Witch Is Where Squirrels Go Nuts (Witch P.I. Mystery Book 39)

by Adele Abbott

  “Who told you that? That’s not true.”

  “A certain Mr and Mrs Peep, who live in Wash End, might beg to differ.”

  “That was a complete misunderstanding. I was doing them a favour.”

  “A favour? What does that mean, exactly?”

  “They’re thinking of opening a café and they wanted to see how a good tea room is run, so I gave them a tour of Tweaking Tea Rooms.”

  “That was a very generous thing to do. It’s strange that they thought you were offering to sell the business, don’t you think?”

  “They’re both old. They must be confused.”

  “Your sister can’t have been happy when she discovered you’d been trying to sell the tea room behind her back.”

  “I’m sorry, but this is ridiculous. I’m going to have to ask you to leave. I won’t answer any more questions unless my solicitor is present.”

  His reaction was not that of an innocent man, and I had no intention of leaving. First, I cast the ‘forget’ spell, and then the ‘sleep’ spell. Once he had nodded off, I began to search the apartment, starting with the living room, then the dining room and kitchen. I drew a blank in all three. Same went for the master bedroom. One of the two smaller bedrooms was being used as an office. In the bottom drawer of the desk, I found two separate files, both containing bank statements. The first one was for Drinkwater’s personal bank account which was considerably overdrawn. The second one was a business bank account in the name of RD Ice Works. I assumed that RD stood for Ryan Drinkwater. This account too was massively overdrawn. Beneath the files was a pile of letters. Some of the correspondence was from the bank that held his business account. The gist of it seemed to be that they would not agree to his request for an increase of his overdraft facility. Even more concerning was the pile of bills, personal and business, many of which were long overdue. It was clear that Ryan Drinkwater was in serious financial trouble. That might explain why he’d tried to sell the tea room, but was it motive enough to kill his sister? I needed to find out more about his business, RD Ice Works.

  On my way out, I reversed the ‘sleep’ spell, and while he was still drowsy, I left. I’d just stepped out of the apartment when the lift doors pinged at the far end of the corridor. My heart sank when the doors opened and out stepped Big Mac and a uniformed officer. Fortunately, they were deep in conversation, so they hadn’t seen me. I magicked myself back into my own clothes, and then hightailed it the opposite way down the corridor towards the stairs.

  That had been too close for comfort.

  ***

  Back in Middle Tweaking, a police car was just pulling away from the old watermill. Had someone spotted me at the apartment block? Had something happened to Jack or Florence? Fearing the worst, I jumped out of the car and ran down the drive.

  I burst through the door and shouted, “Jack, where are you? Florence?”

  The lounge door opened, and Jack appeared. “Why are you shouting, Jill?”

  “Is everyone alright? I saw the police car pulling away.”

  “We’re fine.”

  “Where’s Florence?”

  “I sent her to her bedroom and told her she had to stay there until you came home.”

  “Is she poorly?”

  “No, she’s been naughty.”

  “What did she do?”

  “Come into the lounge and I’ll tell you.” Once we were inside, he closed the door. “That’s why the police were here.”

  “What could Florence have done to warrant a visit from the police?”

  “They received a phone call from someone to say that they’d seen a lion in our back garden.”

  “What! Do you mean what I think you mean?”

  “Yes. Florence was trying to turn herself into a cat. I’d just stepped out into the garden to see what she was up to when it happened. Luckily, she reversed the spell straight away.”

  “How come the police heard about it?”

  “Just our luck. Barbara Babble, of all people, happened to be walking past at that precise moment. She was the one who called the police.”

  “What did you tell them?”

  “Fortunately, I used to work with one of the officers who came to the house. I took him to one side and explained that Barbara was the village gossip, and that she had a vivid imagination. They took a quick look in the garden, just to cover themselves, then I gave them both a cup of tea.”

  “What did you say to Florence?”

  “I didn’t need to say much of anything. She already knew she’d done wrong. I told her she had to go to her bedroom until you came home.”

  “I’d better go and talk to her.”

  Florence was playing with her dolls’ house. She certainly didn’t look very contrite.

  “Hello, Mummy. Have you had a nice day at work?”

  “Yes, thank you, darling. How was your day?”

  “I found two more caterpillars at school.”

  “That’s nice. And did anything happen after you came home from school?”

  “Not really.”

  “Did you practise any magic?”

  “A little bit.” She held up her hand and illustrated just how little with her thumb and forefinger.

  “Which spell did you practise?”

  “I turned myself into a cat.”

  “And how did that go?”

  “I got it a bit wrong.”

  “Daddy told me you turned yourself into a lion.”

  “I didn’t do it on purpose, Mummy. And I turned myself back straight away.”

  “But someone saw you, didn’t they? And they called the police.”

  “Are you mad at me?”

  “I’m not angry, but you have to be very careful when you’re learning new spells, particularly dangerous ones like that. You should have done it out of sight of the gate. That way, no one would have seen you.”

  “Can I come downstairs now?”

  “Yes, come on.”

  ***

  “I can take Florence to bed if you want to get going,” Jack offered.

  “No, it’s okay. I want to do it, and besides, I don’t plan on going until it’s dark.”

  “What is this place you’re going to, anyway?”

  “It’s the company owned by Miss Drinkwater’s brother. RD Ice Works.”

  “What do they do?”

  “I’ve no idea. Manufacture fridges, maybe.”

  “Do you think he had something to do with his sister’s death?”

  “I don’t know. I do know he was trying to sell the tea room behind her back, though.”

  Florence came running downstairs. “Am I still going to Wendy’s house tomorrow, Mummy?”

  “If you want to. Her mummy said you could.”

  “I do. We’re going to hunt for caterpillars in her garden.”

  “That sounds—err—great.”

  That night, Florence insisted I read Harry The Caterpillar Finds A Sponge, which was without a shadow of a doubt one of the weirdest stories I’d ever come across. Still, it did the trick because she was fast asleep five minutes after I started reading.

  After sneaking downstairs, I gave Jack a quick goodbye kiss, and then drove to RD Ice Works. I parked half a mile away from the industrial unit and made my way from there on foot. It was dark, and there were no cars in the car park. A blinking red light drew my attention to a single CCTV camera, mounted just below the roofline. Staying in the shadows, I walked around the side of the building, and peered through one of the windows. There was very little to see, just a corridor with several doors leading off it.

  I magicked myself inside, started at one end of the corridor, and checked each door in turn. They were all locked until I came to the final one. That opened onto the shop floor which was full of machines. As I got closer to one of them, I could feel cool air coming off it, but there was nothing to indicate what the machine did. In one corner of the room there was a shelving unit on which was a pile of brochures, which showed that the company pr
oduced and sold ice blocks of all sizes.

  On the opposite side of the room, another door led to a corridor identical to the one I’d already checked. Some of the doors on this side of the building were unlocked: Two of them were being used as storerooms. The third room was much smaller and contained the CCTV monitoring system, displaying an image of the car park. On a whim, I checked the footage for the night that Miss Drinkwater was murdered. I started to view the recording from six o’clock that night, at which time there were still several cars in the car park. By the time the footage reached the eight o’clock mark, all of the cars except for one had left. Over the next hour of footage, nothing much happened, but then a figure came out of the building and approached the remaining car. It was Ryan Drinkwater and he was carrying a box.

  And not just any old box; it was a freezer box.

  Chapter 23

  Florence had finished her breakfast and was in the garden on a caterpillar hunt. Jack and I were still at the kitchen table, and for some reason, he had a stupid smirk on his face.

  “What’s tickling you?”

  “Nothing.” He shrugged.

  “Come on. Something obviously is. Spit it out.”

  “I was just thinking how lucky you are to be going to the grand opening of the stamp shop.” He grinned. “I’m sooo very jealous.”

  “It’s not by choice, I can promise you that. But if my hunch is correct, I should be able to solve the Double Take case, so it’ll be well worth it. What are you planning to do with yourself all day, seeing as Florence is going to Wendy’s house after dancing?”

  “It looks like it’s going to be a beautiful day, so I thought I might get out the deckchair and spend a nice relaxing afternoon in the garden.”

  “I’m surprised you didn’t arrange to go golfing.”

  “I did call a couple of people, but they already had other stuff planned, so I’m going to give it a miss this week. Will you be coming with us to Florence’s dance class or do you have to shoot off before then?”

  “The grand opening isn’t until midday, so I’ll have time to go with you. There is something I need to do before then, though.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I’m going over to the hotel to tell Grandma I know who murdered Miss Drinkwater.”

  “You do? How come you didn’t tell me?”

  “I didn’t get the chance last night, but if my suspicions are correct, it was her brother, Ryan. He’s in dire straits, financially. From what I can make out, he’s very close to bankruptcy. That’s why he tried to sell the tea room behind his sister’s back.”

  “I don’t understand how he hoped to get away with it.”

  “Me neither. I can only assume he thought if he could get a good enough offer, he’d be able to persuade his sister to accept it, but she turned him down flat, which left him with nowhere to go.”

  “And you think that’s why he killed her?”

  “Yeah. As far as I know, Miss Drinkwater had no other family, so chances are, he’ll inherit her half of the business, which means he’ll be free to sell it. I first became suspicious when Arthur Spraggs told us that the Peeps thought they’d purchased the tea room, only to have the sale cancelled by Miss Drinkwater. On the strength of that, I paid a visit to her brother’s apartment.”

  “A visit? Is that code for breaking-in?”

  “I didn’t break in, exactly.”

  “You used magic, I assume?”

  “It’s best you don’t know. Anyway, that’s how I found out about his financial situation. That gave him the motive, but I still needed to find out how he did it.”

  “And did you?”

  “Of course. Super sleuth, that’s me.”

  “And modest with it.”

  “When Marian found Miss Drinkwater’s body, it was in a pool of water.”

  “What’s so significant about that? Presumably, she’d been holding a glass of water when she was attacked.”

  “That’s what I thought at first, but on the crime scene photo, there was no sign of any broken glass.”

  “Hang on. How did you get to see the crime scene photo?”

  “I may, quite inadvertently, have stumbled into the incident room at Washbridge police station.”

  “Inadvertently?”

  “Absolutely. Anyway, while I was there, I just happened to check the whiteboard. That’s when I saw the photo, which showed the pool of water around the body.”

  “I still don’t understand why the water is significant.”

  “Because that was the murder weapon.”

  “Now I’m totally confused. Are you saying someone drowned her?”

  “No, I’m saying they hit her with it.”

  “With water? I’m beginning to think you’ve lost the plot.”

  “Not with water. With frozen water.”

  “Ice?”

  “Bingo! When I went to Ryan Drinkwater’s factory last night, I discovered that they make blocks of ice for commercial use. While I was there, I checked the CCTV footage from the camera in front of the building. On the night his sister was murdered, I saw him leave the premises at nine o’clock. He was carrying a box. A freezer box.”

  “You think he hit her with a block of ice?”

  “Yeah.”

  “But surely someone would have seen him carrying the box into the shop.”

  “I think he left the box in the car and carried the ice block in, probably under his jacket. The next morning, when the waitress arrived for work, the building was so hot that she had to turn down the heating.”

  “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “I think Ryan turned it up before he left so that what was left of the block of ice would melt.”

  “Have you told the police any of this?”

  “No, not yet.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I want Grandma to know that I was the one who cleared her name.” I checked my watch. “I’d better get going or I won’t be back in time for Florence’s dance class. I’ll see you two there.”

  “Okay, but I still think you should tell the police first.”

  I was just about to leave the house when Oscar Riley knocked at the door.

  “Good morning, Oscar. Aren’t you working today?”

  “I should have been, but I managed to swap shifts with a colleague so that I’d be able to attend the grand opening of the new stamp shop. In fact, that’s why I’m here. I know Jack won’t want to miss it either.”

  “You’re absolutely right. In fact, he was just bemoaning the fact that he didn’t have anyone to go with. He’s in the kitchen. Why don’t you go through and surprise him?” I stepped aside to let him pass.

  Snigger and double snigger.

  ***

  The receptionist at the hotel recognised me. “Are you here to see your grandmother?”

  “Yes, please.”

  “I’ll just give her a call to see if she’s available.” She grabbed the phone and spoke for no more than a few seconds. “Mrs Millbright says she can spare you a couple of minutes. You know where her office is, don’t you?”

  “I do, indeed. Thanks very much.”

  I was feeling rather pleased with myself. It would be nice to receive praise from Grandma for a change.

  As soon as I walked into her office, she pointed to two small safes on the floor. “Which one do you like the best?”

  “Err, they look very similar. What’s wrong with the one you’ve already got?” I gestured to the one in the corner of the room.

  “These aren’t safes. They’re minibars. I’m thinking of having them installed in all the rooms.”

  “Is there much call for minibars?”

  “Of course. People love to indulge themselves when they’re on holiday, and the mark-up on the drinks and snacks is phenomenal. So, which one do you like best?”

  “Err, that one. Look, I can’t stay long because it’s Florence’s dance class this morning. I just wanted to tell you that I know who
murdered Miss Drinkwater.”

  “So do I.”

  “You do?”

  “It was that brother of hers.”

  “If you knew who’d done it, why get me involved at all?”

  “I didn’t know until the police told me.”

  “When did they tell you?”

  “They came around here about an hour ago. They said they’d made an arrest, and that I was no longer a suspect. I believe her brother is already in custody, pending charges.”

  “Yes, but I bet they haven’t worked out what he used as a murder weapon, have they?”

  “You mean the block of ice? Are you sure you like this minibar best?”

  “Who cares about stupid minibars?”

  “I do. They’re going to make me a small fortune.”

  “But this isn’t fair. I was the one who solved the murder.”

  “Too late, apparently. If I’d realised how dilatory you were going to be, I’d have left it to the police.”

  “Dilatory? I was not dilatory! I’ve given this case my full attention, and I solved it.”

  “I only have your word for that. For all I know, the police could have told you who did it.”

  “But, I—err—it—err—”

  “Shouldn’t you be going? You don’t want to be late for my great-granddaughter’s dance class.”

  Somewhat deflated, I made my way over to the village hall where Jack and Florence were waiting for me.

  “Was your grandmother impressed?” Jack said.

  “Not really.”

  “What’s wrong with that woman? She’s never grateful.”

  “The police had already told her that Ryan Drinkwater had been arrested.”

  “But I didn’t think they knew it was him.”

  “Neither did I. What a complete waste of time.”

  Florence grabbed my hand. “Come on, Mummy. It’s time to go in.”

  “Okay, darling.”

  As soon as we were inside, Florence ran over to join Wendy, and within a few minutes, the lesson had begun.

  “I hear you’re going to the stamp shop too,” I whispered to Jack.

  “So much for my relaxing afternoon in the deckchair. Oscar and I may as well travel into Washbridge with you.”