by Adele Abbott
“Will do.”
***
When I got back to the office, Mrs V was busy knitting. Hopefully that meant she’d given up on her pursuit of William Inky and his cat clocks.
“Mrs V, could you try to find an address for me, please?”
“Yes, dear. Will it wait until I get to the end of this row?”
“That’s fine. I’d like you to try and find out where Theo Crane’s ex-wife is now living. Unfortunately, I don’t have very much to go on. I know her name is Ruby, but I don’t know her maiden name. She came originally from Durham, so it’s possible she may have moved back there.”
“Hmm, that isn’t much.”
“I know, but do the best you can, would you?”
“Of course. Hopefully, I’ll have more luck with that than I did with tracking down William Inky.”
“You have a lot to answer for,” Winky said. He looked shattered.
“What did I do?”
“Dumping all these parts in a heap has set me back hours. I’ll have to work until the wee small hours of the morning to catch up. Unless, you’re going to volunteer to help?”
“I’d love to, but—”
“But what?”
“I can’t be bothered. Anyway, I didn’t get any sleep at all last night. I can barely keep my eyes open as it is. I’m going to call it a day soon.”
“Charming. I hope you can live with yourself, knowing your poor cat is working his paws to the bone.”
“It won’t be easy, but I think I’ll manage it.”
The landline rang; it was Oswald Chambers.
“Jill, I thought I’d better give you a call. I spoke to Luke earlier, and he was a little confused. I understand that there were some issues again last night, but he also said that you’d indicated that you wouldn’t need to return? That the job was done?”
“You’re right on both scores.”
“I don’t understand. What was behind the outages?”
Oh bum! What was I supposed to tell him? That the ghost of Luke’s father had been the cause? He’d think I’d lost my mind.
“Are you in your office now, Oswald?”
“I am.”
“Can I pop over to see you? What I have to discuss would be better done face-to-face.”
“Of course. I’ll be here for the rest of the afternoon.”
I could have magicked myself to the factory, but I needed some time to figure out what I was going to tell Oswald, so I took the car instead. Unfortunately, by the time I pulled up in the car park at Chambers Precision Plastics, I still had no idea how I was going to explain this away.
But then I spotted it: right next door.
“Come in, Jill.” Oswald beckoned me into his office. “I hope what you told me is correct, but it seems almost too good to be true. Luke said there were a number of outages in the early part of the nightshift.”
“That’s right. Tell me, Oswald, are you familiar with high voltage induced electronic outage?”
“With—err—no, I can’t say I’ve ever heard of it.”
That was hardly surprising, seeing as how I’d just that minute made it up.
“Come over to the window, would you.” I led the way. “What do you see?”
“Err—just the fields over the back.”
“What about that structure just inside the field?”
“The electricity pylon?”
“Exactly.”
“I’m sorry, but I still don’t understand. Are you saying that it was responsible for the outages?”
“That’s right.”
“What—err—how—?”
“Allow me to explain. It’s quite fortuitous that one of my hobbies is the National Grid.”
“Really?”
“Yes. There are quite a few of us. Some people may find it a little sad, but we gridders, as we like to call ourselves, spot pylons, in much the same way as trainspotters spot trains.”
“I see.” The look on his face said it all. “That must be very—err—interesting.”
“It’s fascinating. Anyway, as a Gridder, I’m something of an expert on all things electric, so when I was up on the mezzanine floor last night, I noticed the spikes coming from that pylon.”
“And they caused the outages?”
“Precisely. In short, the high voltage induced electronic outage was the reason for the disruption that caused a catastrophic reduction in production.”
“But why did it only happen on the nightshift?”
“Because that’s when there’s a surge in usage.”
“I would have expected there to be less energy used during the early hours of the morning?”
“That’s the mistake a lot of people make. What you have to remember is that a lot of factories, such as yours, work through the night. Bars and nightclubs stay open to all hours. And of course, everyone likes a cup of coffee when they get home from a night out.”
“You said that it won’t happen again. How can you be so sure?”
“Because, as a Gridder, I have a hotline to the Grid for just this kind of situation. As soon as I tipped them off, they had someone come over here to renew the high voltage induced electronic outage protection system.”
“I don’t know what to say, Jill. I thought I was hiring a private investigator; I had no idea I was also getting an—err—”
“Gridder?”
“I was going to say electricity expert. How can I ever thank you?”
“Paying my bill is thanks enough, Oswald.”
Another satisfied customer.
Chapter 25
I’d had an early night, so by the time I got up the next morning, I felt as though I was back in the land of the living.
“How come you’ll eat porridge, but you won’t eat muesli?” Jack said. “You do realise they’re both made from oats, don’t you? They’re essentially the same thing.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. They’re nothing like one another.”
“If you say so. Will you have to do any more nightshifts?”
“No, thank goodness. I’ve finished with that case.”
“Did you find out what was happening at the plastics factory? Was it industrial sabotage?”
“Actually it was a ghost.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. The ghost of the father of the nightshift manager was trying to get his son to quit and go back to school, to train as a solicitor.”
“What happened?”
“I persuaded the father that he should let his son make his own way in life.”
“Well done you, but how on earth did you manage to explain that to the client?”
“I told him that high voltage induced electronic outage was responsible for the disruption that caused a catastrophic reduction in production.”
“You told him what?” Jack almost spat out his muesli. “That’s gibberish.”
“Of course it’s gibberish, but I said it with such conviction that he seemed to buy it.”
Jack had no sooner set off for work than there was a knock at the door. Who was bothering me at this time of day?
“Good morning!” It was Terry Salmon, the fish man. “I realise I’m early, but I’m going on holiday this afternoon, so I wanted to get in my deliveries before I left.” He handed me a white box. “Haddock, mussels and prawns as ordered.”
“Right, thanks. Has Jack already paid you?”
“No.”
“How much is it?”
“Fifteen pounds, please.”
I handed over the cash, bid goodbye to Terry, and then spent the next five minutes putting Jack’s seafood into the freezer. I’d have to remember to get the money back from him that evening. Fifteen pounds plus five pounds for my time; twenty pounds should cover it.
What? Of course I was only joking. Nineteen pounds would suffice.
I’d no sooner walked out of the front door than I was confronted by a red-faced Mr Ivers.
“How could you, Jill?” He yelled in my face. “I t
hought we were friends.”
“Whatever’s wrong, Monty?”
“Don’t come the innocent with me. I saw it.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I knew someone had sabotaged Rubadub, and I thought it might be a jealous neighbour, but I never thought it would be you.”
How could he possibly have known that I’d used magic to put crabs and jellyfish in the hot tub? It was impossible.
“I didn’t have anything to do with it.” When in doubt, deny everything.
“Then how do you explain the van I saw outside your house?”
“The van? Oh, you mean the fish man?”
“I saw him. Had he come to collect his money for carrying out your wicked plans?”
“Calm down, Monty. You’ve got entirely the wrong end of the stick.”
“I saw him with my own two eyes.”
“Yes, you did. That was Terry Salmon. He delivers fish and shellfish to the door. He’s just dropped off some haddock, mussels and prawns for Jack. They’re in the freezer. I can show you if you like?”
“Oh?” All the air seemed to go out of him. “I’m sorry.”
“That’s okay.”
“It’s just that I’m under a lot of pressure at the moment, what with Rubadub and the shop.”
“What’s wrong with the shop?”
“It seems I may have misjudged the market. I’ve only had a handful of customers through the door since I opened.”
“Maybe things will start to pick up soon. It can take a while for a new business to establish itself.”
“I hope so.” He turned to leave. “I’m sorry about just now.”
“It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.”
I felt terrible. Talk about kicking a man when he was down. Monty’s second business venture in a row was on the brink of collapse, and I’d added to his misery by sabotaging his hot tub. I’m a terrible person.
There’s no need for you to agree; I already felt bad enough.
I didn’t have time to dwell on it because before I could get into the car, Kimmy came hurrying across the road. Just what I needed: another clown.
“Is everything okay, Jill? I saw your next-door neighbour come storming over to your house. He didn’t look very happy.”
“Everything’s fine. Just a misunderstanding.”
“I came over because I wanted to share our exciting news.”
“Actually, I was on my way to work.”
“It’s just that we’ve found premises for our clown school.”
“That’s really great.”
“And the best part is we can move in straight away, so it’s all systems go.”
“Fantastic. Sorry, but I really do have to go.”
***
“Morning, Mrs V.”
“Morning, Jill. I’ve managed to find that address you were after. For Theo Crane’s ex-wife. She’s reverted to her maiden name of Stewart.”
“Well done you. I wasn’t sure you’d manage it.”
“I have to be honest. I’d drawn a blank, so I gave Grizelda a call.”
“Your counter-intelligence friend?”
“That’s right. I hope you don’t mind. She’s the soul of discretion.”
“Not at all. She sounds like a useful contact to have.”
“I’ve jotted it down for you.” Mrs V handed me a note.
“She did move back to Durham, then?”
“It looks like it.”
“Thanks, Mrs V. I may pay her a visit later today.”
“Durham is such a lovely part of the country. I spent some time there in my youth, but I imagine it’ll have changed a lot since then. I wouldn’t mind coming with you.”
“Sorry, but I don’t think that’s going to work. I’ll need to be there and back as quickly as I can. There’ll be no time for sightseeing.”
“Of course. I understand, dear. Maybe I can get Armi to take me up there one day.”
“That’s a great idea.”
Phew, another bullet dodged. I had no intention of wasting time, driving back and forth to Durham. Magic would be much quicker.
“Wake up!” I yelled at Winky who was fast asleep on my desk. “I need to get to the computer. Wake up!”
“Do you mind? I’ve only had a couple of hours sleep, thanks to you.”
“How is it my fault?”
“I had to work through the night to catch up on the time you cost me by mixing up all the clock parts, but you’ll be happy to know that I’m now back on schedule.”
“I’m deliriously happy for you. Now, if you wouldn’t mind, get off my desk!”
***
“I’m off to Durham, Mrs V.”
“Have a safe journey.”
After finding a deserted alleyway, I plugged Theo’s ex-wife’s address into my magic GPS.
No, of course there isn’t such a thing, but trying to explain to mere humans how it actually works is beyond the scope of this book. Please refer to The Newbies Guide To Magical Travel.
Ruby Stewart lived in an end terraced house which overlooked a small park.
“Ms Stewart?”
“Yes?”
“Did you used to be married to Theo Crane?”
“Guilty as charged. What’s this about?”
“My name is Jill Maxwell. I’m a private investigator. Is there any chance of my coming inside for a quick chat?”
“I suppose so. I’m in the middle of decorating the lounge, so we’ll have to make do with the kitchen.”
“No problem.”
I was gagging for a cup of tea, but she didn’t offer. “What’s this about?” She obviously wanted to get straight down to business.
“Did you hear about your husband’s kidnapping?”
“Ex-husband. Yes, it wasn’t in the news up here, but I still have a few contacts in Washbridge.”
“You didn’t feel the need to go down there after you heard?”
“I know this will make me sound heartless, but I have no interest in Theo. That’s all in the past for me now. They found him, didn’t they? Is he okay?”
“He seems to be. Do you mind if I ask why you and he split up?”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Probably nothing. It’s just something that Billy Hawksworth said.”
“Billy?”
“You know him?”
“Not well, but yes.”
“I should have explained, I’ve been hired by Henry Tyler, a friend of Jude’s, to try to help clear Jude’s name.”
“Jude? I thought you were trying to find out who kidnapped Theo?”
“I assumed you’d have heard. Jude has been charged with Theo’s kidnapping.”
She was stunned into silence for a moment. “I had no idea.”
“Your friends in Washbridge haven’t mentioned it?”
“No, but then I haven’t spoken to them recently. This has to be some kind of stupid mistake. There’s no way Jude would ever do anything like that.”
“The problem I have is that there’s evidence linking him to the building where Theo was being held.”
“What’s going to happen to Jude?”
“If I can’t clear his name, he’ll be looking at some serious jail time.”
“That’s simply not right.”
“Is there anything you can tell me that may help? Anything at all.”
“Like what? I haven’t left Durham for the last two years.”
“What was Billy Hawksworth hinting at?”
“Nothing. It wouldn’t help.”
“Please, Mrs Crane.”
“Don’t call me that! I wish I’d never met that man.”
“Sorry, slip of the tongue.”
“No, I’m sorry. Call me Ruby.”
“Please, Ruby, if you know anything at all, now is the time to tell me.”
“I promised I’d never breathe a word of this because I didn’t want to hurt Jude.”
“Jude? Not Theo
?”
“I couldn’t care less what happens to Theo. Jude’s different; he’s a lovely man.”
“What happened, Ruby?”
“The reason Theo and I split up was because he was having an affair. I was so naïve that I had no idea until Billy Hawksworth came to see me.”
“Billy? How did he know?”
“He’d seen them together. After Theo sacked him, he wanted revenge, so he told me.”
“I see, but how does that affect Jude? You said you were trying to protect him.”
“Theo was having an affair with Nancy.”
“Jude’s wife?”
“Yeah. I confronted her and Theo, and they denied it at first, but in the end, Nancy broke down, and admitted it. I packed my bags the same day and moved in with friends. Nancy came to see me a couple of days later and begged me not to tell Jude because it would destroy him. She said it had been a stupid mistake and promised to end the affair. She said she’d do everything she could to make their marriage work if I promised never to tell him. I couldn’t have cared less about Nancy, but I didn’t want to do anything to hurt Jude, so I kept my mouth shut.”
“Do you think it’s possible that Theo and Nancy resumed their affair?”
“I have no idea. I hope not for Jude’s sake.”
After I’d left Ruby, I thought back to my visit to see Jude in prison. When I’d arrived there, his first concern hadn’t been for his own predicament, but for his wife’s welfare. He obviously had no idea that she’d had an affair with his brother. The question was, had that relationship ended after Ruby had walked out or was it still going on?
***
I magicked myself back to Washbridge, picked up a takeaway coffee from Coffee Games, and then made my way back to the office.
“Jill?”
“Don’t look so surprised to see me, Mrs V. I do work here.”
“But you said you were going to Durham? You’ve been gone for less than an hour.”
Oh bum!
“Err, yeah. I was on my way to the car when it suddenly struck me: Why waste so much time on travel when I could use modern technology? Instead of driving there, I popped into that new internet café on the high street, and I used Skype.”