A Party To Die For (Julia Blake Cozy Mystery Book 3) by Gillian Larkin Page A

dress herself. Anyway, Julia, haven’t you
got work to do?”
    Megan-Rose
let go of my hand and ran towards the stairs. Fiona walked away towards the
kitchen.
    I’d
noticed before that Fiona wasn’t the motherly type.
    I
went out through the side door to Anna’s catering van, I didn’t want to meet up
with Fiona in the kitchen. I took out two trays of sandwiches.
     When
I returned to the catering table Anna said, “Where have you been? I thought
you’d done a runner on me.”
    I
explained about Megan-Rose.
    Anna
shook her head. “Well, it’s not surprising, is it?”
    “What
isn’t?”
    “That
Fiona isn’t the maternal kind.”
    “Well,
I think she tries,” I said.
    “But
she isn’t Megan-Rose’s real mother,” Anna said.
    “Isn’t
she? How do you know that?”
    Anna
smiled. “You never do keep up with gossip, do you Julia? I thought everyone knew
about Megan-Rose’s real mother. It’s Fiona’s sister.”
    “Gina?
I didn’t know that.” I was amazed. I’d been cleaning for Fiona for years. I’d
often met Gina. I never suspected she was Megan-Rose’s real mum.
    “She
was the surrogate for Fiona. Apparently, Fiona can’t have children. As Gina
wasn’t married she was in a good position to offer to be the surrogate. I think
Fiona and her husband paid her good money too.”
    I
thought for a moment and then said, “Did she use Fiona’s eggs, or her own?”
    Anna’s
eyebrows shot up. “How on earth would I know that? And what does it matter
anyway?”
    “If
Gina used her own eggs then she is the biological mother and not Fiona. I think
that means she has rights over Megan-Rose.”
    Anna
gave a wry smile. “This is the first time I’ve met Fiona but she seems the type
that would make sure Gina signed away all her rights.”
    “You’re
probably right.”
    We
carried on putting the food out. The table looked inviting.
    Anna
looked at me and said, “Would you ever be a surrogate for me? If I decided I
actually wanted children.”
    I
thought of the weight gain, tiredness and painful piles that I’d suffered with
my two. “Absolutely not. Find someone else.”
    She
gave me a little nudge and said, “I thought I was your favourite sister!”
    Talking
of sisters, I saw Gina come into the house. She quickly spoke to one of the
party helpers, who then pointed towards the kitchen. Gina smiled and walked
over to the kitchen.
    The
spider! I suddenly remembered the spider that had crawled on the worktop. I’d
forgotten to clean it. As inconspicuously as possible I followed Gina.
     

Chapter 3
     
    I
peeped into the kitchen before I walked in. I didn’t want to find Fiona and
Gina standing there. I would have to explain to Fiona what I was doing.
    The
kitchen was empty. I went over to my store cupboard. Fiona was a client who let
me keep cleaning products in her house. I needed a lot to clean Fiona’s house,
it was huge.
    The
fluid I wanted was at the back so I got down on my hands and knees so that I
could reach it. I grabbed it along with a fresh cleaning cloth.
    As
I turned back around I found myself staring at a pair of enormous red sparkly
shoes, shoes that had fluffy red pompoms on them.
    Had
a giant been invited to the party?
    I
looked up into the face of a grinning clown.
    The
clown held out a white gloved hand to help me up.
    I
took the hand and stood up.
    The
clown grinned even more. Or perhaps it looked like a bigger grin because of the
painted smile.
    “Hello
there! I’m Clara Chuckles. I’m looking for an 8 year old birthday girl. Have
you seen her?”
    “Yes,
she’s upstairs getting changed. I’m Julia Blake. I’m helping with the catering
today. I’m assuming you’re the entertainment?”
    Clara
pointed to my cleaning fluid. “Are you doing a spot of cleaning whilst you wait
for the party to start? I’ve heard that Fiona Doyle works people hard but I
didn’t think she’d have you doing two jobs. Perhaps I’m expected to help too!
In which case – lead me to the