Witch Is Why Time Stood Still (A Witch P.I. Mystery Book 13) (10 page)

“Where is he?”

“He got away, I’m afraid.”

“Got away? That’s just brilliant! Is there no end to your talents?”

“Maybe if you lot had shown a little more interest, I wouldn’t have had to get involved.”

“I’ve a good mind to charge you with obstructing the police.”

“Go ahead. I can’t wait to read the newspaper headlines.”

“How did you know he’d strike here today? Do you have some inside information? If so, you’d better tell me right now.”

“Just good old-fashioned detective work. You know, that thing they pay you to do.” I turned to Arnold. “You can tell the other shop owners that they won’t have any more trouble from that scumbag.”

“Thanks, Jill. I for one appreciate what you’ve done.”

“Why are you still here?” Riley growled at me. “Get out of my sight, before I do something I’ll regret.”

“My pleasure.”

Chapter 13

I’d been unfair on Amber and Pearl when I’d criticised them for letting the rooms in Cuppy C without consulting me. They’d actually succeeded in finding two really nice roommates. I’d decided to pay the newcomers a quick visit to see how they were settling in. And, being the generous soul that I am, I’d bought flowers and chocolates as welcome gifts. The twins had gone out and left their assistants in charge, so I went straight upstairs.

“What the—?”

I couldn’t believe my eyes.

The doors of the two rooms, which now belonged to Laura and Flora, were wide open. Both rooms looked as though they’d been ransacked. There was stuff all over the floor, the bed and the cupboards. Someone must have broken in. What would the poor girls think so soon after they’d moved in? I hoped they were all right.

“Flora! Laura!”

“Jill, is that you?” The voice came from my room. “We’re in here!”

I walked back down the corridor, and pushed open the door. Laura and Flora were sitting on my bed—drinking and smoking!

“What’s going on in here?”

“Do you want a drink, Jill?” Flora hiccupped.

“No. I
don’t
want a drink.”

“
Cigarette?”

“No. You can’t smoke in here.”

“
Why not?”

“This is
my
room.”

“But we’re all roommates now, aren’t we?” Flora took a drag of her cigarette. “Share and share alike?”

“That’s not how it works.
Your
rooms are down the corridor.
This
is
my
room.”

They shrugged.

“Anyway, what happened to your rooms? It looks like a bomb has dropped in there.”

They shrugged again, and then giggled.

“I’m not standing for this. I’m going to tell the twins.”

“See if we care.” Flora shrugged—shrugging seemed to be her thing.

“Ooh! You brought us chocolates,” Laura said. “Oh, look, and flowers.”

“No, I haven’t.” I slammed the door shut, went downstairs, and had a word with one of the assistants.

“Do you know how long Amber and Pearl will be?”

“They said they were going shopping, so they could be some time.”

“Would you ask them to call me as soon as they get back?”

“Yeah, okay.”

I wasn’t going to stand for this. Those two little madams had to go. When the twins had introduced them, they’d been all sweetness and light. Now, they’d turned into the roommates from hell. Smoking, drinking, ransacking the place, and using my room without permission. Just wait until I’d spoken to the twins. Flora and Laura would be out on their backsides before the end of the day.

***

My status as ‘the most powerful witch in Candlefield’ could be rather embarrassing, but it did have some benefits. I’d found that a lot of people were more willing to talk to me than they might otherwise have been.

Over the previous two days, I’d found out everything I could about the synthetic blood manufacture and distribution operations. One company was responsible for the manufacture—that company was a non-profit organisation that answered directly to the Vampire Council. Their quality control systems were of the highest standard, having been much improved after the earlier incident, which Maxine Jewell had alluded to. It was difficult to see how poison could have been added during the manufacturing stage.

One company, a different one, was responsible for all deliveries. A small army of drivers delivered the blood door-to-door. This immediately struck me as a more vulnerable part of the supply chain. I’d hoped to find that a single driver covered the two areas where David and Bobby lived, but that wasn’t the case. The areas were on separate ‘runs’ covered by different drivers.

I’d managed to get the names and phone numbers of the two delivery drivers in question.

“Hello. Is that Richard Bow?”

“Just a second, I’m hands-free. Let me park the van.”

I waited.

“Okay, sorry about that. I can’t talk and drive at the same time. Who’s speaking?”

“My name’s Jill Gooder. I’m a private investigator. Your employer gave me your name.”

“Oh? Why?”

“I believe you deliver to the Crowntop area of Candlefield.”

“That’s right. Every other Wednesday.”

“I’m interested in one delivery in particular.” I gave him David Warren’s address.

“Hang on while I check my book. I keep a log of every delivery in case there are any problems.”

I could hear all sorts of shuffling around. After a couple of minutes, he came back on the line. “Yes, I’ve got it here.”

“Can you confirm you put the parcel in the lockbox?”

The delivery company had told me that all the houses they delivered to had a refrigerated lockbox where the blood could be left if no one was in. The homeowner had a key, and the delivery driver had a master key which fit all the locks on his route.

“Hold on. No, it wasn’t. I have a note on this one. Ah, yes. I remember now. The customer met me on the driveway and took it from me. It was raining, and he was wet through.”

“You’re absolutely sure it was that address?”

“One hundred percent, yes, because it’s very rare that I deliver to anyone in person. People are usually out at work, so I mostly put the parcel in the lockbox.”

“Okay, Richard, that’s most helpful.”

I called David Warren who had been discharged from hospital, and was back at home.

“It’s Jill Gooder. How are you feeling?”

“Much better than when you came to see me, thanks.”

“David, I wanted to ask you about the last batch of synthetic blood that was delivered to you.”

“The bad one?”

“Yeah. Did the delivery driver hand the package to you in person?”

“No, I’m always at work when the delivery comes. The blood was in the lockbox, as usual.”

“Are you absolutely sure about that?”

“Positive.”

“What about the lockbox itself? Was that okay? Had it been forced open or damaged in any way?”

“No, it was locked as usual; I opened it with my key.”

“Okay, David, thanks very much.”

I rang the second delivery driver, and asked him to check his records for the delivery to Bobby’s address. He told a similar story. He specifically remembered handing the package to the customer who was waiting on the driveway. When I spoke to Bobby, he insisted the blood had been in the lockbox.

It seemed obvious that someone had intercepted the delivery of synthetic blood. They must then have added the poison before placing the package into the lockbox. But who had done it, and how had they gained access to the lockboxes? Who had most to gain from taking out some of the Eagles’ key players? There was one obvious candidate.

“Alan, it’s Jill. I think I may have found out how your friends were poisoned.”

“Do you know who did it?”

“I have my suspicions, but I need something more solid before I can take it to the police. Do you happen to have a photograph of Teddy Barr?”

“So it
was
him?”

“Like I said, I can’t be sure yet, so don’t say anything to anyone.”

“I won’t. I have a photo on my phone from the last time we played the Blue Flags.”

“Can you send it to me?”

“Sure, I’ll do it now.”

Moments later, my phone beeped to confirm the text had been received. I pulled up the attached photo which was of Teddy Barr and Eddie Wonder shaking hands—presumably taken before the game kicked off.

“Thanks, Alan.”

“Is there anything I can do, Jill?”

“No, just keep all of this to yourself. If I’m wrong, I’d rather not tarnish an innocent man’s reputation, and if I’m right, I’d rather not risk tipping him off.”

“I understand, but keep me posted.”

“Will do.”

***

Just then, I received a phone call from Pearl.

“Jill, I got a message that you wanted us to call you.”

“Are you in Cuppy C, now?”

“Yeah.”

“Stay put. I need to talk to you both.”

“Okay. We’ll be in the tea room.”

I hurried over to Cuppy C. The twins were enjoying milkshakes and cupcakes.

“Have you two been upstairs yet?”

“No, we’ve only just got in. We’re shattered. Shopping is a tiring business.”

“You need to take a look upstairs. Those two witches you let the rooms to, are a nightmare.”

“I thought you liked them.” Amber had a milk moustache.

“So did I until I saw what they’d done. They’ve completely ransacked their own rooms, and when I was here earlier, they were in my room, drinking and smoking.”

“
Are you sure, Jill?” Pearl looked doubtful. “They both said they were non-smokers.”

“And they don’t seem the sort to ransack their rooms,” Amber said.

“
I saw it with my own eyes. I warned them that I’d tell you, but they said they didn’t care.”

“We’d better see what’s going on.” Amber led the way.

I followed them. All three doors were closed, and no one answered when Pearl knocked.

“Look inside,” I prompted.

“I’m not sure.” Pearl hesitated. “We have to respect their privacy.”

“Stuff their privacy.” I pushed open the door to Flora’s room. “See!”

“There’s nothing
to
see,” Amber said.

“What?” I pushed past her. The room was as tidy as I’d ever seen it. I hurried next door; it was the same. There was no sign of the carnage I’d seen earlier.

“I think you’re being a bit too fussy, Jill,” Amber said. “These rooms look fine to me.”

“But—I—err—they—”

Just then, there were footsteps on the stairs. Moments later, Laura and Flora appeared.

“Hi, there,” Laura said—all sweetness and light. “Is there a problem?”

“No.” Pearl smiled. “Everything is fine.”

“
Are you sure?” Flora stepped forward. “We’d rather you said if there’s a problem. We wouldn’t want to upset anyone.”

I glared at them. The two-faced little minxes.

“Everything is okay,” Amber said.

The twins started down the stairs. When they were half way down, Laura and Flora both turned to me, and grinned.

***

I was still spitting feathers when I got back to Washbridge.

Mrs V came through to my office. “Are you okay, Jill? You’re very red in the cheeks.”

“I’m fine, thanks.”

“You really should cut back on the caffeine. I don’t think it suits you.”

“I said I’m fine. Was there something you wanted?”

“Pardon me for caring.” She huffed. “There’s a woman in the outer office who’d like to see you. Her name is Lacey Ball. She doesn’t have an appointment.”

“Okay, send her through. And, I’m sorry I snapped at you.”

Lacey Ball had short, unkempt brown hair, and looked like she’d got dressed in the dark.

“Hi, how can I help you, Mrs Ball?”

“Call me Lacey, please.”

“Okay, Lacey, have a seat. What is it I can do for you, exactly?”

“I didn’t know where to turn. I’ve tried the police, but they don’t seem very interested. They won’t take it seriously at all.”

“Won’t take what seriously?”

“I had a phone call two days ago.” She hesitated.

“Yes?”

“It was from my sister; we’re identical twins.”

“Okay.”

“She warned me to be careful.”

“Careful about what?”

“She didn’t say. She just said, ‘Lacey, be careful’, and then the line went dead.”

“Did you try to call her back?”

“The number was withheld.”

“Don’t you have her number, anyway? Couldn’t you have gone around to her house?”

“My sister died in a car crash three years ago.”

“Sorry. I thought for a moment there that you said the call was from your sister who died three years ago.”

“That is what I said.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Neither do I. It came totally out of the blue.”

“Are you sure it was your sister’s voice?”

“Of course I’m sure. I know my own sister’s voice; I’d know it anywhere.”

“I don’t want to appear rude, but have you been under a lot of stress lately?”