Page 6 of Fiendish Delights
Will’s jaw dropped. ‘You’re a treasure hunter?’
It was nice to be admired, even if I didn’t deserve it. ‘I am.’
His awe increased. ‘Do you know Hugo Pemberville?’
For fuck’s sake. ‘Yes,’ I said shortly.
‘He’s amazing! I love him!’
That was quite the declaration. ‘Okay,’ I acknowledged, not quite sure what else to say.
‘I was telling my husband the other night how skilled he is.’
‘Uh-huh.’
‘The amount of lost treasure he’s found is astounding.’
‘I guess.’
‘Did you know that he found the Loch Arkaig gold all on his ownandhe managed to prevent it from being stolen by a crook?’
My mouth flattened. ‘I’d heard something to that effect.’
Will’s eyes shone. ‘The man is a true hero. I can’t wait to see what he does next.’
I gave in to temptation. ‘Between us,’ I confided, lowering my voice, ‘poor Hugo has a terrible fungal condition at the moment that’s unfortunately put him out of action. It’s very sad.’ I sighed, gesturing vaguely towards my crotch. ‘I’ve seen it. It’s all green and mouldy and…’
Otis stared at me, utterly aghast. ‘Daisy, stop that!’
I folded my hands together. ‘You’re right. Too much information.’ I raised my eyebrows at Will, who was looking morbidly fascinated. ‘Anyway, back to Mud McAlpine. Why is he taking things from the cemetery?’
‘I have no idea. He’s nabbed all sorts – flowers, solar lights, teddy bears. It’s disgusting. He’s preying on people’s grief. I’vespoken to the police several times, but I don’t think they’ve done anything.’
‘Don’t worry. I’ll have a word with Mr McAlpine. Perhaps I can put a stop to all this business.’ I’d certainly try.
‘That would be wonderful. With you being an elf and all, he might listen to you.’
Stranger things had happened. I curtsied to Will and nodded to Otis and Hester, both of whom decided to play nice and fly to perch on my shoulders.
‘Good work,’ Hester whispered as I walked away. ‘We get to leave this godforsaken placeandyou’ve badmouthed Hugo all at the same time. I approve.’
Otis remained in a huff. ‘You’re supposed to be his friend now. It wasn’t nice to say those things about Hugo.’
No, but it had been fun. I hadn’t seen Hugo for two months and I might never see him again. It wasn’t as if he would ever know what I’d said to a random council worker in a quiet cemetery.
The main thing was that I had a solid lead on who had taken Sophia’s doll. I’d have Nancy back in her hands within hours. Then the real treasure hunting would definitely begin.
Chapter
Three
I’d assumed that Mud was a nickname but a two-minute search of the electoral register revealed it was his real name. I hoped for his sake that he’d changed it by deed poll and that his parents hadn’t christened him Mud.
Given that Will had been right and the witch did indeed live reasonably close both to Saughton Cemetery and my home, I didn’t waste any time before heading to his address: a basement flat in an old tenement building that had definitely seen better days.
I picked my way along the cracked stone path, avoiding the strewn rubbish and towering, waist-high weeds. A small patch of garden to my left was a messy tangle of more weeds, but dotted amongst them there were glimpses of medicinal plants – feverfew, sweet cicely and even some unseasonal clary sage, which I recognised from the time my adopted mum had bought some from a witch to soothe her conjunctivitis. I suspected that this scrap of land had once been well tended by an experienced witch. Whether that was true or not, it certainly was ignored now.
The main door was open, as was often the case with thesetenement buildings, so I went inside, located the stairs and headed down until I found the correct apartment door. Other than Gladys, I was on my own; it had seemed wise to persuade Otis and Hester to stay behind. I didn’t want to scare Mud McAlpine off; from what little I knew of him, I reckoned a gently-gently approach would be best.
