by Adele Abbott
I was just about to go back across the road when I spotted two Cuppy C regulars headed for Best Cakes. I remembered them from my time behind the counter in Cuppy C.
“Hello, there!” I called.
“Hi, Jill!” the woman said. “What are you doing over here?”
“Nothing much. Are you going to Best Cakes?”
“We are.”
“If you don’t mind my asking, why have you deserted Cuppy C?”
“It’s their prices. We love Cuppy C, and the twins’ cakes are fantastic, but they doubled the prices overnight. I don’t know what they expected to happen. People don’t have that kind of money.”
“Doubled their prices?”
“Yeah. And from what I hear, a lot of Cuppy C customers have switched to Best Cakes. I think the twins may have to rethink their prices.”
“Right, thanks. I won’t keep you. See you again.”
I walked back over to Cuppy C. Amber was staring into space.
“Amber!”
“Sorry, Jill. I didn’t realise you were there. It’s been so quiet in here that I’d almost dozed off.”
“So I see. Have you seen how busy it is across the road?”
“Don’t rub it in.” She sighed. “All of our customers seem to have deserted us for Best Cakes. I just don’t know why.”
“Surely it’s obvious.”
“Not to me or Pearl. We’ve been racking our brains.”
“It’s because you’ve doubled your prices.”
“Done what? We haven’t changed our prices in ages. Look!” She pointed to the display of cakes. The prices were all the same as when I’d been working there. Same with the drinks.
“I don’t understand. I’ve just seen some of your regulars across the road, and they said that they’d stopped coming here because your prices had doubled.”
“There must be some kind of misunderstanding.”
It might have been a misunderstanding, but I was beginning to smell a rat.
Chapter 10
When I got back to the office, Jules still looked miserable.
“Hey, Jules, cheer up. It may never happen.”
“I think it already has.”
“Still having problems with Jethro?”
“Yeah. He’s determined to go ahead with this dance troupe thing. I told him that I didn’t like the idea of him flaunting his body in front of other women, but he said that it’s good money, and he enjoys the dancing. Just look at this.” She held up a flyer for Jethro’s new dance troupe: ‘Adrenaline Boys.’
“’Adrenaline Boys’? Isn’t that a bit like calling yourselves ‘Sweaty Boys’?”
“I told him the name was stupid, but he said he didn’t choose it. It’s an existing troupe who have just lost one of their dancers. His first show is this weekend, and I’m not very happy about it.” She opened a drawer, pulled out a knitting needle, and began to stab the flyer. It was like the scene from Psycho.
“Be careful! Don’t stab yourself.”
“This is what I think of his stupid dance troupe.”
Remind me never to cross Jules.
When I walked into my office, I found Winky sitting on the sofa with another cat.
“Hello, there.” The other cat addressed me. “I assume you are Jill Gooder. I’m Horatio Finemark. I’m here to provide your colleague, Mr Winky, with elocution lessons.”
Winky looked thoroughly miserable.
“I see. Well I’m sorry to interrupt your lesson, but I do need to do some work. How long will it be before you’re done?”
“’Before you’re done’,” he mocked. “Oh, dear. It sounds as though you could do with elocution lessons yourself, young lady. Whatever must your clients think when you speak to them like that?”
“Hold on. I speak just fine, thank you very much. I don’t need lessons on how to speak from a cat.”
“I think it might be better if we continued this lesson another time,” Horatio Finemark said to Winky. “When there are fewer distractions. Don’t you agree?”
“Whatever.” Winky shrugged.
Horatio Finemark made his way out of the window.
“He’s a bit much, isn’t he?” I said, after he’d gone.
“Tell me about it. He’s been driving me crazy. I’ll never be able to speak like that.”
“I take it Bella organised the elocution lessons?”
“What do you think? Between you and me, I’m getting a bit cheesed off with the whole thing.”
“Have you tried telling Bella?”
“I have, but it’s fallen on deaf ears.”
***
I’d tried to get in touch with Michael Gray, Lucinda Gray’s ex-husband, but he wouldn’t take my calls, so I decided to pay him a visit at his place of work. Gemini Chemicals was on the Speedlink industrial estate. The woman on reception called him, but he said he couldn’t see me. I was getting nowhere fast, so had no option but to resort to magic.
My first problem was how to identify Michael Gray; I had no idea what he looked like. Once I was invisible, I made my way back to reception, where I noticed a large framed photograph on the wall. It had been taken ten years earlier when Gemini Chemicals had first opened for business. The company had obviously been a much smaller concern back then because there were only ten people in the photo. Fortunately, the names of the individuals were printed below the photo. Michael Gray was third from the left. He had black hair with a side parting. At least now, I had some idea who I was looking for.
I bypassed reception with ease. It was now just a matter of finding the man himself. There were a series of laboratories, each of which had a small window in the door. The first two were empty. Inside the next, there were two women working at a bench. At the next room, I struck gold. The man was obviously older than in the photograph, but he still had exactly the same hairstyle. He was wearing goggles and a white smock, and appeared to be alone in the room.
I reversed the ‘invisible’ spell, opened the door and walked in.
“Mr Michael Gray?”
“What are you doing in here? Who let you in?”
“I’ve tried to contact you several times by phone. I’m investigating the murder of your ex-wife.”
“Are you the police?”
“No. I’m a private investigator.”
“Then I have nothing to say to you. Get out, or I’ll call security.” He reached for the phone.
“I wouldn’t do that, Mr Gray.”
“Why? How are you going to stop me?”
“I’m actually a witch, and have magical powers. If you pick up that phone, I’ll be forced to turn you into a cockroach.”
“A witch? Very funny.” He picked up the receiver.
“I’m deadly serious. Watch that!” I pointed to an empty test tube which was lying on the bench beside him.
“What about it?”
“Just watch.”
I cast an ‘enchantment’ spell, and immediately the test tube sprouted two legs and two arms, and began to walk slowly along the bench towards him. He dropped the receiver onto the cradle, and began to back away. He looked terrified.
“How did you do that?”
“Like I said—I’m a witch. Need more proof?” I slowly levitated until I was about two feet off the ground.
“That’s not possible! Tell me how you did it!”
I lowered myself back to the ground. “How many times do I have to tell you? I’m a witch, and if you don’t answer my questions, I will turn you into a cockroach. Is that what you want?”
“No! Okay, I believe you. What do you want to know?”
“How did you and Lucinda meet?”
“Through a mutual friend, at a dinner party. She was an intern at a local TV station at the time. She was ten years younger than me, but we hit it off straight away. I asked her out on a date, and it kind of went from there.”
“How would you describe your marriage?”
“It was great for the first few years; we barely had a
cross word. But then, things started to go wrong.”
“Why was that?”
“It all started when Lucinda was promoted to news anchor on Wool TV. It was as though I’d suddenly become an embarrassment to her. My job isn’t glamorous, as you can see. I eventually found out that she was having an affair with one of the studio managers. I don’t think he was the first. In the end, we drifted apart, and eventually split up. I gave that woman everything, and she treated me like dirt.”
“You still sound rather bitter.”
“Of course I’m bitter. I loved her. How would you feel if someone treated you so badly?”
“I heard that you’d also dated Lucinda’s sister at one time.”
“I did, but that was before I met Lucinda. Audrey and I went out for about six months, but it was never really serious. When I met Lucinda at the dinner party, I had no idea that she was Audrey’s sister. It was only several weeks later that it came out. It was a bit embarrassing at the time, but a simple coincidence. Nothing more.”
“Do you have any idea who might have wanted to kill Lucinda?”
“She had a habit of rubbing people up the wrong way. She wasn’t the most tactful person in the world, and certainly not the most empathetic. But I can’t think of anyone who would do something like this.”
“What were you doing on the evening that Lucinda was murdered?”
“I was at home. I saw it happen live on TV.”
“You watch Wool TV?”
“Not really, but I do occasionally tune in to see Lucinda.”
“I thought you hated the woman?”
“I can’t explain it. Every time I saw her, I just wanted to throw something at the TV.”
“Is there anyone who can vouch for the fact that you were at home that night?”
“No. I was by myself.”
“Okay. Well, thank you for your time, Mr Gray.”
“How long have you been a witch?”
“Before I answer that question, there’s something I need to do.”
I cast the ‘forget’ spell, made myself invisible, and left the way I’d come. When he came around, he wouldn’t remember my ever being there.
Michael Gray had come across as a bitter man. Was he angry enough to kill his ex-wife? I didn’t think so. He did have ready access to poisons though, so he was still in the frame.
***
When I got home that evening, Mrs Rollo was looking through her front window. As soon as I stepped out of the car, she called me over.
“Jill, do you have a minute?”
“Yes, of course. Is your grandson still here?”
“No, he’s back home with his mum.”
How disappointing.
“He is a little darling, isn’t he?” She glowed with obvious pride. “The reason I called you over, is that I’ve baked a cake for the Washbridge Annual Baking Competition. Would you like to see it?”
Like I had a choice.
“Okay. Sure.”
It was getting more and more difficult to pretend that Mrs Rollo’s creations were anything other than awful, and I doubted this latest one would be any better.
“Come on through.” She led the way into the kitchen. “What do you think?”
She pointed to what I could only assume was supposed to be a cake. It wasn’t exactly round, and it wasn’t exactly square. In fact, the shape wasn’t one I’d ever seen before. It looked as though it had been taken into space, and then dropped to earth.
“It’s very nice, Mrs Rollo.”
What? What did you expect me to say? I’m not totally heartless.
“I’m entering it in the fruit cake category.”
“You’re still planning on going ahead with the competition, then?”
“I wouldn’t normally have dreamed of entering, but Sheila was so adamant that I should, I don’t see how I can disappoint her.”
“Don’t you think competitions can be rather vulgar, though? Surely, just producing the cake is satisfaction enough?”
“Normally, I’d agree with you, but I’ve made a promise to Sheila.”
“Okay. Well, good luck.” She was certainly going to need it.
“Just a minute, Jill. I want to ask you a big favour.”
“What’s that?”
“All the competition entries have to be at Washbridge Town Hall by nine-thirty tomorrow morning.”
“Right?”
“The problem is, I can’t drive. I suppose I could take it on the bus, but I’m afraid I might drop it. And I don’t trust taxi drivers—not since the toaster incident.”
“Toaster?”
“It’s a long story. Remind me to tell you about it one day. I just wondered if there was any chance you could drop it in at the Town Hall for me?”
“Of course. I’d be glad to.”
“Thanks ever so much, Jill. You’re a lifesaver.”
“I’ll pop around in the morning for it then, shall I?”
“Yes. It’ll be ready. If you could just make sure to get it there before nine-thirty.”
“No problem.”
“You’ll need to be very careful with it. I would hate for it to get spoiled en route.”
Was that even possible?
“Your cake will be safe with me, Mrs Rollo.”
As I made my way back to my house, Megan came out of her door.
“Hi, Jill.” She was obviously dying to tell me something.
“You look very pleased with yourself.”
“I am. You’ll never guess what’s happened.”
“You got rid of your mole?”
“Yes, he’s gone, but that’s not my good news. I’ve got my first five clients.”
“Already?”
“Yeah. I can’t believe it. People just came flocking to see the van wherever I went.”
“When you say people, were they mainly men?”
“Yeah. How did you know?”
“Just a wild guess. Anyway, congratulations.”
Chapter 11
The next morning when I stepped out of the door, I spotted Blake and Jen together outside their house. They appeared to be laughing. That was a good sign after the events of the last few days. Jen caught my eye and waved. I waved back. Blake gave her a big kiss, and then she climbed into her car and drove away. When she was out of sight, Blake walked over to me.
“You two look happy this morning.”
“I can’t tell you what a relief it is. I’ve hated all this friction between us.”
“So, what happened?”
“I managed to convince her that I really am a wizard.”
“How did you manage that?”
“It was remarkably easy. It only took a couple of spells. After I’d made myself invisible, and shrunk myself, she had no choice but to believe me. There isn’t a magician in the human world who can do that.”
“She must have been shocked, though.”
“She was, but she slowly came around to the idea.”
“Did she have lots of questions?”
“Yeah. Most of which I couldn’t answer. She wanted to know how come I was a wizard. How was I supposed to answer that? I told her that my father was a wizard and my mother was a witch.”
“Did you mention Candlefield?”
“I had to, but I explained that humans aren’t able to go there. I also told her that she mustn’t tell anyone, under any circumstances, because there were people in Candlefield called Rogue Retrievers who would come and take me back there, and she’d never see me again.”
“How did she react to that?”
“By then, she was convinced I was telling the truth, so she promised that she wouldn’t tell anyone. I made sure she understood that ‘anyone’ must mean ‘anyone.’ Not her friends. Not her relatives. No one! She seemed relieved that she finally knew what I’d been keeping from her.”
“Did you mention me?”
“No, of course not. She did ask if there were other wizards and witches living in the human world. I
said there weren’t many, and that it was very rare for sups to come over here. She seemed to accept that. Anyway, I’d better go, Jill, or I’ll be late for work. I just thought I’d keep you posted.”
“Thanks, Blake. I’m pleased it’s all worked out for you. Catch you later.”
As I watched him leave, I couldn’t help but wonder whether I should do the same thing, and come clean with Jack. I was a little jealous of Blake. He’d lifted that terrible burden from his shoulders, and no longer had to hide the truth from his partner. That had to be a fantastic feeling. I constantly felt guilty that I couldn’t tell Jack who I really was. But, I simply couldn’t run the risk of being taken back to Candlefield, and not being able to see Jack, Kathy, Peter and the kids ever again.
I knocked on Mrs Rollo’s door.
“Ah, Jill, you remembered. Thanks ever so much. I really do appreciate this.”
“No problem, Mrs Rollo. You said the town hall, I think?”
“That’s right. You’ll need to use the back entrance. There should be signs to tell you where to go.”
“Do I have to tell them it’s your cake?”
“Just give them this sheet of paper, dear. It’s my entry form. All the details are on there.”
She’d put the cake, or at least what passed for a cake, into a white box.
“I thought I’d let you have one last look at it before I closed the lid.”
“Hmm. It’s very err—nice.”
The ‘thing’ looked just as bad as it had the previous night. It had zero chance of winning any competition anywhere, ever, but of course, I couldn’t tell Mrs Rollo that.
I carried the box carefully out to my car. I’m not sure why I was worried about dropping it because even if I’d kicked it all around the neighbourhood, it couldn’t have looked any worse than it already did.
I drove to the town hall, parked around the back, and followed the signs to a small entrance. I walked in behind an elderly woman who was carrying an identical white box.
“Are you entering the competition, too?” she said.
“No. I’ve just brought this cake in for a neighbour.”
“What category is it in?”
“Fruit cake.”