Charlotte Denver Cozy Mystery Box Set Read online

  He crept into the house, making his way to the kitchen, where the light was coming from. He held his breath as he heard Jess’s voice.

  “Listen, if you let me go, I promise I’ll help you get help. Just don’t hurt me. Please don’t hurt me. Owww!” She sniffed and her voice shook, and Nathan felt his blood beginning to boil.

  He made his way slowly down the short hallway, coming to a stop outside the kitchen. Very, very slowly, he slid a small mirror into the room to allow him to see how vulnerable a position Jess was in.

  She was sitting in a chair facing him, and sitting opposite her with her back to the door was a woman in a green dress and a long auburn wig. He could see that the abductor’s arm was raised and assumed that Jess had a knife to her throat but he couldn’t be sure because the abductor’s body was obscuring his view.

  He saw a sudden movement out of the corner of his eye. The front door he’d left ajar was being slowly pushed open, to reveal DS Dillon and DS Farrell on the other side. He wondered how they’d known where to find him but he had no time to think about that now. As they crept down the hallway to join him, he saw that they weren’t alone.

  Charlotte was with them.

  He shook his head in disbelief. How many times do I have to ... Then he realised that someone else was outside, too. He did a double-take. What the ...

  It was Sumalee.

  His mind was racing. Then who the hell’s that in the kitchen with Jess?

  He put his finger to his lips again and signalled to his colleagues that there were two people in the kitchen, and their positions.

  “Please, will you just put that down. You don’t have to untie my hands, just put that down and we can talk. You can tell me anything. I promise I won’t tell anyone. Just please don’t hurt me. Owww!”

  Jess’s voice filled Charlotte’s eyes with furious tears and she looked at Nathan, willing him to do something.

  He peered into the kitchen and held his finger to his lips when Jess saw him and her eyes widened.

  Suddenly he could see that it wasn’t a knife at her throat.

  It was a knitting needle.

  He signalled to Ben and Fiona and they nodded.

  After Nathan had counted three, they were to charge into the kitchen. Nathan and Ben would overpower the abductor and Fiona would remove Jess from the room and any possible danger as soon as possible.

  Nathan counted down with his fingers. One ... two ... three ...!

  Caught up in the moment, Charlotte rushed in behind them. Even by the dim glow of the candles on the kitchen table, she could see the fear in Jess’s eyes.

  The element of surprise had the desired effect and the abductor turned awkwardly, having been caught off-guard.

  With makeup smeared in a grotesque mask and the long auburn wig wild and matted, Drew was almost unrecognisable dressed as his mother, Nina.

  Charlotte gasped as she saw him and her hands flew to cover her face. With a crazed roar, he raised the knitting needle high above his head and rushed towards her but before he could bring it down, Nathan charged at him and wrestled it from his hand whilst Ben pulled his other arm up behind his back.

  It took less than thirty seconds for them to bring the situation under control.

  They exchanged thankful glances. This arrest meant a lot to both of them.

  Nathan pulled Drew to his feet. “Drew Ferguson, I am arresting you on suspicion of the murder of Kate Denton and for the abduction of Jess Beddingon, with intent to murder. You do not have to say anything ....”

  Out in the hallway, Jess, Charlotte and Sumalee fell into each other’s arms and wept.

  Chapter 16

  DREW

  For most of the day, his mother would sit in her rocking chair, staring blankly ahead and knitting an ever-growing scarf on autopilot. When she’d been in the hospital, a support group had started a knitting circle to help with stress management and depression, and she’d carried on with the therapy at home.

  By this time, it was obvious to Drew’s mother that her husband had no interest in getting their marriage back on track. It was also obvious that he was still seeing other women, one of whom had purported to be a friend of them both.

  It had been inevitable that there would be consequences.

  One Sunday, Drew had been at home with his father, building a model aeroplane. Although it happened rarely, Drew had loved spending time with his father when it was just the two of them. He hadn’t liked it when his mother had been in hospital and his father had had a different woman at the house whenever he’d gone to spend the odd weekend with him. He liked spending time alone with his father.

  He loved hearing the stories he would tell about aeroplanes and the faraway places they could take you to. His prize possession was a little silver aeroplane badge with red-tipped wings. His father had got it for him from his office and when he’d pinned it to his coat, he’d told him that he only gave them to the most special people.

  That Sunday, Drew’s mother had just got back from her afternoon walk. He would normally have gone with her, but it had been raining heavily, so he’d stayed home. Drew liked Sundays because it was the only day his mother made a real effort to leave the house and she was always happy when she got back.

  That particular day, she’d kissed his cheek and ruffled his hair before going to the sink to fill the kettle. Then she’d made her husband a cup of tea and when she’d taken it to him, she’d calmly stuck a knitting needle into the side of his neck. Then she’d sat back down in her rocking chair and continued with her scarf.

  Drew had been severely traumatised. His mother had sent him to his room and neither of them had left the house for three days.

  As he had lain on his bed, she had come to him and given him a piece of paper with a strange sounding address on it. She hadn’t told him what it was, only that he should keep it safe because one day he may decide that he needed it.

  When he’d asked her what she’d meant, all she would say was that he’d know when that day came and that she’d given it to him because she didn’t want to think of him all alone in the world when she’d gone.

  Then she’d told him never to let anyone take advantage of him. And to never trust anyone - especially women.

  Men are weak, she’d told him. They just follow what’s in their pants, but women. Ah, women are smart. They’ll plan how they’re going to destroy you. They’ll get in your head and manipulate you until you don’t know where you are.

  Women are supposed to stick together and look out for each other, but all they want to do is steal the people you love and take what’s most important to you. Never trust women, Drew. They’ll only betray you in the end.

  It wasn’t until Drew’s headmistress had come round to check on why he hadn’t been at school that the murder had been discovered and the police had been called.

  Some time later, a local woman had been found having suffered the same fate as Drew’s father. On her blouse had been pinned a small, silver aeroplane badge.

  Drew had been sent back to live with foster parents and when he was 17, his mother had died in prison. Inside the box containing her belongings that the prison guard had given him was a green dress and a pair of beige, low-heeled shoes.

  He’d gone to her funeral, grieved for a while and then got on with this life.

  Some weeks later, when Steve and Debra Ferguson had asked him if he’d like them to adopt him, he’d agreed. Why not? It would be good to be part of a family again. Steve had even helped him invest the small inheritance he’d received.

  On his 21st birthday, they’d told him about the Thai woman his father had had an affair with. They’d worried about telling him, but knew it was the right thing to do. He was an adult now and he had a right to know. It wasn’t their business to keep the news of a sibling from him.

  After years of wondering about the address his mother had given him, the penny finally dropped.

  He’d been angry to begin with. Angry that his adoptive parents
hadn’t told him before and angry that his birth father had been unfaithful to his mother. But then he’d come round to the idea and he’d been excited to think he might have a brother or sister living on the other side of the world. He’d always wanted to travel to the faraway places his father had told him of and this could be the perfect opportunity, he’d told Steve and Debra.

  For the next five years, he’d saved up every penny he earned. Then he’d emptied his bank accounts and gone off to Thailand with Kate.

  The only clue he had as to where he might find his half-sibling was the piece of paper his mother had given him.

  When Drew had arrived at the address, in a rural area just outside Chiang Mai, he’d found a family of eleven living in a large wooden house, raised off the ground by sturdy pillars. Still the family home of his half-sibling’s extended family, they’d greeted him like a long-lost friend.

  Sumalee’s mother had passed away the year before, but the moment he’d been introduced to his sibling had been a particularly emotional one. With phrasebook Thai, pidgin English and much gesticulation, Drew and Sumalee had forged an instant bond.

  She was so beautiful and feminine, it was three days before Drew and Kate had found out that Sumalee was a man. The realisation was to become life-changing for them all.

  For Drew, it was as though an element essential to his well-being that had been hidden from him his whole life had suddenly become visible and, deep inside, something began to feel good.

  One night, with alcohol fuelling his bravado, he’d taken his mother’s green dress out of his case. It was the only reminder of her that he’d kept and when he’d been packing for his trip, instinct had prompted him to put it alongside his own clothes.

  As he’d slipped it over his head, he’d been overwhelmed by the feeling that he’d come to the end of a long, long journey and the person he loved most had been waiting to greet him.

  He’d loved that nobody have given a damn or judged him. On the contrary, the wholly accepting attitudes of the wonderful, welcoming people among whom he was living, had made him feel liberated.

  After so many years, they had allowed him to feel close to his mother again.

  Instantly, he’d realised that he, too, wanted the same freedom of expression that Sumalee enjoyed, and that was the day he had become Nina.

  In the beginning, Kate had been supportive, albeit surprised. She‘d always been open minded, and her live-and-let-live outlook on life had been one of the things he’d loved most about her. As the years had passed, though, she’d become less enamoured with his alter-ego.

  When she’d suggested that they return to the UK as she was missing her family, he’d known that her ulterior motive was to rid their lives of Nina.

  He knew she’d hoped that the move back to St. Eves, where everyone knew him as a macho sporting hero, would make it more difficult for Nina to exist.

  In denying him his mother, Kate had been guilty of the harshest betrayal of all.

  Chapter 17

  In the interview room, Nathan sat across from the table from Drew. “Did you kill Kate Denton?”

  Drew returned his gaze, his dark eyes devoid of emotion. “I did.”

  “Why did you kill her, Drew?”

  “Because Kate didn’t like it when Drew dressed up as Nina. She didn’t want her around anymore. She wanted Drew all to herself,” he said, in an eerie, high-pitched voice. His head fell back and he laughed before continuing to answer as himself.

  “In other words, she wanted me to stop dressing as my mother. She told me that she couldn’t cope with me being around her as Nina any more. She wanted that part of me to be gone from our lives. She wanted us to get married and to have a family of our own, but she didn’t want Nina to be a part of it. That was simply not acceptable to me.

  “We’d argued the day she died. When we’d got ready to meet Ben and Jess at the hotel, I’d wanted to go dressed as Nina. She went crazy and told me that she wasn’t going to be seen dead in St. Eves with me like that.

  “She told me to get changed and then she went off without me. She was angry, but I was just as angry. I went after her to tell her I was sick of keeping Nina hidden and that she was going to come out wherever and whenever I wanted her to.

  “I went up to the roof and Kate was there, all alone. I tried to talk to her, but she wouldn’t listen so I grabbed hold of her. I just wanted to make her see sense ... but then she said that my mother was the worst thing that had ever happened to our relationship. I didn’t like that. I didn’t like that at all. So I threw her off the roof. It all happened so quickly.

  “If I hadn’t have bumped into Jess, no one would have been any the wiser about me being there, but once she’d seen me, I knew it wouldn’t be long before the police started searching. So, I went to Sumalee’s room and changed. Thank God that Kate had suggested we keep a change of clothes there for when we’d stay the night sometimes to keep Sumalee company.

  “Anyway, then I went downstairs to make it look as though I’d just arrived. Lucky for me, Ben walked in just after I’d got there and we came up in the lift together. I couldn’t have asked for a better alibi.”

  “Anyway, all things considered, I think I’ve played the grieving fiancé terribly well, don’t you think?” He smiled, smugly. “Anything else you want to know, Detective Chief Inspector?” He examined his nails before looking up at Fiona and flashing her his most charming smile.

  “Jess. Why Jess? Why did you involve her in all of this?” asked Nathan.

  “Ah, Jess. Yes, well that goes back to long before Kate and I even got together. She humiliated me. I know it must sound very petty to you, but when you’re fourteen years old, a humiliation like that can stay with you for life. And it did. Which is why I had to punish her for it.

  “In fact, if she hadn’t gone off with that damned policeman earlier, she’d be dead by now, too.”

  Nathan had heard enough. “Interview suspended at one-thirty am, Saturday 25th October.

  “Get him out of my sight, please, DS Farrell.”

  ººººººº

  “What will happen to Drew now?” asked Jess as she sat on Charlotte’s couch with her hands wrapped around a mug of hot milk with maple syrup, the shakes she’d had since she left her house earlier slowly beginning to subside.

  “He’ll undergo a psychiatric assessment. I hope he gets some help. He certainly needs it,” said Nathan.

  “Surely they’ll take into account the fact that the trauma he suffered as a child must have been in some way responsible for what happened?” Charlotte picked Pippin up to give him a cuddle and he rested his paws and chin on her shoulder.

  “I’m sure they will, but they’re going to have a lot of work on their hands. Drew’s a very complex character.”

  “You know, it was a real stroke of luck that we ran into Sumalee when we were on our way to your place, Jess,” said Ben. “She already knew all about Drew’s alter-ego from back in Thailand, so she confirmed what Charlotte already suspected. Apparently, they used to borrow each other’s stuff all the time - clothes, wigs, that sort of thing.

  “She was worried that he was going to do something terrible, because he was so furious after we left the café together. When he got dressed up and went out, she had a really bad feeling, so she started running back to the marina to find Charlotte. That’s when we picked her up.”

  “You know, she might have saved everyone a lot of trouble if she’d just come forward after the witness appeal and told you about Drew’s fondness for dressing up,” said Jess, shuddering as she tried to put the thoughts of her ordeal out of her mind.

  “Well, I asked her about that,” said Ben, “and she said that she never saw the witness appeal. The only TV she ever watched were the shopping and the music channels.”

  “You know, I still can’t believe that she’s a man,” said Charlotte. “She’s so beautiful. It can’t have been easy for her to uproot and come here. She must have really trusted Drew and Kate.”
<
br />   “What d’you think she’ll do now?” Jess swirled her mug around before drinking the last mouthful of milk.

  “She wants to go back to Thailand,” said Ben.

  “How do you know that?” asked Charlotte.

  “She told me when I took her back to Nathan’s place. She’s distraught about Drew. They’ve become really close over the years - it’s going to be really difficult for her to get over this, I think.”

  “Where’s she going to get the money for a ticket to Thailand?” said Charlotte. “I doubt if she’s going to be able to borrow any money from Drew for the foreseeable future, and from you what said, Nathan, his parents certainly aren’t going to do her any favours.”

  Nathan shrugged. “Maybe something will turn up,” he said, thoughtfully.

  Jess checked her watch and yawned. “Yikes! Look at the time. I don’t know about all of you, but I need to get some sleep. Thanks for letting me stay here tonight. I felt a bit spooked about going home.”

  Charlotte stretched. “No problem. Anyway, after what you’ve been through, I expect you’re glad that the café’s shut tomorrow.

  Jess nodded. “Let’s just say that, for the first time ever, I’m actually glad that I don’t have to go to work tomorrow. I just couldn’t face talking to anyone about what’s happened tonight.”

  Charlotte gave her a hug and a peck on the cheek. “Well, you can sleep as late at you like, but if you’re not up by the time Strictly Come Dancing starts, I’ll drag you out of bed and prop you up in front of the TV!” She yawned widely. “Right, come on you, let’s leave these lovebirds to say goodnight alone,” she said to Nathan. “’Night, Ben. See you soon, no doubt?”

  “Well, that’s up to Jess, but I hope so. ‘Night, Charlotte, ‘night, Chief.”

  Charlotte was halfway up the stairs when she suddenly stopped. “By the way, Ben. Are you allergic to peanuts?”