Witch Is Why Time Stood Still (A Witch P.I. Mystery Book 13) Read Free

Washbridge.”
    “I haven’t seen anything about that on the news.”
    “It’s had precious little coverage.” I laughed. “Precious? Jewellery? Get it?”
    Kathy rolled her eyes. My comedic talents were wasted here.
    “The weird thing is that the jewellery just disappeared.”
    “What do you mean? Jewellery can’t just disappear.”
    “It did. One minute the shop owner was showing a customer a display of jewellery, and then ‘poof’, the jewellery had vanished.”
    “Are you sure the owner hadn’t been drinking?”
    “It’s happened to this particular shop three times, and it’s happened to several other shops. It’s a real mystery.”
    “Why did they contact you?”
    “Why do you think? Because I’m Washbridge’s foremost private investigator, of course.”
    “And the cheapest.”
    “Who are you calling cheap? I’m not cheap; I’m competitive .”
    Kathy made us both a cup of tea.
    “Any custard creams?” I said, more in hope than expectation.
    “Yes. And no.”
    “What does that mean?”
    “They didn’t have the brand you like, so I had to buy the—err—competitive ones.”
    “You can’t expect me to eat those cheap imitations.”
    “They’re all I’ve got. Take them or leave them.”
    “Go on, then.”
    The sacrifices I had to make.
    “How’s Jack settling into his new job?”
    “He’s not over fond of the commute, but he says the people are okay, and they seem to be better organised than in Washbridge. It’s not like anyone forced him to transfer over there.”
    “Come on, Jill. What choice did he have? How could he stay here when you and he are living together, and you get involved with at least half of the cases he’s working on?”
    “It’s not as though I ever got in his way or caused him any problems.”
    “You were always stepping on his toes. He did the right thing. At least this way, he can focus on his work without having to worry that you’re going to embarrass him at any moment.”
    “I’ve never embarrassed him.”
    “Okay, if you say so. Anyway, what about Jack’s successor here in Washbridge? Have you met him yet?”
    “No. It’s only a month since Jack transferred. Since then, a couple of people have stood in for him. According to Jack, his permanent replacement starts next Monday.”
    “What’s he like, do you know?”
    “Jack doesn’t know anything about him apart from his name: Lee O’Reilly. Jack left him a note specifically about me—explaining who I am, and my relationship with Jack. He’s asked him to cut me a bit of slack, so hopefully that will mean things are a bit easier with this new guy than they were with Jack when he first arrived. What about you? How are things at Ever?”
    “Busy. Really busy. Ever since Best Wool closed down, things have been crazy. All the people who’d taken out subscriptions for Never-ending Wool are now swapping to Everlasting Wool. And, never one to miss a trick, your grandmother has offered a twenty percent discount to all those who can show that they had a subscription for Never-ending Wool.”
    “Miles Best was such a fool. He really had me convinced that he’d changed.”
    “He had everyone fooled. Even your grandmother for a while.”
    “Yeah, but she soon shut him down when he tried to double-cross her. He came crawling to me again, you know. He had the audacity to ask me to have another word with Grandma. I told him to sling his hook. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice? I don’t think so. What’s happened to his shop, anyway?”
    “It’s all boarded up now. That’s probably the last we’ll see of Miles Best.”
    Little did Kathy know that Miles and his girlfriend, Mindy, were still plying their trade in Candlefield. Their cake shop and tea room, Best Cakes, was located directly opposite the twins’ shop, Cuppy C. For a while, he’d pretended to turn over a new leaf, and had been ultra-friendly towards Grandma, the twins and me. But it hadn’t taken long for him to reveal his