by Adele Abbott
“That’s true, but not many of them would have had access to the particular poison which you used to kill her. Only someone who had connections to commercial laboratories would have been able to get hold of that. And of course, in your previous career at Gemini Chemicals, you would have established just such connections. I’ve seen the company photograph from ten years ago. You had a lot more hair in those days, didn’t you?”
The colour drained from his face, but he wasn’t ready to admit his guilt yet.
“Get out of here! Now!”
“I’m going, but I should tell you that I will be handing over all of this information to the police.”
I turned to walk away, but heard his footsteps coming up behind me. I spun around just in time to grab his arm. He’d been about to hit me over the back of the head with a paperweight. After casting the ‘power’ spell, I easily disarmed him, and then used the ‘tie-up’ spell to bind his hands and feet.
Thirty minutes after my phone call to the police, Leo Riley and three uniformed officers arrived at Washbridge Studios.
“Arrest her!” Fairweather demanded. “And untie me!”
“What’s going on here, Gooder? This had better be good.”
“This man poisoned Lucinda Gray.”
“Don’t listen to her!” Fairweather shouted. “She’s a lunatic.”
“I think you’d both better come down to the station.” Riley turned to one of the officers. “Untie this man.”
Back at the station, Fairweather and I were both booked in, and then placed in separate holding cells. An hour later, I was taken out of the cell, and led to one of the interview rooms where Riley was waiting for me.
“Okay, what’s the story?” he demanded.
“Fairweather used to do a lot of work for Wool TV. In fact, it made up almost half of his total turnover. But it seems he got on the wrong side of Lucinda Gray, who cancelled his contract. The man was in desperate financial straits, and needed to regain the business from Wool TV. He figured the only way to do that was to get rid of Lucinda Gray. My guess is that he saw the news reports of the first poisoning, and decided to kill Lucinda in a similar way, in the hope that the murders would be linked. His big mistake was using a completely different poison, but of course he had no way of knowing what the first murderer had used. Shane Fairweather used to work at Gemini Chemicals before opting for a career change. He still had contacts in the industry, and would have been able to get his hands on the quick-acting poison, which he injected into Lucinda Gray’s water bottle. If you check the CCTV, you’ll find that he paid a brief visit to the studio on the morning of the murder.”
“We’re already aware of Fairweather’s visit to the studio. We’ve seen the CCTV. But even with that there’s precious little proof that he murdered Lucinda Grey. And none of this excuses your attacking him and tying him up. What’s to stop me charging you with assault, at the very least?”
“That was self-defence. He came at me with a paperweight.”
“It would never have happened if you’d kept your nose out, as I asked you to.”
The questioning dragged on for another hour before he finally released me. He wouldn’t confirm whether Fairweather had also been released.
***
“Where have you been?” Jack said when I eventually arrived home.
“At Washbridge police station, talking to my old friend, Leo Riley.”
Jack shook his head. “What have you done this time?”
“Solved another case for him.”
“Which one?”
“Lucinda Gray’s murder. A photographer named Shane Fairweather killed her.”
“Do you have proof?”
“Only circumstantial.”
“What did Riley have to say?”
“I thought for a while he was going to charge me with assault.”
“Why? What had you done?”
“Fairweather came at me with a paperweight, so I had to restrain him. It was self defence.”
“Jill! How many times have I told you not to put yourself at risk?”
“I was never in any danger. I can handle people like Fairweather.”
“Are they going to charge him?
“I’ve no idea. Riley wouldn’t tell me.”
“Have you let Kathy know?”
“Not yet. I don’t want to say anything until I know for sure whether he’s been charged. I won’t get the chance tomorrow, anyway.”
“Why? What are you up to tomorrow?”
“It’s that stupid Woolcon.”
“Oh yeah.” He laughed. “I’d forgotten about that.”
“I wish I could forget about it. I don’t know what possessed me to agree to go.”
“Do I get to see it?”
“See what?”
“Your costume. You are going to wear one, aren’t you?”
“No, I’m not. I told Mrs V and Jules I’d only go on condition that I didn’t have to wear a silly costume.”
“That’s a shame. I think you’d look sexy dressed as a ball of wool.”
“Sometimes, I worry about you, Jack.”
Chapter 23
“Bill, bill, another bill.” Jack had just picked up the post from the doormat. “This one is for you.” He handed me a letter.
The name printed on the back of the envelope was ‘Biscuit Periodicals.’ Could it be? I tore it open, and quickly read the letter.
“Yes! Yes!” I did a happy dance around the kitchen.
“Are you feeling okay, Jill?”
“I’ve never felt better.” I held up the sheet of paper. “Look, I’ve won.”
“Won what?”
“This!” I passed it to him while I went back to my happy dance.
“You didn’t tell me that you’d entered this competition.”
“I didn’t think I had a chance of winning.”
“Have you seen this? You have to go down there tomorrow to collect your prize. They’re based in London.”
“That’s okay. It’ll be worth it to get a year’s supply of custard creams.”
“How’s that going to work, anyway? Will you have to carry them all back with you?”
I rolled my eyes. “How did you ever get to be a detective? They’re not going to give me boxes full of custard creams to bring back with me. They’ll probably give me vouchers.”
“Oh yeah.” He laughed. “Of course.”
Long after Jack had left for work, I kept reading and rereading the letter. I’d actually won. Me! I’d never won a competition before in my life. I wanted to share my good news, so I called Kathy.
“I have exciting news. You’ll never guess what!”
“You’re pregnant?”
“No, I’m not pregnant. I’ve won a competition! It’s the best prize ever.”
“What is it? A new car?”
“A year’s supply of custard creams.”
“Is that all?” She couldn’t have sounded any less impressed.
“I have to go down to London tomorrow to collect the prize.”
“Are they paying for you to go down there?”
“No. I have to pay my travel expenses, but it’ll be well worth it to get one year’s free supply of custard creams.”
“Congratulations, I guess. It’s just a pity that you couldn’t have a mixture of biscuits.”
“Why would I want that?”
***
Mrs V and Jules were waiting for me outside our office building. They were both carrying huge bags—no doubt their costumes.
“Hey, you two, I have fantastic news.”
“You’ve decided to wear a costume?” Jules said.
“No. I told you. I’m not wearing a stupid costume.”
“You’re pregnant?” Mrs V said.
“No! Why does everyone jump to that conclusion? I’ve won a competition, and you’ll never guess what the prize is.”
“A world cruise?” Mrs V suggested.
“No.”
“A yacht?�
� Jules said.
“No. A year’s supply of custard creams.”
“Oh. What was the first prize?”
“That was first prize.”
“I’m very pleased for you, dear.” Just like Kathy, Mrs V didn’t sound very impressed. “It’s a pity you can only have custard creams though, isn’t it? A mixture would have been better.”
What was wrong with people?
Wow! Who knew that Woolcon was such a big deal?
When we arrived at the exhibition centre, I discovered that Woolcon occupied two of the largest halls. It took me over twenty minutes just to park, and then we had another ten-minute walk to get to the main entrance.
Every conversation I overheard was related to yarn in one way or another. Mrs V and Jules were like two young kids on Christmas morning. First stop was the cloakroom where the attendees could leave their bags. Some people were already wearing costumes, but the majority, like Mrs V and Jules, planned to put theirs on later in time for the masquerade.
“Where shall we go first?” Jules was looking around excitedly.
“How about we get some food?” I suggested.
“We didn’t come all this way just to eat.” Mrs V slapped me down. “There’s far too much to see to waste time sitting in a restaurant. You’ll have to grab a sandwich as we go.”
That had told me.
“Let’s go see the exhibitors.” Jules pointed to the far side of the hall.
Mrs V and Jules set off apace; I followed them. The exhibitors’ section of the hall was absolutely buzzing. There was aisle after aisle of stands of all shapes and sizes, ranging from the multinational yarn companies to the small mom-and-pop operations.
“We have to grab all the free samples we can get,” Jules said.
“Will there be any free custard creams?”
They either didn’t hear me, or more likely, ignored me. They were too busy collecting samples of wool, and other yarn merchandise.
“You two are wearing me out,” I complained after an hour. “I need a sit-down. Can we go and get a cup of tea?”
“We’ve barely started.” Mrs V was clearly losing patience with me. “Why don’t you go and get a drink, and meet us back here in thirty minutes?”
“Okay.” I made my escape before she had the chance to change her mind.
On my way to the restaurant, I noticed a particularly large crowd around one of the small stands located on the outer edge of the hall. I was curious as to what could attract so many people, so decided to check it out en route to the restaurant. As I got closer, I could see numerous man-sized balls of wool handing out chocolates, cakes and drinks. Maybe, I could save myself the cost of a visit to the restaurant. After all, the prices in these places were always exorbitant.
I spotted a particularly delicious looking strawberry cupcake on the tray being carried by the red ball of wool. Result!
I reached out to grab it, but someone slapped my hand away.
“You can buy your own, young lady!”
“Grandma? What are you doing here? You didn’t tell me you were going to visit Woolcon.”
“I’m not a visitor. I’m an exhibitor.” She grabbed my arm and led me through the crowd of people who were milling around the stand. “See!”
The stand belonged to Ever A Wool Moment, and it was doing a brisk trade in Everlasting Wool, One-Size Needles, and cupcakes.
“The stand seems to be doing well, Grandma.”
“Of course it is. No one has products to match these. Who have you come here with, anyway?”
“Mrs V and Jules.”
“If I’d realised that you three were coming, I needn’t have bothered hiring the promotional staff to dress as balls of wool.”
Fortunately, just at that moment, a couple of elderly women asked if they could have a selfie with Grandma. That was my chance to make a break for it.
“I’d better be getting back.” I started to edge away. “Mrs V and Jules will be wondering where I am.”
As I made my escape, I grabbed the strawberry cupcake, and then found a quiet spot to rest up for a while.
“Did you know your grandmother is here?” Mrs V said when the three of us met up later.
“Yeah, I’ve seen her. She never mentioned that she’d be attending.”
“She tried to get me and Jules to help her on her stand.”
“I’m surprised you managed to get away.”
“I didn’t come all this way just to help your grandmother, and besides we want to see the celebrities.”
“Which celebrities?”
“There are lots of them, Jill.” Jules pointed to her programme. “They’re upstairs in the Blue Suite.”
I had no burning desire to meet the yarn celebrities, but I was worried that if I stayed behind, Grandma might come looking for me.
Tables lined all four walls of the Blue Suite. Behind each of them sat the so-called celebrities. There were queues at every table. Autographs were being signed, and photographs being taken everywhere I looked.
“Over there!” Mrs V pointed. “It’s Kirsten Bracken. I must get her autograph.”
“Me too.” Jules hurried after her.
I followed somewhat less enthusiastically.
“Who exactly is Kirsten Bracken?” I whispered just in case I was overheard by the many adoring fans who were waiting to see this superstar of the yarn industry.
“Who is she?” Mrs V gave me a look of disgust.
“How can you not know?” Jules shook her head.
“She invented the triple-loop stitch,” Mrs V said, as though I was some kind of idiot.
We were in the queue for the best part of thirty minutes just so Mrs V and Jules could pose for a selfie with Kirsten Triple-loop.
“Would you like a photo too?” Kirsten turned to me.
“No thanks. I’m good.”
Kirsten Bracken wasn’t the only celebrity that Mrs V and Jules wanted to see. By the time we’d queued for them all, I’d almost lost the will to live.
“Is it time to go home yet?” I was dead on my feet.
“It’s the masquerade now!” Jules could barely contain her excitement.
The two of them dragged me to the cloakroom to collect their bags.
“There’s something we need to ask you, Jill,” Mrs V said.
“Please say yes, Jill,” Jules pleaded.
“What?” I didn’t like the sound of this. Not one tiny little bit.
“There’s a competition we want to enter in the masquerade. The first prize is a year’s supply of Crownleaf wool,” Mrs V said. “Crownleaf is the best wool in the world—they have shades that no one else does.”
“It’s the absolute best,” Jules gushed.
“So what is this favour that you need from me?”
“The competition is for the best costumed trio. That’s a knitting needle, a ball of wool, and a crochet hook.”
“I don’t see how you can enter it, then. You’re one man short.”
“Not necessarily.” Mrs V took her costume out of her bag, and then brought out another one.
Oh no!
“I told you that I wasn’t going to wear a silly costume.”
“Please, Jill!” Jules gave me her sad face. “We can’t even enter unless you take part too.”
“Just think how good it will be for office morale,” Mrs V said.
“Please, Jill.” Jules wasn’t letting up. “I’ll work twice as hard from now on.”
These two had had this planned all along; they must have known about the competition for weeks. But how could I say no. It would have been like kicking a pair of sad puppies.
“Okay. Give me the stupid costume.”
And so it was that thirty minutes later, I was parading around the hall dressed as a crochet hook. I just thanked my lucky stars that Jack, Kathy or anyone else who knew me, couldn’t see me now.
The masquerade went on for an hour short of eternity. It was so hot inside that stupid costume that by the time I w
as able to peel it off, I must have lost several pounds. It wouldn’t have been quite so bad if we had won, but we didn’t even place in the top three.
“Your heart wasn’t in it,” Mrs V blamed me for our failure.
“I did my best. I don’t have a lot of experience of being a crochet hook.”
By the time I’d dropped both Mrs V and Jules off at their homes, and made my way back to Smallwash, it was almost midnight, and I was absolutely bushed. Jack didn’t even stir when I climbed into bed beside him.
***
I’d been running along the corridors for ages, but seemingly getting nowhere. At last, I came to a staircase. When I reached the bottom, I saw a door in front of me. I had to find out what was on the other side, regardless of the danger. I turned the handle.
“Where have you been?” the man said.
It was the red-haired, red-bearded man again.
I sat up in bed. Jack was still fast asleep. He must have become accustomed to my nightmares—hardly surprising considering how often I was having them.
This couldn’t go on.
Chapter 24
The recurring nightmare was beginning to get to me. It was getting to the point where I didn’t want to go to sleep for fear of having that same nightmare again. Then I remembered what Daze had told me about the pupil at CASS who had found the dream-stone. The idea that there was another world where dreams were a reality was hard to accept, but then as Daze had quite rightly pointed out, I would have felt the same about Candlefield not so very long ago.
If it was true, and this guy could actually travel to the dream world, then maybe he could help me to make sense of the recurring nightmare. Daze had told me his name was Edward Hedgelog. Surely there couldn’t be more than one wizard in Candlefield with that name. I decided to start with Candlefield Pages. If I drew a blank there, I’d have to pay a visit to Candlefield library.
I flicked through the ‘alphabetical by name’ section, and found one business listed under that name: Hedgelog Bicycle Repairs. It seemed unlikely that a wizard who had been picked out to attend CASS, and who had found one of only seven dream-stones, would now be in the bicycle repair business. But, as the shop was on my way to the library anyway, I decided to call in—just in case.