Free A Secret Killer (Julia Blake Cozy Mystery Book 4) by Gillian Larkin Page B

confront the intruders, Julia decided to make as
little noise as possible as she descended the stairs. Cain followed her lead
and slunk along at her side.
    At
the bottom of the stairs, Julia indicated her head towards the office door, it
was now ajar. A low hum of noise came from within. Cain pressed his lips
together and nodded. They tiptoed over towards the door. Julia peered through a
crack. She looked back at Cain and mouthed, ‘ Dinah
Wells ’ .
Cain ’ s
lips almost disappeared as he pressed his lips even tighter together.
    Dinah ’ s
loud laugh made them both jump. “ It was so easy!
He was putty in my hands, ” Dinah said.
    There
was a male chuckle and a voice said, “ I wish I could be
putty in your hands, imagine the shapes you could make out of me. ”
    Julia ’ s
nose wrinkled in disgust. She moved her head. No, she couldn ’ t see
who the man was. The tone of his voice was vaguely familiar.
    Dinah
spoke again, “ Later,
you bad boy. Anyway, the contract is signed now. The poor man thought he was
getting a good deal. He doesn ’ t know that I ’ ve
already written the book, I ’ ve made notes
since I started working for Hugo! That fool of an agent thinks I ’ m
spending months slaving over my laptop, you should have seen his face when I
asked for more money, it was like he felt sorry for me having to put in such
hard work. ”
    The
man laughed again. “ You ’ re
too clever by half, Dinah. ”
    “ It ’ s not
my fault if people are easily fooled. I told you about the TV deal, didn ’ t I?
Have you cleared it with that director? The one who ’ s in
charge of Summersdale? Won ’ t he mind
another TV show being shot here? ”
    “ Doesn ’ t
matter if he minds or not, it ’ s my house now.
I ’ ll
say who films here. Can you believe how little my brother was charging them? ”
    Julia
gasped. Was that Hugo ’ s brother? He ’ d
never mentioned having a brother.
    The
door was suddenly flung open. A man glared at them. “ I
thought I heard something. Who the hell are you? And what are you doing in my
house? ”
    Dinah
came into view. The angry look on her face dissolved as she looked at Julia. “ Julia!
How lovely to see you. ” She put her hand on the man ’ s
arm. “ Gilbert,
this is Julia Blake, she does cleaning work for Hugo. We ’ ve
met a few times, haven ’ t we? ”
    Julia
nodded. She hadn ’ t missed the change of tone in Dinah ’ s
voice. It had gone from a mocking arrogant one to an overly friendly one. Julia
said, “ We
have met before. This is my colleague, Cain. Sorry if it seems we were
listening in on a private conversation but the police said we could enter Hugo ’ s
house. ”
    “ Why? ” Gilbert shot out. “ It ’ s not
like he needs any cleaning doing now, is it? And if you ’ re expecting
me to pay, you can think again. ”
    Dinah
gave a tinkly laugh. “ Oh, Gilbert, don ’ t be
so gruff. Sorry, Julia, this is Hugo ’ s younger
brother. He ’ s not
usually so bad-tempered, he ’ s suffering from
grief. ”
    “ Am I? ” Gilbert asked.
    Dinah ’ s
chin wobbled, and, right on cue, a delicate tear rolled gracefully down her
powdered cheek.
    Julia
folded her arms. She was seeing a whole new side to Dinah. Julia said, “ Hugo
never mentioned a younger brother. ”
    Gilbert
snorted. “ I ’ m not
surprised! I ’ m a
dirty secret that he doesn ’ t like to talk
about. There ’ d
been some mix-up about money when Mother and Father died. Hugo was under the
impression that I ’ d stolen things that rightfully belonged
to me. ” Gilbert stepped out into the
hall, forcing Julia and Cain to take a few steps backwards. Gilbert thrust his
chin out and said, “ Doesn ’ t
matter now, this all belongs to me. I can do what I want with this house. I won ’ t be
needing your services any more. ”
    Julia
hadn ’ t
finished with her questions. “ Is this house
officially yours? ”
    Gilbert ’ s
chin dropped. “ Not
officially, the paperwork ’ s going