brimstone witch 10 - deal with the grim reaper

by April Fernsby

  I pulled Stanley closer to me for comfort. My voice was barely audible as I said, “No. You’re lying. Gran would never have agreed to that.”

  He gave me a long look before saying, “She did agree to it. She was confident you’d find the murderer in time. She’s as stubborn as your ancestor, Gertrude. The deal has been done. There’s nothing I can do about it now.”

  Panic rose in me and I stuttered, “But… But…What am I going to do without Gran? This can’t be happening. Bring her back. Please.”

  Andy shook his head. “I can’t. I’m the Grim Reaper. I reap lives. I couldn’t turn down Esther’s deal. All you can do now is use your intelligence to find out who the murderer is. Your magical abilities are decreasing by the second.” He gave me a look with such sadness in his eyes that it chilled me to the bone. His voice was full of sorrow as he said, “Cassia, I’m sorry about Stanley.”

  I looked down at Stanley in my arms and said, “Stanley? What do you mean about Stanley? What’s going to happen to him?”

  Stanley opened his mouth and said, “Meow.” He shut his mouth, looked over at Andy and then back at me. He tried to talk again, but the only noise which came out was a series of meows. His meows became more agitated and louder.

  I stared at Andy. “What’s happened to Stanley? Why can’t he talk?”

  Andy reached out and stroked Stanley’s head. “It’s part of the curse. Stanley is a witch’s familiar. He’s talking, but you can’t understand him as you’re becoming less of a witch by the minute. He can still understand you, though. If your investigation remains unsolved, Stanley will vanish from your life altogether as he won’t be able to work with you. He’ll be assigned to another witch. I’m so very sorry. I can see how close you two are.”

  Stanley let out a howl of agony and rested his head against my chest. I could feel his body trembling.

  Andy said, “Again, my apologies over this situation. I must leave you now. I have work to do. So much work. I will see you tomorrow morning.” He gave me a tight smile and added, “Good luck, Cassia Winter.” He disappeared.

  I couldn’t move. I didn’t think things could get any worse for me today. But they just had. I blinked away the tears that were threatening to fall, turned around and headed back to Luca’s apartment. This was no time to feel sorry for myself. I had work to do. A lot of work.

  Chapter 23

  When we got back to Luca’s apartment, I sat on the sofa and placed Stanley at the side of me. I stroked his head and said, “Stanley, this is all going to work out okay. I promise you that. I know I can’t understand you, but you can understand me. Can’t you?”

  He gave me a solemn nod.

  I carried on, “I’m going to write down all the details of the case so far. I know you can’t add your opinions, but if you think there’s anything I’ve missed, let me know somehow. Okay?”

  He gave me another solemn nod.

  I found a notepad and pen and went to work on getting my thoughts out and on paper. I had become so used to Stanley offering his opinions and it felt incredibly weird to have him sitting next to me saying nothing. But, I told myself sternly, this was a temporary situation and my chatty cat would be back in no time.

  I wrote Oddec’s name at the top of the paper and underlined it. I turned to Stanley and said, “Right, let’s begin. Let me write down a list of suspects. I’ll begin with the brother, Jackreth. We know Jackreth didn’t want to work with Oddec down the mines and so he went to Adonis Blue. Oddec could have followed him there and had an argument with him. Maybe he ordered Jackreth to return to the mine.” I stopped as I felt a tap on my leg. I looked at Stanley’s face and tried to work out what he was thinking. “Do you think Oddec could have found out about Jackreth’s business connection with Keftan Gubler?”

  Stanley nodded.

  “Yes, of course. That could be another reason for Oddec to have been annoyed with Jackreth. Let’s suppose Oddec went over to Adonis Blue and threatened Jackreth somehow. Jackreth could have gone back to the mine and lured Oddec into that smaller disused cave. Jack could have known a witch in Adonis Blue and asked them for the mirror potion. He could have used that on the floor of the cave before getting Oddec into it. And once Oddec fell through the opening and got stuck, Jackreth shoved that silver necklace down his throat. It would have been easy for Jackreth to note the buyer of the necklace as an anonymous customer. Who can prove otherwise? Does that sound reasonable to you, Stanley?”

  Stanley gave me a nod and a small meow.

  I moved on to my next suspect. “Keftan Gubler is the next one on my list. Did Oddec promise to sell him the mine on the night before he went missing and then double-crossed him? That’s a possibility. Also, Oddec could have been playing a nasty trick on Keftan by saying he’d sell the mine, when in fact he had no intention of doing so. If Keftan found out about that, he could have killed Oddec as an act of revenge. Keftan could have then pestered Mowibela constantly in the hope of getting her to sell the mine to him.”

  Stanley tapped my leg again. I looked at him and he put a paw on his neck.

  I said, “Ah, the necklace. Yes, you’re right. Where would Keftan have got the necklace from? I can imagine Keftan knowing who to contact to get the mirror potion, but why would he have had that necklace in his possession? Good point. We should look into that.”

  Stanley waved his front paws in the air and it took me a while to work out what he was trying to say. I finally worked it out when he aimed his paws at the clock over the fireplace.

  “Are you trying to talk about the years that have passed? If Keftan did kill Oddec, why did he leave the body undiscovered? Perhaps he didn’t want Mowibela to be upset. Maybe he was going to move it once he’d bought the mine.” I shook my head. “I don’t know what to say, Stanley. Maybe Keftan didn’t want the mine that much after all.”

  Stanley tapped my leg impatiently and then lifted his chin and gave me a funny look. He looked as if he was trying to mimic someone, but I couldn’t work out who. He jumped off the sofa and walked about in front of me with his head held high. He looked quite prim and proper.

  Prim and proper! That was it!

  I exclaimed, “Mrs Bribs! That’s who you’re trying to look like, isn’t it?”

  He nodded and then jumped back onto the sofa.

  “Mrs Bribs? Hmm. Yes, we’ve seen how loyal she is to Keftan. She might be in love with him. If she knew about Oddec going back on his deal with Keftan, she could have been angry enough to kill him. But would she have been in possession of such a lovely necklace? Perhaps. Maybe Keftan gave it to her. Maybe they’re having an affair. That’s interesting. We shouldn’t discount her as a suspect. Good thinking, Stanley.”

  Stanley purred.

  “Let’s move on to suspect number three. Lexi Lavabuckle. I know she claimed she was happy to just have a piece of Oddec, but what if she was lying? She might have had enough of being his part-time girlfriend. What if Oddec had promised to finally leave his wife, but then changed his mind? She used to work at the mine and she would have known about those disused caves. You saw the kind of creatures who go to The Crypt nightclub. I’m sure one of them could have supplied the mirror potion to Lexi. Seeing as she’s already got the bracelet and earrings, we could assume she was in possession of the necklace too. If she sent a message to Oddec to meet her in the cave, it seems entirely plausible that he would have met her there.” I nodded in confirmation of the facts. “That does seem a likely explanation. What do you think?”

  Stanley nodded again.

  “Can you think of any other suspects?”

  Stanley considered the matter and then shook his head. He rested his head on my knee.

  I glanced over my notes and said, “I’d like to know how far Mum got with her investigation twenty-three years ago. She might have written something down somewhere. I’ll ask Gran about that.”

  I stopped talking and looked down at Stanley. He sighed sadly.

  I sighed sadly too. “I forgot she
wasn’t here. Maybe Blythe would know.” My glance went towards the window. “Luca has been gone for a long time. I hope he isn’t giving Blythe a hard time over Mum’s death. I wish he’d hurry up and come back. I don’t know why, but I keep expecting things to get worse.”

  Chapter 24

  Someone was tapping me on the cheek. I pushed them away, but the tapping moved to my other cheek. I opened my eyes and saw Stanley’s face inches away from mine. His whiskers were tickling my nose. I mumbled, “Stanley, what are you doing?” My throat felt dry and my eyes were gritty.

  Stanley put his head back and let out a series of urgent meows. All of a sudden, I remembered he couldn’t speak to me any longer. I blinked and quickly took in my surroundings. I was lying on Luca’s sofa.

  Stanley meowed again and waved his paw at the clock. The sight of it made me sit up and cry out, “No! That can’t be the time. Stanley, what happened to us?”

  He put his front paws on one side of his face and closed his eyes. He looked as if he were asleep.

  “We fell asleep? Why did we do that? I don’t remember falling asleep. It’s early morning. Why did we waste time sleeping?” I looked around the apartment. “Where’s Luca? Did he come back during the night?”

  Stanley shook his head.

  I quickly got to my feet and stood on the notepad I’d been writing on the night before. The last thing I remember was going over and over my notes in the hope of inspiration striking me. I also recalled looking out of the window and hoping to see Luca striding across the square back to his apartment. But that never happened. Stanley and I must have fallen asleep from exhaustion.

  I said, “This is terrible. We shouldn’t have fallen asleep. Stanley, I’m really worried about Luca. We need to find out where he is and why he didn’t come back. I hope he didn’t make a secret deal with the Grim Reaper too. That’s the last thing we need.”

  Stanley nodded in agreement.

  I made a quick visit to the bathroom and following that, I made myself an extra strong cup of tea. I made sure Stanley had something to eat and drink. He looked at me as if to say I should have something too, but I shook my head at him. I patted my tummy and said, “I don’t think I’d be able to keep anything down.” I lifted my cup. “Except a cup of tea.”

  Stanley managed half of his breakfast food and I forced myself to finish my drink. I needed the caffeine.

  Stanley let out a meow which I interpreted as, “Where are we going?”

  I said, “We know Luca went over to Blythe’s yesterday. I want to know what he said to her, and if she knows where he went afterwards. I hope she still remembers who we are.”

  A few minutes later, Blythe answered her door with a suspicious look on her face. “Yes? Can I help you?”

  I didn’t have time to question her memory of me, so I said, “I’m looking for Luca, the guardian. He came to your house yesterday to talk to you about a mirror spell. Do you know where he’s gone?”

  Blythe lifted her chin and fixed me with a steely gaze. “All information concerning my guardians is confidential. I don’t know who you are or why you’re asking questions about Luca. Can you leave my property, please?”

  Stanley started meowing furiously. He must have hoped that as a witch, Blythe would understand him.

  She didn’t. Blythe gave him a disgusted look which made my heart twist in pain as she had never looked at Stanley like that before. She addressed me and said, “Can you do something about that cat of yours? It’s making the most terrible racket.” And with those harsh words, she closed the door on us.

  I picked Stanley up and said, “Don’t pay any attention to her words. She doesn’t know what she’s saying. I think we should go back to the Hammerhands Mine and talk to Mowibela about that mirror spell. She might have heard someone talking about it, perhaps Jackreth or Keftan. She might even know where that plant, Bristly Sneezeweed, grows. We’ll ask her about Mrs Bribs too in case she knows anything important. You never know, this could be a lucky morning for us.” I sighed. “Stanley, I don’t really know what else to do. I haven’t got any leads to go on. Do you think we should go back to the mine?”

  Stanley nodded and then tapped my arm three times.

  “Why are you doing that?”

  He performed the action again and gave me a smile.

  “The mine-knockers! Of course, we could speak to the mine-knockers too. If someone was using a mirror spell in the caves, they’d know about it. They’d better not start with that riddle business today, especially now that you can’t talk.” I grimaced. “We haven’t got the use of a broomstick. Let me summon a flying unicorn taxi.”

  I called out for a taxi. No unicorns appeared. All I got was strange looks from residents walking by.

  “The unicorns aren’t responding to me,” I explained unnecessarily. “We’ll have to use our legs to get to the mine. And we’ll have to run. You know how I feel about running.”

  Stanley let out a little noise which I recognised as a chuckle. I placed him on the ground, and together, we set off at a running pace towards the mines.

  It took us far too long to get to the Hammerhands Mine and by the time we flung our exhausted bodies into the wooden carriage, I fully appreciated the speed of it as we zoomed deep into the mine. Stanley didn’t let out one whoop of joy as we sped along.

  As soon as we came to a stop at the platform, we jumped out of the carriage and went into the wooden building. Mowibela wasn’t there.

  “Argh!” I cried out in frustration. “Where is she?”

  A noise outside caught my attention, and as I looked that way, I saw another carriage arriving at the platform. A couple of dwarves holding pickaxes got out and ambled towards us.

  They jumped back as I leapt out of the building.

  “Crumbling rockface!” one of the dwarves exclaimed. “Don’t ever jump out at an armed worker like that! That’s the first rule of mining. I could have dropped my pickaxe on my foot. I’ve already lost two toes to mining incidents. I can’t afford to lose any more.”

  “I’m very sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you,” I said. “I’m looking for Mowibela Hammerhands. Have you seen her? Do you know where she is?”

  “I do as a matter of fact. But I’m not going to give that information to just anyone.” The dwarf’s eyes narrowed. “Who are you? I’ve never seen you in Brimstone before.”

  “I’m Cassia Winter. I’m a justice witch.”

  “Are you certain about that? I’ve never, ever seen you in Brimstone,” the dwarf argued.

  His colleague joined in, “I haven’t seen her either. What’s she doing in our mine? Shall we tie her up and report her to Blythe?”

  Stanley let out an indignant howl.

  I didn’t have time for any of this. “Look, I can’t go into details now, but I am telling you the truth. I’m dealing with the death of Oddec, and I need to speak to Mowibela urgently.”

  The first dwarf said, “You can’t speak to her. She’s not here.”

  “No, she isn’t,” his colleague added.

  “I can see that.” I was holding on to my patience by a thread. “Do you know where she is?”

  The dwarves nodded but didn’t say anything.

  “Well?” I asked.

  Stanley added a meow.

  “She’s staying at her sister’s on account of her being so upset about her husband. She went there last night. I heard her saying to the chief miner she couldn’t face going home to an empty house, not with Oddec’s things still there.” He lowered his pickaxe and shook his head. “We all thought he’d run away. We didn’t know he was stuck in that cave.”

  The other dwarf said, “I always got a funny feeling when I went anywhere near that cave.” He shivered for effect. “I must have known deep down that something wasn’t right. I’ll bet my best pickaxe that Oddec’s ghost has been wandering these mines. I’m very sensitive to things like that. There was that one time when—”

  I interrupted his musings. “Where does Mowib
ela’s sister live?”

  “Not far from here,” the first dwarf said. “If you leave the mine by the main entrance and walk along the hedgerow, you’ll come to a line of cottages. Mowibela’s house is the first one, and her sister lives at the very end one.”

  “Thanks,” I said and then hurried over to the carriage. I got in and Stanley jumped onto my lap. The carriage didn’t move. I looked over at the dwarves and shouted, “Don’t just stand there, get us going.”

  I heard them muttering something about me being very rude, but I ignored them. I didn’t have time for good manners.

  When we exited the mine a short while later, Stanley and I jumped out of the carriage and ran over to the hedgerow. We jogged along and came to the row of cottages. My intention was to go to the sister’s house, but some instinct made me turn into the garden of the first house.

  “Meow?” Stanley said.

  “I’ve got a feeling we should call into Mowibela’s house first. She might have returned home.”

  I knocked on the door and waited. There was no answer, so I knocked twice more.

  There was still no answer, so I pressed my face against the nearest window and peered in.

  I said to Stanley, “I can’t see anyone inside.” I peered a bit more. “There’s something weird in there. I need to have a closer look.”

  I walked back to the door and twisted the handle. The door was locked. Knowing it was wrong, but not caring at this point, I sent magic into my hands to unlock the door.

  The tingle of magic which I’d got used to feeling didn’t arrive. I tried again. There was still no tingle.

  I couldn’t keep the panic from my voice as I said to Stanley, “I think my magic has stopped working.”

  Stanley stared at me in shock. He nudged his head into my leg as if telling me to try again.