brimstone witch 08 - death of a rainbow nymph Read online

  I dropped my broomstick, went straight over to her and put my arms around her. “I’m sorry too. I value your opinion. I always have.”

  Gran patted my back. “Let’s have a cup of tea and a chat. You can tell me what’s been happening in the Enchanted Forest.”

  I spent the rest of the day in Gran’s company and we cleared the air. Gran accepted, albeit reluctantly, my relationship with Luca.

  Which was just as well, because Luca turned up at the cellar door the next morning. Gran and I heard the knock at the door and went to investigate together. It’s rare that anyone from Brimstone knocks on that door. Gran opened it to find Luca standing there.

  Instead of giving Luca a cold look and slamming the door in his face, she invited him in.

  Luca said, “Thank you, but this isn’t a social call. I’ve got bad news. Metise is dead. She’s been murdered.”

  Chapter 7

  Stanley and I went with Luca to the Enchanted Forest immediately.

  On the way, Luca explained, “I was up all night with Gerald and Enid, and I was starting to make some headway into their problems, but they fell asleep. I decided to come back this morning, hopefully to discuss a resolution to their matrimonial problems. On my way to their home, I found Metise.”

  We entered the Enchanted Forest and Luca took us over to a secluded area near one of the small rivers. The leaves of a bush at the side of the river had been flattened and Metise’s lifeless body was lying face down on the ground next to the bush. An arrow was sticking out of her back.

  A terrible sadness came over me and I couldn’t speak as I looked at Metise. Such vitality and enthusiasm — now gone.

  Stanley said quietly, “I can’t believe it. She painted the most amazing rainbows. She was so talented. Who would do this to her?” He looked up at me with sadness in his eyes. “This is my fault. I made you go home yesterday when you wanted to stay with Metise. If we’d have stayed, we might have prevented this. I’m so sorry.”

  I picked Stanley up. “You know this isn’t your fault. Someone wanted to end Metise’s life and they would have found a way to do that even if we had stayed longer yesterday.”

  Luca said, “Blythe showed me how to put a spell on a crime area to make sure no one goes near it. That’s the first thing I did when I saw Metise’s body. Then I sent a message to Dr Morgan. She should be here soon to collect the body.” He let out a long sigh. “Although, I think it’s obvious what the cause of death is.”

  I moved closer to the body. “Is that Cupid’s arrow?” I asked. “I didn’t have a good look at the one in his office yesterday, but this one looks very similar.”

  “It could be Cupid’s,” Luca admitted. “Cassia, when I first came here and found Metise’s body, I heard someone running away and I caught a glimpse of him. I think it was Theodwin. I can track him down and bring him here if you’d like me to?”

  “Theodwin? Yes, please. I wonder why he was running away?” I looked again at the arrow. “I’ll call on Cupid first. I’ll take a picture of the arrow and see if it belongs to him.” I quickly took some photographs using my phone. I took some of the surrounding area too.

  “I’ll wait here for Dr Morgan before I go after Theodwin,” Luca offered. “Unless you want me to come with you to Cupid’s office?”

  “No, thank you. You stay here. I’ll speak to Dr Morgan later when she’s had the chance to examine the body.” I took a closer look at Luca’s face. “You look tired. Have you had any sleep?”

  He gave me a wry smile. “A few hours. The business between Gerald and Enid kept me up most of the night, and when I did go to bed, I kept thinking about what an idiot I’d been with you yesterday. I hope you don’t think any less of me.”

  “As if I would.” I smiled up at him. “We’ll come back here as soon as we’ve spoken to Cupid. Does Mother Nature know about Metise yet?”

  “No. I wasn’t sure if you wanted to tell her or if I should.” He looked at Metise’s body. “Metise was one of Mother Nature’s favourites, even though she didn’t show it. She’s going to be heartbroken when she finds out. Do you want me to tell her?”

  I took in his weary face. “No, I’ll tell her soon. I’d better get over to Cupid’s.” I reached for his hand and gave it a little squeeze. “We’ll see you soon.”

  He gave me a tired smile in return.

  We walked away from Luca and towards Cupid’s tree.

  Stanley said, “What are your initial thoughts? Who do you think did it?”

  “Theodwin is an obvious suspect if he was seen running away from the crime scene.” I shook my head. “This is too sad to think about. Poor Metise. She had all those ideas in her head. She was so vibrant and full of life. Who would want to hurt her?”

  Stanley said, “We’ll find out who did it. We always do.”

  We came to a stop at Cupid’s tree. I said to Stanley, “You don’t have to come in with me. I know your thoughts on Cupid’s business.”

  Stanley lifted his little chin. “My thoughts don’t matter. We’re dealing with a murder investigation. Lead on. I’ll be right behind you.”

  We went through the door and as soon as we did so, we noticed that something was wrong. The embroidered samplers which had been on the wall were now on the steps. Some of the frames had been broken.

  Stanley sniffed the frames. “Cassia, I can’t smell a thing. I’ve still got that sense-dulling spell on me. Could you remove it, please? If there are any unusual smells here, I’d like to pick up on them.”

  I quickly removed the spell from Stanley. He winced and said, “Did it smell strongly of roses yesterday?”

  I nodded. “And other flowers. Are you getting any unusual smells?”

  He sniffed the frames again, lifted his head and said, “No. I’ll keep trying.”

  We carried on up the stairs, stepping over the damaged samplers as we went. A low moan from the office area caused me to break into a run.

  I raced into Cupid’s office and found him lying in a crumpled heap next to his upturned desk. He had his eyes closed. There was a cut on his forehead and blood had trickled into his white hair. He let out another moan and his eyelids fluttered.

  I knelt at Cupid’s side and said gently, “Cupid. It’s me, Cassia Winter.”

  “And me, Stanley.”

  I continued, “Where are you hurt? Can you speak?”

  Cupid groaned again and forced his eyes opened. He blinked in surprise. “Cassia? What are you doing here?” He tried to raise his head. He grimaced and lowered it again. “What happened to me? Why is my head hurting so much? Did I fall?”

  I quickly scanned his office. “Your office has been vandalised. Did someone attack you?”

  Cupid stared at me. “Attack me? I don’t think so.” He blinked. “Just a moment. Let me get my thoughts together.” He hesitated and then his eyes grew wide. “Yes, someone did hit me. I came in here last night to catch up on some paperwork and I heard someone coming up the steps. Despite the lateness of the hour, I wasn’t too surprised about having a visitor as beings call on me at all times. The paperwork I had in front of me was confidential, so I took it over to the filing cabinet and then …” he stopped talking.

  “Then what?” I prompted him.

  “I can’t remember anything else.” He winced again. “By golly, my head hurts. Do you think someone hit me on purpose? Why would they do that?”

  “I don’t know. Shall I get a doctor?”

  “Oh, no. I don’t want to be a nuisance. I’m sure the pain will go away soon. Can you help me into a sitting position, please?”

  I did so and noticed him grimacing as he leant against the wall. His mouth dropped open when he registered his damaged office. His attention went to something on the floor.

  “Oh! My pictures! They’ve been torn. Who would do such a wicked thing?” he wailed.

  The display board containing the happy images was now on the floor. The pictures had been ripped.

  Stanley padded over to them and
said, “I can try to fix them for you. I can glue them back together.” He looked at the upturned furniture in the office and carried on, “I don’t think anything’s actually broken. Cassia and I can sort it out for you.”

  Tears came to Cupid’s eyes. “Thank you. That’s very kind. You’ve got a generous heart, Stanley.” He turned his stricken face to me. “Who would do this? And why?”

  I pointed to the glass case on the wall. It was empty. I said, “I think someone came in here to steal your bow and arrow.”

  Cupid craned his neck to look at the empty case. He said, “Why would someone want to steal my bow and arrow?”

  Chapter 8

  I thought Cupid was going to pass out when I told him about Metise. I caught him just before he keeled over to the side. I showed him the photo of the arrow and he confirmed it was his.

  “I can’t believe it,” he muttered. “And you think she was murdered? That can’t be. We don’t have murders here. This is the Enchanted Forest. It’s a place of love, not hate.” He closed his eyes and leant his head against the wall. “The murderer used my bow and arrow to commit this hideous act. I can’t bear to think about it.”

  I put my hand on his shoulder. “Are you sure you don’t want me to contact a doctor for you?”

  Cupid opened his eyes. “No. I’ll be fine. The pain is already receding.” He pointed to his desk. “If you could help me put my desk the right way up, I’ll get back to my work. I’ve got lots to do. You wouldn’t believe how much paperwork there is in my job.” He got unsteadily to his feet and attempted to move forward. His legs shook as he did so.

  I said, “I think you should go home. You’re in no fit state to work.”

  “But I have to,” Cupid argued. “I have so much to do.” His hand went to his forehead. “I’ll go outside and collect a couple of pain-relieving leaves from a medicine tree and I’ll be fine in no time at all.”

  I continued more firmly, “I insist you go home. I’d like you to see a doctor too, but I can’t force you to do that. Your work can wait.”

  “But I,” he began.

  “Don’t argue. Anyway, in your state, you’re likely to make mistakes, and then you’ll have to do your work all over again. I know. I’ve done things like that myself.” I gave him a smile. “Have a rest and then come back later. You’ll be more productive.”

  Cupid considered the matter. He gave me a small smile. “You may be right. I probably won’t be able to work in any case, not with Metise on my mind. Oh, golly! What about Theodwin? Does he know about her yet? That poor elf. His heart will break into a million pieces.”

  “I’ll tell him.” I gently guided Cupid over to the door. “Go now. Have a rest. See the doctor.”

  Cupid waved his hand around his office. “But look at this mess. I can’t leave it like this.”

  “We’ll sort everything out,” Stanley reassured him. “Absolutely everything.”

  Cupid let out a defeated sigh. “Okay. I will go. Thank you. I appreciate it.” He took a sad look around his office before going down the stairs.

  As soon as he’d gone, I said to Stanley, “Stand back. I’ve got some tidying-up spells I’ve been wanting to use.”

  Stanley moved away from me.

  I brought to mind the spells Gran had taught me and then I sent magic into my fingers. I recited the spells out loud and waited to see if I’d got them right.

  The office furniture began to shake as if it were alive. Then, slowly at first, it began to right itself. The desk flipped over and all the items that were on the floor flew onto its surface. The chairs put themselves the right way up and settled themselves neatly near the desk. The torn images of the happy couples pieced themselves back together and jumped onto the noticeboard. Once they were all in place, the noticeboard flew up to the wall and affixed itself. Other bits and pieces in the room sorted themselves out too.

  “Wow,” Stanley declared. “Cassia, wow. That was amazing.”

  “I know,” I said with the slightest hint of smugness. “I don’t think I’ll ever have to physically tidy-up again. I’m going to become a very lazy person.”

  “You’re the least lazy person I know,” Stanley said. “What are you going to do about that empty glass case? Shall we take it back with us and look for evidence? You haven’t used that fingerprint stuff you got from Amazon yet.”

  “Let me try something else first.” I moved over to the case and performed a revealing spell. A purple light moved over the case but didn’t highlight any fingerprints. I said, “There aren’t any fingerprints here. The culprit must have used gloves.”

  “Lift me up. Let me see if I can smell anything peculiar on the case.”

  I did so and Stanley had a good sniff. His whiskers twitched and he said, “It smells like roses, the same as the rest of the room.”

  The ground beneath us suddenly shifted and I fell over. I kept Stanley firmly in my arms as I did so and he wasn’t hurt as we landed on the floor.

  I stood up and said, “What was that? Is this tree falling down?”

  In a quiet voice, Stanley said, “It felt like an earthquake. It must be Mother Nature. She must have found out about Metise.”

  “We’d better find her quickly before she causes any more earthquakes.”

  We left Cupid’s office and ran down the stairs. I aimed magic at the damaged samplers as we went. By the time we reached the bottom step, all the samplers were back in perfect condition and back on the wall.

  The ground shook again beneath our feet as we raced over to where Metise’s body was. We found Mother Nature standing near the bushes. Her face was purple and she was shaking with rage.

  “Who did this?” she bellowed. “Who committed this atrocious act!” She saw me coming and aimed her anger at me. “You! You caused this to happen. Everything was fine in the Forest until you turned up.”

  The ground in front of me abruptly split open and I would have fallen into the hole if I hadn’t stopped myself in time. Luckily, Stanley was behind me and he managed to stop himself too.

  I looked over at Mother Nature and shouted, “Stop that! We haven’t done anything wrong!”

  Mother Nature roared with fury and the hole in front of me opened up even more and stones erupted from it. A small one landed on my foot.

  “That’s enough!” I yelled. I aimed my hands at Mother Nature and sent an immobilising spell her way. She immediately froze with her face creased in anger.

  Stanley said, “Cassia, what have you done? Are you supposed to use magic on someone as important as Mother Nature?”

  “I had to. She was going to hurt us.” I winced as the pain from the falling stone made itself known. I ignored it and moved over to Mother Nature.

  Stanley scampered after me and called out, “Be careful, Cassia! You’ll have made her angrier.”

  I came to a stop in front of Mother Nature and said, “I’m sorry I had to do that, but your actions were putting Stanley and me in danger. We had nothing to do with the death of Metise, and I think you know that. Metise has been murdered. Stanley and I will find out who did it. I promise you that.”

  Mother Nature startled me by suddenly moving.

  Stanley yelled, “Cassia, your spell didn’t work! Run for your life. I’ll deal with Mother Nature and her wrath! Run!” He raised one paw and waved it at Mother Nature. I think he was trying to do it in a menacing manner.

  Mother Nature turned her eyes on Stanley. Her voice was a lot calmer as she said, “Stanley, you don’t need to protect Cassia. I’m not going to hurt her, and I’m not going to hurt you.”

  Stanley continued to wave his paw. “You nearly sent her into that hole! She could have fallen down to the centre of the earth.”

  “I was angry. Beyond angry. I apologise. I’m not sure what came over me.” She looked at me and I could see kindness in her eyes. “Cassia, that was quite a strong spell you cast on me then. I’m impressed. It took me a while to get free.”

  “It took you about five seconds,�
�� I pointed out.

  “Yes, like I said, it took me a while.” She smiled.

  I took a step back. I didn’t trust her smile. She was as changeable as the weather. I said, “I was going to tell you about Metise. How did you find out?”

  “She didn’t turn up for work at the crack of dawn like she normally does. I thought, somewhat hopefully, that she was having a lie-in. I gave her a few hours and when she didn’t turn up to paint the first rainbow of the day, I knew something was wrong.” She looked towards the bushes. “I used my senses to track her down. Her body was taken away by Dr Morgan a short while ago. Luca went with her. As soon as they left, rage took over me. I couldn’t control it.” She looked back at me and her face was full of sadness. “Why did this happen? Who would do that to Metise?”

  “That’s what we’re going to find out,” I told her. “This is a difficult question, but do you know if Metise had any enemies?”

  Mother Nature didn’t hesitate in replying, “One creature springs to my mind immediately. Another rainbow nymph, Harmonia, was jealous of Metise.”

  I nodded. “Where will I find Harmonia?”

  Mother Nature turned her head to the side and announced, “Harmonia, you might as well come out now.”

  She clicked her fingers and the bushes at her side parted. A creature stood there with her head bowed.

  Mother Nature tutted. “Harmonia, come closer. Cassia here wants to talk to you about Metise. Tell Cassia how you felt about her.”

  Harmonia lifted her head to reveal a pale face. She said quietly, “I didn’t like her. I wanted her out of the way.”

  Chapter 9

  Harmonia came closer. She was as tall as me and on the thin side. Her pale hair was pulled back into a ponytail and her light brown eyes regarded me solemnly.

  I said, “Can you explain your comments? Why didn’t you like Metise?”