The Case of the Listening Library by A A Albright

Author:A A Albright [Albright, A A]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-01-28T16:00:00+00:00

Fancy grabbing lunch in that new café?

Well, that settled it – no wand for me today. I left the booth and placed it back on the shelf, before heading off to meet up with Jay.

17. The Golden Age

I used the shortcut of the Other Door to make my way back home, heading out through the shop and onto Samhain Street, where I saw Ned and Jay standing together, staring through the windows of the Golden Age café.

As I approached them, Jay beamed happily. ‘You made it! I was afraid you’d get held up.’ He pressed a kiss to my cheek, and I was sure I heard a wistful sigh coming from someone other than him. I glanced at Ned, who immediately reddened and concentrated on Cleo. The cat was snuggled in her arms, purring loudly.

‘I was just standing outside when Jay arrived,’ Ned explained. ‘And I know we said we’d go inside and investigate when it opened, but it already looks as creepy and weird as everything in Strange Lane.’

She wasn’t wrong about that – as long as you understood that in Ned’s opinion, anything pretty and lovely was creepy and weird, and did not belong in this enclave. This place, like the buildings in Strange Lane, oozed gorgeousness. There had been more planters and hanging baskets added since we’d seen it the night before, and a couple of witches were working out front, waving their fingers at the large stretch of pavement. They all wore hard hats and yellow jackets, and one of them carried a clipboard and seemed to be ordering the others about.

‘Materialization company,’ Jay muttered beneath his breath. ‘Who wants to bet there’ll be a fountain there in a matter of days?’

I was too hungry to contemplate what that might mean, so I turned away from the witches on the pavement and peered in the window of the café. I could see Angelica, seated on one of the many beautiful couches. Some more of her Not-So-Strange Society friends were gathered around, as well as some children and others that I didn’t recognise. They were all focused on Bartholomew Shannon, who seemed to be singing a song.

Ned trembled. ‘Just look at it! It’s absolutely horrendous. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a scene so foul. Did Hamish get that soil-testing finished, by the way?’

‘No,’ I told her. ‘He got hired to fill in at the college in his old department, so I guess it’ll have to wait.’

Ned turned to face me, a look of shock evident on her pretty face. ‘And he took the job? But he hates Wentforth’s.’

I couldn’t tell her that he and I were helping the Wayfarers, but it was safe to tell her about Onezie, I supposed. ‘It’s detective work, actually. There was another suspicious death, and one of his old students has been arrested. He’s just pretending to be back so he can do some sleuthing.’

‘Ah.’ Ned nodded. ‘That makes more sense.’

The cat chose that moment to pipe up and join the conversation.

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