brimstone witch 09 - witch is dead Read online

  We left the house and I cast a spell on the front door and the windows. Then we began our interrogation of the nearby neighbours.

  It didn’t go well. As soon as we mentioned Henrietta’s name and who we were, doors were slammed in our faces. A few residents did hesitate before slamming the door as if wanting to speak. Stanley gave them his biggest smile to encourage them, but it didn’t work.

  Nonetheless, we persevered along the street and down the next few.

  As we rounded one corner, I almost tripped over a pile of clothes lying on the ground. I gave the clothes an annoyed look and was about to walk away. Then I recognised the clothes and my stomach clenched in absolute fear.

  Stanley said in a shocked whisper, “It’s Luca. Cassia, it’s Luca. He’s not moving.”

  Chapter 13

  Stanley moved closer to Luca and sniffed him. “He’s not dead. Cassia, what’s happened to him? Why is he so pale?”

  “I don’t know.” I crouched next to Luca and raised my hands above him. It was hard to send magic into my hands because they were shaking too much. I took a deep breath and concentrated on my healing powers. Stanley placed his head against Luca’s face and muttered something about not going into the light.

  My hands tingled and prickled as I slowly moved them over Luca. What would happen if I couldn’t heal him? Would I have to ask Blythe to come here? Would she get here in time? I tried to force those awful thoughts from my head, but they kept bouncing back in.

  Stanley said, “I can hear a low moan. Your magic is working. Keep going. He’s coming around.”

  I continued with my magic and ignored the curious glances of creatures passing by. None of them offered to help.

  After five more minutes, Luca’s moans became louder and his eyes opened. He gave us a small smile and said, “We’ll have to stop meeting like this. I don’t know what you’ve done to me, but I feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Help me to my feet, would you? I can’t stay here on the ground. The residents will assume I’m drunk.”

  I pulled Luca to his feet and gave him a cuddle for good measure. I followed this with a cross look and demanded, “What happened to you this time?”

  “I nearly had him,” Luca began. “He was right within my grasp, but he slipped away. After I left you earlier, I went searching the streets for that Lurking Elf. I headed back to Henrietta’s house and I saw him nearby. It’s definitely a male elf. I got a look at the bottom part of his face before he ran away.” He paused. “Unless it was a masculine-looking female elf. You never know. I ran after him and managed to grab the end of his cloak. But he got free, ran around here and whacked me on the head when I followed him. I’m so sorry, Cassia, I nearly had him. I’ll keep looking.”

  I looked at Luca’s kind face. I didn’t quite know how to phrase my next sentence without insulting him. I said in a kind tone, “Let’s forget about that Elf for a while. It would help me a lot if you went back to Brimstone and found out more about Henrietta. She might have some family members or friends we don’t know about yet. Perhaps one of them had a grudge against her. You could also talk to Dr Morgan and see if she has any information for us.”

  Luca grinned. “That’s a diplomatic way of telling me to leave, isn’t it?”

  Stanley said politely, “You are becoming a liability, Luca. We love you, but we can’t keep tripping over you in the streets. That Lurking Elf could kill you next time.”

  Luca nodded. “That’s true. I’m not happy about leaving you two in this place, but I know you can look after yourselves.” He gave us a wry smile. “Better than I can look after myself, apparently. Yes, I’ll go back to Brimstone and do some digging there. But if you need my help at all, just let me know.”

  He pulled me into a strong hug and almost knocked the breath out of me. Then he picked Stanley up and gave him a cuddle. He waved to us three times as he walked away.

  Stanley said, “I hope he doesn’t get hurt on the way back to Brimstone.”

  “I’m sure he’ll be fine.” I wasn’t sure of that at all, but I didn’t have time to worry about Luca. “Right, Stanley, it’s time to call on Cordelia again. Let’s hope she’s in a more helpful mood this time.”

  Cordelia wasn’t in any kind of mood because she wasn’t in her house. When we got there, we found a note pinned to her front door which announced she’d left Dingy Skipper for good and that if anyone had any problems they should contact Blythe in Brimstone.

  Stanley shook his head in disgust. “What’s that saying about rats leaving a sinking ship? I am not impressed with Cordelia’s attitude at all.”

  “Neither am I. Perhaps she was threatened by the vampires and was forced to leave.”

  Stanley lifted his little chin. “We were threatened by them, but we haven’t left.”

  “I know. Come on; let’s see if we can find her notes. They could be useful. I don’t want to be too long as I want to check on Tobias.”

  Thanks to Vera’s earlier conversation, we found the cabinet where Cordelia’s notes were located. It was locked, but a swift spell sorted that out.

  We perched on the end of the sofa and began to look through the large, red book which had been labelled ‘Residents’ Complaints And Issues Concerning The Devlin Vampires’.

  The writing started off very neat and each entry was dated. The complaints were detailed and the names of all residents concerned were noted including the vampire who had caused the bother. After each entry, there was a course of action noted which involved talking to Gethin Devlin. Some of the entries had further notes which stated that the necessary action had been taken and the matter was concluded.

  Things changed as the entries continued. The noticeable one was that Cordelia’s handwriting began to differ. Gone were the neat, detailed notes with everyone’s names listed. In their place were scribbled accounts of the alleged crimes. The residents’ names were noted, but not the vampires responsible for the crime.

  Stanley said, “It’s like she was too scared to write the vampires’ names down.”

  I flicked through the rest of the book. “Cordelia stopped recording these crimes a few weeks ago. Why? As far as we know, the vampires are still causing havoc. She must have been too frightened to continue. Or were the residents too scared to report the crimes? I’m taking this book with me as evidence. It’s not much, but it’s a start.”

  Stanley shook his head. “I think she couldn’t be bothered. I don’t like to say this of a witch, but my opinion of Cordelia is very low.”

  “I’m angry at her,” I confessed. “How could she leave this town when a witch has been murdered? How could she abandon everyone like this? It’s not right. I’ve a good mind to speak to Blythe and ask her to locate Cordelia and have words with her. If anyone can find her, it’ll be Blythe.”

  Stanley abruptly jumped off the sofa and his whiskers twitched. He lowered his head towards the dirty carpet and said in a hushed tone, “There’s someone in the cellar. I can hear them moving about.”

  “Is there indeed? I hope it’s that Lurking Elf. Come on; let’s get him.”

  We left the room and silently headed for the cellar door. This house was similar in layout to Blythe’s. and thankfully, the cellar door was in the same place.

  Without hesitation, I opened the door and went through.

  Chapter 14

  I reached for the light switch and turned it on. Of course, it didn’t work. Typical. I used the torch facility on my phone instead to light our way down the steps.

  Stanley said, “I saw someone moving into the shadows at the far end down there.”

  “So did I.” I aimed the light beam that way and shouted, “We know you’re there! Come out and show yourself!”

  Stanley trotted down the rest of the steps and declared, “There’s no point hiding! We’re going to find you.”

  A figure suddenly shot out of the shadows and launched itself at Stanley. I swiftly aimed magic at them and bound them in ropes. The figure screamed and tumbled to the floor.
She struggled against the magical ropes and swore loudly.

  I looked down at the vampire. It was the one who’d threatened me in front of Gethin. I recalled her name and said, “Selena, what are you doing here? Why were you hiding?” I glanced towards the dark corner. “Have you killed Cordelia and hidden her body over there?”

  “I’m not talking to you, witch!” Selena spat. “Release me immediately!”

  “No. Tell me why you’re here.”

  Selena rolled from side to side in an attempt to free herself. “Once I get free, I’m going to rip your throats out! I’m going to tear you limb from limb! I’m going to do things that only vampires can do! You’ll suffer from nightmares for the rest of your lives!”

  “How can we have nightmares if we’re dead?” Stanley pointed out. “If you’ve torn us limb from limb, it’s unlikely we’ll still be alive. You might want to rethink your threats.”

  Selena let out a string of colourful curse words. Stanley padded over to me and pulled a look of disgust.

  When Selena had run out of steam, I crouched at her side and said, “Are you ready to answer my questions now? Stanley and I aren’t going anywhere until you do.” I wiggled my fingers at her. “I can make your bonds tighter if that would help you talk.”

  I really didn’t like issuing such threats, but it was necessary sometimes.

  My threats worked on Selena. She said, “Alright. I’ll tell you why I’m here. Gethin sent me to collect money from Cordelia.”

  “What was the money for?” I asked.

  Selena smirked. “Insurance money. Cordelia paid a regular amount to Gethin and he made sure she had a pain-free life.” Her smirk faded. “But she isn’t here. The coward has left town. Gethin’s going to be furious when he finds out.”

  I said, “Are you sure Gethin doesn’t already know? He might have forced her to leave.”

  “He wouldn’t do something like that without telling me,” Selena said. There was doubt in her voice. “Gethin tells me everything. He trusts me implicitly. More than the other vampires.”

  “Why are you hiding down here?” I asked.

  “I heard you two walking up the path and I didn’t want to see your ugly faces.”

  “Charming,” Stanley muttered.

  Selena carried on, “I was going to wait until you’d gone and then have a good look around to see if Cordelia had left some money for Gethin.” She swallowed. “I don’t want to go back to him empty-handed. He won’t like that. I might have to call on some other residents and get double the insurance money from them.”

  “You’ll do no such thing,” I told her. “I know what you’re up to with your so-called collections. It’s protection money. It’s illegal. This is your official warning. If I find out you’ve bothered the residents once you leave here, I’ll arrest you.”

  “You can’t do that,” Selena argued.

  “I can, and I will. Unless you are actually operating an insurance collection business. In which case, I’d like to see your supporting business documents.”

  Selena stared at me with open hostility. “Just you wait till I tell Gethin what you’ve said. You’ll pay for this. What are you two doing here anyway? Have you found out something about that dead witch?”

  “It’s none of your business,” I informed her.

  “Gethin is dealing with the dead witch. He’ll find out who killed her. He told you not to interfere. He’s going to be livid when he finds out you’re still sticking your witchy nose into his business.”

  I sighed with impatience. “Selena, I’m tired of these threats. Let me make this clear. I’m a justice witch and I have every right to be investigating the murder of Henrietta Whitmore. Threats from you or anyone else won’t stop me.”

  “Or me,” Stanley added. “So you can call off your spies. That Elf doesn’t frighten us.”

  “Elf?” Selena said. “What are you talking about?”

  Stanley explained, “That Lurking Elf who you’ve hired. You can call him off now.”

  “We haven’t hired a stupid Lurking Elf!” Selena said with disgust. “Why would we do that? If we want to know what you’re up to, we have ways of finding out without a stupid Elf.”

  “Then who hired the Elf?” I asked her.

  She attempted to shrug, but it was impossible with the ropes so tightly bound around her. “Perhaps it was the creature who killed Henrietta. You should speak to Darren Vexx. He’s in charge of the Lurking Elves. How long are you going to keep me a prisoner here?”

  “A bit longer,” I said. “What was your connection with Henrietta?”

  “Pardon?” Selena said quietly. “What do you mean by that?”

  “Henrietta supplied services to many residents. What services did she supply to the vampires? I know you called on her often. Why?”

  “To collect money. Like I did with everyone.” Her glance shifted to the right and it was obvious she was lying. “I’m not saying anything else. You can’t force me to.”

  I studied her for a moment. She was covering something up. I said, “No, I can’t force you. I’ll let you go. Tell Gethin we’ll be in touch with him soon. We’ll make our own way over to his house.” I waved my hands over her and the ropes vanished.

  Selena was on her feet and up the cellar steps in a flash.

  Stanley said, “I’m going to have a good look around the cellar in case there’s a dead body anywhere. I don’t trust vampires at all.” He proceeded to investigate the cellar.

  I was relieved when he didn’t find anything.

  “Stanley, I don’t want to confront the vampires until we have hard evidence to back up our claims. We’ve got Cordelia’s notes, so that’s something. Let’s go back to Tobias and see if we can unearth anything else. I’ve got a strong feeling that Selena is hiding something big from us concerning Henrietta.”

  We collected the red book and had a quick look for anything else which might help us. We didn’t find anything. As we left the house, I discreetly glanced left and right to see if that Lurking Elf was skulking somewhere. Satisfied that he wasn’t, we headed down the path.

  We both screamed in fright as a creature clad in a hooded cloak appeared out of nowhere and landed on the path in front of us.

  A deep voice mumbled from the cloak, “I heard you wanted to talk to me. Follow me.” He jogged down the path and around the side of the house.

  Stanley blinked. “Who was that?”

  “I don’t know, but let’s follow him. It’s not our Lurking Elf as he’s too small.” I raised my hands in readiness to perform magic if needed and took after the little creature.

  Chapter 15

  We found the cloaked figure standing at the rear of the house. His hood had been pulled back to reveal a cheerful-looking, bald elf.

  He waved in greeting. “Hello! Sorry for the dramatics, but you never know who’s listening.” His smile broadened. “Actually, I do know who’s listening and it’s mainly me or one of my Elves. Darren Vexx is the name, and lurking is my game. Pleased to meet you.” He held his little hand out for me to shake.

  I shook his hand and then Darren crouched next to Stanley and shook one of his paws.

  Darren straightened up. “I heard you wanted to talk to me. What about?”

  “How do you know I wanted to talk to you?” I asked.

  He tapped the side of his nose and gave me a wink. “Let’s just say I’ve got Elves with ears in many places. Do you want to hire one of my employees? They’re all trained to the highest standard and discretion is guaranteed. I can show you many satisfied customer reviews.”

  “No, thank you.” My eyes narrowed. “If you had Elves listening to me then you’d know why I wanted to see you.”

  Darren chuckled. “Of course I do, but I was being polite.” He moved a bit closer. “You wanted to talk to me about one of my Lurking Elves. What’s the problem?”

  “An Elf has been following us,” I began. “I want to know who hired him.”

  Darren’s eyes widened.
“I can’t tell you that! My customers rely on my discretion.”

  “I appreciate that, but I’m dealing with a murder case. I think the Elf could have been hired by the killer. It would help us a lot if you could tell us who your customer is.”

  Darren rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I see. Whilst I can’t give you a name outright, I could say yes or no to who you think hired the Elf.”

  Stanley shot out, “The Devlin vampires! It must be one of them.”

  Darren shook his head. “No, we never do work for them. I don’t trust them as far as I could throw them. And I’m very strong. The vampires are good at lurking on their own; they wouldn’t need to hire us.”

  “Are you sure about that?” Stanley sounded as disappointed as I felt.

  “I’m certain, little one. I’ve never worked for a vampire, and I never will. Who else do you suspect?”

  My shoulders dropped. “The vampires were our main suspects. Perhaps that creature who’s been following us wasn’t a Lurking Elf at all.”

  “Tell me what he looked like,” Darren said, “and I’ll tell you if he’s one of my Elves.”

  I put my hand out and said, “He’s about this tall.”

  Darren let out a low whistle. “That doesn’t sound like one of mine. I don’t employ anyone that tall as they’d be too obvious. How was he standing?”

  I frowned. “On his two legs.”

  Darren flapped his hand at me. “I know that. I meant how was his lurking stance? Was it a proper lurk or was it more of a loiter? Like this.”

  He proceeded to act out both ways of standing. After some discussion, Stanley and I agreed it was more of a loiter.

  Darren nodded. “When he moved, was it a stealthy kind of move like this?”

  He suddenly vanished and then reappeared in front of us with a big grin on his face. “See that? Quick as a flash I was. Round the corner and back again. It’s almost like I wasn’t here in the first place. That takes years of training. Don’t try it yourself without proper supervision.”