by Adele Abbott
“I know where you mean. What made you decide to work in the human world?”
“I just fancied a change.”
“How do you like it?”
“To be honest, I prefer working with sups. I’m looking for a job back in Candlefield.”
“How do you two know one another?”
“We’ve known each other practically all our lives, haven’t we Flora?”
“Yes, we met at school, and we’ve been friends ever since.”
“Have the twins told you anything about me?”
“They didn’t need to,” Flora said. “Everyone has heard of the great Jill Gooder. You’re the witch who turned down the chance to go to level seven.”
“And you killed TDO,” Laura added. “How could we not know about you?”
“Yeah, well. I only popped over to say hello. I’d better get back to Washbridge because I’m working on a few cases at the moment. It was nice to meet you both.”
“You too, bye.”
“See you soon.”
I had to admit it. The twins had been right about my new roommates. Apart from their cold hands and lack of any dress sense, it was difficult to fault them. And with a bit of luck, they wouldn’t be at each other’s throats all the time like the twins were.
***
It had taken me a while, but I’d finally managed to get hold of Teddy Barr on the phone. We’d arranged to meet in a small café in Candlefield market square.
“I’ve heard a lot about you,” he said. Teddy didn’t have Eddie Wonder’s movie star looks, but he exuded the same self-confidence. “You’re meant to be the most powerful witch in Candlefield.”
“That’s what some people say.”
“So, what does the most powerful witch in Candlefield want with a mere vampire?”
“I wanted to speak to you in your capacity as captain of the Blue Flags BoundBall team.”
“I wouldn’t have had you down as a BoundBall fan, although now I come to think about it, didn’t you organise that women’s game?”
“I did, yes.”
“What are you after? Free tickets for the big game? I can get you a few of those—no problem.”
“No, nothing like that. Have you heard that two of the Eagles’ players have been taken ill?”
“Yeah. Some sort of virus, isn’t it? A bit unlucky.”
“The timing is very unfortunate. And a bit of a coincidence, wouldn’t you say?”
“Wait a minute. Have you been talking to Eddie Wonder?”
“I have, yes.”
“I might have known. What exactly has he accused me of? Trying to nobble his team? How exactly does he think I managed that?”
I ignored his question because I didn’t want to use the word ‘poison’ in public.
“Did you have anything to do with it?”
“Of course not. How am I supposed to have given them a virus? You can tell Eddie from me, that the Blue Flags are going to win the league, but we’ll win it fair and square. On merit, and not because we’ve sabotaged his team.”
***
After my meeting with Teddy Barr, I was walking through Candlefield Market Square, when I spotted a familiar face; it was Eddie Wonder. He stepped inside a small shop. It was one I’d walked past several times, but I’d always assumed it had gone out of business. The faded sign above the door read ‘Candle Launderette’.
As I got closer, Eddie re-emerged.
“Hello, Eddie.”
“Oh? Hi there.”
“Getting your smalls washed?”
“Sorry?” He looked puzzled.
“The launderette? Are you doing the weekly wash?”
“I—err—get my BoundBall kit cleaned there.”
“Where is it?”
“Where’s what?”
“Your kit?”
“I—err—just took it in.”
“I see.”
“Anyway, I’d better get going.” He started to walk away. “I’m meant to be meeting someone.”
“Okay, bye.”
How very curious. I was almost positive he hadn’t had anything with him when he’d gone into the shop. And why had he been in such a hurry to get away? Surely, I wasn’t so scary? I peered through the window of the launderette. There was no sign of life inside—just a row of washing machines—all with their doors wide open.
***
At my request, all of the jewellers except Are Forever had agreed to close for thirty minutes starting at one-forty-five.
“I still don’t really understand why we’re doing this, Jill.” Arnold, the owner of Are Forever, said.
“You’ll just have to trust me on this one.”
“What do you want us to do?”
“Just carry on as usual. Serve the customers as you would do normally.”
“What about you? What will you be doing?”
“I’ll be in the back office. If I leave the door ajar, I’ll be able to see into the shop. Is that okay?”
“Of course. Is this going to be dangerous?”
“Only for the thief. You, your staff and customers will be perfectly safe, I promise.”
He managed a smile, but I could see he was nervous.
It was ten minutes before two. If my hunch was right, things should start to happen within the next few minutes. I took the tin out of my pocket, and headed towards the door.
“What’s that?” Arnold said.
“Brown chalk dust.” I began to shake the chalk onto the floor around the door. I’d chosen the colour closest to the shade of the wooden floor.
“Is that necessary? What will the customers think?”
“I doubt they’ll even notice it.”
Once I was in the back again, I fixed my gaze on the area immediately in front of the door.
The doorbell chimed, and an elderly couple walked in leaving two sets of footprints. I kept watching, and sure enough, a moment later, a third set appeared.
It had taken quite a while for me to develop the spell which I needed. Without Magna Mondale’s book and knowledge, I would never have managed it. I’d had to mix and match half a dozen spells to achieve the desired effect. Even now, I wasn’t a hundred percent sure it would work. I’d tried it when I was home alone, and it seemed to work, but I’d only know for sure now I was using it in anger.
Just as I’d expected, everyone in the shop appeared to be frozen to the spot. Everyone except for the ugly man helping himself to the tray of rings.And, of course, me.
“Ahem.” I coughed. “Excuse me.”
He jumped so hard he dropped the rings back onto the counter.
“What? Who? How?” He took a step back.
“Stopwatch, I presume?”
“Who are you? How did you do that?”
“My name is Jill Gooder. I’m—”
“I’ve heard of you. You’re that level seven bird, aren’t you?”
“Bird?” Not only was he a thief, but a sexist pig as well. “Would you care to explain what you’re doing?”
“Me?” He shrugged. “I ain’t doing nothing.”
“So you admit you are doing something?”
“That’s not what I said.”
“I think you’ll find it is. If you ain’t doing nothing, you must be doing something.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
That much was obvious.
“It looked to me like you were stealing jewellery.”
“I was just looking at it.”
“Does putting it in your pocket help you to see it better?”
He turned, and started to run towards the door. He didn’t get far because I cast the ‘bind’ spell. The rope wrapped around his arms and legs, and sent him crashing to the floor.
“Let me go! You’ve got no right to hold me here.”
“I think you’ll find I have.”
Just then, Stopwatch’s spell must have run its course because the other people in the shop snapped back to life.
“Why are the rings on
the counter?” The sales assistant looked confused.
Arnold noticed me standing over Stopwatch. “Jill, what’s going on? Who is that?”
“This is your thief.”
“How did you catch him? I didn’t even see him come into the shop.”
“I’ll explain all of that later.” Or not.
I made a call to Daze to tell her I’d caught Stopwatch. She said she’d meet me in the alleyway at the side of the shop in two minutes.
“Get up.” I pulled Stopwatch onto his feet, and helped him to penguin-walk outside.
“Well done, Jill.” Daze was out of breath when she appeared in the alleyway. “However did you manage to catch him?”
“I’m right here.” He moaned.
“Shut up, you!” Daze pressed her foot hard onto his back. “Speak when you’re spoken to.”
“I had to concoct a spell that would work the same as Stopwatch’s spell. When his spell kicked in, so did mine. Time stood still for both of us.”
“Brilliant. You really should be on level seven.”
“All in good time. You’d better get this charmer back to Candlefield before anyone sees us.”
Daze took out a pair of what I assumed to be anti-magic shackles, and fastened them to Stopwatch’s legs. “That should stop his tricks.” Next, she took out her trusty wire mesh net, and threw it over him. “I’d better get back to process him. Thanks again, Jill.”
Another case successfully completed. And Leo Riley need never know of my involvement.
Oh bum!
While I’d been in the alleyway with Daze, Arnold must have called the police.
“Jill, are you okay?” Arnold shouted.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Except that I wasn’t. Standing next to the counter, staring at me, were two uniformed police officers, and Leo Riley.
“You!” Riley said. “I might have known.”
“Hello, Leo.”
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“Stopping a jewel thief, apparently. The one you weren’t interested in.”
“Where is he?”
“He got away, I’m afraid.”
“Got away? That’s just brilliant! Is there no end to your talents?”
“Maybe if you lot had shown a little more interest, I wouldn’t have had to get involved.”
“I’ve a good mind to charge you with obstructing the police.”
“Go ahead. I can’t wait to read the newspaper headlines.”
“How did you know he’d strike here today? Do you have some inside information? If so, you’d better tell me right now.”
“Just good old-fashioned detective work. You know, that thing they pay you to do.” I turned to Arnold. “You can tell the other shop owners that they won’t have any more trouble from that scumbag.”
“Thanks, Jill. I for one appreciate what you’ve done.”
“Why are you still here?” Riley growled at me. “Get out of my sight, before I do something I’ll regret.”
“My pleasure.”
Chapter 13
I’d been unfair on Amber and Pearl when I’d criticised them for letting the rooms in Cuppy C without consulting me. They’d actually succeeded in finding two really nice roommates. I’d decided to pay the newcomers a quick visit to see how they were settling in. And, being the generous soul that I am, I’d bought flowers and chocolates as welcome gifts. The twins had gone out and left their assistants in charge, so I went straight upstairs.
“What the—?”
I couldn’t believe my eyes.
The doors of the two rooms, which now belonged to Laura and Flora, were wide open. Both rooms looked as though they’d been ransacked. There was stuff all over the floor, the bed and the cupboards. Someone must have broken in. What would the poor girls think so soon after they’d moved in? I hoped they were all right.
“Flora! Laura!”
“Jill, is that you?” The voice came from my room. “We’re in here!”
I walked back down the corridor, and pushed open the door. Laura and Flora were sitting on my bed—drinking and smoking!
“What’s going on in here?”
“Do you want a drink, Jill?” Flora hiccupped.
“No. I don’t want a drink.”
“Cigarette?”
“No. You can’t smoke in here.”
“Why not?”
“This is my room.”
“But we’re all roommates now, aren’t we?” Flora took a drag of her cigarette. “Share and share alike?”
“That’s not how it works. Your rooms are down the corridor. This is my room.”
They shrugged.
“Anyway, what happened to your rooms? It looks like a bomb has dropped in there.”
They shrugged again, and then giggled.
“I’m not standing for this. I’m going to tell the twins.”
“See if we care.” Flora shrugged—shrugging seemed to be her thing.
“Ooh! You brought us chocolates,” Laura said. “Oh, look, and flowers.”
“No, I haven’t.” I slammed the door shut, went downstairs, and had a word with one of the assistants.
“Do you know how long Amber and Pearl will be?”
“They said they were going shopping, so they could be some time.”
“Would you ask them to call me as soon as they get back?”
“Yeah, okay.”
I wasn’t going to stand for this. Those two little madams had to go. When the twins had introduced them, they’d been all sweetness and light. Now, they’d turned into the roommates from hell. Smoking, drinking, ransacking the place, and using my room without permission. Just wait until I’d spoken to the twins. Flora and Laura would be out on their backsides before the end of the day.
***
My status as ‘the most powerful witch in Candlefield’ could be rather embarrassing, but it did have some benefits. I’d found that a lot of people were more willing to talk to me than they might otherwise have been.
Over the previous two days, I’d found out everything I could about the synthetic blood manufacture and distribution operations. One company was responsible for the manufacture—that company was a non-profit organisation that answered directly to the Vampire Council. Their quality control systems were of the highest standard, having been much improved after the earlier incident, which Maxine Jewell had alluded to. It was difficult to see how poison could have been added during the manufacturing stage.
One company, a different one, was responsible for all deliveries. A small army of drivers delivered the blood door-to-door. This immediately struck me as a more vulnerable part of the supply chain. I’d hoped to find that a single driver covered the two areas where David and Bobby lived, but that wasn’t the case. The areas were on separate ‘runs’ covered by different drivers.
I’d managed to get the names and phone numbers of the two delivery drivers in question.
“Hello. Is that Richard Bow?”
“Just a second, I’m hands-free. Let me park the van.”
I waited.
“Okay, sorry about that. I can’t talk and drive at the same time. Who’s speaking?”
“My name’s Jill Gooder. I’m a private investigator. Your employer gave me your name.”
“Oh? Why?”
“I believe you deliver to the Crowntop area of Candlefield.”
“That’s right. Every other Wednesday.”
“I’m interested in one delivery in particular.” I gave him David Warren’s address.
“Hang on while I check my book. I keep a log of every delivery in case there are any problems.”
I could hear all sorts of shuffling around. After a couple of minutes, he came back on the line. “Yes, I’ve got it here.”
“Can you confirm you put the parcel in the lockbox?”
The delivery company had told me that all the houses they delivered to had a refrigerated lockbox where the blood could be left if no one was in. The homeowner had a key, and th
e delivery driver had a master key which fit all the locks on his route.
“Hold on. No, it wasn’t. I have a note on this one. Ah, yes. I remember now. The customer met me on the driveway and took it from me. It was raining, and he was wet through.”
“You’re absolutely sure it was that address?”
“One hundred percent, yes, because it’s very rare that I deliver to anyone in person. People are usually out at work, so I mostly put the parcel in the lockbox.”
“Okay, Richard, that’s most helpful.”
I called David Warren who had been discharged from hospital, and was back at home.
“It’s Jill Gooder. How are you feeling?”
“Much better than when you came to see me, thanks.”
“David, I wanted to ask you about the last batch of synthetic blood that was delivered to you.”
“The bad one?”
“Yeah. Did the delivery driver hand the package to you in person?”
“No, I’m always at work when the delivery comes. The blood was in the lockbox, as usual.”
“Are you absolutely sure about that?”
“Positive.”
“What about the lockbox itself? Was that okay? Had it been forced open or damaged in any way?”
“No, it was locked as usual; I opened it with my key.”
“Okay, David, thanks very much.”
I rang the second delivery driver, and asked him to check his records for the delivery to Bobby’s address. He told a similar story. He specifically remembered handing the package to the customer who was waiting on the driveway. When I spoke to Bobby, he insisted the blood had been in the lockbox.
It seemed obvious that someone had intercepted the delivery of synthetic blood. They must then have added the poison before placing the package into the lockbox. But who had done it, and how had they gained access to the lockboxes? Who had most to gain from taking out some of the Eagles’ key players? There was one obvious candidate.
“Alan, it’s Jill. I think I may have found out how your friends were poisoned.”
“Do you know who did it?”
“I have my suspicions, but I need something more solid before I can take it to the police. Do you happen to have a photograph of Teddy Barr?”