brimstone witch 09 - witch is dead Read online

  I said, “Our Elf didn’t do that. We kept him in our sights for a while when we ran after him.”

  Stanley added, “Luca did too and he nearly caught up with him.”

  Darren ran his hand over the back of his neck and shook his head. “He doesn’t sound like one of mine. Show me how he moved.”

  “I don’t think I can,” I said. “He was standing there one second, and the next he was off running.”

  “I’ll have a go,” Stanley offered.

  Stanley moved over to the side a little and crouched while half closing his eyes. I think he was trying to look shifty, but he was too cute for that. Stanley looked our way, took on a startled look and broke into a run around the garden.

  Darren watched him with interest. When Stanley returned to our side, Darren said, “That Elf doesn’t sound like one of mine whatsoever. My Elves never look startled. In fact, they’re very rarely spotted at all. You say this Elf has been following you? I don’t like the idea of some imposter moving in on my patch. I hope this isn’t something those vampires have done to run me out of town.”

  “Why would they do that?” I asked.

  Darren took up a defiant stance. “Because I refuse to pay their protection money. Someone has to stand up to them or they’ll get away with murder. Tell me more about this Elf.”

  Stanley said, “Our friend, Luca, ran after him twice. The Elf attacked him on both occasions. Cassia had to heal Luca with her magic.”

  Darren swayed on his feet. He put a hand on the house wall to steady himself. “He did what? He attacked a civilian? That’s outrageous! It’s totally against our regulations.”

  “Luca’s okay,” I said.

  “That’s not the point!” Darren exploded. “I won’t have such barbaric acts associated with the Lurking Elf profession. I’m going to track this imposter down! I won’t rest until I do. Tell me precisely where you saw him and how he looked. I’ll find out his identity, you can count on that.”

  We told Darren all we could about the Elf, and Stanley even performed another run around the garden so Darren could see how he moved again.

  Before Darren left us, I asked him, “Have you seen anyone suspicious hanging around Henrietta’s house recently?”

  “Now that you mention it, yes, I have. I saw the fairy who owns that warehouse. Him with the big moustache. What’s his name?”

  “Alf Flashwings?” I ventured.

  Darren clicked his fingers. “That’s the one. I was on patrol three nights ago when I saw Alf flittering towards Henrietta’s house. It was well after eleven and I thought it was late for a fairy to be out. Henrietta let him inside, and he stayed there for thirteen and a half minutes, give or take a few seconds. He looked mighty mad when he came back out, and his wings were moving so quickly that I could hardly see them. I haven’t seen any other suspicious creatures but I can ask my employees about that. Many of them work the night shift.”

  “Thank you. That would help us,” I said.

  Darren pulled his hood back up. “No problems. I’ll be in touch as soon as I’ve found that fraudster who’s masquerading as one of my Elves. The nerve of him.” He gave us a brief nod, followed by a swirl of his cloak, and then he was gone.

  Stanley said, “He’s very impressive. If we ever need a Lurking Elf, we know who to call.”

  “I hope he finds the false Elf. We’d better get back to Tobias. We’ve been away from him too long. We’ll be calling on Alf Flashwings again soon. I knew he was lying to me about knowing Henrietta.”

  As we walked away, Stanley said, “Do you think I would look good in a cloak? I think I’ve got the physique for it.”

  Chapter 16

  Tobias was still asleep when we checked on him.

  Stanley padded over to the sleeping cat, sniffed him and then came back to my side. He whispered, “Call me suspicious, but I just wanted to make sure he was still alive. I keep expecting to find another deceased body. It must be this depressing town which is making me feel like this.”

  “I quite understand,” I replied. We took one last look at Tobias before leaving Henrietta’s house and flying over to Alf’s warehouse.

  We were surprised to find Peanut behind one of the tills in the warehouse. She was serving an ogre.

  She looked embarrassed to see us and explained, “Dad came to see me earlier. He said now that Henrietta wasn’t messing with my personality, I may as well embrace my true nature and work for him again. I think he’s right. This is where I belong.” Her wobbly smile belied her words.

  I said, “How do you truly feel about this? Do you really want to continue with this life of crime? I’ve heard how your dad describes your activities, but it’s still a crime in my book.”

  “My book too,” Stanley added.

  Peanut held her hands out. “What choice do I have? Henrietta isn’t here to help me anymore.”

  I said, “I told you about Luca and his counselling. You could at least speak to him about it. He might have some resources to help you cope with your addictions. He might know about some support groups you could go to.”

  “Really?” Hope flashed in Peanut’s eyes. “Do you think he could help me?”

  I gave her a smile. “I think he could. I’ll speak to him and ask him to contact you as soon as possible.”

  Peanut stole a nervous glance towards an office in the corner of the building. She said, “Don’t say anything to Dad about this. He’s over the moon that I’ve come back to work for him.”

  “I won’t say a word,” I promised. “Where is your dad? I’d like to have a word with him.”

  Peanut glanced at the office again. “He’s with some important clients. He can’t be disturbed. I’ll tell him you called by. You could come back later.” Her little hands twisted in agitation.

  “I’d like to speak to him now. It’s important,” I insisted.

  Peanut’s face paled. “That’s not a good idea. He’s in the middle of a business transaction. He can’t be disturbed.”

  The way her eyes kept darting to the office sent a feeling of unease down my spine. I said, “Peanut, does this business transaction have anything to do with Henrietta?”

  Peanut’s eyes widened and she did her best to not look guilty. She failed and blustered, “No! Of course not! No!”

  I turned away from her and announced, “I’m going to see your dad right now.”

  “No! You can’t!” Peanut tried to argue with me.

  I marched over to the office with Stanley at my side. I knocked on the closed door sharply and then opened it. Alf Flashwings was hovering above a desk and grinning broadly at two creatures in front of him. The creatures were goblins and they were each holding a thick wad of money and looking with interest at something on the table.

  “Alf Flashwings, I want a word with you,” I announced.

  The two goblins took one look at me, shoved the money into their pockets and scuttled out of the room.

  “Oi! Come back,” Alf shouted after them. “We haven’t concluded our deal yet! Come back.”

  The goblins didn’t return.

  Alf gave me an annoyed look and jabbed a finger in my direction. “What’s the meaning of this? How dare you interrupt my business meeting? You’ve cost me a lot of money!”

  My attention went to the items on the table. I said, “What are you selling?”

  “Never you mind!” Alf shot down towards the items.

  I was ready for any sudden movement and I cast an immobilising spell his way. The fairy froze inches from the table.

  “Stanley, have a look at these plants. Do you recognise them?”

  Stanley jumped onto the table and looked at the three glass bottles which contained different plants. He gave them a long look, shook his head and said, “I’ve never seen them before.”

  I picked a bottle up. “Neither have I. They must be valuable if Alf’s trying to sell them. Did you see how much money those goblins were offering?”

  “I did. These must be stolen i
tems. Where do you think Alf got them from?”

  “That’s what we’re going to find out.” I aimed my free hand at Alf ready to release him from the spell.

  Peanut flew into the room and said, “I brought these items here. My dad didn’t steal them.” She looked at Alf. “Please don’t hurt him. It was my idea to bring them here.”

  I released Alf from his spell. He blinked at me and said, “What just happened? Peanut, where did you come from? I thought you were on the shop floor.”

  Peanut pointed to the glass bottle in my hand. “I’m about to tell Cassia about these plants.”

  Alf flapped his hands at her. “Shh! You don’t have to tell her anything. Nip outside and see if you can find those goblins. Get them to come back here.” He rubbed his hands together. “You should see how much they’re offering me.”

  Peanut replied, “No, Dad. I shouldn’t have brought these to you. We don’t even know what they do.” She looked at me. “I’ve been collecting these plants for months now. Henrietta asked me to do it. I gave them to her in payment for the work she did on me. These plants are found in areas where only fairies can go and Henrietta needed them for a client of hers. She never said which client. I had these ready to give to Henrietta this morning. I didn’t know what else to do with them.”

  Alf continued to rub his hands together. “These are magical plants. They must be if the witch wanted them. Magic means money.”

  “Do you know what these plants do?” I asked Alf.

  He shrugged. “That doesn’t matter. They’re magical. That’s all my customers need to know.”

  I gave him a hard look. “That’s an irresponsible thing to say. You can’t sell items like this to your customers if you don’t know what they do. They could be highly dangerous. They could kill someone.”

  Alf shrugged again. “That’s not my concern. I told those goblins I didn’t know what magical powers the plants had. They didn’t care. They still wanted them.”

  I picked up the other two bottles. “I’m taking these. Have you any other magical items for sale?”

  Alf folded his arms. “I’m not saying another word.”

  Peanut said, “Dad, don’t be like that. I shouldn’t have brought these items here. There are some things which we shouldn’t sell. It’s not right. We should be more responsible about the things we put on the shelves.”

  Alf unfolded his arms and gave Peanut an incredulous look. “What’s got into you? Why are you saying such things? What did that dead witch do to you?”

  “She made me see sense for a while,” Peanut said. “Dad, I’m not sure this is the right life for me after all.”

  Alf put his hands over his ears. “Stop talking like that! I don’t want to hear it! This isn’t how I raised you.”

  Peanut came closer to me and pointed to the bottles in my hands. “I know the names of those plants, but I don’t know what they do. I collected these every week for Henrietta at her request. I’m sorry for not telling you earlier. Do you think they could have something to do with her death?”

  “Perhaps. I’ll look into it,” I said.

  Peanut nodded and then gave me the names of the plants.

  Alf’s hands dropped from his ears. He glowered at me and said, “If you’ve finished stealing my stock, I’d like you to leave now. And I don’t want you coming back.”

  “I’m not going anywhere yet,” I said. “You told me earlier you’d never met Henrietta. You lied. You were seen going into her house three nights ago. What were you talking to her about?”

  Alf stared at me in shocked silence.

  Peanut said, “Dad? Is this true? Did you see Henrietta?”

  Alf gave her a small smile. “I may as well be honest. Yes, I did go and see her. I was concerned about you. I wanted her to stop interfering in your life. She was turning you into someone I didn’t recognise. I told her to leave you alone.”

  Peanut shook her head. “You shouldn’t have done that. It was my decision to get help from Henrietta. She didn’t force me to do anything.”

  Alf nodded. “That’s what she told me. She said I should express my concerns to you directly. I told her I’d do that if she left you alone.”

  “Did you threaten her?” I asked.

  He gave me a smug smile. “How could a little fairy like me threaten a powerful witch like Henrietta Whitmore?”

  “Dad? What did you do? Did you tell one of the trolls to hurt Henrietta? Did you hire an assassin?”

  “Course not!” Alf said too loudly. “I’d never do something like that. Peanut, you need to get back on the shop floor. It’s getting busy out there.” He looked at me. “Have you got any more questions for me?”

  I gave him a direct look. “Yes, I do. Did you kill Henrietta Whitmore?”

  “No.” Alf’s look was defiant.

  I continued, “Did you hire anyone to kill Henrietta Whitmore?”

  “No.” He directed his angry look at his daughter. “Peanut! Get back to work. We’re losing money.”

  Peanut replied sadly, “Dad, I can’t work here any longer. This isn’t the life for me. Henrietta helped me to see that, and Cassia has too. I’m sorry.” She gave him a small smile before flying out of the room.

  Alf’s face turned red with anger. He raised a small fist in my direction and hissed, “You witches are all the same! You’ll get what’s coming to you.”

  Stanley cried out, “Don’t you threaten Cassia. She’s an excellent witch. With my help, we’re going to find out who killed Henrietta. And if you’re hiding anything else from us, we’ll find that out too.” He gave Alf a firm nod before jumping off the table. “Come on, Cassia. We’ve got work to do.”

  I gave Stanley an admiring look before saying to Alf, “We’ll be in touch again soon.”

  Chapter 17

  We had an unwelcome visitor waiting for us when we returned to Henrietta’s house.

  Gethin Devlin was sitting in one of the armchairs with Tobias on his knee. Tobias was struggling to get free, but the skinny vampire had a firm hold on him. I silently cursed myself for forgetting to put the vampire-repellent spell on Tobias.

  “Ah, there you are,” Gethin said pleasantly. “We’ve been waiting a while for you, haven’t we, Tobias? Take a seat. We’ve got something to discuss.”

  Tobias called out, “Don’t talk to him!”

  “Hush now,” Gethin said to the wriggling cat. “And keep still. I don’t want to break your little bones, but I will if you don’t keep still.”

  “Let Tobias go,” I said slowly. “He’s done nothing wrong.”

  “He’s keeping something from me. Something important.” Gethin stroked Tobias’ back roughly. “I told you to sit down.”

  Stanley and I remained standing.

  Anger flickered in Gethin’s eyes. “I could force you to sit down.”

  “No, you can’t,” I told him. “Why are you here?”

  “I’m here to collect my belongings.” Gethin continued stroking Tobias heavily. “I paid good money for the products I ordered from Henrietta. I’m not leaving until I have them.”

  “What products?” I asked.

  Gethin laughed. “As if I’m going to tell you. Tobias knows where they are but he refuses to tell me. He’s being very stubborn, but I’m convinced he’ll give me the information I need very soon.”

  Tobias said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about! Henrietta would never do work for you! Never!”

  “Oh, she did. She was happy to do it. She was happy to take my money too. Come on, cat, stop playing games. You know where that witch kept everything.”

  Tobias tried to free himself again. “You’re lying. Henrietta was a good witch. She would never help you. Never!”

  Gethin sighed with impatience. “I’ve tried the easy way with you, cat, and that hasn’t worked. Let’s try the harder way now.” His thin hands moved towards Tobias’ neck.

  “You leave him alone!” I shouted. I aimed my hands at the vampire.

&nbs
p; “Lower your hands,” Gethin commanded. “Get this cat to tell me where my products are and I’ll let him go.”

  I said, “Tobias has already told you he doesn’t know where they are. Let him go.”

  “He’s lying. I’ll squeeze the truth out of him.” Gethin’s hands settled around Tobias’ neck.

  “No!” Stanley leapt forward onto Gethin’s knee. The startled vampire dropped his hands and Tobias jumped off and ran over to me.

  Gethin let out a loud laugh and looked down at Stanley. “I knew you’d do that, you foolish cat. Cassia doesn’t care what happens to Tobias, but she cares what happens to you. Let’s see how loud you can shriek.” His hands move towards Stanley.

  There was a flash of light from Stanley’s back. Gethin howled in pain and snatched his hands back. Stanley leapt off the vampire’s knee and dashed to my side.

  Gethin put his damaged hands under his armpits and winced in pain. “What have you done to me?”

  Stanley lifted his head, “We’re protected by powerful spells. You can’t hurt us.”

  Gethin got to his feet and gave us such a hateful look that I could feel myself shrinking. He said, “This isn’t the end of our conversation. I will have what belongs to me. Watch your back, Cassia, and keep a close eye on your loved ones. You can’t protect them all.” He focused his hate on Tobias. “I’ll get my revenge on you. You can count on that.”

  He stalked out of the room and out of the house leaving the front door open.

  I quickly closed the front door and said to Tobias, “Are you alright? Did he hurt you? How did he get in?”

  Tobias shook his head. “I don’t know. One minute I was asleep, and the next, I was on his knee. He kept asking me about his products. Over and over again. I told him I didn’t know anything about them. He said we’d wait for you to come back and then he’d get the truth. Stanley, I didn’t know he was going to hurt you. I shouldn’t have jumped off his knee like that.”

  “He didn’t hurt me,” Stanley said. “I hurt him with Cassia’s vampire-repellant spell.”