To my amazement, Lil One stopped crying.
“I’ve got a lovely dress, and we’re going to have a big cake. There’s going to be lots of—”
I stopped because Lil One was fast asleep.
When Aunt Lucy returned, I whispered, “I think she must have been bored by all the wedding talk.”
“She’s due a nap. Pass her to me, and I’ll put her down in the bedroom.”
No one did a fry-up like Aunt Lucy.
“Will Lil be okay in there by herself?” I said.
“She’ll be fine. If she stirs, I’ll hear her on that.” She pointed to the small intercom.
“I’ve never been very good with babies,” I said.
“Neither were the twins until the Lils came along. You’ll be fine too when your turn comes, and you’ll always have me to babysit.”
“Thanks, but by that time, the Lils will probably be old enough to babysit for me.”
“We’ll see. It might happen sooner than you think. Oh, by the way, the twins came over the other night. They said that if I needed to use magic to amuse the Lils, they wouldn’t have any objections. I’m not sure what prompted that sudden change of heart.”
“Me neither.” I grinned.
“You know something about it, don’t you?”
“I might, but I’m sworn to secrecy.”
“Go on. You can tell me.”
“Okay, seeing as how you’ve twisted my arm. When I went to Pearl’s house on Monday, the twins had used magic to get the soft toys to put on a show for the Lils. I told them that they had to own up, and let you know that you could do the same.”
“The cheeky little madams! Just wait until I see them again.”
Snigger.
I soaked up the last of the tomato juice with a piece of fried bread, and then popped it into my mouth. “That was delicious, Aunt Lucy. Thanks very much.”
“My pleasure. I don’t suppose I’ll see you again before the wedding.”
“Probably not.”
“I’m really looking forward to it. So is your grandmother.”
“Really? I didn’t think she approved of me marrying a human.”
“She likes to pretend that she doesn’t, but I can tell she’s thrilled for you both. She just hides it well.”
“Extremely well. I suppose I’d better get going.”
“Could you do me a favour, Jill?”
“Of course.”
“Amber left her purse here when she dropped Lil One off this morning. Is there any chance you could nip into Cuppy C and let her have it?”
“No problem.”
When I arrived at the tea room, Amber was just tearing a slip from the terminal. “Chicken nuggets and a chocolate milkshake.”
“Coming up.” Mindy was standing next to the coffee machine.
“Since when have you sold nuggets?” I said.
“Chicken nuggets equals a latte.” Amber pointed to the slip. “And the chocolate milkshake is a strawberry cupcake.”
“Say what?”
“We’ve cross-referenced the items on the Burger Bay menu to the items on our menu. That way we can still use the self-order machines.”
“Isn’t it all a bit confusing?”
“It was at first, but we’ve just about got used to it now, haven’t we, Mindy?”
“Yeah. Pretty much.”
“So, you’re keeping the machines?”
“We might as well, seeing as we’ve paid for them. Did you want a hotdog?”
“What’s that?”
“A blueberry muffin.”
“No, thanks. I just popped in to bring you this. You left it at Aunt Lucy’s.”
“Thanks. I’d forget my head if it was loose. How’s Lily?”
“When did you start calling her Lily?”
“William and I had a long talk last night. It’s silly that both babies are known by the same name. It might confuse them when they’re older, so we’ve decided that we’re going to start calling Lil by her full name: Lily.”
“That makes sense.” Those are not words I often said to either of the twins. “Have you told Aunt Lucy?”
“No. I forgot to mention it when I dropped her off this morning, but I will do when I pick her up tonight.”
Just then, I spotted a newspaper that someone had left on one of the tables. It was the headline that caught my eye: Return of the Gold Gobbler.
Amber noticed me reading the article. “Did you know about that?”
“I did, but I’d really love to know how The Candle got hold of the story. The creature was only identified yesterday.”
“Is it true that it eats and poos gold?”
“Yeah, it does. It’s really cute though.”
Once I was outside Cuppy C, I made a call to Desdemona Nightowl.
“Have you seen The Candle, headmistress?”
“I have.”
“How did they get hold of the story so quickly?”
“I don’t know, but I suppose any of the staff or pupils could have tipped them off.”
“I thought I’d better warn you because there’s likely to be more press interest in this story.”
“I’m way ahead of you, Jill. They’ll no doubt be over here in their droves later today. That’s why I’ve arranged for the little creature to be taken back to the Valley of Shadows immediately. By the time the press arrives on the airship, they’ll be too late.”
***
I’d called Graham Hardy, and he’d said I could pay him another visit.
We were in the lounge at his house.
“Thanks for agreeing to see me again, Graham.”
“No problem. I’m surprised you’re still working, though. Don’t you and Jack get married on Saturday?”
“We do, yes, but I’m hoping to wrap up a few loose ends before then.”
“From what I hear, it isn’t looking good for Chris.”
“He’s an innocent man, so he has nothing to worry about.” I glanced around. “Jack tells me you’ve won a lot of tournaments. I’m surprised you don’t have any trophies on display.”
“They’re in the dining room. Would you like to see them?”
“Yes, please.”
He led the way into the next room where a large glass cabinet had pride of place on the far wall.
“That’s quite a collection.” I feigned interest in the many cups.
“Thanks. I like to think so.”
“No North of England trophy, though?”
“Not yet.”
“I believe you’ve been runner-up to Bill Mellor for the last three years?”
He nodded. “I’ve just had a run of bad luck.”
“Was it really worth killing him, just so you could win this year?”
His expression quickly changed to shock and then to anger.
“What are you suggesting?”
“I’m not suggesting anything. I’m saying you murdered Bill Mellor and framed Chris Jardine—all to give yourself a better chance of winning the North of England competition.”
“That’s absolute nonsense. Chris killed Bill because he was seeing Sarah.”
“Chris knew nothing about his wife’s affair.”
“He would say that, wouldn’t he?” Hardy pointed to the door. “I’d like you to go now.”
“You almost got away with it, but then you’d been planning this for quite some time, hadn’t you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. If you don’t leave, I’ll—”
“Do what? Call the police? Go ahead. It’ll save me the trouble of doing it.”
“Chris poisoned Bill with a cigarette. The police have already confirmed that.”
“But you and I know that isn’t true, don’t we, Graham? The poison that killed Bill got onto his fingers from the bowling ball, not from a cigarette.”
I could tell by the look of terror in his eyes that he knew the game was up, so I continued, “I found the glove you wore when you put the poison into the fingerholes of Bill’s ball. As soon as he’d played his next shot, you took your imaginary phone call, made your excuses and left. No one noticed that you’d taken Bill’s ball instead of your own. Why would they? They’re identical. My guess is you went straight from the bowling alley to Bill’s house, where you dropped the cigarette butt that you’d coated in the same poison.”
“That trophy should have been mine. My average score has been better than Bill’s for the last three years, and yet every time that competition comes around, he gets lucky.”
“Was it really worth killing him just for a trophy?”
He didn’t answer, but then he’d already proven that he thought so.
Susan Shay and her merry men turned up an hour later. I intercepted her at the door.
“This had better be good, Gooder.”
“You’ll have to come up with another line after Saturday.”