The Water Witch Cozy Mystery Boxed Set: Four Book Paranormal Cozy Mystery Anthology (Sam Short Boxed Sets 1)

by Sam Short

  I rolled my eyes at Willow. The only thing broken by Granny's stay in a cell was the police station kettle, and the teabag fund.

  Veronica sighed as I helped her sit fully upright and plumped up her pillow. "Tell us what happened," I said.

  "It was during the argument I had with Sam," said Veronica, "about him driving under the influence."

  I nodded my encouragement. "Go on, what happened?"

  "Earlier in the night I'd given Ron some of the potion, you know, to try and get a little warm blood in his veins, but it didn't work." Veronica paused and gazed at her feet. "Well, that's not entirely true. The part of the potion that you made to help Ron sleep worked just fine — he went out like a light. He snored like a pig too."

  "Why did you give Sam some of it?" asked Susie.

  "I didn't want him to drive! He'd had far too many beers, and not that horrible stuff from Belgium. He was drinking that strong local beer from Wickford brewery. You know, the one with the picture of the rock music guitar player on the tin?"

  "Wickford headbanger," said Willow. "That is strong stuff."

  "He'd had one and a half!" said Veronica. "I'm sure he'd have struggled to open his car door, let alone drive the thing."

  Susie coughed. "That is a lot," she said tactfully.

  It was too much to consider driving after, but nowhere near the amount Susie and I had drank on a regular basis when we'd been teenagers — usually behind the youth club, but often in my grandfather's potting shed. Granny had caught us once and threatened to tell Mum, but had soon calmed down when she'd tasted the beer and pulled up an old crate to sit on and join us. Granny had managed to drink three before finally succumbing and falling asleep with her head on an open bag of compost.

  Veronica took a deep breath. "I'm glad you agree," she said. "I thought maybe I'd overreacted. I just didn't want Sam hurting himself or somebody else, so I poured the rest of the potion into his beer, hoping it would make him fall asleep. There are plenty of spare rooms here, he could have stayed the night." Veronica shook her head. "It didn't work though, he didn't get sleepy, and eventually he agreed to take a taxi home. He couldn't get one of course, so he walked home, and you three know how that worked out for him."

  Veronica broke into sobs again. "It feels so good to finally get that off my chest! I know I didn't kill Sam, but I do wonder whether he'd have been able to fight off his attacker if I hadn't slipped that potion in his drink."

  "He was attacked from behind," Susie said. "I doubt he even heard his attacker coming. There were no signs of a struggle, Veronica. You weren't to blame in any way at all."

  "I heard on the news that they'd caught a man," said Veronica. "I hope they lock him in and throw the key at a book!"

  There were far too many things wrong with Veronica's sentence, so we all let it go.

  "We'll see," I said. "The police are still investigating."

  "The man on the radio said the killer was hiding at the car show," Veronica said. "The organisers said the police ruined the last day, running around and looking in everybody's tents and cars!"

  "In all fairness to the police, they were looking for a murderer," said Willow.

  "The whole things shocking," continued Veronica. "And to think the suspect was a soldier too! He's brought shame on Her Majesty's Armed Forces. That's what he's done!"

  Susie looked blank. "The police didn't tell me that at the press conference," she said. "Who told you that,Veronica?"

  Veronica dabbed the last of the tears from beneath her eyes. "The man on the radio. He said they were trying to find out if the suspect was connected with the RAC. He was wearing a badge on his clothing apparently. You girls really should pay attention."

  "We know that, Veronica," said Willow. "That's the reason the police thought he was at the car show. Most of those vintage car owners are members of the Royal Automobile Club. The suspect owns a few old cars himself. Nobody said he was a soldier though."

  Veronica gave a sigh of relief. "That's good to know. I hate the armed forces being brought into disrepute. I thought the radio presenter had meant the Royal Armoured Corps. Ron would have been livid to know one of his own was the killer!"

  Chapter Twenty-One

  "Veronica," I said. "Has Ron ever been violent?"

  Willow and Susie fidgeted, casting me nervous glances. We'd all come to the same conclusion, and the atmosphere in the room had electrified.

  Veronica furrowed her brow and narrowed her eyes. "That's an odd question, Penelope," she said. "I may be old, and I know I get my proverbs muddled up from time to time, but stupid I am not. I saw all your faces drop when I mentioned the Royal Armoured Corps." Veronica looked at each of us, her cheeks reddening. "You think Ron killed Sam! Admit it!"

  I stood up just in time to avoid being hit by Veronica's legs as she swung them off the bed and stood up. She pointed at the door. "Go!" she said.

  "You're throwing us out?" said Willow. "Veronica, just think things through for a moment. Is there any chance at all that Ron could have — "

  "I'm not throwing you out," said Veronica, marching towards the door. "I'm coming with you to confront that old sod! I think there's every chance he killed Sam. So many things are making sense now."

  "Like what?" I said.

  "I'm saving those questions for Ronald! Let me at him!"

  Susie beat Veronica to the door and put her back against it. "Calm down for a moment, Veronica," she said. She took her phone from her bag. "We need to phone the police first."

  "Wait," I said, as Susie dialled. "Let me ring Barney on his personal phone. We don't want cars full of police turning up here and scaring all the residents, and I'd like Barney to be the one who makes the arrest if it was Ron who killed Sam. He deserves it."

  Veronica reached past Susie and grabbed the door handle. "You telephone Barney, Penelope, but we're going to get the confession from Ron before he gets here. Ron will clam up in front of authority, the army did that to him, but I'll get what you want to know out of him! Oh, I'll get it out of him all right!"

  I dialled Barney as Veronica pulled the door open with an angry tug, making Susie stumble. Barney answered the phone, and I spoke quickly as I followed Veronica along the corridor towards Ron's room, with Willow and Susie on either side of me. "Come to the nursing home," I said. "Quickly. I'll explain when you get here. We'll be in Ron's room. I'm not sure what number it is."

  "Fifty-three," snapped Veronica, glancing over her shoulder.

  "Room fifty-three," I repeated. "Hurry, Barney."

  I slipped the phone into my pocket and took a deep breath. I was about to see somebody being accused of murder, and I was more nervous than the first time I'd kissed a boy. Muscles cramped in my stomach, and my legs struggled to hold my weight.

  Veronica stopped outside Ron's door, and I looked at Willow for support. Her face was white and her bottom lip was crushed between her teeth. It was a relief to know I wasn't the only person who was terrified.

  Veronica showed no such nervous tendencies. She paused for the briefest of moments, sucked a lungful of air into her chest, muttered something under her breath, and swung the door open with a shove so violent a painting in the hallway shifted on its mounting.

  "What have you done?" she screamed as she entered the room with the rest of us close behind her. "What did you do?"

  Ron stared at us from his seat. A few days worth of grey stubble cloaked his chin and cheeks, and I had to remind myself that the person I was looking at was a potential murderer, not simply an elderly man in his dressing gown and slippers. A well built elderly man, but elderly nonetheless. "What are you babbling on about, Veronica?" he spat. "If you've got a problem with me, come here on your own, not with your little army of troublemakers."

  I hadn't been labeled a troublemaker since I'd left the school gates behind me for the last time, six years ago. Veronica didn't appreciate the insult either. "How dare you speak about them in that way!" she shouted. "They're here so I don't have to confront a
monster like you on my own!"

  Ron scratched his chin with long fingernails. "You've lost your marbles, Veronica," he scoffed. "What the heck are you talking about, woman?"

  Veronica approached him and bent at the waist, placing her face inches from his. "I'm talking about you killing Sam Hedgewick. I don't know why you did it, or how you did it, but my gut says you did it, and this gut hasn't been wrong for three decades."

  "Get lost," said Ron. "Get out of my room and go and find Wally. You've been flirting with him for weeks woman, you're a common wh — "

  "I was wrong," said Veronica, in a tone so menacing my eye twitched. "My gut has been wrong in the last three decades. It was wrong on the day I said yes to your invitation to watch you play in the Wickford bowls championship final. I should have gone with Wally when he asked me. I doubt he needs a special potion to get his compass pointing north. He certainly knew how to handle those big balls of his, and he beat you at bowls that day, didn't he, Ron?"

  Ron's smirk tightened into a scowl, and a flash of anger darkened his eyes. "Shut up, Veronica, or — "

  Veronica tilted her head and moved her face even closer to Ron's, her nose almost touching his. "Or what, Ronald? You'll kill me like you did Sam?"

  Ron's hands tightened into fists, and I took a step forward, sucking air into my mouth and tasting copper. I wasn't sure what spell I was about to cast, but it felt right. I pressed my fingers together, but just as I was about to click them, Ron relaxed his hands and laughed. "This is silly," he said, leaning back in his seat. "Come on, Veronica. We had a good time together, but it's over. There's no need to come here making crazy accusations."

  I blew out air and flexed my hand. It had been close, and electricity still tingled in my fingertips.

  "Answer some questions for me, Ron," said Veronica. "If you didn't kill Sam you'll have all the answers, won't you?"

  Ron crossed his arms and smiled. "Ask away," he said.

  Veronica straightened her body and stared down at Ron. "Why was your door locked on the night of the party? The night Sam was killed. I came here two or three times, but you didn't answer when I knocked."

  "Because you gave me some of that bloody potion, you daft old bag. It knocked me right out, didn't it? Probably so you could have fun at the party without me."

  Veronica pointed at Ron's hand. "How did you get that injury, Ron? It doesn't look like a strain from weight lifting. It looks bruised."

  "I dropped a heavy bar on it," said Ron. "Next question." He looked at me, Willow, and Susie. "Enjoying the show, girls? Do you like watching a mad woman bullying an old man?"

  "It's best you just answer her questions, Ron," I said.

  "And to think I gave you all those green beans last year," he growled. "You can forget about any next year, and I'll make sure everyone else at the allotment knows how cruel you are. There'll be no more free vegetables for you, Penelope."

  Veronica laughed. "We don't even know if the allotments will even be there next year, you old fool. The land owner's dead. Remember? You won't be growing beans next year anyway, Ron. You'll be behind bars, where you belong."

  "Have you finished, woman?" said Ron. "I want you out of this room, and out of my life."

  'I've got one more question for you, Ronald."

  Ron waved a hand. "Hurry then, I haven't got all day."

  Veronica pointed at the wardrobe built into the wall behind Ron's seat. "What are you hiding in there?" she breathed.

  Ron's whole body tensed. His striped pyjamas tightened across his chest, and the tendons in his neck bulged. "I'm not hiding anything. Now get out. I've answered your questions."

  "What's in there, Ron?" pressed Veronica. "You haven't let me put your clean washing away all week, and you've moved your seat so you can sit there guarding the wardrobe."

  "I moved my seat here because I fancied a change. That's all."

  "You can't even see your television from there, Ron," said Veronica. "Do you think I'm stupid?"

  'Why don't you just let Veronica have a look, Ron?" said Willow. "The police are on their way. You'll be forced to open it when they get here."

  Ron's whole demeanour changed. "Oh, the police are coming are they? Why didn't you say that in the first place?"

  He stood up, towering over Veronica. He pushed out his chest, rolled his shoulders, and rocked his head from side to side, stretching his neck muscles. Veronica stepped backwards as Ron grabbed the seat and pulled it away from the wardrobe. He slid the door open and bent over, fumbling around in the bottom. Veronica moved forward and tried to look over Ron's shoulder. "What are you doing?" she said. "What have you got in there, Ron?"

  Ron's voice echoed in the wardrobe. "You'd better phone the police," he said, "and tell them to bring an ambulance with them."

  For such a large and elderly man, Ron moved quickly. He stood up, span on the spot, and raised a hand above his head. A glint of silver caught my eye, and Veronica shrieked. "No, Ron!”

  Ron swung the metal bar in an arc towards Veronica's head, and either Susie or Willow screamed behind me. Copper flooded my mouth and filled my throat, and my fingers stung with the force of the electricity which coursed through them. A sizzle accompanied the click of my fingers, and the metal bar stopped moving, centimetres from Veronica's frightened face.

  "Catch her!" I shouted, as Veronica's legs shook and gave way beneath her.

  Willow leapt forward and caught Veronica as she fainted. Susie helped carry her to the bed, and Ron stared at me with wide frightened eyes. "What's happening," he said. "I can't move."

  "Never mind what's happening," I said. I nodded at the metal bar in Ron's hand. It was red with dried blood, and a few hairs stuck to it. "I take it that's the murder weapon? The missing weights bar from the gym."

  Ron nodded, his eyes dropping to the purple sparks which arced between my finger tips as I held my hand at waist height. Interesting, I thought. He could communicate and move his eyes, but the rest of his body was completely paralysed. I wasn't sure what spell I'd cast, or how I'd learnt it. I didn't remember reading a spell like it in Granny's book, but maybe my subconscious brain had stored it in my mind as I'd been flicking through the pages. I'd have to ask Granny.

  "What are you?" stammered Ron.

  "What do you think I am, Ron?" I said. "I'm a witch of course, and if you don't tell me exactly what you did to Sam, and why you did it, you won't be going to jail, you'll be swimming around in that pond outside, croaking and eating flies."

  Ron grimaced. "Okay, I'll tell you!"

  I raised my hand and turned it in the air, sparks sizzling and crackling from my fingers. "Talk."

  "I was jealous. I've always been a jealous man. It's my flaw."

  "Jealous of Sam?"

  Ron nodded.

  "Why?"

  "That potion you made for Veronica. It didn't work the way she wanted on me, it only made me drowsy. I missed the party because I was asleep, and when I woke up I was hungry so I went to see if there was any food left, and then I saw it!"

  "Saw what?" I said.

  "Veronica spiking Sam's drink with the passion potion! She couldn't get what she wanted from me, so she found the next available man to try it out on! It didn't work on Sam either though, so when he left, I followed him. I'd lost my temper, I didn't know what I was doing! I just wanted to warn him to stay away from Veronica, but I hit him too hard."

  "You're a vile pig, Ron. You got out through the door with the broken alarm, didn't you? So nobody knew you had left. You locked your door so people would think you were asleep." said Veronica. She'd woken up.

  I turned to her. "I can explain," I said, looking at my sparking hand.

  "There's no need, dear." she said. "You can tell me in your own time. Concentrate on getting the rest of the confession out of him. Your police friend will be here soon, and I'm not sure you want him to see you in such a compromising situation."

  She was right. I'd had it drilled into me since I was old enough to speak tha
t I should do everything I could to prevent mortals from discovering the existence of witches. In the past week alone I'd cast a spell on a lawyer, a boat owner, and now a murderer. A talking goat had attacked an intruder on my boat, and I was in the process of performing magic in front of one of the biggest gossips in town. I wasn't doing too well at the whole keeping witchcraft a secret thing, and I didn't want to add Barney to the growing list of witnesses to my magic.

  Ron grunted. "It hurts," he said. "All my muscles ache."

  "Think how much pain Sam felt," spat Veronica. She stood up, pushed passed Ron, and bent down to rummage in his wardrobe. She held a black piece of clothing aloft. "Exhibit B!" she said.

  She turned the blazer around and showed us all the badge. The owner of the Flirting Kingfisher had been correct. There was a crown, and the letters RAC were below it. We'd all been too quick to assume the badge the boat owner had recalled while under my spell was the same as the badge on the front of the car next to the canal.

  "I don't understand," said Willow. "Why did you bring the murder weapon and the blazer back here, Ron? There's probably evidence on the blazer, and there's definitely evidence on the weights bar. Why didn't you throw them in the canal?"

  "He wouldn't throw his blazer away," said Veronica. "It meant too much to him."

  "It's been wth me for forty years," said Ron. "Of course I wouldn't toss it in the canal. I was going to return the bar to the gym, but I panicked. I thought I'd keep it hidden until all the fuss died down."

  "You call a murder investigation fuss," said Veronica. "You really are a piece of work, aren't you?"

  Ron swivelled his eyes, attempting to look at Veronica. "I did it because I loved you, Veronica. I couldn't bear it when I saw you giving Sam that potion. The thought of his hands all over you, and the fact that you wanted him to do it sent me mad!"

  "I put that potion in his drink to try and make him fall asleep," said Veronica. "So he wouldn't drive home after drinking. You're a fool, Ronald. A murdering, sadistic, jealous fool, and I hope you get what you deserve!"