Westerham Witches and a Venetian Vendetta by Dionne Lister (top rated books of all time TXT) 📕

Will picked up his glass and moved it so the liquid and ice swirled around. “Do you know what they were fighting about?”

“No. She claimed she was too upset to talk to us.”

I raised a brow. “For someone who isn’t leading the investigation, you sure know a lot.”

She cocked her head to the side but didn’t say anything in answer to that particular comment. “We’ve hit a dead end, which means we’ll have to start questioning the rest of the staff here. The Italian agents have said I can sit in when they’re interviewing tomorrow.”

“Can you check for magic signatures around here in the meantime? If it was someone who works here, we’ll know soon enough.” Since it was a hotel catering to witches, they’d use their magic whenever they felt like it. “Surely no one would change a bed manually when they could magic it. Putting that fitted sheet on is a b—.”

“We don’t have cause to do that yet, Lily. You should know better. Until we can figure out a potential motive, we’re not allowed to search anything.”

“But who would even know? Can’t you look for them and check them against the ones you found? At least you’ll know whether to push harder or forget about it.”

Angelica sighed. “What if the culprit does work here but their signature isn’t even on the body? Then we’ll give up before we should. Your idea is terrible, dear. Also, we could do it that way, but it’s an invasion of privacy. It’s like sneakily checking out someone’s diary or their medicine cabinet. It just isn’t done. Bad etiquette, dear.”

“Good etiquette isn’t Lily’s strong suit.” Will smirked.

“I’m not that bad. Sheesh. It’s not like I chew with my mouth open.”

Angelica raised a brow. “And I suppose allowing tree rats to sit and eat on my kitchen table is the height of polite behaviour?”

“They’re not rats! Anyway, rats are cute.” Bagel and Cinnamon came to mind. They’d been rather helpful when it came to cracking the RP investigation, and they were clever and polite. “It’s not like I do it when you’re eating there. And I always clean up afterwards.”

“Knowing a squirrel has defecated on my kitchen table is not comforting in the least… whether or not you cleaned up afterwards. I suggest you entertain them outside from now on, as you did this morning.” Angelica’s serious gaze brooked no argument, but my mum pressed her lips together. Was she trying not to laugh?

Gah, this was so silly, and Angelica was such a party pooper. I sighed. “Okay.” As much as I hated this turn of events, it was her table and her home, so I wasn’t going to argue about where I hung out with my squirrels. If she wanted us outside, I’d respect her wishes. At least now I could do things outdoors whenever I wanted and not worry about being attacked. Will and I could probably get our own place together, but now my mum had moved in, there was no way I wanted to move out. We had a ridiculous amount of catching up and spending time together to do.

I couldn’t believe they were giving up on that glass-blower so quickly. “Even though that glass-blower guy had an alibi, it could still be him, surely. They must have other glass-blowers on staff too. Maybe it was one of them? I mean, that sparrow ended up just like Antonio.”

Imani drained her glass. “They’re not giving up on him… just looking for more clues.” She turned to Angelica. “They had money problems and were seen arguing. Surely we have grounds to suspect the wife and take her magic signature?”

“Possibly. The Italians aren’t as quick to jump to those conclusions. After you told me about their fight, I spoke to our Italian agents, and they explained that since they’re such a passionate bunch and frequently raise their voices and gesticulate to make their point that they might not have been having a serious argument.”

Were they kidding? “It looked pretty serious to me.” Will blew out a breath. I felt his pain. If only one of us knew Italian. “We couldn’t understand what they were saying. They could’ve been arguing about him leaving his bathroom towel on the floor or the toilet seat up. If only Sarah, Angelica, or Mum had been there instead of us.” Will narrowed his eyes at my assessment.

Imani laughed. “Yes, those arguments are sometimes the most heated. Although I don’t think I’ve ever covered a murder where that was the reason.”

I cocked my head to the side. “Maybe it was the proverbial straw?”

“It might have been, dear, but that conjecture is not enough to warrant asking for her MS.” Ooh, Angelica was getting all short form on us. “The Italian agents have the lead on this, so we have to comply.”

I sat back and slammed my shoulders into a cushion. “Why are we even bothering? This is our holiday. It’s too complicated, and my brain could do without the worry.”

“No one’s forcing you to think about it, dear. I was happy to hand it over to the Italians, but they asked for my help, and I would never say no. They’re short-staffed—just like the rest of the PIB.” Of course she wouldn’t say no. Angelica was a crime-fighting angel—her name said it all. Now I felt bad because I was turning my back on a dead man who probably hadn’t deserved what he’d gotten. Plus, Angelica deserved a break too. Goodness knew she’d been through a lot in the last year. Although, maybe being on holiday wasn’t her happy place. Maybe her super happy place was solving crimes? I was glad that Will wasn’t that crazy in love with the job.

“I’m just worried that you need a break; that’s all.”

She smiled. “I am having a break. This is a low-stress case, and I’m sightseeing in between working things out. It’s nice that you’re thinking of me.”

“I can’t help it. I guess it’s what I do.”