Page 74 of Murder in the Winter Woods
‘You’ll want the Scotch eggs, they’re just out the fryer, and my other favourite is the fried cod.’
‘Happy to go with whatever you recommend, Bonnie. Enough for five.’ Sean snapped the menu shut. ‘Thanks, Bonnie.’
‘I’ll be round to see that goat,’ she said to Laine as she left.
‘Ken will be on any minute,’ said Julia. ‘I saw him earlier and he said he’s playing one or two songs, sort of a warm up for theChristmas Eve Celebration and Singalong. But he is obviously thrilled to be playing again.’
‘Probably thrilled not to be dead from poisoning, too,’ said Jono.
‘Jono!’
‘Just joking, Dad, didn’t mean to be unkind. I know it’s not a joking matter.’
‘It probably does give you something to think about though, a near-death experience,’ said Tabitha. ‘Re-evaluate your life. Carpe diem and so on.’
‘Well, poor Lewis and Matthew didn’t get that chance,’ said Hayley, looking a lot less festive than her jumper. ‘Or Lydia, for that matter.’
‘Why did she kill poor Lydia?’ asked Tabitha, who Julia had filled in on the relationships in the band. ‘What did Lydia have to do with the band and the assault?’
‘Nothing. Margaret had got it into her head that Lydia was rude to her. And gave her sub-par lamb chops. Emboldened by her success in getting rid of the two men, she killed Lydia by giving her a handful of her industrial-strength prescription painkillers. Told her they were a homeopathic remedy for bunions, it seems. Then she used the same painkillers crushed up and mixed with rat poison in the muffins she gave Ken. The rat poison actually saved him because it tasted weird and made him vomit – if she’d stuck to the painkillers, Ken would probably be dead.’ Hayley gave a little shrug, as if to convey the randomness of life, and death by poison.
‘Is Margaret going to go to prison for murder?’ asked Julia.
‘That’s for a judge to decide, but I doubt it. If her behaviour was caused by her medical condition, she won’t be held culpable.’
‘Have you seen anything like that before, Dad?’ Jono asked Sean. ‘Someone going off the deep end because of a tumour?’
‘Never heard of a murder, but depending on where the tumour is in the brain, it can cause increased aggression, impulsive behaviour and even personality changes. In this case, with terrible consequences.’
‘And then there was all that buried trauma that came out when she saw those men again,’ said Julia, sadly. ‘If she hadn’t seen them all having that reunion lunch together, laughing and joking, it’s possible that none of this would have happened. She’d have died peacefully in a few months, and they’d all have gone on with their lives.’
‘What about Anthony Ardmore’s business?’ asked Sean. ‘Did that turn out to be a scam, or legit?’
Hayley sighed. ‘It’s a grey area. The business itself is a complete scam. There are no miracle plant cures anywhere close to being released, and there was no inside track with the FDA or whatever it was he claimed.’
‘That sounds pretty straightforward,’ said Sean.
‘The part that isn’t clear is whether Anthony was part of the scam, or a victim himself. Whether he simply embezzled the money invested in his company, or actually invested it in these non-existent farming opportunities. The financial guys are working at getting to the root of it. But he gave the widows most of their money back, and he has promised Ken his share back when he sells his house.’
‘That’s something,’ said Julia, who had seen Coral and Hester murmuring to the bees that very afternoon, and guessed it must be this they were telling them. ‘And at least it was all solved before Christmas, even though it will still be a difficult one for them both.’
Everyone gave a deep sigh, as if they had planned and scripted it.
‘What about the postcard that the widows found?’ asked Tabitha. ‘The one that made you suspect Ken?’
‘It turns out thatwasfrom Ken,’ said Hayley. ‘But he’d put it in the car the day before – he wanted to try to scare the widows out of withdrawing their investment. He says he was panicking and regretted it almost immediately,’
Hayley sighed. ‘If I had a pound for every time someone has told me that – but it’s usually about something with more serious repercussions than that postcard.’
‘Let’s talk about more cheerful things,’ said Julia. ‘I’ll start – Jess has decided to come home when her degree finishes next year. She wants to spend some time in Berrywick while she applies for jobs. I’m delighted.’
‘I bet Dylan is too,’ said Tabitha, with a laugh.
‘Not to mention Jake.’
Jake looked up hopefully at the sound of his name. There seemed to be no food in the vicinity, and definitely no walk. He dropped his head onto his paws with a sigh.
Ken came out from behind the bar, carrying his old guitar from Second Chances. He caught Julia’s eye and lifted the instrument up in her direction with a little smile and a nod of acknowledgement. He sat on the stool on the makeshift stage, and cleared his throat.
‘Thank you for coming, ladies and gentlemen…and dogs.’
The ripple of laughter from the audience seemed to ease his nerves, and he spoke with more confidence:
‘I’m going to sing you a little song about friendship and second chances. Feel free to sing along.’
Julia smiled. Her life in Berrywick was all about friendship and second chances. She glanced over at Sean – her greatest second chance of all – and saw that he was looking at her. He raised his glass to her, as the room filled with the voices of her friends.
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