Witch Is Why Time Stood Still (A Witch P.I. Mystery Book 13) (15 page)

Chapter 20

The next morning when I left the house, Mrs Rollo was already out in the garden.

“Morning, Mrs Rollo.”

“Hello there, Jill. How are you settling in? I saw Jack leave earlier.”

“I think we’re getting there. By the way, I’ve been trying to catch you. We’re having a housewarming on Sunday. I realise it’s short notice, but we’d love you to come.”

“That would be lovely. I do enjoy a party. I tell you what. I’m not doing much today, so I could do the catering for you. It wouldn’t cost you anything apart from the ingredients.”

I’d already seen the results of Mrs Rollo’s baking. It was an absolute disaster. There was no way I could let her cater for the party.

“That’s very kind of you, Mrs Rollo, but actually the catering has already been organised.”

She looked crestfallen. “Maybe I could bake a cake for you? You can never have too much cake, can you?”

“That’s true.” At least, under normal circumstances.

“Is there any particular kind you like?”

Preferably one that actually resembles a cake. “Something simple. Nothing too complicated.”

“Do you like Victoria Sponge?”

“Yes, I am rather partial to it.”

“Then that’s what I’ll do. I’ll get on with it today, and let you have it tomorrow. What time do you want me to come over on Sunday?”

“Around four o’clock.”

“Lovely. I’ll bring the cake over tomorrow, and I’ll be there in my glad rags on Sunday. Thanks, Jill. You’ve made my day.”

***

Jules was behind her desk when I walked into the office, but I might as well have been invisible for all the notice she took of me. She seemed to be in a world of her own.

“Jules? Are you okay?”

She snapped out of it. “Oh, sorry, Jill. I didn’t see you come in. I was miles away.”

“Yeah. I could see that. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine. It’s just that a few minutes ago, before you came in, we had a visitor. One of the guys from the new place next door, you know—the gym—”

“I-Sweat?”

“Yeah. I think he said his name was Brent.”

“I’ve already met him. He’s one of the owners. The other guy is called George. Big guys, aren’t they?”

“You’re not kidding! Have you seen the muscles on him? Even his muscles have got muscles.”

“Was he looking for me?”

“No. He just popped in to check what we did in here. He said that you’d told him you were a private investigator, but he seemed convinced we were a tanning salon.”

Maybe I should change that sign after all.

“He also said that they were looking for a pretty young receptionist for their new venture.”

“I hope you’re not getting ideas again, Jules?”

“No. Of course not.”

“Don’t forget what happened last time you jumped ship.”

“It’s all right, Jill. I’m here to stay this time. Besides which, I’m enjoying the knitting lessons from Mrs V, so I don’t want to leave.”

***

I’d asked Lacey Ball to come in and see me. She hadn’t been very happy about it, but I’d explained that once I’d taken on a case, I couldn’t drop it until the customer signed the ‘case closure’ form. She’d asked if I could post it to her, but I told her I had to witness her signature. All of that was of course complete nonsense. There was no such thing as a ‘case closure’ form. If someone wanted me to stop working on a case, all they had to do was stop paying me. The truth was, I wanted her to come to the office because I had a hunch, and I needed to test it out.

She arrived at eleven o’clock, as arranged. Jules showed her in, and offered her a drink, but Lacey seemed to be in a hurry, and declined.

“Do have a seat, Lacey.”

“I don’t know why I had to come in. I told you over the phone: I don’t want to pursue this any longer. It was all a mistake. I don’t know what I was thinking. I must have been dreaming or something. Mandy couldn’t have called me. I saw her buried three years ago.”

“If you can just sign this ‘case closure’ form, I’ll work out your final bill, and that’ll be the end of it.”

“Okay.”

I held out a sheet of paper and a pen. As she reached out to take them, I caught a glimpse of her hands. Yes! Just as I’d thought.

She was staring down at the paper. “There’s nothing on here. It’s a blank sheet of paper. I thought I had to sign a ‘case closure’ form?”

“Actually, that was a lie.”

“What?”

“Sorry. There’s no such thing as a ‘case closure’ form.”

“Why did you get me in here, then?”

“I thought it was time that you and I had a heart to heart,
Mandy
.”

She looked shocked, and sat back in the chair. “What did you just call me?”

“Mandy. That
is
your name, isn’t it?”

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

“Why did you kill Lacey?”

“What do you mean? You’re talking nonsense.”

“You’re not going to deny that you’re Mandy, are you?”

She said nothing for several moments.

“Let me help you,” I prompted. “My guess is that you and Joe fell in love. Is that right?”

She took a deep breath. “We didn’t plan for it to happen. We spent a lot of time in each other’s company, and just sort of fell for one another.”

“What was Lacey’s reaction?”

“She didn’t know anything about it for a long time. Joe and I saw one another behind her back, but we knew we couldn’t carry on like that forever. We decided that we had to tell her, and thought the kindest way to do it would be for both of us to talk to her together. We didn’t want to hurt her, but we couldn’t go on denying our love for one another. We knew she’d take it badly, but had no idea just
how
badly. She went hysterical. She flew into a rage, and started throwing things around the house. Then she stormed out, jumped into her car, and drove off at a ridiculous speed. I told Joe we had to follow her because I was afraid she’d hurt herself. We followed her in my car. It was night-time; there was nobody on the road. She was driving like a maniac. Then, when we got out into the countryside, she took a sharp bend way too fast, and the car left the road. The next thing I knew, there was a terrible impact. She’d hit a tree, and the car had burst into flames. We couldn’t do anything. It was horrible. We couldn’t get anywhere near it because of the heat.”

“Why didn’t you just call the police, and tell them what had happened?”

“I wanted to, but Joe said that it would all come out about us. People would blame us for Lacey’s death. I didn’t know what to do. I was in such a state. Joe said the best thing would be for us to pretend the person in the car was me. I could take over Lacey’s life. He said that because we were identical twins, the DNA would match. All I had to do was throw some of my jewellery into the car.”

“And since then, you’ve effectively lived your life as your sister?”

“Yes. We buried Lacey, and everyone thought it was me. Since then, Joe and I have lived together as man and wife.”

“So what changed? Why did you come to see me, and make up a story about a phone call from your sister?”

“Joe and I were very much in love at first, but over the last few months, he’s become more and more remote. Eventually, I found out why. He’s been seeing another woman, much younger than me. I confronted him about it, but he didn’t seem to care. He said he was going to leave me to go and live with her. I couldn’t bear the thought of being alone, or that Lacey had died for nothing. If I didn’t have Joe, then what was it all about?”

“I still don’t understand why you came to see me.”

“To scare Joe. I told him that if he left me, I’d tell the police what had happened, but he didn’t believe me. He said, ‘Go to the police if you like. You’ll get arrested.’ I knew he was right. The police wouldn’t have believed me, and even if they had, I would have ended up in prison anyway. I thought that if Joe could see a private investigator was on the case, maybe that would scare him.”

“I saw Joe talking to a young woman,” I said. “I spoke to her after he’d gone. She said that he’d finished with her, but she had no idea why. She was expecting him to leave you and go live with her.”

“He ended it because he knew it was the only way I’d tell you to drop the investigation. I still don’t know how you knew I wasn’t Lacey.”

“There were a number of things. Everyone I talked to said that Lacey was into fashion, and took a lot of care over her appearance.” I looked her up and down. “With respect, you don’t fit that bill.”

Mandy lowered her head. “I know. Lacey always dressed well.”

“Also, just now when you took the paper from me, I noticed your fingernails.”

Mandy glanced at them. “I’ve always bitten them. Lacey had beautiful nails. What’s going to happen to me now?”

“I have to call the police.”

“Must you? They’ll throw me in prison.”

“I have no choice. I don’t know what will happen to you, but if what you’ve told me about the crash is true, then even though you and Joe may have been the reason Lacey was driving recklessly, you didn’t kill her. You didn’t actually drive her off the road. You’ll definitely be charged with something—maybe perverting the course of justice.”

I called Leo Riley, who unsurprisingly wasn’t very pleased to hear from me. But when I explained the circumstances, he sent a couple of uniformed officers to collect Mandy. She was a broken woman, and the truth was, I actually felt sorry for her.

***

A little later, I got a phone call from Kathy.

“You okay, Jill? You sound a bit down.”

“Yeah, I’m okay. I’ve just closed a case, but it wasn’t a particularly happy outcome.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really. It’s fine.”

“Okay. Well, look—the reason I called—it’s about the housewarming. Pete wants to know whether you’d mind if he brought Jethro and Sebastian along with us? He mentioned the party to them, and they thought it might be fun.”

“Haven’t they got anything more exciting to do?”

“Apparently not.”

Wow! That was pretty darn sad.

“Okay. I suppose so.”

“Right. Well, we’ll see you on Sunday. We’re looking forward to it.”

“Yeah. Me too.” Not!

The house was going to be absolutely crammed. Still, having Sebastian and Jethro there could prove to be amusing when the twins spotted them.

When I got home, I was still reeling from the after-effects of the Lacey Ball affair. It was one of those times when I’d solved the case, but didn’t feel good about it.

The house was looking really good, but not for long. It would be wrecked after the stupid housewarming party. Unless—

I’d just had a brilliant idea.

I had a little time before Jack came home, so I got together all of my furniture and shrank it. I then shrank some of Jack’s furniture. It was then a trivial matter to swap the furniture before restoring it to full size. I put Jack’s furniture in the living room and dining room, and mine out of harm’s way in the spare bedroom. If anything was spilled now, it would be on Jack’s horrible furniture, and not mine. After the housewarming was over, I could swap it back again.

I’d just finished when Jack came through the door. He looked rather confused.

“What’s going on?”

“What do you mean?”

“When I went out this morning your furniture was in here, but now it’s all mine.”

“Oh that? Well, you did say that you wanted some of yours out, so I thought it only fair.”

Chapter 21

The
big
day had arrived—the day of the housewarming party. This was all Jack’s fault; him and his bright ideas. How was I ever going to get through the day? I hadn’t been lying when I’d told Mrs Rollo that the catering was already in hand. As soon as I’d mentioned the party to Aunt Lucy, she’d insisted that she wanted to make all of the food, and I’d been more than happy to let her do it. She, Lester and the twins were going to bring it over later, so that was one problem I didn’t have to worry about.

I felt a little happier about the house now that I’d hidden my furniture away. Snigger. Jack still hadn’t worked out what I was up to, but he’d soon realise when it was transformed back again after the party was over. He’d had to go into work while I’d spent most of the morning tidying and cleaning. How long it would remain that way was anyone’s guess. With the kids coming over, probably not long.

By four o’clock, the house was rammed full of people. They were in the living room, the dining room, the kitchen, and even in the hallway. I didn’t know half of them, but then several were former colleagues of Jack’s from Washbridge police station.

“Why did you let Mikey bring his drum?” I had collared Kathy.

“He wanted to show people how he’s progressed.”

“Don’t you think there’s enough noise in here without a drum?”

“That’s why I said he could bring it—because I knew it was already going to be noisy.”

I’d taken the kids upstairs to our bedroom. Although I was a little worried they might do some damage, it was better for them all to be together where they could play without being under our feet. I’d made sure they had plenty of cakes and pop. Even from downstairs, I could hear the thump, thump, thump of Mikey’s drum. I felt sorry for the other kids.

“What’s that?” Aunt Lucy said. She was standing next to the dining table, which was set out with all the food and nibbles that she’d prepared. She was looking at Mrs Rollo’s cake. The so called Victoria sponge looked as though it had been thrown against a wall. It was flat on one side, and the middle had sunk.

“Err—it’s a Victoria sponge,” I said.

“You made a brave effort, Jill.” Aunt Lucy gave me a sympathetic look. “It’s a pity you dropped it.”

“Actually,
I
made that,” Mrs Rollo said.

I hadn’t realised she was standing at the other end of the table. She was obviously very proud of her creation.

Aunt Lucy had a puzzled look on her face.

“Aunt Lucy, this is our neighbour, Mrs Rollo. She offered to do all the catering for us, but I told her that you already had it in hand. She insisted on making this Victoria sponge. It’s very nice, isn’t it?”

Aunt Lucy hesitated. “Err—it’s—err—a very unusual shape.”

“Delicious too.” Mrs Rollo beamed. “Would you like to try a piece?”

“Perhaps later,” Aunt Lucy said. “I think I can hear Lester calling me.” And off she scuttled.

“What about you, Jill? Would you like a piece?”

“Maybe later. I’ve just had a rather large cupcake. I suppose I’d better mingle, and check everyone is okay.”

Jules was sitting on a stool at the breakfast bar. Next to her was a young man who I realised must be Gilbert. His face was covered in spots, and he was in the process of squeezing the one on his nose. I approached them from the rear just to be safe.

“Hi, Jules.”

“Oh, hi, Jill. This party is really good. Thanks for inviting us. This is Gilbert.”

When he turned around to face me, he was still squeezing his spot.

“Hello, Gilbert.”

“Thank you for inviting me.”

“No problem. Help yourself to drinks and nibbles.” With that, I moved out of the line of fire.

Wow. Jules must really like that guy to stick with him.

“What on earth is going on, Jill?” Kathy said. She grabbed me by the arm, and frogmarched me into the hallway.

“What do you mean?”

“Who’s that woman who has Pete cornered in the living room?”

I looked through the open door. Megan Lovemore was standing in front of Peter, who was backed up against the wall. He looked terrified.

“That’s Megan.”

“Who on earth is Megan, and why is she monopolising my husband?”

“She’s our next door neighbour. Her husband died in tragic circumstances a few years ago.”

“That’s very sad, but she’ll be the one dying in tragic circumstances if she gets any closer to Pete.”

“It’s okay, Kathy. Megan wants to start her own gardening business, and I happened to mention that Peter—”

“I might have known you’d be behind this.”

“Hold on. I only said that Peter was a professional gardener, and might be able to give her some tips.”

“I’ll give her some tips if she gets any closer to my husband.”

With that, Kathy stormed off towards Peter and Megan.

“We’ve got a bone to pick with you.” Pearl tapped me on the shoulder.

“Yes, we have,” Amber said.

Oh boy! What now?

“What’s the matter, girls? Aren’t you enjoying the party?”

“The party is great,” Amber said. “And the food is lovely, but then Mum’s food is always lovely.”

“The Victoria sponge is a bit of a mess though,” Pearl said. “But never mind the food. Why didn’t you tell us?”

“You’re going to have to give me a bit more than that.”

“About Jethro?” Pearl said.

“And Sebastian,” Amber added.

“Oh yeah. Jethro and Sebastian. Didn’t I mention that they’d be here?”

“You know you didn’t,” Amber said. “How come they are?”

“They both work for Peter. He has his own gardening business now.”

“How long have they been working for him?”

“Jethro has been with him for just over a year. Sebastian has only recently joined him.”

“And you conveniently forgot to tell us?”

“Why would I tell you?”

“Because they’re the hottest guys in Candlefield, so we have a right to know.”

“Isn’t there something you’re forgetting?”

“What’s that?” Amber huffed.

“The small matter that you’re both married now.”

“That doesn’t stop us looking, does it? If you’d told us they were in Washbridge, we’d probably have come over sooner.”

“Well, you’re here now, but if you insist on ogling them, please don’t let Alan and William catch you.”

“We’ve never
ogled
anyone.” Amber looked put out.

“The very thought of it,” Pearl said.

I hadn’t seen much of Jack. He’d been with his buddies from Washbridge police station for most of the evening. Every time I’d walked past them, they’d been talking about bowling. It was amazing how boring men could be.

“How’s it going, petal?” Jack tapped me on the shoulder.

“Nice of you to find time for me. And don’t call me petal.”

“I’ve been circulating with our friends.”

“No, you haven’t. You’ve been stuck in that corner with your buddies talking about bowling for the last two hours.”

“You’re exaggerating again.”

“Anyway, everything seems to be going okay.”

“Yeah, I think so.” He glanced at the table. “What on earth is wrong with that sponge cake?”

“Mrs Rollo made it.”

“Can’t you throw it in the bin or something?”

“How can I? She’s hovering around the table, waiting for people to take a piece. I can hardly pick it up and dump it in the bin in front of her, can I?”

“I suppose not. I see Megan’s got Peter cornered.” Jack laughed.

“Yeah. Kathy just gave me a right ear bashing. She’s not impressed at all.”

“I don’t imagine she is.”

Just then, someone thumped on the front door.

“Who’s that?” Jack said.

“How should I know? I can’t see through wood. I thought everyone was here.”

“Maybe it’s the neighbours from down the road, come to complain about the noise.”

When I opened the door, there stood Norman Hosey.

“Hello, you two. I couldn’t help but notice you’re having some sort of party. Housewarming, is it?”

“Yeah.”

“I do love housewarming parties. My invitation must have gone astray. Anyway, I’m here now.” He walked straight past us, and made a beeline for the food and drink.

“I pity the poor soul who ends up standing next to him,” Jack said.

“Yeah. Maybe we should introduce him to Kathy.”

“You are horrible to your sister.” He laughed. “Anyway, I’m glad your birth family could make it. It’s nice to see them at long last. Your aunt Lucy is lovely, and the food she made is fantastic.”

“I’ll tell her you said that. She’ll be pleased.”

“And the twins, they’re very bubbly, aren’t they?”

“That’s one word for it. They’ve got their eyes on Peter’s employees.”

“Really? But aren’t the twins married?”

“Yeah. Even so, I think we’d better warn Jethro and Sebastian.”

After Jack had disappeared again, I bumped into Blake.

“Hi, Jill. Thanks for inviting us. This is Jen, my wife.”

Jen was petite and really pretty; she had a lovely smile.

“Nice to meet you, Jill,” she said. “We’re really pleased that you’ve moved in across the road from us. There aren’t many couples our age around here. Maybe the four of us could have dinner some time?”

“That would be nice. We’d love to.”

“And, maybe you and I could have a girls’ night out, or go shopping somewhere together? I used to live in London, but I moved up here to do a course. That’s when I met Blake. I don’t really have many friends up here.”

“That would be great. I’ll look forward to it.”

I carried on mingling. Jen seemed really nice, and I hoped we could become friends, but it might prove difficult. It was a strange position to be in. I knew more about her husband than she did. That could make our friendship very awkward.

I needed a breather, so I went upstairs to the back bedroom to get away from all the noise. When I tried to open the door, it seemed to catch on something. Or someone.

“Do you mind?” A voice came from inside.

“Grandma?”

“Stop bashing the door against my arm.”

I managed to squeeze inside. Grandma and Mrs V were sitting on two of my chairs. On the floor between them were two wine bottles. One of them was empty.

“What are you two doing in here? Didn’t Armi come with you, Mrs V?”

“He couldn’t make it. He had a prior engagement at the Cuckoo Clock Appreciation Society.”

“It’s far too noisy downstairs.” Grandma complained. “All that jibber-jabber. I can’t hear myself think. Annabel and I decided to come up here to get a bit of peace and quiet.”

“Isn’t the drum annoying you?”

“It was. Until I dealt with it.”

“You’ve helped yourselves to wine, I see.”

“Just a glass or two.” Grandma hiccupped. Mrs V’s eyes looked a little glazed.

“Are you okay, Mrs V?”

“Oh yes, Jill. I’m having a wonderful time. Your grandmother is great company. We always have fun when we’re out together.”

“I can remember the last time you two had a night out. I seem to remember boomerangs and boxer shorts were involved.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Grandma said. “I remember no such thing. Now, if you wouldn’t mind, Annabel and I were having an interesting conversation. Why don’t you go downstairs and attend to your guests?”

“Okay. Just don’t overdo it with the wine.”

The party finally broke up at half past midnight. Most of the guests had ordered taxis, including Mrs V who was a little bit the worse for wear. The twins, Grandma, Aunt Lucy, and Lester all made out that they’d parked down the road, and set out on foot. I knew full well that as soon as they were out of sight, they’d magic themselves back to Candlefield.

When the house was finally empty, I took a look around. It was a scene of devastation. Fortunately, it didn’t look as though anyone had spilled anything on the carpets, but there were glasses, plates, and spent party poppers everywhere. The table was covered with leftovers. It was a dreadful mess.

“Let’s leave this until the morning,” Jack said.

“Are you kidding? I can’t wake up to this mess.”

“But I just want to go to bed. I’m tired.”

“Drunk more like.”

“I am
not
drunk.”

“How much did you have to drink?”

“I don’t know. Not much.”

“You go up. I’ll be up in a little while.”