Page 89 of A Spell of Midlife Mayhem

‘Yeah. You can see why I’m desperate to get rid of this curse.’

‘I can.’ I peered more closely at him. ‘You seem a bit frazzled.’

‘Yeah, I was lucky to get away from a hawk. There’s a few in Richmond Park, and they sometimes venture out over Kingston. One of them spotted me, but I escaped. They’re quick, but they’re not smart.’

‘Shit. It’s difficult for you, isn’t it?’

‘Yes.’

‘You look tired too. Do you want me to make you something to eat?’

‘No, thanks. I’ll get something myself in a few minutes. I wanted to see how you were after that incident. I hope you got home safely.’

I smiled. ‘Thanks for intervening.’

‘No problem. Say... when I came into the room, you seemed quite miserable. What’s going on? Want to talk about it?’

Raven’s eyes shone with a deep concern. He genuinely cared. A warm glow swept through me.

‘Aunt Ruth told me some bad news.’ I didn’t want to be too specific. Did Raven know, or not? It wasn’t my place to tell him.

He lowered his head. ‘I wondered when she might mention the third of September.’

‘What is it about that date specifically? How can she be certain of it?’

‘I don’t know. She hasn’t told me that. I’m sure it’s complicated.’

‘I bet.’ So, Raven didn’t know either or would not tell me. ‘My job isn’t going well. I may have to leave.’

He looked up sharply. ‘I thought you loved that job.’

‘I do, but I’ve upset my colleagues.’

Puzzlement spread over Raven’s features. ‘That doesn’t sound like you.’

‘I said I suspected one of them stole the missing spell book, and by implication, is a murderer.’

He sat back, shaking his head. ‘Okay, I can understand why they’re upset, but why did you make such an accusation in the first place?’

I took a deep breath, then I started talking fast, so fast I became breathless trying to explain it. My suspicions. Searching for the missing spell book. Finding how it had been hidden first and removed later. My logical conclusion that only one of my colleagues could have done it.

Raven listened intently until I’d finished. I waited for him to tell me I was being ridiculous, that I’d ruined my relationship with my colleagues over nothing, that I was downright flipping crazy.

His expression conveyed that he wasn’t thinking any of those things. ‘I believe you. From what you’ve said...’ He frowned. ‘One of your colleagues must be the perpetrator.’

‘You think so?’

‘I do.’

‘Listen to us. We sound like detectives.’ But Inspector Pentecost told me to leave everything up to her team.

‘Maybe you should share your suspicions with the police.’

I shook my head. ‘The inspector already knows what I think. She gave me a stern telling-off for stalking Penny.’

Raven rubbed at his chin as he considered his reply. ‘So, what are you going to do?’

‘There’s nothing I can do. I’ll be fired or get into trouble with the police if I try to investigate further. I’ve already upset my colleagues. I can’t do anything. They already want me to leave, and I don’t want to stay if it’s possible that one of them committed that terrible crime.’

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