by Adele Abbott
“Oh, right. Sorry, I didn’t realise.”
I continued, “Ma Chivers isn’t selling these batteries to businesses in the human world. I believe that she’s using their combined power for evil in Candlefield.”
“What do you mean by evil? What is she doing with them?”
“As we speak, my cousins’ tea room, Cuppy C, has been put out of action with a ‘softer’ spell that we’ve been unable to reverse. I’m ninety-nine percent certain that it’s being powered by your spells.”
“That’s terrible.”
“I can’t believe she’d do something like that. Are you sure, Jill?”
“As sure as I can be. That’s why I’m going to ask you to stop what you’re doing, and leave with me.”
“What about the money we’re owed?” a witch on the front row said.
“I’m sorry to say I don’t think you’re ever going to see that.”
“I was relying on that money.”
“Look, if any of you still want to stay after what you’ve just heard, I can’t stop you, but do you really trust someone who is capable of doing something like this?”
Five minutes later, I led the way out of the building. No one opted to stay behind.
Chapter 15
After driving back to Washbridge, I parked the car and then magicked myself to Cuppy C. The twins were inside the shop, looking very sorry for themselves.
I walked unsteadily across the wobbly floor to the wobbly counter.
“Where’s Grandma?”
“She’s gone,” Amber said. “They’ve all gone.”
“If all those level six witches and you can’t help us, we’re doomed.” Pearl looked close to tears.
“Don’t be silly. It’s much too soon to give up.”
“That’s easy for you to say, Jill,” Amber snapped. “You’re not the one whose business is going down the drain.”
“We’re going to sort this out, I promise.”
“How?”
“I’m almost certain Ma Chivers is behind this.”
“Ma Chivers?” Pearl scoffed. “How can it be her? She isn’t powerful enough to do something like this.”
“Alicia told me that Ma Chivers has been recruiting witches to work in the human world, and—”
“Since when did you trust anything Alicia said?” Amber interrupted.
“Never mind that. I’ve just come back from a factory in Washbridge where Ma Chivers had more than a hundred witches all casting the same spell. Guess which one?”
“The ‘softer’ spell?” Pearl said.
“Bingo!”
“How could what they’re doing in the human world affect Cuppy C?”
“Ma Chivers seems to have developed some kind of battery that is able to ‘store’ the spell.”
“And you think she’s used the ‘batteries’ to do this?” Amber gestured around the shop.
“I think so, but it would take an awful lot of them to have this kind of effect.”
“But we’d know if she’d planted lots of batteries in here, wouldn’t we?”
“Each one is very small; no bigger than a dice. To have had this kind of effect, she would have had to plant lots of them.”
“She hasn’t been in here for ages, though.”
“What are you three doing in here?” Grandma came through the door, and wobbled her way over to join us.
“Jill thinks she knows what’s behind this,” Amber said.
“Oh?” Grandma turned to me. “And were you thinking of telling me anytime soon?”
“I’ve only just got back from Washbridge. I didn’t want to say anything until—”
“Stop waffling, woman, and spit it out.”
I told Grandma about Ma Chivers’ factory and the spell batteries. Surprisingly, she listened and didn’t interrupt even once. When I’d finished, I fully expected her to tell me that my theory was stupid, but she said, “I think you’re right.”
“Sorry?” I couldn’t possibly have heard her correctly.
“I said you’re right. It’s the only thing that makes any sense. All we have to do now is find the batteries.” She turned to the twins. “You two, I need you to think carefully. Who was in here in the days just before this happened?”
“But Grandma,” Pearl said. “It’s a tea room. There are people coming in and out all the time.”
“I’m not stupid. I know that. We’re looking for someone carrying something big enough to hold a large number of spell batteries. Have you had any deliveries in the last few days?”
“Only the usual cake deliveries, but we unpack those ourselves.”
“Wait a minute,” I said. “The other day when I was in here, that guy came to install a smart meter. He could barely carry his tool box.”
“That must be it,” Grandma said. “Where is the meter?”
“It’s through here.” Pearl led the way into the back room.
“Look!” I pointed to the dials. “They’re not moving.”
“That’s probably because all the machines in the shop are switched off,” Amber said.
“The lights are still on, so the meter should be registering something.”
“What shall we do?” Pearl asked.
“We’ll have to get the utility company to send someone out,” Amber said.
“Stuff that.” Grandma cast the ‘thunderbolt’ spell, which blew the meter clean off the wall, spilling dozens of tiny spell batteries onto the floor.
We carried the batteries out into the street, and then the four of us spent the next ten minutes crushing them under our feet. When we’d finished, Pearl and Amber led the charge back inside.
“Everything’s back to normal!” Amber threw her arms around her sister, and the two of them cried tears of joy.
“Well done, Jill,” Grandma said.
I could hardly believe my ears. “Sorry? Would you say that again?”
“Don’t push your luck.”
“Now I come to think of it, I thought there was something familiar about that engineer’s voice. I’m pretty sure it was Ma Chivers’ side-kick, Cyril. That’s why he was wearing his cap pulled down over his face.”
“Thank you, both.” Amber gave me a hug, and then walked over to Grandma.
“Shoo!” Grandma brushed her aside. “Get away from me with your sloppy nonsense.”
“What are we going to do about Ma Chivers?” I asked.
“Don’t worry about her.” Grandma scowled. “I’m going to undermine her.”
Again, with the undermining. I was hoping for and expecting much worse. Was it possible that Grandma was going soft?
I was thrilled that Cuppy C was back in business for the twins’ sakes. I’d never seen them quite so upset or worried about anything before.
Ma Chivers would not be a happy bunny when she discovered that her little plot had been foiled, but I didn’t kid myself that would stop her for long. That woman had a seriously warped mind.
What about Alicia, though? If it hadn’t been for her information, I might never have realised who was behind the plot to put Cuppy C out of business. Did that mean I should trust her now? There was still a niggling doubt in the back of my mind. What if she was playing the long game? What if the whole point of the ‘softer’ spell incident had been to enable Alicia to gain my confidence?
What? Just because I’m paranoid doesn’t mean Alicia isn’t out to get me.
***
One thing about the Bradley murder was still niggling at me. Why hadn’t the cleaner come in that night? If she had, she would have found Stephen Bradley’s body, and might even have walked in on the murderer.
I’d called Ruth Foot, but she couldn’t remember the name of the cleaners that they used back then. Thomas Bradley wasn’t around to ask, so on a longshot, I dropped in on the concierge, Lucas Broad.
“I don’t suppose you remember the name of the company that used to clean West Star’s offices at the time of Stephen Bradley’s murder, do you?”
“I do as it happens.” He smiled. “I had a bit of a crush on the woman who ran the company. Not that it did me any good. Her business was called Stayclean, and her name is Josey Wilde.”
“Is she still in business?”
“The company definitely is. I often see the vans around Washbridge. I don’t know whether she still owns it though.”
“Thanks. That’s very helpful.”
A quick search online took me to Stayclean’s website where Josey Wilde was listed as the managing director. I was about to give them a call when I noticed the address: their offices were only a five-minute walk away.
***
“Good afternoon, madam,” the cheerful young man on reception chirped. “How may I help you?”
“I’d like to see Josey Wilde, please.”
“Do you have an appointment?”
“No.”
“I’m afraid that without an—”
“Please tell her that it’s about Stephen Bradley’s murder.”
“Did you say murder?”
“Yes. Please call her.”
He didn’t, but instead he disappeared through the door behind him. Either he was going to talk to his boss or he was fetching security. While I was waiting, it occurred to me that I could have picked up the DVD from Lucas Broad while I was at the Nexler. I hadn’t thought about it, and Lucas hadn’t mentioned it—perhaps he’d forgotten to bring it in again.
A few minutes later, the young man returned, accompanied by a smartly dressed woman in her early forties.
“I’m Josey Wilde.” She offered her hand.
“Jill Gooder.”
“Matthew said it was about Stephen Bradley.”
“That’s right. I’m a private investigator. I’ve been hired to look into the murder.”
“After all this time?”
“Would you be prepared to answer a few questions?”
“Of course. Why don’t we go through to my office?”
If her office was anything to go by, Stayclean was doing very well for itself.
“I take it that business is good?” I said.
“I can’t complain. We’ve doubled our turnover every year for the last three years. Mainly through acquisition.”
“You’ve come a long way since the days when you cleaned for West Star.”
“You could say that.” She smiled. “Back then, I was Stayclean. I did everything: sales, admin and of course, the cleaning.”
“And held down a full-time job from what I heard?”
“I don’t know how I did it. I must have been crazy. Still, it all paid off in the end.”
“I take it that your company no longer cleans for West Star?”
“No. I never cleaned for them again after the murder.”
“How come?”
“I was told not to go back until further notice. I assumed it was because the offices were a crime scene, but I never heard from them again.”
“Didn’t you contact them?”
“I wanted to. That contract was a big deal for me back then, but it just didn’t feel right to pester them. It was a major blow. I seriously considered giving it all up.”
“I understand that you normally did their clean at about eleven pm? That seems very late?”
“It was, but that’s because I was working full-time, and I had to run the new business around my ‘real’ job.”
“What time did you get finished each night?”
“I started my cleaning jobs at about seven and usually finished around midnight. West Star was always my last job of the day.”
“But you didn’t go in that night?”
“No, and thank goodness I didn’t, otherwise I might have walked in on the murderer.”
“Why didn’t you go in?”
“I was told not to.”
“By who?”
“Thomas Bradley. I was going to get paid anyway, so to be honest I didn’t much care. It meant I got to have an early night.”
***
It was my own fault. In a moment of madness, I’d told Constance Bowler that I wanted her to recommend an upmarket restaurant. She’d tried to warn me that Poltergeist Nouveau was expensive, but I hadn’t realised I’d need to take out a second mortgage: The starters cost more than I’d usually pay for a three-course meal.
I’d arrived a few minutes before eight o’clock, and been guided to my table by a maître d’ who looked down his ghostly nose at me.
“Would madam care for a drink while she’s waiting for her guests to arrive?”
“I’ll just have water, please.”
“Still or sparkling?”
“Tap.”
“Is that all?”
“For now, yes.”
“Very well, madam. Tap water it is.”
My mother arrived five minutes later.
“This was a lovely idea, Jill.” She gave me a hug and a peck on both cheeks. “It’s very expensive in here, though. You really must let me pay.”
“No, this is my treat.”
“That’s very kind.” She studied the menu. “Everything sounds delicious.”
And so it should at those prices.
“Are you ready to order?” The waiter appeared at our table.
“I am.” My mother nodded.
“Could you just give me a few more minutes, please?” I said.
“Of course, madam.” The waiter moved on to the next table.
“Are you having trouble deciding?” my mother asked.
“Err—yeah.” I glanced at the door, just in time to see my father arrive. He spoke to the maître d’ who pointed at our table.
“Darlene?”
“Josh?”
They both glared at me.
“Why don’t you sit down, Dad?”
“You didn’t tell me he was coming,” my mother said.
“You didn’t tell me she’d be here!” My father was red in the face.
“And why do you think that was? Because I knew what kind of reaction I’d get.”
The two of them sat in silence, eyeballing one another.
“I need both of you to listen to me without interrupting. Do you think you can do that?”
“I can, but I doubt he can.”
“Rubbish. You’re the one who doesn’t know when to be quiet.”
“That’s rich coming from you.”
“Stop it, both of you. You’ll get us thrown out.”
They glanced around, and realised that they were beginning to attract attention from the other customers.
“Sorry, Jill,” my mother said. “He gets me so riled.”
“Sorry, Jill. She drives me insane.”
“Are you ready to order yet?” The waiter was back.
Once we’d placed our orders, and the waiter had left the table, I took the bull by the horns.
“I need you both to listen to me, and I don’t want to hear any interruptions from either of you. Okay?”
They both nodded.
“When I was in Spooky Wooky earlier today, I saw Alberto and Blodwyn; they both looked thoroughly miserable.”
“Blodwyn told me she was going into town to buy—”
“Dad!”
“Sorry, Jill. Carry on.”
“I went over to join them, to find out what was wrong. They’re both sick to the back teeth with the way you two are behaving towards one another. And guess what? So am I.”
There was silence for a while, and then my mother raised her hand.
“Yes?”
“Is it okay to speak now?”
I nodded.
“Alberto’s right. I’ve been so angry with Josh that I’ve neglected him.”
“Why are you so angry with Dad?”
“Because he walked out on me. On us. Didn’t you?”
“I didn’t know about the baby, Darlene. You know that.”
“Would it have made any difference if you had?” she said.
“I don’t know. I’d made some very bad decisions that had come ba
ck to haunt me. I left to protect you.”
“Oh right, so you did it all for me?” My mother spat the words. “I should have realised.”
Things were beginning to spiral out of control, so I stepped in again, “Please, both of you. Can we just talk about this without it descending into a brawl?”
“Sorry, Jill, but to hear him talk, he makes it sound like he was doing me a favour. The truth is that our relationship hadn’t been great for some time before he upped and left.”
“I’m not denying that, Darlene. We were a mess, but I never stopped loving you.”
Those words seemed to knock the stuffing out of my mother. “You had a funny way of showing it.”
“I was a fool. I should never have left no matter how bad things were. I realise that now. If I’m being honest, I’m still angry at myself for walking out like that. That’s why I find it so hard to be around you. It brings it all back again. Whether you believe me or not, I’ve always loved you, Darlene. And I always will.”
My mother’s bottom lip began to quiver. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“I didn’t know how to. I’m sorry.”
“So am I.”
“Thank goodness for that.” I sighed. “Does this mean that the two of you will be civil with one another from now on? If not for my sake, for the sake of Blodwyn and Alberto?”
My mother nodded. “I’ve been so unfair to Alberto. I’m surprised he’s stuck around this long.”
“Blodwyn deserves a medal for putting up with me.” My father managed a smile.
“I have a suggestion,” I said. “Why don’t we arrange another dinner, but this time for the four of you?”
“I’m game if you are, Darlene,” my father said.
“Why not? It can be a fresh start for us. What about you, Jill? You should join us too.”
“No, thanks. Tonight was more than enough for me.”
The rest of the evening was delightful: The food was delicious, my mother and father got along like a house on fire, and best of all, they refused to let me pay a penny. When the bill came, they insisted on splitting it between them.
That’s what I call a result!
Chapter 16
The next morning when I came downstairs, Jack was on his phone.
