The Murdered Mermaid (A Brimstone Witch Mystery Book 6) Read online

  “Humans?” I felt my blood run cold. “Is that what she definitely said?”

  The grindylow nodded. “She said they had to go into that world immediately and not tell anyone what they were doing. They couldn’t tell King Taron. Oh no! She kept saying that over and over. ‘Don’t tell King Taron! I’m dealing with this! I’m in charge!’ That’s what she said. She told the sirens they had to be ready for the humans. They had to collect them. She said her uncle knows what they’re doing, but her father doesn’t.”

  “Her uncle?”

  The grindylow nodded enthusiastically. “Yes. Her uncle knows about the humans, but the king doesn’t. That’s what the bossy mermaid said. I heard her.”

  “When did the mermaid talk to the sirens?” I asked.

  The grindylow’s face creased in thought. “Two days ago? Six days ago? Fifteen days ago? I can’t remember. But the bossy mermaid told them to go and get those humans.” The grindylow wagged a finger at me. “And don’t tell King Taron! That’s what she said. And then the sirens went. They’ve gone. All of them. And now, so has that bossy mermaid. She’s gone forever.”

  “Did you hear anything else?” I asked.

  The grindylow shook her head. A calculating look came into her eyes. “Come into our cave. You can play with us. You can stay here forever and play with us.”

  The other grindylows moved slowly towards me with eager expressions on their faces. I felt little fingers curling around my arms.

  I shrugged myself free. “No, thank you. I have to go. Thank you for letting me know about Nerita and the sirens. Goodbye.”

  I shot off at a speed I didn’t know I possessed. I didn’t stop swimming until I reached the beach. Once I dried myself off using my amazing hot air hands, I strode towards the café to see Stanley’s relieved face peering out at me. I was just as relieved as him to be back safely on dry land.

  As I entered the café, Gia handed me a welcome cup of tea. I took it and asked her, “What do you know about Nerita’s uncle.”

  “Nerita’s uncle?” She gave me a slow nod. “Yes, I know plenty about him. You’d better sit down.”

  Chapter 16

  I took my cup of tea over to a table at the front of the café and looked out onto the sea. I couldn’t see any beings of any sort swimming about out there. Stanley settled himself on the chair at my side and asked me what the grindylows had said to me.

  I waited for Gia to take a seat opposite us before telling them about my strange conversation.

  Stanley said, “What do you think it all means? Why would Nerita send the sirens into the human world? What did she want them to do there?”

  “Collect them, whatever that means,” I answered. I looked at Gia. “Have any humans ever made their way into this area? Apart from me and other witches.”

  “Never. Why do you ask that?”

  “I was wondering if some humans had become a threat to this area somehow. Perhaps Nerita discovered them and decided to put an end to any further trouble. Gia, how would the sirens get into the human world anyway? I have to go through Gran’s door to return to my world. Are there any doors around here that the sirens could use?”

  “I’m not sure about a door, but I do think there is a way into your world from here. I heard your mum talking about it once. Jeremy would know more about that, and so would Rex.”

  I nodded. “I need to speak to Rex about another matter, so I’ll ask him about that too. Did you know he was in a relationship with Nerita?”

  Gia’s eyebrows shot up. “Was he? I didn’t know that. It must have been a secret relationship. Who told you about it?”

  “Isla did.”

  Gia gave me a knowing look. “Well, if there was something going on with Rex and Nerita, Isla would have known. She was always following Nerita around to see what she was up to.” She shook her head in disbelief. “Rex and Nerita? They seem an unlikely pair. But who am I to judge? Shall I tell you about Nerita’s uncle now? I was surprised to hear you mention him. Mortimer hasn’t been spoken about for years around here.”

  I cupped my tea in my hands and said, “Yes, I’d like to know all about him, please.”

  Gia began, “Mortimer is older than King Taron. He found this area years ago, led the merpeople here and then made himself king. He wasn’t a fair or just king. He had a malicious streak. He liked to organise competitions and get the sea creatures to battle against each other. Mortimer organised these events just for his own pleasure. If a creature got hurt, it seemed to make him happier. His brother couldn’t bear it and often pleaded with him to stop. Mortimer refused.

  “Things came to a head one day when Mortimer ordered Nerita and Conway to fight each other.” Gia’s face twisted in disgust. “They were only young at the time, not much older than toddlers. Mortimer didn’t have children of his own and he said whoever won the battle would become his heir. That was the breaking point for Taron. He refused to let his children fight each other and said he would take on Mortimer instead. Whoever won that fight would stay king forever. The other would be banished from this area and a spell would be cast on them which would make them lose their merman abilities. They would never be able to return to the sea.”

  I put my cup down. “It’s obvious that King Taron won. But how? Did he have help? Was he injured in the fight?”

  Gia gave me a sad smile. “His children’s health and happiness were at stake and that gave Taron the strength to take on his older, and stronger, brother. I’ve heard tales about how the fight lasted for hours and how Taron never gave up even when he’d been beaten to a pulp. He kept going until he won the fight. Once he was king, Taron ordered his brother to leave the sea and never to return.”

  “Where is Mortimer now?” I asked.

  Gia shrugged. “No one knows. I don’t know if he’s in Brimstone anymore. He could have moved to another town. I don’t know why Nerita talked about her uncle to the sirens. She was only little when Mortimer left and I wouldn’t have thought she’d remember him. Had she been in touch with him recently?” Her brow creased. “You could ask the guardians in town about his whereabouts. If Mortimer is living in the forest or on the outskirts of Brimstone, the guardians might know where he is. Isn’t Luca the guardian who’s in charge? You could ask him.”

  I shared a quick look with Stanley. I didn’t want to talk to Luca in his present state. It hurt my heart too much.

  Stanley placed his paw on my knee. “We can’t ignore him forever, Cassia. Especially if he could help us with this investigation.”

  “You’re right,” I said with a small smile. “We have to talk to him.” I looked back at Gia. “We’ll go back to the town now and find Luca. If you see Rex, will you let him know I need to talk to him, please?”

  “I will do.”

  I quickly finished my tea and we headed back to Brimstone town centre. From the air, we spotted Luca sitting on his own on the gazebo steps. His elbows were resting on his knees and his chin was in his hands. He was staring into the distance and looked forlorn. He looked so lost and alone.

  We landed at the side of the gazebo and I let out a polite cough. Luca looked our way and lifted his chin from his hands. I’m not sure if I imagined it, but I could have sworn I saw a glimmer of recognition in his eyes. His lips lifted a minuscule amount at the corners as if he were about to smile.

  That all changed in a second and that horrible cold look came into his eyes instead.

  “What do you want?” he snapped.

  “Your help,” I replied as calmly as I could in the presence of his hate. “As a guardian, you have a duty to help me. I’m still dealing with the murder of Nerita and I’ve come across new information. I’d like to ask you something.”

  Luca’s lips twisted in disgust and I felt my heart withering a touch. To have him look at me like that was breaking my heart. I felt my eyes stinging and quickly blinked. This was not the time to cry!

  “What do you want to know? Make it quick.”

  I kept my eyes fir
mly fixed on his face. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Stanley moving slowly towards Luca’s feet. He sat down and stared up at Luca’s face with hope in his eyes.

  I told Luca about my conversation with the grindylows, and then Gia. I ended with, “Do you know where Mortimer lives?”

  I almost didn’t get my last words out. During my conversation, Stanley had cheekily leant against Luca’s legs. As if that wasn’t shocking enough, Luca’s hand had reached down and started to stroke Stanley’s head. I don’t think Luca was aware of what he was doing.

  Luca said, “Yeah, I do know where he lives. I’ll give you the directions. Are you going to talk to Mortimer now?” He continued to stroke Stanley.

  “Yes. No time like the present.” I let out a ridiculously high-pitched laugh out of nervousness. I was worried he’d register what he was doing to Stanley any second.

  Luca gave me the directions to Mortimer’s home and said, “Do you need me to accompany you?”

  I was tempted to say yes, but I couldn’t bear the thought of his icy looks for much longer. I was already feeling frostbite in my heart because of those looks. “No, thank you. I’ll be fine.”

  “Well, you be careful out there. Mortimer isn’t the most pleasant of people.” He blinked as if surprised by his words. He cleared his throat and added, “I don’t want to be collecting your dead body. I haven’t got time for that.”

  “I’ll do my best to stay alive.” The stupid laugh erupted from me again. I sounded like a nervous hyena.

  Stanley let out a little purr at Luca’s feet. Luca jumped and looked down at him. He stared at the hand that was stroking Stanley and abruptly lifted it. He held it up and examined it as if not sure it belonged to him. He gave Stanley a half smile before swiftly getting to his feet.

  Luca noisily cleared his throat again and muttered, “Let me know how you get on.” He strode away without a backwards glance.

  I pointed at Stanley. “You are a very brazen cat. You have no shame.”

  Stanley chuckled. “I know. I couldn’t help myself. I had a sniff of Luca just then, and I caught a whiff of his old self. Our friend is still in there somewhere. I know his memories of us will come back soon. They have to.” He paused. “His memories will come back, won’t they?”

  I sighed. “I honestly don’t know. Let’s not talk about Luca.” I lowered my broomstick. “Come on; let’s find the mysterious, and possibly dangerous, Uncle Mortimer.”

  Chapter 17

  Of course, Mortimer lived in the darkest, deepest part of the forest in a cottage hidden from view. If Mortimer decided to attack us, there wouldn’t be any helpful passers-by ready to leap to our defence.

  We landed in front of the small, rundown cottage which belonged to Mortimer and looked around us nervously. The cottage was placed in a space between two, tall trees which blotted out the sun. One small ray was trying its best to shed light on the cottage roof. The dilapidated building was made of wood and the roof was sparsely thatched. The windows were grimy and covered in cobwebs. A sign on the rotting front door announced that visitors were not welcome and we should ‘clear off if you know what’s good for you!’

  Stanley said, “Perhaps we should clear off. Or come back with Luca? I’m getting a bad feeling about this.”

  I waggled my free hand at him and said, “Don’t you worry; I will perform magic if needed.” My other hand was firmly clasped around my broomstick. I wanted to be ready to fly away immediately if necessary.

  Stanley jumped at my side. He hissed, “Cassia, that bush over there moved! I saw it. Are the trees around here alive? Are we going to be eaten by an angry ash tree?”

  I couldn’t answer; I was too scared to. I watched the bush in front of us rustle in indignation. Then it moved. Legs appeared at its base and it lifted itself up and came slowly towards us, rustling menacingly as it did so. A strong smell of rotting leaves came with it.

  Stanley nudged into my leg. “Magic! Use your magic!”

  I raised my hand.

  “There’s no need for that!” a voice boomed out. It came from the bush. The leaves shook vigorously and then fell to the ground as one. A man stepped out from the leaves and bellowed, “What do you want? Can’t you read? Didn’t you see the sign on the door? Visitors are not welcome! Clear off!”

  The man was hairy from head to toe. Thick, bushy eyebrows knitted together above his angry eyes. Long, straggly hair stuck to his large shoulders. His matted, dirty beard twitched in anger. He even had hair sprouting from his ears and nostrils.

  I lifted my head and found a modicum of courage. “I’m Cassia Winter, and this is Stanley. We’re looking for Mortimer.” I stopped as I didn’t know his last name. “Uncle to Nerita and Conway.” I stopped again. I didn’t know their last names either. Did merpeople even have surnames?

  The man grunted. “What do you want with Mortimer?”

  “That’s for me to discuss with him. Do you know where I can find him?”

  Stanley was sniffing the leaves. He looked up and said, “These aren’t real; they’re made of fabric. And that rotting smell is fake. Is this a costume? A disguise? It’s a very good one.”

  The man suddenly laughed making me drop my broomstick in shock. I quickly retrieved it.

  He knelt at Stanley’s side, lifted the leafy material and said, “Yes, it’s an excellent disguise. I made it myself. I’m an inventor. This is the perfect thing to wear when I’m going around this forest. I can spy on many a creature without them noticing me! I’ve made the material light and breathable. Would you like to try it on?”

  “Yes, please,” Stanley replied.

  The man lifted a section of the costume carefully over Stanley.

  From beneath his blanket of leaves, Stanley called out, “I’m a bush! A walking, talking bush! Look at me.” He wriggled from side to side making the leaves rustle.

  The man chuckled and removed the material from Stanley. “I’ve got some more disguises inside. You can have a look at them if you like? And you can try them on.”

  “Thank you!” Stanley began to move towards the cottage.

  I held my hand up. “Whoa there, Stanley. You’re not going anywhere with this strange man. We don’t know who he is or what’s inside his cottage.”

  The man straightened up, grabbed his hair and beard and pulled them right off. He ripped off his thick eyebrows and pulled at his nose and ear hairs until they were free. His eyes watered as he did so. “Too much glue,” he explained.

  Once the man was free of hair, I could see the family resemblance between him and King Taron.

  “Mortimer?” I asked.

  He nodded. “That’s me. Sorry for all that rigmarole. I’m not the sociable type and when my radar spotted you flying this way, I decided to camouflage myself. The radar is another one of my inventions. You’re a justice witch, aren’t you? I don’t go into town often, but I have heard your name mentioned recently. What are you doing here?”

  “I wanted to talk to you about Nerita’s suspicious death.”

  Mortimer blanched and staggered backwards. He put his hand towards a small boulder and lowered himself to it. “Pardon? Did you say death? Nerita is dead?”

  I went over to his side. “Yes, she is. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. I don’t know why, but I assumed you’d know about her. Don’t you keep in touch with any of the merpeople?”

  He stared at the ground. “The only one I kept in touch with was Nerita. I saw her last week.” He looked back at me. “When did she die? How? You mentioned a suspicious death. Do you mean murder? Is that why you’re here?”

  I seated myself on a smaller boulder at his side. “It is. I am sorry about Nerita. I’ve been making investigations and your name was mentioned. Nerita talked about you when she ordered the sirens to leave this world and go into another world. I think she sent them into the human world. What do you know about that?”

  Mortimer ran his hand over his chin. “Not much. Nerita spoke to me last week about a threat som
ewhere in the seas. I asked her to clarify that, but she wouldn’t. She said she was dealing with the matter on her own. She did mention the sirens were going to help her, but again, she wouldn’t elaborate.” His eyes were full of sadness as he continued, “We’d only become reunited a few years ago. She turned up here one day and demanded that I talk to her. She hadn’t known about my existence until a drunken sea hag had told her everything about me and my terrible past. Despite knowing what I’d done, she came here and demanded an explanation. I had none. I had no excuse for what I did during my time as king of the merpeople. The power went to my head and I abused it. I’ve regretted it every day since. I explained this to her and said her father wouldn’t be pleased that she was talking to me. But, being the stubborn kind, she refused to listen to me and continued to turn up here. I liked her company. She was …” His voice caught in his throat and he looked away.

  “How did she come to visit you?” I asked. “I’m presuming she walked here or got a lift somehow. Wouldn’t it have hurt her legs to travel so far from the sea?”

  Mortimer nodded. “She used the flying unicorn taxis most of the time. But you’re right about her legs hurting so far from the sea. She had a solution to that. She’d got a potion from that drunken sea hag to manage the pain during her visits here. I know it was selfish of me, but after a while, I encouraged her visits. I loved hearing about my old community. I’ve missed them so much and I certainly miss being in the sea.” He let out a small laugh. “Call me foolish, but I was hoping that one day I could make things right between me and my brother. I was hoping Nerita could help me with that.”

  I waited a moment before saying, “Do you know if Nerita had any enemies?”

  “She did mention another mermaid who she didn’t get along with. Isla? Yes, I think that’s the right name. Would you mind saving your questions for another time? I’d like to be alone for a while.”