Page 35 of Sun, Sea & Strawberry Shortcake
‘I know. I can hardly believe it myself, actually.’ I grinat her. ‘It sounds quite impressive even to me.’
‘It’sveryimpressive. Do you charge for the work youdo, like real private investigators?’
I laugh. ‘No, no. We just like solving mysteries. I guesswith names like HudsonHolmesand RubyWatkiss, it was written inthe stars that we’dalmostturn out to be a detective duo.’
She sighs. ‘Well, I’m so glad I met you. I have faith inyou, Ruby. With your help, we’ll find out who’s doing this to us. I’m sure ofit.’
Her certainty stops me in my tracks somewhat.
What if we can’t help her? What if we were just luckythose other times?
But I paste on a smile and say, ‘Well, first I need to talkto Hudson. See what his view of the situation is.’If I can prise him awayfrom work and Joanna for long enough.
My heart sinks. I have an awful feeling I’ll be on my ownfor this investigation.
But what have I got to go on?
There are lots of weird things happening around here. The threateningletters. The bleeding-eyed doll at Jodie’s window. A mysterious plague doctor.And a man in dark glasses parked in the lane with some shady agenda of his own.
But what on earth does it allmean?
There’s a knock at the door and Joanna waltzes straight inwithout bothering to wait. ‘Hi, Ruby. Is Hudson about?’
‘Er, yes? He’s upstairs.’
She catches sight of Bee sitting at the table and stops.‘What areyoudoing here? It’s not a cleaning day.’ She looks comicallyhorrified, as if in her world, people renting posh cottages should definitelynotbe making friends withlowlycleaners.
Bee looks uncomfortable. ‘No, I...’
I scrape back my chair, squaring up to Joanna.How bloodyrude!‘Bee’s having a coffee with me. Any objections?’
‘Er, no,’ Joanna mumbles, looking a little sheepish nowafter her overreaction. ‘No, of course not.’
‘If you’d like to sit down, I’ll let Hudson know you’rehere,’ I tell her tartly, and I pick up my phone and text him, not wanting toleave Bee alone with my delightful next-door neighbour. Thank goodness it’sNormawho cleans at the cottage Joanna’s renting. So Bee doesn’t have to put up withJoanna on a regular basis!
Hudson texts back that he’ll be down in a sec and could Imake Joanna a coffee? So with a rather bad grace, I thump on the kettle,deciding I’ll give her the dregs in the old coffee jar that was here when wearrived, the granules having solidified and stuck to the bottom. It’s petty, Iknow, but she riles me up so much...
‘I’d better be going,’ says Bee.
‘No, stay!’
She glances at her watch. ‘I’m due at work in fifteenminutes. I’m cleaning at Clifftop House later this morning. Where your friendsare staying.’
‘Oh, right. Well, see you later, then.’ I go with her to thedoor and just as I’m saying goodbye, my phone starts to ring and I glance atthe name. ‘Speaking of Clifftop House, it’s Ellie.’
‘I’ll leave you to talk. Thanks. For everything.’ She givesme a knowing smile, flicking her eyes at Joanna.
‘Hey, no problem.’
I walk back into the kitchen, chatting to Ellie, which isnice because it means I have a legitimate reason for ignoring Joanna.Apparently, the girls have a trip planned for today and are wondering if I’dlike to join them.
‘Where are you going?’ I ask, putting Ellie on speaker phoneas I finish making Joanna’s coffee, scraping the last remains out of the jar.
‘Cardiff. The weather forecast’s rubbish for today so wethought we’d do some shopping and a bit of sightseeing, then maybe see a filmand grab some dinner after the movie.’
‘It sounds great. And thanks for asking me, Ellie. But I’ve...got things to do today.’ With Hudson no doubt busy with Joanna after all, I’dhave been really tempted to join them, but I need to help Bee. I’m worriedabout her and Jodie, and I want to be here in case there’s something I can do.
‘Oh, okay. Well, have a great day, Ruby. We won’t be backtill late tonight, but maybe we could catch up tomorrow?’
