Witch is How Life Changed Forever, page 14
part #36 of Witch P.I. Mystery Series
“Gabriella Wilde?”
“Speaking.”
“My name is Jill Maxwell. I’m a private investigator, working for Lori Harty. I wondered if you might be able to spare me a few minutes.”
“I’m not sure how I could be of any help, and I am very busy at the moment.”
“Like I said, it will only take a few minutes.”
“Very well. If we must.”
“Thank you. I do appreciate it. If you could give me your address, I’ll come—”
“It might be better if we met in a tea room somewhere because I live some distance outside of Washbridge.”
“I’m quite happy to travel to your house.”
“No.” She snapped. “That won’t be necessary. Do you know the tea room called Tea Time? It’s near the library.”
“Yes, I know the one.”
“Tomorrow at three?”
“Okay. I’ll see you then. How will I know you?”
“I’ll have a yellow handbag.”
***
I was treading the now familiar path to Candlefield town hall; this time, to upgrade my subscription to include the premium package.
You would have thought that the slim young man with the unusual quiff would have known me by now, but once again, when I walked through the door, he looked at me blankly.
“Hi again,” I said. “I recently renewed my spell book subscription, but I now realise that I need the premium package add-on.”
“Right, madam. You would have been better off doing that at the same time as you renewed your subscription. It would have been cheaper that way. Only eight pounds.”
“How much is it now?”
“Twelve pounds.”
“Couldn’t I still get the lower price? I only renewed the subscription yesterday. I didn’t even know about the premium package.”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible. The system won’t allow it.”
“Great.”
“Do you still want the premium package?”
“Yes, I don’t really have any choice.”
“Okay, I just need to complete this form.”
He went through the same details again, and then asked me for the cash. And yes, I had remembered to bring it with me.
“Right, that’s everything,” he said. “I’ll just update your subscription on the computer.” He tapped a few keys. “Oh?”
“What’s wrong?”
“The computer seems to have died.” He turned around. “Gillian, is your computer working?”
She checked her screen. “No, it’s down.”
“What about yours, Roxanne?”
“Mine’s down too. It looks like they’re all down.”
The young man turned back to me. “I’m very sorry, madam, but it seems we have a problem with our computer system at the moment.”
“Couldn’t I just leave it with you to update the subscription when the computer is back up?”
“Unfortunately, I’m not allowed to do that. For legal reasons, the customer has to be present while the transaction is processed. You’re quite welcome to hang around, to see if the system comes back up. Sometimes it only takes a few minutes.”
“Okay, I’ll wait.”
Thirty minutes later, the system was still down.
“I’m going to have to leave it for now.” I sighed.
“I’m really sorry about this, madam. These outages don’t usually last this long. You’re welcome to come back tomorrow.”
“Right. It’s not like I have anything better to do.”
***
As soon as I walked through the door, Ike came rushing down the stairs.
“Sorry, Ike, but I wasn’t able to upgrade to the premium package.”
“Why not?”
“I tried, believe me. I went to the town hall, filled in the form, handed over the money, but then the computer system crashed.”
“Couldn’t you have waited for it to come back up?”
“I did, for half-an-hour, but it was still down. It looks like you’re going to be here for another night.”
“Okay, thanks for trying. Can I borrow your phone to call the missus again? I’m not sure she’ll believe me, though. She probably thinks I’m seeing another woman.”
It was almost six o’clock and the ruby fairies were scheduled to arrive at any moment.
“This is exciting, isn’t it?” Jack said.
“It’s certainly the easiest four grand I’ve ever made, just for putting a few fairies into the airing cupboard for a couple of months. We’ll have to be careful we don’t forget they’re there.”
“It’ll be fine if we put them on the top shelf, and don’t use that shelf for anything else.” Jack glanced out of the window where a large white van had pulled up. “I think they’re here.”
“I don’t think that can be them, Jack. Look at the size of the vehicle; it looks like a removal van.”
Just then, two men, who I recognised as wizards, got out of the van, went around the back, and opened the doors. The next thing I knew, they were carrying a large box between them up the driveway.
“What’s going on?” Jack said.
“I’ve no idea, but you’d better go upstairs and hide while I answer the door.”
“Okay.” He dashed upstairs, just as there was a loud knock at the door.
“Are you Jill Maxwell?”
“Yes, that’s me.”
“We have a delivery for you. I believe you’re expecting it.”
I glanced at the large box. “I think there may have been a mistake. I’m expecting a delivery of ruby fairies.”
“That’s what this is.”
“Oh? Okay then, you’d better bring it inside.”
I could only assume that they must have used a large box with plenty of packaging, in order to keep the tiny fairies safe.
The two men put the box down in the hallway.
“Do you need me to sign anything?” I said.
“Yes, after we’ve brought in the others.”
“Others?”
“There are four more outside in the van.”
“Four?” I had no idea what was going on.
Five minutes later, there were five identical boxes in the hall.
“That’s the lot.” He handed me a form. “If you could just sign here.”
I did as he asked, and they went on their way. Jack must have heard them leave because he came rushing down the stairs, but stopped halfway when he saw the boxes.
“What are those?”
“They said they’re the ruby fairies.”
“Why are they in such large boxes? They’re only tiny, aren’t they?”
“Err, yeah, I think so. I assume they must have used lots of packaging to keep them safe.”
“Let’s open one and take a look.” Jack went through to the kitchen and returned with a pair of scissors.
He snipped the parcel tape, and then began to rip open the box. As I’d expected, it was full of straw-like packaging.
Suddenly, Jack took a step back. “What’s that?”
“What’s what?”
“That. It looks like—err—it’s—it’s a head.” He pulled away more of the packaging. “There’s a person in here. A person with wings.”
“Oh?”
“They must be three feet tall. This can’t be a ruby fairy, can it, Jill?”
“I—err—don’t know.”
“You said they were tiny.”
“I assumed they’d be the same size as starlight fairies, which are teeny little things.”
“This definitely isn’t teeny. And we have another four of them! What are we supposed to do with them, Jill? There’s no way one of these is going to fit in the airing cupboard, never mind five of them.”
I took out my phone.
“Who are you calling?”
“Luther. I have to tell him that we need to cancel tonight.”
“What will you say when he asks why?”
“I don’t know. I can hardly tell him that we’ve got five oversized fairies in the hallway, can I? I’ll think of something.”
I went through to the kitchen, rang Luther, and told him that Jack had come down with a tummy bug, that we were sorry, and we’d have to take a rain check. Once I’d finished on that call, I rang the foster agency.
“What did Luther say?” Jack asked when I returned to the hall.
“I told him you had a tummy bug, and that we’d have to get together another day. I’ve also spoken to the foster people.”
“What did they say?”
“She wasn’t very pleased when I told her we’d need to return the fairies, but what else could I do? We don’t have room for them here.”
“When are they going to collect them?”
“They can’t do it until the morning.”
“What?” Jack looked horrified.
“I wasn’t really in a position to argue. After all, we’ve let them down rather badly.”
“What are we going to do with the fairies until then?”
“I asked if it would be alright if we left them in the boxes, but she said they wouldn’t be warm enough. We have to find somewhere warmer for them to stay overnight.”
“Where?”
“We can put them in our bed, pull the covers over them, and turn the radiator up.”
“Where will we sleep?”
“I don’t know. In the lounge, I suppose.”
Jack sighed. “I guess this means that we won’t be making four grand.”
“It’s worse than that. They said they’d have to charge us for the wasted delivery and collection.”
“How much?”
“A hundred pounds.”
By the time we’d unpacked all five fairies, carried them carefully upstairs to our bedroom, and tucked them in bed, Jack and I were completely shattered.
“This wasn’t how I expected to spend this evening,” Jack said. “I thought we’d be enjoying a nice meal with Luther and Rebecca. Instead, we’re one hundred pounds down, and we’re going to have to sleep on the sofa.”
“What do you mean we’re going to sleep on the sofa? It’s only big enough for one. You’re in the armchair, buddy.”
Chapter 17
“My back is killing me,” Jack said, as he struggled to get up off the floor.
“Never mind your back. I can hardly move my neck.” I sat up on the sofa. “I barely got a wink of sleep.”
“At least you had something comfortable to sleep on. This floor is really hard.”
“You should have slept in the armchair.”
“It’s too small. I’ve got cramp too.”
“Stop complaining and go and make breakfast for your darling wife.”
He stood up and stretched. “What do you want?”
“I fancy scrambled eggs with lots of brown sauce.”
“You don’t like brown sauce.”
“Who says I don’t?”
“I’ve never seen you eat it before.” He yawned. “What time are they coming to pick up the ruby fairies?”
“I’m not sure. The woman I spoke to last night was a bit vague. She said it would be some time between nine and ten this morning.”
“I can’t stay in for them, Jill. I’ve got a meeting at nine-fifteen.”
“Looks like I’ll have to, then. Unless I ask Ike to do it.”
“Ike?” Jack looked at me, horrified. “You can’t let the living dead answer our door.”
“Relax, I was just joking. I’ll stay in.”
On my way upstairs to take a shower, I looked in on the ruby fairies who were snuggled up and fast asleep. Even though they were much larger than I’d expected, they were still very sweet. If we’d had a spare bedroom, which wasn’t full of train sets and zombies, I would have seriously considered keeping them. As it was, there was no chance of that, so I’d just have to kiss goodbye to the four thousand pounds I’d already spent in my head.
After I’d showered and got dressed, I went downstairs, where the scrambled eggs and brown sauce were waiting for me.
It went down a treat.
***
Jack had left for work, and I was waiting for the ruby fairies to be collected. I was just contemplating having another cup of coffee when there was a knock at the door. I looked out of the lounge window, expecting to see the van, but there was no sign of it.
When I answered the door, a young man, wearing a pink and grey striped uniform was standing there; he had a large bag slung over his shoulder.
“Do I have the right house? Are you Jill Maxwell?”
“That’s me.”
“I’m delivering CandleMag.” He took one from his bag.
“What is it?”
“Basically, an ad mag. It’s been delivered throughout Candlefield for several years, and now we’re extending its reach to include sups who live in Washbridge. As you can imagine, we have to ensure it doesn’t get into human hands, so I personally deliver every copy.”
“That must be very time consuming.”
“It is, but what’s the alternative?” He handed the magazine to me. “It’ll be delivered every month from now on.”
I had nothing better to do, so I sat on the sofa and flicked through the magazine. There were all the usual adverts that you’d expect to find in an ad mag published for humans: Electricians, plumbers, that sort of thing. But, in addition to those, there were lots of specialised ads aimed at sups: Services such as broom repairs, artificial blood banks, potions, etc.
One ad in particular caught my eye: It was for a shop that specialised in the supply of humane traps to catch troublesome sups. Of the many traps listed, one was designed specifically to catch wood nymphs, or as they put it: those pesky, troublesome wood nymphs.
Those living in the wood behind Mrs V’s house were definitely that. I made a note of the shop’s address, so that I could pay them a visit later, to see exactly what they had to offer.
At nine-fifteen, the van that had delivered the ruby fairies the night before pulled up outside the house. When I answered the door, the same two men were standing there.
The older of the two said, “I believe that you’ve rejected the ruby fairies.”
“I never said that I’d rejected them. When we agreed to look after them, we had no idea how big they were. We thought they were small, like the starlight fairies.”
“Don’t you think it might’ve been a good idea to do some research before you signed up?”
“With hindsight, yes, and if we had a spare bedroom that wasn’t otherwise occupied, I’d definitely keep them.”
“Hmm. Where are they now?”
“Upstairs in our bed.”
“I trust you kept the boxes they were delivered in?”
“I’m afraid we ripped them open.”
“I see. In that case, there’ll be an additional charge of ten pounds per box.”
“Right. That’s okay.”
He turned to his younger colleague. “Charlie, nip down to the van and get five new boxes, would you?” While Charlie was doing that, the older man turned to me. “Can you show me where the fairies are?”
“Yes, of course. Follow me, please.” I took him upstairs to the bedroom. “There they are. Nice and cosy, and fast asleep.”
“Okay, you can leave us to it now. We’ll pack them away.”
“Can’t I stay and help?”
“No, madam, it would be better if you went downstairs and left us to do our job.”
“Would you like a cup of tea?”
“No, thank you.”
Back downstairs, in the lounge, I couldn’t have felt any more guilty if I’d tried.
Forty minutes later, and they’d finished packing the fairies into the new boxes. When all five boxes were in the van, the older man came back into the house and knocked on the lounge door.
“Right, madam, if you could just sign this paperwork to say that you’ve rejected the fairies, we’ll be on our way.”
“But I told you, I didn’t reject them.”
“Please, don’t make this any more difficult than it needs to be.”
“Okay.” I signed the form, and they left.
***
I’d made the thirty-mile journey to Longdale Prison more times than I cared to remember, but in all of those visits, I’d never seen a more pathetic figure than the one cut by Arnold Kramer. Pale and drawn, he was sitting opposite me in the interview room, and couldn’t or wouldn’t make eye contact.
We’d been in there for over five minutes, and he’d yet to say a word.
“Arnold, I know this is difficult for you, but it’s important that you answer my questions if I’m going to help.”
“What’s the point?” He slowly raised his head. “No one believes me. I’m never going to get out of here.”
Now that he was facing me, I could see a bruise under his left eye. “What happened there?”
“Nothing.” He shrugged. “Nothing that doesn’t happen all the time in here. No one likes me.”
“Which is why it’s important that you answer my questions. That will give me the best chance of proving your innocence and getting you out of here.”
“No one cares,” he snapped.
“Your parents do. You owe it to them not to give up.”
“I can’t bear to think what they must be going through.” He sobbed.
“They’re holding up, but they need you to talk to me. Will you do that?”
“What can you do? It’s too late now.”
“No, it isn’t. Not if I can find out who really murdered Alison.”
“Everyone thinks I did it. The police thought it was me from day one. I told them I would never do anything like that, but they wouldn’t listen.”
“Will you tell me about your relationship with Alison?”
“What do you want to know?”
“Why don’t you start by telling me how you two met?”
“She came into the restaurant one day while I was working there. I was behind the counter, and she started flirting with me. I was flattered. No one had ever done that before. When I took the food to her table, she flirted with me again and asked if I wanted her phone number. I thought she was kidding, but I said yes anyway. She wrote it on my arm and said that I should give her a call. It took me a couple of days to summon up the courage, and I was sure it would turn out to be a fake number, but she answered, and we arranged to go out on a date.”
