Witchbotched in Westerham by Dionne Lister

Author:Dionne Lister
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780994602541
Publisher: Dionne Lister

Chapter 9

I was living my best life… not. Saturday afternoon, and I was sitting at the PIB conference-room table with Imani, Will, Ma’am, Olivia, and Agent Johanssen, the blond, gorgeous six-foot-five Norse-god-looking agent who’d been on duty at the cliffs when the latest poor soul jumped. The jumper was a young lady who’d been a friend of the last victim, who I now learned was Ellie Fisher. Her gorgeous yet terrified face had haunted my sleeping hours since I’d videoed her last living moments.

Ma’am was grilling poor Agent Johanssen. As sorry as I felt for him, we needed to know what had happened. “What time did you first see the woman who jumped, Ingrid Braun, I believe her name is?”

“At approximately 1:00 p.m.”

“Was she by herself?”

“Yes, Ma’am, but there were others walking and enjoying the view.” Who would’ve thought someone would jump in the middle of the day, in front of other people? But come to think of it, I’d known someone back in Sydney who was waiting at the train station when someone jumped in front of a train, in front of a packed platform. I guessed when you’re in the midst of despair, nothing but your objective matters. So much pain in the world. The heaviness of it settled uncomfortably into my chest.

Ma’am had a somewhat gentle version of her poker face on—it suggested scant emotion in the form of calmness and understanding. She must be trying to make this as easy as possible. “Did you have any warning she would jump when you first saw her?”

He shook his head. “No, Ma’am.”

“At what point did you realise she was going to do it?”

He looked at the tabletop for a moment before meeting his boss’s gaze. “When she was near the edge of the cliff. Four others were close to the edge, so I was within six feet of them. I wasn’t sure if any of them would jump, but the group near her seemed happy and were taking photos, enjoying the view. The young woman, however, appeared focussed, even stressed. She looked across at me just before she jumped. That’s when I knew. I cast a hold spell, but it was repelled, and I froze for a minute. By the time I could move again, she’d jumped.” Agent Johanssen also had his poker face on, but the telltale tic in his jaw muscle gave insight into his feelings.

Wow, that was tough and unexpected. “Excuse me, Ma’am,” I said.

“Yes, dear?”

“Was Ingrid a witch?” If she was, that would make her our first witch suicide in this case.

“No, Lily, she wasn’t.”

“So how come the spell bounced back? Did someone put a return to sender on her?” This was a massive clue. No matter how the spell had returned to Agent Johanssen, a witch was definitely involved.

Ma’am gave the Norse-god agent a probing look. “You did check her with your other-sight, did you not?”

He sat up straighter. “Of course I did. She wasn’t a witch, and there were no spells showing in her aura.

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