The Case of the Haunted House Read online

  ‘But he’s a member of a club who used to hunt werewolves. And goblins and weredogs too, by the looks of some of the dodgy décor at that house. You’re actually saying love could change a guy like that?’

  Cullen finished his apple and lobbed the core into a nearby bin. ‘Look, he’s a member of the Montrose coven. Hunting down werewolves and flashing the cash … that’s how everyone in that coven is. I mean, heck, one of his cousins even wound up in Witchfield for hunting. Well, for a lot more than hunting, actually … but I guess what I’m saying is that just because he comes from a bad family, that doesn’t make him a bad man. I mean, we don’t have to follow in our relatives’ footsteps, do we Katy? At least, I hope you won’t.’

  I met his eyes. ‘Is that your problem with me, then? That I’m a hunter?’

  He blinked. ‘Problem? I don’t have a problem with you.’

  ‘Yes. You do. All of your smartarse comments. Constantly teasing me. Can’t you just be … normal?’

  He reddened slightly, then looked away. ‘I’m just … that’s just how I am. And you know what they say. The best relationships are highly dysfunctional.’

  ‘No one says that.’

  ‘Well they should. Look, if it really bothers you then I’ll stop being myself and attempt to be a less charming, more boring man. Anyway, let’s move the conversation along, shall we? I don’t want to be stuck in this larder with you any longer than I have to.’

  ‘See?’ I said triumphantly. ‘Yet another smartarse comment from Cullen Keats.’

  He held his hands up. ‘All right. Point taken. So … Larson Grand. Well, he seems to be a habitual thief, it’s true. He stole money from his mother once, and he loves that woman more than anything. When we were in prison, he even stole a sausage off the plate of a member of the Berry coven. I mean … that was just asking for trouble. And he knew it too, only he just couldn’t help himself. He was unempowered, and bitter about it. I think stealing things gave him a sense of power.’

  ‘So why do you think Jim McGinty would have hired someone like that?’

  Cullen looked thoughtful. ‘From the few times I met Jim, I got the impression that he was one of those “hands clean” bad guys, you know? Like … he liked having people like Larson around to do his dirty work, so he could pretend to have had no involvement. Jim sold insurance, and he did not like to pay out on claims. Once or twice people who had received their claim money had a mysterious break-in shortly afterwards, where whatever Jim had to pay them got stolen all over again.’

  ‘And you think he sent Larson to do that?’

  Cullen shrugged. ‘Seems likely.’

  ‘Right.’ I folded my arms. ‘I’m going to head over to Larson’s place with Hamish as soon as we’ve had lunch. So thanks for the info – it’s good to have an idea of what we’re dealing with.’

  I turned to leave the larder, and he put a hand to my arm. ‘Thanks for the info? Katy, if you’re questioning a man like Larson Grand, then I’m going along with you.’

  I glared down at his hand, and he hastily removed it. ‘Cullen, you can’t come with me. I mean, how could we explain it? Questioning people with Hamish makes sense, seeing as he and I work together. Questioning people with you is like announcing to the world that we’re undercover agents. Anyway, you said Larson is unempowered.’

  He gritted his teeth. ‘You don’t need to have magic to be dangerous, Katy. Hamish is a lovely guy, but what’s he going to do if Larson gets violent? Yap at his heels? Look, I’ll come under an invisibility spell if I have to, but I’m coming.’

  ‘You are not.’

  ‘I am so.’

  ‘Are not. You might be able to cloak your body, but I seriously doubt you’ll be able to make your sarcastic mouth shut the heck up.’

  He let out a grunt. ‘You’re driving me crazy, Katy, do you know that?’

  I was just about to reply, when I heard a soft chuckle. We both jumped apart, staring at Derek. He’d managed to make his way into the kitchen and over to the larder without either of us noticing. Great agents, weren’t we?

  ‘So Katy’s driving you crazy, is she?’ said Derek with another chuckle. ‘Well, that’s the way love is. Enjoy the passionate phase while it lasts, kids.’

  I swallowed. I should be relieved that he’d only heard the last part of our conversation, but instead I was feeling mortified. He thought Cullen and I were a couple?

  ‘I’m not …’ I began. ‘We’re not …’ I continued with equal eloquence.

  Derek grinned and waved a hand. ‘Oh, it’s all right, Katy. I know why you’re embarrassed, but you don’t need to worry about it. I promise that I won’t tell your friends you’re dating a warlock.’ He winked at me. ‘I’m well aware that even if they don’t like to admit it, a lot of women find warlocks irresistible.’

  I bit back my instinctive cry of indignation. I’d been in the supernatural world long enough to know that warlock was just another word for misogynist, and I was not the kind of girl who liked to be bullied by her boyfriend.

  ‘Sure,’ I said through gritted teeth. ‘I just can’t help myself. I’m so embarrassed about it, but I secretly like a guy who takes charge.’

  With that comment, I scarpered from the kitchen. Unfortunately, Cullen followed. ‘Katy, you’re not going without me. I want you–’

  He cut off, as we ran into a round, short man. The guy was about sixty, wearing an expensive-looking suit, and his hair was a little too dark to be natural. He laughed softly. ‘Well, well, well … do I see yet another sensible man who’s about to abandon the Warlock Society?’

  Cullen fixed a smile on his face. ‘Katy, this is Denton Montrose. Denton, this is my girlfriend, Katy. But … we’re in the early days, so I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell the other guys in the club that we’re together. Or … well, anyone, really.’

  So this was Denton Montrose. I couldn’t imagine him swatting a fly, let alone killing a werewolf. Then again, when you had magic, you hardly needed muscles.

  The older man gave me a kind smile. ‘Don’t you worry about it, Katy. I’ve gotten to know Cullen quite well, and I have a feeling that he’ll be following in my footsteps very soon, and leaving the Warlock Society. Especially if he’s got a lovely young lass like you waiting for him.’

  Cullen frowned. ‘You’re serious about this, aren’t you? You’re really leaving the society?’

  ‘Most definitely.’ Denton stood proudly. ‘That’s why I was looking for you – you’re the secretary, so I’d like you to cross me off the members’ list.’

  I looked inquisitively at Cullen. He’d worked his way up to being the club secretary? Maybe he was a better agent than he looked. Either that, or he was such a typical warlock that he managed to fit in well with the rest of the woman-haters.

  ‘Yes,’ Denton continued. ‘All it took was the love of a good woman to make me see the error of my ways. Of many of my ways. I’ve disbanded the Lodge, as well. The others aren’t happy about it, but I don’t care. I only joined because everyone else in my coven was a member. We had our last ever meeting last night, and as far as I’m concerned, good riddance to the lot of them.’

  He smiled my way. ‘Now, let’s see. You have delightful curly hair, you’re cute as a button, and Cullen called you Katy. That would make you Katy Kramer, PI, I believe. In which case, you’re just the woman I wanted to see.’

  ‘I thought you said you wanted to see me,’ Cullen pointed out.

  Denton patted Cullen’s shoulder in a fatherly manner. ‘I did, my boy, and now I have. It’s just lucky that Katy was sneaking around with you when I found you, isn’t it? I was going to head to her PI agency after I saw you, so it saves me a trip.’ He turned back to me. ‘Now, Katy, what I have to tell you is very important. I’ve not told the Wayfarers yet – Debbie would prefer we deal with this on our own, you see. But I’m almost positive Larson was behind poor Sophie’s death.’

  Him and just about everyone else I’d talked to today. ‘Oh? And why is that?’

  ‘Because I saw him running away from Debbie’s house this morning, just before ten. And he had a rather large bag with him.’ He pointed to his wristwatch. ‘I’ve done the sums, Katy. When I saw Larson, it was mere moments after poor Sophie was killed.’

  7. Aim Low

  Larson’s flat was on Desperation Row, an area to the north of the Hanging Green. I thought I’d seen the worst that the Samhain Street enclave had to offer, but I was wrong. Even though we were only a five-minute stroll from the upmarket houses on Hunting Hill, it was like being in another world.

  There were boarded-up windows, graffiti on every available surface, and bins that probably hadn’t been emptied in a decade. As I tripped over a loose paving slab, Hamish pointed to a building just ahead. On the ground floor, there was a shop called Aim Low. Below the shop’s name, its motto was spelled out: Our brooms might not be new, but they’re not completely useless.

  ‘Larson lives above that shop,’ said Hamish. ‘And don’t let the sign fool you – there are some real finds in that place. All the shops on Desperation Row have their hidden gems, if you look for long enough.’

  Seeing as the broom in the window of Aim Low looked as though it had been repaired with sticky tape, I’d have to take his word for that one.

  As I spied Todge exiting through the door of the shop, a box in his hands, I did my best to look surprised. Finn had already messaged Cullen and me to let us know that Todge would be there. Speaking of Cullen, he was in the area, too. He was on his flying bike, with the vehicle in cloak mode. The funny thing was, even though I couldn’t see him or hear him, I was nevertheless irritated by his presence.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ asked Hamish, marching towards Todge.

  The shop owner – whose bandaged arm was yet another reason why I’d never buy a broom from him – was just behind Todge. Before the Wayfarer could reply, the shop owner said, ‘Messing up my mate’s flat, that’s what he’s doing.’

  I looked curiously at the man. He was lanky, with a shaven head, and was furiously chewing on some gum. He had a jumpiness about him, like he was ready to bolt at all times.

  Todge wiped his forehead and stepped towards me. ‘Well, you seemed overly obsessed about Sophie’s supposedly missing necklace, so we came to question Larson about it.’

  ‘It wasn’t “supposedly missing”,’ I said. ‘It was missing. So? What did Larson have to say for himself?’

  Todge plucked a jam sandwich from the box (nothing like keeping evidence uncontaminated, eh?), and took a large bite. It wasn’t until he’d chewed and swallowed that he replied. ‘That, Miss Kramer, is none of your beeswax.’ With those mature and official words, he clicked his fingers and disappeared.

  No matter what Finn had told me, I was having trouble believing Todge was just acting dumb. Either way, I needed to speak with Larson.

  Just as I was about to ask the shop owner if we could go up to Larson’s flat, he sidled closer to Hamish and said, ‘Something important to tell you, mate.’

  ‘This is Sol,’ said Hamish. ‘Sol, this is Katy. She’s the PI I was telling you about. You can talk in front of her. She’s cool. She hates the Wayfarers as much as we do.’

  ‘Ah.’ Sol nodded approvingly. ‘That’s a sensible attitude to take, Katy. We don’t like the law around here.’

  ‘So I’ve heard.’ I did my best not to scream. When I met someone who did like the law in this enclave, then I’d be surprised. ‘What was it you had to tell Hamish?’

  Sol’s eyes glinted, and he said, ‘You’ll never guess what I’ve got in, Hamish. What’s your Whiz Bang Blast been missing lately?’

  Hamish let out an excitable breath, and his tail banged against the floor. ‘You haven’t!’

  ‘I have.’

  I felt my patience waning. ‘Um … I don’t know what a Whiz Bang Blast is, or what new accessory Hamish might need, but … we really need to see Larson, Sol.’

  The shop owner looked confused. ‘Larson … Larson … oh! Larson! Yeah, I meant to tell you about him an’ all.’ He lowered his voice. ‘Are you working on finding out who killed that old sod Jim, and that nice young girl, Sophie?’

  Hamish nodded. ‘We are. On the down low, obviously. Someone needs to take care of the crime around here.’

  ‘That they do,’ said Sol, blowing a large bubble with his gum before sucking it back in. ‘Someone who can tell the proper crime from the look-the-other-way crime. Like you. That’s why I’m telling you something I didn’t tell that jam-munching idiot. He came in looking for Larson, so he did. And he didn’t find him. I knew he wouldn’t, mind you, because what I didn’t tell him was that Larson came back here ages ago. Would have been about ten, maybe, or a little bit after. Came back with a big bag that jangled and clanked, looking like he’d done something really bad. He ran upstairs, grabbed his goldfish, and high-tailed it out of here. And em …’ Sol cleared his throat. ‘He happens to be in possession of a wizard broom that’s fast as lightning. One I hadn’t properly finished refurbing, so there’s no way to trace it, either. He’ll be a difficult man to find. Well … unless he crashes the broom, which is highly likely, given the state of the thing.’

  My pulse began to race. Sol’s version of events matched with Denton’s. It was looking all the more likely that Larson was Sophie’s killer.

  ‘Do you have any idea where he might have gone?’ I asked. ‘Does he have family or friends?’

  He shook his head. ‘I’m his only friend, these days. He’s burned all his other bridges through his thieving ways, so he has. Even his mother washed her hands of him a long time ago. If he’s hiding out, then he’s doing it alone. But I tell you what – if he killed Jim McGinty, fair enough. The man deserved it. But Sophie?’ Sol spat his gum to the ground, his face contorted with rage. ‘I would have snapped that broom over his head if I knew why he needed it. And if he did kill that young girl, then there’s a lot who’ll be trying to get their hands on him before the Wayfarers do. And if they do find him first, then he won’t be alive when the Wayfarers arrive.’

  8. The Other Door

  With no bright ideas on how to find Larson, and an afternoon’s worth of clients left to deal with, we had no choice but to return to the office.

  You’d think that when you’ve spent the morning working on a murder investigation, that the rest of the cases couldn’t be as bad. But actually, the rest of the day was painful enough to make me understand the urge to kill.

  One woman freely admitted that she regularly cheated on her husband, and yet she was somehow annoyed to find that he had cheated on her, too.

  ‘You obviously suspected something,’ said Hamish with a frown. ‘Or why else did you ask us to spy on him?’

  She gave a haughty shake of her head. ‘I asked you to spy on him to make sure he wasn’t spying on me. I mean, I wouldn’t want him to catch me, would I?’ She shook her head again. ‘The nerve of the man! The gall! How dare he cheat on me?’

  The remainder of the afternoon’s appointments went much the same. When we broke the bad news to the owner of the Rusty Warlock, he stabbed a photo of his girlfriend and her lover (using a knife he just happened to have on him), and then marched right out.

  Hamish blew out some air. ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if certain members of the Sobriety Society turn to drink tonight. Listen, the last appointment has cancelled, so I thought I might head back over to Aim Low. There’s something there I need to buy before Sol closes up.’

  I had some things to do myself before meeting Angelica, so I was about to say yes, when suddenly there was a knock at the door. I pulled it open, but there was nobody there.

  A second later, there was another knock.

  Hamish hopped down from his chair. ‘I don’t think it’s coming from the Scary Door,’ he said, pointing to a shelf. It was one of the few shelves we hadn’t yet moved away from the wall. ‘I think it’s coming from behind there.’

  ‘There can’t be another door we don’t know about,’ I said. ‘Another door, hidden behind another shelf? That’s just …’

  ‘Pretty typical for a day on Samhain Street, I’d say.’ Hamish’s buckle shone as he drew some magic. This time, his spell didn’t involve a twirl of his paw. Instead, his whole body spun around as he nodded at the shelf and said, ‘Move!’

  Instantly, the shelf slid across the door, revealing a second back entrance. It looked exactly the same as the Scary Door, even down to the glass panel at the top.

  Sure, Hamish was right – the revelation of yet another mysterious door was pretty typical for a day on Samhain Street. But I wasn’t a typical resident of Samhain Street. I hadn’t been part of the supernatural world long enough to feel jaded. To me, this was a gasp-worthy event. Not only did I gasp, but I also goggled, gulped, and shook my head in awe. This might be the hundredth rabbit hole I’d journeyed down since my arrival on Samhain Street, but it was still a freakin’ rabbit hole.

  With a shaking hand, I pulled it open. And when I did, it wasn’t Strange Lane I was looking out at. Instead, I found myself staring at a new and unfamiliar landscape. There was no lovely café across the road, and no teeming flower baskets. No trickling fountains or singing residents. Across the road from this door, there was a brick wall, and a skip filled with black plastic bags.

  There was also a woman – a perfectly normal-looking woman, it must be said – standing on the other side of the door. She had short grey hair, wore a nice sensible trouser suit, and carried an expensive-looking handbag on her shoulder.

  There was one oddity about her, though – and it came in the form of the mirror she held in her hand. It was large, with a silver frame, carved with moons in every phase. There was no magical light shining from the mirror, nor anything else to suggest it might be supernatural. And yet there was something about it, something that caused a tingle to run down my spine.