Witch Is Why The Laughter Stopped (A Witch P.I. Mystery Book 14) (15 page)

He rolled his eyes, but carried on anyway. “There may be another serial killer in Washbridge.”

“What do you mean
another
? There has never been one to the best of my knowledge. If you remember, ‘The Animal’ turned out not to be a serial killer at all.”

“We don’t need to go back over that old ground again.”

Jack didn’t like to be reminded of The Animal murder case. It was not long after he’d moved to Washbridge. The press and the police had thought they were looking for a serial killer, but in fact it had turned out to be two different murderers, both of whom I’d helped to bring to justice.

“Anyway, you were saying?” I prompted him.

“Apparently, there have been two victims so far.”

“Two? Isn’t that a bit early to class it as a serial killing?”

“Normally yes, but it’s the circumstances. From what I understand, both victims have near-identical puncture marks on their necks. The guys back at Washbridge station are dubbing him The Vampire.”

Oh, bum!

Chapter 25

The next morning, as I was walking from the car to the office, I spotted the headline on The Bugle. It read:
‘The Vampire.’

I popped into the newsagent to buy a copy. The lead article was typically sensationalist. It covered the two murders that Jack had mentioned the previous night. Somehow, The Bugle had got hold of the story, and got wind of the puncture marks found on the necks of the victims. Needless to say, The Bugle had made a big thing of this, and suggested there was a vampire in our midst.

The last thing I needed was The Bugle instilling fear into the residents of Washbridge. It came as no surprise to find the article was attributed to my old friend, Dougal Bugle. A smaller article, at the bottom of the front page, reported that Arthur Longstaff, CEO of Tip Top Construction, had been charged with the murder of Joseph Lewis. Result!

I made a quick phone call.

“Daze, I don’t know if you’ve seen it, but The Bugle’s headline is ‘The Vampire’.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen it. I’d been hoping we could keep this thing under wraps.”

“According to Jack, two bodies have been found already, both with puncture marks on their necks.”

“There’ll be more. You can bet your life on that. We’re rounding up the rogue vampires as quickly as we can. We’ve already shipped five of them back to Candlefield, but it’s likely there’ll be more. Bar Scarlet had a huge clientele. If only a small percentage of those turn rogue, we’ll have major problems. This publicity can only make things worse.”

“Please, keep me posted, Daze.”

When I arrived at the office, Jules was behind the desk, and for once she wasn’t knitting.

“Morning, Jill.” She beamed.

“Morning, Jules. You’re looking particularly pleased with life. Could it have anything to do with a certain young man named Jethro?”

“We had our first date last night. He took me to Bar Piranha. Do you know it?”

“Yes, I’ve been there a few times.”

“It’s great, isn’t it? There are all these tanks with piranhas in them. I was a bit scared at first, but Jethro said he wouldn’t let the piranhas get me.” She giggled.

“I take it you had a good evening?”

“It was brilliant. He’s such an interesting guy. He’s had all kinds of jobs, you know. Some of them in places I’ve never even heard of. He was even in a dance troupe once, and he’s done some modelling. But then—” She blushed. “He does have the body for it. At the end of the evening, he insisted on walking me to my door. He said it wasn’t safe to be out by myself because of this vampire serial killer. Have you heard about the murders, Jill? The victims have vampire bites on their necks.”

“I wouldn’t believe everything you read. The Bugle always blows things out of all proportion. There are no such things as vampires.”

“I’m not so sure. Perhaps there are. And werewolves and witches too. We just don’t know.”

“It’s all nonsense. I wouldn’t give it another thought.”

I started towards my office door, but Jules called me back.

“Jill, I’m booking the Wool Con tickets today, for me and Mrs V.”

“Okay. Let me know when it is, so I know you’ll both be off that day.”

“We’d really like you to come with us.”

“Wool isn’t really my thing.”

“Please, Jill. It’ll be like a company day out. You know, team building, that sort of thing. Mrs V wants you to come, and I do too. Please say you will.”

“Okay. I suppose so, but I’m not getting dressed up as a ball of wool.”

***

It was a slow day with nothing much happening. Even Winky was keeping himself to himself. I think he’d tired himself out building the time machine. He was fast asleep under the sofa when Zac, my landlord, popped in. Zac cut a much more impressive figure since he’d got rid of that stupid toupee. He now thoroughly embraced his baldness. Maybe I should mention it to Toby Jugg. He was another one who definitely should have given up the toupee.

“Hi, Zac, how’s things?”

“Hello, Jill. I won’t take up much of your time. I just wanted to check that you found the book I left for you.”

“What book?”

“I popped in with it the other day while you were out. Your young lady said to drop it on your desk.”

“What kind of book was it?”

“A children’s book.”

I reached into my top drawer, and brought out ‘squeaky book.’

“Was it this one?”

“Yes, that’s the one. One of the workmen found it in a cupboard when they were knocking the rooms together next door. I said I’d let you have it. It’s got your name in the back.”

“And you say you left it on my desk?”

“Yes, and I left a scribbled note to explain where it was found.”

“Okay, Zac. Thanks very much. I had this book when I was a child. I guess my father must have put it in the cupboard.”

“No problem.”

I glanced over at the sofa. Winky was awake now, and looking rather sheepish.

“Get over here!”

***

A clear-out of my old case files was long overdue. Jack wasn’t going to be in until late, so I decided to make a start on them. Winky was hiding under the sofa, still smarting from the tongue-lashing I’d given him earlier. After Zac’s visit, it hadn’t taken me long to work out what had happened.

Winky must have seen the book and the note on my desk. He’d read the note and from there, plotted his little scam. My father had hated squeaky book. It used to drive him crazy. He must have hidden it away in one of the cupboards next door. I’d always assumed it had been lost. The book had stayed there until the workmen found it. They gave it to Zac, who put it on my desk.

That’s when Winky had decided he’d try to get one over on me. All that stuff about time travel had been complete nonsense. He’d only done it so he could get me to have a bet with him. The so-called time machine was nothing more than a metal cabinet. He’d used the steam as a screen to sneak away and hide. When he came back, he’d produced squeaky book, and given me some cock-and-bull story about how mini-me had given the book to him. And sucker here, had fallen for it hook, line, and sinker. I’d even paid him out on his bet.

After discovering the truth, I’d given him an ultimatum: pay me back the money by next week, and dismantle the so-called time machine, or find somewhere else to live. He hadn’t put up a fight—I was pretty sure he didn’t care about the money. It was all about getting one over on me.

It was a pity that the time machine didn’t work. It would have been nice to go back in time to see my adoptive parents again—to have one last chance to talk to them both. I still lived in hope that one day they’d appear to me as ghosts, just as my birth family had, but so far there was no sign of that happening.

I decided to call it a day.

“I’m going home now, Winky. Don’t forget to dismantle the time machine, and to repay my money.”

“Don’t worry. I’m on it.”

It was very quiet; Jules had long since gone home. As I stepped out of the office, onto the landing, I noticed a trail of what appeared to be blood on the floor. I followed it to a small cupboard further down the corridor. The door wasn’t locked. Inside the cupboard, lying on the floor was the man who’d been stalking me for several days. The man with red hair, and a red beard. The man who had said his name was Damon.

I checked his pulse, but he was dead. There was a large wound in his chest. It appeared he’d been stabbed, but there was no sign of a knife. I made a call to Leo Riley, and fifteen minutes later, he and two uniformed officers came charging up the stairs.

I was at Washbridge police station for three hours, where I was asked all kinds of ridiculous questions by Riley. I’d told him how I’d found the body, and said that was all I knew, but he kept pressing me for more information. I didn’t tell him that the man had been to my office and my house. If I had, I would never have got out of there.

I’d phoned Jack from the police station, but only after it had taken me an hour to persuade Riley to allow me to make the call. Jack had wanted to come in, but I’d told him to stay at home. I knew if he came, he’d end up going head-to-head with Riley.

“What happened?” Jack asked when I finally made it home.

“Nothing much. I’ve just had to put up with three hours of Riley and his moronic questions. I told him everything I know. Which is nothing.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure.”

I probably should have told Jack that the man had been stalking me, but I wanted to find out who he was first.

“Could he have been another victim of The Vampire?” Jack asked.

“Don’t tell me you’ve started calling the murderer ‘The Vampire’?”

“It seems appropriate now. There’s been a third murder, you know.”

“You mean in addition to the man I found?”

“Yeah, and this one had the same puncture mark to the neck.”

“My guy didn’t, but he did have a big puncture wound to his chest. He’d been stabbed.”

“What about the murder weapon?”

“There was no sign of it.”

Eventually Jack stopped with the third degree, and we settled down to a glass of wine. I needed one after the day I’d had.

Jack glanced at the mantelpiece. “Do you think there’s any chance that Kathy will ever bring back the snow globe?”

“Look Jack, I’m sorry, but I didn’t tell you the truth about that.”

“What do you mean?”

“I didn’t give it to Kathy. I dropped it on the kitchen floor, and it smashed.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I should have done. I just felt bad about it because it was such a lovely gift. I’m so clumsy. I thought I might be able to find an identical one, but I couldn’t.”

“I don’t care about the snow globe, but I do care that you didn’t tell me. I thought you’d agreed that you weren’t going to keep secrets. You said there’d be no more lies.”

“I know, and there won’t be. Not from now on, I promise.”

“Are you sure there’s nothing else I should know about?”

“Positive. I have no more secrets.”

More mystery, magic and mayhem from Jill Gooder and a cast of thousands (okay, tens) in the next book:

Witch Is Why Another Door Opened

(Witch P.I. Mysteries #15)

ALSO FROM ADELE ABBOTT:

The Susan Hall Mysteries

This new series from Adele Abbott is set in the same world as the Witch P.I. Mysteries (Washbridge/Candlefield)

Investigative reporter, Susan Hall, is out to make her mark in her new job at The Bugle. If she is to succeed, she is going to have bring in the big stories.

Whoops! Our New Flatmate Is A Human

(Susan Hall Mysteries #1)

Charlie (a werewolf), Dorothy (a vampire) and Neil (a wizard) have a new flatmate. The bad news is, she’s a human. The even worse news is, she’s an investigative reporter.

Web Site:
http:www.AdeleAbbott.com

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http://www.facebook.com/AdeleAbbottAuthor