by Morgana Best
Chapter 18
“It’s him, isn’t it!” Linda said.
“Yes.” I averted my eyes from the photographs, which to my horror showed Scorpius Everyman killing someone on an isolated beach.
“The poor Ozfoneandnet man in the ditch must have sent those photos from his phone straight to Joseph Maxwell,” Linda said. “I figure Joseph was his boss.”
I sat there, silently, trying to take it all in. “Why didn’t we look into that, Linda? We should have checked to see if one of the victims down south was an Ozfoneandnet employee. That would’ve been a connection.”
“Hindsight is a wonderful thing,” Linda said dryly. “There’s always the possibility that Scorpius Everyman was executing that poor man on the beach. Perhaps the man had turned someone, or something like that.”
“Or maybe Scorpius Everyman is the serial killer,” I said. “There’s something really bad about him, Linda. I’ve said that right from the minute I met him.”
“Cleaners are very dangerous, Pepper, deadly. I’ve told you that. I know you don’t like to hear that, just because you’re snuggling up to one.”
“I’m not snuggling up to one,” I protested. But I’d like to be, I silently added.
Linda shook her head in dismissal. “That’s not the point. This doesn’t mean Scorpius is the murderer, and we don’t know if he killed the man who took the photos.”
“Let’s look at what we do know,” I said. “We know that Joseph Maxwell is dead, murdered in the same manner as this man in the photos and the other murder victims down south. And this seems to suggest that he was blackmailing Scorpius Everyman.”
“But like I said, Scorpius Everyman would likely kill Joseph Maxwell as part of his Cleaning process, anyway, if Joseph was blackmailing him,” Linda pointed out. “I’m not saying it’s right, but I’m saying it’s what would happen.”
I sighed. “What do we do from here? We can’t give these photos to the police, if Scorpius was legitimately going about his Cleaning work.”
“Okay, then we take those photos out, seal up the other contents and give the envelope back to Marianne. At least we know she’ll give it to the police, and then Joseph Maxwell will be exposed as a blackmailer. If Scorpius isn’t the killer, after all, it will help the police in their investigations.”
“And I’ll show these photos to Lucas and leave it up to him,” I said. “Lucas will know what to do, given that he’s a Cleaner, too.”
I left Linda at her motel and drove back to Marianne Compton’s. I hadn’t been away long, and Marianne was hardly likely to think anything was amiss, given that she hadn’t been suspicious of my request to fetch her package in the first place.
I parked Aunt Maude’s car, picked up the envelope, locked the car, and walked down the street to Marianne’s house. It was a little cul-de-sac, with several cars parked on the road, rather than in their driveways. I was idly wondering whether she would answer the door, when I felt a malevolent presence. My skin prickled. I swung around to see Scorpius Everyman beside me.
It was if all the oxygen had been drained from the atmosphere. For a moment, I was afraid I would faint. For what seemed like an eternity, we stood there, facing each other, wordlessly.
He was the first to speak. “Come with me, Miss Jasper.”
I gulped for air. I looked around wildly. Did he want me to walk to his car? I remembered all the dire warnings I had heard not to get in someone’s car. ‘Avoid getting in someone’s car at all costs,’ the standard advice went. I remembered seeing it on Oprah, back in the day. If you get in the car with a would-be attacker, that’s the end of you.
I thought through my options. Did I have any options? Scorpius was a Cleaner. If I tried to make a run for it, he would be on me within seconds, within a split second. Yet if I got into his car… I shivered violently.
“I only want to talk, Miss Jasper.”
That gave me a tiny glimmer of hope. Would he lie in a situation like this? Surely he wouldn’t need to, but then again, he wouldn’t want to have to explain away him grabbing me on the street to casual onlookers. No, that had been a false hope.
He spoke again. “Come with me now or it will be the worse for you.” He put his hand under my elbow.
My only hope was to talk my way out of it, but Scorpius was no fool. I couldn’t see that I had any other choice. I nodded, and walked with him up the road. His car was not far away. He unlocked it with the remote, and gestured to me to get in. Never get in the car with a would-be attacker; Never get in the car with a would-be attacker, pulsated through my mind like a mantra.
Cold sweat broke out all over my body. I looked around for a way of escape, but there was none. I sighed and got in the car. Within a flash, Scorpius was around the other side of the car and in beside me. To my relief, he didn’t lock the doors, but then again, I supposed he didn’t need to. He held out his hand for the envelope. I handed it to him. “What’s this?” I knew he already knew what it was. “I think it’s evidence that Joseph Maxwell was blackmailing people, you know, embezzling and catching people having affairs,” I said.
“What are you doing with it?”
“Well, since you seem to think that Linda had something to do with Joseph Maxwell’s murder, I was trying to prove that she didn’t. Linda and I went to question Marianne Compton about Joseph. I asked how he could afford such an expensive house, and she said it was from illegal activities, specifically blackmail.”
I felt, rather than saw, a shift in his attitude. “Did Marianne Compton suspect this or know it for certain?”
I realised where his mind was going. He wanted to know if Marianne had seen the evidence. If he thought she had, then she, too, would be in mortal danger. I shook my head. “No. She looked through his safe, because she thought that all blackmailers would have a little black book, but she couldn’t find anything in his house. She had just come from the reading of the will when we went to question her, and the lawyer had given her a big envelope. Apparently, Joseph had given instructions that Marianne should open it if anything happened to him.”
“And did she read the contents?”
I shook my head again. “No, that’s just it. The lawyer gave her the wrong folder. It was addressed to a Mr Greene. Since I had to do a few things in town, I offered to take that envelope back and collect the correct envelope.” I pointed to the envelope as I said it. “Marianne called the lawyers and arranged for me to collect the correct one. I was just taking it back to her when you intercepted me.”
“Have you looked at the contents?”
I plastered what I hoped was an innocent and convincing look on my face. “No.”
“Why not?” If I had thought his tone menacing before, this was infinitely worse. His voice positively dripped with malice.
“Why would I?” I asked him. “Marianne hated Joseph. There is no way she would cover for him to the police. She would take this information straight to them.”
“And did you intend to read the information with her?” he asked me.
“Yes, I assumed she would let me.”
He studied me for a moment, and seemed satisfied by my response. I hoped he had believed me. I also hoped I had done a good job with the glue. Luckily for me, Scorpius didn’t study the envelope’s seal. He ripped it open, and then looked at the contents.
For a few moments, I sat there, holding my breath. My very survival depended on his reaction. At first he rifled through the pages quickly, and then the photographs, and then went through the contents more slowly.
He stuffed everything back in the envelope, and turned to me. “This was all?”
I nodded. “There was only this one envelope. Should there be another one?” He continued to stare at me. “There could be another envelope back at the lawyer’s office,” I said, “considering that they gave Marianne the wrong one in the first place. The receptionist at the lawyer’s office wasn’t helpful at all. Does that information exonerate Linda?” I asked, still hoping he was buyin
g my story.
I didn’t have a chance to find out, because my door suddenly opened. A strong hand reached in and pulled me out.
It was Lucas. I stood there trembling as he stuck his head inside the door. “What are you doing, Scorpius?”
“I knew there was something going on between you and the girl,” Scorpius said, his tone filled with venom.
“Stay away from her or you’ll be dealing with me personally,” Lucas said. He slammed the door with such force that the whole car shook. Lucas took me by my arm, and guided me away from Scorpius. I stopped. “The envelope!”
Lucas urged me forward. “Keep walking.”
“But Scorpius opened the envelope of blackmail information about Joseph Maxwell,” I said. “I was supposed to take that and give it to Marianne Compton. She’s expecting me any minute.”
“That’s Scorpius’s problem now,” Lucas said. “He’s a Cleaner. It’s up to him to figure out that one.”
We had reached Maude’s car. “Give me the keys,” Lucas said. “I’ll drive.”
I wondered why Lucas wanted to drive. Perhaps he thought Scorpius would try to run us off the road. I shook my head, trying to dispel the image. I had already been forced off the road once, and never wanted that to happen again. “But Lucas, you don’t understand. Joseph Maxwell was a blackmailer, and Linda and I saw photos of Scorpius Everyman killing someone.”
I thought he would ask questions, but all he said was, “Where are those photos now? Are they in that folder?”
“No,” I said without delay. “Linda has them in her motel room.”
Lucas swore under his breath, and then turned the car violently. He sped in the direction of town. “Go on,” he said through gritted teeth.
“There were lots of photos of phone lines, underground, and it looked as if they were taken from someone in a phone line pit. Then there were photos of Scorpius killing someone on the beach.”
Lucas swore again. “How?”
I took his meaning at once. “Not like a vampire. He had some sort of weapon in his hand. It was too hard to see.” I shuddered as I remembered the injuries.
“Does Scorpius know these photos exist?”
“I assume so, as Joseph Maxwell was obviously blackmailing him. I led him to believe there was another envelope left at the lawyer’s office.”
Lucas shot me a look of approval. “Smart thinking.”
Something else was worrying me. “Lucas, you said Scorpius couldn’t know that we, um, knew each other. Now that you’ve rescued me from him…” My words trailed away.
“We have worse problems than that,” Lucas said. “We have to get to Linda before he does. Hopefully he won’t make the connection quite yet. Call her and tell her to stay in the motel room until we get there.”
There was no answer. I looked up at Lucas. “Should I leave a message on her voicemail?”
“Do you know where she would be now?”
“She said she had a few things to do, but I really have no idea. I’ll try her again.” Still, there was no answer. I texted her, asking where she was, but again there was no reply. I shot a look at Lucas, and was alarmed to see his face was white. He came to a stop outside Linda’s motel room. We both jumped from the car and knocked on her door.
Lucas cast a quick look around him, produced something from his pocket, and within seconds had unlocked the door. “Inside,” he said urgently.
There was no sign of Linda in the room. I poked my head through the bathroom door—she wasn’t there.
“Pepper, that looks like a phone on the coffee table. Call her again, will you?”
I did so, and the phone on the coffee table rang. Lucas and I exchanged glances. This couldn’t be good. “Let’s have a quick look around here for those photos,” he said. “Maybe she hid them around here somewhere.”
It took us a full five minutes to search the motel room, but we came up empty. “Lucas,” I said, trying to keep the fear from my voice, “this doesn’t make sense. If Scorpius had grabbed Linda, then wouldn’t he have just grabbed me, too? Surely he would know that we looked at the photos together?”
Lucas looked thoughtful for a few moments. After an interval, he said, “Not necessarily. Come on, back to the car.”
“But what about Linda?” I asked him as we left the motel room. When he didn’t answer, I feared the worst. “The aunts?” I said. I put my seatbelt on and called them, and to my enormous relief, Aunt Agnes answered at once. “Valkyrie, where have you been? We were beginning to get worried about you.”
“Have you seen Linda?” I asked her.
“No.”
“Have you heard from her at all?”
“No. Valkyrie, what’s all this about?”
I looked at Lucas, and he held out his hand for my phone. “It’s me, Lucas,” he said. “We have a situation. We’re on our way back to Mugwort Manor now so I can collect my car, but then I’m taking Pepper with me. I need to speak to a man. I’ll hand the phone back to Pepper now so she can tell you what’s happened.”
“Hang on a moment, Aunt Agnes.” I looked at Lucas. “Why are you taking me with you?”
“So you’ll be safe, of course.”
“But what about the aunts? Will they be in danger?” Lucas didn’t answer. “Lucas, I’m staying with my aunts.”
He shook his head. “No, Pepper. I don’t know what Scorpius is thinking or what he’ll do next. You could be in danger.”
“As much as I want to go with you,” I admitted, “I can’t leave the aunts to fend for themselves.”
Lucas gripped the steering wheel. “They’re more than capable of looking after themselves.”
“Then they can look after me, too. I mean it, Lucas. I can’t leave the aunts.”
Lucas let out a long sigh of exasperation. “I don’t like this, Pepper. I don’t like it at all. You have to promise me that you won’t leave the manor.”
“Sure,” I said.
When we arrived at Mugwort Manor, Lucas escorted me inside. The aunts were gathered there, waiting. “Linda Williams could be missing,” Lucas told them, coming straight to the point. The aunts did not look overly surprised, although Aunt Dorothy’s eyebrows shot up and down several times in succession. “No matter what happens, none of you leave the house. Obviously, it goes without saying that you must not open the door to Scorpius. It doesn’t matter what happens, just don’t leave the house. Use whatever magical protections you have. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He pulled out his phone and looked at the screen. “I’m already late. Pepper will fill you in. There’s more, but I don’t have the time.”
Lucas leant closer to me, and touched my arm gently. For a moment I thought he was going to kiss me, right in front of the aunts. He appeared to be on the point of something, but then he said to me, “Don’t leave the house. Stay safe.” And then he was gone.
Aunt Agnes bolted the door behind him. “Dorothy, quick, fetch that red brick dust and the crushed eggshell powder,” she said in a commanding tone. “Maude, make sure all the windows are latched and bolted, upstairs as well as downstairs.” Then she turned to me. “Valkyrie, what’s this all about?”
“Joseph Maxwell was blackmailing people. He gave something to his lawyer to give to Marianne in case something ever happened to him. It was an envelope full of evidence against people that he was blackmailing. The thing is, the envelope also had photos of Scorpius Everyman. Joseph was blackmailing him, too.”
Aunt Agnes’s hand flew to her mouth. “Did Marianne see those photos?”
I shook my head. “No, Linda and I got to them first. Linda has them now. At least, I think she does, but she’s gone missing so I don’t know if Scorpius has the photos.”
Aunt Agnes appeared to put two and two together in a short space of time. “I see, so you think Scorpius killed Joseph Maxwell, and Lucas is afraid he will come after you?”
I nodded.
Aunt Agnes pursed her lips. “I think Lucas might be overreacting a little, dear.�
��
Aunt Dorothy agreed. “It’s because he has feelings for you.”
“Feelings have been the downfall of many a man,” Aunt Maude said, nodding her head. “Look at all the trouble a man’s feelings for Helen of Troy caused.”
“Nonsense!” Agnes said. “The Trojan War had nothing to do with feelings. Wars are invariably for economic reasons, not over feelings, Maude. I’ve never heard anything so silly in all my life. Troy was on an important trade route. Feelings, my…”
I interrupted her. “But Scorpius killed Joseph Maxwell!” I said, horrified. “And there were photos of Scorpius killing someone on a beach!”
Agnes shook her head. “I’m not arguing that Scorpius is an entirely unpleasant and awful man. He is a Cleaner, Valkyrie, and that’s what Cleaners do. The person he killed on the beach could have been a Shifter who turned someone, or even a vampire who turned someone, and if Joseph happened to obtain photos of Scorpius and blackmailed him, then of course Scorpius was going to kill Joseph. It might not be nice, but it’s just the way it is.”
“You sound like Linda,” I said. “Aunt Agnes, what if something’s happened to Linda?”
“There’s nothing we can do until you hear from Linda,” Agnes said. “Come and sit in the living room and have a nice glass of Witches’ Brew.”
I looked at her as if she had gone mad. “Aunt Agnes, don’t you understand? Scorpius Everyman is on the rampage. He was the one who killed Joseph Maxwell, but he still seems to think Linda is somehow involved in this whole mess.”
“I don’t know what you’ve heard about Cleaners,” Aunt Agnes said, picking up her knitting needles and casting on some stitches, “but they’re really not as bad as you think. They’re not homicidal maniacs, by any means. Sure, they do things that we might not approve of at times, but they are usually quite fair. Isn’t that right, Maude? Dorothy?”
They both nodded, and I peered at them to see if they were simply humouring Agnes, but they seemed genuine enough. I shook my head. “Scorpius Everyman makes my blood run cold. When he looked at me, it was like he was peering through my soul. I really can’t verbalise it, but…” I broke off. There really was no way to describe the dread I felt in his presence. There was something about Scorpius. I didn’t know what it was, but I had learnt to trust my intuition.
