by Adele Abbott
“We didn’t realise she had so many of them.” Amber picked up one of the larger corks.
“What are those?” I pointed to a pile of small cards on the next table.
“They were pinned to the corks.”
I picked one up. “This is a detailed description of the cork.”
“Yeah, we know.” Pearl seemed to be arranging the corks by size. “The cards were making it difficult to sort out the corks, so we took them off. We’ll put them back when they’re out on display.”
“Err, right. And how will you remember which card goes with which cork?”
Pearl turned to Amber who just shrugged.
“Oh dear.” I laughed.
“It’ll be fine,” Amber insisted. “And besides, no one will know if we get a few mixed up.”
“I can think of one person who will.”
***
I was back in the human world, and I definitely wasn’t looking forward to the next hour or so. I was on my way to speak to Billy, the man I’d humiliated on my first visit to Loose Chippings Motor Cycle Club.
Having more or less eliminated all the other suspects, my focus was now firmly back on Slugger. Was it possible that he’d murdered Killer because the mechanic had left Loose Chippings, to help Wash-on-Wheels win the competition? Slugger had said he didn’t hold any grudges, and that when Killer had asked to re-join Loose Chippings, he’d welcomed him back. According to Slugger, Billy was present when that particular conversation took place, but I wanted to check that for myself. I certainly wasn’t expecting him to welcome me with open arms.
“Oh, it’s you again.” The guy who answered the door had the word BAD shaved into his hair on one side of his head. On the other side, was the word SAD. He must have seen my reaction, and clearly felt the need to explain. “My barber’s a bit hard of hearing. I asked him for BAD and MAD.”
“Oh dear. Still, it’ll grow out.”
“If you’re here to see Slugger, he isn’t in today. I can tell him you called if you like.”
“Actually, I’m here to see Billy.”
“You’re not going to beat him up again, are you?” He laughed.
“No, I just want a word with him.”
“He’s been keeping a low profile since you put him on his back.” The man glanced around to make sure no one was within earshot. “I thought what you did to him was hilarious. He’s always been too big for his boots.”
“Is he here?”
“Yeah, he’s in the workshop, around the back. Do you want me to take you to him?”
“It’s okay. I’ll find him.”
Billy was hard at work on a chopper bike, and he didn’t hear me come into the workshop because of the rap music, blaring out of the radio on the workbench.
“Billy!” I walked over to where he was working. “Billy!”
He looked up, and the expression on his face confirmed my fears.
“What do you want?” He turned the radio down.
“Aren’t bikers supposed to like heavy metal music?”
“I asked what you wanted.”
“First off, I wanted to apologise for what happened the other day.”
“Nothing happened.” He shrugged. “I just tripped, is all.”
“Right. Anyway, I hope I didn’t cause you any embarrassment.”
“If you’re looking for Slugger, he’s not here.”
“You’re the one I came to see.”
“I’m busy.”
“This will only take a minute, then I’ll be on my way.”
“Spit it out, then.”
“It’s about Killer.”
“I figured that much.”
“Slugger told me that Killer had asked to re-join Loose Chippings.”
“That’s news to me.”
“Slugger told me that you were there when the two of them discussed it.”
“Nah. Last I heard, Slugger wanted nothing to do with Killer. He said if the guy showed his face around here again, he’d regret it.”
“I see. Why would Slugger lie to me about it?”
“How would I know? He can be unpredictable. You don’t want to get on the wrong side of him.”
“He seemed okay when we went for a coffee the other day.”
“He can turn on the charm when he wants to. You aren’t going to tell him what I’ve said, are you?”
“Of course not. That’s between you and me.”
***
“Mrs V, I need you to do something for me, please.”
“Will it wait until I’ve found this dropped stitch because I promised Walter that I’d have these socks finished for him by Sunday.”
“Who’s Walter?”
“Our gardener.”
“You have a gardener?”
“Didn’t I tell you?”
“Definitely not.”
“He started a couple of months ago. Armi and I aren’t getting any younger, and we were finding it difficult to keep on top of everything. My friend, Judith, recommended Walter, and I have to say, he’s been working wonders. I can let you have his details if you’d like to use his services.”
“Thanks, but our finances won’t stretch to a gardener. And besides, Jack loves gardening.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Neither does he. Anyway, about that little job. I’ve been trying to contact this person for the last hour, but he isn’t answering his phone. I’ve sent him a couple of texts too, but either he’s not seen them or he’s ignoring me. Will you keep trying his number and if you get through, ask him when would be a good time for me to meet with him.” I handed Mrs V a slip of paper.
“Slugger? Oh dear. If he asks, what shall I tell Mr Slugger you want to talk to him about?”
“Just say it’s about Killer.”
“You worry me sometimes, Jill. Should you really be associating with men called Slugger and Killer?”
“Don’t worry, Mrs V, I can look after myself.”
Winky was on the phone. “Tomorrow morning will be fine. Okay, bye.” Having finished on the call, he turned his attention to me. “Don’t worry. I’ve picked the sofa I want, and the rest of these will be out of here by Monday morning.”
“That’s good news. And which sofa did you choose?”
He jumped over to the red and pink one. “This one. What do you think?”
“Err, it’s okay, but I think there’s a better one.”
“Oh? Which one?”
I weaved my way through the sofas. “This one.”
“But that’s the old one.”
“I know, and unless you intend to pay for a new one out of your own pocket, it’s the only one you’re going to be getting.”
“What about my rheumatism? You said you’d buy me a new sofa to make up for unjustly putting me out on the streets.”
“That was when I believed my actions had been unjust, but we both know that wasn’t the case, don’t we?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You know precisely what I’m talking about. The Canary Brothers didn’t break in here and steal Mrs V’s yellow yarn. You stole it and threw it in the bin behind the alleyway.”
“You can’t prove that.”
“I don’t need to. It’s written all over your face. What I don’t understand is why you did it? What possessed you?”
“I was provoked.”
“Provoked how?”
The old bag lady came in here one morning and threw me out into the rain for no reason whatsoever.”
“I highly doubt that.”
“It’s true. She’s vindictive, that one.”
“So you stole her wool?”
“She was lucky I only took the yellow. It was all I could carry.”
“And as if that wasn’t bad enough, you then proceeded to guilt trip me. You had me feeding salmon to your snooty friends.”
“They are not snooty.”
“And to those ditzy girls.”
“They are not—o
kay, maybe they are a little ditzy, but you owed me. Sleeping in that tent was no fun.”
“And you had the audacity to make me hand over a ransom. I want the rest of that money back by the way.”
“Are you really not going to let me have a new sofa? What if I say pretty please?”
“With sugar on top?”
“Yeah, pretty please with sugar on top.”
“No.”
“You’re a hard woman.”
Winky spent the next hour contacting the sofa companies to arrange collections, and giving me the cold shoulder. Like that bothered me.
“I’m leaving now, Mrs V. I have to call and see Grandma at her hotel.”
“How is her new business venture doing?”
“Really well.” But maybe not for much longer.
“I managed to get hold of Mr Slugger.”
“You did?”
“Yes. He sounds surprisingly nice. He said he’ll be in Big Bessie’s tomorrow morning at seven o’clock.”
“But tomorrow’s Saturday.”
“I’m only telling you what he said.”
“Okay, thanks.” Florence’s dance class was at ten, but I should be back long before that. So much for my weekend lie-in. “By the way, Mrs V, did you put Winky outside one day recently?”
“I did, dear. I found him scratching your desk, and I know how much that desk means to you so I threw him out. I thought that would teach him a lesson. Why do you ask?”
“No reason.”
***
I left my car outside the old watermill and walked across the village to the hotel. On the drive home, I’d been trying to figure out how I was going to persuade Grandma that she should send all her guests back to Candlefield until such time as the men from DOPA had left the village. It wasn’t going to be easy.
“Hi, Jill.” The receptionist, Verity, and I were now on first name terms.
“Is she in her office?”
“Your grandmother isn’t in today.”
“Is she really not in or is that just what you’ve been told to tell everyone?”
“No, I promise. She’s gone to London on business.”
“What kind of business?”
“I have no idea. She doesn’t tell me that kind of stuff.”
“Okay. Are you on duty tomorrow?”
“Yes, I am.”
“I’ve got a couple of things happening in the morning, so I won’t be able to get over until midday-ish. Will you tell Grandma that it’s very urgent that I speak to her?”
“Of course.”
Florence came running to greet me as soon as I walked in the door.
“Mummy, Jen has shrunk!”
“Beetles can’t shrink, darling.”
“But she has. Come and see.” She led the way into the kitchen and lifted the lid on the shoebox. “See, Jen’s smaller than she was this morning.”
“She does look a little smaller. Perhaps it was all that sleeping.”
“Will I shrink if I sleep too much?”
“No, you won’t. It’s just a beetle thing.”
That seemed to satisfy her, and she headed outside to check on the caterpillars. Jack, who had been listening to that brief exchange, was preparing dinner.
“Couldn’t you have found a beetle the same size as the dead one?” I said in a hushed voice.
“I did try, but there just aren’t that many beetles in the garden. I thought I’d got it just about right, but she noticed the difference straight away.”
“Something smells nice.”
“That’s my new aftershave. It’s called Jock.”
“I was talking about the food. And Jock? Seriously?”
“Take a sniff.” He leaned towards me.
“It smells exactly the same as your old one.”
“Rubbish, this one is much more—”
“Jocky?”
“I was going to say musky. According to the ads, I’ll have women swooning over me.”
“O—kay.” I laughed. “I have to go out on a stakeout tonight.”
“Do you need me to read Florence’s bedtime story?”
“No, it’s okay, I can do it. I won’t need to leave here until midnight, and besides, the job is in Candlefield, so you’ll hardly notice I’ve gone.”
“What’s the job?”
“I’m still working on the lido thing for Grandma, but it’s turned rather sinister now. Unless I’m badly mistaken, the people behind the lido closure may be responsible for two murders.”
***
Jack went up to bed just before eleven. I had planned to watch some TV before magicking myself over to the site of the old nursery, but I dozed off. It was almost one in the morning when I woke up with a crick in my neck, feeling like death warmed up. I was sorely tempted to forget the stakeout and just go to bed, but I knew that when I saw Grandma later that day, she would demand a progress report.
The elderly wizard, who lived across the road from the new office block, had told me that a van came to the building most days, in the early hours of the morning. Hopefully, it would turn up tonight and I hadn’t already missed it.
There was nowhere in the alleyway at the rear of the office building from where I would be able to get a good view of the door without being spotted, so I made myself invisible. To pass the time, I daydreamed about all the things I’d do if I won the lottery.
You might be wondering why I didn’t just magic myself a gazillion pounds? There’s a very good reason for that and it’s called MERRY. That acronym stands for the Magical Ethics, Rules and Regulations Yearbook, which as its name suggests is updated annually. Any witch or wizard found in contravention of that particular publication will find themselves in deep doodoo. If you’d like a copy of the book, please send a cheque for five-hundred pounds to the usual address.
Trust me to pick the coldest night of the year so far. Hopefully, no one would notice my breath, which was still visible even though I wasn’t. That’s if anyone turned up, which was beginning to look doubtful. The only thing that kept me going was the thought of the warm bed waiting for me back home.
At two-forty, headlights came around the corner of the building, and a plain white van stopped just beyond the doors. The wizard who climbed out of the passenger side had the physique of a bodybuilder and a scar on his left cheek. He opened the double doors and guided the driver as he reversed the van into the building. I had to be quick in order to get inside before the doors closed behind us. We were in some kind of loading bay, which seemed completely out of place in this office building. A second wizard got out of the driver’s side and joined his colleague. Mr Gator and Mr Dial, I assumed.
The two of them stood next to the van and stared into the shadows. They were clearly waiting for something, but what? Moments later, I had my answer, when a small wooden trolley rolled into sight. It was being pushed by four tiny creatures who were covered in blue dust. They weren’t elves or pixies. In fact, I’d never seen anything quite like them, with their long noses, big ears and huge feet. The two wizards wasted no time in unloading a number of wooden boxes from the back of the van, into which the weird creatures started to load the blue stones.
What on earth was going on?
When the boxes of stones had been put into the van, the wizards climbed into the vehicle, and one of the small creatures threw the switch to open the doors. I slipped outside just in time to see the van drive away. I hadn’t been sure what to expect from the stakeout, but this most definitely had not been it.
Chapter 25
“Why are you getting up so early, Jill?” Jack sat up in bed. “It’s Saturday.”
“I have another meeting at Big Bessie’s.”
“Is that just an excuse to have a greasy-spoon breakfast?”
“No, it’s not. I have a meeting with the leader of Loose Chippings Motorcycle Club, but I might indulge while I’m there.”
“Will you be back in time for Florence’s dance class?”
“Definitely.”
“How did your stakeout go last night?”
“It was kind of weird. Not what I was expecting at all. There isn’t time to go into it now, but I’ll tell you all about it later. Give Florence a kiss for me, would you?”
“Will do.”
***
Slugger was waiting by his bike in the layby.
“Before we go inside, I should warn you that they don’t serve muesli in here.” He grinned.
“Just as well. I detest that stuff.”
“I’m surprised. I had you down as a muesli and camomile tea woman. I’m having the full English, care to join me?”
I was sorely tempted, but I settled for a sausage cob, which was a meal in itself.
“Who was that old lady who called me yesterday?”
“That was Mrs V, my PA.”
“That woman is pretty fearsome. She threatened me with all kinds of things if I laid a finger on you.”
“Mrs V is very protective.”
“Judging by the way you dealt with Billy, I wouldn’t think you need much protection.”
“It’s Billy I want to talk to you about. Amongst other things.”
“I’m listening.”
“There are a few people who had a grudge against Killer.”
“Am I supposed to be surprised by that?”
“Andy, the mechanic at Wash-on-Wheels, had his nose put out when Chains brought in Killer, but I’m satisfied he didn’t murder him. Chains’ second-in-command, Sid, borrowed money from Killer, but failed to pay it back. I ruled him out once I was able to confirm that he’d paid the debt by giving Killer his gold ring.”
“And you’re telling me all of this why?”
“Because there’s still one person with reason to have a grudge against Killer, and so far, I haven’t been able to rule him out.”
“Let me take a wild guess. Would that person be me by any chance?”
“Got it in one.”
“I’ve already told you that Killer and I had buried the hatchet, and that I’d agreed he could re-join Loose Chippings.”
“That’s what you said, yeah. I’m just not sure I believe it. Everyone I’ve talked to says you have a temper, a flair for violence, and that you hold a grudge.”
