Free Witch Is When I Said Goodbye (A Witch P.I. Mystery Book 10) by Adele Abbott

their dance troupe?”
    “It’s true.”
    “You can’t dance.”
    “Obviously they think I can. That’s why they wanted me to be the ‘The.’”
    “What do you mean: be the ‘The’?”
    “Did you see the finale just now? Where one of the women got up and said, ‘We’, the next one got up and said, ‘Are’, and the last one got up and said, ‘The Coven.’”
    “Yes, I thought it was very effective.”
    “They felt it would be even better if instead of having one person say ‘The Coven’, they would let me say ‘The’, and someone else say ‘Coven’. I was to be the ‘The’.”
    Kathy shook her head. “Sometimes I worry about you, Jill.”
     
    Thirty minutes later, Lizzie came on stage. I’d never actually heard my niece sing before—trust me, I would have remembered. On a scale of nought to ten, she was beyond awful. Imagine a cat being attacked by a violin, and you have some idea of how bad she was. I had to do something to help, so I cast a spell, which affected everyone in the hall. Instead of hearing Lizzie’s screeching, they heard a beautiful voice. The whole audience was captivated. When Lizzie had finished, everyone stood up and applauded. Lizzie looked absolutely thrilled as she ran off the stage.
     
    At the end of the evening, the awards were announced. Lizzie didn’t place in the overall competition, but she came first in the ‘eight years and under’ section—much to her and Kathy’s delight.
    “Well done, Lizzie.”
    “Thanks, Auntie Jill.”
    “Yes, well done, you.” Kathy hugged her daughter.
    “I’d like to enter some more competitions, Mummy.”
    “That’s a great idea.” Kathy beamed. “We’ll keep an eye open for other competitions in Washbridge or maybe even a bit further afield. I think you could have a future in music. What do you think, Auntie Jill?”
    I just smiled. What was I meant to say? I could hardly tell them that in the next competition Lizzie entered, she’d probably be booed off the stage, unless I happened to be around to use magic on the audience again.
     
    As Kathy and Lizzie were collecting their coats, I bumped into The Coven girls who had come a very creditable third in the overall competition.
    “Hello again, you three.”
    “Oh hi, Jill,” Brenda said. “Did you catch our act?”
    “I did. It was very good. You’ve obviously been working on your routines.”
    “Thanks. We’ve put in a lot of work, haven’t we, girls?”
    The other two nodded.
    “How’s the hunt for TDO going?” I asked.
    “To be honest, we’ve decided to focus on the dance. We’re going to leave the search for TDO to those more qualified than us.”
    “That’s probably a wise decision.”
    “We’d still love it if you joined us though. You’d make an excellent ‘The.’ Is there any chance you might change your mind?”
    “I’m flattered, Brenda, but I’m going to have to pass on that one.”

Chapter 9
    There was a lot of activity in the outer office when I arrived at work the next day.
    “Morning, Mrs V.”
    “Morning, Jill. I hope you don’t mind, but we’re having a breakfast meeting of the knitting circle. We haven’t seen one another since the tragic incident with Cecelia and Rowena, so we thought we’d try and boost morale by getting together.”
    The other ladies all forced a smile, but there was a definite sense of melancholy in the room.
    “We’re all still in shock,” Mrs V said. “Not just because of the loss of two dear friends, but also at the realisation that Wanda Moore could have done such a thing.”
    “She obviously held a grudge after being expelled from the group.”
    “But it was such a silly, trivial reason to take two people’s lives.”
    As we were talking, I spotted Felicity Dale seated at the back. I felt I owed her an apology, so as I made my way to my office, I tapped her on the shoulder, and whispered, “Felicity, could you spare me a minute, please?”
     
    “There’s a cat asleep on your desk,