Poppy Blake - The Windmill Café

‘Great.’

Matt and William settled down on the over-stuffed sofas in the café whilst Rosie helped Mia assemble a tray of coffee. She added a bottle of French brandy she’d been given by Graham as a welcome-to-your-new-home gift when she’d arrived in May. She loathed the taste, but it seemed like this was the perfect time to give it its first outing. From the way the men slung it into their coffee mugs she knew she had been right.

She took a seat on the adjacent sofa, her stomach churning with rampaging nerves. But she couldn’t chicken out now, not when the future of the Windmill Café was at stake. She longed to talk to her father, to ask his advice on what she needed to do in order to elicit the right information in such circumstances. How she wished this was simply another one of the murder mystery parties they used to drag her mother and Georgina to at Christmas, where she had fun pitching her mind against his in an effort to be the first to solve the crime and steal the prize.

However, this was real life – yet, weren’t the principles the same? They had to narrow down the suspects and one of the ways to do that was by seeking out possible motives, which meant delving into their backgrounds.

‘William, would it be okay if Matt and I asked you a few questions? We really want to find out how this dreadful incident could have happened.’

‘Do you think I don’t? When I get my hands on the person who did this, well, let’s just say you wouldn’t want to be in the vicinity!’

Rosie watched William lean forward and rest his forearms on his thighs, his back arched to the ceiling. When he raised his head, she noticed the dark smudges beneath his eyes and how untidy his collar-length hair was from the way he dragged his fingers through the waves as he struggled to put his brain into gear to answer her question.

‘Ask away! What do you want to know?’

‘Well, we thought if we could gather as much information as possible, it might help us to understand how such a deadly poison found its way into Suki’s throat spray, who put it there and why. So, can I ask you, whose idea was it to come to Norfolk?’

William knocked back his coffee and refilled his empty mug with neat brandy before levelling his eyes at Rosie and heaving a long, ragged sigh.

‘Suki wanted to have one last big get-together with the people she loves before things got manic. She and Jess spent some of their childhood in Norfolk and Felix knew about this place. Suki thought it sounded perfect and insisted on paying for everyone to come for the week. Bill and Angela left her financially secure and she wanted to share it with her family and friends. She’s an amazing woman!’

There was now no doubt in Rosie’s mind that Freddie had been right – there was definitely more than a business relationship between William and Suki.

‘How long have you and Nadia known Suki? You’re clearly very close?’

‘We all met at university. We took the same music degree course in Sheffield. It was my second degree. I’d already fulfilled my parents’ dreams by graduating from Oxford and I thought it was about time to start focussing on my own ambitions. We kept in touch after uni, though. Not only did we have our love of music in common, but I live in Artà, in Majorca, with my parents – they run a tennis academy there – and Suki’s uncle and aunt also live there for half the year. Kenneth Richards is Suki and Jess’s paternal uncle. He pays the rent on their villa when Suki and Nadia are working in the resorts for the summer. So, whenever they come out, we get together. I can usually manage to pull a few favours and get them a couple of gigs in one of the bars for the summer season in Majorca, but this year they got bookings in Ibiza.’

‘So how did you and Nadia get together?’ Rosie pressed, starting to feel more confident in her role as examiner-in-chief, keen to know more about the state of their relationship and only a little uncomfortable that it was really none of her business.

‘Been together since Christmas. I sort of fell into managing both Nadia’s and Suki’s music careers, even when they were back in the UK. My first degree is in law and business studies. I handle my parents’ tennis academy business, too. My family all adore Suki and Jess – welcomed them both into our lives, especially as their own parents aren’t around. Jess even stays with them sometimes in the holidays. She’s studying for an English Lit degree – says she wants to be a children’s author and illustrator, but my brother, Antonio, thinks she has the potential to make a great tennis player if she’d put a bit more effort in. Or she did until she met Lucas. Pain in the butt, he is. Talks about nothing else except becoming a famous chef and living the “celebrity lifestyle”. I know I shouldn’t say this, but if you want my opinion, he’s only with Jess for her cash.’

Rosie wondered if it was the desire to find the instigator of Suki’s suffering or the alcohol that was loosening William’s tongue. Should she persuade him to go back to his lodge in case he regretted his honesty the next morning? Would that be the right thing to do? It seemed her initial opinion of William was the right one – he was one of the most straightforward and candid people she had met. However, before she could say anything, Matt had snatched the enquiry baton from her hands.

‘You mean the Richards family trust fund?’

‘Yes. Jess isn’t due to inherit her share for a few years, but Suki has hers so she spoils Jess. Of course, why shouldn’t she? She’s her little sister and she lost her parents when she was only eleven. Jess is hopeless when it comes to finances; well, anything that requires a cogent thought process, actually. Suki is really worried about what will happen when Jess turns twenty-five and she inherits her share of the trust fund capital.’

‘So what’s your theory on what happened?’

William paused, his eyes resting on Matt.

‘Well, didn’t we all see her drag your friend off to her lodge?’

Matt ignored the implication. ‘And you didn’t see her again until we found her in her lodge in agony?’

‘No.’

‘Are you sure?’

William stared at Matt for what seemed like an eternity. Then, to Rosie’s astonishment, he burst into tears.

‘Okay, okay. I went to see her in her lodge. I’m so sorry, the charade at the party was a cover. Suki and I, well, we’re in love. She planned on telling Felix as soon as he arrived from Colchester. I was going to break it off with Nadia when we left here so she could go to her parents in Cambridge instead of back with Suki and Jess to Ibiza. The bottle of champagne she snagged on the way to the lodge was for us to celebrate.’

‘Well, I don’t think Freddie’s going to be in a hurry to forgive you when he hears that confession,’ muttered Mia. ‘You could have saved him a great deal of anguish if you’d spoken up earlier.’

‘I’m sorry about what Suki and I put your friend through, I really am. I will make sure I apologize to him when I see him. I’ve been attracted to Suki since I met her at uni, but there was always some guy lurking around so I never made a move. Suki came over to Artà without Jess at the beginning of May and we spent an idyllic two weeks together playing tennis and taking the bikes to the beach. We didn’t mean it to happen, but we fell in love. Then she was spotted by a contact of mine from Mountside Records and the recording deal followed. I couldn’t dump Nadia right after that and take up with Suki. How would that have looked? I’m not that cruel, even though the offer of a contract came weeks after we got together. We wanted to celebrate in secret because Nadia was crushed.’

‘And did you celebrate?’