“We often go there for Sunday lunch; the food is very good. How do you like your new house?”
“We absolutely adore it.”
“My mum has always said she wished she could live here. She told me that you’re a private investigator.”
“That’s right. I am.”
“That must be really exciting.”
“It has its moments.” I checked my watch. “We’d better get going. You’ve got our numbers if you need us, haven’t you?”
“Yeah, they’re in my phone.”
“Okay then, we’ll see you later.”
“Sarah seems really nice,” Jack said, as we walked through the village to the pub.
“She’s lovely. I just hope that Florence doesn’t decide to play her up. You know what that little madam can be like. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was listening at the bedroom door and shouted to Sarah as soon as we’d left.”
The pub was very quiet; there couldn’t have been more than a dozen people in there altogether. The middle-aged man behind the bar had a round, ruddy face.
“Good evening. Aren’t you the newbies who moved into the old watermill?”
“We are. I’m Jill and this is Jack.”
“Jack and Jill? You two were clearly made for one another. I’m Arthur Spraggs. What can I get for you to drink?”
“I’ll have a medium white wine, please.”
“And you, Jack?”
“A glass of your best beer, please.”
“White wine and a beer coming up. Will you be eating with us tonight?”
“We most certainly will.”
“In that case, why don’t you grab a table, and I’ll bring your drinks over. You’ll find menus on the table.”
Ten minutes later, Arthur had brought over the drinks and taken our food order.
“I hear you intentionally put yourself in harm’s way today.” Jack frowned.
“Who told you?”
“I called one of my old mates at the station, to find out what had happened. He said you walked straight up to the gunman.”
“Someone had to do something. The man was clearly deranged, and he’d threatened to start shooting people.”
“You should have let the police deal with it.”
“By the time they’d got through the door, he could have killed half a dozen people. Anyway, I had magic on my side, so I wasn’t really at risk.”
“What did you do exactly?”
“I cast the ‘sleep’ spell on him, and he dozed off and dropped the gun.”
“How on Earth did you explain that away to the police?”
“I said that he must have passed out.”
“And they believed you?”
“Why wouldn’t they? They were hardly going to suspect me of using magic, were they?”
“You scare me sometimes, Jill.”
“There’s really no need to worry. You should know that by now. What else did your friend tell you about the robbery?”
“Apparently, two men had robbed the bank. The police arrived just as they left the building. One man made a run for the coffee shop, and the other guy got away with the money.”
“I only saw the one guy.”
“Apparently, they have one of them on CCTV in the bank and leaving the building.”
“Only one?”
“Yeah. Your guy. The gunman in the coffee shop.”
“What about the other man? How come he wasn’t caught on CCTV?”
“I’ve no idea. He seems to have disappeared into thin air. With all the money.”
“I assume the police are still looking for him?”
“Yeah, in Washbridge and the surrounding area, but so far no luck. What about Kathy? Was she okay?”
“Yeah, she’s fine. That reminds me, is there something you forgot to tell me?”
“I don’t think so.”
“About the ski lodge?”
“Ski—? Oh, right, you mean the play.”
“The play you signed us up to see without consulting with me.”
“It might be good.”
“And you’re basing that on what, exactly? Have you ever seen a good amdram production?”
“Well, I—err—”
“I rest my case.”
Arthur appeared at the table with our food. “There you go, Jill, chicken and chips for you. And scampi and chips for you, Jack. Enjoy.”
“This looks nice,” Jack said.
“Mmm, it does. I’m ready for this. I’m starving.”
“That thing Florence said earlier was a bit worrying, wasn’t it?” Jack popped a chip into his mouth.
“About the girl at school who ripped her skirt?”
“Yeah. Florence obviously thought about using magic to repair it.”
“But she didn’t, and that’s what matters. She remembered what we’d told her about having to keep magic a secret.”
“This time, yeah, but who knows what will happen next time?”
“There’s no point in worrying about it, Jack. We’ll just have to cross that bridge if and when we come to it.”
“All of this is your grandmother’s fault.”
“We’re not going over that old ground again, are we?”
“But it’s true, Jill. You know it is. You and I had decided not to tell Florence that she was a witch until she was older.”
“I know what we’d agreed. You don’t need to remind me.”
“But then, along comes your grandmother, and without a word to you, she unilaterally decides to tell Florence she’s a witch. And, as if that wasn’t bad enough, she starts to teach her spells.”
“You’re telling me this as though I don’t already know. I’m well aware of what she did. If you recall, she and I fell out over it, and we didn’t speak for a couple of months. But what’s done is done, and we can’t put the clock back. We just have to deal with it, and make sure that Florence keeps her magic under wraps. Now, can we please just enjoy this evening? It’s ages since the two of us went out alone.”
“Sorry. You’re right.” He leaned over and gave me a scampi-kiss.
We’d just finished our meal when a man, wearing a flat cap and a sports jacket, came over to our table. For reasons I didn’t understand at the time, Jack suddenly started to act nervously.
“Hello
