by Adele Abbott
While Carly was out of it, Alison called the police, and told them that her brother-in-law had been in contact to tell her that her sister had gone missing. Then of course, she came to see me. She had to make sure she pointed the finger at Tony Bow, but she was very crafty in the way she did it. Initially, she focused on Gerry; she told me what a bad husband he was, which was of course a complete lie. Almost in passing, she mentioned that he’d accused Carly of having an affair with Tony Bow; something else which was blatantly untrue. But it was enough to sow a seed, and that was all she needed to do.
Tony Bow was a creature of habit, and a man who loved to have his car in showroom condition. He had it valeted on the same day every week at the car wash where Alison Shine worked. She knew exactly when he’d be coming in next, so it was easy for her to plant the necklace which she’d taken from Carly.
Then she put the final stage of her plan into action. Once Carly had come around enough so that she was able to walk, Alison told her there’d been a change of plan, and that Gerry wanted to meet her at the Bouncers office. That’s where Alison killed her.
When I told Alison that Carly’s body had been found, Alison put on one heck of an act. She didn’t want to come right out and accuse Tony Bow; that would have been too obvious. Instead, she again pointed the finger at Gerry. She knew full well that I’d soon eliminate him from the enquiry, and hoped that at some point I’d recall her mentioning Tony Bow. Her plan worked like a dream.
When Tony Bow’s wife gave me the necklace, I put two and two together and got five—just as Alison had hoped. That’s when I brought you guys in.”
“How come you didn’t drop the case once Tony Bow had been arrested?” Maxwell said.
“I don’t know. Instinct, I guess. I thought I might find more evidence in Tony Bow’s car, and as it happened I did. But it wasn’t the kind of evidence I’d expected. The air freshener had a picture of a whale on it. It was from the Moby Car Wash where Alison Shine worked.
Gerry Baxter had no reason to kill Carly. They were very much in love. Tony Bow had no reason to kill her either. Yes, he’s a womaniser by all accounts, but he and Carly had never had any kind of relationship. Alison was the only one with a motive to kill her sister. She figured that with Carly gone, her dad would amend his Will and leave everything to her.”
***
I’d had a rather mysterious phone call from Daze. She wanted to meet me in Cuppy C, but when I asked her what it was about, she didn’t seem keen to discuss it on the phone.
I arrived in Candlefield with some time to spare, so I decided to drop in at Aunt Lucy’s. As soon as I stepped inside, I could hear raised voices coming from the kitchen.
Aunt Lucy and Lester were both red in the face; it was obvious that they’d been arguing.
“I’m sorry if I’ve interrupted something.”
“You aren’t interrupting anything,” Aunt Lucy said.
“Yes she is.” Lester turned to me. “Jill, you know I’m not the sort of man to be unreasonable, am I?”
It was true. Lester was the most easy-going man I’d ever met. It was hard to imagine what could have made him so angry.
I just smiled; I didn’t want to get in the middle of their argument.
“Tell her, Lucy. Tell her why I’m angry.”
“You tell her if you want to.” Aunt Lucy was obviously quite flustered.
“We’ve been trying to arrange our honeymoon,” Lester said. “Trying being the operative word. Every time I come up with a suggestion, Lucy pooh-poohs it.”
“I haven’t pooh-poohed anything.” Aunt Lucy sounded quite indignant. “I just said it wasn’t somewhere I wanted to go.”
“Yes. But you’ve said that to every suggestion I’ve made, and I must’ve come up with at least ten different options so far. They’re either too hot or too expensive or too far away. It’s been one excuse after another.”
“They’re not excuses. I’m sure we’ll find somewhere we can both agree on.”
“I’ve had enough of this.” Lester stood up. “I’m sorry, Lucy, but I’ve tried my best. You decide where you want to go, and let me know.” With that, he stormed out of the kitchen, slamming the door behind him.
Aunt Lucy looked a little down-hearted, but forced a smile. “I’m sorry you had to witness that. It’s such a silly thing to argue over. There are so many places we could go to on honeymoon. I really don’t know why we have to quarrel about it.”
“Would you like me to make you a cup of tea?”
“That would be lovely, dear. And, I think we’ll have some custard creams as well.”
That sounded like my kind of plan.
***
When I arrived at Cuppy C, Daze was sitting at a window table with Mad. Much to my annoyance, they had taken the last two blueberry muffins.
“We’ve still got some chocolate muffins left,” Pearl said.
“No thanks.” I’d had my heart set on a blueberry one.
“Hi, Jill.” Daze managed through a mouthful of muffin—my muffin!
Mad could only manage a nod; her mouth was so full of delicious blueberry muffin.
“Are you two enjoying those?”
“Mmm.” Daze nodded.
“Delicious,” Mad said, licking her lips.
“That’s nice.” I hope they choke you.
“Down to business,” Daze said. “This may be our big chance to get TDO. We have some very good info.”
“Are you sure we can rely on it?” I asked.
“You can never be one hundred percent sure of anything, but this is definitely the best intelligence we’ve had so far. According to our sources, TDO and Destro are going to meet in Washbridge.”
“Why Washbridge? Isn’t that asking for trouble?”
“Not really. They’ll probably attract less attention there than if the meeting was to be held in Candlefield or Ghost Town.”
“Don’t you think we should inform Grandma or some of the other level six witches?”
“No.” Daze was adamant. “They’ve had their chance. They’ve supposedly been trying to track down TDO for decades, and it’s got them nowhere. I’ve long had my suspicions that they’ve been infiltrated at the very top level. Every time we get a tip-off, it seems to get back to TDO. We need to keep this between you, me and Mad. She’s here because we need someone over in Ghost Town, and we know we can trust her.”
“So what’s the plan?”
“According to our sources, TDO and Destro plan to hammer out an agreement under which they can work together. If they manage to do that, then things are going to become very difficult for everyone in Candlefield and Ghost Town. The only thing we know for certain is that the meeting is being organised by none other than Ma Chivers.”
My blood ran cold every time I thought of that woman. There was something about her; something really evil.
“In that case, I’ll follow her so I can find out exactly when and where the meeting is going to be held.” I volunteered.
“That’s too dangerous.” Daze shook her head. “I should be the one to do it.”
“No!” I insisted. “If they spot you, it will destroy any chance we have of finding out where the meeting is to be held. But, if they were to spot me, I have the perfect excuse. Ma Chivers has been pestering me for some time now to let her take me under her wing. I’ll tell her that I’ve changed my mind, and that I want her to tutor me.”
“It’s too risky,” Daze said.
“No it’s not. It’s the only sensible way.”
Mad nodded. “Jill’s right, Daze. She’s the only one of us who has a plausible reason for following Ma Chivers around. We have to let her do it.”
“Okay.” Daze agreed, but I could tell she still wasn’t happy about it. “I’ll give you a call when she’s in Washbridge, and you can tail her.”
***
While I was in Cuppy C, I went to check on Barry. He was exhausted; he’d just come back from a walk with the twins.
“Hi, Ba
rry. How are you doing?”
“I’m tired. I’m going to sleep. I like to sleep. Do you like to sleep, Jill?”
“Yeah. When I’m tired.”
“I love to sleep. Oh, by the way,” Barry yawned. “Hamlet said he wanted to see you.”
“Did he say why?”
“No.” Barry’s eyes were almost closed.
“Okay.”
I walked down the corridor to the box room where I found Hamlet, glasses propped on the end of his nose, reading the rodent edition of Wuthering Heights.
“Not something I’d normally read,” he said. “But not bad at all. Heathcliff is a nasty piece of work. Have you read it, Jill?”
“No, but I thought the song was good.”
“Song?”
“Never mind. Barry said you wanted to see me.”
“That’s right. Thank you for dropping by. Look, I’ll get straight to the point.” He put down his book, and moved across to the bars of the cage so that we were nose to nose. “You know that I’m now running a regular book club?”
“So I understand.”
“Well, we’ve had the most astounding news.”
“Really? What’s that?”
“Horatio Moore has agreed to visit our club to give us a reading from his latest book. I can’t tell you what an honour that is. I assume you’re familiar with him?”
“Is he a footballer?”
Hamlet rolled his eyes in disgust. “No, Jill. He isn’t a footballer. He’s one of our leading contemporary authors.”
“I can’t say I’ve seen any of his books in the bookshop.”
“He’s not a human author. He’s one of the most famous hamster authors of our day. It’s a great honour that he has agreed to pay us a visit.”
“I’m very pleased for you. I’m sure it’ll be great.”
“Yes, but look at this.” He pointed to the cage.
“What about it?”
“Look at it. It’s cheap. It’s tacky.”
“It cost me seventy-five pounds.”
“It’s altogether too small, and has no style. I can’t possibly ask Horatio Moore to come and read to us in here.”
“What do you expect me to do about it?”
“You’ll have to buy a bigger one, of course. Something befitting of Horatio Moore.”
“A new cage? You’ve only had this one five minutes.”
“Would you invite a famous author to come and read in here?”
He had a point; it was a little on the small side. In my defence, when I bought it, I hadn’t anticipated that it would be used for a book club or for visiting famous authors.
“So, you want me to buy you a bigger cage?”
“Yes, but I’m not sure I can trust you to get it right. It’s not just a question of buying a larger cage. It has to be stylish. It needs to have a certain je-ne-sais-quoi.”
“I don’t know what that means.” I laughed at my own joke; Hamlet remained stony-faced.
“I’ll have to come with you to the pet shop,” Hamlet said. “That way, I can make sure you don’t come back with any old tat.”
“You want me to take you with me?”
“That’s right. Any questions?”
“When did you want to do this?”
“I’m rather busy at the moment, but I’ll give you a call when I’m free.”
“That’s very good of you.”
“Okay. You may go now, Jill.”
I had been dismissed.
Chapter 14
As soon as I walked into the office the next morning, I knew something was amiss. Mrs V was on her hands and knees on the floor, and there was yarn all around her.
“He did this,” she said. “I’m going to kill him.”
“Who did what?” I already knew the answer.
“That cat has stolen my yarn.”
“Are you sure about that? You do have an awful lot of yarn.”
“I’m absolutely positive. I bought six balls of midnight blue especially for my next project, and now there are only five in here.”
“But Mrs V, you put a lock on the linen basket only last week because you said you were worried the Armitage people might help themselves to your yarn. How could Winky have got in there? Perhaps you miscounted them in the shop?”
She looked up, and fixed me with her gaze. She must have been taking lessons from Grandma.
“Or maybe you dropped one on the way back here?”
“I’m not stupid, Jill. I didn’t miscount them, and I’m not in the habit of dropping balls of wool. I’m extremely careful when it comes to the transportation of yarn. That cat has taken it!”
“Even if Winky had somehow managed to get into the basket, he would have just emptied it all out, like he did when it was in the mail sack. Think about it. How could he undo the lock, steal just one ball, and then fasten the lock again?”
“I know he did it. I’m going to kill him.”
“Look, I’ll buy you another ball of—what colour did you say it was?”
“Midnight blue.”
“Okay, I’ll buy you another ball of midnight blue wool.”
“I still think it’s that cat.” She chuntered to herself.
I knew I wasn’t going to change her mind, so I went through to my office.
“Winky, where are you?”
He crawled out from under my desk; he was obviously still half asleep.
“What’s all the noise? I was having a fantastic dream. Cindy, Bella and me—”
“I don’t want to hear about your sordid dreams.”
“What’s up with the old bag lady? She’s been banging things around all morning.”
“Have you stolen her wool?”
“What?” He scratched his nose.
“Mrs V’s midnight blue wool. Have you stolen it?”
“Why would I want her wool?”
“I don’t know. You might have done it just to spite her.”
“No. I have not stolen her wool. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get back to my dream.”
***
Why, oh why, did I volunteer for these things?
‘Okay, Mrs V. I’ll buy you a ball of midnight blue wool’.
Mrs V had failed to mention that midnight blue wool was about as rare as hen’s teeth. I’d been trudging around Washbridge for the best part of two hours. I never realised there were so many small yarn shops. I’d started with Ever A Wool Moment, but Kathy had said I wouldn’t find midnight blue for love nor money.
In every shop, I got the same response; they laughed in my face.
‘Midnight blue? You won’t find any of that.’
‘Midnight blue? No chance!’
‘Midnight blue? You’re having a laugh!’
This was beginning to remind me of Christmas when I’d been trying to buy Total Dream Office for Lizzie. Winky had come to my rescue on that occasion, but I couldn’t see him conjuring up a ball of midnight blue wool. Speaking of conjuring, what was the point of being a witch if I couldn’t magic up a ball of wool?
If I returned empty handed, Mrs V would not be a happy camper. She needed six balls to finish her project—whatever that was. If I didn’t find another ball of the stupid stuff, she’d have to abandon it, and then she’d probably kill me and Winky too.
I’d almost reached the point of giving up, when I stumbled across a tiny wool shop, tucked away in a corner of the market. It was so small that I hadn’t noticed it before. It was called, Where There’s A Wool, There’s A Way. What was it with the crazy names for wool shops?
The woman behind the counter was all blue rinse and misery.
“What can I do for you?”
“I don’t imagine you have a ball of midnight blue wool?”
“I might have.”
“Is that a yes or a no?”
“Depends on what you’re willing to pay.”
“How much does it normally cost?”
“Five pounds, but it’s the last one I’ve got. So, how mu
ch are you willing to pay?”
“I’ll give you eight pounds for it.”
“Fifty.”
“Fifty? Are you having a laugh? For one ball of wool? That’s extortionate.”
“Take it or leave it.”
“I’ll give you ten.”
She wiped her nose. “Forty.”
“Twenty.”
“Thirty.”
“I’ll give you twenty-five. Final offer.”
“Done.”
I had been—done up like a kipper.
While I was out and about in town, I popped into the fancy dress shop. It was much quieter than the last time I’d been in there. In fact, there was only one other customer in the shop; he was busy checking out the ghost outfits.
The two remaining owners were behind the counter, and I could see they remembered me as soon as I walked through the door.
“Hello again,” the werewolf said. “I’m Charlie. We don’t get many sups in here.”
“I’m Jill. Nice to meet you.”
“And I’m Neil.” The wizard offered his hand. “Are you looking for anything in particular?”
“I understand the young vampire who served me last time has left the business.”
I didn’t think it would go down well if I let them know I’d been instrumental in getting her arrested and taken back to Candlefield by Daze.
“Ruth? Yeah, we’d warned her numerous times that the Rogue Retrievers would catch up with her sooner or later, but she wouldn’t listen.”
“I guess that means you’re short of one member of staff, and presumably you’re a flatmate short as well?”
“That’s right. Ruthie dropped us right in it. When it’s quiet like today, the two of us can easily run the shop, but you’ve seen how busy it can get. At the weekend, it can be quite manic, so we’re definitely going to have to find someone to work in the shop. And yeah, we need a new flatmate as well. We share a loft; it’s huge and a great place to live, but we could barely afford the rent between three of us. Two of us certainly can’t manage to pay it. Ideally we need another two to share, but it isn’t easy to find sup flatmates.”