by Adele Abbott
“Can I help you?” Barnaby looked a little puzzled to see a miniature witch come through the door.
“My name is Jill Gooder. I’m a private investigator. I’ve been hired to investigate the disappearance of Robbie Riddle who I believe was a member of this society.”
“So what if he was?”
That wasn’t the response I’d expected. Why so hostile?
“I’m just covering all the angles. I take it you knew Robbie?”
“Yes. He came to most of the meetings.”
“And I believe he had a particular interest in the human world.”
“Duh! Why else would he be a member of this society?”
I was beginning to dislike this obnoxious little pleb.
“When was the last time you saw Robbie?”
“At the last meeting.” Barnaby made a point of checking his watch. “Look, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get our meeting started.”
“Just one last question?”
“What?”
“Do you have any idea what has happened to Robbie Riddle?”
“No. How should I know? I don’t know anything. Nothing at all.”
The pixie doth protest too much, methinks.
What? Of course I know my Shakespeare. Cultured and well-read, that’s me.
As I made my way to the door, another one of the pixies bumped into me—seemingly deliberately. What a charming bunch the Human World Society were.
***
When I got back to the house, there were cars parked all along the road, and there were a lot of people milling around next door. Although the music hadn’t started yet, it was obvious that they were preparing for another party: the third in as many days.
Worms was sitting on his doorstep, sandwiched between two attractive young women.
“Hi, Jill.”
“Can I have a word in private, please?”
“Anything you have to say, you can say in front of Cindy and Candy.”
The two women giggled.
“Are you planning on having another party?”
“Yeah. Do you want to join us?”
“No. You told me the first one was a one-off. Then, this morning, you promised Jack that there would be no more.”
“Yeah, well, about that.” He laughed. “I lied.”
The two women giggled again.
He continued, “I like parties, and I’m probably going to have one most nights.” He stood up, so he was in my face. “What are you going to do about it?”
There were so many things I wanted to do to him right there, but most of them would have got me arrested, or dragged back to Candlefield by the rogue retrievers. I had to play this smart.
“I’m kind of surprised you would want to rent this house,” I said.
“Why?”
“I assume you know its history?”
“What history?”
“There was a mass murder here. It was known as the cleaver murders at the time. Very gruesome business.”
He hesitated for a moment, but then cracked a smile. “Do you think I’m stupid? Is that supposed to scare me off?”
“Not at all. Why do you think the woman who used to live here left so suddenly? And why did she put the house up for rental? No one was ever going to buy it. They say the place is still haunted by the victims. At night, they roam the house, screaming in agony.”
“Nice try, Jill, but it isn’t going to work. You’ll just have to get used to a lot of late night paaarrttiieees!”
“Yeah!” The giggle-twins shouted.
Hmm? We’d see about that. I made a call to Mad.
“Hey, Jill. I’m glad you called. Nails has started to go to Toppers Anonymous, and on the strength of that, Mum has taken him back.”
“That’s great news.”
“Yeah, but she’s threatened to throw him out again, if he doesn’t keep up the meetings. Anyway, I owe you one.”
“Funny you should say that because I could do with your help tonight.”
“If I can, I will.”
Chapter 18
It was the next morning, and I’d had my first good night’s sleep in three days.
“Are you leaving us, Worms?”
It was a redundant question because his car was already overflowing with boxes and cases.
“Why didn’t you warn me?” he said.
“About what?”
“This house is possessed!”
“I did tell you yesterday about the cleaver murders.”
“I thought you were joking.”
“Why would I joke about something like that? Your party ended very early last night.”
“Is there any wonder? Everyone was terrified out of their minds.”
“Where will you go?”
“I don’t care. Anywhere that isn’t here. I’ll sleep on the dorm floor, if I have to.”
And with that, he jumped into the car and sped off.
Mad had really come through for me this time.
Blake must have been watching from across the road because he came over. “Has he moved out?”
“It seems like it.”
“Thank goodness. Jen and I barely got any sleep the previous two nights. I thought they were going to have yet another party last night, but then suddenly, everyone left.”
“Yeah. That was kind of weird, wasn’t it?” I grinned.
“Why do I get the impression that you may have had a hand in that, Jill?”
***
I didn’t think there was anything to be gained by speaking to Sarah Weller at her place of work. She was likely to be embarrassed by the information I’d uncovered about her relationship with Brendan Bowlings, and would probably have clammed up. Tracing her address had been a trivial matter. Fortunately, it wasn’t far from where I lived—just the other side of the toll bridge.
“Sarah!” I called to her, as she was about to get into her car.
“Yes?” It took her a few seconds to register who I was. “What are you doing here?”
“I’d like a quiet word.”
“Couldn’t you have come to the office?”
“I think this may be something you’d rather not discuss where we can be overheard.”
“What do you mean? What’s it about?”
“Hotel Lexicon?”
I could practically see the blood drain from her face.
“I—err—don’t know what—”
“It might speed things along if I tell you that I’ve seen the CCTV from the hotel’s lobby.”
“You’d better come inside.” She led the way into the house.
“I know what you’re thinking,” she said, as soon as we were inside. “But it isn’t anything sleazy.”
“That’s none of my business. My only interest is in finding Brendan Bowlings. If you and he have arranged to run away, and live somewhere together, that’s none of my concern. I just need proof that he is alive and well.”
“Live together? What gives you that idea?”
“For starters, there’s the hotel, and then there’s his credit card bill. It looks as though you’ve enjoyed a lot of nights out together: the theatre and restaurants. Surely, you’re not going to try to deny you and he are having an affair.”
“I hate that word, but yes, Brendan and I have been seeing each other for a long time.”
“And you finally decided to take it to the next level?”
“No. Brendan would never leave Sheila. I’ve always known that. He loves me, but he loves his wife as well. It’s not like he’s ever led me on. He’s always said he’d never leave her, and I’m okay with that.”
“Are you telling me that his disappearance wasn’t something you’d planned together?”
“That’s precisely what I’m telling you. I have no idea where Brendan is. I think something terrible must have happened to him.” The tears began to well up in her eyes.
Either Sarah Weller had just given an Oscar worthy performance, or she was telling the truth, and Bowlin
gs’ disappearance was as much of a mystery to her as it was to everyone else. I was inclined to think the latter was true.
***
When I arrived at work, someone was waiting for me in the outer office.
“I told this gentleman that you wouldn’t be able to see him without an appointment, Jill, but he insisted on waiting.” Mrs V didn’t try to disguise her contempt.
“What do you want, Gordon?” I had been expecting a visit from my nemesis, Gordon Armitage, but I hadn’t thought it would be so soon.
“I see the place could still do with a lick of paint.” Armitage stood up. The man was smugness personified.
“I’m busy, Gordon.”
“That must be a novelty for you. I only need a minute of your time, but I’d prefer to speak to you in private.”
“You’d better come through.” As soon as I’d said the words, I regretted it. What if Winky was sitting on my desk?
“This office is just as bad as I remember it.” Armitage looked as though he had a bad smell under his nose.
Fortunately, Winky was nowhere to be seen. I’d just have to hope he didn’t come out from under the sofa, in search of food.
“So what exactly is it you want, Gordon?”
“You will no doubt have heard that your new landlord, Martin Macabre, has employed the services of Armitage, Armitage, Armitage and Poole.”
“He did mention it.”
“And you’ll be pleased to learn that I have personally decided to take on this matter.”
“I’m thrilled.”
“I realise that we have some history, but I’m a reasonable man, and I’m prepared to put that behind us.”
Yeah right. “Say what you came to say, Gordon.”
“I’m sure Martin will have made it clear that he has big plans for this property, and that those plans do not include you.”
“He made that perfectly clear, and I made it equally clear that he would get me out of here over my dead body.”
“It will only take one minor breach of your lease to have you thrown out.”
“I seem to recall that you didn’t have much luck the last time you tried that.”
That wiped the smile off his smarmy face.
“All the more reason I’m determined to succeed now.”
“Good luck with that. Now, I’d like you to leave.”
“As I was saying, I’m a reasonable man, and so is Martin. If you relinquish your lease by the end of the week, Martin is willing to pay you a generous figure by way of compensation.”
“I’m not interested. Now, if you wouldn’t mind?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know the figure he has in mind?”
“Is it twenty million?”
“No, of course not.”
“In that case, you’re wasting my time. Now, I really must insist you leave.”
“The offer is fifteen thousand pounds. Very generous, I’m sure you’ll agree. But this offer will only be on the table until close of business tomorrow.” He took out his business card, and put it on my desk. “Call me if you change your mind.”
“I won’t.”
Armitage had no sooner left than Winky made an appearance. “You should take the money and run.”
“When I want your advice, I’ll ask for it.”
“We could retire to a nice cottage in the countryside.”
“You’d better pray I don’t accept the offer because if I do, you’ll be back in the cat rehoming centre.”
“Ouch!” He clutched his heart. “You can be very hurtful sometimes. Why would you say something like that?”
“Let me think. Maybe because this week alone you have tried to con me over a lottery win, and a ghost cat.”
“You just can’t take a joke. That’s your problem.”
I was still seething about Gordon Armitage when Brent from I-Sweat turned up.
“If you’re here to try to talk me into moving out so you can expand, you can do one!”
“Whoa! Steady on, Jill. The new landlord came to talk to us yesterday, to feel us out about expanding into here, but as soon as we realised that he was planning on trying to force you out, we told him we weren’t interested.”
“But when you first moved in, you tried to persuade me to move out.”
“That was before we got to know you, and before we realised what an emotional attachment you have to this place. You have nothing to worry about from us.”
“Not from you, maybe, but I can’t say the same about Macabre and his solicitors. Anyway, I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions. What did you want?”
“I just wanted to give you this.” He handed me a card. “We promised you free lifetime membership if you got rid of those guys.”
“Thanks. I take it they haven’t been back, then?”
“We haven’t seen hide nor hair of them since the day you scared them away. What exactly did it say on that note you had us pass to them?”
“I’m sorry, but if I told you that, I’d be forced to kill you.” I grinned. “I’m pleased everything is okay now.”
“Almost everything.”
“Oh? What’s wrong now?”
“It’s nothing really.”
“Go on. You might as well tell me.”
“We’ve noticed that every morning when we open up, things seem to have moved around since the previous evening. Nothing’s been stolen—just moved.”
“What kind of things?”
“Nothing major. Weights, towels, lots of little things.”
“That’s weird.”
“It’s got us baffled.”
“If you need any more help, let me know.”
“We will. We’re just going to see what happens over the next few days.”
“Okay. Thanks for the membership.”
“Our pleasure, but we expect to see you make use of it.”
Oh bum! I had no excuse now for not taking exercise.
***
My mobile phone rang. It was Amy Rice.
“Something’s happened.” She could barely get the words out. “I can’t believe it—it doesn’t seem possible.”
“Slow down, Amy. What’s happened?”
“They’ve arrested Gordon. He’s been charged with Doug’s murder.”
I hadn’t seen that one coming.
“Are you absolutely sure they’ve charged him? He isn’t just helping with their enquiries?”
“I’m sure. What do you think I should do?”
“Just sit tight for now. Do you think it’s possible that Gordon could have murdered your husband?”
“I would have said ‘no’, but I don’t understand why Gordon would say that Doug had called him, and told him he wasn’t going in. That has to be a lie.”
“Okay, Amy. Try to take it easy. I’ll see if I can get any more information.”
That of course was going to be easier said than done. Leo Riley was unlikely to throw me a bone, so I’d probably have to resort to magic.
Mrs V came through to the office. “There’s a Mr Cross on the phone. He’d like to speak to you. He says he’s the solicitor for Gordon Rice.”
“Put him through, would you.”
“Ms Gooder?” The man’s voice was all private school and rowing competitions.
“Speaking.”
“My client, Gordon Rice, has requested I get in touch with you. He was arrested earlier today, and charged with the murder of his brother. A charge which he strongly denies. He has asked me to contact you because he would like to speak to you in person.”
“I’d be happy to, but will that be possible?”
“Not today, but hopefully tomorrow.”
“I should warn you that the Washbridge police, and Leo Riley in particular, are not big fans of mine.”
“That’s irrelevant. You will be accompanying me as part of the defence team. Provided you don’t have a problem with that?”
“None at all.”
“Good. In that case, I’ll be in touch as soon as
I know where and when.”
I made a quick call to Amy to bring her up to date on developments, and promised I’d let her know what came of my visit to see Gordon.
“It sounds like you have a cold coming on,” Winky said. He was on the window sill, staring out across the way.
“You could be right.” I’d had a runny nose all morning. I reached into my coat pocket for a tissue. As I took it out, a small scrap of paper fell onto the floor. At first, I thought it was just rubbish, but then I realised there was something written on it.
Where could it have come from? Then I remembered how one of the pixies had bumped into me when I’d been leaving the Human World Society. He must have slipped it into my pocket. The note was concise and simply read:
If you want to know what happened to Robbie, check out BeHuman
A friend.
Who or what was BeHuman?
Chapter 19
I’d had a call from Aunt Lucy to tell me that she’d managed to get hold of the starlight fairy wings.
“There you go.” She handed me what looked like a ring box. “Be very careful with them because they’re extremely fragile.”
“Thanks.”
I was just about to open the lid when she grabbed my hand.
“Don’t open it in here. The draught might lift them out of the box. Take them upstairs into my bedroom, and open the box over the bed. That way, if they do fall out, they’ll land on a soft surface.”
“Okay.”
“I should warn you. Barry isn’t very happy with life.”
“Why not?”
“The winners of the competition were announced in The Candle this morning, and he didn’t win.”
“Oh dear.”
“He hasn’t taken it well, as you can imagine.”
I knelt next to the bed, and very carefully lifted the lid on the tiny box. At first, I thought it was empty, but then I saw what looked like a few specks of dust.
“Do you have a magnifying glass, Aunt Lucy?” I shouted from the top of the stairs.
“There’s one in the top drawer of my bedside cabinet. I used it earlier to look at the wings.”
