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even smell it. It was huge, and its leg, one leg, was like a
bird. It scratched the floor as he stomped around. He...it was
summoned by the witches. They called him the Lord of Revenge and he
was to do their bidding.'
    Poppy
stopped, sipped her drink and looked her uncle in the eyes. She
needed to know he accepted what she knew was an incredible tale and
wasn't thinking she was crazy. He held her stare; his kind blue
eyes full of love and care for his niece. He believed her. She
continued.
    'This is
where it starts to get weird.'
    'Starts?'
    'Weirder. Shannon Le'Vin and Fred go back a long, long way.
Hundreds of years. Fred was a witch finder. He had Le'vin hung. It
was all about revenge and making him suffer.'
    'How? By
watching you suffer?'
    'Yes. It
would have been easy for them to kill Fred, to kill all of us. She
wanted more than that. This had been festering for centuries. She
was using our love against us. Fred begged her to let me go. He
said he would willingly take my place. And he did.'
    Bernie
put his hand up. He had to sit quietly and think about what Poppy
was telling him. He had enough imagination to picture the scene in
his mind, but it stretched what he could accept as the truth to the
absolute limits. He had been in the police force for all his adult
life. He knew lies from truth. This was the truth. He nodded for
her to continue.
    'That
monster, the creature. He agreed. They got me down and Fred stood
on the chair with that noose around his neck. Uncle Bernie. He
would have given up his life so that I could live. The creature
spoke. It said, Fred's heart was too pure and his love for me too
strong. There was no place for him in hell.'
    'It let
Fred go?'
    'Yes.
Instead he took Le'Vin and Farnham. He took their hands in his and
they vanished.'
    'I never
understood what happened to them. Prime suspects in the witch
murders, and Morris and Crowe refusing to tell me and D I Andersen
where they were.'
    'Now you
know why. All that was left were two small piles of ash. That thing
had taken them straight to hell.'
    Bernie
got up and stared out of the window at his back garden. He would
have to mow the lawns soon. It looked like rain. 'Hell's a good
place for them. Poppy. Never doubt Fred. He would have gladly died
to save you. There is no deeper love than that.'
    'I
know.' She got up and hugged her uncle. 'But could the witches
still be after him? Is that what this is all about?'
    'I
suppose so. I must admit, I had been thinking it was something more
down to Earth. Sort of.'
    'I don't
understand?'
    Bernie
looked Poppy in the eyes, wondering if he should say what was on
his mind. They had gone too far, now. 'Just a theory. Who do we
know who wouldn't think twice to involve the Ferret in one of her
mad cases?'
    'Oh,
come on. My mother?'
    'Hmm.
Let's face it. It makes as much sense as revenge filled
witches.'
    'And
just as dangerous. Whatever it is keeping him away from me, he had
better get back to me soon. He needs to be here with me. Me and his
baby.'
    'Poppy?'
    'I'm
pregnant. I've just found out, and Fred doesn't know,
yet.'
     

Chapter 15
    The
Chief had summoned Morris and Crowe to his office and could feel
their discomfort. 'Nothing from the Scene of Crime
team?'
    'No,
Sir,' said Morris. 'I must admit I'm at a loss as to the direction
to take.' At the back of Morris's mind was knowing this
conversation should be with D I Andersen, not the Chief. Something
else was going on, he was sure.
    'We
might not get anything until they strike again, Sir,' offered
Crowe, also wondering why he was standing in front of the Old
Man.
    'Possibly.' The Chief leaned back in his chair considering
just how much to divulge. 'I had an interesting chat with my niece,
yesterday. She told me what happened at the end of that witch
case.'
    Morris
and Crowe shared a look. Were they in trouble?
    Morris
said, 'Sir. With respect...'
    The
Chief raised a hand. 'I probably owe you two my niece's life. For
that I thank you.'
    Crowe
said, 'It was