Mortal Vintage: A gripping English Cozy Mystery (The Seacastle Mysteries Book 5) by PJ Skinner

Author:PJ Skinner [Skinner, PJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-05-30T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

Perpetua Hastings greeted us with a distinct lack of enthusiasm when we returned to her shop in Brighton. The sign board outside announced a special offer of three for two on herbal sachets. Perpetua, who had dressed in a voluminous purple floor-length dress with a plunging neckline, gestured at it.

‘All witches are bargain hunters,’ she said. ‘I suppose trying to get something for nothing sums up witchcraft to some extent.’

I couldn’t tell if she meant it as a joke or not, so I half smiled. Grace started sorting through the sachets as soon as we got inside. She can’t resist a bargain.

‘I wasn’t expecting to see you two ladies again so soon,’ said Perpetua. ‘What can I do for you this time?’

‘We’ve been doing research on the dagger used to kill Dot. It turns out to be one of a set of six taken from Hong Kong in the nineteenth century. I wondered if you could let us go through the record books to find the first mention of the daggers. Also, it’s important we find out the names of the families who received them.’

‘What’s so important about the daggers?’ said Perpetua.

‘The complete set would be almost priceless,’ Grace said. ‘But the individual daggers are also valuable antiques. It may be a motive for Dot’s murder.’

‘Somebody killed her for the dagger? But why did they leave it in the body?’ said Perpetua.

‘The one used to stab Dot was a forgery. Perhaps the killer took the original but left the forgery to confuse the police?’ said Grace.

Perpetua blinked and held on to the edge of the cash desk for a second.

‘A forgery? How can you be sure?’

‘The police showed it to me,’ said Grace. ‘I’m from Hong Kong and I have thirty years’ experience as an antique dealer over there. That’s why I’m helping on the case.’

‘The police hired us to help them find the murderer by following the trail left by the daggers,’ I said. ‘Anyway, we need to find out who received the originals, as they may be in danger.’

Perpetua pouted.

‘These books are sacred relics only to be read by members of the coven. I can’t let you have them.’

‘But you can read them for us. All we need is a list of names of the families who hold the daggers now.’

Perpetua pushed her way through the beaded curtain into the kitchen. She did not offer us tea this time. Her rigid back told me all I needed to know about her resistance to this plan. I suspected she didn’t need to look up any of the information surrounding the daggers, but I went with it. Grace pulled up a chair and pretended to examine the herbal sachets she had selected. Perpetua ran her finger along the historical records, reading the years out loud.

‘Here we are,’ said Perpetua. ‘This book covers the second half of the twentieth century.’

She pulled it from the shelf above, dislodging a host of dead flies and cobwebs. Perpetua wound the web and its crispy occupants around a pencil and stuck it in a jar without comment.

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