For once,
she wasn’t smiling. “I’m so sorry that you had to see that. Jason’s a good lad,
he would never steal anything. He hangs out with some dubious people though.”

They watched Emma as she walked over to
Jason and helped him tidy up the display. They heard the mutter of talk but
couldn’t make out what was being said. After a few minutes Jason headed towards
a door that was marked ‘Golf Range Access’.

Cara said, “Oh, I’ve just remembered
something. That shouting man yesterday, Gregory Templeton, I signed up to his
site as you asked and …”

The man himself burst into the golf
centre. His fists were clenched and his face was red with rage. He thundered,
“Where is he? Where’s Donald Ackroyd! I’m going to kill him with my bare
hands!”

Cara continued, “He didn’t win
yesterday.”

Gregory stormed up to the counter and
banged his fist on it. He shouted at Emma, “Where is he? I want to see him
now!”

Emma took a step back. “Please, Mr
Templeton, please calm down.”

He jabbed a finger at her. “Tell me
where he is.”

Emma stammered, “He’s … he’s in his
office. Let me go and get him.”

“No need, I know where his office is.”

Cara could almost see the steam coming
from Gregory’s flared nostrils as he marched towards Donald’s office. He flung
open the door.

Gran stood up and pulled Cara to her
feet. “It’s time for us to stop a murder.”