Page 38 of Secrets of the Eternal Flame

Maddie’s voice softened. ‘Her dad’s dead and her mum’s sick – she’s in hospital. Scarlett called Yanni a few monthsago and complained that Archer had pestered her when she was walking to the hospital one day. Yanni spoke to Archer. There were no arrests, just a warning to leave her alone. He seems to have done that. At least, there are no more complaints on the file.’

‘That’s brilliant! Thanks, Maddie – and thanks for going in on your day off. I really appreciate it. Have you got Scarlett’s address?’

Maddie read it aloud and I thanked her again. ‘I owe you!’ I added.

‘Just promise to give me the skinny later!’

I grimaced. ‘I can’t. Client confidentiality. But I have a date with Fraser – maybe you could help me get ready?’

She squealed happily. ‘I’m all over it. I’ll dig out some options. See you later!’

I hung up. With Scarlett's chequered past and her mum being sick, I definitely had a prime suspect – and her link to Archer deepened my suspicions. He wasn’t exactly an upstanding citizen and I’d bet good money he’d know how to fence stolen goods. If he couldn’t hold down a job for long, he’d have to get an income using other methods.

‘Come on,’ I said to Eva. ‘Let’s go and see if Scarlett is home.’ And if she wasn’t, I wasn’t above a little light breaking and entering to search her premises. If she had the cup and the grimoire, I needed to find them.

Scarlett lived in a cottage not far from the shop on a street where the gardens were large and the homes looked inviting. The paintwork and lawns were well-tended and Scarlett’s place, Gable’s End, was no exception.

I knocked on the door and waited patiently but there was no response. I peered in through the clean windows: no lights on, no sign of Scarlett. Eva and I went round to the back of the house, which wasn’t visible from the street. The rear garden was equally tidy.

I knocked on the back door but there was no answer and no noise from an alarm. I put down my backpack and pulled out the lockpicks. ‘Go to the front,’ I murmured to Eva. ‘If someone comes towards the house, give me three clear barks.’

Eva barked three times to show she understood her mission then trotted off.

Thankfully the lock was fairly basic and there were no bolts securing the door so I soon had it open. As I pushed it ajar, I prayed Scarlett didn’t have any wards in place, then I held my breath and went inside. I let out an explosive breath when nothing happened when I crossedthe threshold then left the door open so I’d hear Eva if she barked.

Scarlett’s home was as neat inside as it was outside. In the kitchen the dishes were washed and stacked on the draining board, and the work surfaces had been wiped down. I gave the room a cursory inspection – though I did check her cabinets thoroughly in case the Cup of Completion was nestled in amongst her bird-related collection of mugs. I grinned at a cup that said:Birds, because people are dicks, but there was no sign of the cup I was looking for.

The small dining room was so clean as to be almost sterile, and the lounge was very tidy. There were a couple of framed photographs on the wall; Scarlett with a bird of prey on her arm; Scarlett with a woman who was no doubt her mother.

I checked under the sofa and the coffee table but there was nothing there, not even dust. Upstairs were three modest bedrooms and a bathroom. There were no knick-knacks, no safes where a grimoire could be stored, no sign at all that Scarlett was anything other than a witch recovering from a significant bump in the road, working in a shop and trying to make ends meet.

She didn’t have a practice room, and I found no items that suggested she utilised her powers: no cauldron, noingredients, nothing. She might be a member of the Night Moon coven, but it didn’t look like she was a practising witch. No wonder the property wasn’t warded: wards were expensive, so most witches did their own. Evidently Scarlett just hadn’t bothered.

Three sharp barks rent the air and I moved to the stairs – but I could already hear the key turning in the front-door lock. Shit!

I scampered back to the second bedroom, which backed onto the garden, and hastily opened the window. I climbed onto the sill, turned onto my tummy and lowered myself down, praying that Scarlett wouldn’t go straight to the kitchen. I quietly closed the back door as I passed on my way to the front of the house.

‘Eva,’ I called softly. She burst out of the hedge of a neighbour's garden and came to my side. ‘Good job,’ I praised her. ‘I definitely owe you some doggy ice cream.’ I patted her head.

‘Now, let’s do things the official way.’ I winked at her and knocked on the door.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Scarlett looked a little nonplussed when she opened the door and saw me standing there but she recovered quickly. ‘Beatrix,’ she said, a professional smile gracing her lips. ‘How can I help you?’

‘I’m here for a chat,’ I said. ‘Can I come in?’

She was obviously surprised but nevertheless stepped back to let me enter. ‘Of course, come in.’ Her eyes lingered on Eva.

I thought of the immaculate state of her home and turned to my dog. ‘Stay out here. Guard for us.’ Eva wagged her tail then turned and sat on her bum facing the street, ready to protect hearth and home.

This time I kicked off my shoes as I walked inside. ‘Thanks,’ Scarlett said with a warm smile. ‘I just got in myself. Would you like a cup of tea?’

All the caffeine from theday’s coffee was burning a hole in my gut but tea sounded like a good idea. I was operating on empty. ‘Yes, please.’

I followed her into the kitchen while she flipped on the kettle and grabbed two mugs. I grinned at one of them: a picture of a Blue Tit, a Coal Tit and a Great Tit with the caption:Show us your tits. Bird humour: I loved it.

‘So you’re an ornithologist?’ I asked as the kettle boiled.

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