Killer Witch in Westerham

by Dionne Lister

  The vision and warmth halted as if nothing had changed or moved. I snapped a few shots from different angles, my brain trying to comprehend what was going on. Was it a magical glitch, or was it because my witchy talent was getting stronger?

  I pointed my camera towards Dana’s father. His arm was by his side, his head bowed. So it definitely had been him. He didn’t move, thank God. I shut my eyes and asked, “Where did he get out?” When I opened my eyes, Dana’s father was just gone. He must have magicked himself out. I went through the kitchen and found the back door, which was closed. I hurried to the front door, and tripped, twisting my ankle as I stepped into a small hole. “Ow!” Pain stabbed through my ankle and down to my heel. Stupid, Lily. Stupid. Without lowering my camera, I hobbled to the front door. It was shut.

  Beren grabbed my arm. “Lily, are you all right? Look at me, please.”

  I lowered the camera and looked into his eyes. His brow wrinkled in concern—I seemed to have a habit of making people wrinkly. “I’m okay. I just….” I shook my head. Had it recorded on my camera as a video? I flicked my camera over to view the photos. There was no video. Would it work if I did have it as a video? Should I just have it on video the whole time even if it’s just one photo since I’m walking around and getting all angles? That would make sense, and I didn’t see why it wouldn’t work. “Hang on. I just need to test something.”

  I switched it to record video. I didn’t want to deal with anything stressful again tonight—I’d definitely had enough—so I just asked to see the house. I walked around the vestibule and out through the front door while I recorded. When I was done, I tried to play it back. It worked.

  Beren watched over my shoulder. “Shit, Lily. You can video it instead of taking all the different angles separately. Did you know that before?”

  “Obviously not or I would have done it.” My voice was devoid of bite, but I still felt bad. This was my buddy, B. He was one of the nicest people I knew. “Sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. I’m just a bit shaken.”

  “From discovering you can video?”

  “No.” Bushes rustled near the existing house, and a dog barked. “Crap. I think it’s time to get out of here. I’ll see you back at Ma’am’s.”

  With one last check over his shoulder, he whispered, “Last one back’s a rotten egg.”

  Trust Beren to bring a smile to my face, despite what I’d just been through. I hastily made my doorway and stepped through… and straight into him.

  “Ha ha, I beat you.” He did a silly victory dance, arms waving all over the place.

  “Yeah, yeah, but your dancing sucks.”

  “I’m saving the good stuff for the club. You just see my leftovers.”

  I laughed. “What kind of a friend are you? I’m taking back all the good words I put in for you to Liv.” I smirked.

  His smile dropped in faux horror. “You would not! Once spouted, they can’t be unspouted. Anyway, she knows how awesome I am. She’s beyond your influence in this.” He winked.

  “I can see the fear in your eyes. You know I’m her best friend, and she listens to everything I say. So you better watch it, buddy.”

  The door opened, and Angelica stood there, her brow raised. “Having fun, I see.”

  I shrugged. “Blowing off some steam. I just had a crapola of a night. Come into the living room, and I’ll explain why.”

  Angelica’s eyes widened just enough to tell me she was surprised by my outburst. She glanced at Beren, who said, “You know almost as much as I do. But I don’t think the news is all bad. She discovered something interesting.”

  “I did, but you don’t know the full extent yet.” I gently pushed past both of them and went through to the living area. “Liv!” I called, figuring she should be here for what I was about to reveal. Angelica could update everyone else later.

  “Here I am,” she yelled. Her stomping down the stairs echoed through to the living room. I sat on the Chesterfield closest to the window, facing the door. Beren sat next to me. Angelica and Liv sat opposite on the other Chesterfield. I handed my camera over and created a bubble of silence. “Have a look at the photos first. Then I’ll tell you what else happened.”

  Liv looked at me. “Did someone see you?”

  “No. Nothing like that. It’s my talent.”

  Liv leaned over and looked at the photos as Angelica scrolled through. Angelica kept her poker face the entire time, but Liv’s eyebrows rose, and her mouth dropped open, depending on what was on the screen. “So her father killed her mother?”

  “That’s inconclusive from the photos,” said Beren. “She could have already been dead, and he just disposed of the body, but yes, he could have. Right now, obviously, he’s the number one suspect.”

  “But could she have died of natural causes?” asked Liv.

  Angelica had reached the end of the photos and was scrolling back. She stopped at the first picture of the flaming cloth, just before it started moving. “Would you burn someone in a house fire who had died of natural causes?” Angelica gave Liv a stern look.

  Liv blushed. “Um, I guess not. I just… well, it could have been a weird witch thing.” She shrugged.

  “We’re witches, not barbarians.” Angelica’s chin tipped into the air as she stared down at Liv.

  “Sorry.”

  “That’s okay, dear, but next time, think it through.”

  “Yes, Ma’am.”

  “Now that that’s settled”—Angelica handed me my camera—“do you want to tell me about this series of photos?”

  Of course she’d pick up on what was unusual. It gave me comfort that someone with her experience was on our side. But now it was time to spill. “While I was looking through the camera, the scene played like a movie. It wasn’t for long, so maybe more like a GIF in length, but I watched it happening. I couldn’t hear anything, and it made my hands so hot. Plus, I’m tired now, whereas before, I’d built my strength to the point that twenty minutes of using my talent wouldn’t have made any difference.” I yawned, unintentionally proving my point. Liv yawned, then Beren. I smiled. “Sorry.” They both laughed.

  “That’s quite extraordinary, Lily.” Angelica regarded me as one does a puzzle, but there was something else—a calculating gleam? She was probably trying to figure out when she could use my evolving talent to solve more crimes. As much as I loved justice and truth, I didn’t want to spend my days filming the depraved doing evil stuff. What a terrible and depressing job. I took my hat off to law enforcement for having to deal with the scum of the earth every day, Angelica included, but it wasn’t for me.

  “Anyway, now what? How do we figure out if he killed her? And if it wasn’t her, who was it, and why would he want to cover it up?”

  Beren looked at his aunt. “Could he be protecting Dana?”

  She pursed her lips. “It’s possible.”

  Piranha was evil, but was she really that evil? “Will said she didn’t talk to her parents. He didn’t even know her mother had died. Maybe she killed her mother and couldn’t face her father? Or maybe she was scared of what he might do if she showed up?”

  “There are many questions that need answers. Right now, though, I’m going to have a cup of tea and read a book. I think a good night’s sleep is in order, and I’ll come up with a plan for our next meeting. We may be discovering this now, but it happened many years ago, Lily, and it won’t be solved in five minutes. We’re already understaffed at the bureau—I can’t afford to waste anyone’s time, so I’m going to plan first. We’ll start by going down the most obvious route. When I decide what that is, I’ll let you all know.”

  “Ah, okay.” Was I disappointed? Hmm, yes. Yes, I was. I wanted to find out what happened to my parents, and I had a feeling this was connected in some way. Not to mention that if Dana had killed her mother, that made her one sick witch. There was no way she’d think twice about offing me, which made me wonder why she hadn’t done it already—it was clear she hated me.

  Someone e
lse must want me alive.

  But who?

  Chapter 12

  I sat across from Jeremy, at a stainless-steel table that was bolted to the floor. I guessed they didn’t trust the inmates not to conk someone over the head with it in a bid to escape, or maybe in a fit of rage. The sterile surroundings took me back to when I’d been incarcerated for my brother’s disappearance. As if I’d had anything to do with it or covering it up. I rolled my eyes. The PIB really did have a crappy track record, at least since I’d arrived. They either arrested the wrong people or employed people who were the opposite of what they needed.

  Jeremy reminded me of how I’d felt when I’d been here—defeated and dishevelled. His hair looked as if he’d only been allowed to run his hand through it, and the bit on his crown stuck up—no hair stylists this side of the law. He had dark circles under his eyes and stubble, although the stubble did make him look a bit sexier. Hmm, I did not just think that. Nope. Okay, so I was human. I was pretty sure that Will perved on other women. It was reality, but he never flirted or strayed, at least, not that I’d noticed. Anyway, back to why I was here….

  “Please help me, Lily. I thought I had a chance when I had the best solicitor going around, but she’s disappeared. She still hasn’t called me back to tell me why she reneged on taking my case. You said yes over the phone. Don’t change your mind now.” He sighed.

  “But why me?” My stomach tensed as I waited for his answer. What if people had heard about my talent? I’d be in huge trouble. Whoever was after me would want me even more, along with every other idiot who wanted that power for themselves.

  “Like I said before: the talk around here is that you’re good at solving crimes. You’ve got a knack. Is that like your talent or something?”

  “Um, not really. Kind of. I don’t know. I do have luck, if you want to call it that. I seem to be able to stumble upon evidence sometimes, and I’m good at reading people.” Okay, that last bit was a slight lie. I was sometimes good at reading people, but I had to tell him something so he wouldn’t ask any more questions about my talent.

  “Well, that’s better than what I have now.” He reached across the table with his magically-cuffed-together wrists and grabbed my hand in both of his. “Please. I didn’t do this. I know it looks like it, but after Trudie left the other night, I stayed at Gran’s. I didn’t chase her down and kill her. I didn’t even know where she went, and she didn’t try to contact me again. As for those other women… I loved one of them. When she died, I was heartbroken. Everyone loved her. She was a gorgeous person, both inside and out. Gran still has our picture at her place.” His smile was sad. He gently squeezed my hand and gazed into my eyes, his eyebrows drawn together. “Do you believe me?”

  I squeezed back because the man in front of me was hurting big time. “I believe you, Jeremy, but I’ll admit that you do look guilty.”

  “I have no motive for killing Amanda. I loved her, for goodness’ sake.”

  “But the papers said you only briefly dated.” Okay, so I hadn’t read it in the papers, but I couldn’t tell him I’d had a meeting with Angelica and James about this.

  He released my hand and slid his back across the table and settled them on his lap. “I lied.” He looked at his hands. “We’d been dating for six months, but I didn’t want the public to know when we started dating, so if anyone asked, we’d say we were just friends. The usual. You know how it is.” He looked back up and met my gaze.

  “No, actually, I don’t. I’m not famous. No one cares who I’m dating.” I took my notepad and pen out of my bag and prepared to write. “So, you’d been dating for six months when she was killed?”

  “Yes.”

  “Had you had any fights just before her death?”

  He opened his mouth to answer when the door burst open. I swivelled quickly to face it. A tubby man dressed in a black suit, white shirt, and red-and-blue striped tie strode in, Jeremy’s evil mother in tow. “Don’t say another word, Jeremy. She”—he pointed at me, the finger at the end of his outstretched arm stopping an inch from my nose—“works for the enemy.”

  I leant my head back and went a little cross-eyed. I batted his hand out of the way. “Watch where you put that thing.” I folded my arms and looked up at him while ignoring Jeremy’s mother. As much as I didn’t want to see her, the room was small, and her glare was hard to miss, seeing as how she was looking over Mr Tubby’s shoulder.

  “What?” asked Jeremy.

  “Your girlfriend here,” said his mother. “She lives with the head of the PIB. Her brother’s an agent too.”

  Jeremy turned questioning eyes my way. “Is this true, Lily?”

  “Well, Angelica isn’t the head, head. She’s kind of like the managing director, but yes, I live with her, and my brother’s an agent. But I’m not working for them. They don’t even know I’m here.”

  He nodded. “Okay. Maybe I should ask you to sign something… like a non-disclosure agreement.”

  “Not only that, Jeremy, but you’ll get rid of her right now. What are you thinking, having her in here? Are you so desperate for female attention that you called her and begged her to come see you?” Wow, nutcase much?

  He scrunched his face up. “What? No! I need help, Mother. My solicitor quit, in case you hadn’t noticed. Oh, that’s right; you have noticed because you employed this idiot to take her place.” He gestured at Mr Tubby, who breathed disdainfully through his nose. It made a high-pitched whine that was almost as bad as the noise made by nails tearing down a blackboard. My teeth tingled uncomfortably, and I shuddered.

  “I don’t have to put up with this, you know,” he whinged. He turned to Jeremy’s mother. “I can’t work with another solicitor. Would you like me to walk?”

  “Pfft, she’s not a solicitor. She’s a photographer. Goodness knows what she’s supposed to be able to help him with.” Catherine folded her arms and gave me a smarmy look, as if she was imagining exactly what I could help him with, and it wasn’t getting him out of jail.

  Jeremy stood. “I won’t have you speaking to Lily like that. Get out!” He went to point with one finger, but his other arm got dragged up too, so he ended up pointing with both forefingers.

  “Not until she signs a non-disclosure agreement.” Catherine folded her arms. “Come on, Brian, get one here now. What am I paying you for?”

  He hurried outside, then came straight back in, a document in his hand. “If you don’t mind. It’s just the standard agreement. Sign at the bottom.” He placed it on the table. I picked it up and counted eleven pages.

  “I’m going to read this first.” I narrowed my eyes at both intruders. No one was bullying me into signing something I hadn’t read. They looked at each other, both rolling their eyes. How old were these people? And one was supposed to be a solicitor? I gave Jeremy a sympathetic look. Now I knew why he needed me. He was dealing with idiots.

  It took me fifteen minutes to read through—the legalese slowed me down. “I’m happy to sign, but you have to delete this clause first: The signatory must disclose all evidence to Brian Pryor and Catherine Frazer and will not disclose any information to the accused, Jeremy Frazer.”

  “Let me see that.” I slid it across to Jeremy, who read the page before it and then that page. His eyebrows drew down, thunder darkening his eyes. He spoke through clenched teeth. “I’m the client here, not my mother. If you can’t understand that, you can leave now. I’ll tell the PIB to ban both of you from visiting or contacting me.”

  Catherine pursed her lips. “I only want the best for you, Jeremy. If you want to get out of here, let us take care of things. You’re too emotional right now to think straight.”

  “If you really loved me, you’d do as I ask right now.”

  She took a deep breath. “All right. You win. Give me that.” She took the paper. “What would you like it to say, Son?”

  “The signatory must disclose all evidence to Jeremy Frazer—the accused—and no other unless they have his express an
d detailed written approval.”

  His mother left the room, then came back with white and blue paper. She must have magicked two copies into existence after changing it to what he wanted. He read over the pages. “Thanks, Mum.” His voice was even and cautious. He probably didn’t want to provoke further confrontation. Being in here was stressful enough without adding family squabbling into it. “Here, Lily.” He took a pen from his mother and handed it to me with the paper.

  I read it too, just to make sure, then signed both of them. Now it was official—there was no going back. If he was guilty, I was in a major pickle, and I’d have hell to pay with Angelica and James. “Done.”

  “You can keep the white one. My solicitor can have the blue one.” Jeremy smiled and looked at me. He turned back to his mother. “Now, if you wouldn’t mind, we don’t have much time left before I have to go back to my cell. Please leave, and take your shitty excuse for a lawyer with you.”

  “I’ll be back later, Jeremy. Maybe I can make you see sense.” His mother pinched her lips together and glared at me once more before turning and leaving. Mr Tubby followed her out and left the door open. How rude. I got up and shut it before sitting back down.

  “Sorry about that, Lily.” He lowered his face into his hands for a moment before sitting up again.

  “How do you know he’s incompetent?”

  “After my mum hired him, I did some research—the PIB were kind enough to let me do that, at least. He’s lost forty-eight out of his last forty-nine cases. He’s a massive joke in law enforcement circles, apparently. He was so bad, he was fired by the government from his public prosecutions job.”

  “Wow, that is bad.” Jeremy was so up against it, which was weird, considering he was famous and rich. “Where are all your friends? What about your agent?”

  “None of my actor friends want to come near me. It’s not true that bad publicity is still good publicity. A couple of them have called. They apologised for not coming to see me, but that’s it. I haven’t heard from my agent, and when I tried to call, she didn’t answer.” His shoulders sagged. I didn’t blame him for feeling defeated. It brought back when pretty much everyone I loved had abandoned me. Not much sucked more than that—well, other than my parents disappearing.