by Adele Abbott
“Well done, Lizzie.”
“Thanks, Auntie Jill.”
“Yes, well done, you.” Kathy hugged her daughter.
“I’d like to enter some more competitions, Mummy.”
“That’s a great idea.” Kathy beamed. “We’ll keep an eye open for other competitions in Washbridge or maybe even a bit further afield. I think you could have a future in music. What do you think, Auntie Jill?”
I just smiled. What was I meant to say? I could hardly tell them that in the next competition Lizzie entered, she’d probably be booed off the stage, unless I happened to be around to use magic on the audience again.
As Kathy and Lizzie were collecting their coats, I bumped into The Coven girls who had come a very creditable third in the overall competition.
“Hello again, you three.”
“Oh hi, Jill,” Brenda said. “Did you catch our act?”
“I did. It was very good. You’ve obviously been working on your routines.”
“Thanks. We’ve put in a lot of work, haven’t we, girls?”
The other two nodded.
“How’s the hunt for TDO going?” I asked.
“To be honest, we’ve decided to focus on the dance. We’re going to leave the search for TDO to those more qualified than us.”
“That’s probably a wise decision.”
“We’d still love it if you joined us though. You’d make an excellent ‘The.’ Is there any chance you might change your mind?”
“I’m flattered, Brenda, but I’m going to have to pass on that one.”
Chapter 9
There was a lot of activity in the outer office when I arrived at work the next day.
“Morning, Mrs V.”
“Morning, Jill. I hope you don’t mind, but we’re having a breakfast meeting of the knitting circle. We haven’t seen one another since the tragic incident with Cecelia and Rowena, so we thought we’d try and boost morale by getting together.”
The other ladies all forced a smile, but there was a definite sense of melancholy in the room.
“We’re all still in shock,” Mrs V said. “Not just because of the loss of two dear friends, but also at the realisation that Wanda Moore could have done such a thing.”
“She obviously held a grudge after being expelled from the group.”
“But it was such a silly, trivial reason to take two people’s lives.”
As we were talking, I spotted Felicity Dale seated at the back. I felt I owed her an apology, so as I made my way to my office, I tapped her on the shoulder, and whispered, “Felicity, could you spare me a minute, please?”
“There’s a cat asleep on your desk, Jill.”
“That’s Winky. He lives here.”
“How sweet. They don’t allow us to have pets at the local history museum. If they did, I’d take my dog, Barney with me. Would you like to see a photo of him?”
“Sure.” I just can’t get enough of dog photos.
“There he is.” She produced a tattered photo from her purse—no smartphones for Felicity.
“He’s very handsome.” For a flea-bitten old mongrel. “Look, Felicity, I just wanted to apologise for storming in on you like that the other day.”
“Don’t worry about it.” She waved my apology away. “I’m sorry that I was so distracted. It was that peacock. You saw it, didn’t you?”
“Yes, of course.”
“I’m so relieved to hear you say that. By the time I’d fetched security, it had disappeared. He probably thought I’d imagined the whole thing. I still can’t understand how it got into the building.”
“It’s a mystery.” I really should be on the stage. “But then, they’re strange creatures, peacocks.”
“I wrote to my supervisor to ask him if you could try out the typewriter, but I’m afraid I haven’t heard back yet.”
“Don’t worry about it. It doesn’t matter now.”
“It’s probably just as well because there was a problem with it. If I remember correctly, the letter ‘O’ had partially worn away. It looked almost like a ‘U’.”
What? Not when I tried it, it didn’t. Not that I could tell Felicity that.
“Are you sure? I thought those old manual typewriters were indestructible.”
“I’m positive. We tested it when we were setting up the office. I typed ‘The lazy black fox jumped over the quick cat’. Or was it ‘the slow brown fox jumped over the quick dog’? Something like that. The letter ‘O’ looked just like a ‘U’.”
“Is it possible you hit the ‘U’ key by mistake?”
“No. I tried the letter ‘O’ several times, and each time it came out like a ‘U’.”
Felicity went back to join her colleagues in the outer office, and left me wondering what on earth was going on. I’d been absolutely sure that the typewriter in the museum had been the one used to type the notes left with the victims, but when I’d tested it, the letter ‘O’ had been fine. And yet, according to Felicity, the letter ‘O’ had been worn. How could that possibly be?
And then the penny dropped.
***
Daze was all by herself in Cuppy C; she looked down in the dumps. To be fair, she was never a smiley, cheery, laugh-a-minute kind of girl, but today, she looked particularly fed up. She was at a table next to the window—staring down into her coffee cup. She hadn’t even noticed me come in.
“Hi, Daze.”
“Oh, hi, Jill. I didn’t see you there.”
“Do you mind if I join you?”
“Sure. Pull up a chair.”
“I’ll just get a coffee first. Do you want anything?”
“No. I’m okay, thanks.”
She definitely sounded out of sorts, so I asked the twins if they had any idea what was wrong.
“She’s been like that since she came in,” Pearl said.
“Yeah, she’s been very quiet.” Amber glanced across at Daze. “We didn’t like to say anything though. That would be asking for trouble.”
“I’ll see if I can get to the bottom of it.” I glanced at the display of cakes. “Where are all the blueberry muffins?”
“We’re all out, sorry. We’ve got double chocolate, though.”
“Go on then. I’ll make do with one of those.” The hardships I had to endure!
Back at the table, I decided to bite the bullet, and try to find out what was wrong.
“Are you sure you’re okay, Daze? You seem a bit down in the dumps. Is Blaze okay?”
“Yeah, he’s fine. He still insists on wearing those stupid luminous catsuits. He thinks I don’t know, but I have my spies.”
“Is that why you’re so down?”
“No, of course not. That doesn’t bother me. That’s just Blaze being Blaze.”
“What is it then?”
“It’s something and nothing really. When I signed up to be a Rogue Retriever, I joined at the same time as four or five others. We went through training together, and have become close friends as well as work colleagues. Now, suddenly, out of the blue, three of them have decided to quit.”
“All at the same time?”
“Yeah. They’re going to start a small business together—a petting zoo.”
“That’s quite the career change.”
“I know. I was amazed when they told me. They asked if I wanted to go in with them.”
“Don’t you fancy it?”
“It’s not really my thing. I’m not that big on animals. Plus, I’m allergic to rodent fur. It would be no good me working there. I’d be sneezing all day long.”
“I can see how that would be a problem.”
Note to self: don’t introduce Daze to Hamlet.
“I guess that exodus is going to leave you short in the Rogue Retriever department?”
“You’re not kidding. I had enough on my plate before all of this happened. Now, my bosses have shoved all the orphaned cases onto me. I don’t know how I’m ever going to get through them all.”
“Are they
recruiting new Rogue Retrievers to replace them?”
“Yeah, but it’s going to take time.”
“I imagine it will. It’s not everyone who could do your job.”
Suddenly, her face lit up for the first time since I’d arrived. “I’ve just had a brilliant idea.”
“What’s that?”
“The powers-that-be said that if I recommended anyone for the post of Rogue Retriever, it was pretty much guaranteed they’d get the job. They trust my judgment, apparently.”
“That’s quite a compliment. Do you have anyone in mind?”
“I hadn’t really given it much thought until now, but there is one obvious candidate.”
“Who’s that?”
“You, of course.”
“Me?” I laughed. “That’s a joke, right?”
“I never joke about work.” It was true. Daze wasn’t exactly known for her stand-up.
“You can’t be serious. I could never do your job.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m only a level three witch. You’re a sup sup. I could never do what you do.”
“Do you actually know what a sup sup is?”
“Well, I—err—thought it was like—err. No, not really.”
“The clue is in the name. It’s a sup who has powers beyond other sups of their kind. “Doesn’t that pretty much describe you?”
“What do you mean?”
“I can’t think of another witch who has moved from level one to level three as quickly as you did.”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean anything.”
“And, didn’t you score highly in the Levels competition?”
“I guess.”
“And haven’t you regularly cast spells which are considered way above your level?”
“Well, yeah, but—”
“So, all in all, I would say that makes you a very special level three witch. A sup sup, perhaps?”
“I’m nothing like you.”
“Not yet, maybe. But, with a little time and the right training—”
“I don’t think so.”
“The money’s really good. It’s not something I generally discuss, but we are paid a ridiculous amount of money for what we do. And from what the twins tell me, your P.I. business isn’t doing all that well.”
Why were the twins talking about my business behind my back?
“The business is just going through a bit of a dry spell at the moment. It’s nothing to worry about.”
“In that case, surely the extra money would help? It’s not like you’d have to give up your business in the human world. It’s something you could do alongside it. You’d make a pretty penny.”
“I really don’t think it’s for me. I already have a second job in Cuppy C.”
“But, from what the twins tell me, you’re not really cut out to work behind the counter.”
Great! Thanks girls! I needed to have words with those two.
“I might make the odd mistake.” Or ten. “But, I’m still learning the ropes.”
“Wouldn’t you rather do something a little more exciting, and better suited to your skillset?”
“I’m not sure I’d be any good at it.”
“You’d be great. I’d have no qualms about putting your name forward.”
“No, Daze. I’m sorry. You’re going to have to look elsewhere.”
“Look. Why don’t you at least spend some time with me? See what the job actually entails, and then decide. If you don’t like what you see, you’ve lost nothing. But if it turns out that you think you’d enjoy the job, then I’ll put your name forward.”
“I’m going to have to think about it.”
“Okay, but don’t leave it too long.”
“I won’t. I’ll let you know in a couple of days.”
***
It was nine-twenty-five in the evening when I arrived at the park. It was dark, and there was no one else around. The solitary lamppost gave out just enough light to see a few yards in each direction. In another five minutes, I’d know if my hunch about the knitting circle murderer was correct or not.
I heard footsteps coming towards me, and a figure appeared out of the shadows.
“Hello, Arnold. I’ve been expecting you.”
Although elderly, he still cut quite an intimidating figure.
“I take it you received my letter?” I said.
His face was contorted with anger. “You shouldn’t have interfered.” He pulled out a knitting needle, and started towards me. I stood my ground.
“Why did you do it Arnold? Why did you kill your wife?”
“The ungrateful cow got what she deserved. After everything I’d done for her, she said she was leaving me. She called me selfish. She was the selfish one. After all the sacrifices I’ve made. I warned her I’d never let her leave, but she wouldn’t listen.”
“So you killed her?”
“It was her own fault.”
“And what about your friend Cecelia? Was it her own fault too that you murdered her?”
“I didn’t want to kill Cecilia, but what choice did I have?”
“Plenty actually. But then, I guess you thought that killing Cecelia would cover your tracks. It would make it look like someone was targeting the knitters circle.”
“That stupid knitters circle. Rowena cared more about those women than she did about me.”
He lurched forward, but I cast the ‘faster’ spell, and stepped to the side so quickly that he flew past me. As he did, I tripped him, and sent him falling to the ground. Then, before he could get up again, I cast a spell to bind his hands and feet.
At ten o’ clock, as arranged, Tom Hawk arrived with two policemen who took Arnold away. Tom stayed back to speak to me.
“You really shouldn’t have done this alone, Jill. It could have been dangerous. Why did you tell me to come at ten when you knew he’d be here at nine-thirty?”
“If you’d been here earlier, Arnold might have spotted you, and been spooked. Anyway, I was never in any real danger. It will take more than an old man with a knitting needle to see me off.”
“How did you know it was him?”
“I suspected him from the beginning. I was convinced he’d typed the notes on the typewriter in the local history museum where he worked. I was right. But he was much cleverer than I gave him credit for. After he’d typed them, he exchanged the letter ‘O’ key for the same key in Wanda Moore’s typewriter while she was away at her sister’s house. The ironic thing is that Wanda Moore had no idea there was a typewriter in her basement. But Arnold knew because he and Wanda’s husband had worked together in the office supplies business before Arnold retired and took up his new role in security.”
“Clever and very devious.” Hawk nodded. “But I still don’t know how you managed to flush him out, and get him to meet you here.”
“I contacted an office supplies company—one that still deals in the old manual typewriters.”
“I’m surprised any of them still do.”
“It took a while, but I eventually located a small family business which provides spares and maintenance to the few hold-outs who refuse to upgrade their beloved manual typewriters. I got them to file down the letter ‘O’ on one of the machines which they keep for spares. Then I typed a letter to our friend Arnold.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out a sheet of paper. “This is a copy of it.”
Tom Hawk studied it for a few seconds.
“It’s gobbledegook.”
“Not if you change some of the ‘U’s to an ‘O’.
Meet me at Washbridge Park, by the streetlight near the bridge, at nine-thirty. Bring five thuusand puunds ur I gu tu the pulice.”
“Ah, I see. So he knew someone was onto him?”
“Yes, and he had no intention of paying them off because he feared that whoever it was might keep coming back for more money. He brought his knitting needle instead.”
Chapter 10
“Good morning, Mrs V.”
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She didn’t look up, but instead continued to stare at her knitting.
“Mrs V? Good morning.”
She obviously hadn’t heard me, so I waved my hand in front of her face. When I finally got her attention, she removed her ear plugs. No wonder she hadn’t been able to hear me.
“Why are you wearing those?”
“Because of all the noise coming from your office.”
I listened for a few moments. “I can’t hear anything.”
“It keeps stopping and starting.”
“What kind of noise?”
“Music of some kind.”
If Winky had got his DJ console out again, I would swing for him.
“I’ll see to it.”
Winky was lying on the sofa with his paws clamped over his ears; there was no sign of the DJ console. But now I could see where the music was coming from. Next to the far wall, was a piano, which appeared to be playing itself.
What the?
A man’s ghostly figure appeared on the seat in front of the piano.
“Alberto?”
“Hi, Jill.” He stopped playing and turned to face me.
I loved that man’s Welsh accent. But, I digress.
“You’re probably wondering what I’m doing here.”
“Kind of. Yeah.”
“Your mother’s to blame. She nagged me to get a hobby, but then when I did, she complained that she couldn’t hear the TV when I was playing.”
“I’m still not sure why you’re in my office.”
“Darlene banned me from playing in the house, so I needed somewhere else to practise. It was your mum who came up with the idea of coming here.”
“Did she now? That was good of her.”
“I told her that it might not be convenient, but she said you rarely had any work on.”
Thanks Mum!
“You can stay for a while, but then you and your ghost piano will have to go somewhere else, I’m afraid.”
“Ghost piano?”
“Isn’t that what it is?”
“No.” He laughed. “There’s no such thing as a ghost piano. It’s a real one.”
“Of course. Silly me.”