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

“Mum, do you think she has?” If anyone knew, she would. Since she’d been living with us, they’d spent a lot of time together, and because my mother was the closest friend Angelica had, chances were, she’d confided in her. Not that Angelica would definitely have confided in anyone, but on the small chance she had, my mother would be it.

“No, definitely not.” Just over the bridge, she turned right. “This is it.” We stood at one of the entries to a large square. Four-storey homes and a smattering of buildings with ground-floor shops ringed the open area. Mum walked to the middle of it, the sun shining brightly. A group of pigeons took brief flight at my mother’s approach but landed nearby. “They found her here.”

Will folded his arms as he looked at the now-empty spot. He slowly turned three hundred and sixty degrees, surveying our surroundings as he did so. “Well, that’s an obvious place. Whoever did this didn’t want it to go unnoticed.”

Imani nodded, then looked at my mother. “Did they record any magic signatures?”

Mum’s brow furrowed. “There weren’t any. Looks like she was made into a sculpture somewhere else and transferred via a doorway. Locals said she was there for a few hours before anyone thought to tell the police. It was only when a witch neighbour friend of hers saw her and realised the sculpture was eerily similar. She called the PIB rather than the police.”

“Do we know her name?” Will asked.

Mum answered, “Violetta Brambilla.”

Will made a bubble of silence and looked at me. “Lily, can you do your thing?”

“Yes.” Mum knew about my talent, but she’d never seen it in action—we’d shown her the photos of her being hunted. Her reaction had been part shock and part pride. Once she’d got over that, anger slid in, and she thanked me for killing Dana’s father. Thank God we’d given her closure and those maniacs didn’t get away.

I walked about twelve feet away so I had a better visual of the whole area. I took the lens cap off, flicked on the Nikon, and lifted it to my face. “Show me Angelica leaving this spot last night.” There she was, walking towards me, poker face intact, one hand in her pocket. I snapped a shot and showed it to everyone. “She doesn’t look particularly stressed.” I took my camera back. Something was bugging me. Angelica rarely put her hand in her pocket, which might seem like nothing, but had she found something that she didn’t hand over to the PIB? And if not, why? I lifted my camera again and stepped closer to where the sculpture would have been. “Show me Angelica finding something last night.”

The light waned, and pretty Venetian lamps lit the square. Angelica was crouching at the foot of the glass sculpture of a woman who was about five foot four and rather wide. I snapped a shot and moved closer, until I was right next to her. I crouched and focussed on what Angelica was picking up. Thankfully, the PIB had set up a floodlight on the statue, and visibility was excellent. Pinched between Angelica’s thumb and pointer finger was a pearlescent blue button. Click.

I stood and showed Will, Imani, and Mum. “She found something.”

Imani pressed her lips together for a while, likely thinking. “How would the killer know she’d found evidence? I mean, why target her and not any of the other agents if they didn’t know?”

Will scratched his head. “Opportunity? The other agents didn’t return to a hotel late at night. They would’ve gone somewhere private, made a doorway, and left. Maybe all they’re trying to do is distract us from figuring anything out by making more work for us?”

That didn’t make total sense. “But it’s not for us. No one knows you guys are all agents, do they?”

Mum shrugged. “We haven’t been making a big deal out of it, but we were all in that courtyard after Mr Dal Lago was discovered.”

“Which might mean that the killer works at the hotel,” said Imani. “It’s looking more and more like the wife, wouldn’t you say?”

“Or a jealous lover.” I wasn’t letting them forget that.

Will put his hands on his hips. “Right, so we still have as many suspects as before, but we have a potential motive for why Angelica was targeted.” He looked at me. “Can you take some pictures of everyone who was at the scene when Angelica picked up that button?”

“Can do.” I lifted my camera again and asked the question. This one was tricker, because the square was large. I panned around. The two Italian PIB agents who’d originally come to the hotel were there, as were two other men dressed in PIB get-up—black suit and tie with white shirt. A couple of lights were on in the windows surrounding the square. A group of eleven young men and women stood in one corner of the square smoking, and a dark figure watched from a shadowed doorway. I shuddered before walking up to the doorway. I frowned. There was no light there as it was at the far side of the square. The person was shorter and slimmer than me, but they had a large hat pulled over their head and a long coat on, which was super unusual considering how warm it was. Hands in pockets, posture hunched, I couldn’t tell if it was a man or woman. Likely they were taller than they appeared too. Click. Click. Was it Mrs Dal Lago? It was probably too small to be Lorenzo—he was a few inches taller than me and had a bigger build. But then again, what if Lorenzo and Mrs Dal Lago were working together? I had no idea why they would be, but considering all options was sensible at this stage.

As soon as I made it back to our group, I handed the camera to Will. They all looked at the pictures. Will zoomed in on where the face should be, but the gloom