Witch is Why It Was Over

by Adele Abbott

  “It looks like a tux. You’re as daft as me, Jill. I used to dress my Cleopatra up like that. She had this beautiful pink coat—all sparkly it was. Did I ever tell you about Cleopatra?”

  “Is she the cat you left on the bus?”

  “Yeah, that’s her. Broke my heart when I lost her, it did. Mind you, the umbrella I got from lost and found is still going strong.”

  Mrs V brought through the coffee, and made a point of slamming Deli’s cup down on the desk—not that Deli noticed.

  “You got any biccies, Jill? If I remember right, you were always partial to a custard cream or ten. I bet you have a packet of them in here somewhere, don’t you?”

  Reluctantly, I fished the half-empty packet out of my desk drawer, and watched in horror as she helped herself to three of them. Three! The greed of some people.

  “It’s nice that we work so near to one another, Jill. We can have these little chats whenever we feel like it.”

  “Yeah, but the nail bar does seem to be super busy.”

  “It is. It’s going great guns, but between you and me, there’s not a lot for me to do until I get up to speed working on real hands. Nails is handling all the appointments at the moment.”

  “He must get tired? Doing all that by himself, I mean?”

  “Nah, he’s loving it. It’s like he’s found his true vocation at last.”

  Just then, my office door flew open, and Mrs V came charging in.

  “Jill. Something terrible has happened.”

  “Oh, right, okay.” I stood up. “Sorry, Deli, I’ll have to take care of this.”

  “No problem. I’ll check that Nails is okay. I might as well take the rest of these biccies with me. You don’t mind, do you?”

  Before I could answer, she’d already grabbed them and made her exit.

  “Thanks for rescuing me, Mrs V. I think she would have been here all day.”

  “I didn’t make that up about the emergency. Armi just called me to say he’d heard that a shop on the high street has collapsed.”

  “What? Which one?”

  “I don’t know, but I thought you’d want to check just in case—”

  I was already on my way out of the door and down the stairs. There were dozens of shops on the high street—the chances of it being Ever were remote, but I was still worried enough to run all the way down there.

  The police had already thrown up a cordon at the end of the high street, and they weren’t allowing anyone through. The rescue workers were all gathered on the opposite side of the road to Ever. They appeared to be standing close to where Ma Chivers’ shop, Yarnstormers, was located. Or at least, where it used to be located.

  “What happened?” I asked one of the police officers.

  “A shop has collapsed.”

  “What caused it? Was it a gas explosion?”

  “They don’t know yet.”

  “Anyone hurt?”

  “It doesn’t look like it. Apparently, they received some kind of warning before it collapsed. As far as we know, they all got out in time.”

  “Thank goodness for that. My grandmother has a shop down there. Can I go and check if she’s okay?”

  “Sorry. No one is allowed through until the rescue services give the all clear.”

  I was never going to be able to persuade the police to let me through the cordon, so I found a quiet alleyway, made myself invisible, and then hurried down the street. Just as I’d thought, it was Yarnstormers that had collapsed. Some of the staff were still near to the scene, talking to the police. Fortunately, they all seemed perfectly okay.

  “There was a phone call,” a young woman said to the police officer who was taking notes. “They said we should all get out straight away because the building was about to fall down. We thought it was a joke at first, but we decided we’d better get out just in case. It’s a good thing we did because ten minutes later, this happened.”

  Across the road, the lights were on in Ever. A number of staff and customers were still inside the shop—presumably because the police had told them to stay put for the time being.

  One of the Everettes was standing in the open door, and I just managed to squeeze past her. Everyone was looking through the window, so no one noticed me reverse the ‘invisible’ spell just before going into Grandma’s office. The woman herself was seated with her bare feet resting on another chair. Grossville!

  “If it isn’t my darling granddaughter. To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?”

  “I heard there’d been an incident on the high street, so I thought I should—err—that I’d better check if you—err”

  “How very sweet. You were worried about me. Well, as you can see, I’m perfectly fine, which is more than I can say for Yarnstormers. They seem to have had a spot of bother.”

  “A spot of bother? The shop has collapsed.”

  “That’s very unfortunate, but then there are a lot of old mine shafts running under this area. Or so I hear.”

  “Wait a minute. Is that what you meant when you said you were going to undermine Ma Chivers?”

  Grandma said nothing, but her grin gave her away.

  “You could have killed someone.”

  “Don’t be so melodramatic. I warned them to get out, and then did a quick check of the building myself before I gave the boys the say-so to finish the job.”

  “The boys?”

  She reached down, and picked up a cage, which she placed onto the desk.

  “What are those?”

  “What do they look like?”

  “Moles.”

  “Well done. Ten out of ten.”

  “How could those tiny things have done that kind of damage?”

  “Come on, Jill. You’re supposed to be little miss superwitch. Use your imagination.”

  “You made them larger.”

  “Much larger.” She cackled.

  “You can’t go around doing things like this. You’ve totally destroyed—”

  “A competitor. That’s right. And don’t go feeling sorry for Ma Chivers. Have you forgotten what she did to Cuppy C?”

  “What about all of her staff? They’re out of a job now.”

  “They needn’t be for long. I’ve had one of the Everettes pass them a business card with my number on. Now that Yarnstormers is out of business, I may open a wool shop again.”

  “Are you going to bring back Ever A Wool Moment?”

  “Why not?”

  “But there isn’t room in here. Not now you’ve extended the tea room.”

  “It won’t be based in this building. I thought it might be nice to build a new shop from the ground up.”

  “Where?”

  “I hear there’ll be a nice space across the road when they eventually remove all that rubble. I’ll be needing a manager if you’re interested.”

  Unbelievable.

  ***

  I popped back into the office just long enough to let Mrs V know what had happened on the high street. I told her that Yarnstormers had collapsed, and that everyone had got out okay. Needless to say, I didn’t mention the part that Grandma had played in it.

  “That’s terrible, Jill. Thank goodness everyone is okay. I know I shouldn’t be thinking about something as trivial as this right now, but this will make things very difficult for the yarnies. First, Ever closes and now Yarnstormers has gone. What will we do?”

  “I wouldn’t worry about it. I have a feeling that you won’t have to wait too long for another wool shop to sprout up.”

  “I do hope you’re right, Jill.”

  ***

  When I stopped to pay the fee at the toll booth, it was Mr Ivers who stuck his hand out for the cash.

  “What happened to ‘Andy’?”

  “My bosses have banned me from using him.”

  “Why? I thought after the snafu with the rain, he’d been working okay.”

  “He was. Well, except for that one minor incident.”

  “What happened?”

 
“It wasn’t Andy’s fault. The woman leaned too close to him.”

  “And?”

  “Her scarf got caught on his arm. When it swung back inside, it kind of—well, it wasn’t as bad as she made it out to be. I managed to cut her loose before she lost consciousness. She was a bit red in the face, but that’s all.”

  “I don’t imagine she was best pleased.”

  “She reckons she’s going to sue the company.”

  “No more Andy, then?”

  “No. My poor elbows are already giving me gyp.”

  “You should make Cole a better offer to tempt him back.”

  “I might just have to do that.”

  ***

  I was just about to go into the house when I heard Clare, my next-door neighbour, call my name. When I turned around, I was confronted by a giant heart.

  “Hi, Jill. Do you like my costume?”

  “It’s for CupidCon, I assume? Yeah, I really heart it.”

  “Thanks. I managed to nab the last heart in the costume shop. According to the manager there, there’s been a run on them this week.”

  “Because of CupidCon, presumably?”

  “No. Actually, most of the people who have hired the hearts are going to CardiacCon. It was silly to schedule them both on the same day if you ask me.”

  “Is Tony going to CupidCon?”

  “I don’t know, and I don’t care.”

  “You know very well that I’m going.” Tony came out of the house; he was wearing a costume shaped like an arrow. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

  “Tell him I don’t care, would you, Jill?”

  “Tell her that I don’t care if she doesn’t care.”

  “Ask him if Wendy is going to be there.”

  “Tell her that I haven’t seen or spoken to Wendy, would you?”

  “Tell him—”

  “Sorry, I think I just heard my landline. I hope you both really love your con.”

  ***

  It was my turn to make dinner, so when Jack texted to say he was just about to set off for home, I used the app on my phone to order in pizza.

  Isn’t modern technology wonderful?

  “I thought you were going to make dinner tonight,” Jack said when he saw the pizza.

  “Did I say that? I could have sworn we’d agreed on pizza. It looks delicious, doesn’t it?”

  “I guess so. I assume you heard about the shop that collapsed on the high street? When I heard it was a wool shop, I thought it might be Ever, but then I remembered your grandmother had given up the yarn side of the business.”

  “For now.”

  “Sorry?”

  “It was very bad from what I heard. The whole of the shop collapsed; it will have to be demolished.”

  “How does something like that happen?” Jack pinched the last slice of pizza just before I was able to grab it. “Mine shafts, I assume.”

  “That or moles.”

  “What? Oh, yeah. Very funny. They’d have to be some pretty big moles.”

  “I saw Tony and Clare on my way in.”

  “Have they made up yet?”

  “Not that you’d notice. They’re still not speaking to one another.”

  “I guess that means they won’t be going to CupidCon, then?”

  “You’d be wrong. Clare was dressed as a heart, and Tony was dressed as a giant arrow.”

  “Thank goodness we don’t fall out like that.”

  “We never will because I know you wouldn’t cheat on me.”

  “Because I love you too much?”

  “That and the fact that I’d break your legs.”

  Even though I’d made dinner, I volunteered to do the washing up. That’s how big hearted I am.

  What? There were at least two plates and two glasses. They weren’t going to wash themselves, were they?

  “Jill!” Jack shouted from the other room. “Didn’t you say you’d been working on a case at the Nexler Building?”

  “Yeah, why?” I hurried through to the lounge.

  “Look.” He pointed at the TV.

  Earlier this afternoon, the road outside the Nexler Building was closed while the authorities recovered the body of a man. We understand that he committed suicide by jumping from the roof of the building. Unconfirmed reports suggest that the man was Thomas Bradley, a director of West Star Advertising, who occupy the top floor of that building.

  “Did you know him?” Jack asked.

  “Yeah. He’s the one who hired me to investigate the murder of his brother. I spoke to Thomas Bradley earlier today.”

  “How was he then?”

  “Fine. At least, I thought so at the time. Can you do me a favour, Jack?”

  “Do I have a choice?”

  “Not really. Would you call one of your old buddies at Washbridge police station, to see if there’s any more to the story than they said on the news.”

  “Okay. I can’t make any promises though.”

  While Jack went upstairs to make the call, I reflected on my meeting with Thomas Bradley. I’d all but accused him of murdering his brother, but he hadn’t turned a hair. He’d been so calm that I’d more or less convinced myself that I must be barking up the wrong tree. But now I wasn’t so sure. Perhaps, I’d got it right. Maybe, Thomas had decided I was getting too close, and decided to end it all.

  Jack came back into the lounge. “I managed to get hold of Grant Grantham.”

  “And?”

  “You mustn’t repeat this.”

  “You know me.”

  “That’s why I said it. Not a word to anyone.”

  “Okay. I promise.”

  “There’s some suggestion it may not have been suicide. There was a woman up on the roof. She’s been taken in for questioning.”

  “Did they say who it was?”

  “The deceased’s wife: Georgina Bradley.”

  Chapter 18

  The next morning, I walked into my office building at the same time as Brent from I-Sweat.

  “Morning, Jill. We haven’t seen you in the gym for a while.”

  “I keep meaning to pop in, but I’ve just been so busy. You know how it is.”

  “Oh yeah.” He grinned. “I know exactly how it is. I bet you find time to drop into Coffee Triangle though, don’t you?”

  “Busted. I’m definitely going to make the effort to drop by the gym at least once a—”

  “Day? Week?”

  “I was going to say month, but yeah, I’ll shoot for once a week.”

  “By the way, do you still have a cat in your office?”

  “Officially no, but between you and me, I do still have Winky. Why?”

  “We found one wandering around the gym yesterday. I’ve no idea how it got in. He’s not yours, is he?”

  “How many eyes does he have?”

  “Eyes?” He laughed. “Two, of course.”

  “It’s not Winky then. He only has the one.”

  “Right. We held onto him in case anyone came by to claim him, but I guess we’ll have to take him to the cat shelter.”

  “What does he look like?”

  “Grey. Quite skinny.”

  “Keep hold of him for one more day, would you? I’ll ask around to see if anyone has lost him.”

  “Okay, thanks.”

  ***

  “When did you put these on my desk, Jill?” Mrs V held up a handful of silver horseshoes, which were decorated with ribbons. “I was beginning to think that you weren’t interested in my wedding.”

  “Of course I am,” I lied.

  “Where did you get them?”

  “I—err—Kathy had a few samples for her shop.”

  “They’re very nice, but I’m not sure about the cats.”

  “Cats?”

  “Look, there are small cats printed on the horseshoes.”

  “I hadn’t noticed those.”

  “Maybe Kathy will get some others I can look at.”

  “Maybe. I’ll let you know.”


  “So?” Winky was sitting on my desk. “Do I get the gig?”

  “If you’re talking about being a pagecat for Mrs V, then I’d say you’ve got two chances: slim and forget it.”

  “What about the horseshoes? She must have liked those?”

  “Why would she want horseshoes with little cats printed on them?”

  “I thought they were classy.”

  “Never mind the horseshoes. I assume you’re still running the Midnight Gym next door?”

  “You’d better believe it. That’s turned out to be a nice little earner.”

  “I think one of your members may be in a spot of bother.”

  “What do you mean? Has one of them damaged the equipment?”

  “No. I just saw Brent from I-Sweat. He said they’d found a cat wandering around in the gym.”

  “Grey?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Skinny?”

  “Yeah. How did you know?”

  “That’s Micky The Mill.”

  “Mill?”

  “Treadmill. The guy is obsessed with them. I get lots of complaints from the other members because he hogs one of the treadmills for hours on end. He’s always the last one to leave. I often have to drag him out before I lock the back entrance.”

  “It sounds like you might have missed him this time.”

  “I bet he was hiding so he could grab a couple more hours on the treadmill after I’d locked up. He probably thought he’d be able to sneak out without being noticed when the humans arrived. What an idiot.”

  “Unless someone claims him today, he’s going to end up in the cat shelter.”

  “There’s no one to claim him. Micky’s a bit of a loner; he lives on the streets.”

  “Looks like the cat shelter for him, then.”

  “We can’t let that happen. He’s on two-strikes already. If he gets handed in again, it’ll be—” Winky drew his finger across his throat. “We have to rescue him.”

  “We? He’s one of your members. He’s got nothing to do with me.”

  “Come on, Jill. You wouldn’t want to see him sent to the great cattery in the sky, would you?”

  “What do you expect me to do?”

  “Pretend he’s your cat and go and claim him.”