The Murdered Mermaid (A Brimstone Witch Mystery Book 6)

by April Fernsby

  I pulled off my shoes and socks and flung them to one side. Conway had swum up to the water’s edge and was holding his hand to me, his tail flapping gently behind him. I waded into the water and grabbed Conway’s hand.

  He said, “It’s time to show you how fast I can move now. Take a deep breath.”

  I did so and Conway tugged on my hand as we shot through the water. My poor stomach heaved in protest. I was going to end up with a bad case of digestion at this rate.

  Conway pulled me along the surface of the water at an incredible speed and by the time I let out my breath, we were near a creature bobbing in the water.

  Conway nodded towards her and said to me, “This is Syloe. She’s one of the youngest sirens.” He smiled at Syloe. “Hello. What are you doing out here on your own? Where’s your family?”

  The pale creature with long hair moved her head sadly from side to side. She moaned, “They’ve gone. I lost them. I can’t find them. Have you seen them? Where are they?” She let out a long, low moan which made my ears throb with pain.

  Conway moved closer to Syloe. “Where have you been? You’ve been missing for days. Are you hurt?”

  Syloe whined, “My heart hurts. My poor heart. Where is my family? They were right in front of me, and now they’re gone. Oooooooo!”

  Her soulful cries were now making my ears vibrate. They’d never vibrated before and it wasn’t a pleasant experience. I decided to take over the questioning.

  “Syloe, hi, I’m Cassia. Did Nerita ask you and the other sirens to go into another world?”

  The sad siren nodded. “Yes. I didn’t like it. It was noisy. There was a strange bird in the sky. It roared and it was shiny. I think it must have been a dragon bird because smoke came from its tail.”

  Was she talking about an aeroplane?

  I continued, “Do you know the name of the world you went into?”

  Syloe shook her head and swished her hands from side to side in the water. “I’m all alone now. All alone.”

  I persisted, “Why did you go into that other world? What did Nerita tell you?”

  Syloe stopped moving her hands and put her head to one side. “The seabed. Yes, that’s what she said. The seabed has been damaged by that black cloud and something terrible was going to happen in that world. Uncle Mortimer knows! That’s what Nerita said. Uncle Mortimer knows about the seabed and that black cloud. Nerita sent us to that noisy world so we could collect the people when the terrible thing happens.”

  “What terrible thing?” I asked.

  Syloe put her hands to the side of her face and wailed, “I don’t know! But it’s going to be so terrible. Awful. A catastrophe! Nerita knows. Uncle Mortimer knows. Where is my family? Where did they go?” She let out a long wail which made my left ear pop painfully.

  I moved closer to Syloe and placed a hand on her cold shoulder in an attempt to calm her down. “What happened to your family? When did you last see them?”

  Syloe moved her hands. “I don’t know. I went with them to that other world. We were waiting for the terrible thing to happen. Then I saw that awful, noisy bird in the sky. It scared me! I swam away from it. But it was faster than me. It kept following me. I went under the sea and kept swimming until I felt safe.” She looked around her. “And I came here. I feel safe here. But where is my family?”

  “I don’t know,” I told her. “But I’ll do my best to find them.” I moved away from her and said quietly to Conway, “I don’t know what to make of that. From what I can gather, Nerita told the sirens to go into my world for some reason. I think it has something to do with the black magic that came into this area recently. I need to find Mortimer and speak to him about it. I’d still like to speak to Rex too.”

  Conway nodded. “I’ll look out for Rex. I’ll speak to Father about Mortimer too in case he knows what he’s been up to lately.” He looked towards Syloe who was now singing a sorrowful song. “I’ll look after Syloe. Do you want help getting back to the beach?”

  “No, thank you. It’s not that far away.” I looked back at Syloe and my heart twisted at the grief on her face. “I need to find those missing sirens as soon as possible. If something terrible is going to happen in my world, I want to know about it.”

  Conway gave me a short smile before moving over to Syloe.

  I swam back to the beach and quickly dried myself using my magic hands. I held my socks and shoes in my hands as I walked back to Stanley. I appreciated the feeling of warm sand between my toes. If I wasn’t dealing with a murder enquiry, I would have loved to have taken the rest of the day off to lounge on this beautiful beach.

  As I got closer to Stanley, I noticed something different about him.

  He raised a paw to his nose and said, “Look, I’ve got a friend.”

  A pale, green butterfly was resting on his nose. When I came closer, it alighted and headed in my direction. I opened my hand out and it landed on my palm. It opened its wings and Oliver’s voice boomed out:

  ‘Cassia, Stanley, you need to come home immediately!” His voice became quieter as he continued, ‘Cassia, I’ve found something that belongs to your mum. I think it’s going to help you with your investigation. See you soon. Oliver.’

  Chapter 21

  We found Oliver sitting on a chair next to the kitchen table in Gran’s house. There was a small, shell-covered box on the table in front of him.

  Without any welcoming words, Oliver waved his paw at the box and said to me, “Open that.”

  Stanley jumped up onto the chair next to Oliver and said, “Hello brother. Are you okay?”

  Oliver replied, “Yes, I’m fine.” He looked Stanley over and said, “You look tired. Hasn’t Cassia given you any time to rest or have a nap? Has she been feeding you?”

  Stanley chuckled and gave him a nod. “There’s no need to worry; Cassia takes good care of me.”

  I moved over to the box and stared down at it. I’d seen this box before somewhere. The small shells that decorated it had tiny flecks of silver and gold glitter in them and they caught the sun’s rays which were coming through the kitchen window. I had a feeling that I knew who this box belonged to.

  Oliver said briskly, “Don’t stand there looking daft; open the box.” He gave me a studied look and his tone softened, “It belonged to your mum.”

  I gave him a nod and tried to speak. My voice was gruff as I said, “I know, it used to be in Mum’s bedroom. I haven’t seen it for years. Where did you find it?”

  Oliver looked to one side and shrugged his little shoulders. There was a hint of embarrassment in his voice as he explained, “I was doing some dusting before Esther came back and I came across it in the very back of her wardrobe.”

  I folded my arms and gave him a smile. “Oh? Does it get very dusty at the back of Gran’s wardrobe?”

  Oliver didn’t meet my glance as he continued, “I’ve seen Esther putting things in there before, but she always told me they were personal items and that I shouldn’t stick my nose in there. But with her being away, I thought there might be some clues as to where she’s gone in there.” He looked back at me and defended himself, “It’s a good job I did investigate because that’s where I found that box. I recognised it immediately. Well? Aren’t you going to open it?”

  I asked him, “Haven’t you already opened it?”

  “Of course I have. I wouldn’t have called you here if there wasn’t something important inside.”

  Without any further ado, I opened the small box and looked inside. There was a key in there. I picked it up and showed it to Stanley. It was a long, old-fashioned kind of key made out of brass. The top of the key had been moulded into the shape of a butterfly and two tiny gems had been placed at the top of the butterfly’s wings.

  Stanley examined the key and said, “That’s a beautiful key. What does it unlock? A treasure chest? A secret stash of chocolate in a hidden room? A hidden passageway to somewhere amazing?”

  Oliver moved his mouth in what looked suspiciousl
y like a smile and said, “Even better than that. It unlocks the door to the lighthouse in Brimstone Beach.”

  My eyebrows shot up in surprise. “The lighthouse? In Brimstone Beach?”

  Oliver said, “That’s right; that’s what I said. Have you gone deaf?”

  Stanley’s voice was full of excitement as he proclaimed, “We saw that lighthouse! We flew near it yesterday. It’s painted in the colours of the Brimstone butterflies. Why does Cassia’s mum have a key to it?”

  “Because she owned it,” Oliver explained. He gave me a kind look and continued, “And now, it belongs to you, Cassia. I’m sure your Gran would have told you about it one day.”

  I turned the key over in my hand. “There are a lot of things that Gran is planning to tell me one day. When she comes back, I’ll be having a long conversation with her.” I looked back at Oliver. “Thank you for finding this. You said in your message that it might help us with our investigation. What did you mean by that?”

  Oliver said, “Your mum spent a lot of time with the merpeople and other creatures at the beach. I know she kept records of her dealings with them. I’ve had a good search of Esther’s house, and I can’t find any of Rosalyn’s records here. She did spend time at the lighthouse and I suspect her records may be somewhere inside. I think it would be worth going to the lighthouse for a visit, don’t you?”

  Stanley leapt off the chair and said, “Let’s go right now. I’ve never been in a lighthouse before. Can we see if the light works at the top of it? Can I switch it on and off?”

  I gave him a small nod before saying to Oliver, “I’ve got a strange feeling that I’ve been to the lighthouse before. Is that possible?”

  Oliver surprised me by jumping onto the kitchen table and moving over to me. He rested a paw on my arm and said, “I think you used to go there with your mum when you were younger. She did take you to Brimstone Beach many times and I’m sure she would have taken you to the lighthouse too. Will you be alright going there? I could come with you. I know this is a difficult time for you with Esther and Blanche being gone and all this new information about your mum coming to the surface. Not to mention that you’ve got that murder investigation to deal with.”

  I smiled at him and said, “Actually, I think this is the perfect time for me to find out more about Mum. Instead of feeling upset, all this new information is making me happy and I can feel Mum’s presence around me.”

  Oliver patted my arm and removed his paw. “That’s good. Before you dash off to the lighthouse, do you want to tell me what’s been going on with your investigation? Are you any closer to finding out who killed that poor mermaid?”

  I pulled a chair out and sat down. I kept the key in my hand as it felt comforting there. Stanley jumped onto my knee and settled himself. Between us, we told Oliver about our investigation so far and ended with what Syloe had told us about going into the human world.

  I said to Oliver, “How would the sirens get into our world? Are there some doorways somewhere or any underwater passageways?”

  “It’s possible,” Oliver replied. “It wouldn’t surprise me if someone had used black magic to make their way into our world. Didn’t you say a black cloud had been hovering over the sea a while back? You could ask Jeremy about that, and if he knows about any secret passageways. Speaking of Jeremy, where is he?”

  “That’s a good question,” I said. “I think he’s still making investigations about this case. I’ll catch up with him soon. Oliver, what you think about the investigation so far?”

  Oliver settled himself down on the table. “There are a number of suspects that come to mind, the first one being Isla. It could be a simple case of her being jealous about Nerita being in charge of Brimstone Beach and maybe Isla wanted her out of the way before she gets married to Conway. If she is as power-mad as you’ve heard, then getting rid of Nerita would make sense.” Oliver raised his paw to make his next point. “Then there’s Rex to consider. It’s interesting that he never mentioned his relationship with Nerita. I wonder how long they’d been a couple? And why they broke up? That’s another line of enquiry for you to consider. Once you find Rex, that is.”

  I gave him a knowing look. “Supernatural creatures in Brimstone have a habit of disappearing just when I need to interrogate them. What do you think about this business with Nerita’s uncle? He was keeping something from me. I think he knows where the sirens have gone.”

  “The missing sirens could be nothing to do with Nerita’s death, but it’s worth making further enquiries with her uncle.” Oliver put his head to one side and gave me a long look. “Cassia, don’t take this the wrong way, but you have to stop being so feeble when you question your suspects. Try to get the truth out of them immediately and don’t take any nonsense from them. Have you thought about doing any assertiveness courses? There are some online ones that you can take. I can give you the links.” He let out a gruff chuckle. “I’ve managed to become quite proficient at using my paws on the computer. I’ve even got my own Facebook account.”

  Stanley came to my defence. “Oliver, Cassia acts in a professional manner when she questions suspects. But there are some sneaky beings out there, and they often keep the truth from us. But Cassia and I always get to the bottom of the truth - eventually.” He paused a fraction. “Can you set up a Facebook account for me too? Are there other cats on Facebook?”

  I said, “Can we leave talk about your online social activities for another time, please? I want to go over to the lighthouse now and see if there’s anything there that might help us. Oliver, I appreciate your opinion and I’ll try to be more aggressive with my questions. You can come with us. It would be nice to have your company.”

  “No, thanks. I’m going to carry on with my cleaning work here. I know that Esther will be returning very soon.” He gave me a sharp nod. “She’ll be back very soon. I can feel it in my whiskers.”

  We stayed with Oliver for a few more minutes to make sure he was okay being on his own, and then we said goodbye to him. He told us to keep in touch and reminded me to be more aggressive with my suspects and to stop being such a namby-pamby excuse of a witch. I knew his abrupt words concealed his concern, so I wasn’t insulted. Not too much.

  Stanley and I gave him a last wave before going through the cellar door to Brimstone. I put the lighthouse key safely in my pocket, jumped onto my broomstick with Stanley and soared into the sky.

  What was I going to find inside Mum’s lighthouse?

  Chapter 22

  We landed in front of the pale, yellow wooden door set at the bottom of the lighthouse. There were low bushes to either side of the door and I smiled at the dozen or so Brimstone butterflies who were resting on the leaves.

  The second we touched the ground, Stanley leapt off the broomstick and began to run around the building.

  When he came back to my side he announced, “It’s round! It’s round all the way around. There’s not one corner anywhere! Isn’t it amazing? I think I’ll go around it again.” He scampered off before I could say a word.

  I gazed at the yellow door and felt a warmth settle over me as if someone had just wrapped me in a blanket. Even though my memories weren’t clear, I knew for certain that I had been here before.

  I waited for Stanley to finish his latest inspection of the lighthouse before inserting the key into the lock. Before I could turn it, someone landed at my side and declared, “There you are! I’ve been looking for you two all over the place.”

  I smiled at Jeremy and said, “We were hoping to catch up with you. Where have you been?”

  Jeremy placed his broomstick on the ground. “I’ve been talking to everyone I possibly can about Nerita and the other merpeople. I can now conclude that I have no new information for you. Everyone says Nerita was bossy, but effective in her work, and that Isla was jealous of her. I’ve tried to dig up some gossip in the town centre, but it appears the majority of the creatures who live there don’t know much about the merpeople. So, in essence, it’s be
en a complete waste of time.” He sighed heavily.

  “It wasn’t a complete waste of time as you’ve confirmed what we already knew.” I pointed to the key which was sticking out of the lock. “Look what Oliver found. I didn’t even know this lighthouse belonged to Mum.”

  Jeremy’s cheeks flushed red. “You didn’t? Didn’t I tell you? I could have sworn I told you on our first visit here.” He put his hands over his face and let out a low groan. “What an idiot I am!” He removed his hands. “I’m so sorry for not telling you. I used to come here all the time with Rosalyn. Why didn’t I tell you?” He shook his head in disbelief.

  “You’ve had a lot on your mind, Jeremy,” I reassured him. “You probably did tell me, but I wasn’t listening properly. It doesn’t matter now. Oliver said Mum might have kept records of her dealings with the merpeople. Do you know if she did?”

  Jeremy nodded. “Yes, I think she’s got some notebooks somewhere inside.” A small smile tugged at his mouth. “I think you’ll like what’s inside. I put a spell on the inside of the lighthouse when Rosalyn passed over to make sure dust never settled on anything. Everything should be just as she left it. Are you sure you’re ok to go inside? I know you came here with Rosalyn and the memories may come back to you.” His eyes glistened. “They’re going to come back for me too.”

  I gave him a reassuring smile. “I’m excited. I can’t wait to see inside.” I turned the key in the lock and heard a loud click.

  Something peculiar happened. The butterflies on the bushes at our side rose and moved behind me. There was a disturbance in the air and I felt my hair gently moving back from my face. The noise of many fluttering wings sounded out.

  Stanley turned around and his eyes widened in shock. He raised a shaking paw at something in front of him. I spun around to see what he was looking at. Jeremy did the same and let out a half-strangled gasp.

  We watched in amazement as hundreds of yellow and green Brimstone butterflies headed our way. Their fluttering wings sent a warm breeze over me and a feeling of excitement ignited in my stomach.