by Adele Abbott
“No problem. What size do you want?”
“Size? Err, I’m not really sure.”
“What’s it for?”
I told Cyrus all about the faulty world generator, and how I was trying to rescue two humans trapped inside it.
“If it’s for a world generator, you need a size three crystal.”
“Is that big? Will I be able to carry it?”
“I think you’ll manage.” He laughed. “Wait there and I’ll get one for you.”
While I waited, more elves ventured out of their houses. After a while, I began to feel a little self-conscious, as they stared at me, and talked in hushed voices.
“There you are.” Cyrus held out his open palm.
“Is that it?” I picked up the tiny crystal, which was no bigger than the stone in my engagement ring.
“Yeah. Size three.”
“Thanks very much.”
“My pleasure. Will you stay and have something to eat with us? We don’t normally get visitors out here.”
“That’s very kind of you, but I need to get back, so I can rescue the humans.”
“Will the dragon be coming back for you?” He glanced up at the sky.
“No, it’s okay. I have a much quicker way of getting back.”
***
“One blue star crystal as requested.” I held it between my thumb and index finger. “Size three.”
“Well, I never.” Columbus spilled a little of his beer. “And it’s top quality too. Not like the ones I usually have to settle for. Where on earth did you get that?”
“I’ll explain later. Right now, I need you to make good on your promise to repair the world generator, so we can get the two trapped humans back.”
“Columbus Dark is a man of his word.” He downed the beer in one go. “Lead the way, young lady.”
We magicked ourselves to Washbridge, but my timing couldn’t have been worse because Mrs V came out of the office when Columbus and I were halfway up the stairs.
“Jill are you alright?” She was staring at the shady looking character standing next to me.
“I’m fine, Mrs V. This is—err—”
“Columbus Dark, at your service.” He bowed. “Is this your coven?”
Oh boy!
“Coven?” Mrs V looked puzzled. “What do you mean?”
“He didn’t say coven.” I jumped in quickly. “He said oven. Columbus is here to mend my oven.”
“What oven?”
“My—err—microwave oven. It’s in the car.”
“So why is he in here?”
“I left my car keys in my drawer.”
“I see. Well, I’d better get a move on. I have a dentist appointment in ten minutes.”
“Oh?”
“I did mention it last week, Jill.”
“Yes, of course. I remember now.”
Columbus moved to one side to allow her to pass. As she did, she eyed him suspiciously. “Are you sure you’ll be okay, Jill?”
“Yes, I’m fine, thanks.”
“What a handsome lady,” Columbus said, after Mrs V had left the building. “I think she may have taken a shine to me.”
“Never mind Mrs V. You have work to do.”
Lucas and Wendy were surprised to see me, but even more surprised to see Columbus.
“I warned you two that the generator wasn’t firing on all cylinders.” He scolded them. “What were you thinking?”
“We’re really sorry,” Lucas said.
Wendy said nothing.
“Where is it?” Columbus demanded.
“This way.” Lucas opened the door behind him. “It’s in here.”
“I’m going to leave you to it, Columbus,” I said. “I’ll be in my office, just down the corridor. Will you come and let me know as soon as you’ve rescued the young couple?”
“I will. It shouldn’t take long now that I have the crystal.”
***
There was a cat in the outer office, but it wasn’t Winky.
“Where is he?” Bruiser demanded.
“Who?”
“You know very well who. Winky!”
“What do you want with him?”
“Just a quiet word about this.” He pulled back his fur patch to reveal the tattoo, which was oozing with green pus.
“Yuk! Put that away.”
“Now you can see why I’d like a few words with my dear friend, Winky.”
“He’s gone away for a few days, err—weeks. Probably months.”
“Gone away where?”
“To his brother’s.”
“I don’t believe you.” Bruiser started for my office, and before I could stop him, he was through the door.
I had to act quickly.
“I know he’s in here somewhere.” Bruiser rushed around the office. “Where is he?”
“I’ve already told you. He’s gone to stay with his brother, and I don’t know when or even if he’ll be coming back.”
He ran over to the sofa and peered underneath it. “Someone must have tipped him off that I was looking for him.”
“Can I pass on a message if I hear from Winky?”
“Tell him that his days are numbered.” And with that threat, Bruiser left.
“Has he gone?” Winky called from under the sofa.
“Yes, you can come out now.”
“I thought I was a goner there.”
“You would have been if I hadn’t used magic to hide you.”
“Thanks. You’re a diamond. Haven’t I always said so?”
***
When Columbus eventually came through to my office, he was accompanied by two very confused young people.
“You must be Mark and Susan.” I walked over to greet them.
“What day is it?” Susan looked and sounded disorientated.
“What’s going on?” Mark said.
“There’s nothing to worry about,” I reassured them. “Everything’s okay now.”
“But you don’t understand. Susan and I have been stuck in that escape room for days. It was like a maze with no exit.”
“You’re out now. That’s all that matters.”
“Who are you two, anyway?” Mark said. “Do you work at the escape room?”
They were asking way too many questions, and although that was perfectly understandable, I couldn’t provide them with an answer that would have made a lick of sense.
Ignoring Mark’s question, I turned to Columbus. “Thanks for your help. I can take this from here.”
“I thought I might hang around until your friend comes back.”
“I don’t think that’s a very good idea. Mrs V is already spoken for. Can you make your own way back?”
“Of course, but please tell Mrs V to give me a call if she ever needs company.”
“I’ll be sure to do that.”
He then vanished into thin air, leaving poor old Mark and Susan even more confused.
“He just disappeared!” Susan said. “Where did he go?”
“He’s just nipped out.”
“But one minute he was standing there, and the next—”
“You both look shattered. Why don’t you sit down and rest for a few minutes?”
As soon as they were seated, I cast the ‘sleep’ spell on both of them.
It would require some pretty nifty magic to make them forget their awful ordeal in the escape room. I also had to come up with a plausible explanation as to where they’d been for the last few days.
But, as always, I had a plan.
First stop: Candle Sands.
Once I’d magicked myself there, it wasn’t difficult to track down Grandma and the other WOW members. I just followed the sound of cackling.
“What are you doing here?” Grandma was obviously delighted to see me. “This is a WOW outing. Members only.”
“Don’t worry; I’m not staying. I need your advice, please.”
“Couldn’t it have waited until I got back?”
“
Actually, no. It’ll only take a minute, I promise.”
“It had better. We were about to go and get candyfloss.”
I explained that we’d rescued the young couple from the escape room, and that now I needed to find a way of making them forget their awful experience.
“You found Columbus, then?”
“Yes. He remembered you.”
“Of course he did.”
“What do you think I should do, Grandma?”
“I would have thought that would be obvious to the most powerful witch in Candlefield.” Only she could say that and make it sound like an insult.
“Well, it isn’t obvious to me.”
“You’ll need to implant an alternate memory.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. Use your imagination. What else could they have been up to for the last few days?”
“It was his birthday, so I suppose they might have gone away somewhere.”
“Bingo! Now, can I go and get my candyfloss?”
“Wait! There’s something else I need to talk to you about.”
“It’ll have to wait.”
“It’s about Ma Chivers.”
“I said it will have to wait. Right now, I need candyfloss.”
“Okay, thanks for your help.”
An implanted memory! Now she’d said it, it was so obvious, so why hadn’t I thought of it?
Next stop: London.
After using the ‘doppelganger’ spell to make myself look like Mark Blythe, I booked into a budget hotel in North London.
Final stop: Back to the office.
“What is going on, Jill?”
Oh bum! Mrs V was back from the dentist.
“What do you mean?”
“When I got back, I found these two young people in here, fast asleep.”
“Err, they’re Kathy’s friends. They’ve come to visit.”
“But why are they asleep?”
“They’ve had a long journey. Look, why don’t you call it a day, Mrs V?”
“But it isn’t time for me to finish yet.”
“I know, but if you’re working at your desk, you might wake them up, and they need their rest.”
“I do have a lot of work to do for the conference.”
“It’s decided, then. Off you trot.”
“Okay, dear. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Bye, Mrs V.”
Using magic to transport two people isn’t easy at the best of times. Doing it while they’re fast asleep, and trying to ensure we ended up in the correct hotel room, was a challenge and a half.
But, of course, this superstar witch managed it.
After implanting memories from a day trip I’d taken to London when I was a kid, I left them dozing on the double bed.
Back at the office, I called Susan’s father.
“Mr Longacre, it’s Jill Maxwell.”
“Jill? Do you have any news for us?”
“I do. I’ve managed to locate them, and they’re both safe and sound.”
“Thank goodness for that. Where are they?”
“In a hotel in London.”
“I don’t understand. Why on earth didn’t they tell us that’s where they were going? And why haven’t they been answering their phones?”
“That’s young people for you, I’m afraid. Too caught up in their own lives to worry about anyone else.”
“It’s not like them. Either of them. Still, they’re alright, and that’s all that matters.”
“I’ll text you details of the hotel and room number where they’re staying.”
“Thank you so much for your help. I’ll have a few words to say to both of them, for worrying us like this.”
“Don’t be too hard on them. You’re only young once.”
I felt a little guilty at having to paint the young couple in a bad light when in fact they’d done nothing wrong, but what choice did I have?
Chapter 17
I felt terrible about Myrtle. There she was, languishing in prison, and so far, I’d made precious little progress in finding the real murderer. And it wasn’t as though I could tell her why I appeared to be dragging my feet.
“Sorry, Myrtle, but I had to stop a dragon attacking an airship, and then I had to collect a crystal from some elves, so I could free a couple trapped inside a ‘world generator’ spell.”
She would probably think I’d been eating funny mushrooms.
At least now that I’d put the missing person case to bed, I could give my full attention to the Middle Tweaking murder. My first port of call would be The Old Trout public house. Except that it was no longer The Old Trout; the pub was now called The Boomerang.
Inside, it was almost unrecognisable from my previous visit. The furniture had all been replaced, and there was no sign of the fishing trophies or photographs that had once filled the place. Instead, on every wall, hung dozens of boomerangs.
The pub had only just opened for the day, and I appeared to be their first customer.
“Welcome to The Boomerang.” The man behind the bar was wearing a tie with little boomerangs on it. “What can I get for you?”
“A lime and soda, please.”
“Coming right up. Ice?”
“Yes, please. The last time I was in here, it was called The Old Trout.”
“Some of the locals still wish it was.” He smiled. “I’m afraid that not everyone approves of the change of name.”
“I kind of like it. Are you the owner?”
“Yes, I’m Ronnie. My wife and I bought the place just over a year ago. The last person to own the pub left under rather unfortunate circumstances.”
“The murder of the postmistress, you mean?”
“That’s right. Are you a local, then? I haven’t seen you around the village before.”
“No, but I worked with Myrtle Turtle on the Madge Hick case.”
“We foolishly thought the locals would be happy to see the old name disappear, given what had happened.”
“Aren’t they?”
“Most of them are okay with it, but a few still insist on calling it by its old name.” He grinned. “It hasn’t stopped any of them from drinking here, though.”
“Hi, I’m Bonnie.” A woman joined him behind the bar. “I’m Ronnie’s wife.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Jill. Neither of you has an Australian accent as far as I can make out.”
“Why would you expect us to have one?”
“It’s just that I saw the boomerangs, and kind of assumed you must be from down under.”
“I’m from Cornwall, and Ronnie is from Wimbledon. We both compete in boomerang tournaments. In fact, that’s where we first met.”
“I had no idea there were tournaments for boomerangs.”
“You’d be surprised. They were quite popular some years ago, but then interest seemed to wane for a while, but now the sport is booming again.”
“It sounds as though the boomerang has made a bit of a comeback.” I laughed.
Which was just as well, because neither Ronnie nor Bonnie did; they obviously didn’t think boomerangs were a suitable subject for levity.
“The reason I’m here today is that I’ve been asked to help Myrtle Turtle. You know she’s been charged with murder, I assume?”
“It’s hard to believe Myrtle would do such a thing,” Ronnie said. “She can be a bit cantankerous at times—she’s one of the regulars who’ll probably always call this place The Old Trout—but a murderer? Never.”
“She did have a go at Rob that day,” Bonnie said. “You saw how angry she was.”
“I know, but even so.”
“Would you mind talking me through what happened?” I said.
It was Bonnie who began to tell the story. “We’ve had a few problems with Rob Evans and that skanky girlfriend of his.”
“Bonnie!” Ronnie admonished her.
“Sorry, but it’s true. The pair of them were as bad as one another. His friends too.”
/> “Are his friends local?”
“No. As far as I can make out, they come up from London. That’s where Evans was living before he inherited his grandmother’s place. This is normally a quiet village pub, but whenever that lot show up, things almost always get out of hand. We’ve had to ask them to leave on a couple of occasions.”
“Were there many of them in that day?”
“No, it was just Rob, but it was lunchtime, so Sydney was probably still sleeping it off from the night before.”
“Sydney? Who’s he?”
“She is Rob’s girlfriend. Anyway, it wasn’t long before he started to get louder and louder; he was shouting at everyone about nothing in particular. I was about to tell Ronnie to throw him out when Myrtle stepped in. She usually comes in with those two strange friends of hers.”
“Hodd and Jobbs?”
“Yes, but that day she was having a quiet drink by herself. Anyway, Myrtle started to lay into Rob. She told him a few home truths—not that it did any good. They had a stand-up slanging match right there in the middle of the floor. In the end, Rob backed down and stormed out. He wasn’t happy.”
“Did he threaten her?”
“Not that I heard.”
“What did Myrtle do after he’d left?”
“She apologised to everyone for the commotion, and then went back to her drink. The next thing we heard was the following day when someone told us that Rob’s body had been found in the river. We assumed he’d fallen in, but then they arrested Myrtle.”
“Had you ever heard anyone else threaten Rob?”
“He didn’t have many friends in the village. A lot of people said they’d be glad to see the back of him, but I wouldn’t say anyone actually threatened him.”
“Any strangers in the village recently?”
“Only Rob’s London friends.”
“Okay, thanks for your help.” I drained the last of my lime and soda.
“No problem,” Ronnie said. “If there’s anything else you need, give us a shout. We hate to think of poor Myrtle in prison.”
“I don’t suppose you have any idea where I might find Rob’s girlfriend, do you?”
“As far as I know, she’s been staying in Rob’s house since he died.”
