Free Ice Blue by Emma Jameson

your
mother invited to the party,” Kate said, consulting the notes
contained within her smart phone. “The first guest you mentioned
was Charlie Fringate. You said your father screwed him over a
shipping deal.”
    “Yes, that was Daddy’s business. Global
freight and cargo. Last year, Charlie was going through a rough
patch with his company, and he needed a good deal on overseas
shipping rates to turn a profit. Daddy promised him a certain rate
and changed his mind at the last minute. Charlie lost a ton of
money, and I think it ruined their friendship. But Charlie still
came around the house. He needed Daddy much more than Daddy ever
needed him.” Jules paused, transparently holding back something –
something she wanted to say.
    “And if you hear a rumor about Charlie and
Mum, ignore it,” Jules said at last, releasing her breath in a
rush. “It’s not true.”
    “A rumor about an affair?” Kate asked.
    “It’s bollocks.” Jules threw out the curse
self-consciously. “Charlie’s the nicest, friendliest man in the
world. He treats every woman like a queen, not just my mum. He’s
completely in love with his girlfriend, Frieda, and he brought her
with him last night. The idea of Charlie hitting on my mum is just
wrong,” Jules added, pulling a childish face.
    “Can you think of anyone who would start such
a rumor? Someone who had a grudge against your family?” Bhar asked,
correctly sensing that Kate, taking notes again, was about to move
on without exploring that angle.
    “Ginny Rowland. She sat on social committees
and charity boards with Mum, but Daddy was always mean to her. It
was weird. Like she wasn’t good enough to eat off our plates or sit
on our furniture. I know she was sick of him putting her down and
making her feel inferior. A few months ago, she told me Charlie
might be up to something with my mum. She was wrong, and I told her
so. But even though Ginny was Mum’s friend, I wouldn’t put it past
her to spread rumors about Mum. Not if they made Daddy look like an
arse.”
    “And Ginny Rowland was invited to the party,
too?” Kate prompted.
    “Yes. Her husband, Burt Rowland, was there,
too. He did business with Daddy. They got on all right, I guess.
Burt never says much, unless the subject is money.”
    “According to a constable on the scene last
night, you said a party guest probably murdered your father. What
made you say that?”
    Jules shifted in the striped armchair,
looking embarrassed. “I can’t believe I said that. I went daft for
a bit, I think, after I saw Daddy’s body. As I ran downstairs, I
saw visions of people attacking him – Charlie, Ginny, even Frieda
and Burt. I kept hearing all the things he’d said to them over the
years, and thinking, he finally did it, he finally went too far,
and someone snapped. Daddy had a way of picking you up and flipping
you onto your back – shell-down – so he could dig in. He had a way
of a finishing an argument that made you never want to see his face
again.”
    Kate nodded, thinking of Malcolm Comfrey’s
bloodied, smashed face. “Is that how he treated Kevin?”
    Jules nodded. “We were all gathered round in
the front room for drinks. Daddy started on Charlie first, then
Ginny. Then he set in on Kevin and just wouldn’t stop. Kevin
stormed out, and everyone else was so embarrassed, they went
home.”
    “What did he say about Kevin?”
    “I’d rather not repeat it.”
    Kate paused. Remembering Hetheridge’s
instruction to go softly, she considered her next words with care.
Then she said: “Someone may have murdered your father because of
the way he behaved toward them. If you can tell me what he said to
Kevin – to your new fiancé, at a party meant to welcome him into
the family – I’ll have a much better idea what your father was
like.”
    Jules regarded Kate gratefully, like the
first sympathetic face she had encountered in eons. Kate had no
time to feel guilty about the manipulation – the way she