“No. I wanted to, but it’s already been sold.”
“Who bought it?”
“I don’t know.”
“You must know,” I insisted.
“I don’t. I wish I did then I’d buy it off them.”
I wasn’t sure whether I believed him or not. I marched over to the stakes and took my time examining each and every one. Zeke kept a safe distance as I handled them. Was he worried I was going to hurl one at him?
I wasn’t sure whether I was relieved or disappointed when I didn’t find ink on any of the stakes. What was I supposed to do now?
Trying to keep an air of purpose about myself, I marched back to Zeke and declared, “That’s all I need for now. I’ll be in touch.”
Stanley was waiting outside the shed. He widened his eyes in question. I shook my head slightly.
We quickly said goodbye to the Trinity family and left the property using my broomstick. I hoped I’d given them the impression that I knew exactly what I was doing.
As soon as we were away from the house, I said to Stanley, “I was so sure we were going to find something there. Thanks for talking to Zarrina by the way. You’ve helped her a great deal.”
Stanley shrugged. “It was nothing. What are we going to do now?”
We flew above Cemetery Road while I thought about our next move.
A peculiar feeling came over me. It was a mixture of annoyance and fear. It was the annoyed feeling you get when someone is driving too close behind you. It was mixed with the fear that they’ll cause an accident if they’re not careful.
I whispered to Stanley, “Someone’s following us. They’re right behind us. Hold on tight.”
Chapter 30
I grabbed the handle of the broomstick tightly and yanked it to the side. This resulted in me performing a sudden U-turn.
Stanley and I looked at the person who was now facing us. Well, it was one person and one animal. More precisely, one elderly lady and one black cat.
“Gran! What are you doing?” I asked. I hovered in mid-air.
Stanley raised a paw and said, “Hey, Oliver.”
Gran smiled at me. “Oliver and I fancied a little outing, didn’t we?”
Oliver nodded but kept his gaze averted.
Gran went on, “We thought we’d have a little fly around Brimstone. I haven’t been on this old broomstick for a while and I thought it could do with an airing. Fancy seeing you two up here! What a coincidence! Of all the space around here, we end up flying so close together. What are the chances of that?”
She wasn’t fooling me. I said, “You were following us. Admit it.”
“Perhaps a little,” Gran replied. “We wanted to make sure you were okay, didn’t we Oliver?”
“Don’t bring me into your web of lies,” Oliver muttered.
Gran tutted. “You wanted to check on them too.”
“Gran, we’re both fine. We’re making good progress with our investigation.”
Gran flew to my side. “Now that you’ve brought up the matter of the investigation, tell me how everything is going. Let’s have a little fly along as we chat. I must say, Cassia, your flying skills are impressive. I can’t tell you how many times I fell off my broomstick when I first got it.”
Gran and I flew side-by-side as I got her up to date on our investigation. Stanley and Oliver chatted at the front of the broomsticks. It was nice to have a flying companion.
I finished with, “I need to find out who bought Uriah’s house. I have a feeling it’s significant. How can I find out, Gran?”
“You should ask Ma Breccia.”
“Ma Breccia? Is that Steve’s mum?”
“It is. She knows everything about property and land around here. She’ll know who bought Uriah’s house. Do you want me to come with you?”
“No. I have to do this on my own. Where will I find her?”
Gran said, “She’ll most likely be at the quarry. It’s not far over that way.” She pointed to the right. “Cassia, Ma Breccia is a troll, as you know. She’s a fierce troll with an atrocious temper.”
Oliver looked over his shoulder, “She’s massive too. Her eyes are as big as buses. Her hands are like bulldozers. Her feet are like – ”
“That’s enough,” Gran interrupted him. “I think you’ve scared Cassia.” There was a flicker of worry in her eyes. “Do be careful. Ma Breccia doesn’t suffer fools gladly. Or anyone who irritates her for the slightest reason. Just be your lovely self. I’m sure you’ll be fine.”
“Rather you than me,” Oliver added. “Stanley, why don’t you come home with me? You’ll be safe from hot-tempered trolls there.”
“No, thank you. I’m staying with Cassia.”
Gran reluctantly said goodbye and then Stanley and I headed towards the quarry.
It didn’t take us long to find it. It was huge and the sides of it were deep.
Stanley said, “It looks like the Grand Canyon. Do you remember that programme we saw about it?”
“I do. You’re right. Where do we land?”
“What about over there? I can see movement. It looks like everyone is gathering behind those vehicles.”
“Oh, yes. I wonder if they’re having a meeting of some sort?” I turned my broomstick in that direction and kept my eyes on the gathering below.
“Cassia,” Stanley began warily. “Can you hear a countdown? Why would someone be counting down at a quarry?”
I was too horrified to speak.
Stanley said, “They’re counting down to an explosion, aren’t they? Cassia, are we in the way?”
“I think we are. Hold on.” I quickly changed direction.
I wasn’t quick enough.
There was an ear-shattering boom below us. The air vibrated around us and a huge stone-filled cloud shot towards us.
Within seconds, we were enveloped by the cloud. I couldn’t see and I couldn’t breathe. Dust flew into my mouth and up my nostrils. I reached out for Stanley and pulled him close to me. I put his face against my chest and hoped that would protect him from the small pieces of rock that were hitting us.
I felt myself plummeting downwards and did my best to control my broomstick while keeping a firm hold of Stanley. The dust cloud thinned out and I caught glimpses of the ground below us. It was too close. I steered us away from it. My eyes were streaming and I was coughing painfully.
A tiny, clear part of my mind told me to use magic. I wasn’t sure how to, but I had to try. I concentrated on the dust cloud and imagined it melting away like an ice cube on a hot day. I pictured Stanley and I landing safely on the ground. I got a tingly feeling in my hands and I knew I was performing magic. I wasn’t sure what the result was going to be yet.
The dust cloud in front of us vanished. I blinked. Wow. That was good magic. I could see the ground clearly now and headed safely towards it.
Stanley lifted his head. “Cassia, what happened? Where did all the rocks and dust go?”
I gave him a somewhat smug smile. “I made them go away using magic.”
An outraged roar blasted out. An enormous hand the size of a bulldozer grabbed the end of my broomstick. We were pulled towards an immense head. It had eyes the size of buses.
Ma Breccia thundered, “What have you done to my rocks? Where have they gone? You’re going to pay for this!”
Chapter 31
Stanley trembled against me. Ma Breccia shook my broomstick almost causing us to fall off. Stanley whimpered in fright.
I found an ounce of courage, lifted my head and ordered, “Put us down immediately. We are here on an official matter.”
Ma Breccia glowered at us. “I don’t care why you’re here. You’ve interfered in my business. You’ve lost me money.”
“You nearly killed us,” I countered. I thought of all the health and safety rules we had back in my world. “Have you got any warning signs up anywhere? Anything that tells people not to fly overhead when you’re blasting?”
Ma Breccia frowned. “Warning
signs? Why would I need those? I can blast when I like.”
“No, you can’t. You have a duty of care to all visitors to your property. Even flying ones.” I sat up straighter. “I could sue you for the emotional damage caused to Stanley and me.”
“Sue? As in take money from me?” Ma Breccia lowered the broomstick. “You don’t look emotionally damaged to me. How much money would you take from me? I don’t like the sound of that at all.”
“Put us down and we’ll talk about this further,” I said.
The huge troll lowered us to the ground. Stanley and I got off the broomstick. We both wobbled on our trembling legs as we stood up. I tried to get mine under control as I didn’t want to show any weakness in front of Ma Breccia.
Ma Breccia sat down abruptly. The ground shook and Stanley fell over. He quickly got back to his feet and gave me an embarrassed grin.
Ma Breccia said, “I know who you are. You’re Cassia Winter. I know your gran. How’s she keeping?”
“She’s fine, thank you. I’m dealing with the murder of Uriah Firenze. I want to ask you something.”
“Go ahead.” Something caught her attention and she yelled, “Oi! Ian! You lazy lout! Get back and fill that lorry to the brim. It’s only half full, you dimwit.”
I looked over to where Ma Breccia’s attention was. A troll in a checked shirt was driving an open lorry. Rocks were piled to overflowing in the back.
Ian shouted, “I can’t fit any more in!”
Ma Breccia raised her fist at him. “Don’t you give me any of your lip, you work-shy idiot! Get back and fill that lorry up. Do you want me to come over there and fill it up for you, you useless twerp?”
Ian swallowed and said, “No, I can do it myself. Sorry, Mum.” He changed direction and headed back the way he’d driven.
“Mum?” I said.
Ma Breccia nodded. “Yes. I’ve got ten useless sons. They’re the bane of my life. A complete waste of space, the lot of them. If I take my eye off them for a second, they turn into complaining layabouts. They’re a great disappointment to me.” Her mouth lifted a fraction. “Apart from one. He said he’d deliver on his promise. And he did. What did you want to ask me?”
“It’s about Uriah’s house,” I began. I didn’t get very far.
Ma Breccia put her huge hand to the side of her mouth and hollered, “Oi! Frank! Get back there and do it right, you good-for-nothing! Do I have to come over there and show you where to shove that dynamite?”
I tried again. “Do you know who bought Uriah’s house?”
Ma Breccia wasn’t listening, “Steve! I know you’re in my good books, but don’t even think of clocking off early! You’ve got five minutes yet. Get back to work, you skiver!”
I looked over to the familiar figure of Steve. He was walking away from a white van, his head low and his eyes turned away from his mum.
Ma Breccia shook her head. “They all think they can get one over me.” There was the sound of rocks crashing to the ground. She got to her feet and said, “What have they done now? Stay here. I won’t be long.” She strode away making the ground vibrate as she did.
I looked down at Stanley. He looked at me. We were both coming to the same conclusion.
“Steve?” I said.
“Steve,” Stanley said with a nod of his head. “He was outside the nightclub when Uriah was shouting at everyone. Uriah shouted at him too. I didn’t think anything of it.”
“What did Uriah say?”
“He said Steve was a useless troll and his mum was ashamed of him. He said Steve was terrible at his job and would never make his mum proud. I thought Uriah was talking about Steve’s job as a doorman.”
I said, “Steve’s got two jobs, as you can see. Ma Breccia just told us Steve delivered on his promise. I wonder if he bought Uriah’s house on behalf of her company?” I looked towards Steve’s van. “We have to look inside his van.”
We checked to make sure no one was watching us and then sneaked over to Steve’s van. I tried the back doors. They were unlocked. The doors opened to reveal a pile of cardboard signs displaying the words ‘For Sale’ or ‘Sold’.
I pointed to the nearest one. “Stanley, look at this. Each sign is fixed to a wooden stake. A well made stake. I didn’t have a good look at the one stuck in Uriah the other day, but these look very similar.”
Stanley jumped into the van and began to sniff around. He moved to the front of the van. He looked back at me and said, “Cassia, there’s a stake on its own here. It’s got a red mark on it.”
I climbed into the van and headed over to Stanley. I looked down at the stake. The red mark was ink. Something was half hidden beneath the stake. I pulled it out.
“It’s Uriah’s book,” I said to Stanley. “Steve must have killed Uriah.”
“I did,” a voice behind us said.
We spun around to see Steve standing at the open doors. He was blocking the light out with his huge body. “Why did you have to interfere, Cassia? No one liked Uriah. Everyone’s glad he’s gone. Brimstone is better off without him.”
Even though fear was running through me, I said, “Why did you kill him? Was it something to do with his house?”
“Yes. Mum’s been after that property for years. I promised I would buy it for her one day. She laughed and said I was too useless to achieve that. I knew about Uriah’s plans to leave Brimstone. And I knew about his deal with Gisela. I couldn’t let her buy his house. I knew Mum would be so proud of me if I bought Uriah’s property. I offered him more money than Gisela. We made a deal. Then he tried to back out of it. He said he didn’t know when he’d be leaving Brimstone and he couldn’t sell his house to me until he did.” Steve’s mouth twisted into a sneer. “I made him change his mind by using a bit of force on him. We completed the deal the night he was shouting at everyone. I took him to this van and sorted out the contract. Then I killed him. I had to. I didn’t want him to change his mind again.”
“You didn’t have to kill him,” I said. “He was going to leave Brimstone eventually. You could have waited.”
“I’d waited long enough for Mum’s approval. I wasn’t going to wait any longer. Why don’t we forget about this? No one will miss Uriah.”
“That’s not the point!” I made a move forward. “Steve Breccia, I’m arresting you for the murder of Uriah Firenze.”
“I don’t think so.” Steve’s hand shot out and landed on my chest. It was like being hit with a paving slab.
I fell backwards and my vision blurred. I was vaguely aware of Steve saying something about an unfortunate accident and disposing of our bodies. I felt Stanley licking my face and telling me to get up.
I focused my eyes on the van doors. Steve began to close them.
Stanley cried out, “Cassia, he’s going to kill us!”
“Not today.” I held my hand out and summoned the spell to immobilise an attacker. I hoped to goodness I had the words right. I managed to get the words out before Steve closed the doors further.
There was a sudden silence.
Stanley said, “Did it work?”
“Something worked because my hands tingled.”
A gust of wind caught one of the van doors and pulled it open.
Stanley and I stared in horror.
Stanley said, “What have you done to Steve?”
The troll was a statue. He was rock-like before; he was like a slab of stone now. I could barely make out his features. A large crack ran up the side of his body and his left arm fell off.
“Have you broken him?” Stanley asked.
“I don’t know.” We shuffled out of the van so we could inspect Steve closer.
As we did so, a huge Ma Breccia shadow fell over us.
I looked up at her. I had a lot of explaining to do.
Chapter 32
“Well?” Luca asked me later. “Did Ma Breccia listen to your explanation?”
Stanley and I were sitting in Luca’s dining room. Despite being exhausted at the end of the
day, we decided it would be rude to cancel Luca’s invitation to dinner.
Luca had given me a quick tour of his apartment when we’d first arrived. Astrid was firmly at his side throughout. Luca had asked me if anything looked familiar. Before I had the chance to say some things did, Astrid said Luca shouldn’t expect me to hold onto useless memories from the past.
I thought that was a bit rude, but I didn’t say anything.
We were now seated at the table. Luca had thoughtfully put a cushion on the floor for Stanley with a full dish of tuna pie at the side of it. He’d picked the pie up from Gilda before leaving the café earlier. I thought Stanley was going to explode with happiness when Luca told him that.
Stanley looked up from his dish and answered Luca’s question. “Ma Breccia didn’t speak for ages, did she, Cassia? When Cassia had finished telling her everything, Ma Breccia stood there as still as a statue. I thought Cassia had secretly cast a spell on her.” He chuckled and turned his head back to his dish.
“I thought that too,” I admitted. “But then, all of a sudden, she started to cry.”
Luca put his fork down. “Cry? Ma Breccia? Never.”
I nodded. “She did. It was like watching a dam breaking. Her face cracked and then water whooshed out. It was like a waterfall. Stanley and I jumped back into the van to keep dry.”
Astrid shook her head. “I’m sure it wasn’t that bad.”
“It was,” Stanley said without looking up.
I carried on, “Once she stopped crying, she said everything was her fault. She’d been too harsh on all her sons. I told her it wasn’t her fault at all. Steve decided to kill Uriah even though he’d bought his house.” I paused. “Steve’s other arm fell off at that point and she started crying again.”
Luca shook his head. “Steve Breccia; I can’t believe it.”
“Yes, it does seem far-fetched,” Astrid said. “Cassia, are you sure you’ve got your facts straight?”
“Of course she has,” Stanley replied with a hint of annoyance in his voice. “Are you calling my Cassia a liar?”
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