A Witchy Boxed Set

by D. S. Butler

  But when I saw her, I exhaled in relief. She was unhurt.

  Bustling from side to side, she frantically flicked through different spell books. At the same time, she grabbed things off the shelves.

  Her gray hair, which was normally tightly held in a bun, was flying all over the place.

  “What have you done?” I asked.

  “There’s no time to explain,” Grandma said. “I need your help now. I have to cast a quick reversal spell. I need…” Grandma Grant hesitated as she squinted at the list of ingredients in the spell book.

  Some spells required a potion to go along with them, and I guessed a reversal spell was one of them.

  “Now let me see. I’ve got rosemary and thyme, and I’ve got some dried juniper berries around here somewhere. Two cat’s hairs, that’s easy enough. So I just need…” She turned to me. “I need pondweed and a pebble from the bottom of the pond. Can you get that for me?”

  I would much rather have been tasked with getting the rosemary or the thyme than a pebble from the bottom of the pond.

  “Really? But it’s all slimy at the bottom of the pond.”

  “Harper, this is not the time to argue with me.” She pointed in the direction of the pond. “Chop chop.”

  My shoulders slumped as I stomped outside, but I quickened my pace when I turned and saw the sunflower was almost at the level with the roof of Grandma Grant’s huge old house.

  I sprinted the final few steps to the pond and then hesitated as I looked at it reluctantly.

  The surface was smooth, and a couple of dragonflies skirted over the top. Unusual to see them so late in the season, but then again they were the least of my concerns right now.

  I got down on my hands and knees beside the pond and plunged my arm into the cold water. I inhaled sharply as my fingers slipped on the bottom and groped about in the mud and slippery green stuff that lived down there.

  I pulled a face as my hand closed around a stone and lifted it up. My arm was covered with pondweed.

  I rushed back to Grandma Grant, and she held out a pot for me. “Good girl. Put it in there, Harper.”

  I did as I was told and then stood back and watched as Grandma Grant mixed the ingredients together. She muttered a few lines as she sprinkled the potion over the bottom of the sunflower stalk.

  When she finished, I heaved a sigh in relief.

  “Oh, thank goodness, that’s over.” I noticed with amazement that the sunflower began to shrink a little.

  I had expected it to stop growing but hadn’t realized it would shrink back to its normal size. I would have to renew my efforts to learn more about casting potions and spells. They were extremely useful.

  I was about to congratulate Grandma Grant on her spellcasting skills when I remembered I was supposed to be angry with her for creating the problem in the first place.

  “Grandma, look at the state of your greenhouse. It’s going to take a fortune to repair all this. You really should stop using your spells experimentally.”

  Grandma Grant looked at me and raised an eyebrow. “With potions and spells, a witch should constantly be learning. Even a witch of my age,” she said, pointedly.

  “Well, I suppose I’d better help you clear up. We don’t want anyone getting cut on all this glass.”

  “Actually, Harper, we may have a more pressing matter to attend to.”

  I raised an eyebrow and looked at Grandma Grant suspiciously. “What now?”

  Grandma Grant shifted her gaze. I turned and saw row after row of tiny seedlings on the bench next to us.

  My gaze flickered down to them, and then I gasped. “You didn’t? Tell me you didn’t use a potion on all of these plants?”

  Grandma Grant shrugged. “Well, it seemed to be working quite well on the first sunflower plant. How was I supposed to know it would keep on growing?”

  “Quick! Put the reversal potion on them. Fix them before they start to grow.”

  I’m afraid I need a new potion for every single plant.

  My eyes widened. No, she couldn’t be serious.

  “And you know what that means, don’t you, Harper?”

  I groaned. I knew exactly what that meant. I was going to have to go back to the pond and get more pebbles. A lot more pebbles.

  By the time we finally finished, I was exhausted. I pulled off a strand of pondweed from my sweater, flicked back my wet hair and looked angrily at Grandma Grant.

  “I can’t believe you did all this in secret. If you’d told us, at least we could have been prepared.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous, Harper. If I’d told you, you would have stopped me.”

  Grandma Grant walked back to the house with Athena at her heels, leaving me speechless behind her.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Feeling frazzled, I got back to the cottage and hung up my coat. Thanks to Grandma Grant and her uncontrollably growing plants, I was running late. I had things to do today, starting with laundry.

  As I headed to the laundry basket in my bedroom, Elizabeth zoomed in circles around me.

  “That was exciting! That was the most interesting thing that’s happened to me since I’ve been a ghost.”

  “I’m glad it was so entertaining for you,” I said as I gathered up my laundry and started carrying it out of the bedroom.

  But Elizabeth didn’t respond to my sarcasm. Instead, she pointed to the floor. “What’s that?”

  Something had fallen from the pile of clothes in my arms. I knelt down and dumped the clothes on the floor, and reached for it.

  “Oh, I’d forgotten about that. It’s a pipe.”

  “I know it’s a pipe,” Elizabeth said impatiently. “But what on earth are you doing with my husband’s pipe?”

  I turned the pipe over in my hands and studied it. It was the one I’d picked up from the mantelpiece at Victoria Andrews’ house. I’d quickly put it in my pocket to hide it when Victoria had returned with the tea, and I’d forgotten to return it.

  Elizabeth was staring down at the pipe. “It was his favorite. He must have missed it.”

  “Are you sure it was Robert’s pipe? One pipe looks much the same as another to me.”

  Elizabeth nodded. “Of course, I’m sure. Look, there’s a little chip in the wood there. I got him another one for his birthday a couple of years ago, but he wouldn’t give this one up. He said it just didn’t feel the same.”

  I held the pipe next to the window, to get the best light, and studied the little chip. Elizabeth was right.

  I tried to suppress the feeling of dread rushing through me. “Elizabeth, I found this pipe at Victoria’s house.”

  Elizabeth frowned, opened her mouth, and then abruptly shut it again.

  We stood staring at each other for a moment, and then Elizabeth gritted her teeth, clenched her fists and whirled around, half gliding and half flouncing out of the cottage.

  “Wait! Elizabeth, wait!” I grabbed my coat, and still clutching the pipe, I followed Elizabeth.

  “I’ll give that harlot a piece of my mind,” Elizabeth fumed as she hovered along the path towards the center of town. “She pretended to be my friend.”

  Between trying to calm Elizabeth, and suggesting there could be another perfectly logical reason for Victoria having the pipe, I fumbled for my cell phone.

  “What logical reason, Harper?” Elizabeth demanded.

  “Er…”

  Elizabeth was right. I couldn’t think of a reason why Victoria had the pipe, other than Robert had left it there, which meant… Oh, dear, I didn’t want to think what it meant.

  My fingers felt thick and clumsy as I dialed the police station’s number.

  “The simplest explanation is often the right one,” Elizabeth said in a cold voice.

  “Do you really believe they were having an affair? Maybe it was just an innocent visit, and Robert left his pipe behind.”

  “Innocent? Pah!” Elizabeth sped up, and I struggled to keep up with her.

  If Robert had been
having an affair, that was certainly a motive for him to get rid of his wife.

  When the phone was answered, I burst out, “Chief Wickham?”

  “Yes.”

  “This is Harper Grant. Could you have a word with Victoria Andrews about Elizabeth’s murder? The thing is, I think Robert may have been having an affair with Victoria.”

  Chief Wickham was silent for a moment on the other end of the line, and then he sighed heavily.

  “Harper, you really should have learned your lesson. You can’t just accuse people of things like that without any evidence.”

  Elizabeth was pulling away from me, so I quickened my strides, and breathlessly tried to persuade the chief to go and talk to Elizabeth. I started telling him about the pipe.

  “Now, Harper, Joe told me about the trash incident outside Robert Naggington’s house. You’ve really got a bee in your bonnet about this. You need to stop interfering and leave it to the professionals.”

  Damn, Joe McGrady. Did he really have to tell Chief Wickham about the trash thing? I thought I’d gotten away with it.

  “I’m quite prepared to leave it to the professionals,” I said. “That’s why I’m asking you to go and talk to Victoria.”

  Chief Wickham sighed heavily again. “I’m busy at the moment, Harper. There’s been a dispute out on Main Street over parking. Betty Turnbull and Brenda Burke. Again. They’ve been at it hammer and tongs for the last half an hour, and somehow, I’ve got to try and stop them from killing each other. On top of this, I have to investigate Elizabeth’s murder by the book. That means following procedure and questioning people in an approved fashion. Not running over to question people when you ask me to.”

  “But…”

  “Look, I will talk to Victoria later today, but you have to promise to leave this to the police. Don’t go around to see Victoria yourself. Promise me that, Harper.”

  I hesitated for a moment. Elizabeth was still traveling full steam ahead.

  “Sorry, Chief, You’re breaking up,” I said, and then hung up and ran after Elizabeth.

  I finally managed to catch her just before she reached Victoria’s house.

  I watched in horror as Elizabeth leaned down, picked up a large decorative stone from the flower bed in Victoria’s front garden and threw it at Victoria’s window.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  My eyes widened as I stared at Elizabeth in shock and a small amount of admiration. She’d finally managed to harness the power to move objects. She turned into a poltergeist. Obviously, her anger had helped.

  “Elizabeth,” I hissed. “Stop it, immediately. I’ll get the blame for that.”

  Victoria appeared at the door. Her usually impeccable bobbed hairstyle was slightly messed up. She stared at her broken window and then back at me.

  “What on earth do you think you’re doing?”

  Before I could answer, Robert Naggington appeared just behind Victoria’s shoulder.

  His shirt was unbuttoned.

  Elizabeth screamed in anger, but of course, nobody heard it but me.

  I pulled the pipe out of my pocket and held it aloft so they could both see it. “This gave you both away. Have you told the police about your little affair?”

  Robert began to hastily button his shirt, and he and Victoria exchanged guarded glances.

  “I think you’d better come in,” Victoria said.

  Okay, so it probably wasn’t the smartest move to go inside when I strongly suspected Robert had killed his wife, but I did anyway.

  Victoria smoothed down her hair and led me into the sitting room. “Please take a seat, Harper.”

  She was acting very strangely, almost as if I’d just popped by for a social call.

  “Can I get you something to drink? A cup of tea? Or perhaps lemonade? It’s homemade.”

  Thrown slightly, I blinked and then shook my head. “I’m fine, but I would like an explanation.”

  “Well, I for one could do with a drink,” Robert said, raking his hand through his hair.

  “I’ll get you one, Robert. I won’t be long,” Victoria said. “Then we’ll explain, Harper. I’m sure you think badly of us right now, but hopefully, you’ll understand when you hear our side of the story.”

  Victoria walked out of the sitting room, but I still didn’t sit down.

  I stared at Robert Naggington and said, “Did your wife know about your affair? Did you decide to get rid of her, so you and Victoria could be together?”

  Elizabeth was circling Robert, trying to smack his head, which was a little distracting.

  It seemed, even though she’d managed to lift a rock outside, she wasn’t able to physically hurt Robert, which was probably a good thing.

  Robert looked horrified. “What? No, I would never have hurt Elizabeth. You’ve got it all wrong.”

  I frowned. He did look genuinely shocked at my accusation, but maybe he was just a very good actor.

  I was completely out of my depth and started to wish I’d waited for the police. Was I about to make a complete fool of myself again by accusing the wrong person?

  I looked to Elizabeth for help, but she was absolutely of no use. She was now trying to pummel Robert into submission, but he just stood there oblivious.

  I heard footsteps, and Victoria came back into the room, holding a tray with three glasses of lemonade. She put the tray on a low coffee table, picked up a glass and handed it to me.

  “Please, Harper, sit down and let us explain.”

  Reluctantly, I did as she asked.

  Then Robert spoke up, “Victoria, darling, would you mind making tea instead? The lemonade is lovely, but the sugar plays havoc with my bad tooth.”

  “Of course, darling,” Victoria leaned down to stroke Robert’s cheek, and Elizabeth looked like she might explode.

  Victoria left Robert and me alone in the sitting room and went to get tea. I was feeling distinctly uneasy. Could this very ordinary man be a killer?

  Robert sat opposite me on a flowery print armchair with his elbows on his knees, and his head bowed forward.

  “It wasn’t me. I would never have hurt Elizabeth. I admit I was a weak man, and I succumbed to temptation.”

  He looked up at me, pleading with his eyes for me to understand. “You know what Elizabeth could be like. She was a rather determined person, and Victoria was much more of a free spirit and very kind.”

  I sat there, looking sternly at Robert Naggington, and didn’t reply. I wasn’t sure what he expected me to say. Just because Elizabeth could be difficult at times and rather domineering, it didn’t give him an excuse to cheat on her.

  I took a sip of lemonade as I considered what he’d said.

  If he’d been a good man, he would have stood up to her, and they could have overcome their difficulties or separated. But this sneaking around behind her back was a horrible thing to do.

  “Harper, you know what Elizabeth was like. You’d seen her in the diner in one of her moods. Surely you can understand that I needed a little escape.”

  I shook my head. To be honest, it was becoming increasingly hard to concentrate on what Robert was saying because, at that moment, Elizabeth was pummeling his head with her fists. Robert paid absolutely no heed to her attack, but it was still distracting.

  “No, Robert, I’m afraid I don’t understand. Elizabeth was not—” Elizabeth stopped pummeling and gave me a sharp look. I needed to choose my words carefully. “I mean, Elizabeth could be difficult to get along with, but that didn’t give you the right to cheat on her.”

  Robert’s shoulders slumped, and his gaze fell to the floor. “You’re right of course. I wished I had talked to her more. Maybe we could have sorted things out. We were very much in love once.”

  Elizabeth moved a small distance away from Robert, so she could look down on him. She had stopped trying to hit him around the head. I supposed that was progress.

  “I knew it,” Elizabeth said. “That hussy! It was all Victoria’s fault. Now, let’s see what I
can destroy of hers,” Elizabeth said, moving towards a large, expensive-looking, blue and white vase on the sideboard.

  “No!” Too late, I realized I’d spoken aloud and tried to cover my outburst with a pretend cough.

  “Are you okay, Harper?” Robert asked, looking concerned. “Have some more lemonade.”

  I took a large gulp and shot daggers at Elizabeth. “I’m fine now, thank you.”

  “I’m a weak man, Harper. I took the easy way out. Victoria was welcoming and kind, but I never loved her like I loved Elizabeth.”

  Unfortunately, Robert chose to say those words just as Victoria was returning with the tea tray. Her eyes widened in shock, and the tea tray fell from her hands, clattering to the floor.

  The porcelain smashed, and the brown tea and milk spilled all over the Persian rug.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Robert turned in horror, and when he realized Victoria had overheard him, he said, “Victoria! Wait. That didn’t come out right. I didn’t mean it.”

  He chased Victoria out of the room as she ran out sobbing.

  “He always was a weak man,” Elizabeth said as she hovered beside the couch.

  I sighed and stood up. “I think we had better go and leave them to it. We’ve caused enough havoc for one day, and Chief Wickham is going to be furious with me when he finds out I came here after he asked me not to.”

  My head was pounding, and I felt strangely dizzy. This whole experience had been incredibly stressful. Yet again, I’d focused on the wrong suspect.

  Robert was certainly guilty of cheating on his wife, but I was pretty sure he hadn’t killed her.

  “It looks like it is back to the drawing board again,” I said to Elizabeth, or at least, that’s what I tried to say, but somehow my words came out all slurred and mixed up.

  Elizabeth frowned and looked at me with concern. “Are you okay, Harper?”

  My mouth tasted all furry, and the dizziness was getting worse. “I think I better get home, Elizabeth. I’m not feeling too good.”

  I reached down to pick up my purse, and when I straightened back up, my head swam. I saw a strange vision in front of me. I blinked a couple of times not quite believing it. Was I hallucinating now?