Witch Is How Berries Tasted Good

by Adele Abbott

  The question was: How was he killing the residents without raising suspicions from the external doctors? I might have suspected good old-fashioned bribery, but he had care homes throughout the UK. He couldn’t possibly have tried to bribe doctors all over the country without at least one of them speaking out. Something else was happening, but what?

  Chapter 18

  My phone rang: ‘Caller Unknown’.

  “It’s happened again!”

  “Sir Arthur?”

  “Another piece of jewellery has been stolen. What are you going to do about it?”

  “When did you discover it was missing?”

  “This morning. It must have happened overnight. Have you spoken to Geraldine’s sister and that Sykes woman?”

  “I have, and I’m positive neither of them had anything to do with the thefts.”

  “Well, someone is doing it. The jewellery isn’t just walking out of here by itself, is it? If you don’t mind my saying so, I think it’s about time you earned your fee, and you can start by spending the night here.”

  “At Hasbene Hall?”

  “Where else? Whoever is responsible for the thefts seems to strike during the hours of darkness. If you’re here then, maybe you’ll catch them.”

  “When did you have in mind?”

  “Tonight of course.”

  “Actually, tonight I’m—”

  “I’ll expect you at eleven o’clock. Don’t be late!” He hung up.

  No sleep for me tonight, then. I would have to go straight from the hotel to Hasbene Hall.

  Oh well, sleep is for wimps, anyway.

  ***

  If what Annette Banks had told me was correct, then Esme Brown had been remarkably lucky to have survived an attempt on her life. It occurred to me that she might still be in some considerable danger, so the sooner I got to speak to her the better.

  There was no chance that they would allow me in to see Esme, but that didn’t matter because an invisible person doesn’t have to ask anyone’s permission.

  There were two residential wings in the building: South and North. Fortunately for me, there was a small plaque on each door with the resident’s name on it. I worked my way down the South wing with no success, and I was almost at the end of the North wing when I struck lucky: the name on the door was E. Brown.

  I didn’t want to risk scaring the woman to death, so I waited until the corridor was empty, then reversed the ‘invisible’ spell, before going into the room.

  “Who are you?” The old lady was knitting, in an armchair close to the window.

  “I’m sorry to barge in on you like this.”

  “I’ll call security.” She reached for the pendant, which hung from the ceiling, and held her finger over a big red button.

  “Wait! Annette Banks sent me.”

  “Annette?” She released the pendant. “Is she alright? I heard she’d gone missing.”

  “She’s fine. I was with her this morning.”

  “Such a lovely girl. Not like some of the others.”

  “She mentioned that you’d had something of a nasty turn?”

  “Nasty turn?” She smiled. “It was rather more than that, dear. I almost popped my clogs.”

  “Are you okay now?”

  “Fit as a fiddle. They can’t get rid of me that easily.”

  “They?”

  “The people who run this place.”

  “What happened?”

  “I woke up in the middle of the night to find that thing hovering over me.”

  “What thing?”

  “A grim reaper. He had a sickle and everything.”

  “In this room?”

  “Yes. Right next to my bed.”

  “You must have been scared?”

  “I was terrified. I thought my time had come.”

  “What happened?”

  “I don’t know. I reckon I must have passed out. The next thing I knew, the doctor was here.”

  “Did you tell anyone what you’d seen?”

  “Of course I did, but no one believed me. Just the silly ramblings of an old woman.”

  “What makes you so sure it was the owners that tried to bump you off?”

  “When I’d recovered from the shock, I got to thinking about what had happened. I may be old but I’m not stupid. There are no such things as grim reapers or ghosts or any of those other make-believe creatures. That’s when I figured it out. The people who run this place are trying to kill us off. We don’t cost them any money once we’re dead.”

  “If that’s true, how come you haven’t moved out? Aren’t you frightened?”

  “No. What happened to me is on the record now. If it was to happen again, then more questions would be asked. I can’t see them trying it on again in a hurry. Besides which, I don’t have anywhere else to go—no family, you see. Anyway, you haven’t even told me who you are?”

  “Sorry, I’m Jill Maxwell. I’m a private investigator; Annette’s parents hired me to find her.”

  “You said you were with her this morning. Where is she?”

  “With a friend. She’s fine, but she’s worried about you and the rest of the residents here.”

  “She has a big heart. Tell her there’s no need to worry. We’re all okay.”

  I left Lakeview the same way I’d arrived: invisible.

  After speaking with Esme Brown, things were beginning to slot into place. For SobersCare’s business model to work, they needed to be sure that the residents didn’t live to a ripe old age. Their deaths mustn’t look suspicious—in other words, they needed the residents to die of natural causes—such as a heart attack. And what better way to induce a heart attack than extreme shock? Waking up in the middle of the night to find the grim reaper leaning over you ought to do it. Of course, I didn’t for one minute think that it had been a real grim reaper. I knew a number of them, including Lester, and none of them would have been seen dead dressed like that.

  Esme had been lucky. They must have assumed she was dead when they called in the doctor. By the time they realised their mistake, it was too late.

  ***

  The offices of Mimage were above a unicycle shop called ‘The Wheel One’.

  “Welcome to Mimage,” the young wizard behind reception greeted me with a lopsided smile. “Are you here for an interview?”

  “I am.”

  “Name, please?”

  Drat. I’d given a false name over the phone—what was it?

  “Err—Polly White.”

  “Oh? I have an appointment for a Molly Black at two.”

  “That’s me. Molly Black.”

  “Right?” That had him confused. “Take a seat, would you?”

  A few minutes later, the door behind reception opened, and two witches appeared.

  “Thank you for coming in,” the older of the two said to the other. “We’ll be in touch by the end of the week.” She turned to the wizard. “Who’s next?”

  “This lady here. Molly—err—”

  “Black.” I stood up.

  “Come in, please.”

  I followed her into a spacious office where the first thing I noticed was a large wooden frame, standing to one side of her desk.

  “I’m Gillian Happ. I own Mimage.”

  “Nice to meet you, Mrs Happ.” I offered my hand.

  “It’s Miss. Please take a seat. Do you know what we do here at Mimage?”

  “As I understand it, you provide mirror images to vampires.”

  “That’s right. Both here and in the human world. Would you be able to work in both?”

  “Yes, that wouldn’t be a problem.”

  “Good. How much experience do you have with the ‘doppelganger’ spell?”

  “Quite a bit.”

  “Excellent. What about mirroring someone else’s actions? Is that something you’ve ever done before?”

  “I can’t say it is.”

  “Not to worry. Very few of our applicants have, but they can usually pick it up.�
�

  “Great.”

  “I’d like you to try out for me, so I can see how you cope with it.”

  “Okay.”

  She walked over to another door at the back of her office. “Melvin, come through, would you?”

  Melvin, a tall, slim vampire, went and stood in front of the frame.

  “Okay, Molly. In your own time.”

  “Sorry?”

  “Think of the frame as a mirror. You’re going to stand behind it, and provide a mirror image for Melvin. Do you think you can do that?”

  “Err—yeah, I’ll give it a go.” I went and stood behind the ‘mirror’, took a long look at Melvin, and then cast the ‘doppelganger’ spell so I looked just like him.

  “That’s a good start,” Gillian said. “Let’s see how you handle the mirror-imaging. Take it away, Melvin.”

  Oh dear! I had no idea that trying to mirror someone else’s movements could be so difficult. Put simply: I was useless. I moved the wrong arm or leg several times. And once, when Melvin turned his head one way, I turned mine the other.

  Over Melvin’s shoulder, I could see Gillian, and I felt sure she was about to give me my marching orders, but then her phone rang.

  “I told you not to call me today. I’m interviewing all day. Yes, I know. You’ll get your money, Driller. Now, leave me alone.” She slammed down the phone. “Okay, I’ve seen enough. Thank you, Melvin.”

  After Melvin had left the room, Gillian turned to me.

  “You need a bit of work, but I think you’ll get there. When can you start?”

  “Err—next week?”

  “Excellent. Leave your number with Casper on reception, would you? We’ll be in touch with all the information you’ll need.”

  “Great, thanks.”

  My gob was well and truly smacked. I’d been completely hopeless as a mirror image, and yet, she’d been happy to sign me up. No wonder the service provided by Mimage was so woeful.

  In the end, though, my visit had proven to be worthwhile, if only for what I’d overheard of her telephone conversation.

  ***

  Jack and I arrived home within a few minutes of one another.

  “What are you typing?” he said.

  “I’m just sending a tweet about the new bed. I’ll take a photo of it when it arrives and put it on Instagram.”

  “Are you sure potential clients will be interested in that kind of thing?”

  “According to Dom and Nick, people like to know about the person behind a business.”

  “Who’s Dominic?”

  “Not Domin—never mind. Look! It’s here.”

  The Forty Winks van came down the road and pulled up outside our house.

  “Daze? I didn’t realise you’d be delivering it.”

  “I’m not. I just came along for the ride. To be honest, I needed to get away from Laze for a while. He’s doing my head in.”

  While Daze and I were talking, Jack led the delivery men upstairs.

  “How’s the hunt for the slumber fairies going?” I said.

  “It isn’t. We’ll give it a couple more days, and if we’ve still drawn a blank, we’ll give it up as a bad job. I was convinced we were onto a sure thing this time. Where else are the slumber fairies going to find so many beds in one place?”

  “Hold on! Beds, pickpockets—I’m such an idiot!”

  “Jill?”

  “I think I know where your slumber fairies are.”

  “You do? Where?”

  “Can you come with me now?”

  “I suppose so.”

  “Great. I’ll explain on the way there.”

  Just then, Jack came back out of the house.

  “Daze and I have to go, Jack.”

  “Where?”

  “I’ll explain in the morning.”

  “Won’t you be home tonight?”

  “No, I was going to tell you. I have to stay at Hasbene Hall tonight.”

  “What about the new bed?”

  ***

  Daze and I took my car.

  “When the hotel manager told me that he’d been having problems with pickpockets, I should have put two and two together.”

  “A hotel? Of course. There are plenty of beds there. Which one?”

  “Washbridge Park—where Jack and I were married. I worked undercover there last night, but I didn’t see anything suspicious, but then I’d only been watching the customers. It never occurred to me that I should be looking out for fairies.”

  “Even if you’d known, you’d have been hard-pressed to catch them at work. They’re really tiny.”

  “If they’re so small, how do they manage to lift a wallet?”

  “They work in teams. What’s the plan, Jill?”

  “I’m not sure. I can hardly tell the manager we want to look for fairies, can I? Hang on, I’ve had an idea, but I’m not sure you’re going to like it.”

  ***

  “Jill?” Noah Way looked surprised to see me. “You’re remarkably early.”

  “There’s a reason for that. Do you remember my husband, Jack?”

  “Of course.”

  “He’s a policeman, and he was able to pass on some information that leads me to believe the pickpocket is actually hiding in the hotel.”

  “Here? How?”

  “He’s known as Jock the Lock. As well as being a pickpocket, he’s a master lock picker. I have reason to believe that he’s hiding out in one of your vacant rooms.”

  “Shouldn’t we call the police?”

  “Jack’s aware of what I’m doing and is fine with it,” I lied. “There’s no need to involve the police until I’m sure Jock is here. Do you have a master key and a list of all your vacant rooms?”

  “Yes, of course. I’ll just get them for you. Do you want me to accompany you?”

  “No need. I’m used to dealing with characters like this one.”

  “Okay.” He didn’t argue; in fact, he looked quite relieved.

  “Jock the Lock?” Daze laughed when I pulled her out of my pocket. “I don’t know how you come up with them.”

  “I’ve had lots of practice.”

  “Can I get back to full-size? It creeps me out being this small.”

  “Sure.” I put her on the floor, and then reversed the spell.

  “There’s a lot of fluff in your pocket.” She sneezed. “Where should we start?”

  “We’ll just have to work our way through this list of vacant rooms.”

  Twenty minutes later, we’d still seen no sign of the slumber fairies.

  “Maybe I was wrong about this.” I sighed.

  “How many rooms are there left on the list?”

  “This one and two more.” I opened the door, and Daze led the way inside.

  I wasn’t optimistic, but this time, when she checked the bed, she gave me the thumb’s up, and beckoned me over. There, under the duvet, was a row of teeny, tiny fairies, all fast asleep.

  “They look so cute,” I whispered.

  “Don’t let their looks fool you.” She took a clear plastic tube from her pocket, and before I could ask what she was going to do, she’d already scooped up the fairies and dropped them into it.

  That woke them up, and they began to thump the plastic with their tiny fists.

  “I’ll take this lot back to Candlefield.” Daze popped the top on the tube.

  “Not just yet. The manager is going to expect me to bring out Jock the Lock.”

  “How are you going to—” Her words trailed away as the penny dropped.

  “You caught him, then.” Noah took one step back. He obviously didn’t want any part of the thug who was handcuffed to me.

  “I’m innocent.” Daze was doing a fine job of playing Jock the Lock. “I ain’t done nothing.”

  “That’s what they all say.”

  “Thanks very much, Jill,” Noah said.

  “My pleasure.”

  “Forget what I said about your bill for the other night. Send it to me and I’ll
make sure it’s paid straight away.”

  “Will do.”

  “Oh, and you’d better charge me something for the time you spent here today.”

  “Actually, rather than do that, how about you let me have one of your vacant rooms tonight. I’ll only need it until about ten-thirty.”

  “Sure, no problem. Tell the receptionist to give me a call when you get back.”

  Once we were out of sight of the hotel, Daze reverted to her real self.

  “Thanks for your help, Jill.”

  “No problem. You made a good Jock.”

  “Thanks. I’ve done a little amateur dramatics in my time.”

  “I can tell.”

  Chapter 19

  I had to be at Hasbene Hall for eleven o’clock. Once there, I’d be expected to stay awake for the rest of the night. That’s why I’d asked Noah Way if I could have a room at Washbridge Park Hotel. At least that way, I’d be able to get some shut-eye in the early part of the evening. I suppose I could have gone home, but as we’d just taken delivery of the new bed, I didn’t think I’d get much rest there.

  I was in the hotel room, in bed, by seven. I wasn’t sure if I’d sleep because it was still light, but I did, and the next thing I knew, the alarm on my phone woke me up. Unfortunately, instead of feeling invigorated for the night ahead, I felt like death warmed up.

  “You’re late!” Sir Arthur met me at the door of Hasbene Hall.

  “It’s only just turned eleven.”

  “It’s five-past.”

  “Sorry.”

  “And what happened to your hair? You look like you’ve been pulled through a hedge backwards.”

  He was right; I hadn’t had time to do anything about my bed-hair.

  “Where do you want me to spend the night?”

  “The bedroom.”

  “No chance!”

  “I meant Geraldine’s room. That’s where all her jewellery is kept.” He led the way up the winding staircase, and along a wood-panelled corridor.