Murder at the Maples: A Flora Lively Mystery (31 page)
Read Murder at the Maples: A Flora Lively Mystery Online
Authors: Joanne Phillips
Tags: #Fiction: Mystery: Cozy
‘He swore it was an accident. The police said he told them Otto had been trying to bite his leg when he was swapping my medication and that in the kerfuffle he’d got tangled up in the blind cord somehow.’
‘Do you believe that?’
And had he really used the word “kerfuffle”? Some master criminal he was. But at least he’d confessed all, relieving Joy of the burden of a long-drawn-out investigation. The police had been lucky with the warden and Vasco too, getting to their respective offices in plenty of time to unearth all the evidence they needed to prove their involvement in the charity scam. Thanks to Max. There wasn’t much of a chance they’d be able to prove the pair had been responsible for the Captain’s or Ida’s deaths, Max had told her, but at least they could make sure they’d never hurt anyone else.
Flora would just have to be content with that.
‘Your eczema’s better, I see.’
Joy grinned. ‘Well, I can’t wear those gloves for ever, can I? Makes me look like a villain in a Bond film.’
‘You’re more Bond girl than villain, I think,’ teased Flora. Joy gave a guffaw and slapped Flora’s arm.
‘I was right about the third floor, wasn’t I?’
‘Poor Captain. The police think they’ve got enough evidence to send Cynthia and the solicitor away for a very long time.’ She gave Joy a sideways glance. ‘So now there’s nothing to fear from moving into the main building, right? Now there’s a new manager?’
Joy grimaced. ‘You’ll never get me in there, Flora. I’ll throw myself off the roof first.’
‘Joy! Don’t even talk like that.’
‘Oh, don’t get your knickers in a twist. They’ve said I can stay in my own unit now, provided I look after myself properly.’
Flora cut a piece off her pizza and put it in her mouth. It was cold, but not as bad as she’d expected. ‘And do you think you can do that, Joy? Can you look after yourself properly?’
The old lady just grinned and sipped her tea, a mischievous glint in her eye.
***
Flora walked Joy back to the Maples, then cut back across town to Shakers. What she was about to do would be tough, but it was entirely necessary. If she’d learned one thing in the last three weeks it was that life was too short to spend it doing something you didn’t love. She needed to find a way to satisfy her dad’s wishes, but also live her own life too. And she thought she had a pretty good idea how to do just that.
‘Hey. How you doing?’ Marshall was in the warehouse, sweeping up. Busy work. ‘How’s Joy?’
‘She’s fine. Really. It’s amazing how resilient she is.’
‘Did you take the dog back?’
She nodded.
‘And you’re feeling sad about that, right? Why not get yourself a puppy? I never had you pegged for a dog lover, but it might do you good. Otto certainly seemed to soften out your edges a bit.’
‘No can do. Well, not until I’m settled, anyway. I might end up somewhere that’s no good for pets.’
Marshall looked up in alarm. ‘What do you mean? Settled where?’
‘Don’t get your hopes up, I’m not leaving the country. But I am selling Mum and Dad’s place. That bungalow is not me. I miss my old flat – I’m going to look around for something similar.’
‘Wow. Any more bombshells for me?’
She laughed. ‘It’s hardly a bombshell that I’m moving house. At least it’ll put some business our way.’
‘I’ll give you a very competitive quote.’
‘Thanks. I might get one from Rockfords too. Do a bit of mystery shopping.’
Her face reddened at the thought. She pictured David Rockford sitting in her parents’ lounge drinking coffee. Not a good idea, even as a joke.
Marshall put the broom against the wall and bent down with the dustpan and brush. ‘No point asking them. They’re not in the market for domestic removals at the moment.’
Flora did a double-take. ‘What did you say?’
He looked up at her and grinned. ‘Yeah, it’s weird. Not only did they pull out of the lease on the Battlefield site, I heard they’re not bothering going after boring old house removals in this area at all. Turns out there’s not enough money in it. They’ve got some newfangled idea about commercial storage instead. Apparently,’ he said, stretching out the word, ‘it’s the hot ticket right now.’
She pulled up a crate and perched on it, planting her chin on her upturned hands. ‘Marshall, are you saying what I think you’re saying?’
‘Well, that’d depend, wouldn’t it?’ His eyes twinkled. There was a charge in the air, like electricity. Flora swallowed.
‘Did you give your business idea to David Rockford? Is that what all those secret meetings were about?’
He nodded. Flora looked up to the ceiling. ‘Marshall, you idiot! I was just about to give you the go-ahead for that.’
‘Really?’
‘Right now. Today. I figured I’d had my chance to run it the way Dad wanted, now it was time to do it differently. Besides …’ she tailed off. There was no point telling him she’d been thinking of doing something else for a while, leaving him totally in charge. That could wait for another day.
‘This is totally left field, you know,’ she said, smirking.
‘Finally she gets a saying right!’ Marshall threw an imaginary ball into the air. ‘Slam-dunk.’
‘Oh yeah. A bit of a curve ball, in fact.’
He gave her a look. ‘You’re overdoing it now.’
She grinned, but then her smile slipped. ‘Are you sure it was the right thing to do, Marshall? That business plan, it was your baby.’
‘Well, I’m not really a family kind of guy. It’ll keep them off our backs for a while, give us a chance to regroup. Maybe do some advertising of our own, brainstorm some ideas with your uncle.’
‘Thank you.’ She leaned forward, just a tiny bit, enough to smell Marshall’s warmth and his spicy scent. He tipped up his head, rocking forward onto one knee.
‘Flora, you know, there was a good reason why I did it. I wanted to–’
‘Hello? Hello, is this where – ah, Flora! There you are! I’ve been calling you for days. Is everything okay?’
Heston. Perfect timing. Flora got off the crate with a sigh.
Marshall sat back, his eyes darkening. ‘I’ll leave you two to it.’
She watched him go. There was so much she wanted to tell him. Like, even though he drove her crazy he’d been there when she needed him and she wouldn’t forget it. That it was only going to take about five minutes to send Heston away – she had already rehearsed the exact words she was going to use to let him down gently. But mainly that she knew. She knew he’d done it for her, and that he stayed around for her. Because Shakers was as much his business as it was hers. It wouldn’t be the same without him.
Marshall reached the top of the metal steps, his shoulders drooping, then disappeared inside the office. Flora’s heart felt heavy. Heston moved around to stand in front of her. He looked nervous. She sighed and gestured for him to sit down on a crate. She took one last look up at the office window. Marshall was sitting in her chair with his legs up on the desk, looking down at the two of them and laughing. Behind Heston’s back he pulled a face, mocking the smaller man’s wan expression. He sucked in his cheeks and rolled his eyes, then slapped his thighs in delight. Flora glared up at him balefully. Impossible man.
And to think she’d been just about to soften. Ha! Not a chance.
‘Flora? Flora, what are you looking at?’
‘Nothing,’ she told Heston with a kind smile. ‘Nothing at all. Come on, let’s get out of here. There’s something I need to tell you.’
THE END
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About the author
Joanne Phillips lives in rural Shropshire with her husband and young daughter. She’s the author of romantic comedies
Can’t Live Without
,
The Family Trap
and
Cupid’s Way
, and the Flora Lively series of contemporary mysteries.
Can’t Live Without
was an Amazon top 20 bestseller in 2012 and her books regularly appear on category bestseller lists. Before becoming a writer, Joanne had jobs as diverse as hairdresser, air hostess and librarian, but now divides her time between writing and finding creative ways to avoid housework. She’s a fan of super-dark chocolate, iced coffee and Masterchef.
Books by Joanne Phillips
Flora Lively Investigates:
Short story collection:
A Life Unpredicted and other stories
Novelette:
Acknowledgements
I’d like to thank the following people who contributed to the writing and production of this book: Jez Phillips, my wonderful husband, whose continued support makes writing a joy; Jude White for her brilliant proofreading and editing; Chris Howard for another wonderful cover; and finally my amazing Beta Readers: Emma Harrison, Sherry Meyer, Pauline Wiles, Rachel Owen, Marina Sofia, Emma Dellow, Kathryn Michaels and Kate Frost. I’d also like to thank my readers – without you none of this would happen at all. Know that every time you download, buy or borrow one of my books you make my world an even brighter place.