Stepping through the doors, laptop case in hand, she grimaced. While the shop was always busy on weekdays, she’d hoped it might be a bit quieter on a Sunday, but no. To all the coffee addicts, it seemed that Sunday was just another day. Shame.
She thought briefly about turning around and perhaps heading off to Starbucks or Café Nero, but she knew they’d be just as bad. So in the end, she decided to join the back of the queue and take her chance.
For what seemed like an age she stood there, watching people come and go. It wasn’t until she was the next in line to be served that she managed to get a look at the back section, where she tended to go with Amanda. When she realized there wasn’t a spare seat to be found, her heart sank.
She was in the process of deliberating whether or not to head off home and take a chance that Raven wouldn’t go looking over her shoulder, when the barista caught her eye and smiled.
She should have called Amanda and asked her to come. It was always safer when there was two of you, because one could get the drinks in while the other sat and waited. When he asked for her order, she threw another glance towards the back section and became all of a fluster.
“I… errr.”
His face was the picture of polite patience. She didn’t have to turn around though, to feel the pressure coming from the people behind her in the queue. The assistant smiled again. “What can I get you, have you decided yet?”
“Oh, I’ll have a cappuccino please.” She wasn’t usually a fan of cappuccinos, but this was the first item on the list and it saved her from the added pressure of having to choose. She could feel the eyes of everyone behind her burning holes into her skull.
“Drink in or to go?”
This was the pressure question. The one she’d been dreading since she first walked in. She decided to take a chance. “Oh, errr… drink in?”
He smiled and passed a white mug to the barista next to him.
Five minutes later, the moment she’d been fearing since she first saw the queue had arrived. She was standing in the middle of the shop, holding a mug of coffee, with nowhere to sit. She noticed the sugars and stirrers out of the corner of her eye.
After emptying the contents of three sugar packets into her mug, she stood stirring over and over, for as long as possible, until, eventually, she decided she must look a bit odd. So, turning around, she again scoured the room for seats and finding none, approached a nearby woman to ask if the seat opposite was occupied. Standing up close, she found a shopping bag, taking up the entire seat. The woman glanced up and quickly returned to her newspaper.
She was about to move on to ask a man with a laptop the same question, when someone shouted to gain her attention. “Err, excuse me?”
Scarlett scanned the room to see an elderly gentleman with a handlebar mustache, preparing to leave.
“There’s a spare seat here if you like.” He even pulled the chair out for her.
“Thank you so much,” she said gratefully as they passed each other.
Noticing a woman entering the shop and sending a horde of kids to run and grab the table, she rushed forward, beating them to it by a matter of seconds.
Of course, she felt guilty and considered giving up her place for a couple of seconds, until another table became vacated and the woman called them back to grab that one instead. Scarlett smiled to herself and breathed a sigh of relief. Emergency averted. Everyone was happy.
By the time she’d taken her first sip of coffee, she’d almost forgotten what she’d come for in the first place. It was only once she’d glanced down and remembered the bag beside her foot was a laptop case, that she remembered.
Pushing her coffee to one side, she placed her laptop on the table, pressed the switch and waited for it to boot up. A minute later, she had the document up on the screen in front of her.
After all that, the police report didn’t tell her much. In fact, there wasn’t a single detail that she hadn’t observed for herself at the scene. It seemed the police hadn’t pinpointed the date and time of his death yet. Nonetheless, she went through the entire document, reading each word individually, looking for clues that she might have missed. Still nothing new, aside from the fact that the post-mortem had yet to be submitted, which was, she assumed, another job for tomorrow.
However, there were some photos, which she did find useful.
Sitting back, she folded her arms, stared at the remaining drop of coffee in her mug and mulled things over. Had her decision to forgo her day of rest been in the tiniest bit justified? No, not really. She hadn’t learned anything more about Robert from the police file. And without Tim available to give her new information about Raven’s capture, she practically didn’t know anything at all.
Even in the short time she’d known Raven, she’d grown fond of her. All she wanted was to rule her out as a suspect. As far as she could see, the only way of doing that would be to confirm that she was taken before McMillan was killed, and as she hadn’t managed to gather this information yet, she had to conclude that her attempts at taking matters into her own hands had been a grand waste of time.
+++
Monday Evening
Bicester Kebab and Pizza House, 32 Market Square, Bicester
“Good evening.” Tim leaned over the passenger seat to give Scarlett a kiss. “Nice to see you in my car again.”
Stepping into the car and making herself comfortable, she grinned. “Well, word on the street is Tim Clark’s car is the top tourist destination in Bicester. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
She watched the road come towards her all the way to the end, where they had to stop to let a lorry go past. Shifting her line of vision from the passing lorry to Tim, Scarlett said, “So, not that I’m not enjoying your car, but where are we going?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Fancy a bite to eat?”
“Sounds great. I’m absolutely starving.”
“Where do you fancy?”
Her mouth twisted, as if thinking it through. “Oh, I don’t know. Why don’t you surprise me?”
“Darling, are you sure you trust me with such an important decision?”
Scarlett laughed. “Yes. Yes, I trust you.”
“Very well then, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
When Tim turned down a street lined with expensive looking restaurants, Scarlett wiped away some of the condensation that covered the window and looked through, wide-eyed, trying to guess where he might be taking her. She loved driving through town at this time of day, with the restaurants and bars teeming with activity. Halfway along the road, they stopped at a pedestrian crossing to let a group of suits walk past, obviously out for after work drinks, who waved at her when they saw her looking.
The engine geared up and she continued looking through the gap she’d made in the condensation, until the end of the street came in to view. Ten seconds later, she looked at Tim, puzzled.
“Darling, where are you taking me?”
“Don’t worry, it’s not far from here.”
“I meant, which restaurant?”
“Just one of my favorite joints. Just—”
“Just what?”
“Keep an open mind.”
Scarlett grinned. She did always love a mystery.
They turned along Market Street, passing the Chinese, Indian, Italian and just about every takeaway imaginable, until they came to the square.
“Here we are.” Tim pulled up into a parking space, just opposite the Kebab House.
Scarlett stepped out of the car, grinning, looking around at all the shops, trying to figure out where they might be going. In the end, she followed him through the car park to the sidewalk. After waiting for a car to pass, they crossed over. Tim held open the door of the restaurant and gestured with his head for her to step inside.
Standing at the doorway, inches from Tim, Scarlett laughed. “Here I was thinking you were going to treat me to something nice.”
Tim smiled at the dark-haired man in white overa
lls behind the counter, then turned to focus on Scarlett. “Oh come on, it’s not that bad. I thought you were after a bit of adventure?” He eyed her teasingly. “I’ve been coming here for years and look at me—fit as a fiddle.”
She looked him up and down. He was, in fact, quite fit. She gave a fake, over-dramatic sigh, just to play along. “Oh well then. I suppose.”
Now that she was through the door, she could tell the food smelled absolutely delicious, and she followed Tim hungrily to a nearby table.
Tim smiled at her when he saw how her demeanor had changed. A waitress appeared from nowhere and handed them a pair of menus, then whisked off to grab them some water.
Scarlett inspected the menu with interest. “What’s good here?”
Tim gestured enthusiastically. “Everything. There’s a reason I brought you here, and it’s not just so we could spend some time in a place I knew wouldn’t be crowded. I come here for lunch all the time. It’s one of my go-to spots.”
She smiled. It was a small gesture, but it made her feel a little giddy that he’d want to show her his favourite lunch spot. Tim wasn’t the most verbose when it came to sharing his feelings, but it was little things like this that showed her he cared.
“I’ll let you pick for me, then. Get me your regular.”
The waitress returned soon after that, and Tim ordered for the two of them. After she’d gone away again, Scarlett gave him a playful nod.
“So you said we came here because you knew it wouldn’t be crowded. You know, there’s easier and more appropriate places we could be alone.”
Tim dipped his head. He suddenly looked a bit wary. “Well, you’ve caught me out, I did have more than dinner on my mind.”
Scarlett sat up straight. “Oh?”
“I have some news. Some information for you about Raven.”
“Have you checked the dates?”
“I have indeed.”
“And?”
“I can tell you when Raven was brought into the facility.” He glanced around, just to make sure no-one was eavesdropping. “September 12th.”
Scarlett shifted her eyes upwards and did some quick calculation. The result was disappointing. She shook her head.
“Doesn’t mean anything to you?”
“I need to give it some thought.”
Luckily, the waitress arrived with their meals just then, which gave her time to do just that.
Tim ate patiently while she thought, only interrupting to say, “You know, I will never get used to the idea of a talking cat. I’ve seen a lot of strange things in my job, but this—well, it just about takes the biscuit.”
Scarlett nodded. “I know just what you mean. If you made a TV series about a talking cat, people would say it was too unrealistic.”
They both laughed.
Scarlett took a bite of her meal. “But that’s not the half of it is it?”
“Not sure what you mean?”
“Well, as if a talking cat isn’t bad enough, what about the fact that she was once a witch?”
Tim nodded. “Oh yes, that is pretty improbable too.” He clattered his knife and fork onto his plate, wiped his mouth and pushed the plate towards the middle of the table with a satisfied sigh. “Mmm. Delicious. But of course, we’ve only got her word for that.”
“What, you don’t believe her?”
“Don’t believe anything until you’ve seen evidence to support it, that’s what I was taught during my training. And as of yet, I haven’t seen anything to suggest she might have been a witch. Do you believe her?”
“Well, she was pretty convincing. Yes, I do. Although the idea is pretty improbable as you put it, what other explanation might there be for a cat being able to talk? An alien perhaps?”
Tim laughed. “Oh, now you’re just being ridiculous.”
Scarlett sensed she had the upper hand. “So what other explanation might there be?”
“Errr… ” Tim furrowed his brow while he thought. “There has to be a rational explanation.”
Scarlett grinned. “Come on then, give me one other possible explanation.”
“Give me a minute.”
“I’ve given you a minute already. There isn’t one is there?” She grinned. “Admit it.”
“Well… ”
“Admit it!”
“Well, OK, I admit it. The most likely scenario is that Raven was once a witch that for some reason or another got herself turned into a talking cat. There.”
Scarlett laughed. “Thank you.”
“Not a problem. Oh, I have something for you.” He delved into his jacket pocket and produced a memory stick. “Here.”
“What’s this?”
“It’s a memory stick.”
“Yes, I can see that, but what does it have on it?”
Tim leaned in. “It’s the ME’s report. You might find it interesting.” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “It contains the result of the post-mortem.”
Smiling, Scarlett pulled out her laptop, switched it on, and sat staring at the screen while it loaded.
“Finally!” Scarlett plugged in the memory stick and double clicked on the file.
Staring unflinchingly at the screen, Scarlett now felt grateful for the bright lights as she read the document in silence.
The post-mortem had concluded the time of death to be around six weeks prior to the discovery of the body. She performed a quick calculation. “14th September,” she murmured aloud.
Tim looked up. “Sorry?”
“Oh, nothing. Just thinking aloud.”
“Oh, okay then. You carry on, we’ve got all night.”
She performed the calculation again. Yes, 14th September, give or take a few days.
Realizing the implication, she took a deep breath and raised her chin.
“Darling what is it?”
“It’s not what I was hoping for.”
“You were hoping it would put that cat of yours in the clear?”
Scarlett nodded. “Exactly.”
She closed the laptop just as the waitress reappeared to take their plates. “Everything to your satisfaction?”
They both nodded and told her they’d enjoyed every mouthful.
“Would you like to see the dessert menu?”
Tim didn’t hesitate. “Oh, yes please.”
Waiting for the waitress to enter the kitchen, Scarlett leaned in across the table. “Thanks for the intel, Tim, it’s much appreciated.”
“Don’t mention it. I’m just sorry you didn’t get the news you were hoping for.”
She frowned. “Oh, well. Let’s not talk about that now.”
The waitress came with the menus and they ordered their deserts.
Scarlett swallowed her second mouthful of ice cream. “Tim?”
“Yes, darling?”
“I’ve enjoyed tonight. It’s been fun.”
Tim grinned. “Hasn’t it? We must do it again some time.”
“Yes, that would be nice.”
“I’ll pass on your compliments to the chef, then should I? We could make this place a regular fixture. Unless, like you said, you wanted to go somewhere more private.” He grinned.
Scarlett tipped her head coyly, “Oh, he gets me intel, and all of a sudden he thinks I’m an easy date.”
Tim was still smiling when he glanced at the time on his phone. “I’m going to have to love you and leave you, I’m afraid I won’t have the pleasure of walking you home tonight. Duty calls and all that.”
Standing up, he leaned across the table to give her a kiss. “Good night, darling. See you again soon.”
Scarlett beamed. “Yes, see you soon. Take care.”
Striding through the restaurant, Tim said goodbye to the owner, before opening the front door and stepping out into the night. She watched as he buttoned up his coat, took a few steps along the road and disappeared into the night.
Chapter Seven
Tuesday Morning
Slater Residence, Bicester, England
/> It was still grey when she awoke the next morning. Glancing at her phone, she sighed and was just about to pull back the covers, when she remembered what day it was. It was a Tuesday morning, meaning today was her day off. Smiling, she sunk back under the quilt and closed her eyes. It wasn’t long though, before her thoughts turned to the previous night and her smile turned into a grin.
After spending the next half hour, unsuccessfully, trying to go back to sleep, she gave in and sat up. Instead of lying in bed, she was going to enjoy a quiet morning in, and continue where she’d left off on Sunday. As for the afternoon, well, she was just going to wait and see what the day would throw at her. So, as soon as it turned 9 am, she put on her dressing gown and headed downstairs to make a well-earned cuppa, thinking how nice it would be for someone to take her a drink in bed.
It was only once she’d poured the water into the mug that she heard Amanda padding around upstairs, so she instinctively pulled out another cup.
“Morning,” Amanda said, bursting into the kitchen and sitting down at the table.
“Morning.” Scarlett glanced at the clock. “What are you doing here at this hour?”
“Oh, I have a late shift today. Don’t start till 11.”
“Oh. Want a tea then?”
“Yes please, that would be lovely.”
Scarlett put a bag into the mug, added the water and milk, and gave it a stir. “There you are,” she said, placing the mug in front of Amanda.
“Thank you.” Amanda breathed in the smell, waiting for the tea to steep. “Mm. That’s really nice.”
Scarlett sat down and wrapped her hands around her own mug.
“So, you looked like you had fun last night.”
“Oh yeah, it was… fun.”
Amanda took a sip of tea. “Where did you go?”
“Bicester Kebab and Pizza.”
“Tell me you didn’t?”
“We did.”
“And… how are you feeling this morning?”
A Very British Witch Boxed Set Page 67
