“I suppose so. Curious idea, but it takes all sorts, I guess. The five of them came to look at The Old Barn. They made me an offer, but it was less than the asking price, so I told them I’d need twenty-four hours to think about it. By the next morning, I’d more or less decided I would accept their offer, but then I had a call from Lori. She said she’d pay the full asking price, provided that I’d agree to the sale there and then. Needless to say, I bit her hand off.”

  “I see. Did you get the impression that the others knew what she was doing?”

  “I didn’t ask. I just took her money.”

  ***

  For some reason, the episode with the bees was still bugging me.

  Bees. Bugging me. Get it? Sheesh! All this effort is wasted on you lot.

  Whether by accident or design, it was clear that the bees had provided a diversion for the thief to steal the painting, but how had they got inside the apartment? Bees don’t just appear from nowhere, and yet Lori Harty had told me that the pest control man had found no sign of a nest.

  I wanted to speak to him myself, to see if he had any other bright ideas about where the bees might have come from. Lori had given me his business card, so I gave the company a ring.

  “Pest Out, Sandy speaking. How may I help you today?”

  “Hi, my name is Jill Maxwell. I was given the name of one of your operatives, a man by the name of Craig Fleabit.”

  “Right?”

  “Would it be possible for me to speak to him, please?”

  “I’m afraid he’s out on calls at the moment. He’s likely to be tied up for most of the day, but I can put you through to another of our operatives. I’m sure they’ll be able to help.”

  “If you don’t mind, I’d prefer to speak to Craig.”

  “As you wish, madam. If you give me your number, I’ll get him to call you. I should warn you, though, that it may be tomorrow.”

  “That’s fine.”

  ***

  Back at the office, I made a phone call to the Kramers.

  “Mrs Kramer, it’s Jill Maxwell.”

  “I hope you have some good news for us, Jill.”

  “I don’t have anything to report at the moment, I’m afraid. I was wondering if you get regular phone calls from Arnold?”

  “Yes, he telephones every day at three o’clock. Why?”

  “Could I possibly sit in on today’s call, just for a couple of minutes. There’s something I forgot to ask when I visited him.”

  “Yes, of course, Jill. Why don’t you come around this afternoon?”

  “Great. I’ll see you later.”

  ***

  Winky jumped in through the window, and to my delight, he was carrying two bags of marshmallows.

  “You did it!”

  “Was there ever any doubt?” He shrugged.

  “Well done, you.” I took the bags from him. “Where did you get them?”

  “That’s for me to know and you to wonder.”

  “These are all pink. I’ve only ever seen them in bags of white and pink mixed.”

  “I assume this means you’ll keep your end of the bargain and take me to the competition tonight?”

  “Of course I will. I’m a woman of her word. But right now, I need to nip out to set the wood nymph traps.”

  As Armi was away, this was my golden opportunity to go after those wood nymphs. With the three traps in the boot of the car, I drove to Mrs V’s house, and parked a little way down the road, so as not to draw attention to myself. The traps weren’t particularly heavy, but they were awkward to carry, so for ease, I shrank them, and popped them into my pocket.

  I edged around the side of the house and checked the treeline to make sure that the wood nymphs weren’t around. Once I was happy the coast was clear, I restored the traps to full-size and placed them on the ground near to the trees. After setting each one with bait, a handful of pink marshmallows, I made my exit. I planned to collect them just before Mrs V finished for the day by which time, hopefully, they would contain the three pesky wood nymphs. I still had a few marshmallows left in my bag, just in case I needed to try again another day.

  ***

  Without a shadow of a doubt, the most damning piece of evidence against Arnold Kramer was the poison found at his home. This had only come to light when a cat had died after ingesting it. The man who Arnold had shared the house with, a Mr Roy Sissons, had understandably been distraught at the horrific death of his pet. It had been Sissons who had reported the incident to the police. Shortly after that discovery, Arnold had been charged with Alison’s murder.

  Roy Sissons was still living in the house he had once shared with Arnold Kramer. Now, though, he lived there with his new wife, Siobhan.

  “Hi, I’m Roy. Come on in.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Siobhan has gone into town to do a little shopping. I thought it would be best if we talked alone. Let’s go through to the living room.” He led the way. “Would you like a drink? It’s Jill, isn’t it?”

  “That’s right. No, I’m fine, thanks.”

  “Err, how is Arnold?”

  “Not great. He’s ill-equipped to handle prison life.”

  “I feel terrible about what happened, and the part I played in it.”

  “You won’t be surprised to learn that Arnold still maintains his innocence, which is the reason I’m here today.”

  “If there’s anything I can do to help him, I’m more than happy to.”

  “You could start by telling me exactly what happened the day you found the poison.”

  “Sure. I came home from work at the usual time. Normally, Molly, that was my cat’s name, would come running up to me before I’d even reached the front door. On that day, though, there was no sign of her. I wasn’t particularly worried because she did occasionally go further afield. An hour later, and there was still no sign of her, so I went out into the back garden to call her. That’s when I saw her, down near the shed. She was still alive, making a terrible whimpering noise. She was writhing in agony, and there was foam coming from her mouth. I ran inside and called the vet, but by the time he got here, Molly was dead. He told me it was a classic case of poisoning. I couldn’t understand it because we didn’t keep anything like that in the house.”

  “I can understand you being upset, but why didn’t you wait until you’d had the chance to speak to Arnold before calling the police?”

  “I wish I had, but like you said, I was upset and angry. I knew that Alison had been poisoned, and I put two and two together and got five. If I’d stopped to think about it, I would have known Arnold could never do anything like that.”

  “I assume the police sent someone around?”

  “Yeah, straight away. They searched the house and had people out in the garden. That’s where they found the poison.”

  “In the garden?”

  “Yes, it had been buried in a bag near to the shed. The bag had a small hole in it and some of the powder was above ground. The police reckoned Molly must have got it on her paws and tried to lick it off.”

  “What did you think when you heard that Arnold had been charged with Alison’s murder?”

  “I was horrified. In court, when I was called to the witness box, I tried to make the point that I didn’t think Arnold would ever do anything like that, but it didn’t do any good. Do you think you’ll be able to get him out of prison?”

  “I don’t know. So far, I’ve not found anything that is likely to get his conviction overturned.”

  ***

  I arrived at the Kramers’ house at five to three.

  “Come on in, Jill.” It was Mrs Kramer who greeted me at the door. “Arnold should be calling in a few minutes.” She led the way through to the dining room where Mr Kramer was waiting by the phone. This was clearly a daily routine for the two of them.

  “What is it you want to ask Arnold?” Mr Kramer said.

  Before I could respond, the phone rang. It was Mr Kramer who answered it, to a recorded message that asked if they were prepared to accept a reverse charge call from an inmate at Longdale Prison.

  “Mum? Dad?” It was Arnold’s voice. He sounded a little brighter than when I’d visited him.

  “Hello, darling,” Mrs Kramer said. “How are you?”

  “Oh, you know, the same.”

  “Hi, champ,” his dad said. “We have Jill Maxwell here with us.”

  “Oh? Hey, Jill.”

  “Hi, Arnold. Can I ask you a quick question and then I’ll leave you to talk to your parents?”

  “Sure, fire away.”

  “On the night in question, do you happen to remember exactly what food you served to Alison?”

  “How is that relevant?” Mr Kramer said, but his wife shushed him.

  “Actually, I do,” Arnold said. “She ordered a burger, a cheeseburger and two Cokes.”

  “That sounds like an order for two people. Was there anyone with her in the car?”

  “No, she was by herself. I assumed she must be meeting Kevin.”

  “Thanks, Arnold. That’s all I need. I’ll leave you to talk to your Mum and Dad.”

  Chapter 21

  If there was no one else in the car with Alison Reed on that fateful night, why had she ordered two meals? Who was the other one for? Arnold Kramer had assumed that she must be meeting Kevin Hayes, the guy who she’d dumped Arnold for. I needed to check if that was the case or not, so I called Kevin, but I wasn’t able to reach him.

  Frustrated, it occurred to me that there was one other person who might be able to clear up this matter, and that was the detective who’d been in charge of the case, Walter Staniforth. Middle Tweaking wasn’t too far out of my way, so I turned the car around and headed out there.

  As I pulled into the village, I noticed a For Sale sign outside the old watermill, and curiosity got the better of me.

  “Jill, what a pleasant surprise.” Myrtle had a mousetrap in her hand. “Do come in.”

  “I won’t, thanks. I’m actually on my way to see Walter, but I noticed the For Sale sign as I drove past.”

  “It went up yesterday.”

  “That was quick. When I spoke to you last week, you said you were only thinking about the possibility of moving.”

  “It all happened really quickly. The day after I saw you, I came across a little property on the coast that looked ideal. On a whim, I popped over there to take a look at it. The village is beautiful, and the cottage is everything I could have hoped for. There were a few other interested parties, so I had to make a decision there and then, or I would have lost it. For once in my life, I threw caution to the wind, and told them I’d take it.”

  “You shouldn’t have any problems selling this place.”

  “I hope not, but I thought I’d better get rid of the mice before anyone comes to view it.” She grinned.

  “How have Hodd and Jobbs taken the news?”

  “Not particularly well. After I told them, they didn’t speak to me for twenty-four hours, but they seem to have come around now.”

  “What will they do? Where will they go?”

  “I don’t know. There’s been some talk about them moving to London, but I have a sneaking suspicion they might turn up on my doorstep again.”

  “How would you feel about that?”

  “I wouldn’t mind. They’ve become part of the furniture. While I was over there, I noticed a few small properties to rent; one of those might be suitable for them.”

  “I’m really pleased for you, Myrtle, but you mustn’t leave without saying goodbye.”

  “Of course not. It’ll probably be months yet. You know how long these things can take.”

  “I hope everything goes smoothly for you. Anyway, I’d better get going.”

  I hadn’t bothered to call Walter Staniforth in advance, so I had my fingers crossed that he would be in.

  He was.

  “Jill? I didn’t expect to see you again so soon.”

  “I wondered if I could pick your brain about something related to the Kramer case that I didn’t think to ask before?”

  “Of course. What is it?”

  “Do you happen to remember any details about the meal that Arnold Kramer served to Alison Reed that night?”

  “I can remember it was laced with poison.” He grinned.

  “But do you recall exactly what he served to her?”

  “Not offhand. A burger? Fries? Why?”

  “Alison ordered a burger and a cheeseburger.”

  “She must have been very hungry.”

  “And two Cokes.”

  “I’m not sure what you’re getting at.”

  “It was quite clearly a meal for two people, and yet, there was no one else in the car with her. Don’t you find that strange?”

  “To be perfectly honest, Jill, we were more focussed on the poison that we’d discovered at Kramer’s house. The very same poison that killed Alison.”

  “Can you remember if you tried to find out who the other meal was for?”

  “I’m not sure. Probably. Whoever it was intended for was remarkably lucky. If Alison hadn’t decided to tuck into her meal on the way home, they might have suffered the same fate.”

  Much as I would have liked to press Staniforth further, I got the distinct impression that there was nothing more to be gained. It seemed to me that once the poison had been found at Arnold Kramer’s house, the detective was convinced of his guilt, and had become blinkered to the possibility of other perpetrators.

  It was now more urgent than ever that I speak to Kevin Hayes. I needed to know if that second meal had been intended for him. If that was the case, and he had been expecting to meet Alison that night, why hadn’t he mentioned that when I’d spoken to him? On the other hand, if the meal wasn’t for him, who had Alison bought it for?

  ***

  Back at the office, Mrs V wasn’t at her desk. I assumed she must have nipped to the loo. That was until I went through to my office where I found a note from her on my desk. She’d been feeling a little queasy, so she had gone home.

  Oh bum!

  “Winky! How long ago did she put this on my desk?”

  Still half asleep, he looked at me with a heavy eye. “How long ago did who put what on your desk?”

  “Mrs V. When did she put this note on my desk?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve been asleep.”

  “A fat lot of good you are.”

  This was bad. This was really bad. What would she think if she got home and found the traps? Worse still, what if the wood nymphs were inside them? There was no time to drive over there, so I resorted to magic.

  Fortunately, when I got to Mrs V’s house, there was no sign of her.

  Phew!

  I hurried around the back, and to my delight, I discovered that each of the traps was occupied by a wood nymph.

  “Hey, you! Let us out of here!” William Twigmore screamed at me.

  “Sorry, no can do.”

  I was just about to collect the traps when I heard a voice behind me.

  “Jill, what are you doing here?”

  Oh bum!

  “Mrs V? I—err—I found your note and wanted to check that you were okay.”

  “You really didn’t need to do that, dear. It’s just a bit of a stomach bug. I’ll be fine when I—” Her words drifted away when she spotted the cages.

  “Mrs V? Are you okay?”

  “What are those things?”

  “What are what?”

  “Those strange looking creatures in those cages?”

  “Oh, those. They’re—err—”

  I’m pretty nimble on my feet, but even I couldn’t come up with a plausible story to explain away the wood nymphs, so I did the only thing I could. I cast the ‘forget’ spell on Mrs V and then made a quick exit.

  ***

  By the time I made it back to the office, Winky was in a complete flap.

  “Where have you been?” He snapped. “And what are those ugly things?”

  “I’ve been to Mrs V’s house and these are wood nymphs.”

  “Who are you calling ugly?” Twigmore pointed a threatening finger at Winky. “When I get out of here, you’ll be dead meat.”

  “Shut up, you!” I said, and then I made a phone call to Daze. “It’s Jill. I need a big favour. Could you come over to my office now?”

  “No problem. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

  “We’re going to be late for the competition.” Winky tapped his watch.

  “No, we’re not. I can’t leave until I’ve sorted these guys out. Have you decided which suit you’re going to wear tonight?”

  “Yes.” He unzipped the suit carrier. “I thought I’d go for the black pinstripe. What do you think?”

  “Good choice. I like it.”

  “Let us out of here!” Twigmore yelled.

  “I won’t tell you again. Be quiet!”

  Daze arrived with Blaze in tow.

  “Who do we have here?” Daze glanced at the wood nymphs.

  “This is William Twigmore and his brothers. They’ve been stealing food from Mrs V, and generally making a nuisance of themselves.”

  “That’s a wicked lie!” Twigmore protested.

  “You can tell that to the court.” Daze threw her net over the three cages, and the wood nymphs disappeared in a puff of smoke.

  “Thanks, Daze,” I said.

  “My pleasure. I wish we could find those ice nymphs and do the same thing with them.”

  “No luck yet, then?”

  “Not a sniff.”

  “I’m sorry but I have to be making tracks. I promised to take Winky somewhere.”

  “No problem. We’re just on our way to get a coffee, anyway.”

  “Come on, Jill.” Winky tapped his watch again. “We’ll never make it at this rate.”

  “Why don’t I magic us there? It’ll be much quicker.”

  “No way.” He shook his head. “That magic stuff does weird things to me, and I need to be on tip-top form for tonight’s competition.”

  Winky put the suit carrier on the back seat of the car, and then jumped in next to me.

 

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