Page 31 of Slouch Witch
I filed all the information away for future use and got back to the matter in hand. ‘Well, it’s obvious who our main suspect is.’ Everyone stared at me. I rolled my eyes. ‘The ward spell around the display cabinet is degraded,’ I reminded them. ‘The Ipsissimus is the one who bespelled it in the first place. No one else would believe that they could steal the sceptre so easily. And very few others would have the know-how to bypass the other wards.’
Winter grew very still. ‘You’re accusing the Ipsissimus, the esteemed Order leader, of stealing his own sceptre?’
I shrugged. ‘It’s not really his sceptre, is it? It belongs to the Order. He only uses it for ceremonial occasions and then it gets passed along to the next Order Head when they take office.’
‘You’re an idiot,’ Winter dismissed.
I pointed at him. ‘Call me names all you like. You know there’s a chance I’m right. I can see the doubt in your eyes.’ Actually, I couldn’t see anything beyond the brilliant blue of his irises but I liked to pretend I could read him like a book. I glanced at Maidmont. ‘Would anyone expect the ward to be dissipated so quickly?’
He shook his head. ‘No. Not at all.’
I smiled smugly. ‘There you go. The Ipsissimus is the prime suspect.’
Winter glared at me. ‘We are not interrogating the leader of our own Order!’
‘Oh,’ I said, the very picture of innocence. ‘I thought you liked to make sure your investigations were done right. You know that getting through the three wards downstairs would take the skills of someone Third Level or above. I think the Ipsissimus falls into that category, don’t you?’ I paused. ‘But if you’re too scared of him or too intimidated to question him…’
Fire sparked in his eyes. ‘I am not intimidated.’
‘Sure. Whatever you say.’
Winter ground his teeth. ‘Fine. I’ll make an appointment to see him first thing tomorrow – but I will do the talking. You, Ms Wilde, will keep your mouth shut.’
I beamed. ‘Brilliant. We should skip the gym tomorrow morning too.’ I fluttered my eyelashes in a manner that I hoped was vaguely appealing. ‘Now can we go home?’
Chapter Nine
I was unlocking my door when my phone started to ring. Hoping that it was Iqbal with information about how I could break the binding, I experienced a surge of energy and bolted in to answer it. I leapt for the handset, ignoring the puzzled look I received from Brutus at my uncharacteristic speed.
‘Hey,’ I said breathlessly. ‘This is Ivy.’
‘Ivy! How are you? How are things going?’
My heart sank. Eve. What the hell was I going to tell her? With any luck, someone had already been in touch and I wouldn’t have to break the bad news that I’d effectively stolen her dream job. ‘Things are … interesting,’ I said, prevaricating. ‘How about with you?’
She sighed. ‘It’s a real mess up here. First of all, the coven here didn’t know I was coming. Secondly, they’ve got themselves into terrific trouble involving some frogspawn. Honestly, you really don’t want to know the details. It’s quite horrific.’
She was right; I really didn’t want to know. ‘Have you heard from the Order headquarters?’ I asked, in an overly casual tone.
‘Nothing.’ She sounded put out. ‘Given that I’m up here trying to sort out this mess alone, they should have been in touch. It’s not normal for First Levels like me to complete this kind of assignment on their own.’ She dropped her voice. ‘I think it’s a test. If I do well, they’ll let me take the exam and proceed to Second Level. Or maybe it’s to gain entry into Arcane Branch.’
I winced. ‘Mmm.’
‘Anyway, I can’t stay on the line for long. I just wanted to check how Harold is doing.’
‘He’s fine. In fact, I’m just about to go and check on him now.’
‘Brilliant.’ She sounded relieved. ‘I know he’s not as smart as Brutus but I love him to bits. I hope he’s not too lonely without me.’
I could tell her that he had company so he probably wasn’t feeling lonely at all but somehow the phone didn’t seem the right way to break the news to her. That, and the fact that I was a total coward. ‘I should probably go,’ I said awkwardly.
‘Right, yeah, yeah. Thank you so much for all this, Ivy. I don’t know what I’d do without you.’
I grimaced as she hung up. I doubted she’d still be singing my praises in a few days’ time when she returned. This is exactly why I hate keeping secrets: they are always trouble in the long run. Skulking around just doesn’t suit my temperament.
Brutus gazed at me narrow-eyed. ‘Bored.’
I reached for a piece of paper, screwed it into a ball then tossed it in his direction. He immediately brightened and attacked it with immense vigour. Then he tapped it underneath the sofa and swung balefully round in my direction, as if blaming me.
