Shoes Clues and Danger: A Button Up Detective Agency Cozy Mystery #3

By Lizzie Lewis

When Janika Jones started the Button Up Detective Agency, she was reluctant to get involved in matrimonial problems. However, a desperate call from a woman whose life could be in danger convinces Janika that she needs to take action, urgently.
Meanwhile, Piers Pillinger wants Janika to carry out another job involving Humphrey Broxburn, the owner of a West End art gallery. Piers assures Janika that she is in no danger and she can trust Humphrey absolutely, but when she is bundled into a blacked out vehicle in the centre of London, she wonders who has been deceiving who.
A major theft from the Mill Lane Garage where Rupert Forrester works makes suspicion fall on Rupert who was last to leave and should have locked up and set the alarm. But did he forget? Janika gets assistance from Toby Walton as she tries to track down the thief and put Rupert in the clear. As Janika says about Toby, “He’s not really my boyfriend.” But Abi and Alice have other ideas.
Told by Janika Jones, this is the third slightly darker spin-off from the series of six Abi Button Cozy Mystery Romance books, also by Lizzie Lewis. Although mainly about Janika, she interacts with many of the main Abi Button story characters.

• Language: English
• Publisher: White Tree Publishing
• Release date: May 31, 2021
• ISBN: 9781913950170

Book preview

About the Book

When Janika Jones started the Button Up Detective Agency, she was reluctant to get involved in matrimonial problems. However, a desperate call from a woman whose life could be in danger convinces Janika that she needs to take action, urgently.

Meanwhile, Piers Pillinger wants Janika to carry out another job involving Humphrey Broxburn, the owner of a West End art gallery. Piers assures Janika that she is in no danger and she can trust Humphrey absolutely, but when she is bundled into a blacked out vehicle in the centre of London, she wonders who has been deceiving who.

A major theft from the Mill Lane Garage where Rupert Forrester works makes suspicion fall on Rupert who was last to leave and should have locked up and set the alarm. But did he forget? Janika gets assistance from Toby Walton as she tries to track down the thief and put Rupert in the clear. As Janika says about Toby, He’s not really my boyfriend. But Abi and Alice have other ideas.

Told by Janika Jones, this is the third slightly darker spin-off from the series of six Abi Button Cozy Mystery Romance books, also by Lizzie Lewis. Although mainly about Janika, she interacts with many of the main Abi Button story characters.

Shoes Clues and Danger

A Button Up Detective Agency Cozy Mystery #3

by

Lizzie Lewis ©2021

This eBook ISBN: 978-1-913950-17-0

Also available as a paperback

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-913950-16-3

Published by

White Tree Publishing

Bristol

UNITED KINGDOM

[e-mail]

Full list of books and updates on

https://whitetreepublishing.com

Shoes Clues and Danger is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the copyright owner of this abridged edition.

Table of Contents

Cover

About the Book

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Epilogue

The Abi Button Cozy Mystery Romance Series

The Button Up Detective Agency Cozy Mystery Series

About White Tree Publishing

Chapter 1

I’m not going to check on my bathroom scales this morning, but I think I’m putting on weight again. My black skirt and white blouse ‒ one size up from the previous ones ‒ already seem to be getting a bit tight around the waist. It must have something to do with the Button Up coffee shop immediately below my office and living accommodation.

I can’t think the coffee is fattening, but those delicious pastries are too hard to resist. And although I fool myself that a light lunch can only be good for me, bacon and cheese toasties, or tuna and cheese baguettes and panini may not fit that definition.

Abi Wells, whom I knew at school as Abi Button, says I need feeding up anyway. She’s part owner of the coffee shop with Melanie Donovan. Abi says when I first arrived here in Craidlea in answer to her advertisement for the office and bedsit above the coffee shop, I looked like a waif.

I don’t think I did, but I was seriously grieving for my husband Sam who’d been murdered by a drugs gang while on official police duty. Still am grieving, of course, but the pain seems to be easing. At times, anyway.

I’m sitting in the office part of my accommodation, but not at my large antique mahogany desk. I’m in one of the small leather armchairs by the window where I can look down into the street and watch people passing by. I have to ask myself if any of them are likely to be interested in my work.

A couple glance up at the large advertising sign in the window that says BUTTON UP DETECTIVE AGENCY. But they don’t bother to stop.

I’m wondering about their interests, because the regional television company wants to feature me in a slot on exciting jobs in the area. For exciting, I think they mean not totally boring. But what can I tell them? That’s the trouble with being a private detective. Everything I do is private.

I exposed a grandmother who was physically abusing her little granddaughter, but that is obviously something the family wants kept secret. The same goes for the episode of Mrs Miller’s young daughter who was having a fling with an older Casanova who claimed to be divorced but was actually still married. Mrs Miller understandably wanted it brought to a halt.

And there is, of course, the incident at Humphrey Broxburn’s Art Gallery in London. But I’m sure he and Piers Pillinger want that kept private. I used to think the word private meant my work wasn’t connected with the police, but I think confidential investigator would be a more accurate term.

Anyway, something interesting I can share might turn up before the interview. It’s not planned for production yet, and the interview is several weeks away. Plenty of time to worry about it.

Of course, the attack by the gang member who tried to force his way into my office and presumably kill me and Detective Inspector Roger Dickinson is hardly private. It got a fair bit of media coverage.

I understand Roger Dickinson quickly settled down after leaving the police force in a hurry, and is working for an uncle where his wife and children went for safety, after they were threatened by the drugs gang. So I’ll not be seeing him again. I quite liked the man. He risked his life to save me when I first set up here in business.

There’s definitely a job I don’t want to discuss on television because of the personal shame involved. The attempt by my previous boyfriend from Poland to pin a charge of attempted murder on me. That attracted crowds outside Button Up, but happily not a lot of publicity.

Maybe I’ll just talk about the attack by the gang member. The three bullet holes in the door at the top of the stairs to my office are still there on show, and so is the damage to my desk where the bullets hit.

But is this the sort of business I want to portray? I see myself as offering peaceful solutions to things that are worrying people, sorting out right from wrong in a fairly low-key way.

And then there’s the incident with Wilfred Chadwick and his missing war medals. That certainly turned into something very nasty. Perhaps I do have a story to tell after all, although I don’t want to attract the wrong sort of clients who deal in firearms on a regular basis. All I want are simple mysteries to solve, with no violence attached ‒ and a decent income of course. Mustn’t forget that.

Toby Walton, he’s not really my boyfriend, says something is sure to turn up soon that will be perfect for the interview. Well, here’s hoping. Ah, that’s my phone ringing. Button Up Detective agency, Janika Jones speaking. How may I help you?

Janika, Piers here. Piers Pillinger. How are you fixed? I have a possible job for you in London next week, and I need to discuss it in some detail.

I know the usual excuse given for being able to see someone quickly is to say that you’ve just had a cancellation, and can manage it now. But Piers is too astute to be fooled by that.

Yes, Piers, call round now if you like. I’m in the office for the morning. Or we can meet in Button Up and chat over a coffee. And maybe over a delicious, fattening pastry. But I refrain from saying that. I don’t mind Abi pulling my leg, but I don’t need unhelpful comments from a man I scarcely know, and am not sure I fully trust.

Piers is laughing. Definitely not Button Up. Abi does tend to take rather too much interest in what’s going on.

I know exactly what Piers means. Abi is nosy, but in a very well-meaning way. If she can help at all, she will be sure to go out of her way to put other people first. Then come round to my office.

Piers is hesitating. Well ... er ... the thing is, Janika, it’s difficult to approach the door up to your office without being spotted from the coffee shop. And this job is highly confidential. How about we meet in Parke’s restaurant?

I feel like saying, As long as you’re paying. I know Piers Pillinger isn’t exactly short of money. The job I did for him at Humphrey Broxburn’s art gallery in London paid handsomely, including free first class train travel and a night in a luxury West End hotel.

Sounds good, I say, trying to keep a slight tremor of excitement out of my voice. What time?

It’s nine thirty now, Janika. Half an hour? Can you be there by ten?

Can I! Yes, Piers, I can manage that. I’m intrigued. Is there anything I need to bring?

The phone has gone silent, but I know Piers is still there. It’s the mid-term school break, and I can hear his two children playing in the background. I don’t need to be a detective to know he’s phoning from home, from his luxurious mansion just outside town.

When you were doing the assignment for me at the art gallery, you mentioned you had some spectacles, glasses, with a camera built in. I know you weren’t able to use them, but I would like to have a look at them. You might need them on this job. And I imagine you have a small ultraviolet flashlight. Surely every private detective has one in their kit. Something small and discreet, that can be hidden in the hand. That is, if you take the assignment on.

This sounds like something from Charlie’s Angels. I can remember a repeats of the old TV series from my childhood here in England. Perhaps it was stuff like that that got me interested in detective work.

Yes, Piers, I have just the thing. And I’ll bring a lead for the spectacles to connect them to my phone if you want to see the quality of the pictures.

No, that won’t be necessary, Janika. If the equipment is good enough for you, I’ll take the quality of the images for granted. I just want to see how covert everything is. See you in half an hour at Parke’s. He pauses for a moment. And don’t forget, not a word to Abi.

At least he has the decency to laugh as he says that. It’s thanks to Abi that I met Piers the first time, and I’m sure he doesn’t mean his warning to be any sort of harsh criticism. Actually, I think he has a soft spot for Abi. Come to think of it, I’m hoping he doesn’t have a soft spot for me.

"Janika, I’d rather you didn’t tell anyone about this meeting."

Fine.

Parke’s has a reputation for being a very expensive restaurant, catering for the best clientele. By best, I mean people with plenty of money. We won’t be alone, although I wouldn’t mind someone knowing where I’m going.

Although Piers is married with two young children, I need to be sure his interest is purely professional. I can’t really believe I’m about to be abducted, but I’ll leave a note on my desk.

Of course I won’t. Not really. Being a PI isn’t a game, and I’ve got to take my work seriously. But abduction would surely be going a step too far.

Chapter 2

I’ve never been inside Parke’s before, but I’ve passed it quite a few times. It’s only a five minute walk from Button Up, in the more affluent part of this town of Craidlea that grew up around a large cotton mill ‒ as much as anything around here is affluent. I’ve no idea who Mr Parke is or was, but I guess it’s his name. Like the coffee shop became Button Up.

Abi Wells was Button until she married Danny Wells. Melanie Donovan was Upton until she recently married Steve Donovan and inherited a ginger haired boy as her stepson. Melanie certainly isn’t a weight watcher, but she makes up for her short height and full figure by having a cheerful manner that I’m sure the customers appreciate.

Melanie seems to have taken to young Liam, and I have to say he’s quite a cute kid. In the holidays he often comes in with Melanie and entertains the customers with conjuring tricks that seem to be well in advance of his nine years.

Piers is waiting outside as I approach Parke’s. He’s obviously keen to get this discussion going. I guess he’s in his mid forties, and I’m in my early thirties. I’m hoping we don’t pass as a couple. This is a business meeting, and nothing else. I don’t have any reason to think he’s attracted to me, but if things do get personal I can mention Toby.

Janika, good to see you again. I’ve phoned ahead and reserved a table in a private corner where we won’t be overheard.

As we enter, a young man wearing a dark brown apron over a striped black and white shirt greets Piers by name, so I guess he must be a regular. We are led over deep carpeting to a table in the far corner of the restaurant, away from prying ears and eyes.

I’m thinking of the table in the corner of Button Up which is permanently reserved for family and friends. That table isn’t particularly private or discreet, but it’s the best that could be managed in a small coffee shop.

The coffee lounge is a large room to the left of the main reception area. Straight ahead I can see the dining room. Of course it’s currently closed, but there are tables for two and four already set for lunch. I imagine there will be candles on the tables and some sort of mood lighting for the evening.

Coffee? Piers says, as soon as the young man has seated us in the lounge, which is decorated in what I think they call Art Deco style, reminiscent of the jazz era.

I nod. A regular cappuccino, please. I suddenly wonder if a cappuccino is too downmarket to ask for in a place like this. It might be like asking for tomato ketchup to accompany some exotic steak prepared by an international chef.

The young man nods without betraying any humour or dismay, and Piers asks for a large Americano. And a selection of your small French pastries, he says, and the waiter leaves before I can manage to protest.

Oh well, it’s all in the cause of duty. And I don’t have to eat any of them, although of course it would be rude to refuse to sample at least one. I’ve put on my long black skirt with the matching jacket and white blouse. I tug at the button on the jacket, and it feels surprisingly loose today. Whatever made me think I’m putting on weight?

Tell me what you know about Expressionist art, Piers says.

This is hardly a conventional chat up line, and since Piers is somehow connected to the fine art world, this must be why I’m here. I’ve been to Monet’s house in Giverny, near Rouen, I say, trying to sound confident as well as knowledgeable. And when I was with my parents exploring Paris one summer we went to Renoir’s garden in Montmartre. I quite like that sort of art, but I can’t say I’m an expert.

I can see Piers is trying to hide a smile, although not very successfully. No, Janika, Expressionist art. You’re confusing it with Impressionist.

There’s a difference? Fortunately I manage to keep that question to myself.

Impressionist, neo-Impressionist, Expressionist, German Expressionist. Piers smiles as he rattles off that list. "I can see it’s confusing

Reviews for Shoes Clues and Danger

[Sheena Gurbakhash · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

There is starting to be a nice format to these books. The possible romance is still in it's very early stages. Not sure how it all fits into the overall flow of the books. I am starting to find Abi a bit nosy and annoying, but the other characters are pretty cool.