Witch Is When the Penny Dropped by Adele Abbott Page A

but—well.”
    “You got bitten?”
    “Not bitten—pincered. It was enormous, and it had a hold of my big toe.”
    “Ouch.” Just the thought of it brought tears to my eyes.
    “What happened? Did Norman pull it off?”
    “He wanted to, but he’s allergic to crustaceans. They bring him out in a rash.”
    “Nasty.”
    “I managed to shake it off eventually, but not before it had made a real mess of my toe. It’s all red and swollen, and the nail has turned blue. Would you like to see it?” She started to take off her shoe.
    “No!” I yelled a little too loudly. “It’s okay. Where is Norman?”
    “He’s at his place. The shock brought on his bad stomach, so he’s staying in bed for a while.”
    “Poor you. Well I’d better get going. I hope your toe gets better soon.”
    Back inside my flat, I decided to scrap my original plan to go out for a sea-food platter.
     
     
     
     

Chapter 13
     
    “So how did the date go?” Kathy asked when I called around at her place. For a moment the question threw me. I couldn’t think how she would have known about the date which Love Spell had arranged. Then the penny dropped, and I realised she meant my meal at Jack Maxwell’s place.
    “It was okay.”
    “That good, eh?”
    “No, it was nice.”
    “Nice? Steady my beating heart.”
    “What do you want me to say? It was a nice evening. The meal was delicious—”
    “So, Jack can cook then?”
    “No. He brought in a chef.”
    Kathy laughed.
    “He tried to make out he’d made it all himself, but then I went into the kitchen and saw Gordon Blare.”
    “Who’s he?”
    “The same chef I used when Luther came around.”
    She laughed. “Oh yes. Tell me again how the date with Luther went. I want to hear the full account .”
    “You’re not funny.”
    “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to rub it in, but I really thought Luther was a keeper.” She hesitated, and I knew what was coming. “A bookkeeper .” She was bent double, laughing.
    “I don’t think it’s funny.”
    Kathy reached for a tissue and began to dab at her eyes.
    “I’m sorry. The whole thing must have been really taxing for you.”
    “Have you been saving these up?”
    She was still trying to get her breath when Peter appeared.
    “Is she giving you a hard time?” he said.
    “Doesn’t she always?”
    “Anyway, I have a bone to pick with you,” he said.
    “What have I done now?”
    “Do you remember what you told Kathy about the conmen?”
    “Yeah. Mrs V told me to warn you they were targeting anglers.”
    “Were they her exact words?”
    “I don’t remember exactly. Why?”
    “I walked all around the lake telling all the other anglers. It took me ages, but then when I got to one of the last guys, he just laughed at me. It turned out he’s something of a computer nerd. The con men aren’t going after anglers. It has nothing to do with ‘fishing’. It’s ‘phishing’ with a PH.”
    “What’s that?”
    “I’m not sure. He tried to explain it, but it was all nonsense to me. Something about emails and web pages that pretend to be something they aren’t.”
    “Why’s it called phishing?”
    He shrugged. “Anyway, thanks for making me look like an idiot. The guys took the mickey out of me in the pub all night for that one.”
     
    The kids were out at their friends’ houses. Lizzie was at Kylie’s, and Mikey was at Jimmy’s. Peter made dinner for us—roast chicken, mash and Yorkshire pudding with an assortment of vegetables. And he did it without the help of Gordon Blare.
    “You look tired, Peter,” I said. “Is the colonel overworking you?”
    He shook his head. “No. Work is fine. We just didn’t get much sleep last night, did we Kathy?”
    “None of us did,” she said. “I told you about the new neighbour, didn’t I?”
    “Is he still making a lot of noise?”
    “Last night was the worst yet. It was one in the morning before we finally got any sleep.”
    “I wanted to go around and have a word,” Peter