A Secret Killer (Julia Blake Cozy Mystery Book 4) Read Online Free PDF Page A

story, eat your cake. ”
    Julia
smiled and stuck a fork into the fruit cake. Even though he never said
anything, it was clear that Hugo loved having company. He worked on his own
most of the time so it was a treat for him to have an audience. She glanced at
her watch. Did he have to take so long though?
    Hugo
folded his arms and leant back in his chair. He gave Cain a direct look and
said, “ You
wanted to know what I do? I uncover skeletons, not those kind buried in the
ground. No, the kind that people bury in their wardrobes. ”
     

 
     
    Chapter 7
     
    Julia
shook her head at Cain ’ s confused
expression. “ Hugo,
do you have to be so dramatic? ”
    “ No!
But I want to be so dramatic, it ’ s fun. ” Hugo caught Cain ’ s
expression. “ Ah, I
think I may have gone too far. I don ’ t actually find
physical skeletons in wardrobes, just metaphorical ones. I ’ m a genealogist.
Someone who looks for people ’ s ancestors. ”
    Comprehension
dawned on Cain ’ s
face. “ Oh!
Like those TV programmes! Where you draw up family trees. I love those
programmes. ”
    “ Me
too. It ’ s
great fun finding out about people ’ s histories. You ’ d be amazed
at what I ’ ve
discovered! Not always good things either. I quite often have to present
unpleasant information to my clients, they can then decide what they want to do
with that information. Many ’ s the time that
I ’ ve
had to leave out  certain black sheep from the family tree. In fact, I ’ ve
got … no! I almost let it slip then!
Let ’ s
just say that I ’ ve got a couple of tricky situations at
the moment, I ’ m not
sure how the client is going to react. ”
    “ Is it
a dangerous job? ” Cain
asked.
    “ Not
really, I can deal with irate clients. ” Hugo ’ s
hand flew to his mouth as he tried to stifle a yawn. “ Excuse
me, I ’ m
suffering terribly from jet lag. I ’ ve had a
wonderful time in America, it ’ s an amazing
place. The people there have come from all around the world. Which reminds me,
Julia, I ’ ve
something to tell you, it might affect the hours that you work for me. ” The noise of Hugo ’ s
phone pierced the air. “ Damn it! I wish
they ’ d
leave me alone! ”
    Julia
frowned. “ Hugo,
it ’ s
obvious that you ’ re busy. Look, I ’ ve
got a cancellation for tomorrow morning, we could come back then. ”
    Hugo
gave her a grateful smile. Then a twinkle appeared in his eyes. He turned to
Cain and said, “ You ’ ll
certainly have your work cut out for you tomorrow. This house has six bedrooms
and seven bathrooms. It ’ ll take you an
age to clean them all! ”
    Cain
gulped. “ I don ’ t
mind hard work. ”
    Hugo
guffawed. Julia shook her head and said, “ He ’ s
kidding. Not about the number of rooms, but about how many we ’ ll
have to clean. He keeps most of the rooms closed as he doesn ’ t use
them. ” She stood up. “ I ’ ll go
through everything tomorrow with you. We really have to get on, we ’ ll be
late for our next client. ”
    Cain
stood up, so did Hugo. Hugo said, “ Great to meet
you. Perhaps I can do your family tree sometime, I have rates to suit every
pocket! ”
    Cain
looked at the table and muttered, “ No thanks. ”
    Julia
looked at his downcast face. She ’ d have to
explain to Hugo about his past soon.
    “ I ’ ll
see you out, ” Hugo offered.
    Julia
held her hand up. “ I know my way out. Will you answer that
phone! It ’ s
driving me mad. We ’ ll see you tomorrow. ”
    As
Julia led Cain out of the kitchen they heard Hugo answer his phone. “ Now
look here, ” Hugo began. “ I ’ ve
told you already, I ’ m not interested in your money making
schemes …”
    Julia
closed the kitchen door behind them and said to Cain, “ I get
drawn into people ’ s lives more than I ’ d
like sometimes. Sorry about Hugo, he ’ s not normally
so loud. He ’ s
probably tired. ”
    Cain
shrugged. “ That ’ s
okay. I ’ ve
seen worse. When we come back tomorrow do