Witch Is Why Time Stood Still (A Witch P.I. Mystery Book 13) (9 page)

Chapter 12

“Jill? It’s Pearl.”

“Hi, Pearl. Is everything okay?”

“Yes, everything’s fine. It’s just that the two girls who are moving in upstairs are here, and we thought you might like to pop over to meet them.”

“Right now?”

“Yeah, if you’re not too busy.”

“Sure, okay. I’ll be there in a couple of minutes.”

Before I could magic myself over to Candlefield, Winky jumped onto my desk.

“There’s still no sign of you sorting out this problem with Bella. Have you forgotten about it?”

“Of course not. I’m still working very hard on it.”

“You could have fooled me.”

“I promise. It’s number one on my priority list.”

“Show me.”

“Show you what?”

“Your priority list.”

“There isn’t
actually
a list.”

“You just said there was.”

“It’s a metaphorical list.”

“If you don’t get this sorted, and Bella leaves, you’re going to regret it.”

“I’ve told you. It’s in hand.”

“It had better be or you will feel my wrath, and I don’t mean my metaphorical wrath.”

What else was I meant to tell him? Right now, the situation looked pretty hopeless, but he definitely didn’t want to hear that.

I magicked myself over to Cuppy C. The twins were at a window table with two other young witches.

“Jill.” Pearl pulled up a chair for me. “This is Flora and Laura—your new roommates.”

Flora and Laura were like two book-ends. Both had dirty blonde hair, both wore way too much makeup, and neither of them had any dress-sense. Not that I was judging.

“Hi, lovely to meet you both.”

What? Who are you calling two-faced?

“Hi, I’m Flora.” She was the taller of the two. I shook her hand; it was icy cold.

“I’m Laura.” Laura’s hand was also cold. What was it with these ice maidens?

“Do you like your rooms?”

“Oh, yes.” Flora beamed. “We’ve been looking for somewhere suitable for months now, but all the flats are too expensive, and all the rooms we’ve seen have been horrible. But these are lovely.”

“Do you both work in Candlefield?”

“I do,” Flora said. “I work in the flower shop in the market square.”

“That’s quite appropriate.” I grinned.

She looked puzzled.

“Flora? Flowers? Plants?”

She still looked puzzled. Oh boy.

“Never mind. What about you, Laura?”

“I work in a shop in Washbridge.”

“Oh? Which one?”

“Ashleys. We sell home furnishings. It’s a few doors down from the library.”

“I know where you mean. What made you decide to work in the human world?”

“I just fancied a change.”

“How do you like it?”

“To be honest, I prefer working with sups. I’m looking for a job back in Candlefield.”

“How do you two know one another?”

“We’ve known each other practically all our lives, haven’t we Flora?”

“Yes, we met at school, and we’ve been friends ever since.”

“
Have the twins told you anything about me?”

“They didn’t need to,” Flora said. “Everyone has heard of the great Jill Gooder. You’re the witch who turned down the chance to go to level seven.”

“And you killed TDO,” Laura added. “How could we not know about you?”

“Yeah, well. I only popped over to say hello. I’d better get back to Washbridge because I’m working on a few cases at the moment. It was nice to meet you both.”

“You too, bye.”

“See you soon.”

I had to admit it. The twins had been right about my new roommates. Apart from their cold hands and lack of any dress sense, it was difficult to fault them. And with a bit of luck, they wouldn’t be at each other’s throats all the time like the twins were.

***

It had taken me a while, but I’d finally managed to get hold of Teddy Barr on the phone. We’d arranged to meet in a small café in Candlefield market square.

“I’ve heard a lot about you,” he said. Teddy didn’t have Eddie Wonder’s movie star looks, but he exuded the same self-confidence. “You’re meant to be the most powerful witch in Candlefield.”

“That’s what some people say.”

“So, what does the most powerful witch in Candlefield want with a mere vampire?”

“I wanted to speak to you in your capacity as captain of the Blue Flags BoundBall team.”

“I wouldn’t have had you down as a BoundBall fan, although now I come to think about it, didn’t you organise that women’s game?”

“I did, yes.”

“What are you after? Free tickets for the big game? I can get you a few of those—no problem.”

“No, nothing like that. Have you heard that two of the Eagles’ players have been taken ill?”

“Yeah. Some sort of virus, isn’t it? A bit unlucky.”

“The timing is very unfortunate. And a bit of a coincidence, wouldn’t you say?”

“Wait a minute. Have you been talking to Eddie Wonder?”

“I have, yes.”

“I might have known. What exactly has he accused me of? Trying to nobble his team? How exactly does he think I managed that?”

I ignored his question because I didn’t want to use the word ‘poison’ in public.

“Did you have anything to do with it?”

“Of course not. How am I supposed to have given them a virus? You can tell Eddie from me, that the Blue Flags are going to win the league, but we’ll win it fair and square. On merit, and not because we’ve sabotaged his team.”

***

After my meeting with Teddy Barr, I was walking through Candlefield Market Square, when I spotted a familiar face; it was Eddie Wonder. He stepped inside a small shop. It was one I’d walked past several times, but I’d always assumed it had gone out of business. The faded sign above the door read ‘Candle Launderette’.

As I got closer, Eddie re-emerged.

“Hello, Eddie.”

“Oh? Hi there.
”

“Getting your smalls washed?”

“Sorry?” He looked puzzled.

“The launderette? Are you doing the weekly wash?”

“I—err—get my BoundBall kit cleaned there.”

“Where is it?”

“Where’s what?”

“Your kit?”

“I—err—just took it in.”

“I see.”

“Anyway, I’d better get going.” He started to walk away. “I’m meant to be meeting someone.”

“Okay, bye.”

How very curious. I was almost positive he hadn’t had anything with him when he’d gone into the shop. And why had he been in such a hurry to get away? Surely, I wasn’t so scary? I peered through the window of the launderette. There was no sign of life inside—just a row of washing machines—all with their doors wide open.

***

At my request, all of the jewellers except Are Forever had agreed to close for thirty minutes starting at one-forty-five.

“I still don’t really understand why we’re doing this, Jill.” Arnold, the owner of Are Forever, said.

“You’ll just have to trust me on this one.”

“
What do you want us to do?”

“
Just carry on as usual. Serve the customers as you would do normally.”

“What about you? What will you be doing?”

“I’ll be in the back office. If I leave the door ajar, I’ll be able to see into the shop. Is that okay?”

“Of course. Is this going to be dangerous?”

“Only for the thief. You, your staff and customers will be perfectly safe, I promise.”

He managed a smile, but I could see he was nervous.

It was ten minutes before two. If my hunch was right, things should start to happen within the next few minutes. I took the tin out of my pocket, and headed towards the door.

“What’s that?” Arnold said.

“Brown chalk dust.” I began to shake the chalk onto the floor around the door. I’d chosen the colour closest to the shade of the wooden floor.

“Is that necessary? What will the customers think?”

“I doubt they’ll even notice it.”

Once I was in the back again, I fixed my gaze on the area immediately in front of the door.

The doorbell chimed, and an elderly couple walked in leaving two sets of footprints. I kept watching, and sure enough, a moment later, a third set appeared.

It had taken quite a while for me to develop the spell which I needed. Without Magna Mondale’s book and knowledge, I would never have managed it. I’d had to mix and match half a dozen spells to achieve the desired effect. Even now, I wasn’t a hundred percent sure it would work. I’d tried it when I was home alone, and it seemed to work, but I’d only know for sure now I was using it in anger.

Just as I’d expected, everyone in the shop appeared to be frozen to the spot. Everyone except for the ugly man helping himself to the tray of rings.And, of course, me
.

“Ahem.” I coughed. “Excuse me.”

He jumped so hard he dropped the rings back onto the counter.

“What? Who? How?” He took a step back.

“Stopwatch, I presume?”

“Who are you? How did you do that?”

“My name is Jill Gooder. I’m—”

“I’ve heard of you. You’re that level seven bird, aren’t you?”

“
Bird
?” Not only was he a thief, but a sexist pig as well. “Would you care to explain what you’re doing?”

“Me?” He shrugged. “I ain’t doing nothing.”

“So you admit you are doing something?”

“That’s not what I said.”

“I think you’ll find it is. If you
ain’t
doing
nothing
, you must be doing
something
.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

That much was obvious.

“It looked to me like you were stealing jewellery.”

“I was just looking at it.”

“Does putting it in your pocket help you to see it better?”

He turned, and started to run towards the door. He didn’t get far because I cast the ‘bind’ spell. The rope wrapped around his arms and legs, and sent him crashing to the floor.

“Let me go! You’ve got no right to hold me here.”

“I think you’ll find I have.”

Just then, Stopwatch’s spell must have run its course because the other people in the shop snapped back to life.

“Why are the rings on the counter?” The sales assistant looked confused.

Arnold noticed me standing over Stopwatch. “Jill, what’s going on? Who is that?”

“This is your thief.”

“How did you catch him? I didn’t even see him come into the shop.”

“I’ll explain all of that later.” Or not.

I made a call to Daze to tell her I’d caught Stopwatch. She said she’d meet me in the alleyway at the side of the shop in two minutes.

“Get up.” I pulled Stopwatch onto his feet, and helped him to penguin-walk outside.

“Well done, Jill.” Daze was out of breath when she appeared in the alleyway. “However did you manage to catch him?”

“I’m right here.” He moaned.

“Shut up, you!” Daze pressed her foot hard onto his back. “Speak when you’re spoken to.”

“I had to concoct a spell that would work the same as Stopwatch’s spell. When his spell kicked in, so did mine. Time stood still for both of us.”

“Brilliant. You really should be on level seven.”

“All in good time. You’d better get this charmer back to Candlefield before anyone sees us.”

Daze took out a pair of what I assumed to be anti-magic shackles, and fastened them to Stopwatch’s legs. “That should stop his tricks.” Next, she took out her trusty wire mesh net, and threw it over him. “I’d better get back to process him. Thanks again, Jill.”

Another case successfully completed. And Leo Riley need never know of my involvement.

Oh bum!

While I’d been in the alleyway with Daze, Arnold must have called the police.

“Jill, are you okay?” Arnold shouted.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Except that I wasn’t. Standing next to the counter, staring at me, were two uniformed police officers, and Leo Riley.

“You!” Riley said. “I might have known.”

“Hello, Leo.”

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“Stopping a jewel thief, apparently. The one you weren’t interested in.”