All Was Revealed by Adele Abbott Page A

she gave Mikey and Lizzie a big hug.
    “Poor Sheila,” she said to me. “She must be distraught.”
    My phone rang. “Just a second, Kathy. I need to take this.”
    I went back into the house, so Kathy wouldn’t overhear.
    “Daze? What’s happening?”
    “Everything’s okay, Jill. The wicked witch had the kids with her, but we got to her in time. She’s locked up in Candlefield.”
    “What about the kids?”
    “They’re fine. We cast the ‘forget’ spell, and sent them on their way. They should be home any minute now.”
    “That’s great. Thanks, Daze.”
    I went back outside. “The kids are okay, Kathy.”
    “How do you know?”
    Whoops! That was a good question.
    “I read it on my news app.”
    Kathy took out her phone. “There’s nothing on mine about it.”
    “Let’s go and check with your friend.”
    Kathy grabbed the kids, and we all started down the street.
    “That’s them!” Kathy pointed. “That’s Sheila’s kids!”
    At that moment, Sheila came rushing out of her house, and hurried over to her kids.
    “Thank goodness,” Kathy said. “They’re back safe.”
    “Yeah, thank goodness.”
    “I still don’t understand how you knew, Jill.”
    “My app must be more up to date than yours.”
     
    ***
     
    The next morning, I headed back to Middle Tweaking. Myrtle had set up two more interviews: The first with Justin Flower, who was the baker in the village, and the other with Harry Payne, the butcher. As before, I met up with her at the old watermill.
    “Jill, I know I told you nine o’clock, but I’ve just had a call from Justin Flower. He said he needs to put it back fifteen minutes. We may as well have a cup of tea while we’re waiting.”
    “Okay, that would be great.”
    “Custard creams?”
    “Absolutely. Thanks.”
    The more I got to know Myrtle, the more I liked the old girl. When she’d first walked into my office, I’d made the mistake of stereotyping her. I’d thought she was just an old biddy who probably spent all of her time knitting and baking. In fact, nothing could have been further from the truth. Myrtle was so switched on, it wasn’t true. It took me all my time just to keep up with her. She had all the latest gadgets: tablet, smartphone, you name it, she’d got it. She knew her way around the internet far better than I did. Myrtle struck me as a tough old bird. She was certainly nobody’s fool.
    “Tell me, Myrtle. How did you end up living here in Middle Tweaking?”
    “I was born here.”
    “Have you lived all your life here?”
    “No. I moved away for many years after university.”
    “Doing what? What was your job?”
    “I can’t tell you that.”
    “I bet it was exciting. Did you come back to Middle Tweaking after you’d retired?”
    “Retired?” She recoiled. “I don’t like that word. There are some people who believe you have a sell-by date. It doesn’t seem to matter to them how capable or physically fit you are. You reach a certain number, and that’s it—you’re done. Goodbye. Here’s your pension.”
    “Is that what happened to you?”
    “More or less, but I’m not ready for retirement. I doubt I ever will be. I like to keep active. That’s one of the reasons I get involved with these investigations.” She glanced at her watch. “Come on. It’s time to pay a visit to Justin.”
    Either Justin Flower was wearing three-week old socks, or something had curled up and died in his front room. I kept glancing at Myrtle to see if she’d noticed, but she didn’t seem to. Maybe she had trouble with her sinuses.
    “Who’s this?” He glared at me.
    “I did tell you, Justin,” Myrtle said, as cool, calm and collected as always. “This is Jill Gooder. She was at the final murder mystery evening, and is helping with my investigation.”
    “I don’t see why you need to investigate at all, Myrtle. You’re not the police.”
    “Is there some reason you don’t want to talk to me, Justin?” Her eyes burned into him. “Do you