A Slice of Murder, page 8
No one knew she was taking a keen interest in the Connolly death, she reasoned as she walked back to her front door and opened it. Well, maybe John and Graham, Leoni, Olivia – and Danny, sort of. Oh, Danny. She didn’t want to think about him tonight. So, maybe quite a few people knew about her amateur sleuthing, but no one would be bothered by it, would they? It wasn’t as if she was making much progress. She had asked a few friends for their opinions, that was all. She was hardly Miss Marple, but she definitely was a Miss. The thought of ending up as a little old lady with nothing to occupy her time but being an armchair detective made her heart sink a little further.
Shilpa let herself in, took her shoes off and locked the door behind her. She went to the bathroom, changed into her jogging bottoms and an old T-shirt and grabbed a towel from the radiator. It was warm to the touch, and she dried her hair with it. She needed a hot shower too, but she wanted to check something first. Shilpa padded into the kitchen and opened the boiler cupboard. She took a sharp intake of breath. The garage keys were missing. She tried to think of when she had last seen them. She couldn’t remember. It must have been sometime in the last month, definitely before Mason’s death. Or was it? Had she seen them in the last couple of weeks? No one had been in her home recently. Only June Connolly, and she was hardly a suspect. Plus, she had kept an eye on the grieving mother and hadn’t left her for even a moment. Anyway, what would June Connolly want with the keys to her garage? Come to think of it, why would anyone want the keys to her garage, whether or not they were a suspect in Mason’s death?
Shilpa shook her head. Everything always seemed worse at night. She was making something out of nothing. She took herself to the bathroom and had a hot shower, changing into her pyjamas. In a desperate attempt not to replay her humiliation, she decided to watch a movie. She was just about to make a hot chocolate when she heard a noise. Shilpa looked up the stairs towards the front door and then made her way towards it. A note had been pushed through the letter box. Had it been there when she first arrived home? She didn’t think so. It was probably some flyer from a new takeaway or something. She pulled it from the letter box and was about to open it when she heard a knock at the door. It made her jump. Once she composed herself, she looked through the spyhole. The rain was still coming down fast, and it was now pitch black outside. She cleared her throat.
‘Who’s there?’ she asked, pushing the flyer into her dressing-gown pocket. There was no response. She tried a little louder, but she felt foolish. She put her foot a little away from the door so that if the person behind the door tried to force it she could use her foot to stop them. She needed a chain across the door. Another thing for the list.
She opened the door a fraction, but she couldn’t see anything. She opened it a little wider and saw a silhouette standing to the right of her front door. Then she screamed.
Chapter Eighteen
‘Tanvi. Oh my days!’ Shilpa cried. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘Don’t just stand there. Let me in,’ Tanvi said. ‘I’m drowning out here.’
Shilpa stood aside. Drama queen. She was hardly wet at all. ‘Come in. I just can’t believe it. I was standing at the door wondering if it was an axe murderer, but it’s you.’
‘What’s to say I’m not dangerous,’ Tanvi said with a smile. She pushed her way through the front door and dropped her holdall on the mat. She took off her shoes and bounded down the stairs, sinking into the sofa like it was home. It brought a smile to Shilpa’s face. Just when she thought nothing could lift her mood, her best friend had shown up. Maybe the gods were looking out for her. ‘I told you I was coming up.’
‘I didn’t realise you were coming up today. Weren’t you flying to Marbella this afternoon?’ Shilpa said.
‘Check your messages,’ Tanvi said and Shilpa did. There had been a few missed calls and several messages. They were all from Tanvi. She had been so busy thinking about the Connolly case she hadn’t even looked at her phone, which she had put on silent for the wake. The last time she had checked it was when she had messaged Olivia telling her she wasn’t feeling so great.
‘So, this is what Devon living is all about?’ Tanvi said, looking at the Netflix homepage on Shilpa’s television. ‘Pyjamas and bed by eleven.’
‘Rock and roll.’
‘What’s wrong?’ Tanvi asked, taking on a more serious tone.
‘Nothing,’ Shilpa said. She didn’t want to burden Tanvi with her problems just yet.
‘You didn’t really think there was a knife-wielding lunatic at your door, did you? Here? I don’t think crazy murderers come out this far.’
Shilpa laughed. ‘Of course not. It’s just… Oh, don’t worry. I’ll explain later. Look at your curls, Tanvi,’ Shilpa said, making her way down the stairs. She found a towel for her friend and made her a hot chocolate, joining her on the sofa.
‘What’s this?’ Tanvi said, looking at the mug. ‘Oh no.’ Tanvi stood up. ‘I didn’t take two trains and a god-awful taxi journey through the pouring rain and through those hair-raising narrow lanes to have a blinking hot chocolate with you.’ She walked over to the fridge and peered inside. ‘Now,’ she said, taking out a bottle of Tesco’s Finest Gavi. ‘This is more like it. Glasses?’
Shilpa pointed to the top cupboard to the right of the refrigerator and waited while Tanvi poured two large glasses of wine. Tanvi walked back to the sofa with the towel draped around her shoulders and passed Shilpa a glass.
‘Spill,’ she said. ‘You moved here to get away from it all, but you don’t half look miserable. Tell me what’s going on. I wanna know.’
Shilpa studied her friend’s face. ‘You first,’ she said.
‘What d’you mean?’
‘Your mascara has run, and it’s not from the rain. I can see your eyes are red-rimmed. Plus, you didn’t take two trains and make it to the back of beyond just on a sixth sense that something was going on in my life, did you?’
‘I wanted to see you, that’s all. Can’t friends meet like old times?’
‘Without checking I was home before jumping on a train?’
‘We’re not strangers. When did we ever call before dropping in on each other?’
‘We always did. No one wants to make a wasted trip, even if it is only down the stairs,’ Shilpa said, recalling the year they both lived in the same apartment building in London.
‘Whatever,’ Tanvi said, drinking half the contents of her glass. She looked at Shilpa. ‘Do I look that pathetic?’
Shilpa nodded.
‘Jason is basically two-timing scum,’ Tanvi said, draining her second glass. ‘Molly,’ she added cryptically.
‘Molly?’ Shilpa asked.
‘Oh yeah, I forgot you left us all in London and three months later you don’t know who’s who. Molly was new to the firm. Young graduate, pert bum, tight skirts. Typical, clichéd. It happened to me.’
‘Oh, Tanvi. I’m so sorry. That’s the worst luck.’
‘Do you think it’s karma?’
Shilpa scrunched her nose. ‘No,’ she said. Although it was possible. Tanvi was ruthless in her younger years. She didn’t care whose boyfriend she slept with. ‘It takes two,’ she always said, or something like, ‘I’m doing her a favour’ or ‘If he’s tempted now, it’s better they find out before they get hitched.’ She did have some boundaries. Married men were strictly off-limits. But that was about it, and it didn’t count if she didn’t know they were married when they approached her. They always approached her. Credit where it was due though, she dropped them as soon as she found out they were cheating on their wives. The first time she found out, she unleashed hell on the unsuspecting man and swiftly sent his wife a comprehensive email detailing her partner’s unfaithfulness. It didn’t go down well. His wife blamed her completely, saying she snared her faithful husband like a siren, and she hounded Tanvi at every opportunity. She ended up having to change her email address and telephone number. After that, she left the wives alone. Not that there were many. Only about three in her history that Shilpa knew about.
‘So, perhaps I haven’t been the best person. I have a past. Who doesn’t?’ Tanvi said, but she didn’t pause long enough for an answer. ‘You, I suppose, Miss goody two-shoes. But Molly? I mean, really? It’s so humiliating and degrading. Urghhh.’ Tanvi stood up and walked to the kitchen. She returned with the bottle of wine and filled Shilpa’s glass and her own. She placed the bottle on the coffee table and sank back into the sofa.
‘You loved him, didn’t you?’ Shilpa asked.
Tanvi was silent. Shilpa had expected this. Tanvi never used words like love and commitment. She was a free spirit, that was her thing – until Jason.
‘It’s okay,’ Shilpa said. ‘You don’t have to say it. I get it. So, what’s the story? A fling, or is it something serious?’
‘He’s sleeping with her. I asked him this morning before he went for his morning run.’
‘And?’
‘Blatantly denied it. But he came back with cinnamon buns and coffee.’
Shilpa squinted at her friend. ‘That’s a sure sign of guilt,’ she said.
‘Don’t joke,’ Tanvi said. ‘Why would he stop for cinnamon buns? Usually he gets me coffee, never buns. It was like a sweetener, literally. It was guilt. I don’t need any other evidence.’
‘Hmm,’ Shilpa said. She wished she had someone to bring her coffee and pastries on a Sunday morning. Instead, she was making pastries for the whole of Otter’s Reach. ‘So, apart from the buns, how do you know he was cheating?’
‘Late nights at the office; two of them, pretty soon after Miss Pert Bottom started. I checked the log, and Molly worked those two evenings as well.’
‘So, they were legitimately working if they were both logged on the system?’
‘Whatever,’ Tanvi said. ‘He’s started wearing more aftershave than usual.’
‘Okay,’ Shilpa said, putting her glass on the table. She lifted her feet up onto the sofa and pulled her dressing gown around her. She heard the flyer she had picked up earlier crumple in her pocket. She reached in and pulled it out.
‘And then there were the new clothes,’ Tanvi said. ‘I mean, not just a new shirt, but several new shirts. I asked him what the sudden rush on new clothes was about.’
‘And?’ Shilpa asked.
‘He said that they were on sale.’
‘Right,’ Shilpa said. ‘Could be telling the truth.’
‘Could be a lie.’
‘You checked?’ she asked. She knew the answer before she responded. Tanvi would have checked. Who wouldn’t? It wasn’t as if a quick internet search was an effort. ‘And that’s it? That’s your evidence?’
‘What more do you want?’ Tanvi said. ‘I was willing to… I was willing to commit,’ she said, spitting out the last word. ‘I’ve never done something like this before. I won’t be made a fool of.’ Tears started to fall down Tanvi’s cheeks. ‘I loved him,’ she said after a few heaving sobs. ‘I really did.’ Tanvi fell into Shilpa, who wrapped her arms around her. Shilpa held on to the flyer in her hand and soothed her friend.
‘You don’t think that perhaps you’re looking for something to go wrong with Jason because you’re scared of commitment?’ Shilpa asked gently. She knew it was the wrong thing to say as the words left her mouth. But when in the history of their thirty-year friendship had they ever pussyfooted around each other? They said it like it was, and maybe Tanvi just needed to hear it. She couldn’t say for sure, but she had met Jason, and he was smitten with her friend. He didn’t seem the sort to be attracted by a pert bottom and tight skirt. But what did she know about men? It wasn’t as if she could even get herself a date lately. She let her friend cry into her chest, and after several minutes wondering if Tanvi was ever going to stop, she opened the flyer behind her back. She was expecting to be tempted with a variety of fried wontons and spring rolls on a home-printed leaflet for Asia Gardens, but what she saw chilled her to the bone.
Chapter Nineteen
Last night Shilpa had helped Tanvi into her double bed – the guest room wasn’t up to visitors – and she had lain beside her wondering what to make of the letter she had received. It was a simple note, but it had churned her stomach. It said:
If you want to know who killed Mason, meet me Saturday evening at seven at the Old Cinema. I have something to show you.
It wasn’t signed. It wasn’t dated. She had been awake for most of the night wondering who had sent it. Someone who knew she was interested in Mason’s death. But if they knew who had killed Mason, why hadn’t they gone straight to the police? She had no authority, but then again, that could be the very reason this person wanted to speak to her. Shilpa had barely slept for worry. Finally, at eight in the morning, Tanvi had woken, and after two cups of coffee, Shilpa had told her all about Mason’s death, exactly what she knew and her humiliation with Danny.
‘A pregnant wife?’ Tanvi said, sitting at the breakfast bar in the small open-plan kitchen.
‘That’s what you’re interested in?’ Shilpa said. ‘I’ve just told you that my life could be at risk.’
‘Risk? How? He or she wants to give you information and doesn’t want to be seen. Anyway, you said everyone knows everyone’s business in Otter’s Reach. It isn’t a huge place. Half the town probably knows where you live. And you don’t have to go.’ Tanvi held her third cup of coffee to her lips and then looked up at her friend. ‘You’re going to go, aren’t you?’
‘How long are you staying for?’ Shilpa asked. She picked up her phone and sent a message to Leoni asking if she knew anyone who could take a look at her car.
‘Charming.’
‘You could cover me? Keep your distance, take photos, that sort of thing. Call the police if I don’t come out in say half an hour of meeting whoever it is.’
‘We’re not Scott and Bailey.’
Shilpa put her phone down and looked at her. ‘After my humiliation with Danny, I need some sort of distraction,’ she said with pleading eyes.
Tanvi tilted her head and looked at her watch. ‘I am on leave for two weeks. Right about now I would have been drinking a margarita on Nikki beach.’
‘The time difference between here and Spain isn’t that big.’
Tanvi smiled. ‘When on holiday… Jason is such a slimeball,’ Tanvi said and looked away. Shilpa could see her eyes filling. ‘Never again. I told him to clear his stuff from my apartment by the time I got back.’ She sighed. ‘Fine, I’ll be your Bonnie.’
Shilpa looked at her blankly.
‘You know, Bonnie and Clyde.’
‘Yeah, sure,’ Shilpa said. Her pulse quickened. There was something about the note that had unnerved her, but she was too inquisitive to ignore it.
‘This is much nicer,’ Tanvi said as the ferry pulled into Salcombe Harbour.
‘Thanks, Tanvi,’ Shilpa said. She had dropped her car keys off at Leoni’s before they had boarded the ferry. The café owner said she knew someone who could take a look at her car. Shilpa hoped she would get it back in time for the Drews’ launch party tomorrow. It was one thing having to walk everywhere, but another having to lug her cakes around without her own transport.
‘Otter’s Reach is pretty good though. You’re not in the thick of it there, are you?’
‘Stop digging,’ Shilpa said as they stepped off the ferry and walked along the main road to a restaurant overlooking South Sands. Shilpa had called and reserved a table that morning, so she wasn’t expecting a prime table in the window, but that was where they were seated. It was a beautiful summer’s day, and the sun glimmered on the brilliant blue waters. Sailboats studded the sea and children were laughing and shrieking in the distance. Shilpa took a breath and soaked up the atmosphere. They could easily be in the Mediterranean with this view, not just somewhere in the British Isles. That was Devon for you. They ordered a bottle of Sancerre and a variety of seafood and talked about London, reminiscing about their young and carefree days, sipping wine as they waited for their food to arrive.
‘And you found the bloodstained knife?’ Tanvi asked as she checked her lipstick and hair in her compact. ‘More exciting than London.’
‘Are you trying to make up for calling Devon a backwater earlier?’
‘I didn’t say backwater,’ Tanvi said, looking through the window out at the sea. ‘It’s beautiful, and I’m quite jealous. Look what you’ve got on your doorstep.’ Tanvi picked up her phone and scrolled a little before placing it back on the white tablecloth.
‘There isn’t much of an update online,’ she said. ‘They’ve confirmed the death as murder and that they’re holding someone for questioning.’ Tanvi smiled as the waitress placed a seafood platter before them.
Tanvi nodded. ‘Isn’t there someone you can ask about the case? Doesn’t Danny know anything?’
Shilpa smarted at the name. ‘They’ve set up this tennis match later with one of Danny’s colleagues. They’re trying to set me up. I’m not sure I can face them though.’
‘Why? Danny didn’t even know you were coming onto him by the sounds of it,’ Tanvi said. She held a black shell containing a plump mussel close to her lips.
‘Still,’ Shilpa said. ‘I know what I felt.’
‘Take a look around,’ Tanvi said as a family walked through the door of the restaurant. ‘I would meet whoever you can.’
‘And what will you do while I’m out?’
‘Has Otter’s Reach got a spa?’
Shilpa nodded.
‘Well then, that’s exactly what I’ll be doing. I’m looking forward to it already. So, who’s this mystery man?’
