AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘All these things that are happening to the business, the health report, the complaints, the attempt to cancel all the suppliers. Is it normal for a new business to erm . . . Did you . . . ? It’s not . . .’ She didn’t know how to put into words, her worst suspicions.
‘In my experience it’s normal for a new business to fluctuate. To have some teething issues with suppliers and some customers that miss whatever was there before. Doreen used to come into Barbarella every week demanding I do her a blue rinse.’
‘Awww, I miss Doreen,’ Sophie said, jumping in. ‘She used to let me try my make-up out on her when I was training.’
Paige smiled, and turned to Melanie. ‘Getting her hair and make-up done helped Doreen with her dementia, she used to find it really relaxing. Apparently she was in here every four weeks for the full works before they closed down and I turned it into a bar.’
‘Why are we talking about Doreen?’ Sophie asked.
The room had quietened down now, and Melanie forced herself to get some outside opinions. ‘Louisa and I think someone is trying to sabotage Lulu.’
‘No, surely not,’ Polly said.
‘Really? Why?’ Sophie responded.
‘Yeah, I’ve been thinking the same to be honest.’ Paige’s tone was surprisingly soft, like she didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news.
A moment of calm washed over Melanie, despite the words. It was like everyone around the table was holding her hand, telling her she was right, wrapping her up in a duvet and—
‘Right, let’s get cracking. Where can we get evidence? Is it an inside job?’ Mya asked clearly ready for action.
‘I don’t think so. I think someone’s been watching. Louisa has checked through our CCTV but nothing really stands out, not that we were sure what to look for.’ Melanie said.
‘An alarmingly high number of crimes are committed by those we know. Like the time Sophie stole a bottle of marshmallow flavoured vodka from Paige,’ Mya explained.
‘Mya! Shut up! I didn’t take it. It was going out of date,’ Sophie said, her voice high and shrill.
Paige’s eyebrow slowly rose as she stared daggers at Sophie.
‘It was stock management.’ But Sophie crumpled. ‘Mya told me to.’
Mya rolled her eyes. ‘My God, Sophie, you cracked so easily.’
‘You would too if you were under the Paige Glare of Death,’ Sophie replied.
‘You two should totally work together on this,’ Polly said. ‘Melanie, with your knowledge and Paige’s Glare of Death, you could have this case cracked in no time.’
‘Why don’t we go downstairs and have a look at the CCTV footage?’ Paige suggested. ‘We’re not too far away, we might have picked up something.’
‘Yeah, you guys go do that,’ Mya offered up far too eagerly.
Melanie shrugged. Paige led the way and Melanie distinctly heard Mya say, ‘Great, now they’re gone we can order pizza.’
Once downstairs they walked through the busy bar, and into the tiny, and boy was it tiny, room. Melanie had to squeeze past Paige just to get in, and when Paige closed the door, it immediately quietened but the next problem quickly presented itself. There was a laptop on a small table, a filing cabinet and a single chair. It was basically a wardrobe.
Paige pulled out the chair, and sat down. ‘You wanna . . . ?’ Paige pat her leg. ‘I think it’s the only way we can both see the screen, sorry.’
Melanie awkwardly made her way round, almost taking out the filing cabinet with her bum, until she was lightly perched on the very edge of Paige’s lap. Paige’s strong arms hoiked Melanie further onto her lap. Making sure they were both settled, chest to back, Paige reached over and booted up the old laptop.
‘I think you’re right, by the way but how can you be sure it’s not an inside job?’ Paige asked as they waited for the software to load.
‘If you’ve got the Glare of Death then Cleo is the Blinking Assassin. I know we can’t rule it out for sure, and honestly it would break my heart if it was, but I guess let’s try and rule out a super villain first.’
‘Then let’s go be superheroes.’ Paige smiled, and Melanie was glad to have Paige’s help. It was a miracle how far they’d travelled from the surly nods. Instead, she was being treated to a smile that made her chest feel completely full.
They quickly discovered that the CCTV didn’t cover as much of the street as they would have liked. In fact, playing superheroes would have been boring as they didn’t have a timeframe to pin it on either. If it wasn’t for the sensation of Paige’s breath on her neck, the feel of Paige’s arms bracketing her waist as she navigated the screen, the accidental skin to skin touches that lit her up causing goosebumps and her breath to quicken, it would have been quite dull.
‘Will you stop wriggling,’ Paige said softly, what with her mouth being so close to Melanie’s ear.
