“Yeah, but they didn’t seem very interested, to be honest. The only thing they wanted to talk about was Arnold.” Karen checked her watch. “I have to go now. I need to sort out my face before I go back behind the counter.”

  “Okay. Thanks very much for speaking to me. I really appreciate it.”

  It had taken some time to get hold of Karen Little, but it had been worth the wait. Her evidence was dynamite. If she was now telling the truth, it seemed that she had been pressured into perjuring herself in order to incriminate Arnold Kramer. And crucially, I also now knew who the other man in Alison Reed’s life had been.

  ***

  I was on my way to return the beekeeper’s hat. I should have taken it back the previous day, but I’d been so busy that I’d forgotten all about it. Surely, if I explained the circumstances, they’d be understanding.

  Washbridge Beekeepers’ Supplies and Hire was a small shop behind the police station. I’d actually walked past it several times in the past, and seen the pictures of bees on the window, but as I’d never noticed the name on the sign, I’d always assumed they sold health food: Honey, that type of thing.

  Inside, the shelves were full to bursting with all manner of equipment and clothes for the beekeeper. At the counter, a jolly man in his mid-fifties greeted me with a smile.

  “Hello there, young lady. I’m Jimmy Bee but everyone calls me Sting.”

  That just had to be a wind-up.

  “Hi.”

  “Are you an apiarist?”

  “Sorry?” Who was he calling an ape?

  “A beekeeper? I don’t think I’ve seen you in here before.”

  “Me? No.”

  “Don’t worry. We’ll soon make one out of you. I have just the thing for you: Sting’s Starter Kit which includes a hive, frames, smoker, suit, gloves and shoes. And, you’ll be pleased to hear, it’s very competitively priced.”

  “Actually, I’m just here to return this.” I took the beekeepers’ hat out of my bag and handed it to him.

  “I see.” He made a note of the number on the inside of the hat, and then checked his computer. “This should have been returned yesterday.”

  “I’m sorry about that. My grandmother was the one who hired it; she asked me to return it yesterday, but I forgot. I suppose that kind of thing happens all the time, doesn’t it?”

  “Actually, no. Most people return the goods in a timely manner.”

  Burn.

  “Anyway, like I said, I’m sorry.”

  “That’s alright, but it’s going to cost you extra.”

  “Fair enough. What’s the PHPD cost?”

  “The what?”

  “The per hat per day cost?”

  “Unfortunately, we don’t hire out anything for less than a week, so you’ll have to pay for an additional week I’m afraid.”

  “That’s a bit steep, isn’t it?”

  “You are of course welcome to keep it for another six days and it won’t cost you anymore.”

  “There isn’t much point. It’s not like I’m going to use it.” I handed over the money, and I was just about to leave the shop when, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a familiar face. The woman was looking around the clothing section of the shop. Fortunately, she hadn’t seen me.

  I’d no sooner left the beekeeper shop, than my phone rang.

  “Is that Jill Maxwell?”

  “Speaking.”

  “This is Craig Fleabit from Pest Out. You left a message for me to call you.”

  “That’s right. Thanks for getting back to me. Actually, I’m just after some information. Do you remember being called out to an apartment block recently where there was an infestation of bees in the dining room?”

  “I do, as it happens. Why?”

  “Do you know where the bees came from?”

  “I’ve no idea. There definitely wasn’t a nest anywhere around the apartment block.”

  “Are you certain about that?”

  “Absolutely. I searched high and low, but the owner of the apartment clearly didn’t believe me. She gave me a really hard time and insisted that I search again, which I did with the same result.”

  “Right. Well, thanks for your help.”

  “I wouldn’t have minded,” he continued. “But that wasn’t the end of it. The woman is clearly paranoid.”

  “Sorry, I don’t follow?”

  “She called me back there a few days later.”

  “About the bees?”

  “No, this time she insisted that she had woodworm, and that I had to go straight around there before her floor collapsed.”

  “What happened?”

  “There was no sign of woodworm. I told her it was just a bit of sawdust on the floor. She’d probably brought it in on her shoes.”

  Chapter 23

  It hadn’t really occurred to me at the time, but now that I looked back on it, I realised how adamant Gabriella Wilde had been that we should meet in a coffee shop and not at her house. If my hunch was correct, I believed I now knew why she’d been so keen to avoid me paying a visit to her house.

  Finding her address proved to be easy enough: She lived in Lower Tweaking, which was a smaller version of Middle Tweaking. Her cottage was set back from the road, and when I drove past, there were no cars parked on the driveway.

  I found a quiet, secluded spot just outside the village and parked there. After making myself invisible, I made the short walk back to her cottage. Fortunately, I didn’t need to gain access to the house in order to find what I was looking for. Instead, I made my way around the back; the garden was huge and stretched for at least a couple of hundred yards.

  Still invisible, I took a slow stroll down the gravel path. To the left was a perfectly manicured lawn, which could have served as a bowling green. To the right was a gorgeous wildflower meadow. In the distance, at the end of the path, was what looked like a large vegetable patch. So far, though, there was no trace of what I’d been hoping to find. Maybe my hunch had been wrong.

  But then, as I reached the vegetable patch, I spotted them.

  There was little wonder that Gabriella hadn’t been fazed by the bees that had so terrified the other members.

  Back at the car, I phoned the members of the Washbridge art society. I spoke first to Finley McAdams and asked if he’d be prepared to host a meeting of the society at his house the following afternoon.

  Clearly intrigued by my request, he asked the reason for the meeting, but I managed to convince him to wait until everyone was together, at which time I promised all would be revealed. Once he’d agreed, I phoned the others. They weren’t particularly enthusiastic at first, but when I told them that if I was unable to arrange a meeting of all the members, I would take my findings to the police, they all eventually agreed. That, in itself, was significant.

  A few minutes later, my phone rang. My first thought was that one of the members had had a change of heart, but it turned out to be Swotty Dotty.

  “Jill, it’s Dorothy. I just wanted to check that you and Jack are still okay for tonight.’

  “Absolutely. We’re both looking forward to it. We did say eight o’clock, didn’t we?”

  “That’s right. Eight o’clock at Washbridge Tavern. Do you know it?”

  “Yeah. It’s a long time since I’ve been there, though. I imagine it’ll have changed quite a bit since then.”

  “Great. We’ll see you both tonight.”

  ***

  Back at the office, Winky was wearing his black pinstripe suit.

  “You’re looking very dapper, mister. What’s that in aid of?”

  “I’ve been invited to a photoshoot followed by a meal, all paid for by CM Magazine.”

  “How come they want you and not Trevor the Tails?”

  “Trevor will be there too. The first three prize winners in the male and female competitions have all been invited. I’m looking forward to meeting those lovely ladies.”

  “I bet you are. Where’s it being held?”

  “In London.”

  “I can’t take you there again today.”

  “I don’t need you to. A chauffeur-driven limousine is being sent for me. I won’t be back tonight. They’ve booked us into a hotel.”

  “It’s alright for some.”

  I made a call to Jason Bond, the man who now owned the restaurant where Alison Reed had been poisoned.

  “Is that Jason?”

  “Speaking. Who’s that?”

  “My name is Sonia Lowe. You don’t know me.”

  “I’m rather busy at the moment, darling. How did you get this number, anyway?”

  “I’m a friend of Alison Reed’s.”

  “Like I said, darling, I’m very busy. I don’t have time to—”

  “I think you’ll want to speak to me, Jason. I’ve just had a visit from a private investigator called Jill Maxwell.”

  “What did she want?”

  “She reckons that Alison bought a meal for two on the day she died.”

  “So what? What’s that got to do with me?”

  “Maxwell asked if I knew who Alison was seeing that night. I told her that I didn’t, but the thing is, Jason, Alison did actually tell me who she was meeting. She said she was seeing you.”

  “That’s rubbish. You don’t know what you’re talking about, darling.”

  “In that case, you won’t mind if I tell Maxwell and the police what I know.”

  “Hold on. There’s no need to do that, darling. It’ll just cause me unnecessary problems over nothing.”

  “I suppose I could keep the information to myself, but it’s going to cost you.”

  “That’s blackmail.”

  “Not really. I’d call it a mutually beneficial arrangement. You don’t want the hassle, and I could do with some extra money.”

  “How much do you want?”

  “Ten grand.”

  “I’m not giving you that much.”

  “Fair enough. I guess I’ll give Maxwell a call, then.”

  “Wait! It’ll take me a while to get the money together.”

  “Don’t give me that. You’re minted.”

  “I can get it by tomorrow.”

  “Fair enough. I’ll meet you in town.”

  “No. It has to be somewhere quiet. Do you know the bench on Washbridge Mount?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Right. I’ll meet you there tomorrow morning at ten.”

  ***

  Jack and I were getting ready for our night out with Swotty Dotty and Ray.

  “You did remember to book a taxi, didn’t you?” I said.

  “I didn’t bother. I’m going to drive.”

  “How come? You won’t be able to have a drink.”

  “I know, but I’ve got my annual review first thing in the morning, and I don’t want to risk turning up with a hangover.”

  “Are you sure? One drink won’t hurt.”

  “I’d rather not. I’m happy to drive.”

  “Fair enough. It’s probably just as well anyway. If you have a drink, you might forget that Dotty and Ray don’t know that you know.”

  “Don’t know that I know what?”

  “That I’m a witch, of course.”

  “Come on, Jill, I’ve been doing this long enough now. I know the drill. What are those two like anyway?”

  “When we were at school, I used to think that Dotty was a real swot.”

  “I kind of gathered that from her nickname.”

  “She did so well in the exams that everybody assumed she spent all of her time revising, but it turns out that she barely did any. She used magic to cheat.”

  “What about him? Ray?”

  “He was into every sport imaginable: football, rugby, cricket, track and field, and he was captain of most of the teams.”

  “A real jock, then.” Jack sighed. “If he’s like every other jock I’ve met, he’s going to be a real bore.”

  ***

  Jack and I arrived at Washbridge Tavern at more or less the same time as Dotty and Ray. It was the first time I’d seen him since I left school, and I couldn’t believe my eyes. He was still a good-looking guy, but he’d really let himself go. The last time I’d seen him, he was every inch the athlete, but he’d piled on the pounds since then.

  “Hi, Jill,” Dotty called when she spotted us. “You remember Ray, don’t you?”

  “Of course I do.” Although there was a lot less of him back then. “This is Jack.”

  “Very pleased to meet you, Jack. I’m Dorothy.”

  “How goes it, buddy?” Ray shook Jack’s hand.

  “Shall we go inside?” Dorothy said. “The table’s booked for eight.”

  The maître d’ showed us to a quiet spot at the back of the restaurant where we made small talk for a while until the waiter came to take our order.

  “Are you still into sport, Ray?” I asked.

  “Not so much these days, as you can probably tell. After I left school, I lost interest. I was too busy going drinking with the boys and dating.”

  “Until I clipped his wings.” Dotty laughed. “You do still play one sport, Ray.”

  “I guess.” He shrugged. “But not everyone would agree that it’s a real sport.”

  “Tiddlywinks?” I suggested.

  “Actually, I’m really into ten-pin bowling now.”

  Oh bum!

  Jack’s face lit up. “That’s my sport too, isn’t it, Jill?”

  “It sure is.” Sigh.

  “Where do you bowl, Ray?” Jack asked.

  “Washbridge Bowl, usually.”

  “Me too. I’m surprised I haven’t seen you there.”

  “We should have a game sometime.”

  “Definitely.”

  Inevitably, the two guys were soon engrossed in a riveting discussion on strikes, spares and the seven-ten split.

  “They seem to have hit it off,” Dotty said.

  “Yeah. Seems like we’re both ten-pin bowling widows.”

  The starters and main course were excellent, and even after the ten-pin bowling conversation had subsided, the four of us still found plenty to talk about. Dotty turned out to be a real hoot, and definitely someone who I’d be happy to meet up with again.

  “Anyone for dessert?” Jack called over the waiter.

  “I’m very sorry, sir,” the waiter said. “I’m afraid that we have to close the restaurant in a few minutes.”

  “Why’s that?” I said.

  “There’s some kind of problem with the cold-room. The door has frozen shut and we can’t get inside. I’m very sorry. I do hope you’ve enjoyed your meal so far.”

  “It was excellent,” Jack said. “You’d better bring us the bill.”

  While we waited, and the other three talked, my mind was elsewhere. This was the third restaurant to experience problems with their cold-room in a short period of time, and I had a feeling I knew why.

  When we got outside, Dotty and Ray seemed keen to keep the evening going.

  “Do you two fancy going onto a club?” Dotty said. “Or we could go back to our place if you like. We can have a drink there.”

  Jack looked keen, so before he could commit us to anything, I got in quickly.

  “We’d love to, Dotty, but Jack has his annual review first thing in the morning, and he needs to be on top form. And, to be honest, I’ve got a bit of a headache. Could we take a rain check, and make it another night? I’ve really enjoyed this.”

  “Of course,” Dotty said. “Will you give me a ring?”

  “Yeah, I’ll do that.”

  When they’d gone, Jack gave me a puzzled look.

  “What was that all about? I wouldn’t have minded going back to their place for a while. I would have been okay for the morning.”

  “I’m sorry, but there’s something going on in there that I need to sort out.”

  “In the restaurant? What kind of something?”

  I quickly brought him up to speed on the recent cold-room-related incidents, and my suspicions as to their cause.

  “Are you saying you think the ice nymphs are inside the cold-room in there?”

  “That’s my guess. I reckon they take refuge in a different cold-room each night, effectively rendering it useless. The next day, they move on again in order to avoid detection. Daze has been trying to track down these guys for ages.”

  “Are you going to call her?”

  “Not until I’m sure my hunch is correct, and I have them trapped.”

  “How are you going to trap them?”

  “Luckily, I haven’t got around to returning these yet.” I opened my bag and took out the three tiny traps.

  “Those look like miniature versions of the ones you used to catch the wood nymphs.”

  “They are. I shrank them. And I still have a few pink marshmallows in here too. There should be just enough to bait all three traps.”

  “How do you know the ice nymphs like pink marshmallows too?”

  “I don’t. I’ll just have to keep my fingers crossed.”

  “What do you want me to do?”

  “There’s nothing you can do. You might as well get off home and have a good night’s sleep. After I’ve sorted out these guys, I’ll magic myself home.”

  “Will you be okay?”

  “Of course I will. I’ve already dealt with one set of nymphs this week. Wood nymphs, ice nymphs, they’re all the same to me.”

  “Okay, but promise me you’ll be careful.”

  “Of course I will. You know me, Jack.”

  After he’d left, I made myself invisible and sneaked back inside the restaurant, where the staff were busy closing up. Once they had turned out the lights and everyone had left, I made my way through to the kitchen. There was no wonder they couldn’t get into the cold-room because the door had been transformed into one huge block of ice.

  The ‘burn’ spell made short work of the ice, but it also left a large puddle on the tiled floor. I opened the door, sneaked quietly inside, and listened. Moments later, I heard the familiar inane chatter I was accustomed to hearing from the wood nymphs. After edging a little further inside, I caught a glimpse of two of the despicable creatures. They looked almost identical to the wood nymphs except that these guys had icicles hanging from their limbs, just as Daze had described.

 

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