Dip Pens, Descendants and Dirty Deals: Paper Crafts Club Mysteries, #2

By Emily Selby

A beautiful ring is stolen, the thief is murdered and the key suspect turns up dead. Whodunnit?

Katie has just returned from a weekend away, only to find... another dead body right under her window and the beautiful ring missing from her drawer. Yes, that ring!
Is the missing ring a clue to solve the murder mystery? Why was the victim killed using Katie's dip pen? And most importantly, will Katie find out who has been on a killing spree this time around?

Don't miss the second book in Katie Redford's cozy crime adventures.

This is a clean cozy mystery with no gore, no violence and no swearing; written in British English (and therefore spelling and punctuation). 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Upward Stories
• Release date: Feb 17, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224229598

Book preview

1

Katie Redford unlocked the door to her flat. The smell of wet dust hit her hard. She wrinkled her nose. It was the first time she had been away from her flat for longer than a few hours. Gosh, these old flats can get mouldy quickly ! It was barely 24hrs since she’d left. Hopefully, it wasn't a leaky roof or something equally nasty. Kate sighed. The last thing she needed was yet more expense.

She climbed the stairs, dragging her overnight bag. It was a long drive. Not only because of the miles and buckets of rain involved, but because of Katie's heavy heart. Leaving her daughter with her unreliable ex-husband for a weekend was never easy. It was Barry's turn to have Julia, but he couldn't come to collect her, or attend her amateur theatre audition. With the youngster even keener than usual to spend some time with her dad, the best solution had been to drive to York straight after the audition.

So, exhausted from all the driving and two weeks of dealing with the murder of her former employer, the only thing Katie wanted was to slip into her bed and sleep until she couldn't any more.

She shrugged off her jacket and hung it on the rack in the hallway. The floorboard squeaked under her feet, her steps echoing on the landing. Maybe she'd look into buying some rugs in town tomorrow? She needed to spend more time making the flat comfortable. It'd been over a month since Julia and Katie moved in, and the flat still didn't feel like home.

Katie shivered. The days were getting colder, of course, but she didn't realise the house could become cold so quickly without the heating on. A waft of chill wind touched her cheek.

A draft? She'd never noticed that before.

An open window? Would she forget in the heat of the last moment preparations? Had she been burgled? Her heart skipped a beat. She took a deep breath.

The draft felt as though it came from her bedroom.

Katie wrapped her scarf tightly around her neck. She pressed the handle. The bedroom door opened with a familiar screech.

The room was dark and freezing cold. The wet breeze hit her in the face the moment she entered. The curtains flapped in the wind, dripping water onto the tired floor panels. It had been raining heavily for hours. Darn it!

She should have double-checked all the windows before leaving the house.

She flicked the light switch. The room filled with a harsh yellow glow. Katie swept her surroundings with one glance and blew out a breath—it condensed in the air around her head. She shivered. Apart from the sodden curtains and a puddle of water on the floor, the room looked untouched. Pure luck!

She crossed the room to close the window. She pulled the dripping curtains aside. Her backyard was dark–the council still hadn't fixed the street lamps in the back lane. The nearest source of light came from her own window. Katie leant out just to have a look. Tiny droplets touched her face, cooling it further.

She reached out to close the window and caught a glimpse of something on the garage roof, just below her bedroom window. A dark spot the size of a large rubbish bag. Katie strained her eyes but couldn't make out any more detail. She needed a torch. She kept one in the top drawer, somewhere between her knickers and bras.

She turned back and opened the underwear drawer.

Her heart flipped. Certain she hadn’t left it this messy. What was going on? Had someone been through her underwear? She'd check later if anything had gone missing.

Katie grabbed the torch and returned to the window.

She swept the beam across the garage roof and focused on the large blob under the window.

A cold shiver fluttered down Katie's spine.

'Who’s there?' she called out, holding her torch pointed at the spot. Her voice echoed in the empty yard below. 'Can you hear me?'

The more she looked, the more she was convinced. It was a body, curled up in the dark and the rain—immobile.

Oh Lord, a body!

She ducked inside the bedroom, scrambled in her handbag for her mobile phone. With her hands still shaking, Katie dialled the emergency number. The operator took her details.

'Are you sure that person is not moving?'

Katie steadied her breath.

'I've watched for a while and saw no movement. I called out, but there was no response. It's on the roof of my garage, I can't really get any closer.'

'Help is on its way.'

A few minutes later the first set of flashing lights appeared outside the access lane at the back of the row of terraced houses. Katie observed the movements of the firemen and then paramedics on the roof, checking the body, but not doing much with it. Katie found their actions bizarre. If the person was unconscious, surely, he or she should be taken down? Or they should bring some equipment up. Anyway, this was awful. Poor thing. Lying there is the rain and cold. Was it a repairman or a burglar? What was he or she doing there at night in such weather?

And, more importantly, why this person was still there, on her roof, not moving?

Katie shivered again and hugged her jacket closer to her chest. She really should close the window, but she couldn't peel herself off it. She was leaning on the frame, her feet glued to the floor. A lump grew in her throat. What if the person was dead? Died at work, on their own. Without an opportunity to call for help. Or maybe they called for help but weren't heard, because Katie wasn't home?

Her eyes watered. Burglar or not, they were a person, with a family, and friends... So sad... Katie clasped her hands together. Standing at the window was not helping her or the poor person on the roof. Reluctantly, she pushed herself away from the sill and pulled the handle. As she closed the window, another set of lights emerged from the darkness at the end of the lane. Katie recognised the local police van. Her heart made an extra flip, and her stomach churned. Getting the men in blue involved meant that the body on the roof was dead.

She hadn't had time to recover from the most recent spate of crimes and here she was, discovering another body. Her little Sunnyvale was no longer the happy, safe place it used to be.

Katie wobbled and sat on her bed. What should she do? At least her daughter was away and safe.

So much for Katie’s quiet weekend.

She sat motionless for a few more seconds. Maybe it wasn't all that bad. Maybe, it was just a sudden death of someone who was fixing the roof? She was probably exaggerating. There might have been a completely innocent explanation of the presence of a dead body on her garage roof.

Either way, she was freezing and starving, and she needed a cup of tea. Priorities, Katie! She chastised herself.

She turned the heater thermostat up to twenty-five degrees and filled the kettle. She was about to sit down at the table with a cup of freshly brewed tea when someone knocked on the door. It was nearly 9 pm.

'Who is it?' Katie called out from the landing.

'Hi Katie, it's Celia Baxter with Inspector Lumley,' a familiar voice replied.

Katie ran downstairs.

She let the two police officers in. It was strange to see their familiar faces outside work, particularly Inspector Andy Lumley, who was the boss of their small team. Used to seeing them during the day, at the station where Katie worked part time as an office clerk, she struggled to work out how to behave. Treat them as her colleagues? Or act as any normal citizen would in the similar circumstances?

Fortunately, Celia, a new recruit on the Sunnyvale team, made the choice easier for her.

'Hi, Katie. Fancy seeing us again at a weekend?' Celia smiled. Her dark curls were wet. 'We've got some questions about an incident in the neighbourhood.'

An incident. Aha!

'Please, come in.' Katie gestured for them to follow her upstairs to the landing.

'I understand you discovered the body?' Celia asked ready to take notes.

'So, it is a dead body?'

Celia nodded.

'Can you tell us how you discovered it?'

Katie briefly described what had happened, while Celia scribbled in her notebook.

'Did you notice anything suspicious around your house?' Celia carried on.

'Not really. I returned home from my mother’s just after 8pm.'

'You said your window was open. Did you leave it open?'

'I’m not sure. It's possible. We left in a rush.'

'Did you notice anything different around your house?'

Katie chewed on her cheek. A strand of hair came loose from her ponytail. She tucked it behind her ear and started curling it on her finger. Somehow, it helped her think.

'Actually,' she said hesitantly. 'My bedroom looked a little messier then I remembered it.'

'What do you mean?' Inspector Lumley asked.

'My...' Katie blushed. 'My underwear drawer seemed messier than usual. I'm not a very organised person, I admit. But I don't think I would have left my clothes like that.'

'Do you think someone has rummaged through your... things?'

Her taciturn boss looked as uncomfortable as Katie felt. He clearly didn’t want to delve any deeper into her underwear drawer.

'I'm not sure. It's just a feeling...'

'Is there anything missing?'

Katie shrugged. 'Again, I'm not sure. What would be missing? My knickers?' Katie laughed, but it sounded hollow.

Celia glanced at her boss, who seemed to listen carefully to everything, but gave nothing away, keeping his face deadpan.

'Do you keep any valuables in your underwear drawer?' Celia asked. 'A lot of people do. I do.'

'I don't have any valuables,' Katie replied promptly and paused, suddenly aware of something she'd forgotten about. 'Maybe except... Except... Oh, I'd better check.' She turned on her heel. 'You can follow me,' she added, and led them into her bedroom.

She headed straight for the chest of drawers by the window and opened the top drawer. A colourful muddle of her bras, knickers and socks looked different than usual.

'Where is it?' Katie mumbled to herself, feeling various pieces of her underwear. 'I'm sure I put it in here.'

'What are you looking for, Katie?' Celia asked, joining her at the drawer.

'The ring,' Katie explained, now checking the contents of the drawers below. 'These ones looked untouched,' she said slowly.

'What ring?'

Katie looked at Celia, her head spinning. Celia had been involved in some of the events of the previous few weeks and would understand. 'A few days ago, we found a ring in the workshop I inherited from Mrs Dunbar. Do you remember that?' Katie asked.

Celia nodded.

'I put it in here.' Katie pointed the top drawer. 'I was planning to talk about it with the solicitor on Monday. I'm not clear who the ring belongs to since the workshop is not yet formally mine.'

'Is it gone?' Celia asked.

Katie pulled the drawer out and emptied its contents onto the bed. She spread the pile of underwear into a single layer.

'Yep, gone,' she said, tensions growing in her jaw.

'Was it valuable?'

'No idea,' Katie replied truthfully. 'It was an old engagement ring, probably gold. It had two half-moon opals in the centre. It was pretty.'

Inspector Lumley grunted and strode across the bedroom. Katie watched him check her window. He was known for being economical with words.

'Here, look,' he said eventually, leaning over the windowsill. 'Scratches and tiny splinters...'

Katie took a while to process the information.

'Do you mean my flat was broken into?'

'Yes,' he said straightening his back. 'Might have been the guy on the roof.'

A large rock formed in the pit of her stomach. Not only had she found a dead body, she’d also been burgled. What happened to the safe place Sunnyvale used to be. She gulped and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand.

'But why would anyone break into my flat? I have nothing of value. I'm actually quite poor.'

'Obviously you did have something of value,' Celia said. 'The ring. It looks as though the burglar knew about the ring.'

'Do you think the dead man on the roof is the burglar?'

'We've found a crowbar beside him. I'm not sure about the ring,' Inspector Lumley replied. 'And he's been murdered.'

Katie's jaw dropped.

'Murdered? How?'

Inspector Lumley looked at her. His face was expressionless. His staff often joked that getting an emotional response from him was harder than getting him to talk.

Katie glanced at Celia.

'How?' she repeated.

Celia jerked her shoulders under Katie's gaze.

'We think he's been stabbed,' she replied.

'Stabbed? Another one? What was it this time? A knitting needle?'

Celia glanced at her boss, who was scratching his chin and staring into the distance.

Celia cleared her throat.

'Not a knitting needle, but something that looks like an old-fashioned quill pen, you know, the thing people used to write with. What do you think, sir?' Celia glanced at Inspector Lumley again.

He scratched his large nose and studied Katie's ceiling for a few seconds, nodding to himself.

'Right,' he said after a few more seconds of staring. 'Maybe you'd know.' He pulled his phone out of his pocket. He fumbled with it for a while.

'Enlarged it so you can see only the item, not the body,' he said and passed her the phone.

Katie inhaled sharply. The air seemed to have less oxygen than usually. She felt the blood draining from her face. She blinked, hoping the image she was staring at would change. But it didn't.

'Do you recognise it, Katie?' Celia asked.

'Hmm,' Katie mumbled, her throat tight. 'It's a pen I use for lettering. A dip pen.'

'Did you say the pen you use?' Inspector Lumley asked sharply.

The more she thought about it, the more jittery she became. How on earth could a simple police clerk and a part-time cleaner get herself involved in yet another murder?

Katie cleared her throat.

'Yes, it's my dip pen.'

'Are you certain it's yours?' Inspector Lumley's eyes were drilling through her.

'See that purple sign?' Katie pointed to the picture. 'It's peeled off a little. It was 'K' for Katie. I painted it with nail polish, so I could easily recognise it. My daughter has a similar one, she marked it with a pink 'J''.

There was a long, tense silence.

'I see,' Inspector said, looking away.

So much for a quiet weekend. She’d found herself involved in yet another murder mystery.

2

With adrenaline rushing through her system, and a headache beginning to blaze a trail behind her eyes, Katie stood.

'Tea anyone? I need a cuppa,' she croaked.

'Boss?' Celia asked, looking at Inspector Lumley. 'I wouldn't mind a cup.'

Lumley nodded. Katie pulled three mugs out of the cupboard and fired up the kettle. She went through the motions automatically, leaning against the kitchen top.

'You're all right, Katie?' Celia asked, the first to break the awkward silence.

'To be honest, not really. I'm a bit giddy,' Katie decided to opt in for honesty. 'Why me again?'

'Why you what?'

'Implicated in another murder? I haven't shaken off the effects of previous two yet.' A wave of nausea blossomed in her stomach. She sipped her tea to suppress it and burnt her tongue for her pains.

'Come on, nobody suggests you're implicated,' Celia said and glanced at her boss. 'Boss?' She urged him.

'I say nothing,' he replied, his face as unreadable as ever.

'You never say much, Inspector.' Katie dared, wiping the moisture collecting in the corners of her eyes. 'I'm really shocked and scared and appalled.' Her shoulders shook. 'Another murder.'

Celia jumped to her feet and put her hand on Katie's shoulder.

'Easy... Katie. ' She said soothingly, rubbing her back. 'Nobody is saying you're a suspect. And I'm sure since you were away you've got a solid alibi.'

'Alibi?' Katie wiped her nose. 'When for? And who is the dead person anyway?'

'Was. He is no more,' Inspector Lumley mumbled.

'We still need to confirm his identity, but one of the paramedics recognised him. Apparently, he's Zac Greenberg. Does this name ring a bell?' Celia said.

Katie thought for a while.

'No, not really. Was he local? How old was he?'

'Early twenties. He does-didn't live in Sunnyvale but visited his grandmother occasionally. The paramedics said he's been seen around town quite a few times over the past few weeks. A girlfriend or something.'

'Who's his grandmother?' Katie asked.

Inspector Lumley sighed heavily.