Old-School Witch Page 10

  She put her knitting down and passed the photo album my way. I leafed through picture after picture of the two sisters, growing up together in Riddler’s Edge. In the photos, I could see the magic shining out of Marnie. So Norma’s sister was a witch. I wondered if Norma knew. Heck, I wondered if Marnie knew. There were many, many cases of witches who grew up among mortals, who had no idea of their power. Marnie’s looked fairly strong, though, so she would surely have noticed that she had magic.

  I was just thinking of how to get Norma alone, when she said, ‘Now, perhaps you two young men could step outside, while I have a private word with Miss Smith.’

  Bert shook his head. ‘I’m terribly sorry, Mrs Baxter, but this is a murder investigation. If you want us to find your sister’s killer then–’

  Dylan stood up and nodded to the young garda. ‘Come on, Bert. We’ll leave these ladies to it, and I’ll buy you a coffee.’

  ≈

  I could hear the hubbub of the customers in the shop, as I sat across from Norma, waiting for her to speak.

  ‘The thing is, Miss Smith,’ she said eventually. ‘Aisling … I know what you are. I know you’re like my sister, you see.’

  Criminy! ‘Oh?’ I kept my face impassive. ‘And what is it you think I am?’

  She smiled softly. ‘I think you’re a witch. A proper witch, mind you. Not like poor, deluded Margaret Burke and her two dead friends. You see, Marnie and me were absolutely identical – in all ways but one. When we were growing up, she’d often have little accidents. Balls of light would come from her finger. Things she wanted would suddenly float across the room. Once, a tin of chocolate biscuits smacked her in the head and knocked her out.’

  She laughed slightly, with a bittersweet smile. ‘Our parents had no idea what was wrong with her. They thought me and Marnie were making it up. Fanciful imaginations, they said we had. But then … then Marnie ran into Felim Moon. I think you might know him. He’s Mark Moon’s grandfather. He keeps himself to himself these days, but he and Marnie were great friends at one time.’

  ‘I know Felim,’ I admitted.

  ‘Well then, you might also know that Felim is what you call a wizard. And he could see Marnie for what she was. A witch. He went to my parents to offer his help, but … well, they threw him out on his ear so they did. In their eyes, he was a married man, bothering a young girl. And a madman at that, seeing as they didn’t believe a word that came out of his mouth. But Felim wasn’t interested in Marnie like that. He only wanted to help her. He managed to teach her a thing or two and, when she turned eighteen, he got her a job in America with some witch friends of his. She joined a coven in Connecticut and she’s been happy as a pig in muck ever since.’

  I stroked Princess Preciousbottom, enjoying the way the cat purred. She was almost as calming as Fuzz. ‘But … I’ve never met Marnie. To hear you say it, this was her first visit back home for decades. So who told you about me? Was it Felim?’

  Norma shook her head. ‘Not Felim. You might not have met Marnie, but she saw you. She wanted to know who in town was powerful, so she used a little magnifying glass sort of thing. She peeked out through the window when you came here to question me about my alibi. She said you were very powerful. And she didn’t think you were an evil doer, either.’

  A mischievous smile formed through Norma’s tears. ‘Although I always had an inkling something was different about you. You’re always in the middle of things, sorting things out and solving murders. There’s something about you. But despite all that, I wasn’t sure if I should tell you any of this until this little one piped up this morning.’ She reached across and patted the cat’s head.

  ‘Princess Preciousbottom? She spoke to you?’

  Norma nodded happily. ‘She said I should tell you everything. She said I could trust you. Of course I’ve not been able to get a word out of her since but … I think she’s right. I only wish she would’ve spoken up sooner, because poor Marnie didn’t know who we could trust. The only magical person she knew well was Felim Moon. She said things were too serious for her to trust anyone else until she spoke to him.’

  ‘And did she? Speak to Felim?’

  The smile fell from Norma’s face. ‘Moonstone Farm was the first place we went when Marnie got back, but Felim was nowhere to be found. I’d already been up there looking for him before Marnie came. Mark said he was on holiday, but Marnie didn’t believe that. And I can’t say I blamed her. With all that’s going on with the school, I sincerely doubt he’s chosen now to swan off on his jollies, do you?’

  I wasn’t sure what part of that to question first. ‘Wait … what did your sister and Felim have to do with the school? And what does this have to do with the murders?’

  Norma took in a deep, rattling breath. ‘You see, when I told you I only vaguely remembered the school, that wasn’t the full truth of things. I mean, I was being honest when I said I don’t properly remember it, but the difference is … I know exactly why I don’t remember. I don’t remember because I’m not supposed to. No one is. Something happened there, years ago. My sister couldn’t go into the details, but it was bad.’

  ‘The fire?’

  ‘I think so, yes. There was something magical about the fire, according to Marnie. It was part of some dark magic. My sister and Felim stopped it, and they sealed something – or someone – in when they did. They wiped everyone’s memories of the fire, and of the school, and they left me with one memory about the whole thing. They made me remember that the second anyone started asking about the school, I was to get in touch with Felim, and he’d sort things out. If I couldn’t find Felim, then Marnie was my next contact. So when I told her he was away, she clicked her fingers and came over.’

  ‘Clicked her fingers … so … that was why you lied about the plane. You never knew about Marnie’s flight being delayed because you were never at the airport. She didn’t need to take a plane.’

  ‘Exactly. I wish I could travel like she does. I’d save a lot on air fare. Anyway, before she got here, I was busy doing my best to stop Ben and the Historical Society from going ahead.’

  My eyes widened, and she shook her head. ‘Oh, not like that. I didn’t kill Ben – even though he did insult my knitting. But I did have a word with him. I convinced him that we ought to wait until Miss Eager’s colleagues came out to examine the school before we went in there and wrecked the place. And he had come around, I’m telling you. I can’t prove it, but when I spoke to him on the phone the night before I found his body, he was going to hold off with moving that stone. Because that was another part of it, see – I was supposed to make sure no one moved the stone.’

  At the mention of the stone, a shiver ran through me. ‘What do you know about the stone, Norma?’

  ‘Not much. Only that it was sealing something in. And the ring I mentioned the day of Ben’s murder – the stupid-looking thing that Ben had been wearing – that had something to do with it all, too. But unfortunately I didn’t know about that until it was too late.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  Norma looked troubled. ‘Well, I told you Ben had been wearing a great big ugly ring for a while – and that was true. But it wasn’t until Marnie got back and I mentioned the ring to her that she told me there was no way Ben should have been wearing it. She said … she said the ring had been hidden by Felim. It was an important part of the spell to seal in whatever was up at the school.’

  ‘So you lied about Ben finding it in the mysterious box of bric-a-brac?’

  ‘I had to lie. Because it was important that it be found, according to Marnie, so she wanted me to bring it to Detective Quinn’s and your attention. Even without Felim, she knew if she had that ring she could put things right. But if she couldn’t get her hands on it herself, then she thought you lot finding it would be a whole lot better than the killer getting to use it.’

  She let out a shuddering breath. ‘Aisling, I’m as confused about all this as you are, believe me. My sister told me what she c
ould, but she said I’d be in danger if I knew too much. When I found poor Ben murdered, the first thing I did was search him for the ring. That was what the killer wanted. Well, that and a Moon to move the stone. That was another part of the spell – only Felim or his bloodline could move the stone from sealing the school. We hoped they didn’t have Felim, but we em … we slashed Mark’s tyres and emptied his diesel tank just to be sure he couldn’t move it.’ Norma gave me a guilty grimace. ‘I know. It was a terrible thing to do. But Aisling … Mark didn’t even mention it. His tyres were fine, he had a full tank of fuel, and I couldn’t stop him moving that bloody stone.’

  I nodded. ‘I remember now. When you rode in Dylan’s car you kept looking back at his tractor. You were surprised it was running, because you thought you’d made sure it wouldn’t.’

  ‘And we did make sure,’ she insisted. ‘So how come there wasn’t a thing wrong with it? Mark would have mentioned if he’d found his tyres slashed, because you know he treats that tractor like a baby. So who fixed it? That’s what me and Marnie couldn’t figure out. It had to be the murderer, we thought. While we were sabotaging Mark’s tractor, they were watching us. They had to be.’

  I couldn’t fault her logic. Someone killed Ben, stole the ring, and then made sure Mark, as a member of the Moon family, would be able to move the stone. But how did Ben have the ring if Felim had been hiding the thing all these years? And more importantly, where was Felim now? ‘And since then … did either of you hear from Felim?’

  ‘Not a sausage,’ she replied. ‘Marnie did all sorts of funny business to try and find him – tracking spells or whatever you’d call them – but she said it was like he disappeared off the face of the earth.’

  ‘Huh. That doesn’t sound too good, does it? But Norma, why was Marnie in the hall this morning? With your knitting basket and needles?’

  She blew her nose before replying. ‘Because there was going to be a Historical Society meeting, and Marnie was pretending to be me. No one remembered Marnie, just like no one remembered the school. That was part of the spell, you see. A failsafe. If Felim was compromised, then Marnie would be able to put things right – but she couldn’t do that without the ring. So, seeing as no one remembered I had an identical twin, she figured she’d take advantage of that and go in my place to see what she could find out.’

  I sat back, feeling more confused than ever. Had the killer murdered Marnie knowing she had helped perform the original spell to seal this something in, or had they murdered her because they believed she was Norma, and had merely been trying to frame her?

  ‘I knew it, you know,’ Norma continued. ‘The second my sister was killed, I knew. I might be an old woman now, but that sort of bond never breaks.’

  I wanted to comfort her, but more than that I needed to track down Felim Moon – and the murderer, obviously. ‘I’m so sorry for your loss,’ I said, setting the cat aside so I could stand up and give Norma a brief hug. ‘We will get to the bottom of this. We’ll find out who murdered Marnie. In the meantime, though, do you think you could keep all of this to yourself? I could have someone meddle with your memories to make you forget what you know but … I don’t think I need to. Do I?’

  She gave me a bittersweet smile. ‘From looking at Marnie and Felim, I can only imagine it’s an awful lonely world, to have magic but not be able to tell anyone about it. I’ll keep your secret, Aisling. And I’ll be here to talk to, if ever you’re in need of a friend.’

  Before I left the room, I kissed her forehead. I would have loved to tell her that she had it wrong. For me, the only lonely times were before I came to Riddler’s Edge.

  15. Chicken Curry for Konstantin

  As Dylan, Greg and I walked through the turnip fields, we saw Mark Moon’s tractor in the distance. I gave him a wave, and a moment later he drove towards us.

  ‘I was just about to start ploughing a field for some new crops,’ he said, hopping down with a smile.

  ‘New crops?’ asked Greg. ‘Like … a new kind of turnip?’

  He moved closer to us. ‘Not turnips, no,’ he whispered. ‘Keep this out of the papers for now, but I’m thinking of trying out some maize.’

  I’d love to be able to tell you that no one in Riddler’s Edge would have been interested in this, but if I did write an article about Moonstone Farm planting maize alongside its turnips, the copies would fly off the shelves.

  ‘You can’t be serious,’ I said. ‘I mean … this is a turnip farm. You’re famous for them.’ I looked at the field he was ploughing. ‘And isn’t that the field where you have the Turnip Maze every Halloween?’

  Mark grinned excitedly. ‘It is, and the turnip maze is amazing. But can you imagine if we had a Maize Maze? That’d be even wilder, wouldn’t it? It’d be a-maize-ing.’ He laughed. ‘You’d have to see that written down for the joke to make sense, but trust me, it’s funny.’

  ‘I’m sure,’ said Dylan. ‘Although I’m not sure what your grandfather would think of all of this. Isn’t he a bit attached to his turnips?’

  Mark’s smile fell. ‘Well, you know … I’ll tell him about it when he gets back. He’ll come around.’

  ‘Actually, Mark,’ I said. ‘That’s why we’re here. We heard your grandfather is on holiday. Do you know how we could get in touch with him?’

  Mark scratched his head. ‘I don’t even know how to get in touch with him. I don’t even know how long he’ll be gone.’

  ‘And that doesn’t worry you?’ I asked.

  A look of confusion fell over his face. ‘I … well … I mean … it should, I suppose.’

  ‘Yeah, it really should.’ Unless someone had meddled with his mind so that he wouldn’t be bothered. ‘When did he tell you he was going?’

  With that look of confusion still upon him, he took out his phone and replayed a message from Felim.

  ‘Mark, my boy, I have to be away for a few days. But promise me that on no condition, whatsoever, will you help the Historical Society to move that stone.’

  Dylan looked sharply at him. ‘But you did help them move the stone, Mark. Why in Hecate’s name would you have done something that Felim specifically warned you against?’

  Mark hung his head. ‘I don’t know who Hecate is, but you’re right. I shouldn’t have done it. I just … I felt like I had to. I can’t explain it. Even though I knew my granddad would be angry, I just couldn’t help myself.’

  Criminy! Whilst it was possible that Mark was going through a late-onset rebellious phase, it was a whole lot more likely that the poor eejit had been compelled. And yes, there were all sorts of supernaturals who could find ways to influence an innocent farmer’s mind, but in this case I was inclined to think of the most obvious suspects. Vampires were at work here, and not nice, sweet vampires like Jared and Pru. So who did that leave? It was definitely time to get in touch with our grumpy former receptionist and her stupidly named husband.

  ‘The morning you moved the stone,’ I pressed. ‘Was your tractor all right? Tyres sound? Full diesel tank?’

  ‘Of course,’ said Mark. ‘Why wouldn’t my tank be full?’ His eyes widened in horror. ‘You didn’t hear anyone say they were going to slash my tyres, did you? Because those things are expensive.’

  ‘No, no, not at all,’ I lied. ‘Listen,’ I said, changing the subject, ‘we didn’t get very good photos of it up at the old school the other day. We were hoping to add one or two more pictures so that people could get a good look at the tractor that moved the stone.’

  His face lit up. ‘Really? They’d be interested in photos of my tractor? Yeah, yeah, go ahead.’

  Greg didn’t need telling twice. He snapped away, changing filters as he worked, surreptitiously working with his scanner, too. To be honest, he could have taken the thing out and waved it around and I doubt Mark would have asked any questions.

  Still, as we finished up and bade him goodbye, I couldn’t help but worry for Mark. Felim had protected him his whole life long. According to Felim, the werew
olves in the Moon family went wilder than most when they turned. If the old wizard couldn’t be found, what would that mean for the suppression spells he’d performed on Mark?

  ≈

  Greg went back to the office to run his photos, while Dylan and I headed for Konstantin and Viviana’s house. ‘I still can’t get used to their dumb new names,’ I said to Dylan as he turned the car onto Forest Road in Riddler’s Cove. The area was almost exclusively lived in by vampires. Rich vampires, by the looks of things. Even the newest mansions had an old-fashioned architecture, most of them built with stone. ‘Rita and Roger becoming Viviana and Konstantin. You said he’d voiced his support for Vlad’s Boys too. Is that the kind of thing those psychos do? Change their names to sound more vampy?’

  ‘It’s definitely the kind of thing they do,’ he replied with a grunt. ‘They like to have the kinds of names that the vampires had back in the old days. It always worries me when people hark back to the “good old days.” Because where vampires are concerned, those were the days when they did what they liked – and ate who they liked – and sod the consequences. But I’m looking forward to what Rita has to say about her stint at the Daily Riddler, I’ll tell you that much.’

  ‘Me too. I almost wish Grace were with us – her withering stare could make anyone tell the truth. Y’know, I’m convinced vamps are involved in this, but … there was no telekinetic activity at Marnie’s murder scene. Marnie’s magic was the only thing we found.’

  ‘That doesn’t mean much,’ he informed me. ‘Vampires are incredibly strong, physically. They don’t need to use their telekinesis if they want to kill someone.’ He narrowed his eyes and pointed to a sign on the road ahead.