Stanley let out a little chuckle. “She’s just like her sister. They are so thoughtful. What has she put in there for me?” He poked his nose into the fridge.
I gave him a few seconds to have a good sniff and I looked at the painting on the wall behind the fridge. More merpeople. The images showed mermaids and merman swimming hand in hand. The mermaids had sparkling combs in their hair. There was a large painting of a wedding ceremony too. Everyone looked extremely happy.
Jeremy noticed me looking at the pictures and said, “It’s been a long time since we had a wedding at Brimstone Beach. I hope Conway is able to go ahead with his marriage to Isla despite the loss of his sister.”
Stanley turned his head away from the fridge and said, “Unless Isla is the one who murdered his sister. Then she won’t be going anywhere. Cassia, there’s a tub of cream at the back of the fridge. Would you mind pouring some for me, please?”
Jeremy said, “Let me do that for you, my friend. I need to make myself useful.” He looked at me and suggested, “Why don’t you have a look at the bedroom area and see if you can find those notebooks?”
“That’s a good idea.”
I walked over to the curtained-off area and pulled one of the curtains back. My heart gave a little leap of joy as I noticed the two pillows on the bed. One of them had Mum’s name embroidered on it, and the other one had mine. A flash of a memory came to me and I recalled how I used to lie in this bed with Mum after a day at the beach. I could almost feel her hand brushing my hair to one side. I remember lying on the bed, looking up and seeing stars. Stars? Was that right?
I lowered myself onto the bed and looked upwards. Tiny, twinkling stars had been painted on the ceiling. I recalled how Mum had asked me to count them before falling asleep. Of course, I never managed to count them all. And, being young, I couldn’t count to high numbers anyway.
I settled myself more comfortably on the bed and gazed up at the stars. My eyes felt heavy and I decided to close them just for a moment.
The next thing I knew, Stanley was whispering in my ear and telling me to wake up. I woke up with a start and looked around me. It took me a second to remember where I was. The room was dark now and lamps had been lit around it.
I sat up abruptly and said, “What happened? How long have I been asleep? What day is it?”
Stanley explained, “It’s still the same day. You fell asleep for a few hours. You looked so peaceful lying there that Jeremy and I decided to let you have a rest. Did you have a good sleep?”
“I had a wonderful sleep. I was dreaming about being at the beach with Mum. We made the most enormous sandcastle. Have you had something to eat and drink?”
“Yes, Jeremy sorted me out. He found your mum’s notebooks and he’s taken them back to The Brimstone Hotel. He said he wants to go through them carefully and that you should have the night off and just enjoy being here. I agree with him.”
“That’s kind of Jeremy to do that for me. I hope he finds something useful.”
Stanley said, “He also found some letters that your mum has written to you. He’s put them on the bedside table.”
I turned my head and looked at the pile of letters which had been tied up with a pink ribbon.
Stanley continued, “There are thirty letters. Are you going to read them now?”
I shook my head. “I’ll wait until this investigation is over.” I smiled at the letters. “I can’t wait to read them, but if I start now I know that all thoughts of the investigation will go out of my mind.”
“You’ve got more self-control than I have,” Stanley said. “There are some sandwiches in the fridge for you. I think you should have something to eat.”
“Maybe later. I’m not very hungry yet.” Shall we continue investigating the lighthouse? The light at the top must be on by now. I want to see how it works. Do you want to come with me or are you ready to settle down for the night?”
Stanley had already leapt off the bed before I’d finished my sentence. “Let’s go!” he declared and jogged towards the second set of stairs at the left of the room.
Stanley raced up the stairs and I ran after him. We came to a door at the top and Stanley stood to one side to allow me to open it. We walked out onto a small, circular area which had a round, glass room in the middle of it. Light was pouring from the room. A balcony ran around the glass room and there was a chest-high wooden rail on the outer edge of the balcony. I moved over to the glass room and peeped inside. A tiny piece of stone had been placed on a table in the middle of the room and a glass dome was protecting it. I picked Stanley up so that he could see it.
Stanley said, “That looks like shadowstone. Wow. That tiny piece is giving off all this light.”
We’d come across shadowstone before. It was a magical substance which provided heat and electricity to Brimstone.
Keeping Stanley in my arms, I walked away from the glass room and had a stroll around the balcony. We could see the moonlight reflecting off the sea and heard the water rolling along the sand. At the other side of the balcony, I could just make out the distant lights of Brimstone town. It seemed very far away.
We listened to the gentle crashing of the waves for a few minutes and then returned to the main room. Stanley insisted that I have something to eat before going to bed. I did so and thoroughly enjoyed the cheese and pesto sandwich that Gia had made for me.
It wasn’t long before the emotions of the day began taking their toll on me. I settled into the bed with Stanley at my side. We snuggled down into the covers and said goodnight to each other. With the sound of the waves in the distance and Stanley snoring gently at my side, I was soon fast asleep.
When I opened my eyes in the morning, my feelings of peace fled in a second. On the floor in front of me was a sparkling hair comb. It looked like Isla’s hair comb.
Chapter 24
As soon as Stanley woke up, I showed him the comb.
“Is it the same one?” he asked. “Does it belong to Isla?”
“I think so. I’ve had a good look at it and it seems to be identical. Stanley, I don’t like the idea of Isla coming into the lighthouse when we’re asleep.”
“If it was her,” Stanley pointed out. “She denied putting it in Esther’s apartment and she told us someone stole it from her. What if the same creature stole it from her again and placed it here? Perhaps they’re trying to give us a strong message about Isla?”
“You could be right.” I stroked his little head. “Did you have a good sleep?”
Stanley stretched out across the bedcover. “I had a marvellous sleep and I’m ready for a day of action.”
“I’m ready to get aggressive with my interrogations. I’m determined to track Rex down and find out exactly what went on with him and Nerita.” I stood up and moved over to the kitchen area. “After breakfast, of course.”
“Of course,” Stanley agreed.
It was another thirty minutes before we were ready to leave the beautiful lighthouse.
Before we left, Stanley said, What about your mum’s letters? Are you going to take them with you?”
I shook my head. “I’ll come back for them later. It will be something to look forward to.”
We left the circular room and heading down the stairs. The door at the bottom was ajar and the key was on the inside of the lock.
Stanley sniffed the bottom of the door and declared, “It smells like the sea.” His nose wrinkled in disgust.
I examined the door and said, “Everything smells like the sea around here. There’s no sign of forced entry to the lock. I wonder if Jeremy locked the door when he left last night?”
“He can’t have done,” Stanley pointed out, “if the key is on the inside of the door. Unless he used magic to secure it when he left? He might have done that.”
We left the lighthouse and I made sure the door was securely locked before turning away from it. A yellow butterfly fluttered over to me and hovered in the air. I held my hand out and it landed on my palm. J
eremy’s voice sounded urgent as he declared:
‘Cassia, come quickly to the café! I’m holding Rex prisoner. You need to get here as quickly as you can because I’m not sure how long I can keep him here. He’s a big chap. Love from Jeremy.’
I gave the butterfly a reply to say we were on our way. We jumped onto my broomstick and headed towards the café. Despite being little, the butterfly was ahead of us all the way.
When we walked into the café, we noticed Gia standing near the counter with her arms folded and a grim expression on her face.
I walked over to her and said, “Thank you for filling the fridge up in the lighthouse. We really appreciate it.”
She gave me a small nod. “You are more than welcome. I hope you’re here to talk to Rex. Jeremy is struggling to keep him tied up.” She pointed towards the corner of the café and continued, “Rex is going to be out of those magical ropes any second now.”
I looked towards the corner of the café and saw Rex pinned to a chair by an invisible force. His face was red with effort as he attempted to move his arms and legs. Jeremy was standing a short distance away with his arms outstretched and flashes of green light were shooting from his fingers. Jeremy’s face was just as red as Rex’s.
I quickly walked over to them and said to Jeremy, “What’s going on? What are you doing to him?”
Jeremy wheezed, “I’ve used invisible ropes to bind him to that chair. But I can’t hold my magic in place much longer. Have you seen the size of his muscles? Can you do something to help me?”
Rex called out, “Release me! Immediately! I’ve done nothing wrong to warrant this kind of imprisonment. I only came in here for a bottle of water.”
I said to Jeremy, “Thank you for holding him here. You can stop using your magic now. I’m sure we can be civilised about this.” I turned my attention to Rex and said, “I’d like to ask you a few questions about Nerita.”
“I have told you all that you need to know about Nerita. Tell your colleague to release me immediately. I won’t say another word until he does.” He clamped his mouth shut to emphasise his point.
I looked at Jeremy who still had his hands raised towards Rex. “Jeremy, release him before you burst with the effort of holding him in place.”
Letting out a loud sigh of relief, Jeremy dropped his hands and collapsed into the nearest chair. I heard a scrape of chair legs at my side and saw Rex leaping to his feet. He raised his fist in Jeremy’s direction and snarled, “You’ll pay for this! Stand up so I can knock you down!”
As Rex advanced on the quivering Jeremy, I declared, “That’s enough! There won’t be any fighting in here; that’s an order.”
Rex’s fist hovered in the air and he looked uncertain as to what he should do.
I repeated, “That’s an order. Rex, sit down while I question you about Nerita and your relationship with her.”
Rex’s hand dropped to his side and he gave me an angry look. “My relationship with Nerita is none of your business. It’s a private matter. I’m not staying here to be asked questions about my private life.” He turned on his heel and was about to march away.
I recalled Oliver’s last words to me the previous day and decided it was time to be more assertive. I raised my hand and announced loudly, “Enough. I’ll decide what’s relevant to my investigation, not you.”
I sent magic to my hands and aimed them at Rex. To my amazement, I managed to raise Rex and guide him back towards the chair he’d just vacated. It was like moving a man-sized balloon. I lowered my hand which made Rex settle into the chair. Continuing to use my magic, I immobilized his body beneath his head.
“What have you done to me?” he shouted. “Why can’t you witches leave me alone? I’ve done nothing wrong.”
I walked closer to him and folded my arms. My voice was calm as I said, “I want to know about your relationship with Nerita. When did it start? How long did it last? Who ended the relationship, and why? Rex, I’m not asking you this to be nosy, but I’m dealing with a murder investigation, and for all I know, you could have been the one who killed Nerita. You’re not leaving this café until you’ve answered every one of my questions.” I gave him a stern look to let him know how serious I was. Stanley came to my side and he glowered at Rex to show him how serious he was too.
Rex let out a sigh and said, “Alright, I’ll tell you everything. Nerita and I had been a couple for a few years and we were getting along very well. She didn’t want anyone to know about our relationship, especially not her father. Mermaids are not supposed to mix with other creatures in a romantic way. We both knew this, but we couldn’t deny the attraction between us.”
From his seated position, Jeremy said, “A doomed relationship. It’s a tragedy waiting to happen.”
Rex continued, “Things became serious between us. I proposed to her a few months ago and she said yes.” A ghost of a smile flickered across his face. “But a few weeks after that, she changed her mind. She said she didn’t have time to have a normal life like the other merpeople. She said she had to concentrate on being a leader especially now that her father was getting older. I told her I understood about her responsibilities and that I would support her. She said it wouldn’t be fair to me if we married because she’d never be able to give me the full attention that I deserved.” He lowered his head. “She said it was for the best that we separated. There was nothing I could do to change her mind.”
“That’s so sad,” Jeremy said. “Did you kill her because she wouldn’t marry you?”
Rex’s head shot up. “Kill her? Why are you asking me that? I didn’t kill Nerita. I loved her; I still do.”
Jeremy stood up and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a notebook and handed it to me. “This is one of your mum’s notebooks. She’s got some comments in it about Rex and his terrible temper. He’s caused many fights in his time.”
“That was years ago!” Rex boomed. “Those fights happened when I was young and foolish.”
Jeremy tapped the front cover of the notebook. “That’s not all your mum wrote about Rex. There’s a secret way into your world and Rex knows where it is. Your mum told him about it years ago in case he needed to go there in an emergency.”
I narrowed my eyes at Rex. “Is this true?”
Rex nodded. “It’s an underwater passageway. I’ve been through it a few times with Rosalyn.”
“Did you tell Nerita about this secret passageway?” I asked.
“I did. As soon as I did so, I realised it was a mistake and I told her not to tell anyone.”
I went on, “Does anyone else know about the passageway?”
“Not that I’m aware of.” He hesitated and looked towards the sea. “That’s not true. I suspect the sirens might know about it. I’ve been searching for them for days and can’t find them anywhere. The only explanation is that they’ve gone into your world.” He looked back at me and continued, “Before Nerita ended our relationship, she told me about the black cloud that had been hovering over the sea a month ago. The cloud turned into rain and it fell into the ocean in one particular area. Nerita went to that area and discovered that the black rain had turned into a small, black rock.”
“What did she do with the rock?” I asked.
“Nerita told me she’d put it somewhere far away from Brimstone so that we’d be safe from whatever evil power lurked inside it. I fear she may have used the secret passageway and taken the rock into your world, Cassia. I don’t know why she would do such a thing, but it seems the only explanation.”
I looked down at Stanley and said, “What do you think about that? Does it make sense?”
Stanley said, “If Nerita put that rock in our world, what’s going to happen to it there? And why have the sirens gone there too?”
I said to Rex, “Where does the secret passageway lead?”
“It leads to an area called Knotty Cove. I believe you used to visit that area with your mum and Gran.”
I took a small step back in surprise
. “Knotty Cove? Are you sure about that?”
Rex nodded.
I explained, “I used to go there with Gran after Mum passed away. We always had a marvellous time. It’s a lovely place. Why would Nerita take that rock to Knotty Cove? Where did she put it?”
Stanley added, “And why did she order the sirens to go there too? Cassia, I don’t like the sound of this at all.”
“Me neither,” I told him. “We need to get to Knotty Cove as soon as possible and find that rock.”
Rex said, “I can take you there on my back. It’s the quickest way to get there. We’ll travel beneath the waves.”
I waved one hand at him and removed the immobilising spell. I said, “Ok, let’s do this straight away. I can use magic to allow me to breathe underwater. Stanley, you stay here with Jeremy.”
Stanley puffed his little grey chest out and said, “No way. I’m coming with you. You can use the underwater spell on me too.”
Chapter 25
Stanley refused to change his mind about coming with me and said in a brave voice, “I’ll meet you at the water’s edge. Can we be quick about this before I change my mind, please?”
He trotted out of the café and I had no option but to go after him.
Rex strode past me with his long, muscular legs and ordered, “Follow me.”
Jeremy jogged at my side and said, “I’m not sure about Stanley going with you. Do you think he’ll be alright?”
“I hope so. He’s a stubborn little thing. I’ll use that underwater spell on him and make sure it works before we set off. Jeremy, is it possible to use it all over Stanley so that his fur doesn’t get wet? He hates it when his fur gets wet.”
“Yes, we can do that.” He quickly told me the words to use. “Do you want me to come with you? I’ve never been to that part of your world before and I’d love to see it.”
I gave him a swift smile as I remembered the happy times I’d had at Knotty Cove. I said, “It’s not a big town but the people there are very welcoming and friendly. It used to be a fishing village a long time ago, but when the fishing trade died out the people decided to do something else to ensure money still came into the community. There’s a fishing museum there now and an aquarium. I’ve been to both of them many times with Gran and we always make a donation. They also run workshops on knot making.” I stopped talking to see what Jeremy’s reaction was to that piece of information.
Brimstone Witch Mysteries - Box Set 2 Page 28
