Witch Is When the Penny Dropped by Adele Abbott

around the corner. Have you seen it?”
    “I haven’t seen it, but I’ve heard it. Damn row with their stupid drums and gongs.”
    “I quite like it.”
    “You would.”
    What was that supposed to mean? I didn’t get the chance to ask because she disappeared back inside the shop. Grandma’s empire was expanding. Not satisfied with ruling the world of yarn, she was now moving into the tea room business. I just hoped she didn’t decide to open shop in Candlefield. Cuppy C wouldn’t stand a chance against her marketing machine.
     
    ***
     
    I felt much better after a latte and ten minutes banging on a drum. I’d been a little disappointed only to get a snare drum, but the tenor and bass drums had already been snagged.
    In between writing chapters of her book, I’d had Mrs V track down the name of the maintenance company who looked after the apartment block where Gina Peel used to live. The man who’d been called out to the leak in her apartment was apparently called Joe. He covered a number of buildings in the Washbridge area, so we’d arranged to meet in the car park outside of Ultimate Plumbing Supplies—a superstore for the plumbing trade. I spotted his van which had the word ‘WIMPS’ in large letters on the side. Only when I got closer did I see the full name: Washbridge Industrial Maintenance and Plumbing Services.
     
    I pulled up alongside and gave him a wave. He smiled, climbed out of the van, and came over to my car.
    “Jill Gooder?” He had an accent which I couldn’t place.
    “Hi.” I climbed out of the car and shook his hand. “Thanks for agreeing to talk to me.”
    “No problem. Rather be talking to a pretty lady than have my head stuck under an ‘S’ bend.”
    I smiled. It was reassuring to know that I compared favourably to the underside of a sink. Joe was middle-aged with a beer belly, but he had a certain charm.
    “Yeah, I remember that job.” He said while rubbing his stubbly chin. “Mind you, I probably wouldn’t have remembered it if it hadn’t been for that woman being murdered. Nasty job that. Is that what you’re investigating?”
    “Yes. I understand the water got into the electrics, so she was forced to move out.”
    “That’s right. It wasn’t a big job. One of the pipes from the tank had come loose. Only took me a few minutes to sort out.”
    “Did you notice anything unusual?”
    “Not really.”
    “You don’t sound sure.”
    “Well to be honest, I’ve never seen one of those pipes come loose like that. Once they’re fixed in place, they usually stay there.”
    “Could it have been loosened deliberately?”
    “It’s possible, but I couldn’t say for sure.”
    “Has anyone else talked to you about this?”
    “What? Like the police you mean? No. You’re the only one.”
    I thanked Joe, and he drove away in his WIMPS van. I couldn’t help but think he must have got some stick from his friends over that acronym.
    I knew fate could be a strange thing, but I’d always been bothered by the fact that Gina Peel was killed in an apartment that she’d only moved to temporarily because of a water leak. Now Joe had suggested that the leak might have been caused deliberately, I was even more intrigued. I had to find out more about the apartment where she died.
     
    ***
     
    Normally I’d go out of my way to avoid Betty Longbottom—there was only so much sea shell news I could stand. But the poor woman was obviously struggling as she hobbled along the corridor in front of me.
    “Are you okay, Betty?”
    She turned to face me. The grimace on her face answered my question.
    “Hi, Jill.”
    “Are you alright?”
    “Yeah.” She managed a smile. “It’s nothing. My own silly fault really.”
    “What happened?”
    “Norman and I had a day at the seaside.”
    “Looking for shells?”
    “Yes, and bottle tops.”
    “Of course.”
    “Anyway, I insisted on paddling through the rock pools. Norman told me he’d seen a few large crabs around,