Page 33 of Murder in the Winter Woods
She wasn’t wrong. The space, simply called Eye, was on the fifteenth floor of a building in the City, with dizzying views of some of London’s most famous landmarks. The Gherkin glowed outside the window, and Christopher’s friends glowed inside. Julia was pleased that she had rather overdressed, and broken out her grandmother’s amethyst necklace. She was even wearing heels.
‘Quite a trendy crowd,’ she remarked to Sean.
‘And young,’ he said. Of course, most of Christopher’s friends were quite a bit younger than her and Sean. And younger than Peter too, for that matter. Julia noted that fifty seemed both terribly young (it had been a decade and then some since her own fiftieth) and, somehow, too old (how could the ever-youthful Christopher be half a hundred years old?).
‘They are. You look beautiful and elegant in that frock.’
‘Frock?’ she laughed.
‘Dress then, if you prefer. Either way, you look lovely.’
‘Thank you, kind sir. You look quite dashing yourself. In fact, I’d say we’ve scrubbed up okay for a couple of sixty-something villagers, up from the country.’
‘More than okay. Just wait till they see us dance!’
They both laughed heartily at that, because Sean – a man of many talents – was a truly terrible dancer.
‘Julia, darling! And Sean!’ Christopher cried, bustling towards them. ‘Thank you for coming all this way. What will you have? They do a mean cocktail. I’m drinking a Paloma – heaven knows what’s in it, but it’s delicious.’
Julia and Sean helped themselves to champagne flutes from a tray by the door. They were old enough and wise enough to know to avoid cocktails of mysterious ingredients. At least with wine and bubbles, you knew what you were getting.
A name tag at each place distributed guests across two long tables. Julia had Sean on her one side and on the other, a slim older man with a shock of white hair and a narrow, angular face with trendy facial hair. He wore a black polo neck and round, black-rimmed glasses. He looked vaguely familiar, and she wondered if he was Someone Famous. Christopher swooped down to introduce them. ‘Julia, this is David, my second cousin. Second cousin, but first favourite family member…’ he dropped his voice dramatically and put a finger to his lips. ‘Sssshhhh…Don’t tell the others. David, Julia is Peter’s first spouse, and a dear friend. I think the two of you will get on swimmingly. You’re both wonderful, and you have so much in common.’
Christopher swanned off to continue his hosting duties, and David turned to Julia with a grin. A golden hoop glimmered in his ear. ‘Pleased to meet you, Julia. With a glowing introduction from Christopher.’
‘Likewise. I wonder what it is that we have in common.’
‘Do you like to cycle? I am a keen cyclist.’
‘I’m more of a walker. I have a chocolate Labrador who insists upon it, daily. Or twice a day, for preference. Do you like dogs?’
‘I’m more of a cat man. Do you have cats?’
‘One, who I adopted by mistake in a moment of weakness. He has an imperious nature and a peculiar moustache.’
‘I have three cats. And a peculiar moustache.’ He stroked it, with an exaggerated motion like a pantomime villain.
Julia liked a man who could laugh at himself. She laughed along with him. She saw Sean glance away from his conversation with a woman on his other side at the sound of her laughter. He gave her a smile.
Christopher, who was bustling past with a new arrival, nodded approvingly and mouthed, ‘You see?’ in their direction.
‘What could it be…?’ David mused, drumming his fingers theatrically on the table. ‘Are you in the music business?’
‘Social worker, retired.’
‘A noble calling. I don’t suppose you live in Marylebone? We might be neighbours?’
‘No, far from it, a little village called Berrywick.’
‘Berrywick, that name rings a bell…’
‘It’s a lovely village in the Cotswolds. Have you been there?’
‘No, but I recognise the name.’ His frowning face broke into a sudden smile: ‘Oh, I remember! I knew a band from there. Years ago. I was going to produce a record with them. Their name was the Red Berries, because they came from Berrywick. That takes me back!’
Julia could not believe her ears! What on earth were the chances of coming across one of the handful of people who knew about the Red Berries?
‘You’re not going to believe it,’ she said, unable to hide her excitement. ‘But I heard about the Red Berries just yesterday. I even saw a picture of them.’
