Seeing as poor Finn had been the one doing most of the talking recently, I decided to give him a break. ‘I can understand why,’ I said gently. ‘It sounds like Winnie was a wonderful woman. That’s why I know you’ll all want to help us find out who took her away from you.’
The woman gave an exaggerated shudder and said, ‘Help you? How the devil can we help you? Look at us! We’re a crafting circle, not a meeting of murderers! Get away with you, the pair of you, and stop wasting your time harassing a bunch of innocent ladies.’
At the perfect moment, Adeline took her seat. She gave me a brief smile and said, ‘One of this bunch of innocent ladies was murdered. So we should all be glad that Finn and Wanda are here to help – and for those of us who say they’re so concerned about finding Winnie’s killer, then maybe those people should get their heads out of their knitting patterns and try to help.’
I glanced around the circle, and noticed that not one, but two chairs were vacant. Clearly one was Winnie’s. But what about the other empty chair?
‘Is this the rest of the group then – in its entirety?’
One or two of the women shuffled in their seats. It was the tall, thin lady who spoke again. ‘Mrs Dove felt too upset to come to the club today. She and Winnie were very close.’
‘And you weren’t?’ said Finn. ‘Sorry, I didn’t hear your name?’
She sniffed the air. ‘Gertrude. Mrs Gertrude Fox is my name. I’m the current president of the Crafty Ladies. And I might as well tell you, here and now, that Winnie and I were not the best of friends. But that doesn’t mean I’m not devastated to hear about her murder. And I am most definitely not the culprit. None of us are. If you want to look at who might have killed Winnie, it’s that Gabriel Godbody the Twentieth you should be looking at.’
Finn and I exchanged a glance, and I could see the pity in his eyes. All the pity in the world, though, wasn’t going to make it any easier to tell my boyfriend that his father was quickly leaving person of interest territory and was fast becoming an actual suspect.
‘Why do you say that, Mrs Fox?’ Finn asked.
She looked at the other ladies. ‘No one’s going to tell them? Fine. I’ll do the talking as usual. He wanted her house and every inch of land it sits upon. That’s all he ever wants, that one. Not enough for him to own that mansion and thousands of acres. He wants every single house that borders his property now. He’ll soon own the whole town!’
While she spoke, I kept an eye on the rest of the ladies. They looked uncomfortable, to say the least. Even Adeline seemed to flinch every time Gertrude Fox opened her mouth. She wasn’t just the president, she was the dictator. We had wanted to see the dynamic of the group, how they behaved together, but with Gertrude Fox ruling the roost, the only thing we were going to learn was that no one else got to talk when she was around.
‘I see you have a tea urn over there,’ I said. ‘And some very nice looking muffins. How about we all have a break, and Finn and I will speak to you each individually?’
‘You can speak to us as a group!’ Gertrude’s face flamed.
Finn lifted a brow, stood up and said, ‘We’ll speak to you how we like, Mrs Fox. And I think we’ll start with you.’
≈
We stood by the urn with Gertrude Fox. She kept her knitting with her, working furiously on something that looked like a sock. At such close quarters, I noticed that her perfume was quite strong. Strong and unpleasant – always a good combination where perfume is concerned.
‘I didn’t notice you outside at the fundraiser,’ I said.
She gritted her teeth. ‘It was Winnie who wanted to donate our work to that debacle. I want nothing to do with it. I’d rather see the proceeds of my knitting go to the Warlock Society than benefit that lot.’
‘You have a problem with supernaturals who aren’t witches?’ Finn’s face was even, but I could hear the anger in his tone.
‘I have a problem with weredogs, and I don’t mind admitting it. Filthy creatures. Do you know they eat out of bins when they turn?’
Finn sighed. ‘And vampires suck on human blood. And werewolves eat raw chickens. And wizards don’t have real magic.’
‘Yes, but none of them eat out of bins. When this Equal Rights for Others nonsense goes to a referendum – and it will go to a referendum – I will be casting a firm no vote at the polls. And I shall advise the rest of the Crafty Ladies to do likewise.’
‘Why didn’t you like Winnie?’ I asked, changing the subject. ‘Everyone liked her.’
A sour scowl took over Gertrude’s face. ‘Oh, yes. Wonderful Winnie. Everyone loved Winnie. She wasn’t as nice as they all thought, though. She had a competitive streak longer than a ball of wool. Had to win every knitting competition.’
She was growing so angry that I was afraid she might shatter her knitting needles – that, or drive them into someone’s eyeballs. Finn clearly thought the same, because he said, ‘Where were you yesterday afternoon, Mrs Fox? Between the hours of twelve and two?’
The clacking of her needles finally slowed. ‘I was ... I was ...’ She moved closer to us. ‘I was having a knitting lesson, okay. You can check with my tutor. And don’t laugh. I can see that you’re bursting to laugh. If you so much as smirk, I won’t answer any more of your questions.’
‘Once again,’ said Finn, ‘it’s not even remotely your decision as to whether you feel like answering our questions. But just out of curiosity, why is the president of the Crafty Ladies taking knitting lessons?’
She looked down at her sock. It had grown too large to fit anything but the foot of a giant – but she probably had something against giants, too. ‘Because. The end of year competition is coming up and I want to – I mean, I wanted to – beat Winnie. Just for once I wanted to wipe the smile off her stupid smug face, and now I’ll never get the chance. I mean, of all the times she could have gone and gotten herself murdered, and she had to choose now.’
I gaped at her in disbelief. ‘All right, Mrs Fox. We’ll be checking into your alibi, but that’s all for the moment.’
As she walked away, Finn let out a low whistle. ‘She’s a piece of work.’
‘Oh boy! She’s the piece of work that the other pieces of work run screaming from. And the mice mentioned strong perfume, which she was definitely wearing. But as to whether she’s our killer ... I’m reserving judgement. I mean, she seemed genuinely ticked off that she won’t get the chance to beat Winnie.’
‘Agreed,’ said Finn. ‘But killer or not, I’m betting Candace has her on the naughty list.’
We worked our way quickly through the rest of the Crafty Ladies. Without Gertrude breathing down their throats, they were incredibly helpful. They all seemed devastated to have lost Winnie. There wasn’t a single one among them I would peg as a murderer, and they all had strong alibis. Finally, we came to Adeline.
She gave me a sheepish smile as we approached. ‘So I suppose you’re wondering why a cage fighting librarian-come-chronicler is a member of a knitting circle?’
Finn shrugged. ‘I imagine it’s a good wrist workout.’
Adeline looked impressed. ‘Exactly. Or ... that’s why I began to come here, anyway. But then I got to know Winnie, and I couldn’t keep away.’ She took off her glasses and wiped her eyes. ‘We had a drink together just two nights ago. That was the last time I saw her or spoke to her. She was so looking forward to Winter Solstice. I can’t believe she’s gone. And I definitely can’t believe anyone would want to kill her!’
‘Even Gabriel Godbody the Twentieth?’ I asked.
Her face grew troubled. ‘Yes. I suppose there is him. Have you met him, Wanda? I mean, I heard you’re going out with his son, so I suppose you must have. Hey, what happened to that lovely weredog you were with on the day we had our little adventure together? Max?’
I picked up a muffin and began to eat it – better to take my annoyance out on the food than on Adeline. ‘I’m not going out with Max,’ I said through a mouthful of muffin. ‘I
never was going out with Max. We just live in the same house. In separate bedrooms.’
‘And spend a lot of time together,’ said Finn. ‘And get on incredibly well. And tell each other everything.’
‘Hey, this is about Winnie, not me.’ I focused on Adeline again. ‘I feel like you were going to tell us something about my boyfriend’s father before we all got side-tracked. And don’t worry about offending me. Yeah, I’ve met Gabriel Godbody the Twentieth. I found him a bit of an odd duck, to be honest.’
‘Supposedly he’s an empath.’ Adeline lowered her voice. ‘That’s why he hardly ever leaves Godbody House. He hates having too many energies near him. I think that’s why he kept trying to buy Winnie’s place. She was his closest neighbour, distance wise. He’s bought out everyone else who borders Godbody Hill.’
‘Oh, we know all about his supposed empathic abilities. But you’ve led me to what was going to be our next question.’ Finn lowered his voice. ‘Gretel tells me you’ve been covering at the Licensing, Records and Registry Department.’
A smile pulled at the corners of Adeline’s mouth. ‘Yes. Gretel. She’s ... a most interesting young lady. I’m feeling a bit bored in my temporary post to be honest. I wish I didn’t need to bolster my wages by temping during every holiday I get.’
‘Bolster your wages? But ... you’re the chief chronicler and librarian at Crooked College. Agatha tells me they pay really well over there.’ I shook my head. ‘Never mind. That was a really nosy question.’
‘They do pay well,’ Adeline said with a wry smile. ‘If you include performance-related bonuses. According to the board, my performance wasn’t considered up to scratch this year. I think it might have been because of my little stunt with this year’s compendium.’
‘Ah.’ I understood now. In the latest edition of the Compendium of Supernatural Beings, Adeline had done something that had never been done before – she had included weredogs, wizards, dayturners and unempowered witches in the Major Supernatural Beings section. It was a move welcomed by most, but apparently not by the board at Crooked College. ‘If it’s any consolation, the weredogs love you for what you did.’
Her smile brightened. ‘It is, actually. I couldn’t give a toss what those old blowhards at the college think. I just wish that having integrity paid a bit better. Anyway, I was bored out of my mind in the department, so I devised a spell to digitise their entire inventory. I have the records you’re looking for, in digital form. In fact, I’d looked up Mr Godbody’s property holdings before Winnie was ever murdered. I knew he’d been hassling her about selling, so I decided to have a bit of a snoop.’ She took her second pair of glasses off her head and popped them on, then dug around in her bag for at least a minute, before finally pulling out a flash drive and handing it to me. ‘You’ll see that Mr Godbody’s property portfolio is growing by the year. At this rate he’ll have no neighbours within a twenty mile radius of his house. But ...’
‘But what?’ I prompted.
‘Well, you don’t really need this flash drive any more. I popped back in this morning to make sure there’d been no more disappearing files overnight. And ... the drawer for Godbody House was full again. All of the records, back in their place.’
I threw my muffin aside. It wasn’t nearly as nice as it looked. There was a somewhat sour aftertaste that made me suspect Gertrude Fox of doing the baking. ‘Did you report this?’
‘I tried to call it in,’ she said. ‘But the phone line just rang out. And I knew I’d be seeing the two of you here, so I left it. Anyway, I suppose the flash drive will save you a trip to the department, at least.’
‘We’re short-staffed right now,’ Finn said. ‘That’ll be why the phone wasn’t answered. The holidays have always been a quiet time, crime wise. Not this year, apparently. Listen, you said Mr Godbody was hassling Winnie. Can you be more specific?’
Adeline took off her second pair of glasses, popped them back on her head, and put the other pair back on. ‘Well, yes. I can be incredibly specific, as it happens. Winnie was one of the most pleasant people you could have met. No one bothered her. She just had this way. She took everything in her stride, and made the people who met her feel just as calm as she did. It was as if her own loveliness rubbed off on you, even if only for a while. But last week I walked in just as Mr Godbody was leaving, and Winnie was fuming. It was so unlike her. Especially when I’d just brought her over a copy of the latest Craving Constance book.’
‘Craving Constance?’ Finn asked, refilling his tea.
Spots of colour broke out all over Adeline’s neck and face. ‘Well, it’s ... they’re just books. Nothing wrong with them. Anyway, Winnie normally enjoys a good Craving Constance as much as the next witch, but she was too annoyed by her meeting with Mr Godbody to even open the cover. It took her two glasses of wine to calm down. I’d never seen her like that. She told me that he just wouldn’t take no for an answer. She said ... she said that if it went on after Winter Solstice, she was going to report him for harassment.’
9. A Tale of Two Holidays
After questioning the Crafty Ladies, we popped back to my place for lunch. As we arrived in the kitchen of Three, Westerly Crescent, we were met by an enormous, battery-operated Santa, saying, ‘Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas!’
‘Good Gretel!’ Finn jumped back. ‘What the hell is that?’
I rubbed the Santa’s head, and proceeded to the refrigerator. ‘If you’re planning on asking Lassie out anytime soon, then you’d better get used to it. This is how weredogs do the holiday season. They believe in Santa. And they put up lots of plastic decorations. They even take a tree into the house and decorate it. And I’m talking about the whole tree, mind you, not just a bough.’
‘Like humans?’ Finn looked truly flummoxed.
‘Well, weredogs celebrate on the twenty-fifth, instead of the twenty-first, like a lot of humans. But they get just a little bit more enthusiastic about the decorations.’ I dug out some bean burgers and placed them on the grill, then pulled the three mice from my pocket.
‘Were you three okay in there?’ I asked as I set them gently on the table.
‘We were nice and warm,’ said Curly. ‘And we didn’t fall asleep.’
‘It’s true,’ agreed Big Ears in a thoroughly unconvincing voice. ‘We definitely didn’t fall asleep. We heard all your interviews with the Crafty Ladies.’
‘And?’ Finn prompted. ‘Anyone’s voice sound familiar?’
‘Gertrude,’ said Dumpling. ‘She argues with Winnie on the phone all the time. Sometimes she even comes into our house to argue some more with Winnie. I mean, Winnie is a patient lady, but Gertrude really doesn’t make it easy.’
‘Her perfume was quite strong,’ I recalled. ‘Was that what you smelled on the day Winnie was killed?’
They conferred for a few seconds. ‘We’re not sure,’ said Dumpling eventually. ‘We think the scent in the kitchen might have been more of a stronger smell. And maybe more manly.’
‘Okay.’ I patted their heads, surprised at how soothing I found the act. ‘Well, you’ve all worked really hard this morning, so you should try and relax for a while. Finn and I just have to go upstairs to do some work while our lunch cooks. Can I get you anything first?’
They conferred for another few seconds, then Curly said, ‘That depends. Have you got any mince pies?’
≈
After leaving an entire packet of mince pies on a plate for the mice, I pulled Finn from the room. ‘Come on,’ I said as I grabbed his hand. ‘I’ll show you the rest of the place before we get to work.’
I led him through room after room, laughing at the look on his face. He seemed equal parts delighted and horrified. ‘How has that thing not collapsed under its own weight?’ he asked as he gaped at the tree. ‘And how many presents are under there, anyway? What did you do? Rob the North Pole?’
‘Oh!’ I pulled my latest purchases from my bag. ‘Help me wrap these, will you? It’ll only take a second.’
It did only take a second – for Finn, anyway. He used magic to cut, fold and secure the wrapping paper, while I did it the human way and made an enormous mess in the process.
‘You’re really into this whole thing, aren’t you?’ he asked as he placed his handiwork under the tree. ‘Hey, I see a whole lot of pressies with Max’s name on them under here. What have you got for Gabriel? Y’know – your actual boyfriend.’
I chewed on my lip. ‘Well, um ... actually, I haven’t managed to find the right gift for Gabe just yet. I was looking for his cologne so I could buy him a new bottle, but I have no idea what it’s called. Anyway, I’m not sure I’ll bother now.’
Finn’s face grew perplexed. ‘What do you mean? You keep going on about how in like you are with him.’
‘Yeah. Well.’ I pushed the final presents under the tree. ‘Come on. I have way more to show you.’
His eyes lit up as we walked around the rest of the house. There was tinsel around every mirror and picture. We had fake reindeer, snowmen and Santas everywhere. It was the most over-the-top display I had ever seen, and I had loved helping Max put it all together.
As we walked past the grotto at the top of the stairs and went on to view the snow globe collection on the shelf next to Max’s bedroom, Finn was looking as enchanted by it all as I was. ‘There’s a little bear riding a train inside that snow globe!’ he said. ‘And the train is full of presents!’
‘I know. And look at that one. It’s a whole Santa’s workshop.’
‘Wow.’ Finn grinned. ‘So ... Lassie goes all out like this, too?’
‘All weredogs do. Lassie’s flat is even better than this. Me and Max are thinking of buying more decorations. We want to put Santa’s sleigh up on the roof, or maybe a Santa climbing down the chimney. Which do you think?’
Wrapping Up Page 6