Witch is How Things Had Changed (A Witch P.I. Mystery Book 25)
Adele Abbott
Introduction
If you have read seasons #1 and #2 (books #1 to #24) of the Witch P.I. Mystery series, you can skip this section.
For those of you joining late, I would highly recommend you start at book one (Witch is When it all Began) in order to get the most enjoyment from the series. However, if you prefer to start with this book, what follows is a very brief rundown of what’s happened so far.
Private investigator, Jill Gooder, is the star of the Witch P.I. Mysteries. Our story began when she discovered she was a witch. Since then, she’s divided her life between the human world (in Washbridge), the supernatural world (in Candlefield) and the ghost world (Ghost Town better known as GT). Jill is able to move between these three worlds at will. She has adventures in all three worlds.
Jill’s birth family are spread over both Candlefield and Ghost Town. Grandma, Aunt Lucy, and Jill’s cousins, twins: Amber and Pearl, live in Candlefield. Jill’s mother, father and their new partners all live in GT.
In the human world, Jill’s adoptive parents died some time ago, but she’s still very close to her sister, Kathy, and Kathy’s family: husband, Peter, and their two children, Lizzie and Mikey.
Jill’s relationship with detective Jack Maxwell was rather fiery at first, but over time they fell in love and have now lived together for just over a year. When we last saw Jill (in the last book of season #2 - Witch is When It Was Over), Jack had just asked her to marry him. Although there was nothing Jill wanted more than to say yes, she felt she must first share her secret with him. She told him she was a witch.
This book, the first one of season #3, picks up the story twelve months later.
Arguably, the star of these books is still Winky—a one-eyed cat who is completely crazy, as you’ll soon find out.
I hope you enjoy the Witch P.I. Mysteries.
Adele Abbott.
Chapter 1
(Author’s note: This is the first book of season three. It picks up the story twelve months after the previous book.)
When I arrived at my offices, I thought for a moment that I was in the wrong room. The furniture hadn’t changed, but Mrs V’s desk, the filing cabinets, and all the chairs were in the wrong place. Normally, Mrs V’s desk was to my left, but this morning, it was to my right—over by the window. The filing cabinets, which were usually at the far side of the office, were to my left where Mrs V’s desk would normally be.
“Morning, Jill.” Mrs V was looking exceptionally pleased with herself. “What do you think of the new look?”
“I—err—did you move all the furniture around?”
“With my old bones?” She laughed. “It takes me all my time to get up the stairs these days. Brian and his assistant did it yesterday.”
“And Brian is?”
“Brian Briggs. He’s a grandmaster.”
“A chess player?”
“No, dear. Not that kind of grandmaster. He’s a Feng Shui grandmaster.”
“Feng Shui? Isn’t that just nonsense?”
“Certainly not.” She tutted. “Feng Shui was developed by the Chinese; it helps to harmonize people with their surrounding environment. That’s what Brian says, and he should know. After all, he is a—”
“Grandmaster. Yes, so you said. Brian Briggs? He doesn’t sound very Chinese.”
“He isn’t; he comes from Deptford, but he’s studied Feng Shui for almost twenty years.”
“How exactly did you come across him?”
“Do you remember Doreen Daggers?”
“Mrs D? Your synchronised knitting partner?”
“That’s right. She’d been having so many problems with her dining room that she was almost on the point of despair.”
“What kind of problems?”
“I didn’t like to ask. Anyway, one of her friends put her in touch with Brian, and after he’d worked his Feng Shui magic, all her dining room problems disappeared. So, I got to thinking that this office has never felt quite right.”
“How do you mean?”
“I’ve never been able to reach the same knitting speed here as I do at home.”
“What about your actual work? You know, the stuff you do for me?”
“I don’t have a problem with that because it only ever takes me a few minutes each day. It’s the knitting that’s the issue. At least, it was until Brian worked his magic.” She held up her knitting—an orange and red scarf. “Look how much I’ve managed to get done already this morning. Twice what I would normally do.”
“That’s great. I do see one minor problem with this new layout, though.”
“What’s that, dear?”
“The socket for the landline is over the other side of the room where your desk used to be.”
“Don’t worry. I brought an extension lead from home.”
“You mean this tripwire across the room? I’m not sure the clients will be impressed if they have to limbo underneath it.”
“You’re right. I’ll give the phone company a call and get them to move the socket over to this side of the office. I don’t imagine it will cost too much.”
“Okay.”
“By the way, Jill, Jules called me on Saturday.”
“How’s she doing?”
“She sounded very chipper. She’s still with that nice young man, Dexter.”
“They must have been together for over a year now.”
“They have, and they’re going to get engaged soon—she said we can both expect an invitation to the party.”
“Great.”
“It sounds like she’s enjoying her new job too. The money’s good, but she misses being able to knit because now she actually has some real work to do.”
Ouch.
Jules had landed herself an admin role at Washbridge police station. I’d been sorry to see her go, but it was nice to get back to having just a single PA/receptionist. Two had been something of an overkill.
“I suppose I’d better make a start.” I stepped over the tripwire. “Make sure you warn any visitors about this, won’t you?”
“Of course. How are the wedding preparations going? You hardly ever talk about it.”
“Jack’s got everything in hand. Well, him and Marceau.”
“The wedding planner?”
“Yeah. That man drives me to distraction. I thought his brother was bad, but Marceau is even worse. He’s coming over again tonight.”
Marceau Montage, our wedding planner, was the brother of Maurice Montage, the interior designer/ballroom dancing instructor. Kathy had first come up with the idea of hiring a wedding planner, and suggested Marceau. I’d balked at the idea—how difficult could it be to organise a wedding? But Jack had thought it was a great idea and had somehow managed to persuade me we should do it. Since then, Jack seemed to spend more time with Marceau than he did with me.
“Have you had the final fitting for your dress, Jill?”
“Not yet. It’s one night this week—Wednesday, I think.”
“I can’t wait to see it. I bet it’s gorgeous.”
“It ought to be. I could have bought a small holiday home for what it cost.”
“Don’t exaggerate. It’ll all be worth it on the day.”
“I guess so.”
I’d done my best to persuade Jack that he and I should elope to Gretna Green, and get married in front of a couple of witnesses picked off the street, but he wouldn’t hear of it. Don’t get me wrong, I love Jack to bits, and wanted nothing more than to marry him and spend the rest of our lives together. But the wedding itself? Blah!
“Oh, I almost forgot, Jill. Your grandmother phoned just before you arrived. She wants you to go and see her.”
Great! Just the start to a new week I’d been hoping for.
“Did she say where she was?”
“No. Sorry, I never thought to ask.”
“No problem. I’ll track her down later.”
“She did say it was urgent.”
“It always is where she’s concerned.”
When I went through to my office, Winky was on my desk.
“What’s that nutjob up to now?” he said.
“I assume you’re referring to Mrs V?”
“Who else? The old bag lady was in here yesterday. She had some weird guy with her. How am I supposed to enjoy a quiet Sunday when they’re moving furniture around? No consideration, some people.”
“It’s Feng Shui.”