Storytime with Rachel F Hundred

Iolaire Bay, Scotland

Eddie hurried down the cobbled street, hunching his shoulders against the light snowfall that drifted down from the grey sky.  He was grateful for his new heavy parka, a surprise Christmas gift from his Nan, and the sturdy hiking boots he wore.  They were made for the wintry weather which had hit Scotland in the first week of the University’s return from the Christmas holidays.

The Teapot was in sight and Eddie gave a sigh of relief as he crossed the remaining distance and entered the café.  As a member of staff, he wondered at the closed sign as he entered.  The café usually opened a good hour before Eddie’s own shift.

He swept the black beanie hat he wore off his head, scrabbling a hand through his shaggy blond hair hoping to make it somewhat presentable.

Mavis Anderson, the owner, greeted him with a warm smile.  A sturdy small woman who always wore sensible black shoes and thick tights, Mavis reminded Eddie of his Nan.  Her tartan tweed skirt and pale grey jumper were covered by an old-fashioned blue pinafore, branded with the The Teapot logo, and with a deep pocket in the front.  The side fastenings of fabric were tied into pristine bows.  Her tightly permed grey hair was covered by a hairnet and a catering hat in a Trilby style.

“Edward, I didn’t expect to see you today with the weather,” Mavis said, crisply.  There was a soft Scots burr to her accent that warmed Eddie every time he heard it.

“You’re a good lad coming in anyway,” Allie said, bustling out of the kitchen which was her domain. 

Mavis’ niece shared many of the same facial features as her aunt.  She had the same brown eyes, same wide lips, and a slightly oversized nose for the heart-shaped face.  But where Mavis was small and sturdy, Allie was tall and thin, and where Mavis was as non-magical as a human could be, Allie’s entire being brimmed with magic.

As a fellow magic user, Eddie has sensed Allie’s magic the moment they’d met when Eddie had interviewed for the general dogsbody position in the previous November.  Allie had simply smiled in recognition, and they had never mentioned it since.

Under her own old-fashioned loosely tied The Teapot pinafore, Allie’s outfit was as eclectic as ever.  The bright orange shirt, in some kind of velvety fabric, clashed horribly with the green woollen pants.  She had her long hair in Princess Leia style buns on either side of her head.  Purple socks and orange Crocs completed the look.

Eddie was just pleased that Allie’s sense of style had nothing to do with her cooking skills.  She was a tremendous cook and baker.  He loved the food at the café and had ever since he’d been introduced to it.  Unfortunately, the Fourth-Year student who had brought him, Amir Bakshi, had grown distant after what Eddie’s friend Oz had coined ‘the Great Ghost incident.’ 

Eddie and his group of friends had been pivotal in uncovering the truth that Lindsey Dawson’s death a few years before had been a murder and that it had been her boyfriend at the time, Eliot Tatton, who had killed her.  Eddie had become curious about Dawson’s death after Eileen Kilkenny, the Senior Student of their Residential Hall, had been the target for a couple of vicious pranks which hinted that Eileen knew the truth.  Those pranks had been the work of an untrained psychic, Kelly Hargreaves, a former friend of Lindsey’s who had performed a dangerous reading.  Since Amir had been friends with Lindsey, Kelly and Tatton, Eddie figured that he had been badly shaken by the revelations.

Eddie saw Amir occasionally in the Hall they both resided in, or at the track since Eddie had joined the running club, but Amir had not approached him since their last conversation in the café and Eddie was wary about approaching Amir himself.  He really had no idea what he might say to him.  It was all very awkward.  Weirdly, Amir had never come into the café during one of Eddie’s shifts, although he was certain that the older student did still frequent the place.

Allie patted Eddie’s arm as she passed.  “I don’t think we’ll need you today, laddie.”  Her brown eyes darted to the window and the softly falling snow.  “Only the lost are going to make their way out in this.  We were just debating closing up completely.”

Mavis nodded.  “We’ll pack you up a breakfast and you’ll make your way back to Iolaire Hall before it gets worse.”

Eddie gave a sigh and nodded, regretfully waving goodbye to the pay he might have gotten that day.  He’d spent a bit more over the holidays than he’d hoped, and he’d been eager to start adding back to his savings.  He checked the clock.  “You don’t need to worry about breakfast, Miss Mavis, I should still make the Hall sitting.”

“Nonsense,” Mavis sniffed. 

“You came all this way to do your shift, the least we owe you is a breakfast, lad,” Allie confirmed.  Her gaze narrowed on him.  “I’ll make you a breakfast sandwich.”  She left before Eddie could argue.

Mavis pointed at the front booth.  “Sit there, Allie will sort you out.  I’ll get you some tea while you wait.”

Mavis was determined to convert him from a coffee enthusiast into a tea drinker.  If Eddie didn’t know better, he’d think she was conspiring with his Nan.

He’d barely sat in the booth when Allie’s calico cat, Patches, jumped up in the opposite seat.  The cat’s yellow-amber eyes stared at him for a long moment before she gave a twitch of an ear, curled up and went to sleep.

Eddie figured Patches was Allie’s familiar.  Familiars were rare even for magicals, but Eddie sensed the bond.

“I see she’s sneaked downstairs again,” Mavis tutted, setting out the small teapot, sugar bowl and milk jug on the table with a clean cup and saucer.  “If I’ve told Allie once to keep the door shut between the café and the stairs up to the flat, I’ve told her a million times.” 

She didn’t shoo the cat away though as she usually did.  She headed back into the kitchen leaving Eddie alone with the sleeping feline.

Eddie sighed.  He picked up the spoon, fumbled with the small teapot lid until he found the right position to release it, and stirred the teabag into the steaming hot water.  He replaced the lid and poured the tea, dousing it with a splash of milk, and adding the smallest sugar lump he could find.  He stirred until he couldn’t hear the rattle of the lump against the side of the cup.

The tea stared up at him mockingly.

He took a deep breath, picked it up, and sipped it.

The tea was warming, although he’d never admit that to Mavis or his Nan.  He’d still have preferred the bitter roast of a good coffee, he told himself consolingly as he pulled out his phone to check his messages.

It was no surprise to find Jemima’s at the top of the message chain of the friendship WhatsUp group chat.  He was certain that the first friend he’d made at University was metaphysically attached to her phone in some way.  He frowned as he read that the talk in the Hall dining room was the fear that the snow as going to cut off the town, apparently it did that for a few days every year.  Jemima’s message ended with a plea for him to pick up some food supplies on his way back. 

He messaged back asking what everyone wanted, absently recognising the sound of sizzling bacon in the background.

His stomach rumbled eagerly.

A movement across the street caught his attention and he let his gaze drift to the window, grateful for the excuse to distract himself from his hunger. 

He grimaced at his reflection for a moment, his blue-green eyes gazing back at him from an overly flushed face, before his focus adjusted and he stared past the glass to the outside.

The second-hand bookstore across from the café was closed, but two students had taken shelter under the awning.  He recognised one from the running club thanks to the distinctive bright red and black Ralph Lauren coat he wore.  He and Montelroy had joined on the same day, and that was where their similarity ended.

Giles Montelroy was the grandson of media mogul, Simon Montelroy.  Everything he wore was designer, new, and expensive.  His attitude was one of privileged entitlement.  He’d ignored Eddie’s existence as soon as he’d registered Eddie’s lack of wealth and Cumbrian accent.  He’d left the running club back in October, but Eddie had seen him around town accompanied by members of the rugby and golfing clubs.

Eddie did not recognise the other student with Montelroy.  He lifted his phone and used the camera function to zoom in.

Like Montelroy, they were wrapped up well against the elements, but unlike him they wore a non-distinctive black parka.  The hood covered their head, and a black scarf obscured their lower face.  He assumed they were male from their body language with Montelroy.  It was all very ‘hey bro, well met.’ 

He watched as the unknown student pulled out a large brown envelope and handed it to Montelroy.  Without thinking about it, Eddie rapidly snapped a few pictures.

Montelroy peeked inside, drawing out what looked like pages briefly before shuffling them back into the envelope.  He reached into his own parka pocket and withdrew a smaller envelope, handing it over.

Eddie felt his heart pound a little faster as he took another set of pictures.

The other guy accepted it, briefly looked inside, and nodded. 

They exchanged a fist-bump and walked away, heading in opposite directions. 

At least it wasn’t a drug deal he’d witnessed, Eddie mused as he reviewed the pictures.  He figured it was academic cheating.  The first envelope was the right size for a printed essay, and he assumed there was payment in the second.

He sipped his tea and grimaced darkly at the sugary taste. 

He really should report what he had seen, Eddie thought unhappily.  He despised cheating, but he really could not remember Montelroy’s degree speciality and, after the whole kerfuffle following his involvement with Tatton’s arrest and murder charge, Eddie wasn’t really interested in sticking his neck out again.  Maybe he’d talk it over with his friends and see what they said.

A flash of blue in the corner of his eye had Eddie turning back to the window to watch as a black Range Rover pulled up in front of the café.  It had a bright green rental sign stuck to the windshield. 

He frowned.

A woman clambered out from the driver’s seat.  She wore a flimsy blue raincoat, thin and without insulation.  He could see her shiver from where he sat.  She hurried into the café.

As soon as she was through the door, Eddie was struck by her beauty.   

She reminded him of pictures of Marilyn Monroe with her platinum blonde hair and bright red lipstick in an artistically made-up face.  Her thin cream sweater, slim jeans, and blue leather fashion boots all gave away how unsuitably she was dressed for the weather.  She vaguely reminded him of someone, but he couldn’t pin down who.  Maybe someone on one of his Nan’s shows.

“Serena?!” Allie’s exclamation drew Eddie’s attention to the cook.  Allie looked shocked to see the other woman. 

“Hello, Allie.”

The cut-glass English accent wouldn’t have been out of place in a period drama, Eddie considered.  He resolutely turned his attention back to his phone, trying to hide that he was eavesdropping on the unfolding drama.

“What are you doing here?” asked Allie.  She’d lowered her voice a touch, but Eddie could still hear her.

“I need your help,” Serena said without preamble.

“You need my help?” Allie practically hisses the words.

Patches blinked her eyes open across the booth from Eddie.

“You were the one that told me to get out and never contact you again!” Allie continued furiously. 

Maybe they’d had a failed love affair, Eddie mused.

Patches stared judgementally at Eddie as though she’d guessed his thoughts and disapproved.

“This isn’t for me!” Serena shot back.  “This is for Rebecca.”

There was a moment of shocked stillness that seemed to engulf the entire café.  Eddie felt like he couldn’t move.

“You really have some nerve, coming here after almost four years and…”

“Ray’s a bastard, alright?  You were right and it’s over.  We need help!” Serena retorted.  “You owe us that!”

“I owe you that?!” Allie squeaked.

“You should take this conversation up to the flat, Allie,” Mavis said evenly.

Eddie risked a look and found Mavis side by side with Allie faced off with Serena across the serving counter at the back of the café.  Mavis stared contemptuously at Serena.  He quickly looked at his phone again.

“Mavis, it’s nice to see you again,” Serena began in a pretence of politeness.

Mavis harrumphed. 

“Come through and we’ll go to the flat,” Allie said, a note of defeat in their tone. 

Eddie listened as their footsteps walked away.  He briefly glanced up from his phone and confirmed he was alone.

Patches stretched and leaped down from the booth, padding away across the floor until she disappeared into the back.

Eddie wondered if he should leave.  He doubted that Allie would have time to finish his breakfast sandwich given the drama distraction of her old friend showing up.  Hesitating, he decided to wait a few more minutes before he headed off.

He checked his messages again.

Hayley, sensible as only a grounded Scottish lass could be, had suggested getting basics – bread, milk, cheese, and beans. They were items which could all easily be stored in the Hall kitchen.      

Oz, who was the least sensible of them all, had suggested an array of snacks staring with crisps, meandering through a list of chocolate bars, and ending with a plea for gummy bears.

Jemima had liked Hayley’s message and responded to Oz’s with a reminder that she was on a diet as her New Year’s resolution, something Eddie felt was a knee-jerk reaction to her split from her former boyfriend, Brad, which had been made permanent over the holidays. 

Oz had messaged back that he was not on a diet.

Eddie grinned at the back and forth.

He’d been really lucky to make friends with three great people.  The whole Ghost Incident had only brought them closer together.

His phone pinged with an incoming text.

His nerves spiked as he registered the contact: Professor Merewen Gables. 

He’d agreed to train with the Professor after Eddie had taken part at her invitation in the spiritual cleansing which had sent Lindsey Dawson’s ghost to rest.  He still didn’t understand why the Professor had offered to mentor him.  His magic level was known as journeyman – not quite the lowest of the low in terms of ranking, but certainly well below that of the powerful Professor who was a registered Enchantress.

Eddie wasn’t going to turn down the chance to learn though.  His magical training had been minimal since the State school he had attended had only a few gifted students.  They’d learned the basics of control and not much else.  Frustratingly, control was all he’d covered with the Professor in the few lessons they’d managed before Christmas. 

He wasn’t surprised that the text message was an apology and a reschedule of their lesson that day due to the weather and Gables being stuck out of town due to a train cancellation. He wrestled down his disappointment.  He sent a text message back confirming he was available for the rescheduled lesson.  He looked desolately at the semi-warm tea he’d barely touched and decided it was time to leave.

He had barely taken a step out of the booth when Mavis appeared with a brown takeaway bag.

“Sorry about the delay, Edward,” Mavis said, looking weary.  “We didn’t expect company to show up.”

“Is everything alright?” asked Eddie, feeling a touch awkward.

“Och, well, she’s always trouble, that one,” Mavis said, grimacing “but she’ll be gone soon enough and she’s nothing for you to worry about.”  She handed him the brown bag.  “I finished up your breakfast sandwich and added in a couple of muffins.  Allie baked some fresh this morning before we realised the snow was coming in fast.”

“Thank you, Miss Mavis,” Eddie said, taking the brown bag with a grateful smile. 

“Forecast says the snow will last a few days yet, so we’ll see you on Saturday for your shift as usual then,” Mavis said.  “I’ll give you a call if we need you earlier than that.”

Eddie nodded, even as he internally winced at the loss of potential earnings.  He offered a goodbye to Mavis and hurried out into the snow. 

He almost barrelled into a man stomping down the cobbled street, just managing to sidestep him.

“Watch it!”

The snarled London accent caught Eddie’s attention, and he raised his head to find an angry red face of a stocky tall man with thick grey hair and a full bushy beard.  The man had fully stopped, and he’d even turned back and raised a fist in his direction.

Eddie was glad of the few steps of distance that he’d put between them.  He waved a gloved hand, muttered an apology, and continued on his way.

Something made him look back as he reached the corner, and he grimaced as he saw the man stomping away at the other end of the street. 

Eddie hoped he wasn’t a regular at the café.  He didn’t want to serve someone who got angry at a near miss on a pavement in a snow blizzard.  He continued walking.  The snow was coming down in a furious flurry and he had shopping to do before he could get back to Hall and eat his breakfast.

o-O-o

Eddie had taken the route back to the Hall that had one of the bigger supermarkets.  He’d swiftly rounded up Hayley’s supply suggestions, and added a couple of big sharing bags of crisps and a small bag of gummy bears for Oz.  He had rounded everything off with the ingredients for his Nan’s vegetable curry. Hayley had been gifted a slow cooker for Christmas and he figured she wouldn’t mind him using it if he shared the results.  The final total at the self-service station had made him wince, but he knew the others would pay him back.

The walk back to the Hall felt like an effort with his packed backpack and a recyclable tote filled to the brim.  The wind had stepped up, snow blew into his face, and he had to watch his footing as slippery sections had formed in the packed snow.

He made for the closest entrance to Iolaire Hall rather than the back door he preferred to use. 

He stepped into the building and a rush of warmth smacked into his cold face.  He quickly closed the door behind him.

The elderly receptionist Mary called out a greeting which Eddie absently returned as he staggered through the entry with the shopping. 

He hurried along to the Old Wing and took the rickety lift rather than tackling the stairs.  He considered himself fortunate that he and his friends lived on the second floor as it groaned and lurched to a stop.  He immediately made for the small kitchen at the end of their corridor.

Once he’d dumped his backpack and the tote on the counter, he messaged the group with the news he was back and that he was in the kitchen.  He didn’t wait for their responses, instead he turned his attention to unpacking.

There were ten people sharing the kitchen and like any sharing situation, there were times when food went inexplicably missing despite being labelled, but being labelled was the first step. 

Eddie searched in his bag for the marker pen he had tucked away into one of the pockets.  He scrawled his name across the label on the milk before putting it away in the fridge.  He did the same with the cheese.

He set the crisps to the side, deciding to keep those in Jemima’s room.  They usually used her slightly larger room as their communal space for watching television and movies, or simply catching up on their days.

Oz jogged into the room.  He whooped at the sight of the crisps and made grabby hands at the bags.

Eddie snatched them out of his reach and tossed him the gummy bears instead.  For a second, he goggled at Oz’s almost summery plain white t-shirt and jeans outfit.  The t-shirt showed off Oz’s athletic physique and his dark chocolate complexion. 

“You can’t be warm in that,” Eddie said.  The Hall wasn’t well-heated by any stretch of the imagination.

“I’m Scottish,” Oz grinned at him, his wide smile lighting up his whole face, his dark brown eyes alight with glee.  “We don’t mind a bit of snow.”   

Eddie rolled his own eyes, but he couldn’t help smiling back.

“Gummy?” asked Oz as soon as he’d torn the bag open.

Eddie shook his head.  “I have a breakfast sandwich buried somewhere in my backpack.” He glanced at Oz as he put the bread on the shelf that the four of them had commandeered for themselves in the pantry cupboard.  “Where are the girls?”

“Jem’s room,” Oz confirmed, gesturing at him with a green bear.  “Jem’s doing Hayle’s nails.  They said to fetch you there.”  He set his sweets aside to help Eddie finish up the unpacking, shooting Eddie a gleeful look at the curry ingredients.

Eddie went to his own room to dump his bag and coat, leaving Oz outside of Jemima’s door, hovering in the corridor.  His stomach rumbled hungrily as he took out the takeaway bag.  He hurried back out.  

He and Oz were ushered into Jemima’s room and Eddie grimaced at the astringent smell of nail polish.

Hayley looked up from where she sat on the rug, her back against the bed.  She held up her hands, showing off the immaculate French manicure polish.  “What do you think?”

“Neat,” Eddie said. 

It suited her simple and natural style.  She’d cut her copper-red hair into a short elfin look over the holidays.  It accentuated her heart-shaped freckled face, drawing attention to her pale blue eyes.  She had a very down-to-earth prettiness.

Jemima’s mixed heritage made her a different kind of beauty.  Her dark brown hair was styled into a classic French braid, and her make-up was impeccably done emphasising her brown eyes and high cheekbones.  Her nails were painted a vibrant red reminding Eddie of Serena’s lipstick.

He was relieved to see both girls wore versions of his own outfit.  They each had a thick warm sweater and jeans combination that suited the cold weather.

He sat down across from Hayley, Oz sinking to sit in a similar cross-legged position next to him. 

Jemima sniffed as the waft of bacon emerged from the takeaway container from her position by the mini-coffee maker she kept in her room.  “I miss bacon.”

“You don’t need to diet so you could have bacon,” Hayley said firmly.  She pointed at the muffins that Eddie had set aside.  “Are you going to eat those?”

Eddie handed her over the blueberry one since it was vegan friendly.

Oz gazed at him hopefully.

“You’ve just had a bag of gummy bears!” Eddie pointed out with a laugh, licking bacon grease from his thumb.

Oz patted his stomach.  “I’m a growing lad!”  He snatched the remaining muffin as soon as Eddie gestured for him to take it.

“You’re a trash can!” Hayley teased in the way only old friends could.  She and Oz had known each other since they were babies.

Jemima shared an amused glance with Eddie as she handed him his coffee.  Its dark bitter taste was heavenly even as it burnt his tongue.

Eddie wasn’t surprised when Hayley cajoled Jemima into eating half of her muffin.  He finished the rest of the breakfast sandwich in a couple of bites.

“Sorry about your shift,” Oz said, his mouthful of muffin. 

“Mavis told me to come back on Saturday,” Eddie said.  “Forecast has it snowing all week.”

Jemima nodded.  “That’s why everyone was talking about us being cut off.”

“Professor Gable rescheduled too,” Eddie said.  “She said her train was cancelled.”

“Does she live outside of town?” asked Hayley, frowning.

Eddie nodded.  “She lives out by Loch Maundy.  She just comes in for classes.”

“A lot of the Professors don’t live in town,” Jemima said. “I know Doctor Lyndon lives out in East Gullyton.”

That was the next town down the coast, Eddie considered. 

Jemima had gotten a cherry red Ford Fiesta for her Christmas present and had promptly offered to drive them both back to Iolaire Bay for the new term since their homes were not too far from each other.  She had taken the coastal road to the University once they’d left the motorway and they had passed through East Gullyton.

“House prices are insane in Iolaire Bay,” Oz pointed out, brushing muffin crumbs off his shirt and onto the rug.

Jemima’s eyes narrowed on him.  Oz hastily gathered up the crumbs into the muffin paper case he’d discarded.

“At least you got a decent breakfast out of going,” Hayley said.  “There was porridge or porridge in the dining hall.”  Her disgusted tone said everything about how she felt about the porridge.

Oz made a face, rubbing a hand over his closely cropped black hair.  “It was like glue, Eds, I’m telling you.”

“It wasn’t great,” Jemima wrinkled her nose.

Eddie wiped his hand on the paper napkin Mavis had popped into the bag.  “By the way, does anyone know Giles Montelroy?”

Hayley immediately shook her head.

Jemima grimaced.  “Unfortunately, yes.”

“Me too,” Oz said, grimacing.  “He’s in my Intro to Economics class.  Why?”

He explained what he’d witnessed.  He opened his phone to pass round the photos he’d taken.

Jemima sighed heavily.  “Why am I not surprised he’s cheating?”  She handed the phone over to Oz.

Oz whistled.  “Wow, I knew he was a massive idiot, but that’s next level.”  He gave the phone to Hayley.

“What are you going to do?” asked Hayley, wincing at the photos.  She handed the phone back to him.

“I don’t know,” Eddie admitted, pushing a hand through his hair.  “I know I should report it, but I don’t really want any more attention after the whole thing last term.”  He shrugged.  “I don’t even know who to report it to and I have no idea who the other guy is.”

“I think the other guy is Derrick Connor,” Oz said, leaning back on his arms.  “He has a parka just like that.  He was top of the class last term, aced all the assignments.”

“Well, that makes sense of why Giles picked him to write his essays for him,” Jemima said sharply.

“How do you know him?” Hayley asked, turning to look at Jemima.

Jemima’s lips pressed together briefly.  “My mother dated Giles’s father briefly.  Simon was almost Step-Dad Number Two.”

“Yikes,” muttered Oz.

“Simon’s alright,” Jemima said, shrugging.  “I mean, he’s a shark about a story, but he’s pretty chilled outside of his media empire.”

“You hate Giles though,” Oz stated pointing at her.

“I hate Giles,” Jemima agreed grimly.  “He used to call me Duckface.”  She folded her arms over her chest.  “We were both twelve, so it wasn’t like he was particularly mature, but he was just such a…a bullying prat.”

“Wow, I’ve only ever heard you use that tone when you’ve talked about Queen Bitch Melanie,” Hayley noted, her Scottish accent sharpening her words.

Oz and Eddie both nodded in agreement.  It was deeply unfortunate that Jemima’s old school bully had decided to attend the same university.

Jemima rolled her eyes at them.  “Giles just made my life miserable for the entire month I spent with them all.”  She pulled a face.  “He’d demand all the attention.  It was supposed to be my time with my mother, you know?”

“Well, bright side,” Oz said, “you didn’t end up with him as a step-brother.”

Jemima let out a breath and nodded.  “Good point.”  She gazed at Oz sympathetically.  “Sorry you got stuck with him in class.”

“He’s in my tutorial group too,” Oz complained.  “I get the attention thing.  He just disrupts the class all the time and Mister Hardy is pretty crappy at controlling him.”

“I told you to complain,” Hayley poked him with her sock-covered foot.

Oz ducked his head and scratched his bicep.

Hayley looked over at Eddie.  “The University has an email address where you can report stuff like this anonymously.  You could send the photos in for them to investigate.”

“There’s an email address?” asked Jemima, surprised.

Hayley nodded.  “It was in the welcome pack they gave us at registration.  You can use it to report anything – bullying, harassment, unfair marking…”

Eddie wondered where he’d put the welcome pack.  He thought it might be stuffed in one of the drawers in his desk.  “Sounds like that might be the best bet.”

“I’m surprised Connor’s got involved in it,” Oz said, “he seems decent the couple of times I’ve talked with him.  He’s a bit of a loner though.”

“Maybe he needs the money,” Eddie offered.  “There’s not a lot of part-time jobs in town if you don’t enjoy bartending, cleaning, or waiting tables.”

“Good point,” Hayley said.  “I got that temporary holiday work in Yara’s in the Mall, but Stacy said they wouldn’t need anyone until Summer now.”

“Gilligan’s said they might need bar staff in a couple of weeks and to check back,” Oz said.  “But that likely means giving up weekend nights out partying.”

“How ever will you cope?” teased Hayley. 

Oz made to tickle her feet.  Hayley yelped hurriedly changing position to place her feet on the opposite side of her.  Jemima and Eddie smiled at their antics.

“I don’t suppose your place needs anyone else to help?” Oz asked Eddie.  “I’m good at washing dishes and I’ve worked as a barista in a coffee shop back home.”

“For a week!” Hayley pointed out dryly even as Eddie shook his head. 

“They didn’t even need me today.”  He sighed.  “Honestly, I got the impression before Christmas that Mavis didn’t think they needed to hire anyone else, and she was just humouring Allie.  She said they would call me if they needed me earlier than Saturday.”

Oz grimaced.  “Bad luck, mate.”

Eddie nodded.  “I think Allie had an ex-friend or girlfriend turn up that she needed to deal with too.”

“In this weather?” Jemima’s eyes widened.  “They must have been really desperate to speak to her.”

“I know I am not going anywhere,” Hayley agreed cheerfully.  “Doctor Forsythe’s made all the tutorials and lectures this week online.”

“Lucky you,” Oz said enviously, “some of us still need to trudge out.”

Eddie figured he should check his University email account and see what had been decided for his own courses.  His Practical Magic tutor Hamish Brown was a stout and proud Scotsman.  He couldn’t see him cancelling face to face sessions.  His Tech Magic tutor Doctor Peck was a stickler for lab time.  He had a feeling that he’d be trudging out with Oz.

He sighed. “By the way, I got ingredients for a vegetable curry for us all.  Am I alright to use your slow cooker, Hayley?”

“Sure,” Hayley said, grinning at him, “if you can teach me the recipe?  I need to learn to cook more stuff.”

Eddie nodded.  “Meet in the kitchen in an hour?”

Hayley nodded and clambered to her feet.  “I’d better go.  I have some reading to get through.  Thanks for my nails, Jem.”

Jemima waved away the thanks Eddie and Oz echoed as they all got up from the floor.

Eddie gathered up his rubbish and trooped back to his own room.  He guessed he’d make a start on his Practical Magic essay.

He sat down in front of his laptop and checked his email account first.  Sure enough, there was no communication from either tutor cancelling the sessions for the week.  Professor White, the Tech Magic Department Head, had moved the lectures online, and that was the only concession to the weather.

If he remembered rightly, White lived out of town too, Eddie mused thoughtfully. 

He shook himself a little and searched through his drawers to find the Fresher’s Welcome Pack that he’d been given.  He tried hard not to remember that it had been Eileen Kilkenny who’d handed it to him.  He leafed through and came across the information Hayley had remembered.

He tapped his finger against it, frowning. 

He sighed.  He uploaded the photos from his phone to his Cloud storage and put them in a folder which he then password protected.  He wouldn’t report Montelroy and Connor since as far as he knew it was a one-time event, Eddie determined, but he’d keep the evidence just in case he witnessed a second exchange.

He shoved the Fresher’s Pack back into the drawer, closed the photo folder and opened up the outline he’d created for his essay.  Since he wasn’t working at the café, it was time to get back to his studies.

o-O-o

Eddie placed the two plates down on the table, smiled politely at the chattering two girls who ignored his presence and hurried back to the counter to deal with the line of students wanting coffee.

The unpredictability of the British weather had struck again.  Instead of getting worse and cutting the town off, the snow had unexpectedly disappeared within a couple of days leaving behind piles of grey slush and icy pavements.

Mavis had called Eddie early that Thursday morning requesting his help because Allie was going away for a few days.  Eddie had gratefully taken the work but asked for an hour mid-morning to attend his Practical Magic lecture which was his only scheduled activity. 

He’d arrived back just in time for a massive lunch rush which was only beginning to die down.  He figured everyone had been eager to get back out into the fresh air after days of being cooped up indoors.

Eddie handed over a take-out cappuccino to another shivering student.  He turned back to the queue and found himself looking at Amir.  His nerves rocketed.  His stomach churned and his mouth dried at the sight of the older student.

Amir looked good.  His dark brown hair was swept back in its usual neat but trendy style and his brown complexion carried a healthy flush from the cold.  He was dressed warmly in a heavy grey woollen coat, with a blue and white University scarf wrapped around his neck and tucked in. 

“Eddie,” murmured Amir, his dark brown eyes flaring with recognition.

“Hey, Amir,” Eddie managed to reply.  He took a deep breath.  He and Amir had barely been friends, he reminded himself, ruthlessly. A few conversations did not a friendship make.   “What can I get you?”

Amir blinked.  “You work here?”

Eddie nodded.  “Would you like a drink?”

Amir seemed to shake his surprise off in a quick jerky nod of his head.  He pushed a hand through his hair.  “A large white coffee, and a toasted cheese sandwich to eat in, please.”

Eddie rang up the order and Amir pressed his card against the payment device.  Eddie checked everything had gone through and nodded at Amir.  “Take a seat and I’ll bring it over to you when it’s ready.”

“Thank you,” Amir said politely.

Eddie looked past him to the girl standing behind Amir.  “I’ll be with you in a moment.”  He turned away to start the coffee machine.  He mechanically went through the motions, setting the cup under the drip. 

He noted Amir had taken one of the tables by the window as he turned to serve the next customer.  Her take-out order of a hot chocolate was easy enough to make at the same time as Amir’s drink.

The bell rang in the serving hatch just as he handed her the drink. He picked up a lunch order of a burger and fries for a girl working feverishly on her laptop in the back booth along with Amir’s coffee.  He delivered the lunch and took the coffee over to Amir.

Amir’s coat lay on the seat next to him, revealing a warm green jumper.  He had his laptop open, and he pushed it to the side so Eddie could slide the cup onto the table.

“I’ll be back with your lunch in a moment,” Eddie said briskly, stepping back.

“Eddie…”

Eddie paused, raising his eyebrows in mute query at Amir.

Amir shifted on the bench; the wriggle of discomfort eased Eddie’s own.  “May I speak with you?”

Eddie frowned, glancing back to the counter where another couple had appeared.  “I’m working.”

“After your shift?” asked Amir insistently.

Eddie pressed his lips together.  “It could be a while; we’re short-staffed today.”

“I’ll wait,” Amir promised.

“Alright then,” Eddie said.  He went back to work undecided on whether he was pleased by the invite or not.

Another quick coffee take-out later and Mavis rang the bell to signal the toasted sandwich was ready.

Eddie delivered it briskly as a queue was forming again.  Another busy stream of orders took up the majority of Eddie’s attention, but he couldn’t quite lose his awareness of Amir’s presence.

He finally escaped back to the kitchen.

Mavis looked up from her phone, frowning.  “Is everything running smoothly out there, Edward?”

Eddie nodded.  “The queue has gone, and we’ve only got active four tables.”

Mavis glanced up at the clock.  “Why don’t you take a lunch break now, lad?  What would you like?”

Eddie smiled.  “A burger would be great.”  His mouth was already salivating at the thought. 

She gave him a quick smile and patted his arm. 

His eyes narrowed as he took in her distracted air and the way her eyes dropped back to her phone which she’d placed on the counter instead of in her pocket.  Mavis was doing a good impression of being as attached to it as Jen was to hers.

“Is everything alright, Mavis?” asked Eddie.

Mavis looked back at him, her eyes widening in surprise.

“I can’t help noticing you seem to be looking at your phone a lot,” Eddie explained, shuffling under her regard.

Mavis sighed.  She turned back to making his lunch.  “Just waiting on a call from Allie.  She usually calls me or texts me to let me know she’s fine when she’s away.”

“And she’s late,” Eddie surmised.

Mavis nodded absently.  “That Serena’s always been trouble.  I’d have stopped her from going if it hadn’t been about the little lass.”

Eddie hummed, remembering the ‘Rebecca’ who Serena had mentioned in the confrontation.  “I’m sure Allie’s fine.  Maybe her phone ran out of charge.”

“Ach,” Mavis waved a hand at him, “never mind my worries.  You’re right, I’m probably worrying over nothing.  Go and grab yourself a drink and a table – just mind the counter for traffic?  I’ll bring over your lunch.”

“Thanks, Mavis,” Eddie said. 

He headed out of the kitchen and made himself a large coffee.  He dithered about whether to see with Amir, but eventually walked over to his table.

“I’m on my lunch break. I thought maybe we could talk now rather than the end of my shift?” Eddie asked bluntly.  He hoped Amir would say whatever it was that he had to say and leave.

Amir hurriedly moved his laptop to the side. 

Eddie slid into the chair opposite.  He took a sip of his coffee.

“I just wanted to say sorry,” Amir said finally.  He reached for his own cup which Eddie had refilled just minutes before.  “I was really angry at how you talked with Eliot, more so because you’d gone digging into things after I had confided things in you.”

Eddie grimaced.  He’d rather expected the confirmation, but it didn’t mean that he was happy to have his own suspicions confirmed.  He also felt a little guilty because he had been curious and started digging instead of respecting Amir’s private confidences.

“I was planning to talk with you to clear the air, but then everything came out about how Eliot had murdered Lindsey, and you had been the one to find out because Kelly had been the one pranking Eileen…” Amir sighed heavily.  “It was a lot to process.”

Eddie nodded slowly.

“So, I, uh, apologise for getting snarky with you,” Amir said, spots of red on his cheeks.

Eddie squirmed a touch at the apology.  “I should apologise too,” he allowed.  “I did use our conversation to investigate things instead of leaving the whole thing alone.”

It was Amir’s turn to grimace.  “It was probably good that you didn’t.  Eliot may have gotten away with Lindsey’s murder.”

Eddie shook his head. “Kelly knew from her psychic reading of Lindsey’s death what had happened.  Tatton would have been caught anyway.”

“Unless Kelly went mad before she could actually accuse him,” Amir replied.  He looked away briefly to the window before his eyes returned to Eddie.  “You saved her life and sanity, you know.”

Eddie grimaced and hid by taking a gulp of coffee.  He was grateful when Mavis appeared with his burger. 

Her lips twitched at seeing him with Amir, but she thankfully did not say anything as she put the plate down in front of him.

“Thank you, Miss Mavis,” Eddie said, aware his face was likely bright red.

“I’m going to catch a bite in the kitchen, lad,” Mavis said.

“I’ll keep an eye on the counter,” Eddie said, grinning down at the heaped pile of fries she’d put on the plate.

Amir raised his eyebrows a touch as Eddie tucked into his food.  “How did you end up working here?”

“I needed some cash for Christmas and saw a notice that said they were hiring,” Eddie said succinctly.

Amir tilted his head thoughtfully.  “My father doesn’t believe in celebrating Christmas, so we don’t have that expense, although I usually buy my friends something.” He smiles.  “Father doesn’t approve exactly.”

“He sounds traditional,” Eddie said, surprised.

Amir nodded.  “He is.”

Eddie shoved the burger in his mouth to stop himself asking how Amir’s father had taken Amir’s very blatant bisexuality.

“He mentioned arranging me to a distant cousin who lives in France over the holidays,” Amir said, almost as though he’d read Eddie’s mind.  “I’m pretty sure thinks I’m just going through a phase and that I’ll ‘grow out of it.’”  He mimed quotation marks.

“My Nan’s the same,” Eddie sympathised.  “She’s great, but she doesn’t really understand why I prefer men.”

“Still not doing casual?” asked Amir.

Eddie looked up in surprise at the question.  The half-eaten burger dripped juice down his fingers, and he hurriedly put it down on the plate, reaching for the paper napkin. 

“Still not doing casual,” he confirmed.

Amir smiled.  “Well, you know where I am if you change your mind.”

Eddie blushed.  He focused on his food and ate some fries to save himself from having to say anything.  Amir’s blatant interest in him had always left him feeling flustered.

 “Speaking of casual,” Amir muttered.

Eddie looked up and saw Amir staring out of the window.

On the other side of the road, Montelroy was pacing back and forth in front of the bookstore.  He had his phone pressed up to his ear and his furious expression and wild gestures gave away his agitation.

“You and Montelroy?!” Eddie blurted out.  Perhaps, superficially, he could see that Montelroy was attractive with a good complexion, sharp cheekbones and pouty lips.  His expensively styled dark hair topped off the look.  But Eddie wondered how Amir could fancy him if he’d found Montelroy attractive; they really had no characteristics in common.

Amir smirked at him as he turned back.  “Freshers’ Week.”

“Sorry,” Eddie picked up what remained of his burger, “it’s none of my business.”  He wondered if someone could die of mortification.

“You did say curiosity was your flaw,” Amir teased gently.

Eddie flushed but kept chewing his burger.

Amir’s gaze darted back to his former conquest.  He sighed.  “Word is that he’s being investigated for academic cheating.”

Eddie almost choked on the last of his burger.  He coughed, spluttered, and reached for his coffee.  He drank a large gulp and regarded Amir with a frown.  “He’s being investigated?”

Amir nodded.  “Someone sent pictures to the Chancellor’s office.”

Eddie’s heart pounded in his chest.  He was certain nobody had access to his pictures.  But then who else had been around to take pictures?  He hadn’t seen anyone.  He frowned.  Serena’s arrival had been on the heels of Montelroy’s transaction with Connor, but he couldn’t believe she’d seen anything from her car.

“How do you know?” asked Eddie.  Oz was usually their Gossip King and he hadn’t said anything.

Amir shrugged and grinned.  “Can’t say.  I have to protect my sources.”

Eddie smiled at the quip.  He glanced back to Montelroy.  He was stomping away towards the gym. 

“I also heard a rumour that Professor Gables took you on as a student after you helped her with Lindsey’s spiritual cleansing?”

The question took Eddie by surprise, his head snapping back to Amir sharply.  Amir raised an eyebrow at him inquisitively.

Eddie nodded.  “She’s giving me some tuition.”  He picked up his napkin and wiped his fingers clean.

“It’s got people talking in her department,” Amir said.  “She rarely takes on an individual student.  She must think a lot of your talent.”

“I’m just a journeyman mage,” Eddie stated firmly.  He picked up his coffee.  “I think Professor Gables just wants to keep me out of trouble after everything with Kelly.”

Amir chuckled.  “I can see that.”  His eyes travelled over him in a way that made Eddie flustered again.  “You are trouble.”

Eddie took a gulp of coffee, draining the mug. 

The door opened and a group of friends tumbled through chattering away.

Eddie looked down at his empty plate and clambered to his feet.   “I’d best get back to work.”

Amir nodded, disappointment flickering across his handsome face.  “How about we meet for a run tomorrow morning?”

“The track is still closed, isn’t it?” Eddie said, pausing beside the table.

“Treadmills?” Amir suggested.  “We can meet at seven?”

Eddie nodded, stepping away as the group at the counter started to look around obviously for service.  “Six-thirty.”

“Done,” Amir said.

Eddie nodded.  He hurried away to the counter, dropping his empty plate and mug into the kitchen.  Eddie focused on taking the orders and payments from the group of four.  When they finally wandered away to find a booth, Eddie risked a look back to the table and found Amir was gone.

Eddie shook his head at his own antics.  He couldn’t deny he was flattered by Amir’s attention, but he figured he was just an anomaly to the older student – someone who hadn’t fallen into bed with him as soon as he’d asked.  And even if Eddie was prepared to admit he liked Amir, he still wasn’t going to give in and have a one-night stand.  He wasn’t suited to casual sex.  He wanted something more than that.

He sighed and turned back to the complicated drinks order.  His lunch break was definitely over.

o-O-o

Saturday at the café was always the busiest day. 

It had been non-stop since Eddie had arrived that morning.  Oz gave him a tired thumbs-up from his position behind the counter as Eddie finally flipped the lock on the door.  Outside the rain poured down in a grey sheet that washed the cobbles and the pavements into a silvery shiny wet.  Eddie figured it would erode away the last of the slush piles which was all that was left of the snow.

Mavis bustled in from the kitchen and gave a nod.  “Good job today, laddies.”

Oz beamed.  Eddie was just pleased that he’d been able to convince Mavis to give his friend a try-out the day before to cover the part of the day when Eddie was in classes.  The day would have been horrendous if it had only been himself and Mavis covering the café.

“Right,” Mavis said briskly, “how about a quick tea break with some of that left-over carrot cake before we tackle the cleaning?”

“Sounds ace, Mavis,” Oz said cheerily.  “I’ll get a brew on.”

“Coffee for me, Oz,” Eddie said quickly, knowing he’d end up with tea if he didn’t.

Mavis tutted at him.  “I’ll get the last of the dishes into the machine while you lads get the tea organised.”

Eddie smiled as she left.  “You OK to serve, Oz?  I’ll get started on cleaning down the tables.” 

Oz nodded.  “Suits me, Eds.”

Eddie gathered a cloth and spray cleaning bottle.  He’d already cleaned off most of the empty tables, but it didn’t take him long to give them a second going over.  He wiped off the chairs and lifted them to perch upside down on the table edges, out of the way for the later vacuum and mopping that was to come. 

Oz set out a pot of tea for two in one of the back booths.  Eddie saw him carry over three small plates with a slice of cake and finally Eddie’s own large mug of coffee.

Eddie paused in his cleaning and hurried to the booth.  He slid into the same side as Oz and grabbed a fork eagerly.  It seemed like an age since he’d eaten a quick sandwich for lunch in between serving customers.

Mavis sat on the bench on the other side of the table with a groan.  She looked exhausted.  Her pinafore was wrinkled, although miraculously unstained despite her day in the kitchen. 

Eddie’s canvas apron was in worse shape.  He’d had to help out in the back during the lunch rush and there was a streak of flour and a smear of tomato sauce decorating the front pocket.

Oz handed Mavis a cup of freshly poured tea.  “Here you go.”

Mavis thanked him wearily.  “I am ready for this.”  She blew on the hot liquid and took a sip.  “I can’t thank you lads enough for stepping in.”

“Still no news?” asked Eddie.

Mavis shook her head.  “It’s just not like Allie at all.  Serena isn’t answering her phone either or replying to my messages.  I am worried, I’ll not lie.”

“Have you reported Allie missing?” Oz offered, twirling his fork.  “Maybe the police can help.”

Mavis nodded.  “Unfortunately, the police were no help.  Both Serena and Allie are adults, and because Becky is with her parents, they don’t consider her missing either, even though she’s a child.”

Oz swallowed his cake hurriedly.  “Did Allie adopt Becky then?”

Mavis’ brow creased in confusion.  “No?  Allie is her father.”

Eddie put it together at the same time just as Oz blurted it out.

“Allie is trans?”

Mavis glanced over at Eddie.  “Oh, did you not tell Oscar?”

Eddie shook his head.  “I didn’t realise myself, Mavis.”

Mavis frowned.  “Really? I’m certain Allie said that you’d both recognised each other as kindred spirits.”

Oz looked at Eddie wide-eyed, merriment lighting up his whole face.

“I think she probably meant that we both recognised each other as magicals,” Eddie managed to say, refusing to look again at Oz in case he triggered him into laughing.  He forked up some cake to stop himself saying anything else.

“Oh,” Mavis said.  “Well, that makes sense.  I thought that you were handling things much better than Allie ever did, but you youngsters are much more accepting these days.  Allie’s parents didn’t understand at all which was why she ended up marrying Serena when she was Alistair.  They met working here, you know, when they were students.”

“Have you called Allie’s parents?” asked Eddie.  “Maybe she’s been in contact with them.”

Mavis shook her head, picking up her tea again.  “Elaine, my sister, passed on just after Becky was born and Richard, well, he washed his hands when Allie underwent the magical transition.”

“Is there a difference?” asked Oz, directing the question to Eddie.

Eddie nodded.  “It’s quicker.  There are spells and potions which work with someone’s innate magic.  It’s very expensive and you can only go through a private practitioner, so most people take the usual non-magical route with the NHS.” 

Mavis agreed.  “Allie was very lucky.  She had a large nest egg saved from being on the telly.”

Oz took a sip of his tea before he suddenly set it back down with a clatter.  “Alistair and Serena?  You don’t mean Alistair and Serena Hart, do you? Of ‘Hart is Where the Home Is?’”

Eddie’s eyebrows shot up at the mention of the old cooking television show which had been on in the early evenings on the BBC.  His Nan had loved it.  She hadn’t been so fond of ‘Hart’s Home Comforts,’ a Serena only show which had taken its place when he’d turned thirteen. 

No wonder Serena had looked so familiar to him, Eddie realised.  And with his new knowledge, he could see the resemblance between the kooky cook Alistair who had filled the first show with laughter and Allie, the magical cook of the café.

“Hartford, in truth,” Mavis corrected with a grimace.  She sipped her tea.  “Their agent Glenda Black suggested they do Hart for show business.” She rolled her eyes.  “There was an old action television show called ‘Hart to Hart’ back in the day.  Nothing to do with cooking, but the premise was a married couple solving crimes together.”

“I remember it,” Eddie admitted.  He loved old crime shows.

“Serena’s a Matthews now,” Mavis said, “she ended up marrying her producer, Ray Matthews, when she and Allie divorced.  She kept using Hart for professional reasons.”

“Wasn’t her show cancelled last year?” Oz asked brightly, forking up more cake.

Mavis sniffed.  “If it was, it might explain why she’s come begging for help from Allie.  The divorce was a terrible business.  She insisted on having full custody of Becky and that fair broke Allie’s heart.”

Eddie hummed.  He wondered if Allie’s decision to transition had played into it which was likely given the timings.  A quick glance at Oz confirmed he was thinking the same.  

Mavis set her cup down again.  “Well, I’d better get on and tackle the kitchen.  You lads finish cleaning up out here once you’ve finished your cake.”  She gave an approving nod, taking in the upended chairs and cleaned off tables.  “I can see you’ve already made a start.”  She moved off briskly.

Oz whistled lowly.  “I did not see that coming.”

Eddie nodded.  “Me either.”

“You think she’s right to be concerned about Allie?” asked Oz, concern creasing worrylines into the corners of his eyes and mouth.

Eddie nodded again.  “Allie takes care of Mavis.  She adores her.  I don’t think she’d leave her worrying like this if she wasn’t in some kind of trouble.”  He set his fork down on his empty plate.  He stretched his arms up, relieving an ache in his upper back.  “We’d better get cleaned up.”

“I’ll take these through if you want to finish up the tables and floors,” Oz said, “I’ll tackle the coffee machine and counter.”

“It’s all yours,” Eddie said cheerfully, happy to relinquish that particular task to Oz.

“Oh, and hey,” Oz grinned at him, “thanks for pulling me in to help.  I definitely appreciate the cash after Christmas.”

Eddie shrugged.  “We’d have drowned without you.”

Oz’s grin stretched even wider.

Eddie headed back to his abandoned cloth and spray bottle. 

He was on with the first part of mopping when there was a knock at the door.  He glanced up and saw Oz was elbow deep into taking the coffee machine to pieces.  He set the mop aside and went over to pointedly show whoever was knocking the ‘Closed’ sign.

He peeked through the glass and froze.

In front of the door was a person Eddie thought he’d never see again.  Knight Gilead, a mage from the Order of Pendragon.  He looked as unremarkable as ever with his thinning blond hair and grey eyes.  He was wrapped warmly against the cold in a grey woollen coat, grey scarf and gloves. 

The woman next to him reminded Eddie of an old Doctor Who Companion, Martha.  She had the same coffee complexion, large brown eyes and wide smile.  Her hair was styled into multiple braids caught together in a low bun under the brown wool beret she wore.  Her camel coat was in the same smart style as Gilead’s, but she had teamed hers with a bright orange scarf and tan gloves.  He caught the glint of another Order pin on her lapel.

He grimaced as he realised their presence probably did not signal anything good.

He opened the door.

Gilead visibly startled at the sight of him.  “Wiliams?”

His companion’s neatly arched eyebrows shot up at the recognition.

“Hello, Knight Gilead,” Eddie said politely.  “I work here now.  If you need anything, I’m afraid we’re closed?”

Gilead recovered fast, his expression smoothing out and his demeanour changing to his usual formal posture.  “We need to speak with Alistair Hartford.”

Eddie frowned.  “Allie’s missing.  She’s been missing since Thursday.”

“Could we come in and discuss this, flower?” the woman beside Gilead asked crisply, the roll of her Geordie accent giving away her origins in the North of England.  “It’s a bit chilly out.”

Gilead shot the woman a look.

Eddie moved aside to let them in.

Mavis strode in from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel.  She hurried over as Eddie relocked the door.  “Did I hear you say that you were looking for Allie?”

Gilead brought his identification out of a pocket and showed it to Mavis.  “Knight Inspector Gilead, Scotland Yard.”  He waved at the woman.  “This is Agent Bo Kingsley.  She’s temporarily assigned to the Yard as my partner.”

Kingsley held out her own identification.

Close-up, Eddie could feel the prickle of her magic.  He stepped back, standing beside Mavis protectively.

“I’m Mavis Anderson, proprietor,” Mavis introduced herself, “Allie’s my niece.”

Eddie noted how Kingsley’s eyebrows rose a touch at the identifier. She’d done the same when Eddie had referred to Allie with female pronouns. He frowned. Surely they knew Allie had transitioned?

“Ma’am,” Gilead shot a gawping Oz a look before he returned his gaze to Mavis, “perhaps we could step into your office for a private conversation?”

Mavis pinned him with a stern stare of her own.  “Here’s good enough.”

Gilead threw a look at Kingsley.  There was a clear silent debate on whether it was worthwhile to insist on privacy.

Kingsley pressed her lips together briefly.  “We are looking for Alistair Hartford in connection with the whereabouts of Rebecca Hartford and the death of Serena Matthews.  Mrs Matthews’ body was found earlier today at her parents’ property in East Gullyton.  We’re given to understand from Mister and Mrs Ferguson that Mister Hartford was staying with Mrs Matthews and their daughter, Rebecca.”

Mavis rocked back, her face rapidly draining of all colour.

Eddie immediately put an arm around her and guided her into a chair he pulled off a table with his free arm.  “Oz, get some tea.”  He placed a hand on her shoulder, hoping it would help ground her.

Oz nodded, his wide eyes giving away his own shock.

Mavis trembled as she grasped Eddie’s hand.  “Serena’s dead?!”

“We are sorry for your loss, Ms Anderson,” Gilead said perfunctorily.

“You said your niece has been missing?” asked Kingsley softly, drawing their attention.

“Alistair legally and magically transitioned five years ago,” Mavis said.  “She’s been Allie ever since.”  She took a deep breath.  “You said Becky is missing?”

“She was not in the house,” Kingsley confirmed.  “We suspect that Ms Hartford and Rebecca Hartford are together.” 

Oz cleared his throat and handed her a mug of strong tea.  “Here you go, Mavis.”

Mavis let go of Eddie’s hand and accepted it.  She took a fortifying sip.

Oz stepped back and headed back to the counter.

“Perhaps you could go over the events of the past week with us from your perspective, Ms Anderson?” Kingsley asked gently.

Mavis gave a jerky nod.  “Serena turned up on Monday.  She wanted Allie’s help.  She claimed she’d left Matthews and that her marriage was over.  She had come up to stay with her folks, but didn’t want to stay there alone in case Matthews turned up.”  Her nose wrinkled.  “Allie said no.  The end of their marriage was not easy.  There’s a custody arrangement, but Serena’s always been good at finding excuses for Allie not to have Becky even though Allie’s always paid more than what she was ordered to in the divorce settlement.”

“There’s some history there?” Kingsley probed.

Mavis nodded again slowly, reluctantly.  “All I know for certain is that Serena was stepping out with Matthews long before Allie made the decision to end their marriage.”  Her tone signalled that she wouldn’t brook being pressed on it.

Kingsley hummed.  “What happened after Serena left?”

“She came back like a bad penny,” Mavis sniffed.  She sipped her tea.  “Walked in bold as brass with Becky on Wednesday night just as we were closing up.  Like I said, she’s always used Becky as a weapon against Allie.”  Her irritation with Serena was not hidden.  “I don’t know what was said.  Becky stayed overnight and Allie took her back to East Gullyton in the morning.  She told me Matthews was being difficult with Serena and Becky was scared so she was going to stay with them until the Fergusons came back.  That was the last time I spoke with Allie.”

“We talked about it a bit later in the day,” Eddie offered.  “Mavis was concerned that she hadn’t heard from Allie as she usually lets Mavis know she’s arrived safely.”

Gilead shot him a look to keep quiet.  He turned back to Mavis.  “You were concerned?”

“Edward stepped in to help me with the café and he noticed I was distracted waiting for Allie’s call,” Mavis said briskly.  “When I hadn’t heard anything by yesterday, and I couldn’t get a hold of Serena even, I called the police to report Allie missing.  They refused to count her as missing as she’s an adult.  They told me that they couldn’t do anything.”

“You didn’t try to get in touch with Serena’s parents?” asked Gilead.

Mavis shook her head.  “Allie said they weren’t at home.  It was the reason why Serena wanted Allie with her.”  She looked at him.  “Allie definitely wasn’t with there?”

“Serena was found in the house by her parents this morning,” Kingsley said.  “There were signs your niece and grandniece had been staying there, but no sign of them.”

“A young man was found outside the house.  He was detained at the scene by Mister Ferguson,” Gilead said.  He took out his phone and showed Mavis a picture.  “Do you know who this is?”

Mavis peered at the photo and shook her head.  “He might have been in the café once or twice, but I can’t say for certain.”

Gilead handed Eddie the phone next.

Eddie looked down at the picture of a sullen student staring unhappily into the camera and his heart skipped a beat in his chest.  His mouth was dry as he answered.  “That’s Giles Montelroy.”

o-O-o

Sunday morning found Eddie at a loose end. 

Oz and Eddie had been strictly instructed by Knight Gilead on how much they could confide in the others about the investigation which wasn’t much.  They had been able to tell Hayley and Jemima the basics that Serena was dead, and that Allie was still missing, but that was about it.

Eddie had been unable to sleep the night before, his thoughts running endlessly in circles.  He’d ended up getting up early and heading to the gym.  He’d done some weights, letting the repetitive motion soothe him, until Amir arrived for what was turning out to be a regular running session together.

The outside track still wasn’t open because it was too slippery still, especially with the early morning frost.  They ended up running side-by-side on treadmills.  There wasn’t a lot of conversation, but there was an easy companionship which settled something in Eddie.  He felt he could breathe better.

The Teapot was closed on Sundays and they ended up grabbing a quick coffee at the Starbucks on Main Street.  Eddie tried not to feel like he was cheating on his workplace as he enjoyed the expensive specialist coffee Amir bought him.  Amir seemed to sense his mood and kept the conversation to the latest Hollywood scandal which had hit social media that morning.

He debated briefly on whether he should call in on Mavis.  She’d been shaken by everything the night before and Agent Kingsley had eventually inveigled Mavis into giving her the name of one of her friends.  She’d arranged to take Mavis to Maureen McMahon’s straight after they’d finished getting the café cleaned-up.  Eddie had no idea where Mrs McMahon lived nor Mavis for that matter.  Allie lived about the café, but Mavis had a small cottage elsewhere.  He regretfully put checking on Mavis out of his mind and instead focused on his free day ahead.

He and the gang had arranged to have a room breakfast together in the Hall rather than hitting the dining room which was still mostly just serving up porridge as the hot option.  He picked up some muffins and juice as his contribution and headed back.     

Eddie wasn’t surprised that he was the first to be welcomed into Jemima’s room.  None of his friends were early birds.

Jemima looked half-asleep.  Her face was clear of her usually immaculately applied make-up, but there was a sheen of gloss on her lips giving away that she had gotten up and washed at least.  She’d piled her dark hair up on the top of her head in a messy bun with many strands escaping to drift around her face.  She still wore her pale blue flannel pyjamas decorated with characters from Beatrix Potter.  They’d been a gag Christmas gift from her brother, Peter, but Jemima had embraced them as warm clothing which suited the cold Scottish weather.

It was weird, Eddie mused, as Jemima beamed happily at his offerings and pushed him to sit at the end of the unmade bed.  Cumbria wasn’t exactly warm in the winter months, but both he and Jemima found Scotland freezing in comparison.  Perhaps it was to be expected, Eddie considere ruefully. Iolaire Bay was much further North and it was right on the North sea coastline. 

Jemima’s room was warm though.  Eddie stripped off his maroon sweater and set it aside, leaving him with his grey long-sleeved t-shirt. 

Jemima handed him a mug of coffee with a grin.  “So, how was your running date with Amir?”

“It wasn’t a running date!” Eddie protested, hating the blush he could feel heating his face.  “We’re just friends.”

“Uh-huh,” Jemima clambered back into the top of the bed, sitting cross-legged in front of her pillows and dragging the duvet to cover her legs.  She shoved the trashy romance novel she’d been reading onto her bedside table and picked up the coffee mug.  “You know he wants more than that.”

Eddie shrugged.  “He knows I’m not interested in a one-night stand.”

Jemima smiled softly and sipped her coffee.

“How was your date?” asked Eddie, remembering how’d she’d rushed off after he and Oz had updated her and Hayley on Serena.  He was certain that Knight Gilead would probably still complain at how much Oz and he had confided, but Eddie agreed with Oz that they trusted their friends not to share further.

Jemima sighed.  “Not great.  Alain is…”

“Self-obsessed?” suggested Eddie.  He’d only met the guy briefly, but Alain Fonte had managed to praise some aspect of himself every other sentence.

“That’s one way of putting it,” Jemima agreed.  “I definitely won’t be seeing him again.”  She looked down at her coffee.  “Brad called.”

“He did?”

“He’s split up with Helen,” Jemima murmured.  “He wants to try again.”  She looked up at Eddie.  “What do you think?”

“I think he’s shown you who he is already,” Eddie said bluntly.  Jemima had suspected Brad had been cheating on her with Helen for a while before their split.

Jemima nodded slowly.  “I know.”  She sighed heavily.  “It’s just…dating is depressing.”

“Your date with Alain’s hardly a good example,” Eddie pointed out.  “Besides, didn’t you say when we met that being free and single at University would be a good thing?”

Jemima nodded again.  “I did.”  She took a deep breath.  “I’m not getting back with Brad.  You’re right, he’s shown me who he is, and I’d be a fool to ignore it.”

There was a brisk knock on her door and Eddie waved for her to remain curled up as he went to open it.

Hayley and Oz hurried in with their hands full of their contributions and plates from the corridor kitchen.

For a little while, they all focused on grabbing breakfast, doling out juice, and making coffee.  They settled onto Jemima’s rug, cushions and pillows distributed for comfort.

Oz was unusually quiet.

Eddie nudged him.  “You OK?” he asked, thinking Oz might be stressing about the Serena situation the same way he had been earlier.

“Just had a really bad date last night,” Oz complained.     

“You too?” Jemima waved off Oz’s attempt to ask her about Alain.  “Never mind me, what was so bad about your date?”

“Lila and I were meant to be having an evening in her room doing a movie marathon of Batman films, right?” Oz said.

Eddie nodded.  He’d vaguely remembered Oz gushing about it the day before on their way to the café.

“Well, Charlotte turned up halfway into the first movie and just stayed!” Oz complained.  His usual cheery expression was completely missing.

Hayley frowned and set her muffin back onto her plate.  “She deliberately crashed your date?”

Oz nodded.  He set his empty plate down and ran a hand over his head. “Maybe I’m making too much of it, but it feels like every time Lila and I make plans, she involves herself somehow.”

“What does Lila say?” asked Hayley, her tone sharp.  Her blue eyes were stormy with anger at Charlotte.

Oz shrugged.  “She didn’t say anything.  Kind of threw me an apologetic look when Charlotte sat her butt down, but she just went with it.”

“You have to say something to her,” Jemima said gently.  “Lila’s the one who needs to set boundaries with Charlotte.  If she’s not prepared to do that…”

Oz heaved a sigh.  “I know, just…drama, you know?  I’m not exactly here for it.”

“Liar!” teased Hayley gently.  She poked his foot with her own.  The two friends exchanged a warm glance which spoke of their deep bond.

Jemima’s phone buzzed.  She picked it up and her dark eyes widened dramatically.  “Quick! Turn the TV on!  There’s breaking news about Serena!”

Eddie waved his hand at the television, focusing his magic and his will at the machine.  It flickered into life just as Oz grabbed the remote.

The screen filled with Simon Montelroy on the steps outside of East Gullyton’s police station.  Giles stood behind him, sullen and silent.  In front of Montelroy, there was a gaggle of press, the BBC news reporter one of many clamouring to hear the man’s words.

Montelroy was not an attractive man.  He had the same dark hair as his son; it was even style the same in a wavy and swept back look.  He had the same brown eyes too, but Giles had clearly inherited everything else from his mother. 

Montelroy wore a sharp blue suit, crisp white shirt, and blue tie.  Despite the weather he did not wear a coat.  He stood out against the austere backdrop of the concrete building behind them, the grey sky beyond adding to the grim quality of the setting.

“I’ve called you here today to address the rumours circulating that my son, Giles, was arrested on suspicion of the murder of Serena Hart.”

There was an audible gasp from the gathered press.

“My son was pursuing a story involving Serena’s breakdown of her marriage with her former producer, Ray Matthews,” Simon continued, talking louder over the noise of questions being fired at him.  “Yesterday, he helped the police with their enquiries.  He will face no charges. If you have any further questions, you can tune into ‘Maxwell Unleashed Late Show’ on the Montelroy News channel for an exclusive interview with Maxwell Adams. Thank you.  That will be all.”

Montelroy stepped back and the bulky figure of the uniformed Chief Constable, John Campbell stepped forward.  In the background, the Montelroys departed, exiting the screen completely.

Campbell was an impressive figure, tall and broad with white hair and ruddy cheeks.  He held up a gloved hand and commanded immediate silence from the reporters.

“As Mister Montelroy has ignored our request to stay silent on this matter due to the ongoing investigation, I will make a short statement,” Campbell said in his thick Glaswegian accent.  “Yesterday morning, Serena Matthews, known as Serena Hart in her television work, was found deceased by her parents at their home in East Gullyton.  Giles Montelroy was found on the premises by Serena’s father and detained for questioning.  He has answered our questions to his presence there to the satisfaction of the investigative team.”

“I’m surprised he’s making a statement,” Hayley commented, pulling her green cardigan closed around her as though she was suddenly cold.

“Simon left them little choice,” Jemima said briskly.

“A decision has not yet been made whether to bring charges against Giles Montelroy for trespassing, breaking and entering, and minor property damage,” Campbell intoned seriously.

“Ha!” Jemima proclaimed.

“In respect of Serena Matthews, I can confirm her death is suspicious and is under investigation,” Campbell continued. “Enquiries are ongoing and anything further, which is deemed appropriate to share, will be shared with the public in due course.  Our condolences go out to her family who are being helped by our dedicated Family Support Officers.  I encourage anyone with information to reach out to the usual helpline for their local station.  I will not be taking questions at this time.”

The feed cut back to the BBC studio where the presenter started to summarise events.

“Wow,” Oz murmured as he used the remote to lower the volume, “how pissed do you think Knight Gilead is going to be?”

“He’ll be furious,” Eddie predicted.  “But maybe this going public will help Allie feel safe enough to come forward.”

“You don’t suspect her at all?” asked Hayley, surprised.

Eddie shook his head.  “I don’t.  Maybe I’m stupid, but I just don’t think she’s the type to kill someone.”

“Maybe it was an accident,” Jemima suggested.  “It sounds like there was a lot of history there, a lot of emotion.”

“But more likely for her to want to kill him than the other way around, surely?” Hayley argued.  “It sounds like she took the decision for Allie to transition really, really badly.”

“I can’t say I’d take it with a lot of grace if my husband turned around after years of being together and said he wanted to transition,” Jemima commented. 

“Well, it kind of speaks to how flawed their marriage must have been for her not to have known that he was struggling with his identity in that way from the get-go,” Hayley said firmly.

“Maybe she did, but felt it was worth the risk,” Jemima countered.

Eddie felt his phone vibrating and reached into his pocket to grab it.  He motioned at the phone and hurried out into the corridor to take the call.  “Professor Gables.”

“I’ve been called into do a consult, I’d like you to accompany me,” Gables said without preamble.

“Really?” stuttered Eddie in disbelief.

“Really,” Gables said.  “I’ll pick you up at one outside of the main Hall entrance.”

The call ended before Eddie could say anything else.  He looked down at his phone in disbelief.  He guessed he was going along to a psychic consultation.

o-O-o

Eddie sat stiffly in the cramped passenger seat of Professor Gables’ car.  The old-fashioned lime green Volkswagon Beetle was as quirky as Gables.  Eddie felt self-conscious just being a passenger.

Gables had slid him a deeply amused look as he’d clicked his seatbelt into place before they’d set off.  He figured she’d seen his consternation and found it hilarious.

He cleared his throat as Gables turned onto the coast road that would take them out of Iolaire Bay, South towards East Gullyton.  “You said you’d had a request for a consultation, Professor?”

“Yes, I had a call from a grieving mother this morning,” Gables said sombrely.  “Her daughter died unexpectedly in suspicious circumstances and her granddaughter who was believed to be in the house at the time of the death is missing.”

Eddie stared at her.  That sounded very much like…he cleared his throat.  “Professor, the mother wouldn’t be a Mrs Ferguson, would it?”

Gables darted a look at him.  “Yes, it would.  How do you know that?”

Eddie briskly outlined everything that he knew, from Allie and Serena’s encounter at the café to that morning’s press conference by the Montelroys and the Chief Constable.

Gable continued driving while Eddie talked.  She gave a long sigh as he finished just as the car passed the town sign for East Gullyton.

“How do you get mixed up in these things?” murmured Gable.

“I swear I haven’t done anything,” Eddie tried to keep his voice even, suppressing his irritation at the question.  He hadn’t poked his nose into things once!  He’d focused on helping Mavis with the café, even though he’d been really tempted to ask Mavis if she wanted help tracking Allie down.  “And I kind of promised Knight Gilead that I wouldn’t get involved now so I should probably stay in the car while you do the consultation.”

Gables pressed her lips together.  Her gloved fingers tapped on the driving wheel for a long moment.  “We’ll discuss your involvement with Mrs Ferguson.  You know Allison Hartford’s magical signature and that’s powerful in a reading.  It would help to have you present.”

“And Knight Gilead?” asked Eddie pointedly.  He really did not want to get on the wrong side of a Knight of the Order of Pendragon.

“I’ll let Christopher know,” Gables said decisively.  “He’s aware that I’ve been asked to do the reading and has agreed to it.  He’ll understand.”

Eddie doubted that, but he kept silent.

Gables turned into the car park of a local bed and breakfast.  It was small space.  Eddie found himself thinking that it was just as well the car was equally small in size as Gables expertly manoeuvred them into the only empty spot.  She turned the engine off. 

For a second, they both sat staring out at the industrial sized bins at the back of the B&B. 

Gables hummed and got out of the car.  Eddie followed her.  They made their way around to the front of the house and rang the doorbell.

A harried-looking man with thinning brown hair and glasses ushered them inside and took them through to a parlour where the Fergusons were waiting.

Eddie held back his grimace as he took in Serena’s mother.  She looked like an older version of her daughter.  She was dressed sombrely in mourning clothes, a deep purple jumper with an oversized turtleneck and black skirt.  Her make-up couldn’t hide her red-rimmed eyes nor the deep stress lines carved into her face.

Serena’s father was a tall man with a military bearing.  His red hair was shaved close to his head, and he had a trimmed and tidy beard.  His grey cardigan with leather patches at the elbows was teamed with black trousers and a button-down white shirt with a grey tie.

They had barely gotten the introductions out of the way before an old woman bustled in with a tea-tray filled with old fashioned porcelain teacups and saucers.  A matching plate held delicate fingers of Scottish shortbread.  The woman bustled out again without saying a word closing the parlour door firmly shut behind her.

Eddie tried not to feel that the resounding click was a sound of doom.  He politely accepted the tea and set it on the table to the side of his uncomfortable chair. 

Gables had taken the second chair, leaving the Fergusons perched on the chintzy sofa. 

“Before we start, I should explain that my student, Mister Wiliams, has an existing connection with your former son-in-law,” Gables said bluntly.  “He works part-time at The Teapot café.”

The Fergusons stared at him.

“His magic would help enormously with the reading,” Gables said crisply.  “He is already attuned to Ms Hartford’s magical resonance.”

“And if your reading shows without question that Alistair killed our daughter?” asked Mike Ferguson brusquely, glowering at her.

“Then I will report that to Knight Gilead and Agent Kingsley who are in charge of the investigation,” Gables returned mildly, “as I am required to do by law.”

Eddie watched as the older man subsided with a huff.

“Oh, honestly, Mike,” Diane Ferguson said, “you don’t believe Alistair killed Serena any more than I do!  You liked him just fine until,” she gestured vaguely at her husband, “you know.”

“It’s not natural, Diane,” Mike snapped.

Diane pinned her husband with a stern look which seemed to chastise the man.  He looked away with a flush over his pale cheeks.

Serena’s mother sighed and rubbed her head tiredly as though she had a headache building.  She turned to Gables.  “Serena admitted to me a few years ago that she was just as responsible for their marriage breaking down as Alistair.”

“May I ask what happened between them?” Gables asked delicately.  “I can deduce, but my reading will be clearer if I have all the facts.”

Mike kept his face averted.  The thin line of his lips gave away that he was going to reply.

“Serena and Alistair, as he was then, met at University in Iolaire Bay,” Diane began.  “They were friends first.  They went to catering college in London after University together with the intent to set-up a restaurant as partners.”

Eddie absently sipped his tea, barely controlling his wince at the taste. 

“I was surprised when they announced after college that they were getting married, they were very different characters,” she admitted.  “Serena was adamant though.  She loved Alistair and he loved her.”  Her eyes stared absently at the cluttered mantel above the fake wood fire.  “When she talked to me a few years ago, she admitted that she had known he was struggling with his gender identity.  She’d apparently talked him out of transitioning straight after University.”

Eddie set his teacup in his saucer carefully.

“Serena said they were happy enough until the whole television thing,” Diane continued. “It put a strain on their marriage.  I can attest personally to the fact that Alistair hated their fame, he and I spoke about it often.”  She paused and took a deep breath, glancing at her husband.  “Serena admitted that she started seeing Ray long before Alistair made the decision to transition.”

Her husband’s head snapped around to her.  “What?!”

“She had an affair, Mike,” Diane restated with a hard edge to her tone that brooked no argument.  “When she fell pregnant, she didn’t know if it was Ray’s or Alistair’s.”  She sighed.  “Becky was barely three months when Alistair decided to transition.  Serena said in the argument they had, her affair and Becky’s uncertain parentage came out, and that was it.”

“Why did she never tell me?” asked Mike, astounded.

“You doted on her, Mike,” she retorted.  “She didn’t want to be anything other than your little princess.”  Her tone gave away her own exasperation at her husband’s indulgence of their daughter.

“Is Becky actually Alistair’s daughter?” asked Gables quietly.

Diane nodded.  “They had a paternity test done at Ray’s insistence actually.”  Her hands twisted together in her lap.  “Alistair was a good husband and father.  I always thought his decision was a selfish one, but I don’t think he’d do anything to physically harm Becky or Serena.”  She shook her head.  “Ray now…”

“He’s a bully,” Mike allowed gruffly.

“Serena told me in the Summer that he’d hit her,” Diane’s face crumpled.

Gables handed her a handkerchief. 

Mike put his hand on his wife’s shoulder awkwardly offering her comfort.

“She said it was only the once just after the show was cancelled and he was drunk.  She said if it happened again, she’d leave him,” Diane got out between sobs.

“You should have told me!” Mike said.

“When she called to say the marriage was over, I knew,” Diane said.  “I knew the truth was that he’d hurt her again.  I said we’d fly back from the cruise, but Serena refused.  I told her to invite someone to stay with her and Becky until we got back from our trip.  I thought Ray might think twice about coming near her if she wasn’t alone!”

“You suspect Ray of killing Serena?” Eddie said, blushing furiously when he realised that he’d said it out loud.

The Fergusons nodded though.

“I mean, it was a little confusing with that lad I found in the backyard,” Mike said, “but when we found her that was my first thought.”

The devastation on his face made Eddie look away.  He figured their deduction made sense.  They did say most murders were done by those close to the person. 

“Serena’s gone and the investigation will likely prove who killed her,” Diane said, “I’m worried about Becky.  I hope she’s with her father, but they barely know each other because Serena had full custody!  We need to know what’s happened with our granddaughter!”

Gables set her teacup down.  “I cannot guarantee that the reading will reveal anything.  Sometimes magic does not speak.  But we will do our best to see what we can.”

Eddie was relieved when they took their leave a few moments later and returned to the car.

“What are your thoughts?” asked Gables as she carefully reversed out of her parking space and directed the car back onto the main road.

“I think they’re probably right about the primary suspect being Serena’s ex-husband,” Eddie said.  “It makes sense, especially since he got violent with her before.”

“I agree,” Gables said, “but we must put it out of our thoughts to make sure we do not unduly influence the reading.”

Eddie nodded.  He fidgeted with the zip on his coat.  “I’m not psychic.”

“No, but you have a good grasp of your magic, Edward,” Gables said softly.  “The meditation we’ve been doing shows you have potential beyond journeyman level.”

Eddie looked out of the window rather than reply to her.

They pulled up in front of a detached house in an affluent estate.  There was a front garden with a large oak tree with a pretty gravel path leading from the front gate, up to the house.  There was no driveway and Eddie theorised that the garage must be at the back of the house.  He caught sight of a camera over the front door and frowned.  If they had security cameras then surely there must be video evidence.

Knight Gilead and Agent Kingsley waited for them by the gate.

Gables offered her hand to Gilead.  “Good to see you again, Christopher.”

“Merewen,” Gilead gave a tight smile, his gaze on Eddie.  “I see you brought company.”

“I’ve taken Edward on as a student, he’s here at my request,” Gables said.  “He has a magical resonance with Allie Hartford’s magic from their acquaintance.  It will make the reading go much easier.”

Gilead looked at her for a long moment before he finally nodded.  “Very well.” He pointed at Eddie.  “I don’t need to tell you that anything you learn, you should keep confidential even from your friends.”

Eddie nodded.  He felt awkward and out of place.  On one hand, he really wanted to refuse to take part at all, but he wasn’t certain how to get out of it.  And yet, on the other hand, he was curious to learn more about what had happened.  Maybe he would see something that could reassure Mavis.

Agent Kingsley shook hands with Gables.  “Good to see you again, Professor.”  She winked at Eddie.  “I used to be you a few years ago, Eddie.  I had a great time studying with the Professor.”

“It’s good to see you too, Bo,” Gables said warmly.  “Please call me Merry.”  She looked up towards the house.  “Is there anything you can tell me ahead of time?  Did you have a vision, Bo?”

Vision?  Agent Kingsley was a Seer?

“No vision,” Kingsley said, pushing her hands into the deep pockets of her coat.  “I’m assigned to the Yard at the moment to get more familiar with investigative techniques.  What we do know is that there was an outburst of magic here which took out the electronics.  A lot of the security video which might have been useful is fried.  The technician said it ruined the whole day of recording.”

“I could take a look?” Eddie found himself offering.

They all looked at him in surprise.

“Uh, tech magic is kind of my thing?” Eddie said.  He wondered why they hadn’t brought a Tech Mage themselves. 

Kingsley looked over at Gilead who grimaced as though he was biting down on something sour. 

“I requested a qualified Tech Mage from the Yard this morning,” Gilead said tersely.  “I’ve yet to hear back.”

Ah, somebody had thought about it, Eddie thought chagrined.  It was just a timing thing.

“Wouldn’t hurt for the lad to try since he’s already here though, right?” Kingsley argued, smiling.

Gilead sighed and nodded.  “Let’s get this over with.”  He marched off up the pathway.

Gables gestured for Eddie to follow him.  She and Kingsley fell into step behind him.  He tried not to listen to their conversation even though it was nothing more than a polite exchange of two people who had once known each other.

Eddie shivered as Gilead led them into the house.  As soon as they were through the door, he led them into a small room off the hallway.

Gilead opened his phone.  “Memo.  Security room at the Ferguson house.  Eleven hundred.  Authorisation is given to Edward Wiliams to examine the technology and ascertain whether the recording is salvageable using tech magic.  Professor Merewen Gables and Agent Kingsley are also present.” 

Eddie looked back over his shoulder and saw Gables and Kingsley stood outside of the open door, still in the corridor.  It was probably a good idea, Eddie thought, casting a look around. Room was a generous word, Eddie mused.  It was more like a walk-in closet.  There was a large flatscreen monitor mounted to the wall.  A small desk underneath held a wireless keypad and a slim tower hard-drive. 

Gilead ended the memo and returned his phone to his pocket.  He switched on the tower drive and monitor manually.      

A boot-up logo started to spin on the monitor.

A moment later, the screen cleared into four squares of static. 

Eddie frowned.

“There are four cameras,” Gilead said.  “One at the front of the house, one at the back door, one at the garage and a fourth camera on the second floor in the hallway.  They are motion activated.”  He pointed at the tower.  “All footage is digitally transmitted back to this drive.  It retains up to two weeks at a time and did have an automatic delete cycle.”

Eddie placed his hand over the tower.  He breathed in and centred himself before letting his magic curl around the device.  He closed his eyes briefly.  What were the last intact recordings?

He opened his eyes.

The monitor flickered and flared to life.

“Woah!” Kingsley murmured at the door.  She inched inside to get a better look as Eddie froze the images with a wave of his hand.

Gilead pointed to the first square, the front door.  “Time stamp is Thursday thirteen-fifteen.  That’s Ray Matthews.” His tone vibrated with satisfaction.

Eddie’s eyebrows rose.  “He was at The Teapot on Monday.”

Gilead turned to him.  “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Eddie said, remembering the brusque man who’d raised a fist at him.  “We almost collided on the pavement outside as I was leaving.”

“Kingsley…”

“I’ll let Angel and Brownstone know to alter their enquiries with the local hotels to include Monday,” Kingsley said.  She pointed at the second top square on the monitor.  “That’s Hartford leaving by the back door.” She moved her finger to the lower square underneath.  “He’s taking the car.”

“Timestamp is thirteen hundred,” Gilead noted.

“Matthews must have been waiting for Hartford to leave,” Kingsley deduced.  “We found take-out bags in the kitchen with uneaten fish and chips.  Hartford most likely went out for them.”

“Look at this image,” Gilead said quietly. 

The final square was filled with a young fair-haired girl walking down the stairs at thirteen-ten.

“That’s Rebecca Hartford,” Kingsley confirmed.

“Is there anything recoverable after this?” asked Gilead, turning to Eddie.

Eddie placed his hand on the tower drive and closed his eyes.  His magic curled around the device.  He could feel tendrils of magical damage. They felt young and uncontrolled.  He steadily sent his own magic after each tendril, repairing what they could.  He opened his eyes and lifted his hand, with a final instruction to play the first repaired video on the monitor.

“Thirteen-twenty, front door,” Gilead breathed out in shock.  “That’s Matthews leaving.”

“He’s angry by the looks of him, and…and that’s Serena Matthews following after him,” Kingsley said grimly.  “She was alive when he left.”

The video played on and they watched as Serena turned back to the face the door and the camera caught her raised a hand to her face briefly.

“She had a bruise,” Kingsley noted.

Eddie peered at the screen.  “Is that Montelroy?” He gestured at the blurry figure by the gate. It looked like it was wearing Montelroy’s distinctive coat.

“Maybe we can get it enhanced,” Kingsley murmured.

The front camera footage ended, and the screen went dark.

Gilead motioned at Eddie.  “Is there anything on any of the other cameras?”

Eddie tried with the inside camera first but there was nothing.  “I think the upstairs camera was broken after the magical outburst.”

“Let’s move on then,” Gilead said.  “Try the back door.”

The monitor flickered back into life with more footage.  There was more static, but it clearly showed Allie Hartford arriving back with the fish and chips.

“Thirteen-thirty,” Gilead noted dispassionately. 

“Right,” Kingsley said, “so Matthews waits until Hartford leaves, enters briefly, hits his wife and she throws him out.  Hartford returns just after with the fish and chips.  Look.”

The video playing showed Hartford carrying her unconscious daughter out of the back door, hurrying down the back path.  Serena was following after her, arms wildly gesticulating.

“The daughter was downstairs, she may have witnessed the assault,” Gilead said.

“If she witnessed violence towards her mother that might have been enough to trigger an infantile magical outburst,” Gables said softly. 

“Accounting for the damage to the electronics,” Gilead noted.

“If Allie’s phone was left in the house when they went for the food, it might explain why she never called or got in touch with Mavis,” Eddie noted.

Kingsley and Gilead exchanged a look and Eddie figured he’d deduced it correctly.

The back door camera showed an angry-looking Serena returning to the house.

“Hartford kidnapped the girl?” Gilead posed the question out loud.

“More likely she went to get her daughter magical treatment,” Bo said.  “It may have been the first outburst.  She was unconscious, her magic disrupted the electronics.  Hartford probably shielded her as soon as she got inside and realised there was a problem, but she was right to remove her to care; the girl needed to be looked over by a professional.”

“The nearest magical clinic is Dundee,” Gables offered.  “They have a specialist paediatric unit.  It may well be that Ms Hartford is sequestered there under a magical quarantine while they settle the girl’s magic.”

Eddie was vaguely aware of the Dundee clinic.  All the magical students had received a pamphlet about it in the letters welcoming them to the University before they had arrived.

“We’ll check that out,” Kingsley said, “but it seems likely.”

Gilead gestured back at the screen.  “Well, well, well.”

A young man was furtively making his way up the pathway.  He wore a dark coat, with a scarf wrapped around his lower face.  His identity was further obscured by a beanie hat pulled down over his head.  Eddie still recognised him.

“That’s Derrick Connor,” Eddie said, pausing the image with a wave of his hand.  “He’s been accused of academic cheating with Giles Montelroy.”

Gilead regarded him with an intent stare.  “Do I want to know how you know that?”

Eddie winced.  “Gossip?” he offered.  He hurriedly magically nudged the video into continuing.

“Look!” Kingsley pointed at the screen.  “That’s Matthews coming in at the back!”

“The timestamp isn’t on here,” Kingsley noted.

The next scene was Matthews leaving, hurrying away down the back garden.  Another capture saw Connor leaving, the sky was turning dark as he left.

“We’ll see if our Tech Mage can reconstruct the timing, but there’s enough there to give us some avenues to go after,” Gilead said briskly.  “Thank you for your assistance, Mister Wiliams.”

Eddie felt warmed by the praise and Kingsley winked at him again, raising another blush on his cheeks.

Gables smiled at him proudly.  “Good job with the technology.  Now, let’s go see if we can get any additional information from the psychic reading.”

Eddie’s heart sank. 

Right.

They still had the psychic reading to do.

o-O-o

The quiet but insistent pounding on his door yanked Eddie out of his sleep and into wakefulness with an abruptness that had his heart beating faster in his chest as he sat up and tried to get his bearings.

He’d gone to bed early, exhausted from all the magical activity.  The psychic reading had lasted over an hour and had left him with a sharp headache.  It hadn’t even been that useful since Gables had quickly established Serena’s spirit had moved on.  The most they had been able to establish was that the first encounter between Matthews and Serena had caused Becky to have a violent magical outburst.  There had been magical residue left all over the house and it had distorted anything else despite Gables’ best efforts. 

Eddie rubbed his hands furiously over his face as the knocking continued unabated.  He stumbled out of his warm bed into the slightly frigid air of the room.  His sleepwear of sweatpants and t-shirt were insufficient to counter the difference, and he shivered violently.

Anger started to stir as he crossed the carpeted floor and roughly opened the door.

Derrick Connor barged in, knocking Eddie’s shoulder back.

Eddie stared at him in shock.

“You might want to close the door, mate,” Connor said lowly.

Eddie raised an eyebrow as he considered that the other student was a suspect in a murder investigation.  He had a good couple of inches on Connor and he held the advantage of being magical.  He took a deep breath, trying to calm the adrenaline that had shot through him at Connor’s entry.

“You’re wanted for questioning in a suspicious death,” Eddie said mildly, “give me one good reason why I shouldn’t just knock you out and yell for help right now.”

“Because I didn’t do it and I need help!” Connor argued in an urgent whisper.  “You and your gang found out the truth about that Tatton guy last year, right?  I need you to clear my name!”

Eddie sighed.  It felt too early to be dealing with Connor’s demands and his head was still fuzzy with a magical hangover.  He rubbed a hand over his face, trying to make his brain work.  “I’m going to go grab my friend, Oz, because I’m not going to be alone with you.  You can stay here or go.”

Connor grimaced.

Eddie snatched up his key and phone from his desk and exited the room, closing the door behind him and locking Connor inside. 

He headed down the corridor and softly knocked on Oz’s door.  He was only faintly surprised that everyone seemed still asleep, and that nobody was poking their head out of their rooms to see what the knocking was all about.

He knocked softly on Oz’s door before he texted him on his phone.  He winced at the sight of the time.  It wasn’t even six o’clock!  He knocked and texted Oz again.  He tilted his head as he heard a groan beyond the locked door.

Oz opened his door cautiously.  He wore an old grey sweatshirt, and matching sweatpants; his feet were bare, toes curling into the carpet.  “Eds, what’s wrong?”

“Derrick Connor is in my room!  He says he wants our help!” Eddie whispered.  “I need back-up.”

Oz’s eyes went impossibly wide.  His expression quickly sobered.  He nodded quickly.  “Give me a minute.” 

He padded back into the room.  A moment later, he reappeared, his bare feet stuffed into trainers and his own phone and key in hand.  He shut his door quietly and locked it.

Eddie led the way back to his own room.  He opened the door and stepped back inside.

Connor had put the desk light on.  He’d divested himself of his coat, scarf and hat; they were dumped beside him on the floor along with his backpack.  He sat in the desk chair drinking one of Eddie’s soft drinks stash he kept on the top shelf. 

“Hope you don’t mind,” Connor said quietly, raising the bottle. “I haven’t exactly had time to stop for a drink since yesterday.”

Oz closed the door behind him. 

“You really should turn yourself in,” Eddie advised, careful to keep his own voice low.  The soundproofing between the rooms was abysmal.  “Knight Gilead and Agent Kingsley are good investigators.  If you are innocent, they’ll be able to verify that.”

Connor grimaced.  In the dim light and without his dark outerwear, he looked like a very ordinary student, slightly dumpy in a way that spoke to a lack of interest in fitness, but not fat.  He had brown hair and eyes in a round face with an acne rash on his lower right jaw.

“I don’t trust the cops.  People like us get shafted all the time.  Like I said, I know you and your friends,” Connor’s eyes flickered to Oz, “you were the ones who worked out that Tatton killed that girl.  I need your help to prove my innocence!” 

Eddie sat down on his bed.  Oz kept standing by the door, guarding it.

“You said people like us?” enquired Eddie with a frown.

“Working class, not a lot of money,” Connor’s nose wrinkled.  “Posh folks like Montelroy, they’ve got the cash and the power to grease the system and get out of trouble, yeah?  You saw that interview he did last night?  He threw me straight under the bus!  Me?  I’ve got my Mum and nothing else.  I need to keep my scholarship!”

Oz sighed.  “Seriously, Derrick?  You’re mixed up in all this because you’ve been helping Montelroy cheat!”    

Eddie held up a hand.  “The interview?”  He’d missed the Montelroy exclusive because of his early night.

Oz went on his phone and pulled up the video on social media.  He handed it over to Eddie.

On screen, Giles Montelroy sat on one side of a table with his father; the interviewer was opposite.  Large podcast-style microphones were in front of them all. 

Maxwell Adams was movie-star handsome with tousled mink brown hair, bright green eyes, and a perfect smile.  He was also a tremendously incisive interviewer who had a reputation for cutthroat journalism.  He sat confidently across from his employer, dressed in an open-necked white shirt which was no doubt a designer deal which had cost more than the entirety of Eddie’s own wardrobe.

Eddie had a crush on the guy he was never admitting in public.

“Let’s get right to the point.  Why did you go to the Fergusons’ property?” asked Adams bluntly.

Giles darted a look at his father.  “Last week, I found out that Serena Matthews was behind an academic cheating complaint which had been made about me.  The other student involved, Derrick Connor, had already gone to the house on Thursday to talk with her.  He claimed he didn’t see her.”

“I believe academic complaints of this nature are usually anonymous,” Adams said in a conversational tone meant to lull his prey into a false sense of security.  “How did you find out who had made it?”

“Connor told me,” Giles shrugged, scratching a bicep absently.  “I don’t know how he found out.”

Eddie’s gaze flickered to Connor as he paused the video.  “Is that true?”  He guessed Serena must have taken her own set of photos from her car.  Maybe she’d stopped further down the street for some reason and seen them.

Connor sighed.  “I got called into Professor Mason’s office on Wednesday, and he had to take a phone call in the middle of quizzing me about the photos.  He left the file open on his tablet on the desk.”  He shrugged.  “I hopped on and emailed it to myself.  She gave the address as her current contact in case the office needed to contact her for more information.”

Eddie figured Professor Mason was going to get a huge lecture from the Registrar’s Office about cyber security.  He was relieved that he hadn’t gone through with his own complaint if this was the level of care given to keeping the anonymity of the reporter.  He turned back to the video and pressed play.

“What did you do when you found out?” asked Adams, still in the same conversational tone.

“He said he hadn’t been able to speak with her and explain how she’d just misunderstood what she’d seen,” Giles continued blithely, “so I thought I’d return at the weekend.  Connor’s a bit rough around the edges, I figured that he hadn’t been able to convince her.  I went over yesterday morning.”

“You were found in the back garden,” Adams pointed out.

“I didn’t get a reply from the front door,” Giles waved away the implicit accusation. 

“The police statement from Mr Michael Ferguson stated that he’d found you taking photos through the kitchen window,” said Adams.

Giles squirmed on screen.  “I saw the body through the front window when I peered in after nobody answered the door.  I thought I’d get a scoop on a story.”

Adams smile turned positively feral.  “How do you explain then that Serena Matthews was not found dead in the living room, but in an upstairs’ room?” 

Simon Montelroy stepped in and brought the interview to a close.  Eddie suspected that Adams was going to find himself without a job given the way he’d manoeuvred the man’s son into showing he was nothing but a lying toerag.

Eddie stopped the video.  He handed it back to Oz.  “OK, I see what you mean, but I don’t see what you want us to do here.”

Connor grimaced.  “I didn’t kill her!  He makes it sound like I did it!  I want you to clear my name with the police!”

Eddie and Oz exchanged a look of shared exasperation.

“If you want us to help, tell us what exactly happened from the moment you found out about the academic cheating complaint and got that file,” said Eddie bluntly.

Connor swigged the soda and set the bottle onto the desk.  His uncertainty twisted his mouth into an ugly frown.  He eventually sighed.  “I texted Montelroy straight away because I thought he’d get us both out of it.  I’d given him an early draft with some handwritten points along with the actual essay he paid me for.  I’d already told him if he got caught to say that I was only giving a review of the essay, not the essay.”

Eddie kept his eyes on Connor whose gaze darted around the room before landing on the cheap comic-book print of the Batman that Eddie had gotten for Christmas and hung on the wall by the door.

“I researched Serena Matthews and realised that she was that bird off the telly,” Connor gestured vaguely at the monitor in Eddie’s room.  “I found enough gossip about her marriage breaking down on old forum sites and stuff.  I handed it all over to Montelroy thinking he could use it to blackmail her into retracting the complaint.  He went over on Thursday morning.”

Eddie nodded.  It was likely that the Yard’s forensic team had already identified Montelroy from the restored video footage.

“He was in a state when he called, said he’d seen her and her fella having a full blown argument, that she’d been battered,” Connor grimaced as he looked back at Eddie finally.  “I figured I’d sneak over that afternoon.  I’d get in and send a new email from her own laptop pulling the complaint.”

“You broke into the house,” Eddie said, remembering the other footage he’d seen from the camera in the back garden.

“Managed to shimmy up a back drainpipe and into the house,” Connor agreed.  “She was downstairs in the kitchen so thought I’d be fine.  I found her bedroom alright and her laptop, but it was fried.” He threw up his hands.  “It was a complete bust.” He sighed and scratched absently at his jaw.  “I heard a bang and shouting.  I went down the stairs and sneaked a peek, and there was a bloke in the kitchen arguing with her about her kid, said the,” he mimed quotation marks, “’rotten little slut’ had stolen something from him.  She said her husband had taken Becky and it was all his fault.  He followed her into the living room at the front and there was a scuffle.  She fell and hit her head.  Bloke ran out.”

Eddie pinched the brow of his nose.  “You witnessed Serena Matthews getting killed.”

Connor shrugged.  “I got out of there sharpish myself.  I don’t know what happened to her.”

“You didn’t render aid?” asked Oz, disgusted.  He was leaning against the wall by the door, arms crossed over his chest, his face stern in the dim lighting.

Connor glared right back at him.  “She was fine.  She was moving when I left!”

Oz gave him a very sceptical look and Eddie couldn’t blame him.

“Why did Montelroy go back?  Did you actually tell him that you’d been unable to talk with her?” Eddie asked.

“I told him the electronics were fried and there was no way that we were going to be able to send a second email,” Connor said, avoiding Eddie’s gaze.

He was lying, but Eddie had no idea about what.  He glanced at Oz who shrugged.

“I’m going to call Knight Gilead,” Eddie held up his hand when Connor went to protest.  “You’re a material witness in a murder investigation, Connor.  If you come forward and give evidence, there’s probably a deal you can work out.”

Connor stared at him intently before deflating.  He nodded unhappily.  “Alright then.”

Eddie picked up his mobile and dialled Gilead’s number.  He’d programmed it into his phone after the Ghost incident.  He got the Knight’s voicemail and left a succinct message to pick Connor up from his University room.

He grimaced at the time.  “I’d better call Amir and cancel my run.”

“You go,” Oz said firmly.  He waved at Connor who was sulking in the desk chair.  “I can look after Connor here and drop your key off at the café to you later.”

Eddie thanked Oz.  He dived into his bathroom to get ready and headed out.  As he left the Hall, Gilead sent a text stating he was on his way and Eddie texted back to let him know Connor was with Oz.

He hurried along to the athletics building.  He wasn’t surprised to see Amir was already in the changing rooms and almost ready.  He nodded at him briskly and set about changing into his own running gear.

“Problems with your alarm?” teased Amir.

“Early morning visitor,” Eddie said.  He waved dismissively.  “I’ll tell you later.  Let’s run.”

Amir headed for the gym and Eddie followed him with a wistful glance towards the door that led to the outside running track.  It still wasn’t open. 

Amir set up on one running machine and Eddie took the other.  The treadmill was not as good as pavement under his feet, the wind pushing against him, and fresh air filling his lungs with every breath, but it was repetitive and worked to get him into a rhythm where his mind settled.

The past day seemed completely crazy to Eddie.  He couldn’t believe that Connor had broken into the Fergusons’ house.  He couldn’t believe Connor had turned up at his door demanding help to prove his innocence.

Connor wasn’t innocent, Eddie mused, as he upped the incline.  He smirked as Amir shot him a look but did the same.

Connor was guilty of academic misconduct; he’d even admitted it.  He’d gone to the Fergusons’ house with the intent to do something. Eddie wasn’t convinced that it had been as benign as simply sending an email withdrawing the complaint.  It didn’t make sense since the University was already investigating.

On the other hand, he did believe Connor’s account of being in the house and witnessing an argument between Serena and her husband.  Ray had been on the back garden camera; he’d returned just as Connor had said.  He could believe that Ray had struck Serena and she’d fallen.  Maybe Connor was even honest about her still moving when he’d left. 

Adams had been right in the video interview that Serena had been found upstairs in the guest bedroom.  There was no way that Montelroy had seen a body in the living room through the front window, but it made sense if Connor had told Montelroy about what had happened when Connor was at the house.    

Why had Montelroy even gone back? 

Eddie wondered if it was bad to wish that Serena’s ghost couldn’t have stuck around to give them more insight at the psychic reading.

But it had validated that there had been a lot of anger in the house downstairs. 

Greed.

It had also been greed that they’d discovered upstairs, Eddie mused.  But who had been greedy and for what?

Eddie checked the clock and upped the speed to sprint for five minutes before he slowed it down gradually until it stopped.

“You looked miles away,” Amir commented.

“Professor Gables took me to a psychic reading yesterday,” Eddie gave the simplest explanation he could, Gilead’s remonstrations that everything was to be kept confidential uppermost in his mind.

Amir shot him a sympathetic look.  “That had to be depressing.  Did you see., uh…”

“A ghost?” Eddie shook his head as they entered the changing rooms.  “She’d moved on.”

Amir breathed out sharply.  “There are times I am deeply grateful not to have a drop of magic.”  He grinned at him as he grabbed his toiletries from his locker.  “Breakfast at the café?”

“I have to work,” Eddie said.

“I’ll walk with you and grab some breakfast anyway,” Amir offered.  “You can come talk with me if you’re not busy.”

Eddie smiled and darted into a free shower cubicle.  He got washed and dressed quickly.  He was almost done by the time Amir emerged.

Eddie politely ignored him, even if he was tempted to sneak a peek at Amir’s fit body.  It was great just running with him in the mornings, getting to be his friend, Eddie told himself briskly.  He wasn’t going to give in and have a one-night stand with him.

They walked out into the drizzly weather side-by-side, Amir chattering away about spending another day writing his dissertation on exploring key marketing decisions which had impacted the success of well-known brands.  The café wasn’t far, and Eddie listened to Amir, enjoying the enthusiasm Amir had for the subject even if Eddie had no interest in it himself.

Eddie frowned as they turned into the familiar cobbled street. A cat was running towards him and it looked like Patches. He looked further ahead, and he could see the café’s entrance. It looked like the door was half-open already.

But it was raining.  Mavis didn’t like the door half-open when the weather was bad. 

“Eddie?” asked Amir tentatively as Patches reached them, causing them to stumble to a halt.

The cat yowled.

Eddie threw Amir an apologetic look, stooping to greet Patches who bumped her head against his hand before she ran back towards the café, stopping again to make sure Eddie was following. 

“What’s going on?” asked Amir.

Eddie shook his head.  “I’m not sure, but something isn’t right.”  

They hurried along the street and Eddie stepped through the door of the café with trepidation, following Patches who made for the kitchen. 

The front tables were all empty.  It wasn’t too surprising as it was early for most people.

“Mavis?” he called out.

Amir hovered behind him.

Eddie headed after Patches.  He pushed through the swing door to the kitchen, vaguely aware that Amir was following him.  He saw Mavis’ legs immediately, sticking out from the pantry as though she had fallen. 

Patches meowed plaintively at her side.

“Mavis!” Eddie went to her. 

Mavis lay unmoving on the floor, one of her legs was turned at an odd angle and there was a large bruise on her forehead as though she had been hit by something.  Her chest rose and fell in a shallow, choppy way but relief swept him at the sight of it. 

“I’ll call an ambulance,” Amir said briskly.  He patted Eddie’s shoulder.  “Keep her comfortable.”

Eddie was loathe to move her into a recovery position since he suspected her leg or hip was broken based on the odd angle of it.  He shoved his backpack off and fumbled out of his coat to put it over her.  He thought he’d read somewhere keeping someone injured warm would help with the shock.  He wished he’d taken some proper first aid training.

He was vaguely aware of Amir answering the operator’s questions.

Yes, she was breathing.

No, she wasn’t conscious.

Amir gestured back towards the front.  “I’m going to wait for the ambulance outside.  Are you OK in here?”

Eddie nodded. 

Left alone with only Patches who had lain down beside Mavis, he felt useless.  He carefully took hold of Mavis’ hand like he would if she was his Nan.

What had happened, Eddie wondered.  Had Mavis fallen?  But then why had the door been open? 

A low groan snapped Eddie’s attention back to Mavis and he squeezed her hand gently. 

“Mavis?” Eddie said hopefully.

She groaned again and started to stir under his coat.

“Easy, Mavis,” Eddie said quickly, “don’t move!  You’ve had an accident and need to stay still.  I think one of your legs might be broken.”

Mavis gave a sharp cry.  Her eyes flickered open.  They were glassy and wide as they blinked slowly.  “Ed…Edward?”

“Yes,” Eddie said, “I’m here.  Amir called an ambulance.  They’re on their way.”

Mavis groaned as she turned her head to look at him, wincing deeply and flinching at the overhead light. 

“Easy, just stay still, Mavis,” Eddie said again.

Mavis tightened her fingers around Eddie’s hand.  “Ray…it was Ray.  He…hit me.”  She panted, trying to catch her breath.

Eddie stroked a thumb over her knuckles trying to comfort her.  “He isn’t here now.”

“No,” Mavis said, “he’s…gone after Becky.” Her frantic gaze caught Eddie’s.  “Allie…Allie hates Dundee.  Refused him the…the transition.” She swallowed hard and licked her lips.  “Allie…Allie’s probably gone to Loch Maundy, to his old University friend, Gayle…Gayle Lopez.  She’s a doctor of magic.  Ray went through…went through his things…Patches ran him off.”

There was the sound of voices in the café, the paramedics arriving to take care of Mavis. 

“I’ll call Knight Gilead,” Eddie promised.  “He and Agent Kingsley, they’ll protect Allie.”

“You…you must go,” Mavis said, “Allie…Allie will trust you.  Promise…me!”

“I promise,” Eddie said.

He’d barely gotten the words out before the paramedics were suddenly there.  Patches scarpered away into the back passage which led to the flat. 

Eddie allowed himself to be gently manhandled out of the way and Mavis’ hand slipped from his with one last desperate squeeze as the paramedics took over.

o-O-o

“This is completely crazy!”

Eddie kept his hand on the handle above the door and tried not to look at the twisty country road ahead of them.  Jemima was a good driver, he reminded himself.  The roadside hedge came impossibly close to his side window.  She had managed to drive them from Kendal to Iolaire Bay without so much as a near-miss, he thought again determinedly.

“Jemima,” Hayley sat forward bravely, poking her head between the front two seats of the car.  “This is only a thirty zone.”

Jemima eased off the gas pedal.  “Sorry, just…” she raised a hand from the driving wheel which made Eddie’s stomach clench uncomfortably, “this is crazy, we’re agreed on that, right?”

“I think it’s crazy,” Amir agreed from the seat behind Eddie. 

“You didn’t have to come along,” Hayley pointed out with a sharp bluntness that made Eddie wince.  “I heard Eddie tell you more than once when we picked the pair of you up that you could stay behind.”

“And as I said to Eddie,” Amir began in a hard tone, “I want to help even if it means being stuffed into the back of a Ford Fiesta with you.”

“Just be grateful Oz was already with Knight Gilead or he’d be in here too,” Hayley retorted.

“What did I ever do to you to make you this unfriendly?” demanded Amir.

“What?  Ghosting Eddie for weeks isn’t enough?”

Eddie cleared his throat noisily, shooting a wide-eyed look at Jemima who just shrugged as though she agreed with Hayley. 

“I’ve apologised to Eddie and he’s accepted,” Amir pointed out.  “Why can’t…”

“He’s giving you another chance to be a friend,” Hayley agreed tersely, “that doesn’t mean that you get an automatic second chance with the rest of us.  You hurt him again and you’ll answer for it.”

Eddie was mortified.  Unaccountably touched, since nobody but his Nan had ever really stood up for him in the way Hayley had just done before, but also mortified.

“You might give me some allowance for the fact that I had to process finding out a friend had killed another, and yet another friend was going mad due to a blossoming psychic gift!” Amir said roughly.  “It was a lot!”

There was an awkward beat of silence.

“I accept your argument,” Hayley said primly.  “Tracy said she struggled with finding out the truth about it all when we met up at Christmas.”

“You’re Tracy’s cousin?” Amir snorted.  “That explains a lot.”  He sighed loud enough for Eddie to hear it in the front.  “What about you, Lady Jemima?  Anything to add?”

“Me?” Jemima shook her head.  Her dark hair was bound into a neat French braid.  “Hayles and I did Rock, Paper, Scissors for which of us was going to threaten you.  She said everything I wanted to say.”

Eddie stared at Jemima aghast.

Jemima darted a look at him.  “You didn’t think we were going to let someone get away with treating you badly?”

Eddie weakly gestured with his free hand.  “I, uh…thank you?”

“You’re welcome,” Jemima said.  “We’re almost at Loch Maundy; where exactly am I going?”

Eddie picked up his phone and read out the address he’d Googled.  “Black Wolf Clinic, Bluebell Lane, off Maundy Road.” 

Jemima pointed at the computer screen on the dash. “Put it in the Maps app.”

Eddie focused and waved a hand over the screen.  It instantly rippled through the program and displayed the route.

“Continue on the B939A for another ten miles,” the dulcet tone of the satnav’s voice sounded out.

“Right,” Jemima said, fingers tightening on the wheel.  “What’s the game plan here, Eddie?”

“Knight Gilead texted me that Agent Kingsley is on her way with some officers and to wait for her,” Eddie stated firmly.  “Let’s just get there and scout out if Ray is anywhere near and hold until the cavalry arrives.”

“Do we need to tackle Ray if we see him?” asked Jemima worriedly.

He wondered if she was remembering them being trapped with Kelly in her room when they realised that she had been the one attacking Eileen.

“In two hundred yards, turn left onto Maundy Road,” the satnav intoned.

“We’re not engaging with him if we can help it,” Eddie said firmly.  He was hoping that Kingsley beat them there.  He’d texted Gilead as soon as the paramedics had shuffled him out of the way.

“That’s seems like a sensible approach,” Hayley said with satisfaction.  “Poor Mavis.  She must be out of her mind with worry.”

“I can’t believe he went after her,” Jemima said.

“Why did he go after Mavis?” asked Hayley.

“It sounds like Becky took something of Ray’s, whether deliberately or not,” Eddie mused out loud.  “Maybe that was behind Serena’s split with him.  He followed her and Becky to Scotland to intimidate them into giving it to him.”

“When Oz was changing to go with Gilead, he said Connor witnessed Serena and Ray arguing about something,” Hayley said. 

“Maybe but I think Connor already knew about whatever it was from Montelroy before he even entered the house,” Eddie said.  He’d been thinking about it since Mavis had told him that Ray had come looking for something valuable to him.  “Montelroy was at the Fergusons’ house when Serena threw Ray out on Thursday lunchtime.  I think he overheard them arguing then.  He told Connor.”  It explained why there was such an overwhelming feeling of greed in the house.

“That’s why Connor went to the house himself; he went to search the house for it,” Jemima deduced, catching his train of thought immediately.

“And it’s why Montelroy went back to the house on Saturday,” Hayley added.

“Yes,” Eddie said.  “Whether they were going to use it to blackmail Serena or Ray, or just wanted it for themselves…” he shrugged awkwardly in the confines of the seatbelt.

Hayley hummed thoughtfully.  “Do you think Ray killed her or do you think Connor finished her off searching for the stolen item?”

“I think Ray did it,” Eddie admitted.  “I just think Connor was in the wrong place at the wrong time.  The body was found upstairs, and Connor told Montelroy about the argument in the living room.  Montelroy assumed the body was in the living room; that’s why he lied about seeing it through the window.” 

The video footage he’d reconstructed had shown Connor leaving the house just behind Ray.

“But if Serena was badly injured by Ray enough that it killed her, how did she make her way upstairs?” asked Jemima.

Eddie shrugged.  “I have no idea.  Gilead hasn’t exactly shared the details of the autopsy and Professor Gables only said she died violently.”

“Right,” Hayley said grimly, “well, we are all going to stay well away from Ray Matthews.”

“I second that,” Amir added.

“In two hundred yards, take the right turn onto Bluebell Lane,” the satnav directed.  “Your destination will be on your left.”

Jemima sucked in a breath.  They made the turning.

Eddie’s hand clenched on the handle as she turned a little too fast.  He pointed at the discreet sign.  “There.”

Jemima slowed down more to make the driveway. 

They were almost immediately into a small and mostly empty carpark.  Jemima swung the car into an empty spot and brought the car to a halt.

Without the noise of the car engine, it seemed unnaturally silent.

Eddie glanced around the car park.  There was no sign of Kingsley.  Over in a section marked off for employees, there were four cars.  Two cars were parked up on the front row of the visitors’ section.

An older Volkswagen model caught his attention.  It was a dull green colour, had slightly dented doors, and a Yoda sticker in the back window gave away its ownership.

“That’s Allie’s car,” Eddie said.  “They’re definitely here.”  He took a breath.  “I’ll go inside and forewarn the receptionist, see if I can talk with Doctor Lopez or Allie.”

“I’ll come with you,” Jemima and Amir offered at the same time.

Eddie looked back over the seat and shook his head at Amir.  “I’d feel better if you stayed with Hayley rather than leaving both of them alone out here.”

“Good point,” Amir said.

Hayley huffed.  She folded her arms over her chest and glared at Eddie.  “I can take care of myself.”

“I need you can take care of Amir too,” Eddie said cheerily. 

She rolled her eyes at him.

Jemima nudged him.  “Come on then.”

They got out of the car and walked quickly over to the icy pathway that led up to the main door of the clinic.  It was glass fronted with a fancy frosting that obscured the lobby.  There was a disabled press button to the right, but Eddie pulled on the door handle to open it and ushered Jemima inside.

A middle-aged man looked up from the receptionist desk.  He wore a blue security uniform.  His tag identified him as ‘Harold.’

“May I help you?” asked Harold brusquely.

“I’m hoping to speak to me Alison Hartford or Doctor Gayle Lopez?” Eddie said, aware that his very student attire was probably not working in his favour.  “Ms Hartford’s aunt, Mavis Anderson, was injured badly this morning in an altercation.”

The guard’s expression cleared of its glower.  “I’ll call Doctor Lopez to come and speak to you.”  He pointed at the sofa to their left next to a water fountain.  “Take a seat.”

Eddie and Jemima went over and sat down gingerly on the comfortable and pristinely white sofa. 

“This is the same designer my mother favours,” Jemima said quietly.  “It costs a fortune.”

“The clinic is a private magical medical practice,” Eddie replied.  “It costs a fortune to come here.”

The sound of high heels clicking on the polished parquet floor had them both looking behind them.  A tall woman walked towards them, drawing them to their feet.

Eddie took in the woman’s smart business suit.  It was a deep rose pink which suited her olive complexion and the amber eyes she pinned on him as she neared.  Her dark hair was smoothed back into a bun, low on the back of her head.  She stopped in front of them and Eddie took in the discreet gold jewellery she wore including a delicate gold chain with a wolf charm.

“Doctor Lopez?” enquired Jemima politely.

“Yes, and you are?” asked Lopez in a Scottish accent that reminded Eddie of Allie.

“Lady Jemima Wednesbury-Scott,” Jemima answered promptly.  She waved at Eddie.  “This is Edward Wiliams.  We’re here on behalf of Mavis Anderson.”

“You told the guard she’d had an accident?” asked Lopez brusquely.

Eddie grimaced.  “Not exactly.”  He sighed.  “Mavis was attacked this morning by Ray Matthews, Serena Matthews’ husband.”  He saw shock ripple across her stern face for a second.  “He claimed that her daughter had stolen something from him.  He wanted Mavis to tell him where Allie had likely taken her.  When she wouldn’t tell him, he hit her and went through Allie’s things.”

“How do you know this?” asked Lopez, her eyes heavy with suspicion.

“I work at the café with Allie,” Eddie said bluntly.  “I’m not certain you’re aware, but Ray is wanted for questioning in the investigation into Serena Matthews’ death.”

Lopez’s eyes widened as her arched eyebrows shot up.  “Serena is dead?”

“It’s been all over the news,” Jemima pointed out crisply.

Lopez touched her forehead briefly.  “I have been sequestered looking after a young patient.”  She shook her head.  “Wait here.”  She walked away, disappearing through a door at the far entrance.

Jemima huffed.  “Well, that was…”

A wailing alarm blared through the building, loud and strident.

Harold, the guard, swore and hurried out from the desk, running away from them towards the other side of the clinic.

Eddie didn’t think, he just started running after him. 

They turned a corner, heading towards the back. 

A door was smashed open, half-hanging off its hinges.

Harold swore and reached for his radio.

Eddie caught a movement outside.   He pointed.  “There!” 

It was Matthews.

He took off after him, his heart racing.  If he got close enough, he’d probably be able to stop Matthews with a little bit of magic.

Matthews ran around to the back of the building to a goods service lane.  His car was parked over to the side.  He was heading towards it at speed, moving surprisingly fast for a man of his size.

Eddie needed to be closer…   

Suddenly a black wolf burst from a side door, causing Eddie to stumble and stop in shocked disbelief. 

The wolf chased Matthews down without hesitation, jumping on his back and sending the bulky man face forward to the ground just behind his car.

Eddie turned at the sound of pounding footsteps behind him and he held up a hand to stop Harold and anyone else from getting too close to the wolf.

Harold puffed for breath and grabbed for his radio.  “Code Wolf!  I repeat I have a Code Wolf!”

The side door to the building sprang open again and Eddie gave a sigh of relief at the sight of Allie.

She looked frazzled, her hair a messy brown cloud falling unrestrained around her shoulders.  She wore an old black t-shirt, and sweatpants that were too short for her.  Her feet were incongruously stuffed into sandals.

Sandals.  In Winter.

Eddie wasn’t a fashion plate by any stretch of the imagination, but even he drew the line at sandals in cold weather.

The sound of more pounding feet had him turning just in time to see Jemima, Amir and Hayley pull up behind himself and Harold.

“Agent Kingsley is five minutes out,” Hayley relayed crisply.  “She’s asked for Matthews to be restrained if we can do so safely.”

“I think he’s restrained,” Eddie waved at the tableau in front of them. 

The wolf had Matthews pinned to the ground, its sharp teeth close to the nape of Matthews’ neck but otherwise it wasn’t making a move.

Harold huffed.  “You said the police are on the way?”

Hayley nodded. 

“You kids stay back from the wolf!” Harold said sternly.  He left swiftly, Eddie assumed to be ready to greet Kingsley and eventually show her the way to them.

Allie’s head suddenly swivelled in Eddie’s direction and he changed course, hurrying over to Eddie instead of making his way to the wolf.

“Eddie!” Allie swept him into a brief hug.  “Is Mavis alright?  Have you heard anything else?”

“The paramedics said it was a fractured leg and a likely concussion,” Eddie said quickly.  “They took her into the cottage hospital.  I contacted her friend Maureen and she was going to go over to stay with her.”

“That’s good,” Allie said, closing her eyes briefly before reopening them to look over distractedly in Matthews’ direction.  “Becky’s magic was awake, and Serena’s been hiding it.  Becky had a very bad upheaval and she’s only just stabilised or I would have called Mavis to let her know.  We’ve been sequestered ever since,” she blinked, “um, Thursday?”  She turned back to Eddie.  “What day is it?”

“Monday,” Eddie said slowly. 

Allie didn’t know, he realised.  She didn’t know about Serena.   He glanced at his three friends who looked back at him encouragingly.

“Allie,” Eddie began, “I don’t know how to tell you this, but Serena was found dead at her parents’ home on Saturday.”

Allie’s gaze jerked back to him.  “What?” she said faintly.

“Scotland Yard are investigating,” Eddie said gently.  He gestured at Matthews.  “He was on video footage Thursday afternoon returning to the house.  He said Becky took something from him.”

Eddie could feel Allie’s magic churning, but her control was stellar.  Her jaw tightened almost imperceptibly before she whirled around, stomping over to the prone Matthews and the wolf.

Allie crouched down beside the protesting man who was wailing for the wolf to get off him.  “Did you kill her, Ray?  Did you kill Serena?”

“I don’t have to tell you shit, Alistair!”

Allie conjured a ball of fire into the palm of her hand. 

Eddie’s eyebrows rose.  He hadn’t realised that Allie was quite so powerful, but if her magic was elemental and fire-based, it explained why she felt comfortable walking around in a t-shirt and sandals in the middle of January.

“OK, OK!” Matthews spluttered.  “I just…I went back again to scare her into telling me where you’d taken the brat!  She just wouldn’t tell me and I…I lost my temper and…”

The wolf growled.

“I didn’t mean to kill her, Alistair!” Matthews cried out.  “She just wouldn’t stop taunting me about my key!”

“What key?” Allie demanded.

“My crypto secure passkey!”  Matthews snapped. 

Eddie breathed out sharply.  A lot of crypto accounts were protected by a security code on an external USB key.  If Matthews had lost his, getting to his account would be difficult.

“Serena took it and gave it to Becky thinking I wouldn’t notice!” Matthews continued.  “All the bitch had to do was give it back to me!  I only grabbed Becky to convince her to hand it over!  I didn’t mean to hurt her!  It was Serena’s fault!”

“You’re the reason Becky’s magic destabilised?!  Her magic protected her against you?!” Allie gave a guttural cry and pulled her hand back as though to throw the fireball at Matthews.

Matthews sobbed.  “Please!  Please!  Don’t kill me!”

Allie shot him a disgusted look, lowering her hand.  She looked over at Eddie.  “Can you put him to sleep?”

“Yes?” Eddie crossed over to them, shooting the wolf a tentative look as he got closer.

“Don’t worry, she won’t hurt you,” Allie promised. 

Eddie reached out slowly, focused his magic, and tapped the top of Matthews’ head lightly.

Matthews slumped; his body immediately dumped into a deep sleep.

Allie rose to her feet and extinguished the fireball.  “You can get off him now, Gayle.”

The wolf huffed and leaped off Matthew shifting in a blur and a blink of an eye back into the smartly dressed woman who had greeted Eddie and Jemima in the lobby.  She spat towards Matthews’ body.

“Bastard!” Lopez snapped.  She swept Allie up into a hug.  “Come, Allie!  We should go inside and get ready for the police.” She rubbed Allie’s back comfortingly.  “We must break the news to Becky of her Mama.”

They walked away, leaving Eddie standing sentinel over Matthews’ sleeping body.

Harold rounded the corner leading Agent Kingsley and two uniformed police officers.  Kingsley stopped Harold with a gentle hand on his arm, said something under her breath to him, and he left.

Kingsley looked over at where his friends were huddled.

“Doctor Lopez and Allie Hartford confronted Matthews before they asked Eddie to put him under a sleep spell.  I got Matthews’ confession on my phone,” Jemima said briskly.  “If you send me your email address, I’ll forward the video to you.”

Kingsley smiled warmly at her.  “Thank you, flower.  Why don’t you three head back to the lobby?  There’s a couple of officers there who’ll take your statements.”

“I’ll wait for Eddie,” Amir said before Jemima or Hayley could offer.

His friends looked over to Eddie to silently ask if he was alright with that, and he gave a quick nod.

Eddie felt warmed by Amir’s protectiveness.  He waved Kingsley over. 

Kingsley knelt down and whistled.  “Nice sleep spell, Eddie.”  She handcuffed Matthews’ hands behind his back and motioned for the two officers to arrange to carry him out.  She looked at Eddie thoughtfully.  “Busy morning, flower.”

“Yeah,” Eddie sighed.  He pushed a hand through his shaggy hair.  “I told Allie about Serena.  She went with Doctor Lopez to tell Becky.”

Kingsley grimaced.  “You really should have left that for us.”

Eddie shrugged in response.  “Matthews said Serena took a secure passkey to his crypto account.  She told him she’d given it to Becky.  I’m pretty sure Montelroy overheard Serena and Matthews arguing about it Thursday morning and told Connor.”

Kingsley sighed.  “Just before I left to come here, Connor had confessed that Montelroy had promised him that if he could steal the key, he’d get his Dad to make sure Connor was included in any deal made to overlook the academic cheating.”  She wagged a gloved finger at him.  “If Knight Gilead asks, you didn’t hear that from me.”

Eddie smiled a little.  “You know if the key is anywhere in that house when Becky had her magical outburst, it would have been fried.”

“Connor said the same. He told Montelroy,” Kingsley said, “I guess Montelroy didn’t believe him since he went back anyway.”  She began walking back to the front, following the officers who were lugging Matthews between them.  “Come on, lads.  Let’s get these statements over and done with and you can get back to your studying.”

Amir and Eddie hung back a little as they started walking behind her.

Amir nudged him.  “You alright?”

Eddie nodded.  “Just glad it’s over.”

Amir smiled warmly at him.  “I guess being your friend isn’t going to be boring.”

o-O-o

Allie handed Eddie the mug of coffee and slid into the chair on the opposite side of the café table.  She looked exhausted and her normal zany outfits were completely missing.  She was dressed down in blue jeans and a washed-out t-shirt which proclaimed her love for an old rock band. 

It had been two weeks since Matthews’ arrest at Black Wolf Clinic.  The café had been closed all that time much to the disappointment of Eddie’s bank account, but he understood.  Mavis’ broken leg and concussion had put her out of commission completely and Allie had been fully occupied taking care of her daughter.  Allie’s call that Sunday morning to come over to the café for a discussion had been a surprise.

Eddie gave a nod of appreciation as he took a sip of the coffee.  “How are things?”

Allie glanced over at where her daughter, a miniature Allie, sat colouring at another table.  “We have good days and bad days.” She pushed a stray lock of hair back behind her ear.  “Becky’s magic is stabilised enough for her to bring her home.”

There were a multitude of questions hovering on Eddie’s lips, but somehow, he kept himself from saying any of them.

Allie smiled as though she’d read his mind.  “Becky will move in with me upstairs for the time being until we need to find a bigger place than the flat.  I have full custody of her thanks to the arrangements Serena and I had already put in place for when one of us…well.”  She sighed.  “I’ve discussed things with Diane and Mike.  Serena’s estate will go into trust for Becky when she’s older, and I’ve agreed that Becky will stay in contact with them, maybe even go to stay with them regularly.”  She grimaced.  “Well, once they’ve moved from that house.”

Eddie nodded sympathetically.

“Part of the reason I called you over was that I never really got the opportunity to thank you for everything you did to help,” Allie says.  “Knight Gilead and Agent Kingsley both said that you aided the investigation enormously by restoring the video footage and in encouraging Derrick Connor to come forward.” 

Eddie blushed.

She reached over and clasped his arm gently.  “Then there is how you helped Mavis and kept your promise to her to make sure I was warned about Ray.  Just…thank you, Eddie.”

Eddie held Allie’s sincere gaze feeling that he really didn’t deserve the fulsome praise.  “I’m sure anyone would have done the same.”

Allie patted his arm and settled back, reaching for her own coffee.  “I really don’t think you’d be surprised at how many people would not have done the same thing.”

Eddie covered his discomfort by taking a long gulp of his drink.

“The second reason for calling you is that I’m hoping that you’ll be available for shifts this week?” Allie said briskly.

“I can be,” Eddie agreed eagerly.  “I have some tutorials and lectures to work around.”

“Well, let’s go over your schedule,” Allie offered, “and work out a proper part-time position for you.”  She waved away his surprise.  “Mavis is not going to be back to full strength for a while.  She’ll be here once she’s feeling a bit better, but she’ll likely be dictating operations from the comfort of a chair in the kitchen.”

Eddie smiled and pulled out his laptop to bring up his planner.  For the next few minutes, he and Allie worked in a comfortable camaraderie to create a schedule that worked for both of them.  There were definite gaps though and Eddie suggested Oz as a potential candidate to fill them or to provide an extra hand when busy. 

Allie was in the middle of confirming she’d speak to Mavis about Oz when Patches jumped up into the chair next to her witch and dropped something hard onto the table.

Allie stopped talking as she stared at the black rectangle with the logo of a well-known crypto site stamped upon it.  “Is that…”

“That looks like a USB passkey,” Eddie said.  He looked at the cat with a raised eyebrow. 

Patches stared back at Eddie with feline disdain, curled around and started washing themselves.

“Didn’t Becky stay overnight with you before you went to the Fergusons that week?” Eddie thought out loud.  “Maybe she left it here.” 

Mavis had said Patches ran Matthews out when he went digging in Allie’s flat…had the cat known?  Eddie shook himself.  Familiars were smart, but he’d never heard of one that smart.

Patches suddenly glared at him as though the cat had heard his thoughts.

Never mind, Eddie thought deliberately, clearly familiars were brilliant and intelligent.

“Well,” Allie said, clearing her throat.  She picked up the key. “I guess we should hand this into the police. It does belong to Ray after all.  Not that he can spend it since he’s going to be locked up in prison for the rest of his life!”  There were unhidden glee coating every word.

It was a fitting ending for Ray, Eddie mused.  A very fitting ending indeed.     

fin.

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Copyright Rachel F Hundred 2024.