by Adele Abbott
“No, Barry’s a big soft thing. I think you’ll like him.”
“That’s a funny name for a dog.”
“He isn’t the only animal that Aunt Lucy has at her house.”
“Does she have a cat too?”
“Not a cat. Can you think of an animal that has a shell?”
“A tortoise?”
“That’s right. She has a tortoise called Rhymes.”
“That’s a funny name too. Can I play with him?”
“Tortoises don’t really like you to play with them, but you can definitely talk to him.”
“When are we going to Candlefield?”
“I have to go out for a little while first, but as soon as I get back, we’ll go over there.”
“And then it will be freaky time, won’t it, Mummy?”
“This afternoon, yes.”
Jack’s fry-up certainly hit the mark. After I’d finished, I went upstairs to shower and get dressed.
“Right, you two, I won’t be long.” Buddy was practically climbing my legs now. “Jack, can you feed this dog. I think he might be hungry.”
“Will do. Be careful at Tweaking Manor.”
“I will. See you later.”
***
When I arrived at the manor house, Elizabeth Judge’s car was already parked in front of the house. It was she who greeted me at the door.
“Jill, come in, we’re in the dining room.”
The fire had been lit, so the room was much warmer than on my last visit. At the head of the table was Caroline, who looked much better than when I’d seen her the day before.
“How are you feeling, Caroline?”
“Much better, thank you. I’m still a little unsteady on my feet, but I’m getting there, slowly but surely.”
“Once the drugs that Ransom was feeding her are out of her system, she’ll be fine,” Elizabeth said. “Do take a seat, Jill. I’ll go and make a cup of tea.”
Elizabeth disappeared out of the room, and I took a seat next to Caroline.
“It’s a pity I didn’t listen to Elizabeth earlier,” she said. “She told me she suspected that Ransom was behind all of this Mulgrave business, but I didn’t want to believe it. He’s always been a bad lot, but I never thought he was capable of something like this. What about you, Jill, are you alright? I’m surprised you managed to overpower him. Ransom is a big man.”
“I’m fine. I can handle myself. How is Ransom? Have you heard?”
“He’s out of hospital and in police custody. He has some bruising to the head, but no permanent damage.”
Elizabeth came back into the room, handed out the tea, and then joined us at the table. “I have a few questions for you, Jill, if that’s alright?”
“Sure. Fire away.”
“How did you find the secret passageway that leads out under the back garden?”
“I’d love to be able to tell you that it was great detective work, but the truth is, it was pure luck. I sneaked into the house on Friday night, to check on Caroline. On my way back out, I saw Ransom, and curiosity got the better of me. I followed him, saw him open the wall that led into the secret passageway, and managed to slip in behind him.”
“What do you think actually happened between Ransom and Mulgrave?”
“Unless Ransom decides to confess everything, we may never know. I’m pretty sure Mulgrave had known about the secret passageway and vault for some time, perhaps even years. Since he discovered its whereabouts, he’s been trying to open the vault, but without the combination, it was a hopeless endeavour. That’s the reason he went for a walk most evenings. He didn’t want to use the entrance inside Tweaking Manor in case he was seen, so he used the one at the far side of the grounds. That would also explain why he didn’t leave your employment when you cut his wages. A butler, with his wealth of experience, could easily have walked straight into another job, but he didn’t want to leave Tweaking Manor while there was still a chance that he might get his hands on the treasure in the vault.”
“How did Ransom get involved?” Caroline asked.
“It all started on the night of your birthday when he was playing billiards with Dominic. He’d had a few drinks and knocked the goblet onto the floor. The base dislodged and Ransom saw a series of numbers engraved inside. He obviously thought it was the combination to the vault. He must have heard the rumours that Mulgrave knew the whereabouts of the vault, so he approached him and struck a deal. Mulgrave would take Ransom to the vault, and Ransom would use the numbers he found to open it. But once Mulgrave had shown him the vault, Ransom no longer needed him.”
“So he killed him and made it look like suicide?”
“I believe so. Then he planted the goblet in Mulgrave’s room to provide a motive for him taking his own life.”
“The whole affair is beyond dreadful,” Caroline said. “I feel terrible about what happened to Mulgrave. He was wrong not to tell us about the vault, but he didn’t deserve to die in that way.”
“What will you do now that you know the whereabouts of the vault?”
“There’s not much we can do without the combination,” Elizabeth said.
“Couldn’t you bring in someone to crack it open?”
“We’ll definitely investigate that possibility, but given its whereabouts and construction, it would probably cost a small fortune to get inside it, and neither of us believes there’s likely to be anything of value in there. Our current financial situation is bad enough without spending money on a fool’s errand.”
***
I’d asked Jack to take Buddy for a walk so that I could be alone with Florence when I magicked us over to Candlefield for the first time. Needless to say, Buddy had shown the usual degree of enthusiasm for the walk, and Jack had practically had to drag him out of the front door.
“How do we get to Candlefield, Mummy?” Florence said. “Do we catch a bus?”
“No, darling, we have to use magic to get there.”
“But, Mummy, you haven’t shown me that spell.”
“That’s okay, darling. I’ll magic us both over there.”
“How?”
“It’s very simple. Just hold my hand and the next thing you know, we’ll be there.”
“Will it make me dizzy?”
“No, you’ll be fine. Take Mummy’s hand.” She hesitated for a moment, but then put her little hand in mine. “Okay, I’m going to count to three, and then we’ll go. Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
“One, two, three. And here we are.”
Florence looked around. “Is this Candlefield, Mummy?”
“Yes, darling, this is Cuppy C. Look, the twins are over there, behind the counter.”
“Hi, Florence,” Pearl shouted.
“Yoohoo.” Amber waved.
The twins’ daughters appeared from behind the counter.
“I’m Lily.” She gave Florence a hug.
“I’m Lily too.” Lil joined in the hug-athon.
I shot Amber a puzzled look.
She shrugged. “Lil has decided to call herself Lily.”
“Right.” That wasn’t going to be at all confusing.
“Would you like something to drink, Florence?” Pearl said.
“Mummy said I could have a strawberry milkshake.”
“In that case, I’d better get you one.”
“What about something to eat, Florence?” Amber pointed to the display in front of her. “We have lots of tasty buns.”
Florence stuck her nose on the glass and studied them. “Could I have the pink one, please?”
“The strawberry cupcake? Of course you can. If that’s alright with your mummy.”
“That’s fine.” I nodded. “And could I get a caramel latte and a blueberry muffin, please?”
The two Lilys chose their drinks and cakes, then the three kids went to sit at a table in the corner.
“Florence gets more beautiful every time I see her,” Pearl said. “She must get it from Jack.”
/> “Cheeky mare.” I glanced over at the three girls. “They seem to have hit it off.”
“I knew they would.”
“I’m going to take Florence to see Aunt Lucy when we’re finished here. Do you want me to take the girls with us?”
“There’s no need,” Pearl said. “We’ve asked a couple of the staff to come in so we can all spend some time together. They should be here in about twenty minutes.”
“Great.”
“I assume you’ve heard Mum’s big news?” Amber said.
“What news? I haven’t spoken to her today.”
“She’s only gone and won first prize in Candlefield in Bloom.”
“What? How did she manage that? The last time I was over there, someone had dug up her flower bed.”
“No idea. We only heard about it ourselves this morning. She didn’t go into any detail, but she’s on top of the world, and she said she was looking forward to seeing you and Florence later.”
Daze and Blaze walked into the shop.
“Do you have a minute, Jill?” Daze said.
“Sure.”
She turned to Blaze. “Get me my usual, would you?”
“What did your last slave die of?”
“He didn’t. You’re still alive and well.” Daze chuckled to herself as she and I made our way to a table near the window.
“That’s my little girl, Florence, over there.” I pointed. “With the twins’ girls.”
“Does she come over to Candlefield often?”
“This is her first visit, but she’ll probably be over here regularly from now on.”
“She’s beautiful. She must take after her dad.”
“Why does everyone keep saying that?”
“I’m only joking.”
“What did you want to talk to me about, Daze?”
“I just wanted to say a big thank you for all the help you’ve given us recently. Romeo is due in court next week and you can bet he’s going to get the book thrown at him this time. How did you manage to track him down?”
“I played a hunch. I talked to the guy who robbed Washbridge Bank with him. He wasn’t too forthcoming at first, but after I’d told him that Romeo had done this several times before, he opened up to me. He told me that Romeo had used a dating agency in Washbridge, so I got in touch with Hilary at Love Spell. One of her assistants recognised his photograph and they arranged for me to go on a date with him. The rest you already know.”
“Brilliant.”
“What’s happening on the elf case?”
“We’ve shut down the shop in Washbridge, and the two wizards responsible will be in court next week. They’re going to be looking at some serious jail time. We’ve also caught the wizards who were running the operation at this end. The ones who were snatching the elves off the street in and around the sports centre.”
“That’s good news, but I can’t help but feel sorry for all those elves who have been turned into charms.”
“I have some good news there too.”
“Oh?”
“Our people did some tests on the charms and they discovered the silver gunk didn’t actually kill them. It just put them in a state of suspended animation.”
“Does that mean they’re still alive?”
“Yes, and we’ve already managed to remove the gunk from all those who were in the cabinets in the shop.”
“How are they?”
“They’re going to need bed rest, but the doctors say they should be okay. Once they’ve fully recovered, they’ll reverse the effects of the Shrinkometer.”
“What about those elves that had already been sold and are on charm bracelets?”
“We’ve got that covered too. We managed to recover the sales ledger from the shop, so we have the names and addresses of all the people who bought charms. There’s a big undercover operation in progress as we speak.”
“Doing what?”
“We’ve recruited a large number of witches and wizards who are going to visit all the addresses in the sales ledger, to try and recover the charms.”
“That’s fantastic news.”
Blaze appeared at the table. “You owe me five pounds, Daze.”
“Put it on my account. I was just thanking Jill for all the help she’s given us.”
“Yeah, thanks, Jill.” Blaze took a seat next to me. “If you can just sort out the A-juice case, we’ll be able to put our feet up for a few days.”
“You mentioned that before. What exactly is A-juice?”
“Acorn juice.”
“I didn’t realise there was such a thing.”
“The demand for it here in Candlefield far outstrips the supply, so gangs of shapeshifters collect the acorns from Washbridge and bring them back here to extract the juice. They’re making a small fortune.”
“Are you making any progress?”
“None so far. These gangs are notoriously difficult to track down. They look just like real squirrels. The only thing that gives them away is their behaviour.”
“How so?”
“They’re very protective of the territory they’re farming, and they’re quite prepared to use violence to keep intruders away.”
“Such as throwing acorns at them?”
“Exactly.”
“In that case, I might just be able to help you find them.”
Chapter 25
Florence had clearly hit it off with the two Lilys. The three of them were chatting, giggling and generally having a whale of a time. The only issue was that Florence was clearly struggling a little with the name situation. Every time she said Lily, the other two both responded.
Once the two assistants had arrived and taken over behind the counter, we rounded up the girls and made our way to Aunt Lucy’s house. Florence and the two Lilys ran a few yards ahead.
“Amber, how come Lil is calling herself Lily now?”
“She came home from school one day and said she was fed up of being called Lil because some of the other kids were calling her Lil Lil. She announced there and then that she wanted to be called Lily.”
“Are you okay with that?”
“Of course I am. As long as she’s happy, I don’t mind. I should’ve stuck to my guns and called her Lily when she was born. It would’ve saved all this messing around.”
“Fair enough. I still don’t understand how Aunt Lucy’s garden won the competition. When I saw it, it was in a terrible mess.”
“Maybe all the other entries were rubbish too,” Pearl said.
“Her next-door neighbour’s garden is beautiful. Even if all the other entries were pants, I would still have expected him to win.”
“I guess we’ll soon find out.”
Aunt Lucy was looking through the front window. As soon as she spotted us, she came running out of the house, took all three of the girls into her arms, and gave them a great big hug.
“It’s so lovely to see all three of you together at last. Are you having fun, Florence?”
“Yes, thank you, Aunt Lucy. Lily and Lily are my best friends here in Candlefield.”
“That’s lovely. I have cake and pop inside for you.”
“I’m full, Aunt Lucy.” Florence rubbed her tummy. “I had a milkshake and a bun in Cuppy C.”
“What about you two?”
The two Lilys couldn’t eat another crumb either.
“Sorry, Grandma.”
“That’s okay. Come on in. Barry’s waiting to meet you, Florence.”
“He won’t growl at me, will he?” Florence was clearly still a little nervous.
“Barry? No. He’s a big soft thing. Come on. I’ll introduce you to him.”
Florence was soon stroking Barry, who was on his best behaviour. Aunt Lucy had no doubt warned him that he mustn’t jump up around the little girls.
“Barry’s a lot bigger than Buddy, isn’t he, Mummy?”
“He is, and he has a lot more hair too.” I turned to Aunt Lucy. “What’s this the twins tell me about you winnin
g the Candlefield in Bloom competition?”
“I did indeed.” She beamed. “Wait there.” She nipped into the lounge and came back a few moments later, holding a small silver trophy. “And here’s the proof.”
“That’s fantastic, but how did you manage it? The last time I was here, the flower bed had been wrecked.”
“Why don’t you all come and see for yourselves?”
She led the way through the house and out into the back garden.
“Wow!” I was gobsmacked to see that the flower bed was back to its former glory. “How did you manage to do that so quickly?”
“I didn’t. I woke up yesterday morning and it was like that.”
“If you didn’t do it, who did?”
“I don’t know, but I suspect it was Charlie from next door. He’s such a good sort. I think he must have come over and worked on it during the night. He’s such a selfless man because if I hadn’t won the competition, I’m sure he would’ve taken first place. As it turned out, he came second.”
“Have you asked him if he did it?”
“I haven’t had the chance. I’ve been around there a couple of times, but he wasn’t in. I think he must have gone away, which is a little surprising because he’d been really looking forward to the competition.”
Florence’s first visit to Candlefield had been a resounding success. She’d made two new friends in Lily and Lily, and even Barry had won her over. But the highlight of the visit was when Rhymes had presented her with a poem, which he’d written especially for her.
When it was time for us to go home, Florence didn’t want to leave, but I promised that we would make regular visits to Candlefield. After giving Aunt Lucy and the twins a kiss, she said goodbye to Lily, Lily and Barry, then she took my hand, and I magicked us back to the old watermill.
“Daddy!” She ran into the lounge where Jack was on the sofa. “Candlefield is brilliant.” She jumped onto his lap, crumpling the newspaper he’d been reading. “I made two new best friends called Lily and Lily.”
“That’s lovely, darling, but I thought one of the girls was called Lil?”
“No, silly, they’re both called Lily.”
Jack shot me a puzzled look.
“Lil decided she wanted to be called Lily,” I said, by way of explanation.
