A Very British Witch Boxed Set

by Isobella Crowley

  Scarlett fiddled with her phone, getting ready to settle in for the long haul. To her surprise, her wait was over sooner than she expected. When the inspector returned, he told her she was free to go. For now.

  “But don’t leave town,” he said.

  +++

  Outside Police House, Queens Ave, Bicester

  Tim sat in his car outside the Bicester police station on Queens Avenue. Scarlett was still inside being interviewed. The police had taken her in and he’d followed them thinking she might want a ride when they released her.

  He had found himself strangely drawn to Scarlett, as if they had known each other for a long time. The moment she had stepped into the real estate office, he’d recognized her. But it took a while to figure out that she was the one he’d seen in the photographs the previous evening. She was one of the townspeople he’d interviewed about the Bill Knight case.

  Now, having seen her in the flesh, he remembered going from door to door canvassing the area. He had talked to a number of people in town, scores of them at least. He didn’t remember them all, but he remembered her now. What they’d spoken of remained a blank, but her face and her presence stuck out. For some reason, she was different, and he found that intriguing.

  His phone rang. It was DI Rogerson.

  “Inspector,” he said into the phone.

  “Scarlett’s just been released.”

  “Thanks for the heads up. Anything I should know.”

  “I told her not to leave town.”

  “Then I guess I’m going to have to cancel our trip to Krakow.”

  The inspector laughed on the other end of the line. “You do that. But she’s all yours for now.”

  He started up his engine and pulled the car around to the front entrance, arriving there only moments before Scarlett stepped out, looking dazed.

  Tim honked. She saw him, but didn’t seem to recognize him at first. Then, a smile came to her face and she hurried over to his driver’s side window. He rolled it down to speak with her.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked.

  “Waiting for you.”

  “Why?”

  “Thought I’d give you a lift.”

  “Again, why?” She narrowed her eyes at him, conveying her suspicion at the same time as flirting just a touch.

  “Curious,” he shrugged, smiling warmly back at her. “And I’m involved now.”

  “Involved?” she asked, suggestively.

  “I was there.”

  She shook her head almost imperceptibly. “Anyone would think that you were determined to have me charged for murder.”

  “No, I’m interested in finding the truth.”

  “Ronnie was right,” she said.

  “About what?”

  “This is not your jurisdiction.”

  “True,” he said. “But I’ve taken the rest of the day off. I’m free to do a bit of sleuthing on my own time.”

  She stepped back from his window and crossed her arms.

  “Get in,” Tim said.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Wherever you want.”

  She circled around and got into the passenger seat.

  “Any theories?” he asked.

  “The husband poisoned her.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “The inspector’s line of questioning, for one. As I was answering his questions about Jade and Frank, it occurred to me that something wasn’t right in that marriage.”

  “Something bad enough that he’d kill her?”

  “Or good enough.” She shrugged.

  “You mean insurance money.”

  Scarlett nodded. “If we want to know why and how Jade was killed, we’ve got to check out the husband.”

  “You have an address?” Tim asked.

  “No, but I can get it.”

  Scarlett called Ronnie, who was already back home. He suggested they meet him at his place.

  “Okay, I’m coming over,” she said as she hung up.

  “That mean we’re headed to Ronnie’s place?” Tim asked.

  “Yeah, I can give you directions.”

  “It’s okay,” Tim said. “I know the way.”

  Chapter Seven

  Scarlett rode in the passenger seat of Tim’s car, feeling her anxiety fester. He still knew Ronnie’s address.

  Of course, Tim had been to Ronnie’s many times over the past few weeks, during his investigation of the Bill Knight case. Scarlett understood now that Tim had spent much of his time following her around town, tracking where she went and who she met with, but Cliff had compelled Tim to forget all that. They had covered up the evidence of their involvement in Bill Knight’s death and burial. Now, Tim should only remember the official version of events, which was that Bill Knight had died of an animal attack.

  And that didn’t include knowing where Ronnie lived.

  Over the investigation Tim had learned Cliff was a vampire. He’d also probably discovered that Ronnie was a werewolf. He likely also suspected Karl was a vampire and Tarquin a sorcerer. Maybe. Although, Scarlett didn’t know any of that for sure. At least not the latter pieces.

  She fiddled with her fingers.

  Scarlett had been shocked to see Tim at Ronnie’s offices, but it made sense that he would go there if he really was looking to buy property, she supposed.

  In their brief conversations earlier in the day, it seemed clear that Tim didn’t remember much at all of their experiences together on the Bill Knight investigation.

  But now, Tim seemed to know the way to Ronnie’s house, which made her wonder what else he might remember.

  Tim parked at Ronnie’s and they both got out. It occurred to Scarlett that she hadn’t told Ronnie that Tim was coming with her.

  “Thanks, Tim,” she said, trying to brush him off. “I can take it from here.”

  “I’m going in with you,” he said.

  “That really isn’t necessary.”

  “It really is,” Tim insisted. “I need to solve this case, and I’m not going to be put in a corner by the inspector or you or anyone else. This is the way I work, Scarlett. Once I catch the scent, I have to follow the trail wherever it leads. I was there when Jade died, as you and Ronnie have both pointed out. That makes me partly responsible. I couldn’t save her, but I can find some justice for her. I can find out who poisoned her. And that’s what I’m going to do, so don’t you try to stop me.”

  “Fine,” she said. “But follow my lead, okay? Ronnie trusts me. He doesn’t trust you.”

  “I can do that.”

  Scarlett went to the door and knocked.

  Ronnie answered and saw the two of them. “I thought it was just going to be you, Scarlett.”

  “Tim was good enough to give me a lift over,” she said, and changed the subject. “Is Amanda here?”

  “No, I dropped her home. She wanted to get laundry done after being away.” He paused, half smiling. “Women,” he added, dryly.

  Stepping inside she signaled for Tim to follow her in. She quickly closed the door behind them. “We need to talk to Jade’s husband.”

  “That’s not a good idea.” Ronnie eyed Tim suspiciously.

  Scarlett understood Ronnie’s reticence. They had just solved the problem of Tim’s last investigation, and now here Scarlett was inviting Tim into Ronnie’s house. It made Ronnie ill at ease, but she knew he wouldn’t admit as much. Ronnie was too much the popular host. Until his werewolf side came out, of course. But there was little danger of that happening so long as Scarlett managed to keep the discussion on an even keel.

  “Scarlett, this isn’t your place.” Ronnie stood firm.

  She adopted an insistent tone. “Just tell him where she lives, Ronnie.”

  “She doesn’t live anywhere. She’s dead.”

  “Where her husband lives,” said Tim.

  Ronnie didn’t budge. “You’re not going to talk to him.”

  “We are, and you’re going to help us,” replied Scar
lett.

  “It’s not your place.”

  “Listen, Ronnie, don’t tell me where my place is. My place is wherever I need to be to learn the truth. That’s where I’m going, and that’s what I’m going to do.”

  Ronnie turned away and started pacing. A low growl rose in his throat.

  Shit. I hope I haven’t pushed him too much, she thought.

  If Ronnie shapeshifted, there was no telling what would happen.

  “Please,” she said, softening her tone. “You don’t understand what I’ve been through.”

  Ronnie stopped pacing and glared at her. “The same thing we’ve all been through. We all were there. But you didn’t know Jade like I did.”

  “They took me in for questioning,” Scarlett said. “They put me a small dark room. They grilled me.”

  “What did you tell them?”

  “The truth. Everything that happened. I don’t know much, but I told them what I know. They’re treating me like a suspect, Ronnie. I have to solve this before they pin it on me. You don’t want me to be arrested, do you? They might arrest you too, or any of us.”

  “I don’t understand,” Ronnie said. “What could they possibly have on you?”

  “Nothing, except I was there. Like we all were there. And I gave her the water. That’s enough for them to suspect me of murder, and if they suspect me, they must be suspecting all of us. So we need to help each other out and discover what really happened, before we all go down for this.”

  Ronnie seemed to mull over her words for a minute before letting out a sigh of resignation. “Okay,” he said.

  He went to an end table with a notepad on it and scrawled an address. He tore the page free and held it out.

  “This is where he lives.”

  Scarlett took the piece of paper. “Thanks.”

  “I don’t know if he’ll be there right now. The police must have contacted him. They might need him to identify the body.”

  “We identified the body.”

  “Still.”

  “You want to come with us?” she asked.

  “No,” said Ronnie, stepping back. He seemed disturbed by the thought. “I need to call him, reach out. But this is going to be hard on him. I can’t be the one investigating him.”

  Scarlett nodded and thanked him for the address.

  Scarlett and Tim left together, but she didn’t get into his car. Instead, she strode down the driveway and turned onto the street.

  Tim called after her. “Hey, where are you going?”

  “To talk to the husband.”

  “Not without me you’re not.”

  “I can do this by myself, Tim. He knows me. He doesn’t know you.”

  “You’re not an investigator.”

  “So?”

  “So? You could screw this up. You don’t have the training for this kind of thing. Not only that, you could be putting yourself in real danger.”

  “Danger?” she scoffed. The idea seemed ludicrous.

  “If he is a killer, he might kill again to cover up the first murder. You shouldn’t be with him alone. I’m coming with you.”

  “I know Frank. He’s not going to hurt me.”

  “Maybe not. But there’s something fishy about this, and I don’t like it.”

  “You may be a professional, Tim, but this isn’t your jurisdiction. You can’t question him in any official capacity. It’s not your case, as Ronnie said.”

  “Well, I’m on a day off. Nothing to stop me from just asking a few questions.”

  She considered it, and deciding she could use the backup, relented. “Okay… Well, let’s make a deal. I’ll let you tag along, and you get a hold of the coroner’s report for me.”

  “It’s a deal,” he said. The time for playing by the rules was over.

  +++

  Hogarth Residence, Bicester, England

  Scarlett and Tim drove in his car to the address Ronnie had given them. Neither of them spoke. Scarlett spent the ride thinking about Jade, and the few times they had talked. She didn’t know Jade well, but had liked her. The gravity of the day’s events was just starting to sink in and she fought to hold back tears.

  After a wrong turn and some recalibrating, they arrived at the home Jade had shared with her husband, Frank. There was a police car in the driveway, so Tim drove past slowly, then did a U-turn and pulled his car over in a spot with a clear view of the house.

  He killed the engine, and Scarlett unbuckled her seatbelt. Tim didn’t. He just sat there with his hands on the steering wheel.

  “Shouldn’t we go in?” she asked.

  “Not yet. Let’s wait until they go.”

  They waited in silence for the police to leave. The sun on Scarlett’s window was heating up the car, so she cracked a window to let the cool air in. She was thirsty now and wished she had brought a water bottle. The thought of drinking water triggered another wave of sadness, and Scarlett began to fidget in her seat. It didn’t take long for Tim to notice her discomfort.

  “Do you want to talk about it?” Tim asked softly.

  “Yeah.”

  “What did you tell the inspector?”

  “The truth,” she said. “I have nothing to hide.”

  “You were bound to be a suspect. You know that, right? You gave her the cup of water,” he reminded her.

  She looked back out of the window again, avoiding eye contact. “I know. And your point?”

  “Well, is there anything you want to tell me?” he pressed.

  “I gave her the cup of water. Everyone knows that. It was just water.”

  “How can you be sure?”

  “I filled my own cup first. I drank it. I didn’t get sick. It was just water.”

  “You could have put something in her cup.”

  “But I didn’t,” Scarlett insisted. “Why would I?”

  “Good question.”

  “I promise,” she said. “Believe me, I couldn’t kill anyone, even if I wanted to.”

  “You’d be surprised by what people can do, given enough reason.”

  “I had no reason.”

  “But you knew her,” Tim said.

  Scarlett wondered how he knew that. Maybe the inspector had told him. Or maybe he’d asked Ronnie about her when she’d been carted away for interrogation.

  That’s probably it, she thought.

  “I barely knew her at all,” she said.

  “How long did you know her?”

  “A few years. She worked for Ronnie, and he’s dating my roommate, so I’d see her around sometimes.”

  “Around?”

  “Ronnie likes to throw parties. I don’t always go, but Jade usually does. I met her at Ronnie’s. I’ve bumped into her in town a few times. That’s about it.”

  “You must have talked to her more than that.”

  “We talked in passing.”

  “Well, she’s passed now, hasn’t she?”

  “That’s not funny.”

  “Just an observation. Besides, I thought you didn’t know her very well?”

  Scarlett turned in her seat to face him. “You believe me, don’t you?”

  He hesitated before he responded. “I believe evidence.”

  Before she could respond, the door to the house opened and two policemen stepped out. They got into their squad car and drove away.

  “Okay,” Tim said. “Let’s go.”

  It was a short walk to the Hogarth residence. Scarlett knocked at the door when they arrived. It opened to reveal Frank, Jade’s husband.

  “Hi, Frank,” Scarlett said. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Scarlett.” He looked confused to see her. She had only met him a few times after all, but Scarlett was pleased that he recognized her. “You heard what happened.”

  Scarlett nodded, not wanting to explain until they were inside. “That’s why I came by. This is my friend Tim.”

  “Hi,” said Tim. He stood back behind Scarlett, letting her take the lead.

  “Frank, this is a
terrible thing. We’re here to help.”

  “Help?” asked Frank.

  “I wanted to see if you were okay. I know it’s hard to lose someone. I lost my mom.”

  “Yes,” Frank said. “Jade told me.”

  At the mention of his wife’s name, Frank’s face contorted with grief.

  This was their chance. Scarlett seized the moment. “Would it be okay with you if we came in for a little bit? You really shouldn’t be alone at a time like this.”

  Frank nodded. “I wasn’t alone. The police were here. I think they think I killed her.”

  He stepped back to allow them room to enter. “They think someone killed her. Who would want to kill Jade?” Once they were inside he closed the door and led them to the living room.

  “Have a seat,” he said, through the tears. He seemed to pull himself together. His voice returned almost to normal. “Can I get you something?”

  Scarlett thought of her thirst, but kept it to herself. “No, I’m fine.”

  “Nothing for me, thanks,” Tim said.

  “I got a call about an hour ago,” Frank said. “Maybe it was longer, I’m not sure. I can’t keep anything straight. It could have been longer. They asked me to wait here, and then they came by and asked me a bunch of questions.”

  Frank collapsed into an easy chair. Scarlett and Tim took up places on the sofa, with Scarlett sitting closer to Frank. They were all facing the blank screen of the television. Frank didn’t look at either of his visitors as he talked. He simply stared at the empty space above the television. Occasionally, he glanced to the mantel above the fireplace, where family photos were on display, including several with Frank and Jade together, and a few of Jade alone.

  “How did you hear about it?” Frank asked.

  “I was there,” Scarlett said. “Tim was too.”

  He didn’t react to the new information, but kept staring. Maybe the police had told him who was there, or maybe his mind was so distracted that he couldn’t hear or process what she was saying.

  There was a brief silence before he spoke again. “Was she in pain?”

  Yes, Scarlett thought.

  “Did she suffer?”

  “No,” Scarlett lied. “I don’t think so.”

  Frank nodded absently.