“Where have you been hiding? A little bird told me that you have a beautiful young daughter.”
“I do. Her name’s Florence. She’s five now and she’s just started school.”
“Goodness me. How time flies. And why haven’t you brought her in to see me?”
“I will do. I promise. I’ve just been so busy.”
“Are you still running the PI agency?”
“Yes. Jack left the police force and he works from home now.”
“You seem to have things well organised. Why don’t you come through to my office, and we can catch up? Raymond, would you make us a cup of tea, please? If memory serves me right, Jill has one and two-thirds spoonfuls of sugar.”
“You have a remarkable memory, Hilary.” I laughed. “But actually I don’t take sugar at all now.”
At which news, Raymond looked quite relieved.
Over tea, we caught up on each other’s news, and then I moved onto the reason for my visit.
“So, Jill, you think this Romeo character is using a dating agency somewhere here in Washbridge?”
“I believe so. I realise Love Spell only handles witches who are looking for partners, but I thought you’d know if there was another agency in Washbridge that accepted wizards onto their books.”
“You’re a little behind the times. Since you were last here, we’ve expanded the business. We now find partners for both witches and wizards.”
“In that case, there must be a chance that this guy is on your books.”
“A very good chance, I’d say. We’re the only agency in the Washbridge area that deals with sups since Love Bites closed. I don’t suppose you know his real name, do you?”
“I’m afraid not, but I do have this.” I took the photo out of my handbag and passed it to her.
“I don’t recognise him, but then I mainly deal with witches. My partner, Christie, who you won’t have met, deals with the wizards. Unfortunately, she’s on holiday this week, but it’s just possible that Raymond may remember him. I’ll go and check.” She disappeared out of the door and came back a few minutes later. “You’re in luck. Raymond did recognise the guy and we’ve managed to pull up his file. It looks like he’s triggered our three-strikes policy.”
“What’s that?”
“We have to be careful not to encourage those who are just looking for one-night stands. We’re all about long-term relationships. If a client has three consecutive dates that turn out to be one-night stands, we insist they wait a month before we’ll set them up on another date.”
“Are you saying this guy is banned from having any more dates?”
“He has been, but his ban ends tomorrow. He’s obviously keen because according to Raymond, he’s already been in touch to ask about another date.”
“Has he really? That’s handy.”
“Sorry?”
“I have an idea that I’d like to run by you.”
Chapter 18
In advance of my visit to CASS, I’d called ahead and spoken to the headmistress. She had been kind enough to book a small study room in the library where I could meet with Maxine Pearldiver.
When I arrived at the library, the study room door was unlocked, but there was no sign of Maxine, so I took a seat and waited. A few minutes later, a young girl came bursting through the door. Maxine Pearldiver was the spitting image of her mother.
“It’s such an honour to meet you!” She gushed.
“It’s very nice to meet you too, Maxine.”
“I’m a massive fan of yours. I have your poster in my locker, and I’ve watched all the tournaments you’ve been in.”
“I’m flattered. Why don’t you take a seat and we can chat?”
“Okay.” She put her satchel on the desk. “Before we start, Mrs Maxwell, would you—”
“Please call me Jill.”
“Is that okay? Really?”
“Yes, I’m not on the teaching staff at the moment.”
“Okay, Jill. Before we start, do you think you could possibly sign something for me?”
“An autograph? Yes, of course.”
“Fantastic!” She opened her satchel, pulled out a pile of photographs, and slid them across the desk to me. There must have been at least fifty of them.
“You want me to sign all of these?”
“Yes, please. If you don’t mind. When the others heard I was going to be speaking to you, a lot of them asked if I’d get them an autograph.” She handed me a pen.
“O—kay. Why don’t we chat while I’m signing them?”
“Sure. Mum said that you wanted to talk to me about your little girl.”
“That’s right. Her name’s Florence. She’s five years old and has just started school in the human world.”
“Does she know she’s a witch?”
“Yes, she does.”
“That’s good. Did you know my mum didn’t tell me I was a witch until the invitation from CASS arrived?”
“Yes, she told me. In fact, that’s one of the things I wanted to talk to you about today. I wondered how you felt about that.”
“When I found out, I was really angry. I’m still a little angry, but I realise now that she was doing it with the best of intentions. But she definitely got it wrong. I should have been told from day one. When I eventually found out, it came as a massive shock. And, as if that wasn’t bad enough, I suddenly had to decide whether or not to attend CASS.”
“That can’t have been an easy decision for you.”
“It wasn’t, but I figured it was too good an opportunity to pass up.”
“How was it? When you started at CASS, I mean.”
“I found it very difficult at first because I was still trying to come to terms with the idea that I was a witch.”
“I imagine the fact that you hadn’t been taught any magic didn’t help?”
“That was the worst part. When I first got here, most of the other kids had spent
