Eton Mess and Enemies (Peridale Cafe Cozy Mystery Book 28) by Agatha Frost

Author:Agatha Frost [Frost, Agatha]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pink Tree Publishing LTD
Published: 2023-08-28T16:00:00+00:00

15

The strong scent of nail varnish and hot wax hung in the air in Katie’s Salon. With her vivacious energy, Katie swished around, her peroxide curls bouncing with each step. She brought in bowls filled with rose petal-infused water and neatly folded warm towels.

“Now, this,” she began, showing off a golden bottle of face serum, “will work wonders for those pesky little lines, Julia.”

“You don’t have pesky little lines,” Sue said with an amused laugh, with her twins, Pearl and Dottie, playing with clips in each other’s hair by her feet. “Compared to Katie’s smooth face, I think we all have lines.”

Not much older than his niece, Olivia, Vinnie played peek-a-boo with her, making her giggle. Every time Olivia’s round face lit up with joy, Julia tried to share in that joy. She laughed at the right moments and felt grateful for the thought behind the pampering session. But she couldn’t shake off what had happened behind the café no matter how hard Sue and Katie tried.

The cawing of the crows.

The crowds around the body.

The glint of the coins on the eyes.

“Now, then,” Katie said, dragging Julia’s hands across the table after slathering her face in the gold serum. “We’ll do paws and claws, and then it’s onto your eyebrow situation. I can’t believe you haven’t had them threaded since your birthday, and that’s just around the corner again.”

“Oh, yeah,” Sue said. “What are you doing for your birthday?”

“I can barely think about that right now.”

Upstairs, the sound of wheels rolled across the office floor above.

“That’ll be Veronica,” Katie said with a slight roll of her eyes. “She’s up there before I get here and long after I leave. Barely leaves that desk most days. Bless her. You know, I might ask her to join us. Make it a real girl’s night. Stay here, and I’ll be back in two swipes of a nail varnish brush.”

As Katie’s heels clicked towards the stairs, Julia felt more restless than she had all night. She looked around, her gaze settling on the salon’s entrance.

“Go,” Sue said with a sigh. “Don’t say I didn’t try.”

“What are you going to tell her?”

“That a man in a black cloak dragged you away,” she said with a wink. “I’ll think of something. Consider your eyebrows spared.”

As Julia left the warmth of the salon, the night’s cool breeze hit her, ruffling her hair. Julia’s pace quickened as she hurried around the corner of Mulberry Lane, determined to talk to any member of the Knight family. After Barker had filled her in on his conversation with Sam and gone off in search of Derek, Julia knew there was more to be uncovered. As much as she wanted to leave the grieving family alone, as Barker had pointed out over the phone, not only were they suspects in the murder investigation, they were now potential targets for the cloaked killer’s dagger.

The B&B beckoned her, and after being let in by Evelyn’s grandson, Julia found Faith in her familiar spot by the windowsill, the room dimly lit by the moonlight.

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