‘It might not have been him. Diall is just one piece of the puzzle.’
I opened my mouth to argue but the expression on Winter’s face stopped me. I supposed it had been worth a try. ‘If we recover the Manuscript,’ I asked hopefully, ‘do you think we’ll get a holiday as a bonus?’
‘You’ve only been working for three days. Why on earth would you need a holiday?’
Given what we’d been through, that was an inane question. ‘If you have to ask then you’ll never understand.’
Winter arched an eyebrow in my direction. ‘You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?’
‘Hell, yes. Getting half-drowned and seeing dead bodies is the most fun I’ve had in years.’
Amusement flickered in his eyes. ‘I mean pretending to be lazy and needing a break.’ He leant forward. ‘Secretly, you love this. You just don’t want to admit it.’
‘I don’t love it,’ I declared, a tad too loudly. ‘I love sleeping and watching TV and reading books and occasionally getting up to make a cup of tea.’
‘Yeah, yeah.’ His eyes gleamed. ‘Methinks the lady doth protest too much.’
I tutted. He was being utterly ridiculous. I did shift my gaze away from his knowing blue eyes, however.
With a mutter, I left Winter where he was and went into the bathroom. Only then did I pull out the jar containing Diall’s ossombe root. For one brief moment, I examined it carefully. Then I gave a shrug. I didn’t have to use it now. There wasn’t a sell-by date. I opened the bathroom cabinet and carefully placed it behind an old bottle of shampoo. As far as anyone knew now, it didn’t even exist.
Chapter Seventeen
Despite Winter’s admonitions, it was obvious he was of the same mind as I was: Diall had to be involved in this somehow, even if he wasn’t the sole culprit. There was no chance that he was simply an innocent party or that his death was unrelated. Solve Diall’s murder and we’d find the missing Manuscript. It sounded easy when I thought of it that way.
‘We’ll start with the other people in Diall’s department,’ Winter declared decisively as we headed back to the car. I was starting to feel like a yo-yo with all this going in and coming out again. ‘We already know he sent two of them to commit a crime against Ms Harrington. Perhaps he has done the same to others and they will lead us to more clues.’
‘Great!’ I beamed. ‘Can we stop along the way? I want to pick up a magnifying glass.’
‘No.’
‘But all the best investigators use them. It’ll help us hunt for clues. I was thinking perhaps I should get a gun as well.’
‘This is not a television episode. And it’s obvious that you have the skills to defend yourself if you need to.’
I thought mournfully of the gun used by my would-be taxi mugger. I could have used that but the police would have impounded it by now. That’s what I got for trying to stay on the right side of the law. I could magic up something into a gun but it wouldn’t be like the real thing. Transmogrification was never perfect, especially when technology was involved.
‘A gun takes less time to use than magic.’ I formed my forefinger and thumb into an imaginary weapon. ‘Bang. You’re dead.’ I grinned. ‘I win.’
‘That is not necessarily true.’ Winter glared at me. ‘I’ll prove it. You be the bad guy with the gun.’
I clapped my hands in delight. ‘Role-play? Do I get to dress up?’
‘You’re fine as you are.’
‘But…’
‘Ivy.’
I rolled my eyes. ‘Fine,’ I muttered.
‘Walk towards me,’ Winter instructed. ‘When you decide the time is right, you can shoot me with your … gun.’
I mimed placing my weapon in my pocket. ‘This is going to be a piece of cake.’ I started strolling; to add to the atmosphere, I also started humming. Nothing to see here, just a plumpish blonde out for a walk. Less than fifteen feet away, Winter pulled back his shoulders and headed in my direction. It was like the world’s worst-ever game of chicken.
Although I stayed on the balls of my feet, I forced myself to look relaxed. Even though he knew it was coming, I still wanted Winter to think I was going to wait until he passed me before I reacted.
I didn’t look directly at him but I could see him with my peripheral vision. When we were almost shoulder to shoulder, I spun to my left and started to pull out my imaginary gun. Winter also turned, checked my hand, then drew a rune. Before I could bring my hand up to chest level, I was thrown backwards by an immense force. I landed on my back, winded and in considerable pain.
‘Shit!’ Winter jogged over to me. ‘Are you alright?’
I lifted my head weakly. ‘It hurts,’ I admitted.
‘Where?’
I pointed to my back. ‘I’m not sure I can move.’
He bent down. ‘I’m so sorry, Ivy. I never intended to—’
I lifted up my hand again and this time managed to get my ‘shot’ off. ‘Bang.’
For a moment Winter stared at me then he growled under his breath, ‘You cheated.’
‘No, I didn’t. I took advantage of the situation.’ I grinned at him. ‘I still won.’ I stuck my hand into the air and waved it around. ‘Help me up.’
He tutted. ‘You’re incorrigible.’ He reached down, grabbing my palm with his left hand. What I hadn’t realised was that he’d pulled out a smattering of herbs from his right pocket. As he hefted me upwards, he blew them into my face.
‘What the—?’ A cloud of choking black magical smoke enveloped me. I let go of Winter’s hand and tried to waft it away. Hearing him chuckle, I spun round as if in the throes of panic. Then I launched a sharp kick, catching him on the shin.
Unable to see him, I leapt backwards, thinking I’d be out of his reach. Winter was faster than I expected, however, and he lunged towards me and barrelled me to the ground. He landed on top of me, just managing to brace himself to avoid crushing me completely. Not that I reckoned I would have minded that much. His blue eyes pierced mine and I shivered.
‘Are you cold?’
‘No.’
We stared at each other. His head dipped down further until I could feel his hot breath against my skin. ‘Ivy,’ he began, his voice strained.
‘Good afternoon! Do you need some help there?’
I turned my head to the side. It was Mrs Burridge, the woman who lived on the floor above me. ‘We’re fine,’ I called out.
Winter’s mouth twisted, then he shifted his weight, pulling himself upright.
‘Are you sure? Because I know a great spell.’
‘Don’t worry, Mrs B. It’s all good.’
She peered at us both. ‘If you’re sure.’
I coughed. ‘Yep.’
She smiled benignly and continued on her way.
‘I don’t know her,’ Winter said, no longer looking at me. ‘She’s a witch?’
I stood up and dusted myself off. ‘She thinks she is. The most magic she’s ever managed was to avoid paying the building maintenance fees for three years.’ Admittedly, I wished I’d accomplished that.
Winter let out a non-committal grunt. ‘We should go.’
I coughed. ‘Yeah.’ I hesitated and he looked at me questioningly. ‘I still won though.’
‘No, you didn’t.’
I folded my arms smugly. Yeah, I did.