Judy's Death (Cara Daniels Cozy Mystery Book 2) (4 page)

Chapter 8

Cara didn’t have time to worry about
the implied threat in Millie’s tone as vampires and werewolves began to make
their way into the town hall.

Andrew gave Judy a quick peck on her
cheek and said, “I’ll catch up with you later after the book signing.”

Lauren snaked her arm through Millie’s
and said, “Wait until you meet the big star of the show. I pulled off quite a
deal getting him to appear here. He’s already put the word out to some of his
author friends.” She shot a look at Judy but carried on speaking to her mum.
“This town could become the place to go for authors of Snake-Eye’s calibre, if
the right person was to manage the festival.”

Judy ignored her tone. She smiled
brightly and said, “Lauren, are you going to oversea Snake-Eye’s event, or
should I do it?”

Lauren tutted. “Of course I’m going to
do it. I’ll introduce him and then take my seat at the front. Mum, I’ve got a
couple of VIP seats ready for us.”

Still keeping the smile on her face
Judy continued, “And what about showing people to their seats? And making sure
the bookseller is ready?”

Lauren waved a hand at her. “You do
that, you’re used to doing menial jobs.”

Judy’s smile now look forced as she
added, “And what about his thank-you gift?”

“A thank-you gift? I didn’t know we
gave them out. Of course I’ll give it to him.”

Cara couldn’t help herself. “No you
won’t! Judy spent a lot of time sorting those gifts out! She even handwrote a
thank-you note. Why should you get the credit?”

Lauren and Millie’s mouths dropped open
at the same time.

Judy put her hand on Cara’s arm.
“There’s no need to shout, Cara.” Judy’s smile disappeared as she gave Lauren a
direct look. “But Cara is right, why should you get the credit for something
I’ve done? I’ll be handing the gift to Snake-Eye Jones.”

Lauren and Millie shared a look. Cara
didn’t miss the slight turning up of their mouths as if they were sharing a
secret.

Judy said, “Come on, Cara, people are
starting to queue up for Snake-Eye’s event. We’d better let them into the
room.”

Lauren’s voice was overloud as she
announced, “Mum, we’d better go and introduce ourselves to Snake-Eye.”

Cara and Judy made their way towards
the closed doors of the top room. The dressed-up crowd greeted their arrivals
with cheers and big smiles. Cara was taken aback as she saw that some of the
smiling mouths were covered in blood.

They were busy for the next fifteen minutes
as they showed people into the room and answered various questions about where
to buy books, where to find tea and coffee, and, of course, where to find the
toilet areas. Judy grinned at Cara and said, “I suppose even zombies need to
use the toilet.”

The room was soon filled. Cara and Judy
stood near the doors to watch out for latecomers.

Loud music shot out of nearby speakers
making everyone jump. The audience cheered as a man walked into the room, his
arms raised high in the air.

Judy said, “So that’s the famous
Snake-Eye Jones. He likes wearing black, doesn’t he? I do like his cape, adds
to the drama. Not sure about the white lipstick.”

Cara peered closer. “He’s actually got
snake eyes. They’re yellow. They must be contact lenses, surely?”

Lauren stood up from the front row and
walked over to Snake-Eye. She whispered something to him and pointed towards
Judy. Snake-Eye fixed his yellow eyes on Judy and slowly nodded. As if sensing
where his focus was, each person in the crowd turned and stared at Judy. Cara
could feel their hostility.

Cara moved closer to Judy who was
obviously shaken by the sudden unwanted attention. Judy tried to smile at the
sea of unfriendly faces.

Anger flared up in Cara. How dare
Lauren subject Judy to this? And how dare she get Snake-Eye Jones involved?
What was she even saying to him to elicit such an evil look? What was she
trying to do to Judy? Was this part of her plan to get rid of her?

Cara snatched up the thank-you bag that
Judy had placed at her feet and marched up to Snake-Eye Jones. She thrust the
bag into his hands and said loudly, “This is from Judy Wallace, the woman that
you and your fans are staring at! She went to great pains to make this bag
perfect for you. I hope you appreciate it!”

Snake-Eye looked in the bag. His face
broke into a grin. “My favourite chocolates! How did you know? And orange
brandy! Fantastic.” He delved further into the bag. “A handwritten note? How
thoughtful.” He looked over at Judy and cried out, “Three cheers for Judy
Wallace!”

And just like that, the atmosphere
changed. Cara caught the daggers of hate that were sent her way from Lauren.
She quickly walked back to Judy who gave her a grateful smile.

Cara and Judy stayed at the event even
though they had to cover their ears at the more gruesome parts of Snake-Eye’s
reading. When the event was finished Judy informed the audience that Snake-Eye
would be signing his books in the hall on the ground floor.

As the audience left, each person said
thank you to Judy. Just as they should, Cara thought.

“Right, let’s bring on the next event.
It’s Andrew’s! I’m so excited for him!”

Cara tried to smile. It was difficult
because Robin had just appeared at her side and told her that Judy was going to
die in less than two hours.

Chapter 9

Cara looked at Robin and raised her
eyebrows as if asking for more information.

He frowned and shook his head. He
looked as if he was going to say more but a look of terror appeared on his
face. He raised a shaking finger and shouted, “Look out!” He vanished.

Judy pushed Cara to one side as a group
of women rushed their way. Most of them were clutching books by A. J. Moss. The
look in their eyes frightened Cara, as if they were saying, ‘Woe betide anyone
who gets in the way of me and my favourite author!’

Judy pressed herself back against the
wall, Cara did the same. Judy said, “Good heavens! The world has gone mad. What
are they going to say when A. J. Moss reveals himself? What will they do? I
wonder if we should call security.”

Cara’s heart missed a beat. Was that
how Judy was going to die today? Would she be crushed under the feet of furious
fans when they discovered the real identity of A. J. Moss? Cara said to Judy,
“Perhaps you should wait outside.”

Judy stood up straighter. “Absolutely
not. I want to support Andrew. Look, everyone’s in and seated now. He’ll be out
in a minute.”

The women settled down and chatted
excitedly. No one noticed Andrew as he walked to the front of the room. He
smiled at the women and waited. One by one, nosiness got the better of them and
they began to grow quiet.

Andrew smiled even more and said, “Good
evening, thank you for coming here tonight.” His smile wavered and he took a
deep breath. “I’m A. J. Moss. I’m Andrew James Moss.”

Nobody seemed to breathe and the air
seemed impossibly still. Cara braced herself, ready to shove Judy out into the
corridor in the event of a stampede.

Andrew looked less confident. He
swallowed and then began to talk about his struggle to become a writer. The
atmosphere slowly changed from hostile to friendly and interested. Some of the
women sat up straighter and patted their hair down as Andrew aimed smiles in
their direction. His easy-going charm and ready smile soon won them over.

Judy’s hand was fiddling away with her
pearl necklace. She looked at Cara and whispered, “Phew! I thought they were
going to lynch him.” Her hand dropped to her side and she shot Andrew a big
smile.

Andrew reached out to the table behind
him and picked up a book. “I’m going to read a bit from my first book, you
probably know this one! It’s the book that started this amazing journey for me.
I’ll also read from my latest book.” He opened the paperback and leant against
the table.

Cara had only read the first few
chapters of his book previously before deciding it wasn’t for her. Andrew
started reading from the middle of the book. He showed no signs of
embarrassment as he read out the steamier parts. Unlike Cara who felt like her
cheeks were actually going to burst into flames at any second.

She looked at Judy to see if she felt the
same. Cara couldn’t read Judy’s expression. Judy was standing very still, as if
transfixed by Andrew’s words.

The readings were soon over and the
women queued up to have their books signed.

After ten minutes Judy said to Cara,
“I’ll wait here until the book signing has finished. Would you see how the
bookseller is doing downstairs? If he thinks he’s finished for the night, he
can go.”

Cara was reluctant to leave Judy’s side
but thought she could run downstairs, do what she had to, and be back in the
room in five minutes. She jogged out of the room and down the stone steps. As
soon as she walked into the hall where the bookseller was she noticed Lauren
and Millie huddled together in a corner. Lauren was holding a tablet device and
smiling. What were they up to? Was it something to do with Judy?

Cara casually walked up to the
bookseller’s table and picked up a book. The man behind the table said, “Are
you going to buy that? It’s one of A. J. Moss’. I was hoping to sell loads but
most people have brought their own to be signed.”

Cara glanced down at the book. This was
Andrew’s first book. A movement from Lauren caught her eye. Cara said to the
man, “I’m just having a look.”

The man tutted and said, “Typical.
That’s what they all say and then they order them online.” He pointed towards
the door. “Look at those women that are walking out now, I could have made a
killing with book sales today. But no, they had to bring their own. I might as
well start packing up, the event’s nearly over.” He moved towards the other end
of the table.

Cara opened the book and made a
pretence of reading it as she moved closer to Lauren and Millie. Their heads
were together and they were wearing the same expression of glee. Cara gripped
the book, they were up to something and she was going to find out what that
was!

A few minutes later Millie cackled with
joy. “This is going to ruin her! I love it! I can’t wait to see her face.”

Lauren joined in with the cackling. “I
know. Nobody will want her on the committee after this. She’ll probably lose
her job too! Good riddance.”

Millie laughed even more. “Let’s hope
she moves away from this town altogether. I’m sick of seeing your father make
an idiot of himself over her.”

At that moment Thomas rushed into the
room. Cara almost dropped her book as he yelled, “Lauren! Millie! Stop right
now! I know what you’re up to!”

Lauren pulled the tablet to her chest.
Millie sneered at Thomas and said, “Go away! This doesn’t concern you.”

“It does concern me! I’ve found out
about your plan. You thought you were safe making files on that computer at
home. You thought I’d never find them. ‘Poor Thomas, doesn’t know how to work a
computer’.” He stopped in front of Millie and Lauren. His voice went cold as he
said, “I decided to learn how to use the computer when I saw how much time you
two were spending on it lately. I knew you were up to something. I found those
pictures of Judy, the ones that you’ve doctored. And I saw those words that
you’re planning to put online, those disgusting rumours that you’ve made up!
Why? Why would you do that to Judy? You’ll ruin her reputation.”

Millie spat, “She deserves it!”

Thomas shook his head. “No, Millie, she
doesn’t deserve it. You’re jealous of her. And rightly so, I should have
married her all those years ago, not you.” He looked at Lauren and said, “You
should be ashamed of yourself. What will your clients think when they find out
what you’ve done? What will your boss think?”

Lauren gasped. “Dad! You wouldn’t tell
them! Please?”

Thomas sighed. “I haven’t decided yet.
Have you gone ahead with your disgusting plan?”

Lauren shook her head and looked at the
floor.

Thomas sighed again. “If either of you
go ahead with it I’ll make sure there are consequences. Either way, Millie,
we’re finished.” He turned and walked away, not noticing Cara as he passed her.

Cara forced her attention on the book
as Lauren and Millie began to argue with each other. So that’s what they were
up to. Planning to spread rumours and post doctored photos of Judy. Cara shook
her head as she flicked through the pages of the book. She paused in mid-flick.
Something had caught her eye in the book. She read on. That can’t be right?
Cara quickly flicked through the rest of the book, stopping at a few selected
pages and skimming through the text. No! It can’t be!

She flung the book down and picked up
another one of Andrew’s. Her hands began to shake as she read the blurb on the
back.

Robin appeared at her side. “Cara!
Cara! It’s going to happen! Judy is going to die in less than a minute! Hurry!”

Tears came to Cara’s eyes as she faced
Robin. She said, “I know who’s going to kill her.”