A Party To Die For (Julia Blake Cozy Mystery Book 3) Read Free

down for a while. The party is going well,
everyone’s enjoying themselves. We can take care of everything,” I offered.
    “Oh!
I couldn’t. What would people say?” Fiona looked mortified.
    “They
can say what they like. You’ve just given one of the best children’s parties
that people around here have seen. Even Kim Blackburn seems impressed!”
    Fiona
smiled. “That woman is never impressed with anything, she always thinks she can
do better. I’m sure she’ll be planning little Lily’s next birthday party to be
better and bigger than this one.”
    “You’ll
never please everyone, so don’t even try,” I told Fiona. “Now go upstairs and
have a lie down for thirty minutes. The world won’t stop because you have a
rest.”
    Fiona
put her hand to her forehead. “Perhaps you’re right. I can feel a bit of a
headache coming on. I’ll just lie down for a while. Are you sure everything
will be alright down here?”
    “I’m
certain,” I said and I gave Fiona a gentle push towards the stairs.
    “Will
you come and check on me in thirty minutes please? If I’m not awake, give me a
shove.”
    “Will
do,” I promised.
    But
I broke my promise. We were so busy tidying up that I forgot to check on Fiona
in thirty minutes, it was nearer to one hour.
    And
when I did check on her, it was too late.
    Fiona
was dead.
     

Chapter 6
     
    When
I walked into Fiona’s bedroom to check on her, I knew immediately that
something was wrong. The air felt too still and quiet. It took me a moment to
realise that even though I could see Fiona lying on the bed, I couldn’t hear
her breathing.
    I
walked slowly over, dreading what I knew I was going to find.
    Fiona
was staring up at the ceiling, her mouth was open as if gasping for breath. I
checked her pulse. As I suspected, there wasn’t one.
    It
wasn’t the first time I’d found a dead body so I had an idea of what to do. I
didn’t touch anything in Fiona’s bedroom in case the police wanted to check for
fingerprints.
    I
left the bedroom, closing the door behind me.
    As
I approached Anna she must have known something was wrong by the look on my
face.
    “Something
terrible has happened,” I told her.
    Anna’s
hands flew to her chest. “Food allergies! Is some poor child in hospital
because I gave them the wrong food? It’s not my fault, I double checked
everything on the list that Fiona Doyle gave me.”
    “It’s
not a child,” I said.
    Anna
wasn’t listening. “I’ll be sued! The parents round here have got loads of money
for fancy solicitors. They’ll take everything! I can’t afford to be sued,
Julia!”
    I
was almost tempted to slap her, like they do in old black and white movies. But
I was quite sure she’d slap me back, harder.
    “Be
quiet!” I hissed. “It’s nothing to do with you. It’s Fiona, she’s dead.”
    “Dead?
Did she eat some of my food?” Anna panicked.
    “It’s
nothing to do with your food! I’ve got to phone the police without anyone
knowing about Fiona, especially Megan-Rose. Can you politely ask people to
leave quickly? Without anyone getting suspicious? And don’t let anyone go
upstairs.”
    “I’ll
try,” Anna said. She looked a bit calmer now she knew she wasn’t going to be
sued.
    Anna
walked towards the guests, she had an abnormally large smile on her face as she
talked to them. She looked quite scary but whatever she said must have worked
because people began to say their goodbyes to each other.
    I
went into the kitchen to use the phone there. I spoke to the police, they said
they’d send someone round immediately.
    I
glanced through the kitchen window. It was open and I could see somebody on the
patio. Had they heard me on the phone just now? I moved closer to the window to
see who it was.
    It
was Kim Blackburn. She had turned slightly away from me but I could see what was
in her hand.
    It
was Fiona’s phone. It was quite distinctive and I recognised it immediately. Kim
was scrolling down and reading things. It