I nodded. “Keep watching them. They float higher and then melt away. Just a minute, I’ll open the window and then we can hear the water trickling over the stones.”
I quickly opened the window and then returned to my seated position. I held Bert’s hands again and imagined sending clarity and peace his way.
Bert stared at the rising rainbows and his mouth moved into a slow smile. The relaxing sound of the moving water made him smile even more.
He turned away from the rainbows and looked at me. I was pleased to see all confusion had left his face.
He said, “You can let go of my hands now, Cassia. I feel much better. I don’t know what you’ve done to me, but that fog has gone from my mind.” He looked at the cats. “Hello again, Stanley. Who’s this handsome fella at your side?”
“This is Oliver, my brother,” Stanley said proudly. “Are you feeling better now?”
“I am, thank you.”
I said to Bert, “Why have you come here? Did you want to talk to Fiona?”
“I did. I was going to ask her if Dana had left any messages about the residents at the home. I wondered if she’d made a list of the ones who are going to die soon.” He gave us a sheepish smile. “I wanted to know if my name was mentioned. Not that I want to die soon, but I want to be prepared.”
“I don’t know if Dana did leave such a list with Fiona. If she did, Fiona didn’t mention it to me. But there are a lot of things Fiona hasn’t mentioned to me. Anyway, I thought Dana always spoke to the resident directly rather than leaving a list with Fiona.”
Bert nodded. “That’s what I thought too. But she didn’t always. I heard someone tell their dad that – ” He stopped, frowned and looked at the window. “Those rainbows are lovely.”
I was suddenly on high alert and knew that Bert had some important information. But I had to be careful with him.
Taking Bert’s hands again, I said, “Bert, who was talking to their dad?”
Bert’s eyes were still focused on the rainbows outside. “That little chap. The one who used to laugh and joke all the time just like his dad. Then he stopped laughing and so did his dad. I saw the little chap this morning, and he was laughing again.”
I thought back to Fiona’s notes. A name was forming in my mind. It made sense now. “Bert, what did the little chap say to his dad?”
“He said Dana had told him it was his dad’s time. Can we go outside and have a good look at those rainbows? I want to catch one.”
I concentrated on sending clarity and peace into Bert’s hands again. I sent him love and warmth too.
It must have worked because Bert turned my way and said, “What was I talking about? It was that conversation I overheard, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. Bert, did you hear Mitchell Gnubles talking to his dad, Ralf?”
“Yes! That’s his name. I’d forgotten it for a moment there. I heard Mitchell talking to Ralf a few weeks ago in the garden. I know I shouldn’t have been listening, but some of my pesky caterpillars had escaped and I was looking for them. I was on my hands and knees behind a hedge when I heard those two imps talking.”
“Imps?” I said. “Is that what Mitchell is?”
Bert chuckled. “He is. He lives up to the stereotype too. He’s always playing tricks and jokes on everyone. Just like his dad. My friend, Bert, loved talking to Mitchell. Have you met my friend? He’s a dragon. He comes to visit me sometimes. When Mitchell sees him, he comes over for a chat and shows Bert jokes from his dad’s joke shop. Oh! You should have heard how Bert laughed at Mitchell’s jokes. And Mitchell laughed and laughed until he cried. He has a wonderful laugh.”
Stanley looked my way and said, “The smiling man?”
I nodded at him and then turned my attention back to Bert. “Can you remember what Mitchell said to his dad?”
“I can. Mitchell said he’d been talking to Dana. She said it was Ralf’s time to move on. Ralf said he didn’t believe it and he wanted to talk to Dana himself. Mitchell said she was too busy and was at one of the other retirement homes. Ralf got upset and said he felt great and not at all ill. Mitchell told him that was a good thing because it meant Ralf wasn’t going to suffer in his last few weeks. There was a silence then, so I peeped around the hedge and I saw Mitchell giving his dad a glass of water. I could have sworn I saw Mitchell put something in the water, but I could be wrong.”
“What happened then?” I asked. I kept a firm hold of Bert’s hands. I didn’t want him to lose his concentration now.
Bert frowned. “Mitchell kept saying the same thing over and over to his dad as if trying to convince him it was true. He said Ralf’s time was up and they should make plans for his funeral. After a while, Ralf started to agree with him. Mitchell said he would get in touch with Fiona and get things moving.”
Stanley said to me, “That’s why there wasn’t a date next to Ralf’s name in Fiona’s notes. Dana had never told Fiona about Ralf because it had never happened. She’d never told Ralf it was his time.”
Bert gave Stanley a confused look. “Didn’t she? Then why did Mitchell say she had? I don’t understand. Why would Mitchell say that to his dad? Why would he want his dad to think he was dying?” He stopped talking and gazed out of the window. “Did Mitchell want his dad to die? Why? That’s a wicked thing to do. Why would he do that? Why?” His voice rose and he snatched his hands from mine. He got to his feet, shuffled to the window and placed his head against the glass.
Astrid suddenly raced into the room and ran over to her grandad. She put her arms around his shoulder and cried out, “Grandad! Where have you been? I’ve been looking all over town for you!”
Bert began to sob and he mumbled, “Why did he do that? Why?”
Astrid’s head snapped my way and she hissed, “What have you done to him?”
I stood up. “Nothing. We were chatting.”
“Chatting? Do you call this chatting?” she snarled. “Look at the state he’s in.”
Stanley came to my defence and said, “Bert was like this when he came here. Cassia calmed him down.”
Bert turned away from the window and gave me a kind smile. “Cassia? I remember you.” He moved closer to me and placed his hand against my cheek. “You look like your mum. I remember your mum. I was sorry to hear about her. I’m glad you’ve forgiven him for what he did.”
I stiffened. “Pardon? Who are you talking about?”
Astrid placed her hands firmly on Bert’s arms and pulled him away. “Come on, Grandad. It’s time to go home. You need a sleep.”
I said, “Astrid, who is he talking about?”
She looked away from me and continued to drag Bert towards the door. “No one. You know how confused Grandad gets. Don’t ask him any more questions. You’ve already upset him enough.”
She left the room taking Bert with her.
I sank back into my chair and stared at the carpet.
Stanley nudged into my leg and said, “Don’t listen to Bert. You know he gets muddled up sometimes.”
“I don’t think he was getting muddled up then. His eyes didn’t have any confusion in them. Who was he talking about, Stanley? And what have they got to do with Mum?”
Oliver joined Stanley at my side and said, “That’s a puzzle we’ll have to solve later. We need to find Mitchell Gnubles as soon as possible.” His tone turned softer. “Cassia, you know we have to get this murder investigation settled. We’ll deal with everything else afterwards.”
I stood up. “You’re right.”
Chapter 32
We made our way to the town square. Oliver knew where Ralf’s joke shop was and we thought that would be a good place to start our search for Mitchell Gnubles.
The joke shop was located on a corner of one of the main streets in Brimstone and was of a decent size. Colourful merchandise filled the windows. A banner had been placed across the window which declared that the shop was closing down and everything must go.
Stanley moved over to the door and said, “Cas
sia, I can see Mitchell inside. He’s serving a customer. He’s laughing loudly.”
I could hear Mitchell’s laugh from here on the pavement. There wasn’t a hint of grief in it.
My heart felt heavy about all the lies I’d been told recently. And Bert’s final words were lying like a heavy stone in my stomach. I didn’t feel any emotion except sadness and a hint of fear.
I went into the shop and looked at the scene in front of me. Mitchell was holding his sides and laughing hysterically at something. The customer in front of him was laughing too and clutching a full bag which had the shop’s name written on it.
I stared at Mitchell and thought about how easily he’d deceived me. Mitchell noticed me standing there and immediately stopped laughing. His customer stopped too and looked my way. Her eyes widened at my grim expression and she shot Mitchell a swift goodbye before rushing out of the shop. As soon as she’d left, I closed the door behind her and locked it.
Mitchell called out, “Don’t lock the door! I’m running a business here. I need to clear this stock as soon as possible!”
I moved closer to the little imp. Stanley and Oliver walked silently at my side.
I said to Mitchell, “We know what you did. We know what you said to your dad. We have a witness.”
Mitchell snorted. “You don’t know anything. I want you to leave my shop immediately. I’m busy. I’ve got things to sort out.”
“I know you’ve got things to sort out. I know you’ve sold your dad’s shops to Fiona Fairfax.” I paused. “I know you killed Dana Murphy.”
“You know nothing,” Mitchell said, his tone less certain. “Why would I want to kill Dana Murphy?”
“Because she’d worked out what you’d done. You’d told your dad it was his time to die, and that Dana had told you this. She hadn’t. It wasn’t your dad’s time to go. I saw a photo of Dana at your dad’s funeral. She looked confused. Did she find out about your lie then? Did she approach you about it? Is that when you planned to kill her? To silence her forever?”
Mitchell marched over to the side of the shop and began to straighten some packs of itching powder. He muttered, “You’re talking nonsense. Leave my shop.”
I marched over to Mitchell. “Turn around and face me. I know what you’ve done, Mitchell Gnubles, and I can prove it. I can perform a spell on dragon Bert to improve his memory. He’ll confirm that you ordered him to pick Dana up from her garden and then drop her over that wheat field.”
Mitchell turned slowly around. There was uncertainty in his eyes. “You can’t do that, can you? Isn’t it illegal or something?”
“No. I can take you over to Dana’s house and see if her neighbour recognises you. She might have seen you on the morning that Dana died. Did you go to her house on the pretext of dropping off a thank-you card? Did you talk to Dana there and took the opportunity to inject her with Memory Mist? She was injected behind her knee which is about your height. Did you convince Dana that she could fly? That’s why she didn’t make a fuss when Bert picked her up later.”
Fury flashed in Mitchell’s eyes and he leapt onto the shop counter so that he could look into my eyes. He shouted, “Have you got any idea how difficult it was growing up with a dad who laughed all the time? He thought everything was a joke, even me. I had serious problems at school and I needed Dad’s help. But would he help me? No! He’d laugh and tell me not to be so serious. Every time I had a problem in my life and asked for his help, he’d laugh it off and leave me to fend for myself!”
“That’s no excuse,” I said. “Everyone has problems in their lives. You learn to deal with them. You don’t expect your parents to sort everything out for you. Why did you want him to die before his time?”
Mitchell waved his hand around the shop. “This, and the others like it. While Dad was in the retirement home having the time of his life, he expected me to run this shop and his others. He wouldn’t let me sell them and use the money for what I wanted. Oh no! I had to keep running his shops on his behalf. He told me they would pass to me when he died and then I could do what I wanted with them. But he was taking too long to die! I kept seeing Dana at the home and hoped she’d have one of her talks with Dad, but she never did. I decided to take matters into my own hands.”
“You must have known Dana would find out?” I said.
“I suppose so, but I thought she’d keep quiet about it. I didn’t invite her to Dad’s funeral, but she turned up anyway. She spoke to me later and worked out what I’d done. I said I’d pay her to keep quiet, but she said she couldn’t do that. That’s when I knew I had to get rid of her. I knew about the Memory Mist and what it could do to someone.” He smiled. “It was easy to steal a bottle. Cody never locks that cupboard. It was easy to use too. Dad was soon convinced he was going to die, and Dana was convinced she could fly. I gave Dad some extra pills to help him on his way. They made his death look like heart failure. He wasn’t in pain.”
“That’s no consolation,” I told him. “Where does Fiona Fairfax fit into this? Does she know what you’d done?”
Mitchell shook his head. “No. I knew she was interested in Dad’s properties and I told her a while back that she could have them when they passed to me after Dad died. I even drew up the contracts about a month ago so we could sort everything out quickly when the time came. The buildings were sold to her yesterday.” He gave me a studied look. “But you probably already know that, don’t you?”
“I do.”
Mitchell let out a heavy sigh, sat down and put his head in his hands. “What a mess! What a terrible mess! Dana should have just kept her mouth shut. And Dad should have done the decent thing and passed on quickly instead of hanging around.”
I shook my head at him. “Or you could have waited until he died naturally and enjoyed your remaining time together. Mitchell Gnubles, you are responsible for two deaths and you will be brought to justice for that. You’re going to be detained in the cells at Blythe’s house until further notice.”
Mitchell looked towards the exit door. Oliver leapt onto the counter at an impressive speed and hissed, “Don’t even think about running away, you nasty imp. I’d be after you in a flash.”
Mitchell blanched and shuffled away from Oliver.
Something was bothering me about Mitchell’s confession. I said, “How many bottles of Memory Mist did you steal? You mentioned one bottle.”
“Yeah, that’s right. I only stole one.”
Oliver looked my way and said, “Then who stole the other bottles? And why?”
Chapter 33
I marched Mitchell Gnubles over to Blythe’s house. Oliver and Stanley trotted at his side like feline soldiers. Mitchell’s head was hung low as he walked along. Some of the citizens around the square stopped what they were doing and watched us. It didn’t take them long to work out Mitchell was to blame for Dana’s death. I noticed a few of them crying quietly.
Brin answered the door to us and quickly took in the situation. She said, “I’ll put him a cell. I’ll have to ask one of the witches from the other towns to deal with his punishment because Blythe isn’t back yet.”
“Haven’t you heard anything from her?” I asked.
Brin’s smile was forced as she said, “Not yet. I’m sure she’ll be in touch soon. Come in, there’s someone in the living room who’s waiting to see you. I’ll deal with Mitchell.”
Oliver cried out, “Esther!” and scampered through the open door.
Brin looked after him and said to me, “It isn’t Esther. I haven’t heard a word from her either.”
I handed the prisoner over to Brin who immediately waved her hands at him. A thin rope appeared in the air and wound itself around Mitchell. Brin said once she’d put him in a cell, she’d leave the house and get a message to the relevant witches about Mitchell’s punishment. Then she led Mitchell away.
My steps were hesitant as I walked towards the living room to see who was waiting for us.
Stanley lifted his chin and sniffed. He yelled
, “It’s Luca! He’s back.” He ran towards the living room.
My steps were lighter now as I ran after Stanley. I found my childhood friend sitting on the sofa with Stanley nestled in his arms. Oliver was sitting at his side with his head resting on Luca’s knee.
Oliver glanced my way and said sadly, “It isn’t Esther, but I like Luca. He’ll do until Esther comes back.”
Stanley was purring loudly as he unashamedly nestled his head against Luca’s chest and said, “We’ve missed you so much.”
Luca looked my way and gave me a smile. Dimples appeared in his cheeks as his smile increased. He said, “I’d get up and give you a hug, Cassia, but I can’t move for these lovely cats! Come closer, I want to have a good look at you.”
I propped my broomstick against the wall, went over to the sofa and sat down. It was good to see Luca again. So many creatures had deceived me over the last few days and it was wonderful to now see a friendly face.
I said to him, “I heard that your dad was ill. How is he?”
“He’s fine. He’d been working too hard, as usual. I stayed with him and made sure he rested. He’s much better now. I’m sorry I had to leave without saying goodbye.” He stared into my eyes. “How are you? You look tired. Brin’s told me about your murder investigation. I can’t believe you’ve had to deal with another one. And where have Blythe and Esther gone? Why would they leave you alone at a time like this?”
I laughed. “Those are the same questions I’ve got.”
Luca stroked Stanley’s head. “Well, you don’t have to deal with things on your own now. I’m back and I’m going to do all I can to help you. I think the first thing I should do is take you to Mooncrest Café and buy you the biggest slice of chocolate cake that Gilda has. In fact, I’ll buy you the whole cake for you! Then you can tell me everything that’s troubling you. How does that sound?”
My eyes stung and I felt like I wanted to burst into tears and throw myself into Luca’s arms. I took a moment to compose myself and said, “That sounds wonderful. Thank you.”
The Silent Banshee (A Brimstone Witch Mystery Book 5) Page 15