by Morgana Best
My hands flew to my throat. “Yes! He was here only yesterday morning. I just can’t believe this has happened.”
Hecate appeared purring loudly and rubbed her head on Harry’s leg. Harry bent down to stroke her. “Why did Joseph come out here?” he asked me.
I shrugged. “He seemed upset about the quality of the phone lines or some such thing. I didn’t quite understand what he was going on about,” I lied. “I called Ozfoneandnet after you told me the internet was down.”
“Then you’ll probably be a suspect, too,” Harry said in a matter of fact tone. “I’m a suspect, you’ll be a suspect, your aunts will be suspects, and half the town will be suspects. Everyone in town hated Joseph.”
I rubbed my temples. “Who specifically hated him?”
“Everyone!” he said vehemently. “Apart from his ex-wife, Marianne, who lives in town. She’s too sweet-natured to hurt anyone. It might be the antique dealer. I just happened to be looking in an antique shop yesterday, and Joseph was in there tearing strips off the owner. Of course, as soon as I saw him, I left, but I could still hear him yelling at her right down the street.”
“Do you have any idea what the argument was about?” I asked him.
He shook his head. “No, but he wasn’t a very nice man, and that’s the understatement of the century. You met him—you know what he was like. He was a first-rate troublemaker and he was incompetent. He was a nasty piece of work. He was a right galah!”
I bit my lip. It seemed like there were plenty of suspects for killing Joseph Maxwell, but if this was the serial killer’s work, then none of that would make sense. Surely the serial killer was selecting people at random, unless perhaps they were all Ozfoneandnet employees. I shrugged. It wasn’t my concern. I simply had to be careful to keep out of Scorpius Everyman’s way.
I walked the short distance to my cottage, relieved that I didn’t run across Scorpius. I fetched my coffee capsules, locked the cottage, and headed back to the manor, keeping an eye out for both Scorpius and Lucas. What Lucas had said was troubling, to say the least. Why would Scorpius think my aunts or I had anything to do with the murders? It didn’t make sense. Still, Lucas was a Cleaner and I figured there was more he wasn’t telling me.
I let myself in the back door to find all Aunt Maude. I dropped the capsule in the coffee machine and switched it on. “Where’s Aunt Agnes?”
“She’s answering the door,” Maude said.
I had a bad feeling, and yet again I was right. Agnes walked into the room with two men in suits. “These gentlemen are looking for you,” she said.
The two men were wearing identical suits, both a dirty shade of grey, and both had striped ties, although one tie had blue and white stripes while the other had murky red and white stripes. The shorter man wore glasses and a moustache. He had spiky hair and reminded me of an actor, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on just who. “I’m Detective Thompson and this is Detective Walker,” he said in a tone that sounded like an accusation. “We’re part of a special Task Force set up to investigate the animal attacks along this part of the coastline.”
I nodded, and waited for them to continue. It was Detective Walker who spoke next. “We’d like you to come down to the station to give a witness statement, if you would be so kind.”
“Sure,” I said. “Now?” They both nodded. “Do you want me to come with you, or will I follow you in my car?”
Walker narrowed his eyes. “By all means, travel independently in your car.”
“I’ll just get my purse and drive straight to the station.”
With that, Aunt Agnes escorted them out while I drank the rest of my coffee as fast as I could. I turned to Aunt Maude. “Aunt Maude, may I borrow your car, please? I understand if you don’t want to lend it to me after what I did to Aunt Agnes’s car.”
Aunt Maude laughed. “You’re a good driver, Valkyrie. You were forced off the road by a murderer. It was hardly your fault. Yes, you’re more than welcome to borrow my car.”
“I can always catch a taxi.”
Maude shook her head. “I insist.” She handed me the keys. “And no need to hurry back. We don’t intend to go anywhere for the rest of the day.”
I slapped myself on my forehead. “How silly of me! I almost forgot to tell you. I just popped out to my cottage to get more coffee capsules, and I came across Harry Friar. The cops have asked him to stick around town for a while. The victim was his cousin, that horrible Ozfoneandnet man who was here yesterday morning.”
Aunt Dorothy made the sign of the cross. “Valkyrie, you shouldn’t speak ill of the dead.”
Aunt Agnes had returned and was staring at her with her mouth open. “Since when were you Catholic, Dorothy?” she snapped at her.
“I think it was in the 1700s,” Dorothy said defensively. “Anyway, Harry Friar won’t be checking out this week, because Valkyrie just told us that the police asked him to stay here longer.”
“That’s all right, because that cottage isn’t booked again until the end of the month,” Maude said.
Aunt Agnes held her hands skyward. “Has the whole world gone mad? Maude, that is hardly the point. The point is that the police might suspect Harry of being the murderer, but on the other hand, the Task Force detectives have come here and so they must think the serial killer is involved. This is quite a sticky web.”
I hurried out of the room. “Send me good vibes,” I called over my shoulder.
Chapter 6
I was a little nervous entering the police station, but not as nervous as I would have been if I was being questioned by the nasty Scorpius Everyman. He made my blood run cold. In fact, I wasn’t even sure he was entirely human. Perhaps he was an ancient vampire, really ancient, a few thousand years old. There was just something about him that was menacing. On the bright side, it made me feel a little better about being questioned by normal, human detectives.
I gave my name to the desk sergeant, and was immediately shown into a room where the two detectives, Thompson and Walker, were sitting. This had to be the most hideous room I had ever seen, all pale mint green. The door trims were painted the same pale mint green, as was the ceiling. The light table was either a pale mint green colour or was reflecting the horrible colour. Thompson was making notes and didn’t even look up when the desk sergeant showed me in, but Walker fixed me with a steely look. “Take a seat please, Miss Jasper.”
I did as I was told. When I had been questioned by the police previously, I had been sitting opposite them, but this time I was sitting on one side of a square table and they were sitting either side of me, opposite each other, with me between them. It made me quite uneasy. Their suits blended into the room as did the blue-grey fabric chairs on which we were all sitting. It was as if I had fallen into some sort of monochromatic hell.
Thompson finally looked up at me. “Did you recognise the victim?”
I shook my head. “No, but he was face down in the sand and he was naked.”
Walker frowned when I said it, probably wondering what the victim being naked had to do with me not being able to identify him. I couldn’t blame him—I thought the same thing as soon as the words were out of my mouth. I hurried to add, “Just before you arrived at Mugwort Manor, Harry Friar told me that the victim was his cousin, Joseph Maxwell.”
The detectives exchanged glances once more. “And what is your relationship to Harry Friar?” Walker asked me.
“He’s been boarding at Mugwort Manor. He was due to leave this week, but he said you’d asked him to stay longer.”
“When did you first meet Mr Friar?” Thompson asked me.
“When he booked in. He arrived yesterday,” I said.
Thompson scribbled away in his book. “Now please tell me, in your own words, the circumstances leading to you finding the deceased.”
I did as I was told, trying not to leave anything out. “So was it a shark attack?” I concluded, knowing full well it wasn’t. “The shark attacks up and down the coast have been on
the news.”
“The investigation is ongoing,” Thompson said in a clipped manner. “What was your relationship with the deceased, Joseph Maxwell?”
“I met him for the first time yesterday morning,” I said. “I called Ozfoneandnet because I couldn’t get the internet to work, and they sent him out.”
“That seems highly unusual, for Ozfoneandnet to send someone out on the same day,” Walker said.
“That’s for sure!” I said with feeling. I hastened to add, “What I mean is, they never seem to get anything done, so I was surprised when he came, but he was concerned about old copper wires.”
“Is that what he said?” Walker asked me.
I tried to school my features into a look of innocence. “I’m not technically minded. He said a lot of technical stuff that went right over my head. I think the gist of it was that he didn’t think the lines, being old copper wires, would support the internet for too much longer, and he wanted to tell me that the NBN wouldn’t be coming to the area for years.”
That seemed to satisfy them. “And was that the first occasion you had met Mr Maxwell?” Walker asked me.
I nodded. “Yes, and I didn’t see him again, until I saw him in the sea. Of course, I didn’t know it was him. I only found out it was him when Harry Friar told me.”
“When you were walking along the beach, did you notice anything suspicious?”
I looked up at Thompson. “No.”
“That will be all for now, Miss Jasper, but we will need to talk again at some point.”
I scurried out of the police station as fast as I could. I had planned to go to Linda’s motel room and tell her what had happened, so I drove there without delay. It was imperative she found out what Lucas had said.
Linda opened the motel room door, looking surprised to see me. “Sorry to call by without any warning,” I said, “but I’ve just been questioned by the Task Force and I wanted to drop by and talk about it, if that’s okay.”
Linda opened the door wide and beckoned me in. “Come in, come in. It’s good to see you.”
I liked her motel room, all white and sparkly. The walls were white; the tiles were white, and it was decorated in a beachy Hamptons theme. Linda had white sage burning. There was nothing quite like the fragrance of white sage, so cleansing.
“I can’t wait to buy a house and get a cat, maybe even a dog as well,” Linda said eagerly. “Paul didn’t like animals. He wouldn’t let me have a pet.”
I thought that was strange, given that Paul had been a Shifter wolf, but I thought it better not to comment. I sat down on the blue and white striped sofa, and was about to speak, but Linda beat me to it. “I can’t offer you wine because you’re driving. Coffee? Tea?”
I spied Linda’s coffee machine in the corner, the same brand that I had. “Coffee would be great, thanks.” I wondered why Linda would offer me wine in the morning, but then again, who was I to judge?
Linda caught my eye. “Did you think I was going to give you the instant stuff the motel provides?” She laughed, and then busied herself with the coffee machine for a few moments. “Sorry I don’t have anything to eat with it,” she said, placing a mug of coffee in front of me. “I was about to go shopping.”
“And I’m sorry I came without warning,” I said again, “but I have something urgent to tell you.” Linda frowned. I pushed on. “Obviously what I’m about to say is confidential, but Lucas saw me in secret last night, just after you left. Remember I mentioned the new boarder, Scorpius Everyman?”
Linda nodded. “You said he creeped you out.”
“This is confidential,” I stressed. “Lucas told me that Scorpius is a Cleaner.”
Linda’s hands flew to her cheeks, her mouth forming a perfect O. “You’re kidding!”
I shook my head. “And not just a Cleaner—Lucas said he was a very dangerous Cleaner.”
“They all are,” Linda said dryly.
I cleared my throat. “No, you don’t understand. Lucas was really concerned about Scorpius. He said he was really dangerous.” I realised I was raising my voice, so I lowered it. “Lucas said that the aunts and I had to do everything we could to keep Scorpius from knowing that we’re vampires. He also said you mustn’t let him know that you’re a Shifter.”
“Lucas mentioned me?”
I nodded. “He said we’d all be in terrible danger if Scorpius found out.”
Linda sipped her coffee and then set her cup down on her saucer. “A Cleaner would only be interested if he thought that a vampire or a Shifter killed the victims, right?”
I readily agreed.
“And how does a vampire kill?”
I pulled a face. “Don’t ask me that! I’m new to all this, you see. If it’s anything like the movies, I suppose they bite someone’s neck and drain all the blood out of them.” I shuddered and pulled a face.
Linda pointed at me. “Exactly!” she said triumphantly. “And how does a Shifter kill someone?”
I frowned. “I suppose they rip them apart?”
Linda nodded vigorously. “Exactly. You can see where I’m going with this?”
I thought about it for a moment. “Of course. Why didn’t I see that before? The Cleaner doesn’t think a vampire is responsible for the killings—he thinks a Shifter is responsible.”
Linda bit the end of one long fingernail. “That seems like the only conclusion I can come up with. You said the victim was naked?”
“Yes, he was. Is that significant?”
Linda nodded. “Yes, it’s a well-known fact that dog packs will tear at the victim, tearing off all the clothes in the process. It’s quite usual for victims of fatal dog attacks to be found naked.”
I drained the remains of my coffee in one gulp. “Are you saying that someone is trying to make it look like a Shifter attack?”
“No, I’m not saying that, but it’s entirely possible. What I am saying is that it could be more than one Shifter. And if that’s the case, then there must be a pack of rogue Shifters. It’s strange that there are two Cleaners in the one place, and this guy, Scorpius Everyman, is clearly some sort of higher level Cleaner. Otherwise, Lucas wouldn’t be so worried, and it would’ve been left to Lucas to solve the case. Something’s going on, Pepper, you mark my words. When I was at the manor yesterday, I didn’t get any sense of a Shifter attack in the area.”
“You can sense it?” I asked with interest.
She nodded. “Yes, usually, and I didn’t sense anything. There’s more to this than we know. I just don’t like it.”
I didn’t like it either, and my right eye was twitching so madly that I had to rub it hard. That caused a piece of mascara to dislodge and get in my eye, so I wiped my eye with a tissue. “Have you ever heard of rogue Shifters before?”
“No, but it doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Obviously, a Cleaner would get rid of all the evidence, so none of us would ever hear of rogue Shifters.”
I was beginning to get a headache. “Of course. So there could be rogue Shifters, and that’s why this Cleaner is so interested. Linda, he really makes me uneasy. I feel so threatened by him. Please keep out of his way. It won’t do any good if he finds out that you’re a Shifter wolf.”
Linda laughed ruefully. “You can rest assured that I won’t go anywhere near the man. I’m even more concerned that Lucas warned you about him. Law-abiding vampires and Shifters should have nothing to fear from a Cleaner as a rule, although I am sure some have been wrongly accused in the past.”
A shiver of fear ran up my spine. “By accused, do you mean…” My voice trailed away.
Linda’s face paled. “Yes, I mean disposed of. If there are rogue Shifters, perhaps vampires are involved in it with them. That could be why Lucas was so worried.”
“You’re beginning to scare me, Linda,” I said.
“I’m already thoroughly scared, Pepper. I have a terrible feeling about this whole situation.”
Chapter 7
I walked through the back door of Mugwort
Manor into a flurry of activity. “What’s happening?”
“We’re hiding all the Witches’ Brew,” Aunt Agnes said in a strained voice. “We’re just not sure where to hide it.”
I thought for a moment. “What if we buy some bottles of red wine, and tip them out, and then pour in the Witches’ Brew?”
Aunt Maude nodded approvingly. “That’s what I said, but Agnes said it wouldn’t work.”
Agnes ran her hands through her flame-red hair. “If Scorpius Everyman takes a sip of the wine, he’ll know it’s Witches’ Brew, and what’s more, he’ll know that we tried to hide it from him. Then he will know for sure and for certain that we’re all vampires. He’ll also know that we know he’s a Cleaner, and he’ll wonder who told us. That will then implicate Lucas.”
My head was spinning, but I had to admit that she had a point. “Well then, what can we do?” I asked her, completely at a loss.
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” Aunt Agnes said with obvious exasperation. “We need to have our daily dose of Witches’ Brew, and we need to hide it somewhere he won’t be able to find it if he comes snooping around.”
I sat at the table, put my head in my hands, and thought some more. “What if one of us stays at Mugwort Manor at all times?” I asked them. “That way, he can’t break in and search.”
All three aunts shook their heads. “You see, Valkyrie,” Aunt Dorothy said, “if crunch comes to crunch, he can reveal himself as a Cleaner and then he can search the premises. There would be nothing we could do.”
“That doesn’t make sense, Dorothy,” Agnes said. “A Cleaner won’t reveal himself to non-vampires or non-werewolves, so if he wants to reveal himself as a Cleaner to search Mugwort Manor, then he would already know that we are vampires.”
“Then what are our options?” I said in the hope of preventing an argument.
No one answered. A heavy silence descended over the group.
“What about that secret room?” I asked them. “That small secret room next to the living room? Besides, we’re all witches, too. We can all work together to magically hide that room from him, with spells. If we all concentrate on spells, we should be able to keep it hidden from him.”
