Read Witch Is When Stuff Got Serious (A Witch P.I. Mystery Book 11) for Free Online

this time of day.”
    “Okay, then. I’ll give it a try.”
    Once I had my drink, I found a table close to the wall of fish. The fishtail was a little bitter, but perfectly acceptable.
    “Jill!” a familiar voice said.
    “Mr Ivers?”
    “What do you think of this place?” he said. “Brilliant, isn’t it?”
    “Absolutely. I can’t stay long, though. I have a meeting.” I thought I’d better get my excuses in early before he decided to join me.
    “You must stay long enough to meet Tess.”
    “Is she here?”
    “Yes. She’s just popped to the loo.” He glanced around. “There she is now.”
    I followed his gaze.
    Oh no! Tess—I should have realised. It was Alicia.
    “Tess.” Mr Ivers beamed. “This is Jill. She lives in the same block of flats as me.”
    Tess, or Alicia, or whatever she was calling herself today, flashed me her evil smile, and held out her hand. “So pleased to meet you, Jill. I’ve heard so much about you.”
    “Likewise.”
    Our handshake was brutal; neither of us gave an inch.
    “I’m just going to pop to the loo myself,” Mr Ivers said. “And then we have to get going.”
    “What are you playing at, Alicia?” I said, as soon as he was out of earshot.
    “Who, me? Nothing.”
    “Don’t give me that. Do you expect me to believe it’s a coincidence that you’re dating my neighbour?”
    “You know how much I love humans.”
    “If you harm Mr Ivers, you’ll have me to answer to.”
    “You don’t scare me, Gooder. Provided the human keeps me amused, he’ll be fine. But if he bores me, well—”
    “I’m back.” Mr Ivers was all smiles. “I hope you two weren’t talking about me.”
    “I think Jill may be a little jealous.” Alicia gave him a kiss on the cheek.
    Mr Ivers blushed. “Come on, Tess. Let’s make tracks. We can go and have another look at those dresses you saw earlier.”
    That woman was pure evil.
     
    ***
     
    The twins were once again with their fiancés in Cuppy C. I’d never seen them spend so much time together. They were all seated at the same window table while a couple of their assistants were behind the counter.
    At least, now the conveyor belt had been dismantled and taken away, I could get to them without having to crawl along the floor.
    “Hi, guys.”
    They all greeted me warmly.
    “I see you got rid of the conveyor belt.”
    “Good riddance!” Pearl said. “Amber and her bright ideas.”
    “It wasn’t my idea!” Amber rounded on her sister. “It was yours.”
    “Wasn’t!”
    “Was!”
    William rolled his eyes. Alan shook his head.
    “Well, it’s gone now.” I interrupted. “That’s the main thing. Anyway, it’s nice to see you two spending time with your fiancés.”
    “I don’t know why we bothered,” Amber said. “All these two want to talk about is BoundBall.”
    “Boring!” Pearl faked a yawn.
    Alan and William looked suitably chastised, but only for the briefest of moments. Then they went back to their conversation.
    I’d been a guest of honour at the last BoundBall competition by way of thanks for finding the missing trophy. It had been a hugely popular event which had drawn a massive crowd.
    Bingo! I’d had an idea.
    “Can I join you for a few minutes?”
    “Of course, pull up a chair.”
    “Annie Christy came to see me.”
    “How is she? And how’s her mum?”
    “Fine, but Annie’s worried about SupAid. They’re struggling for donations. She asked if I could come up with any ideas for a fundraising event.”
    “Have you thought of anything?” Amber said.
    “I hadn’t, but I have now. What about if the women take on the men at BoundBall?”
    Suddenly Alan and William looked up, and both began to laugh—hysterically.
    “What’s so funny about that?” I didn’t bother trying to hide my annoyance at their reaction.
    “Women?” Alan managed through his laughter. “Play BoundBall?”
    “That’s a joke, right?” William said.
    “Why shouldn’t women play BoundBall?”
    “They never