brimstone witch 08 - death of a rainbow nymph Read online

  “A bit. I’m fine. Don’t you worry about me. I wish I could help you with your investigation more, but I’ve got to get back to the Forest and carry on with my counselling work. You could ask another guardian to help you. I won’t be offended.”

  I gently patted his cheek. “The other guardians probably won’t make coffee for me or hug me.”

  Luca stiffened. “I should think not! They can make you a coffee, of course. But they can keep their hugs to themselves.” He gave me a smile. “You know what I mean. Am I coming over all protective again?”

  “A bit. I don’t mind.”

  The cat flap opened and Stanley came through it. He raised his head, sniffed and then nodded. He said, “That’s better.”

  He padded over to us and jumped onto my lap.

  Luca said, “How did your date go?” His eyes twinkled.

  Stanley sighed, “It wasn’t a date. I won’t be seeing Natalia again. I made that clear to her.” He shook his head. “She was so bossy. She wanted to change everything about me including my name and how I walked. She has definite ideas about what she wants in a partner and she said I didn’t meet her requirements. Natalia said she’d be willing to wait while I made the appropriate changes.”

  I tutted. “The cheek of her! You’re perfect just as you are. You don’t need to change a thing about yourself.”

  “Thank you,” Stanley said. “I politely told Natalia I wasn’t going to change, not for her or anyone. She wasn’t happy and said I’d wasted her time. She flounced off with her tail in the air.” He rested his head on his paws. “I am emotionally exhausted.”

  “Why don’t you have a sleep?” I suggested.

  “I might. What are you two going to do?”

  I answered, “Luca is going back to the Forest and so am I.” I quickly told him about Theodwin and the arguments he’d been having.

  Stanley jumped off my lap and declared, “I’m coming with you.”

  “Are you sure?” I asked. “I don’t mind if you stay here and have a nap.”

  “I insist. I’m your investigating partner, familiar and best friend. I’ll always be at your side when you need me.”

  I felt my eyes prickling. “Thanks, Stanley. I feel the same about you.”

  Luca cleared his throat. Stanley said, “We feel the same about you, Luca, even if you do talk to vile vermin.” He looked over his shoulder at the cat flap. “Can we leave now before I have any more visitors, please?”

  Chapter 17

  We all headed back to the Enchanted Forest. Luca hitched a ride on my broomstick while in his rabbit form. Once we entered the Forest, Luca went off one way, and Stanley and I headed in another. We had Theodwin’s address and it wasn’t far away.

  As we made our way through the trees, I picked up on a mumbling noise. I motioned for Stanley to stop and listen.

  He did so, and then he said, “I can only hear one voice. It sounds like someone is talking to themselves.”

  “Do you recognise the voice?” I asked.

  Stanley listened again. “It’s Theodwin.”

  We followed the sound of the voice and found the elf talking to a tree. The tree had a face in the middle of its bark and seemed to be listening to every word Theodwin was saying.

  Theodwin said to the tree, “Why didn’t they leave me to sort things out at my own pace? I could have done that. Why did they have to interfere? It was nothing to do with them. Nothing! I told them to leave me alone. But would they listen?”

  The tree’s mouth opened as it was going to reply.

  Theodwin didn’t give it a chance to speak, if indeed the tree could speak. The elf shook his head at his own question. “No! They didn’t. And now look what’s happened. They’ll blame me somehow. I know they will. And what will I do then?”

  The tree rustled its branches in response.

  I gave a polite cough and stepped forward. “Sorry to disturb you, but I’d like to have a chat with you.”

  Spots of colour appeared on Theodwin’s cheeks. He said, “How long have you been standing there? How long have you been spying on me?”

  “I haven’t been spying on you at all,” I said indignantly.

  “She’s right,” a deep voice said. “Cassia and Stanley have only just turned up now. They did listen to you for a little while, though.”

  Stanley let out a surprised gasp. “Cassia, the tree spoke! It moved its lips and it spoke!”

  The tree gave a deep chuckle. “Of course I spoke. Why wouldn’t I?”

  Stanley waved his paw at the tree. “Hello.”

  The tree rustled its branches. A silver leaf fluttered down and landed on Stanley’s back. The tree said, “Hello, Stanley.”

  Theodwin ran a hand over the back of his neck. “Have you found out who killed Metise yet?”

  “That’s what I’m here to talk to you about,” I said. “You were seen running away from the spot where Metise’s body was lying. Why did you run away? And what were you doing there in the first place?”

  Theodwin frowned. “No matter what I say now, I’m going to sound guilty. You already think I’m guilty. I can see it on your face. Everyone’s been looking at me like that since they found out about Metise. Even Mum.”

  “I’m reserving judgement until I have the full facts,” I told him. That wasn’t strictly true as Theodwin looked incredibly guilty as he shifted from foot to foot and kept shooting nervous glances at the tree. Had he confessed his crime to the tree before we got here? Perhaps I should question the tree.

  Theodwin said, “I’ll tell the truth. Whether you believe me or not is up to you. Mum’s been giving me a hard time about the wedding date. She wanted to book the venue and party food, but she couldn’t do that until we had a date. The neighbours kept pestering her for one, and so did my relations. Mum was embarrassed about having to say she didn’t know when the wedding was. My friends were just as bad. I don’t know why everyone was so concerned about Metise and me getting married.”

  I nodded in understanding. “Metise didn’t seem to be in a hurry to get married.”

  “She wasn’t. I wasn’t either and I was happy to wait. But it was everyone else. They wouldn’t let me have a minute’s peace.” He paused and gave me a direct look. “I’m ashamed to say that I gave Metise an ultimatum last night. I said that if she didn’t set a date soon, our engagement was off.”

  “How did she take that?” I asked.

  “Not well. She went really quiet and said she needed to think about it. We agreed to meet the following morning so that she could give me her answer. When she didn’t turn up at our meeting place, I went looking for her.” There was a hesitation before he spoke again. “I found her. I couldn’t take in what had happened. I just stared and stared at her lifeless body. I heard a rustle in the bushes and saw Luca heading towards me. I panicked and ran away. By the time I got home, the reality of Metise’s death hit me and I had a panic attack. Mum calmed me down and gave me a sleeping potion.”

  The tree spoke, “And then Theodwin came here to tell me everything. I must admit, Cassia, this does look bad for Theodwin.”

  “Thanks,” Theodwin muttered.

  I said to the elf, “Where were you on the night Metise died?”

  “I was at home with Mum and my aunts. They were going through the party music for the wedding. We were up past midnight listening to one tune after another. Some of my neighbours came round to add their opinions.” His voice broke. “None of it matters now. There won’t be a wedding. I’ve lost my soulmate forever.”

  “When you came across Metise’s body, did you see anything unusual?” I asked. “Did you see anyone hanging around?”

  “Looking suspicious?” Stanley added.

  Theodwin shook his head. “Oh, I did find the bow. Whoever hurt Metise must have dropped it.”

  “The bow? Great. Where is it now?” I asked.

  “It’s at home. Mum’s got it. She said I had to give it to you but I forgot to bring it out with me. Mum’s at home
now if you want to go over there.”

  “I will do. Thanks.” I studied Theodwin’s pale face for a second. “Theodwin, did you kill Metise?”

  “No,” he said with a sigh.

  Stanley moved closer to him and gave him an intense stare. He said, “Are you telling us the truth? The absolute truth?”

  Theodwin gulped under Stanley’s stare and said, “Yes, I’m telling the truth. I love Metise. Her death won’t stop that love. Ever. It breaks my heart to think about the last words I said to her. I was awful. I didn’t even say goodbye to her.” He hung his head. “I didn’t even tell her I loved her. I made a point of telling her that every day. I’ll never be able to do that again.”

  There was silence for a moment. Theodwin looked wretched. If he weren’t a murder suspect, I would have given him words of comfort.

  The silence was broken by a small meow. It wasn’t Stanley’s meow.

  I looked towards the bushes where the sound had come from. A cat with fluffy grey fur stood there. Her eyes were on Stanley. She smiled at him and said, “Hi! Are you Stan?”

  Stanley’s shoulders dropped and he padded over to her. “I am. Look, if Cupid sent you here, I’m sorry to say you’ve had a wasted journey.”

  “No journey is ever wasted!” the cat declared joyfully. “Every journey is an adventure.” She beamed at him showing her little white teeth. “Hey, Stan, do you want to go to a party?”

  “No, thank you. I’m very busy.”

  “How about a run across the fields?” the cat persisted. “Don’t you want to feel the wind in your fur?”

  “No, I’m happy with my fur being wind-free.”

  The cat threw her head back and laughed. “That’s so funny! I like you, Stan. I like you a lot.” She turned wide eyes on him. “Hey, I haven’t told you my name. It’s Calypso. Are you sure you don’t want to go on a run with me? We could chase after mice and scare them half to death. It’ll be a riot!”

  Stanley gave her a small smile. “That does sound tempting, but I’m afraid I have to turn you down. I’m at a point in my life where I’m concentrating on my career, not my love life.”

  Calypso laughed again. “Stan, you can have both. You can have it all. Don’t you know that? You have to squeeze every last ounce of fun out of life.”

  “I won’t be doing any squeezing today,” Stanley informed her. He came over to me and said, “I’m going to have a word with Cupid right now. I can’t stand any more of this harassment. Can you manage without me for a while?”

  “Of course,” I told him. “Don’t be too hard on Cupid. He probably thought he was helping you.”

  “I shall be polite, yet firm.” He shook his head sadly. “This love business is more trouble than it’s worth. I’ll see you later. Bye for now.”

  Stanley trotted away.

  Calypso called out, “Yo! Stan! Wait for me!” She went after him.

  I smiled as the two cats padded away. I turned to Theodwin to ask him more questions but stopped when I saw the stunned expression on his face.

  He was staring at the sky. His hand trembled as he pointed to something. His voice was barely audible as he said, “This can’t be happening. It can’t be real.”

  Chapter 18

  I looked skywards to see what had caught Theodwin’s attention.

  “It’s a rainbow,” I stated the obvious.

  Theodwin said, “Not any old rainbow. Look how high it is. Look how bright the colours are. Only one rainbow nymph could produce a rainbow like that.” He lowered his shaking hand. “And she’s dead.”

  I gave Theodwin a quizzical look. “Who else could have made that rainbow?”

  He took a pair of binoculars from his pocket and looked through them. His mouth set in a grim line and he handed the binoculars to me. “Metise made these especially for me so I could see the rainbows she’d made. See for yourself who’s made that one.”

  I looked through the binoculars and spotted Harmonia in the sky. She was sliding down the front of the rainbow, just as Metise had done. I handed the binoculars back to Theodwin and said, “I didn’t know Harmonia could fly so high.”

  “She can’t. She must have been practising. Did you see how happy she looked up there? I haven’t seen her look like that for a long time. What’s she got to be happy about? Have you spoken to her about Metise’s death? Did you ask her if she’d killed my true love?” His voice rose with each question.

  “I’m not going to give you information about my case,” I said primly. “However, I will be speaking to Harmonia again. Do you know anything about the latest project Metise was working on?”

  He gave me a wry smile. “The one she spoke to you about yesterday? Yes. She told me about her plans for the invisible rainbows late yesterday. If anyone could have made that work, it would have been Metise.”

  “Do you know what they were going to be used for?”

  He nodded. “To send messages between witches. Didn’t she tell you that?”

  “She did. I was checking to see how much she’d told you. Do you know which witches she’d made contact with?” I gave him an apologetic smile. “That sounds like a tongue twister. Was she friends with any witches? If so, have you got their names?”

  He frowned. “She did mention a few names, but there was one witch in particular who she was working with. I can’t remember her name. I’ll have to think about it for a while.”

  “Can you think about it now? I could do with her name.”

  His frown deepened. “You’re a witch. Can’t you just send a mental message out into the air or something?”

  “It doesn’t work like that. I wish it did. Metise was keeping her latest project a secret, so she might have protected the name of her witch contact.”

  The tree at my side spoke again, “Sorry to intrude, but your gran might know, Cassia. Or Blythe. And if they don’t know, they could put the word out and soon locate the mysterious witch.”

  I smiled at the tree. “Thank you. That’s a good point.”

  Theodwin flapped his hand at me. “Oh! I nearly had the name of the witch then! It was on the tip of my ears. I need some time to think about this in peace and quiet.”

  I jabbed my thumb at the tree and said, “You don’t have to rack your brains, I’m going to do what this lovely tree suggested. I’ll ask my gran or Blythe.”

  “No! I want to be the one who helps you. I have to do something to help. I feel so guilty about Metise dying.” He caught my look and clarified, “I don’t mean guilty because I killed her. I feel guilty because I should have been protecting her at all times. If I had, she wouldn’t have been killed.” He let out a strangled sob and looked away.

  I felt a twinge of sympathy for him. “Okay, I’ll give you some time to remember the witch’s name.” I sighed. “I could do with Metise’s invisible rainbow system now.” I glanced towards the rainbow which Harmonia had produced. I blinked. “What was that? Theodwin, did you see that?”

  “What?” He looked at the sky again. “I can only see the rainbow.”

  “I thought I saw another rainbow above that one. It looked like a pale silver one. It shimmered for a while and then disappeared.” I thought about the missing paint from Jen’s factory. Was Harmonia using that paint? I tapped my chin and said, “Hmm. Interesting.”

  “What’s interesting?”

  “Nothing. I’ll call on your mum now. If you can’t recall the name of Metise’s contact soon, I’ll try to get it from other sources. Okay?”

  “Okay. May I go now and have some peace to find my thoughts?”

  I nodded. Theodwin walked away, his brow furrowed yet again. He was going to give himself terrible wrinkles if he kept doing that.

  I looked at the tree. “If you see Stanley coming back this way, would you mind giving him a message from me?”

  “I’d be delighted to,” the tree answered with a smile.

  “Tell him I’ve gone to see Theodwin’s mum. I might be back here before Stanley returns, but if I’m not
, I don’t want him to worry.”

  “Of course you don’t,” the tree said. “I shall give your little friend that message as soon as I see him. It was lovely to meet you, Cassia Winter. I hope we meet again soon.”

  “Me too. Do you have a name?”

  “Of course! I’m Mellowoak.”

  “That’s a lovely name. Thank you for your help, Mellowoak.”

  I found Theodwin’s mum in a little tree house not far away. She was standing at the door with her arms folded.

  As soon as she saw me, she said, “At last! I told Theodwin to contact you ages ago about that bow. I told him you’d need it for your investigation. That elf has his head in the clouds! Just like that girlfriend of his had.” She stopped short. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. That was disrespectful. Come in then. Don’t just stand there.”

  I followed her into the cosy tree house and immediately noticed the pile of brochures on the table. They were wedding brochures.

  Theodwin’s mum quickly gathered them up and said, “Sorry about these. I’ll give them to someone who’ll be planning a wedding in the future. I don’t think I’ll need them again. Take a seat and I’ll get that bow for you.”

  I did so and had a quick look around. There were many images on the wall of Theodwin and his mum.

  His mum caught me looking and said, “Theodwin is my only offspring. That’s why I’m so hard on him sometimes. I only want the best for him and I often have to give him a quick boot up the backside to get him going in the right direction.” She handed me the bow. “Here you are.” She sat opposite me. “Have you got any questions for me? Are you going to ask me how I felt about Metise? Do you want to know if I murdered her? Well, I’ll answer that question first. I didn’t murder her. I liked her a lot. She wasn’t who I would have picked for Theodwin, but Metise brought out the best in him. She was full of life.” She abruptly stopped. “She’s not now, is she?”