The Body in the Beach House Read online

  The Body in the Beach House

  Grace York

  Copyright © 2018 by Grace York

  All rights reserved

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organisations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  For more information about the author, including other books in the series, please go to graceyorkauthor.com

  Cover design by James, GoOnWrite.com

  Edited by Phoenix Editing, phoenixeditingandproofreading.com

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Note from the Author

  1

  Addison slid the casserole dish into the oven just as her phone rang. She wiped her hands on her apron, plonked herself into a chair, and answered her daughter's call.

  "Hi, sweetheart. How's life on campus today?"

  "Busy, Mum," said Olivia. Addison recognised the tone and braced herself for what she felt coming. "I'm not going to make it home this weekend."

  Addison closed her eyes and tried not to sigh down the phone. She missed Olivia terribly, but didn't want her to feel obliged to come visit.

  "That's okay. Are you going out with your friends?"

  "No. Well, sort of. We've got a group assignment thing to get done, so we'll be spending a lot of time on that in the common room. I dare say someone will suggest an outing at some point, though."

  Addison smiled. In the six weeks her daughter had been living on campus she'd thrown herself into her studies, but she'd also managed to make a lovely bunch of friends. "Good. It can't be all work and no play, sweetheart."

  "I know, Mum. How are things going at the beach house?"

  "Pretty well. I'm just about to join everyone on the verandah for pre-dinner drinks." Since turning the beach house she'd bought in Getaway Bay a few months ago into a retreat for writers and artists, Addison had acquired four boarders. They were all lovely people, and they'd soon got into the habit of meeting on the verandah late in the afternoon to discuss their work. Addison loved hearing about their creative endeavours, and she especially loved that it was happening right here in her own home.

  "How are the latest two settling in?"

  "Amelie and Patrick? They fit right in."

  "Are they a couple?"

  "No," said Addison. "I thought so when they first arrived together, but Patrick tells me they're just friends. They met while travelling a couple of months ago and decided to stick together for a bit. Then they saw my advertisement, and both thought the beach house would be perfect. They've taken separate rooms, so I guess they are just friends."

  "Fair enough. I look forward to meeting them next weekend."

  Addison's heart lifted. "You'll be home then?"

  "I think so. As long as we get this assignment finished this weekend, I should be able to make it."

  They chatted for a few more minutes before Olivia had to go. Addison smiled as she thought of her daughter in her dorm room. Olivia had adjusted to life away from home with only a few small hiccups, and after everything she'd been through over the last couple of years Addison was very proud of her.

  Ivy Hathaway floated into the kitchen, breaking Addison's reflection.

  "Good afternoon," she said, plucking a bottle of white wine from the fridge. "Shall I get you a glass?"

  "Hi, Ivy. Yes, I was just about to join you all. I'll bring the glasses. How many?"

  Ivy counted off on her fingers. "Us two, Dan, and Amelie. Adam's having a beer. Not sure about Patrick, he hasn't come down yet."

  "Four glasses, coming right up."

  They joined the others on the verandah and Ivy poured the wine. Addison had purchased a couple of outdoor lounges for the space, and it had become a comfortable spot for the beach house's residents to gather and see out the last of the day's sunshine.

  Jason Sadler, the handyman Addison had hired to help fix up the beach house, had done a wonderful job helping her with the interior. He was now working outside, and had brought in a subcontractor, Louie, to help him with the landscaping Addison wanted done at the front and back of the house. Jason was working out the front this afternoon, and Addison called out to ask him to join them for a drink.

  "I'll just finish off here, then get Louie," he replied. "He's working on the shed out the back."

  The shed he referred to was being converted into a studio for the artists to use. Addison was determined to give her boarders everything they needed to be their creative selves.

  Addison smiled as she watched three of her boarders getting along so well. Ivy, Adam, and Amelie were just the kind of people she'd been thinking of when she'd finally decided what she wanted to do with the beach house and all its rooms. With Getaway Bay being such a popular tourist destination she'd originally planned to run the house as a bed and breakfast. But the thought of all the work involved in such an undertaking soon had her changing her mind.

  "Cheers," said Dan, raising his glass. "Thanks for having me tonight, Addison."

  "You're most welcome," Addison replied. "The more the merrier." Dan was Ivy's brother, in town on a working holiday with his wife and two children. His family had gone off to the Gold Coast for a couple of days while Dan stayed back to work, apparently, and Ivy had asked if Dan could join them for dinner that evening.

  Addison had first placed an advertisement online on one of those websites where people offer rooms in their house, but the responses were all from holiday makers looking for a week here and there. Then she'd discovered a site specifically for artists, and placed an ad there for creative people looking for accommodation. Adam O'Loughlin had been the first to respond, and Ivy Hathaway shortly after. They'd been at the beach house for four and three weeks respectively. Amelie Lacrosse and Patrick Wilde had arrived two weeks ago, and with Addison's cousin Layla still staying there, the beach house was now officially full.

  "Where's Layla this afternoon?" Ivy asked.

  Addison looked at her watch. It was past five o'clock. "She was meeting with a builder over at the gallery site. I'm sure she'll join us soon." Since Layla's art gallery and adjoining home had burnt down in a fire in January, she was busy working on having it rebuilt. She'd lost her sister in the fire, too, and her father had passed away not long after. She was staying with Addison while she got her life back on track.

  As much as Addison wanted Layla to rebuild the gallery and be happy again, she was going to miss having her cousin at the beach house. They'd had a lot of fun together over the last few weeks, welcoming guests and learning to laugh again.

  "Don't worry," said Adam, squeezing Addison's arm. "When the gallery's finished she'll still only be a few minutes away." Addison gave him a warm smile; he was very perceptive for such a young man.

  "I know." Addison changed the subject. "Where's Patrick? He's usually first to the fridge in the afternoon."

  "I think he was working on his book today," said Amelie. "Maybe he finally got past the point where
he was stuck." Amelie had arrived in Australia from France at the age of eight, but she still had the faintest of accents, which Addison found delightful.

  "I'll go up and let him know we've started without him," said Ivy. She was inside the house and up the stairs before Amelie could protest.

  "If he's working again, we should let him keep going," she said with a lopsided frown.

  "Maybe he'll tell Ivy that," said Addison. She'd noticed Patrick had been receiving attention from both Amelie and Ivy ever since he and Amelie arrived. She hoped her boarders weren't going to engage in some sort of love triangle. That was the last thing she needed.

  Addison was just about to return to the kitchen to get a beer for Jason, who was finishing up in the front garden, when a scream pierced the late-afternoon calm. It was Ivy, and it came from upstairs. The four of them on the verandah froze for a moment, before Dan led the way, charging inside and up the staircase. Adam was right behind him, with Addison and Amelie following. Addison could hear Jason's long strides closing in on her.

  They all reached the closed door to Patrick's room, where Ivy was still screaming as she frantically turned the handle.

  "It's locked!" she cried. "We need to get in there. Patrick…" Her face was pure white, and Addison was suddenly terrified.

  "What's happened?" asked Dan. He gently moved his sister aside and tried the door as well.

  "It's Patrick. You need to break it down!"

  "Stand back," said Dan to the rest of the group. He raised a big, booted foot and kicked at the door. It flew open, and they all rushed in to see what Ivy was so frantic about.

  Patrick's lifeless body hung from the wardrobe door.

  2

  Dan and Adam were the first to reach Patrick. They pulled the noose from his neck and got him on the ground. Dan felt for a pulse, but shook his head.

  Amelie burst into tears.

  Ivy was crying hysterically by the broken door.

  Addison and Jason stared at each other wide-eyed before Addison snapped into gear.

  "Don't touch anything else," she said. "Everyone downstairs. I'll call the police."

  Jason helped her to round them up and guide them toward the stairs. When they were all seated at the new dining table in the great room, Addison fetched her mobile phone from the kitchen and called Detective Sergeant Issac Wilcox. She quickly explained the situation to Getaway Bay's only detective.

  "He's on his way," she said after ending the call and taking a seat at the head of the table. "Can you tell us what happened, Ivy?"

  Ivy had calmed somewhat, her brother's arms around her. She raised her head slightly and nodded.

  "I… I knocked on his door but there was no answer. So I went through my room and out onto the balcony to look in that way. I figured he must have been engrossed in his work or something. But I looked through his balcony door and I saw…" Ivy buried her face in Dan's chest again.

  "You couldn't get in through the balcony door?" Addison asked. Ivy and Patrick occupied the two rooms on the first floor of the house overlooking the beach. Both had French doors that opened onto a small, shared balcony.

  "No," said Ivy, wiping her nose with a tissue. "It was locked. So I went back around to his bedroom door, but that was locked too. Then you all came, and Dan broke in and…"

  "Shh," said Dan, holding her tight.

  "What's going on?" said a voice from the door leading into the kitchen. Addison turned to find Louie standing there. "I heard screaming. Is everything okay?"

  "No, it's not okay," said Amelie, bursting into tears. "Patrick is…"

  "It looks like Patrick has taken his own life," said Jason. "You'd better sit down. The police are on their way."

  Louie opened his mouth, but no words came out. He closed it again and took a seat at the end of the table beside Amelie.

  Louie Liu had been working out the back of the beach house for the past week, and Addison had found him quiet but polite and competent. This must be quite a shock to him, too.

  "Why would Patrick do something like this," Amelie asked. "It doesn't make any sense. He was excited this week. Said he was working on something big. I thought he must have got past the writer's block he'd been dealing with lately."

  "He was blocked?" asked Adam.

  Amelie nodded. "He hadn't written anything for months. When we saw Addison's ad for the beach house he said it might help to come here. I thought it had. Only two weeks here and he was working again."

  Everyone went quiet, and Addison thought back to the day Patrick and Amelie had arrived. She remembered Patrick saying something about finding it difficult to get working on a new project, and hoping the fresh sea air of Getaway Bay would help. When she'd shown him the available rooms he'd chosen the one at the front with the verandah so he could open the balcony doors and enjoy the sea breeze while he worked.

  Amelie had taken the room above his on the second floor because it had more space for her to paint until the studio out in the backyard was finished.

  Addison didn't know what to do. She sat at the table with the others and tried to think, the past six weeks since Olivia had left for university all blurring together in one long stream of thoughts. Burying Layla's sister, Jenna, then their father only a week later. Jason finishing the interior of the beach house. Advertising the rooms, welcoming the guests. Getting to know the guests, even coming to regard them as friends.

  And now one of them was dead.

  "What's happened?" Layla had returned home and interrupted Addison's thoughts. She'd never been more glad to see her cousin.

  "It's Patrick," said Addison, standing to wrap Layla in a hug. They'd embraced many times over the last couple of months, but it was usually Addison comforting Layla. Now Addison needed the support. She realised she might be in shock, and felt her legs start to give way.

  Layla guided Addison back to her seat, and Adam and Jason moved along so Layla could sit next to her.

  "What's happened?" Layla asked again, looking from one face to the next.

  Adam was the one to explain, and Addison listened as he gently filled Layla in. By the time he was finished, Layla was crying too.

  "But I just spoke to him this morning. He can't be… oh, Addison. This is unbelievable. Poor Patrick!"

  "We're waiting for the police to arrive," said Dan. He was still holding his sister, but Ivy's sobs had receded. Amelie was staring blankly at the table, while Adam fiddled with the label on an empty beer bottle. Jason and Louie sat quietly at the end of the table. Louie cleaned dirt from under his fingernails.

  Addison took a deep breath and pulled herself together. This was her house, her home, and these people were all her guests. An unthinkable tragedy had occurred, one they would all struggle to understand in the coming days and weeks. But it wouldn't do for her to fall apart. In the little time they'd been here she'd come to think of the people around this table as family.

  And right now, her family needed her.

  3

  Detective Sergeant Isaac Wilcox was joined by two uniformed officers when he arrived at the beach house ten minutes after Addison's call. Senior Constable Short, who was actually quite tall, had worked with Wilcox when he'd investigated Jenna's death. Addison had seen her a number of times in town since then, and learned that her first name was Kendall. The other officer, a male, Addison had never met. He was a few centimetres shorter than Short, and stocky where she was slim.

  Wilcox was his usual imposing self. Addison stepped aside to let his large frame through the door, and the others followed.

  "Thanks for coming," she said when she and the three police officers stood in the great room. The rest of the household were still seated at the dining table.

  "Of course," said Wilcox. "This is Constable Diaz, he's just joined us. You know Senior Constable Short."

  Addison nodded. "Patrick… he's upstairs. First floor, second door on the left."

  Wilcox sent Diaz and Short up to Patrick's room, while he approached the beach house's
occupants gathered around the table.

  "Who found the body?" he asked.

  "I did," said Ivy. She took him through what she'd told everyone else minutes ago.

  "So both doors to his room were locked?"

  "Yes," said Ivy.

  "I had to break one down," added Dan. "Sorry," he said to Addison.

  She waved a hand at him; a broken door was the least of her worries.

  "I'll be able to fix it," said Jason.

  "Hold off on that until I say so," said Wilcox.

  "Of course." Jason turned to Addison. "Do you want me to stick around for a while?"

  "No, I'm sure you and Louie don't need to be here," she said.

  The two tradesmen stood to leave, but Wilcox held up a hand. "I'll need statements from both of you before you go please." They took their seats again.

  "All right," said Wilcox. "I'm going to go take a look, then I'll be back down and we'll start taking your statements. The pathologist is on her way, but it could be a couple of hours. She's coming up from Brisbane."

  He headed up the stairs, leaving Addison and the rest of them again staring at each other around the table. Addison watched Adam peel the label clean off the beer bottle he'd been fiddling with. She decided they could all do with a drink.

  "Layla, can you give me a hand?" she asked, and they went out to get the glasses and the bottle of wine from the verandah. Then Addison got three beers from the fridge and put them on the table in front of Adam, Jason, and Louie.

  Everyone sipped in silence, and Addison wondered what else she could do. What were you supposed to do at a time like this? She remembered back two years ago, when her husband Rob had passed away. He'd been diagnosed with cancer eight weeks prior to his death. It wasn't long, but at least it gave them a chance to say goodbye.