by Katie Penryn
“Good,” I said. “There’s one here. I was afraid that invisibility might be beyond this level.”
Penzi leafed through to the right page and we crossed our fingers against the spell working before we were ready. As Penzi said we didn’t want to find that half of her had disappeared and we couldn’t get her back. This invisibility spell, called non videor, didn’t require any exotic ingredients. It was purely a word and symbol spell.
“Just as well,” Penzi said. “Can you imagine being stuck out in a field with an angry bull and needing to become invisible but not having the right stuff with you?”
“Stop being flippant and concentrate, Penzi. You do not want to get this spell wrong.”
Penzi had difficulty learning the spell. It required her to think of nothing at one point. Not easy to do on command.
Every time she flagged I reminded her we had to find the murderer and put the little world of Beaucoup-sur-mer to rights.
“I’ve got it,” she said after what must have been the twenty-fifth try.
She checked her fingers were still crossed and practiced it for one last time.
“That’s right. Well done,” I said.
“Here goes.” She uncrossed her fingers and took a deep breath. She cast the spell and as the last syllable fluttered into the room, she vanished from sight. Pooft!
I spun round but she was nowhere to be seen. Of all the spells we had learned together so far that was the most amazing, even more than the freeze spell.
A warm breath touched my left ear. I grasped at where she should have been standing but clutched at nothing but air.
“Ha!” she whispered and tweaked my right ear.
Again my hands found nothing. So, this was the game she wanted to play. I didn’t mind. Penzi needed some down time. Life had been complicated and serious for too long. So, if she wanted to play a little hide and seek, I was game.
I stood still and listened carefully, wondering if invisibility would have cut out all the sound she made when she moved. Nothing. Silence.
The corner of the right-hand curtain jiggled. I was on it before it had stopped moving but she was too quick for me. I walked round the room windmilling my arms in the hope that I might strike lucky but she evaded me. Ah, the desk. I swept my hands underneath the desk. Nothing. The door opened and closed. Perhaps she was teasing and was still in the room with me.
“This isn’t fair,” I said. “I could do this for hours and never catch you.”
“Effective, isn’t it?” she said.
I was on the sound immediately but met nothing but air. A giggle came from directly behind me as she lifted up the hair at the back of my neck. Again I twisted round but she was gone.
So — no sight, no sound — two senses down. Touch and taste didn’t come into it if I couldn’t find her.
But I had one sense she hadn’t thought of. I shifted to my leopard form. Penzi squealed. She knew what that meant. Being a big cat my olfactory gland is highly developed. I have a strong sense of smell. I sat down and pretended to clean my whiskers while I searched for her scent. Not an easy task. Penzi’s natural feminine pheromones heightened by the rose fragrance she wore filled the room.
A current of air drifted across my nostrils. She was moving. Towards the fireplace. I waited until the scent had settled. With one bound I hemmed her in against the wall beside the fireplace, feeling her thighs against my shoulders. I nudged her along the wall until I had her trapped in the corner. Using all my energy I morphed back into the man Felix and placed my hands on the walls on either side of her head.
“Do you give in?” I asked fixing her with my best feline stare.
She clicked her fingers in answer, freeing herself from the spell.
Her sherry colored eyes looked back into mine sending me a message I was uncomfortable to receive. I lowered my arms and stepped back quickly before temptation overtook me.
“Hey, boss,” I said. “You gave me a hard time there.”
Penzi laughed and fluffed out her hair. “It was fun though, wasn’t it? I haven’t played hide and seek since I was a kid.”
To cover my unease I suggested she cast the spell again and try out her invisibility on the family who would be collecting for lunch in the kitchen.
Chapter 24
Felix suggested I try out my invisibility on the family by walking into the kitchen where everyone was waiting for lunch to be served. No one had an inkling that I was there watching them all. It was creepy eavesdropping on their conversation. I went back to the study and clicked my fingers to release the spell.
“We're good to go then,” said Felix. “Possibly when the old dears have their afternoon tea. We'll have to wait outside her room — you invisible and me as my cat persona. If and when she leaves, you enter the building, and I’ll wait outside her bedroom.”
“She may not leave her room for days though. Then what?”
“We can at least try. Or we can think of something else on the spot.”
*
Quarter to four saw us both outside her bedroom window. Although I had practiced on the family, it took me a few minutes to get used to the idea of being able to see without being seen. I wanted to crouch down out of sight. Felix on the other hand jumped up onto the windowsill and sat staring at Madame Tidot, willing her to leave. She had dressed and carried out her toilette. She was once again an elegant old lady, well dressed and coiffed.
*
We heard the bell go for tea and waited anxiously for Madame Tidot to respond. She didn't. We were beginning to give up hope when a nurse came into the room and succeeded in persuading her that it would do her good to talk to other people.
I walked round to the other side of the building where I could look in through the window of the living room where the tea was being served. As soon as Madame Tidot entered I walked through the front door and along the corridor to her room. I shut the door behind me and propped a chair against the handle in case she came back before we were finished.
I clicked my fingers to release the spell, and let Felix in through the window. He morphed into his human form.
“You take that side of the room and I'll take this,” he said making for the wardrobe in the corner.
For the next few minutes we pulled out drawers, checked pockets and ferreted under the carpet but we found nothing that shouldn't have been there.
“No secrets that I can find,” said Felix brushing his hair back from his eyes.
“Did you find a photograph album?” I asked him. He had been the one to go through her writing desk.
“No. I get the feeling she's a no-nonsense person. She doesn't have any mementos.”
“Many old people have to weed out their possessions when they enter a retirement home. It's impossible to cram a whole life into one room. But most keep personal things like family photos.”
Felix picked up a framed photo sitting on the bedside table. “Like this you mean?”
It was a photo of Madame Tidot with her staff at her leaving ceremony. I couldn't see that it added anything to our investigation. We had no reason to suspect that a member of her staff had killed her son. Not yet anyway.
On the other hand....
“Hand it to me, Felix.”
I took it from him and turned it over. “Detectives always do this in films,” I said moving the tiny metal clasps to undo the backing.
I was right. Madame Tidot had put a photo and a flimsy letter in the back of the frame either for safekeeping or to keep it hidden. Written on the back was The culprit caught after the act.
Felix peered over my shoulder as I flipped it. It was a photo of a young boy, probably one of her pupils. He was about fourteen or fifteen. He was standing next to a display cabinet whose glass door was broken. He looked familiar but I couldn't place him.
“Who is he and what's it mean?” asked Felix. “Read the letter.”
I opened up the flimsy paper and read it out. It said: I confess that I stole the inter-school tennis
trophy and sold it to buy a motor scooter.
“Let me have another look at that photo,” said Felix almost tearing it as he snatched it from me. “Look, it's Sean Morrison. A very young Sean Morrison.”
“And it ties in with what Brioche told us about Morrison.” I said.
“But I don't see what it can have to do with the murder.”
Someone tried the handle of the door.
“Quick Felix, out of the window.”
As he jumped down into the garden, I put the photo and the letter in my pocket and fastened the back of the frame again. I cast the invisible spell. Madame Tidot rattled the doorknob again. Then silence. She had brought someone back with her. I checked myself in the mirror. The spell had worked. I took the chair away from the door and stood aside to allow the two women into the room.
The nurse said, “You left your window open, Madame Tidot. You know you should close it before you leave your room.”
Madame Tidot began to protest but fell silent. She looked all round the room as if expecting to see someone. As soon as the nurse left, Madame Tidot went over to the photo frame, picked it up and looked for the photo and the letter. When she couldn't find them she sat down on the bed and burst into tears.
I made my escape while the door was still open and hastened to join up with Felix at the entrance to the gardens of the home. Anyone seeing him sitting there would think what a cute cat he was. I tickled his ears. He purred in a reflex action before he shook my fingers away.
“Leave off, Penzi. We’re working.”
*
I told him what I’d witnessed.
“What does it all mean?” he asked. “I think we need to talk to Brioche again.”
“I'll talk to Brioche while you visit the cats at the bakery. You could go now. There's no need to wait for darkness this time.”
“They won't be pleased to have me wake them up during the day.”
“They might not even be there. The explosion must have scared them all away.”
“It's worth checking. Some of the neighborhood cats might know something.”
Felix jumped onto the passenger seat. “I'll stay in cat mode and you can drop me off on your way home. Don't worry about picking me up. I'll walk home. I could do with the exercise.”
As we drove off Felix said to me. “One condition for your visit to Brioche....”
“Yes, I know. I must take Sam with me because you won't be there.”
“You're learning, boss.”
“Don't call me—”
“Sorry. Can't resist it.”
I dropped Felix off at the site of the blast and watched him pussy-footing his way through the debris to the garage and the storeroom at the back of what had been the bakery. If the cats knew anything, Felix would find out.
*
Sam wasn't pleased to be dragged away from his computer game.
“I deserve some time off, Penzi. Jimbo and I have been clearing up the mess and shipping it off to the center all morning.”
“Felix said I was not allowed to go out on my own and I need to interview Brioche again.”
“Can't it wait? I'm almost at the end of this level.”
“No, it can't. I want to solve this murder so we can get on with our lives.”
Jimbo caught the tail end of our conversation as he walked past Sam's room. He ducked in at once. “Can I come, too? We don't have much time together for fun these days. We could stop on the Esplanade for an ice cream.”
What Jimbo said was true. Rooting out evil was taking a toll on our family life.
“Come along then,” I said. “Don’t forget your hat, it's hot out there and you'll burn.”
*
Brioche was busy in the back of the shop when we arrived with Zig, Zag and Piffle in tow. I hoped Madame Brioche would be able to help us but when I explained we wanted to ask a few questions about Sean Morrison and their schooldays, she said she was from the next town and hadn't gone to school with her husband, Tidot and Morrison.
She popped her head in the bakery and came back to tell us her husband would be about twenty minutes.
So Jimbo's wish was answered. We sat on the Esplanade like a normal family eating ice cream and enjoying the view of so many holidaymakers searching for a spare spot of beach. The explosion hadn't put off the tourists as much as the mayor feared.
Madame Brioche signaled us from the door that her husband was ready to talk to us.
He chucked Jimbo under the chin as we walked into the cool shop from the heat outside. “Hello, young man. Two visits in one day, eh?”
Jimbo resisted pulling away and smiled back at Brioche.
“So what can I do for you, Madame Munro?” Brioche asked.
“I’d like to clear up something you told us about Sean Morrison. You said he bought himself a scooter when he was fifteen and no one knew where the money came from.”
“Yes, that’s right. He said he’d saved it up but no one believed him, and his parents couldn’t afford it. It was a brand new smart Italian job — bright red like a Ferrari.”
“Can you think of anything else that happened that year? Something at your school for instance?”
“Something at school?” He stared out at the Esplanade while he searched through his memory.
“There was something. Our school won the inter-school tennis championship that year. In fact, Morrison was one of our star players. Anyway, someone broke into the school and stole the silver cup. The culprit was never discovered. Why…? You don’t think Morrison had anything to do with it, do you?”
“We don’t know. We’re merely asking exploratory questions at the moment. Don’t go saying anything about this to anyone, please, Monsieur Brioche.”
“Very well then. Do you want to buy anything else today? I have some éclairs left. You’ll have to make do with mine now that poor Tidot’s gone.”
“Another day, perhaps,” I said, a little disconcerted at the reference to Tidot in connection with my favorite pastry.
Chapter 25
Felix
After Penzi had dropped me off I picked my way across the site of the explosion not wanting to cut my pads on the shards of glass lying around. The air smelled of dust, centuries old dust freed from between the floors and ceilings of the old bakery. A hot breeze blew through my fur as I sat and inspected the exterior of the garage and the storeroom. They hadn’t escaped unscathed. Arrows of glass had pierced the wooden doors of the garage and the store and one of the windows of the store lay in pieces on the ground. I dropped into a crouch and slunk forward slowly keeping my eyes open for the feline guards. An eerie silence hung over the remains of the property as if the soul of the enterprise held its breath.
“Meowwwww,” screeched from behind me. “Qui va là?”
I spun around to find a battle-scarred tom cat poised for attack. A Siamese.
Only one thing to do and I did it. I sat down, licked a paw and cleaned my whiskers. I knew it was against cat etiquette to attack another cat during the grooming process.
I cast a glance at my challenger from behind my paw. Well proportioned limbs and designer markings of cream and dark chocolate showed me he’d once upon a time been a handsome show cat, but his tail ended only three inches from his body in a knotted lump of flesh. He was a fighter all right.
He took the weight off his legs and waited for me to make the first move.
“What happened here, mate?” I asked him.
“Don’t you know?”
“Actually, I do. I was making conversation so you wouldn’t launch yourself at me. I come in peace.”
He got to his feet and took a couple of sashays towards me, his body heavy with menace.
I retreated and bumped up against another cat, a ginger tabby who had moved in behind me at some signal I hadn’t read.
“Couldn’t we put all this macho stuff aside and talk?” I asked.
“First tell us what you’re doing here. You’re a very strange looking cat. Are you an im
migrant?”
“You could say that. I’m from the Middle Congo.”
“Where’s that?”
“Africa. I’m a Savannah, half domestic cat, half wild serval.”
The marmalade walked out from behind me and sat down next to her colleague. Yes, she was female and true to her gender she preferred dialogue to war. She approached me and tendered her nose for a cat to cat handshake. We rubbed noses, and she moved alongside me.
“He’s okay, Brutus.”
The tom cat relaxed his stance and settled back down again. “Sorry mate, we can’t be too careful around here at the moment,” he said, waving a paw at the devastation that surrounded us. “But if Naomi says you’re okay, then you are.”
“Thank you. I don’t want to be pushy but could we get out of the heat?” I asked.
“Come with me,” said Brutus stalking off with his stub of a tail in the air.
I followed him through a cat flap in the door of the store, with Naomi bringing up the rear.
As my eyes adjusted to the dimness of the interior great shapes of gray loomed up all around me. Sacks and sacks marked Farine lined the walls, a tempting larder for the mice of the neighborhood.
“You must have your work cut out for you,” I said as we walked down between the rows of flour sacks to a couple of cat beds at the end of the store.
Brutus glanced back at me. “Naomi and I have the situation under control. In fact, the Big Bang on early Sunday morning had a silver lining. It’s frightened the rats and mice off for miles. The downside of that is no one has brought us any food. That’s four days now with nothing to eat.”
Naomi meowed in agreement. “I’m awfully hungry.”
“Now that’s something I can sort out,” I said.
“You?” said Brutus. “Who are you anyway?”
“My name is Felix.”
“You’re joking. Someone didn’t have much imagination,” said Brutus grinning from ear to ear.
