‘I’m not quite sure what is going on here, but please let us help.’
Jenny met Libby’s gaze. She looked exhausted.
‘Let me be honest with you. We want to talk about the selection of the competition winners. We can’t find any of the application forms.’ Libby wanted to add that they knew Miranda and David were business rivals but she wanted Jenny to come forward on her own with any information she had.
‘Do you know where they are and would you be able to tell us how you selected the winners for the competition? You aren’t in trouble; we just want to understand what’s going on. Please,’ Flynn beseeched.
‘I can’t.’
‘Come on, this is me you’re talking to. You’ve worked for me for many years and I’ve always looked after my staff. I gave you time off to look after your mum when she fell ill and didn’t have anyone else to look after her. All your line managers have said how loyal and hardworking you are and that they wouldn’t hesitate to promote you and have you in their team. You were successful in landing the job as the wedding planner and you were so happy. What’s changed?’ asked Flynn.
‘If there’s any sort of problem, let us help to put it right.’ Libby could see that Jenny looked like she wanted to talk but there was something holding her back.
Jenny closed the door and a second later they heard the chain sliding across and a click. The door opened wider and Jenny looked at them both. ‘I’ve let you down, Flynn, and I’m sorry. I can’t put it right.’
With the door open wide, Jenny stood to one side and gestured for them to come in. Flynn and Libby looked at each other before stepping inside. The room was small and open plan, with a small kitchen, tiny living room and bedroom merged into one. The decor, if it could be called that, was minimalist, but it was clean and tidy and the first thing Flynn noticed was Jenny’s Starcross Manor uniform hanging on the side of the wardrobe.
Flynn and Libby sat down on the settee and Jenny perched on the edge of the chair. ‘I’m sorry I can’t offer you tea or coffee; I’ve run out of milk.’
‘That’s okay, don’t worry about that,’ replied Flynn. ‘We’re here because we’re worried about you. Why do you think you’ve let me down?’
‘Because I have and I’ve lost everything. The job I loved…’
‘But you resigned. We just thought you’d been successful in another position, because your career was flying.’
Jenny looked hesitant.
‘I’m going to be truthful with you, Jenny. We’ve discovered that the competition winners are business rivals. Did they ask you to rig the competition?’
The look of guilt was written all over Jenny’s face but she remained silent.
Flynn continued. ‘There are no application forms for any entries and we have evidence that they’ve been trying to sabotage my business. This is something I can’t overlook.’ His voice was now firm. ‘I’m a fair man, but I need some answers and I’ve got no alternative but to go to the police and ask them to investigate what I already know.’
‘Miranda and David approached me directly,’ Jenny finally began. ‘They offered me a lump sum to sway the competition in their favour.’
‘Why would you do that?’
‘I needed the money.’
Libby and Flynn looked at each other then back towards Jenny.
‘I loved my job and working at Starcross Manor. I took pride in my work and in pushing myself to be the best I possibly could. But my personal life has been difficult. My mum’s health had been deteriorating and I was struggling to look after her by myself. I was thrilled to have landed the promotion to become the new wedding planner at the manor and hoped the bump in salary would make things easier. The day after that, Miranda bumped into me on the water taxi on the way to work. She sat in the seat next to me and we got talking. She asked me what I did for a living, but looking back now, she already knew. It was all a set-up.’
Libby dared to take a sideward glance at Flynn, who was listening intently.
‘For the next few weeks she was always on the boat. I even looked forward to seeing her. I liked her company, especially given the difficult time I was having with Mum, whose behaviour was becoming increasingly erratic. I’d enquired about putting her into a care home but I had no savings and the weekly cost was way out of my league.’ She exhaled. ‘Miranda told me she’d bought some land with her partner, David. They were in the events business, mainly horseracing and motor days. I didn’t pay too much attention until she told me that the next business venture was a wedding venue on the other side of town. Then she dropped into the conversation that they wanted to talk to me about a job at the new wedding barn they were opening. I told her I was very happy where I was. Then, on the closing day of the competition, Miranda was yet again on my journey to work. I’d had a dreadful night with my mother and felt I really couldn’t take much more, and when I confessed this to Miranda she came up with a plan. She said that if I swung the competition in her and David’s favour, in return they would give me six months’ worth of fees for the care home up front, and a job working at the new wedding barn when it opened. They said if I resigned as soon as the winners were announced then that would leave you in the lurch and give them a greater shot at making a success of their business. I’m so sorry.’ Jenny wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. ‘They wanted to sabotage their own wedding so they could spread rumours that would potentially ruin future business for Starcross Manor. I was blinded by greed and I feel so stupid. You and Julia have always looked out for me and I’ve done nothing but stab you in the back.’
Thinking of the conversation she’d overheard outside the care home, Libby asked, ‘Did they pay you the money?’
Jenny shook her head. ‘As soon as they were announced as the winners, the goal posts started changing. First, they said they would pay me after I helped to spread rumours of the skating incident. Then they said they would pay me after I planted the story of the invitation blunder in the paper.’
‘Unbelievable,’ replied Flynn. ‘These two need the book thrown at them.’
‘I telephoned David on a couple of occasions asking where my money was and when it didn’t turn up, I threatened to expose them to you. That’s when he began following me in his car and telling me I was up to my neck in it. I had to sell my car to pay the initial deposit to the care home as Mum had already moved in and it needed to be paid. I know now that there was never going to be a job at the new wedding barn. It had all been lies.’
‘Did you sign any sort of contract with them?’ Flynn asked. ‘Something that specifies that they would pay you money and give you a job in exchange for them winning the competition?’
Jenny shook her head. ‘We only had a verbal contract, but when the money still hadn’t arrived I recorded a phone conversation with David and he laughed, telling me there was no money or job.’
