“Your regulars,” she said. “See to them, I’ll give her the tea.”

  As I stood, the joints in my knees popped. Perhaps I’d consider one of the potions my mother had handed me pre-emptively, many many years ago. I knew for a fact she didn’t have to deal with achy joints.

  Ethel and Margery stood by the counter, waiting for me. They had little white bags hanging from their arms bringing in the smell of salt and vinegar from the fish and chip shop.

  “Oh, Betty opened,” I said.

  Ethel raised the bag on her arm. “It was a happy surprise.”

  “I took the last battered sausage,” Margery continued.

  “How can I help you two?”

  Ethel ambled toward a table and heaved herself into a chair. “We saw Dannika running in here,” she said. “And we’ve all heard Hodge has called what happened to Nigel a murder.”

  Margery continued to mumble.

  “Well, we saw Michael arguing with Nigel,” Ethel said. “We can be quiet as a mouse when we need to be, you know, listening in.” She winked.

  “Michael was angry,” Margery added.

  “Okay,” I replied slowly, painting an image of all the information I’d been told. The image began hours ago when Betty told me her husband, Alan was confronted and argued with Michael at the bake sale. “Do you know what about?”

  “Don’t think they agreed on the winner,” Ethel said.

  “Didn’t look that way,” Margery said. “But I’m not on either of their sides, Nigel was never nice, I knew his mother before she passed, and I know his aunt, but they don’t speak.”

  “Anyway, we don’t think Rhonda killed Nigel,” Ethel said.

  “Me either,” my lips moved in agreement, pushing forward the softest of sounds. “Me either,” I continued, losing focus. I snapped from my thoughts and glanced at the two elderly women at the table. “How do you know Rhonda was arrested?”

  “The police were at her house,” Ethel said as a matter of public knowledge. “Everyone knows.”

  “But it just happened,” I said, quickly recanting the speed of which all drama travelled at in the village.

  “That’s neither here nor there,” Margery said. “Who will we get our veggies from now? I’m certainly not paying over the odds for whatever Harold is flogging in his newsagents.”

  That was also true, Rhonda sold produce to the people of the village, although she was never consistent in being able to supply fresh fruit and vegetables, it’s why I shopped at the supermarket in Belsy, it always seemed fresh enough.

  “Oh, oh, sugar,” Ethel gasped, clutching her plastic bag. “We need to go, I think the vinegar is leaking through the wrapper.”

  “No,” Margery said, shaking her entire head at the thought. “If it soaks through I’ll not be impressed, lemme tell you that.”

  A slight chuckle left me, I wasn’t sure how I could let out the bubbling tension running wild through the café, but I had to do something to relieve the crazy. I’d witnessed a death, unsure if I was going to be investigated and then to top it off, I had Dannika’s emotional state running wild in me. “Well, I don’t want to keep you.”

  I stayed seated for a moment after Ethel and Margery left, waiting for my thoughts to catch up, I needed the day to end soon so I could climb into bed and sleep.

  “Mother,” I said, “I know you’re listening.”

  “Oh darling, only when you call me mother,” her voice sprang to mind.

  “Can you please go and check on August, I hate to leave him alone for so long,” I said. “And I’ll grab you some fish and chips on the way home.”

  “Well, I can’t refuse good fish and chips,” her voice trailed off into a chuckle.

  My mind was mine again. Nigel had argued with Alan and Michael during the event, I was surprised not many other people had seen either of these happening. Betty informed me about him arguing with Alan in the bathroom, but I’m sure after the death she wanted to keep that a secret, and if Ethel and Margery had witnessed Nigel argue with Michael, I was surprised it wasn’t already halfway around the village.

  “I think she’s feeling better,” Rosie said behind me.

  I clapped my hands on my knees before standing. “Right,” I said. “Let’s get her sorted.”

  Allegra had moved Dannika to a seat at the table where she continued to sip tea from a cup nestled between her hands. “Thank you,” she said, softly.

  “No need to thank me,” I replied, “we’re only doing our best to help.”

  “Can you help her get out of the police station?”

  I hummed. It wasn’t as easy as saying “yes” and the battle was won, I believed Rhonda was innocent, but there was more to the process and I was trying to keep myself out of the mess Detective Hodge seemed to weave around every case he had.

  “Your mother will be held for 24 hours, maybe longer because tomorrow is a Sunday,” Rosie said. “I can talk with Mona, see if she knows anything.”

  “Does she work on Sunday?” I asked.

  “Maybe, gosh I’m not sure.”

  I nodded. I’d have to go to the station myself to see, I knew Hodge would be breathing down my neck at the sight of me, but Rhonda was many things, a murderer was not among them. “I think you should go home and sleep,” I said. “I have an amethyst you can take with you. Place it beneath your pillow and it’ll cleanse you and help you sleep.”

  Dannika reached for my hand. “Thank you, Gwen,” she said. “I’m sorry about coming in, I didn’t know where else to go.”

  “That’s fine, sweetie,” I replied. I turned on a heel and scanned the shelves against the wall. I was never sure where anything was, Tana and Eva were always constantly moving things around, mainly Tana, occupying her mind with some of her more OCD tendencies to keep things in order, it didn’t matter which order, as long as they were ordered; alphabetically, chromatically, or even thematically.

  Once Dannika had left, in a better state than the one she arrived in. I looked around at Rosie and Allegra.

  “What’s wrong?” Rosie asked.

  “I have no idea what to do for her,” I said. “Ethel and Margery mentioned Nigel arguing with Michael during the event, and—” I stopped myself from revealing the information about Betty and Alan, it could’ve done more damage than good. “And, I’m not sure Michael could’ve done it, he’s all bark.”

  Allegra chuckled at the notion. “And if he did have any bite, it would be of a toothless OAP.”

  “I used to work in a care home,” Rosie said with a nod of her head, “they have powerful jaws, so I wouldn’t let that go amiss.”

  It had been a long day, from the stresses of making a cake to the death of a somewhat respected celebrity chef. All I wanted right about now was to sit with a cup of tea and take a hot bubble bath.

  “We should call it a night, I want to get to the chip shop for a little supper,” I said.

  Rosie hummed in agreement. “Oh, that sounds nice.”

  “I best get home as well, Serena will be hopping around the living room in a panic,” Allegra said, referring to her familiar, a hare.

  Betty and Alan Port had been in business longer than I had, at first, they disliked the fact I’d opened shop down the road from them, they figured I was going to take business from them, and when I first opened, I did. I didn’t want to be known as the woman who put others out of business. Everything plateaued like it does in life and we found an area in which we both made a profit.

  “I’m glad you decided to open,” I said, walking into the bright fluorescent lighting of the chip shop.

  “Gwen,” Betty said with a large smile. “You encouraged us, keeping the village in harmony while that vulture goes around.”

  Alan scoffed, turning a metal spatula through the chips in the fryer. “Which one?”

  “Good point,” Betty said.

  “Diane?” I asked.

  “Yep,” they laughed together.

  Betty added. “And Michael.”

  “Oh god, I didn’t realise that man was still so shameless,” I said.

  “No, Michael,” Betty said again, nodding behind me as the door opened.

  Michael entered with a black briefcase hooked under his arm. “Evening,” he said.

  “I’ll take two fish suppers,” I quickly said to Betty.

  She nodded. “Coming up.”

  I stepped to the side while Michael approached the counter.

  He whispered something. I struggled for a moment to listen in before it became clear and my hearing extended toward them.

  “Just want to say I feel awful for how I left things,” he said to Betty as she pressed herself closer to listen. “It really wasn’t how I wanted things to go. I get a little heated when I want something.”

  Betty released a long hum. “Is there anything I can get for you?”

  He nodded. “Couple fish cakes, a battered sausage, and a large portion of chips,” he said.

  “Hungry?” I asked.

  He turned to me, giving me a once over before snickering. “Had a busy day,” he said. “The news station has been chasing me all over the village.”

  That was a lie. Diane had been in both the café and the chip shop, never once mentioning Michael’s name, and why would she, he was infamous in the village, owning most everything, but definitely not famous for the news.

  “We have everything except for battered sausages,” Betty said, jotting his order.

  “I think she’s been everywhere today,” Alan chimed in. “She wants to know about Nigel.”

  “Yes, well, given how close I was to Nigel,” he began again.

  “Nigel had a reputation on the telly,” Betty said. “But he was nice enough in person, it’s his job to be a critic.”

  “It’s an awful way to go,” I said.

  “Oh?” they turned to me.

  “Do you know what happened?” Michael asked.

  I didn’t. “They think it might be poisoning,” I said. “They’ve taken Rhonda to the station for questioning, if she’s not charged, she might not even be out until Monday morning.” With their wide eyes on me, I knew the news hadn’t spread this far yet.

  “Ethel and Margery were in here, mumbling something about an arrest, but I didn’t pay too much attention to it,” Betty said.

  “It’s a shame, isn’t it,” Michael said.

  It was a shame, as things went, another death in Cowan Bay was most definitely considered a shame. “I heard he didn’t have any relatives either,” I said, that too was a shame, there was nobody around for him. “Or, I’m sure Ethel and Margery mentioned an aunt he never saw.”

  “More for us then,” Michael added. “The house he has over the bay, that’ll be up for sale.” He rubbed his hands together with an air of excitement as he licked his bottom lip slightly. “It’s a beauty of a house, secluded too. To think he was asking for over the odds, and now I’ll get it for a steal.”

  After a visible eye roll, I clicked my tongue against the roof of my mouth. “I hope you’re really not suggesting you’ll profit from this.”

  He shrugged. “I will be once the new hotel opens,” he said, glancing around the fish and chip shop. “And so will you.”

  Betty dished chips out onto paper. “You bought the hotel?”

  “Fisherman’s Inn?”

  He chuckled and nodded to our questions. “If I didn’t, it would reduce the surrounding economy, and I know you don’t want that. If anything, with my investment, the economy will rise.”

  My jaw clenched, glancing at how smug he was about the whole situation. Almost like it hadn’t affected him at all, only for the better so it seemed.

  “Seven pounds, even,” Betty said, wrapping the two packages of fish and chips.

  I rummaged through my bag in search of my purse.

  “It’s all for the best,” Michael said. “And if you ever need financial freedom, I’m more than happy to buy a good chunk of the business from you.”

  “I’m fine,” I replied handing Betty the money, but as my hand touched hers, a rush of emotion connected with me, it was hot and coloured my sight a deep burgundy; rage. “And I’m sure nobody else here wants to be pestered.”

  “You sure?” he asked with a nod in my direction. “Harold is thinking of selling.”

  Harold would, he’s been in the village for a long time, and he’d owned the newsagents for just a long. I sucked through my teeth before glancing Michael in his eyes. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t ask me to sell again,” I said. “And I still remember those shady tricks you tried to pull on me years ago.” I huffed, accepting the plastic bag from Betty. I turned quickly, racing myself out of the door before the emotions got the better of me.

  CHAPTER 9

  August sat by the front door, waiting when I arrived home. Lights inside the house flooded the fog outside. My mother was metres away, standing in the hallway with her familiar, Julian perched on her shoulder.

  “For me?” August asked, raising his head to sniff the bag.

  I wished it was. “Your stomach can’t handle this daily,” I said, kneeling to him. I pet my thumb from the bridge of his nose. “Did my mother feed you?”

  He grumbled in a slight hiss, turning his head toward my mother.

  “Of course,” she said, throwing her arms high with dramatic flair. Julian flew, resting on her again when her arms were down. “And it doesn’t matter what he says, he enjoys the tinned food you have for him.”

  I knew August would complain for the sake of complaining. “Thanks for coming over,” I said, pushing from my knees to stand. “I wasn’t meant to be so long.”

  “It’s fine,” she said. “My house is a mess with renovations anyway.”

  I pulled my coat off to hang it on the hook beside the door. “I still need to come over and see what you’ve done to the place.”

  “It’s unrecognisable.”

  I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Marissa had made that place a home, and to think it wouldn’t resemble the house I knew so well added to the exhaustive thoughts running through my mind. “This village has become unrecognisable too,” I said. “After everything that’s happened today.”

  “Well, let’s eat and we can talk about it,” she said. “I grabbed some leftover cakes from the event, so we have something for dessert.”

  I raised my eyebrow at her. “And what’s your motivation?”

  “Making up for lost time, darling.”

  She had plenty of that to do, but I wasn’t sure if this was the best way to do it. She’d already joined my coven, moved to the village I’d built a life for myself in, and been on the hook for a murder, I guess now was the actual mother-daughter bonding.

  My mother prepared plates on the dining table and cups of lemongrass tea to complement the food.

  “What happened today?” August asked as I placed the tightly wrapped parcels of food on the plates.

  “Someone died at the bake sale,” I said. I was surprised my mother hadn’t already told him.

  “I think it’s time we moved,” he said, hunching his back and hissing. “Maybe I’d enjoy the outdoors if we did.”

  “Not quite time,” I replied. “And I doubt you’ll move.”

  “Anything else?” my mother asked with cutlery in her hand.

  “Oo—the salt and vinegar.”

  She hummed. “You know that’s no—”

  “I just want them,” I replied, shaking my head at whatever she had going through her mind.

  “Glad you’re home now,” August said, nuzzling his nose under my hand.

  We sat and ate the food. It was good, and thankfully still warm. I had a voracious appetite by the time we were eating, I’d wolfed it all in a matter of moments.

  “I don’t want you getting yourself involved,” my mother said.

  “I don’t want to get involved, but—”

  She coughed into a fist, cutting me off. “Darling, my mother did this for many years, and it strained our relationship. Now, you’re by no means employed by those uppity witches,” she said.

  “It’s not that,” I added, fiddling with my necklace, “but they arrested that poor girl’s mother.”

  “You can’t protect everyone.”

  But I could try. I knew I could try. It was all I could do. “Nora, you know, the investigator, she said if her investigation leads to Nigel’s death, she’ll look into it, but until then, she’s not looking into human issues.”

  “And neither should you.”

  My jaw clenched shut. I wasn’t ready to argue. I knew what the right thing to do was, and the right thing was to find out what happened to Nigel, and hopefully prove Rhonda’s innocence at the same time.

  “I think it’s a bad idea,” August grumbled.

  “You think everything is a bad idea,” I said. “Some people might not even think you could be a familiar, given you never leave the house, and you’re a worrywart.”

  My mother cocked her head and snickered, popping a chip in her mouth.

  August clawed at the cloth table top. “I’m protective.”

  “Stop it.” I placed my hand on his paw.

  He hissed, jumping to the ground and skittering out of the dining room.

  “On that note, I should leave,” she said. “Thank you for the food. I hope you’ll listen to my advice and leave the police to do their work. The truth always comes to light, darling.” She stood, placing one hand on her stomach and one hand clutching her necklace. “It was a really nice dinner, I’ll have to send Alan and Betty a thank you.” She glanced at me with her wide eyes and grinned before disappearing.

  “Great,” I grumbled. “Rhonda needs me, uh—and her daughter.” I rolled my sleeve to see my watch. 9:13 P.M. My bath could wait until I’d done some searching.

  This day had already been one of the longest days of winter, and now I was extending it to figure out what I was going to do about Dannika’s mother. I could waltz into the police station tomorrow, cast some extremely potent confusion spell and free her. That’s what my mother would do; I smirked at the thought.

  I cleaned away the plates and empty wrappers while in thought, losing track of my process and starting over again. I’d need to write it down.

 

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