Witch Is Why The Laughter Stopped (A Witch P.I. Mystery Book 14) Read Online Free Page A

off,’ but nobody could hear me. The whole thing was supposed to last for three hours, but I felt like I’d already been there for the best part of a month, and the top of the bill was yet to come on stage.
    “It’s The Coven next,” Kathy said.
    “Yeah, yeah. So what?”
    The three women, led by Brenda, walked onto the stage. If I wasn’t mistaken, they’d invested in slightly more upmarket leotards. They went straight into their first number. Even I had to admit they’d improved since I’d last seen them. Their dance routines were a lot slicker; perhaps they’d invested in a choreographer. Don’t get me wrong, it was still absolutely terrible. It just wasn’t as terrible as before. When it came to their finale, the crowd was absolutely buzzing with anticipation. The three women got down on one knee, and then jumped up one by one.
    “We. Are. The Coven.”
    The crowd shouted, screamed, and waved their hands about. They couldn’t get enough of them.
    “That could have been you.” Kathy nudged me.
    “Shut up.”
    When the applause finally died down, Brenda stepped up to the mic.
    “Thank you. Thank you. You’re all so kind. We’ve come such a long way in such a short period of time, and we owe it all to you. You’re the ones who voted us through week after week. Never in our wildest dreams did we imagine we’d be here tonight. But before we go, we want to mention someone very special who’s in the arena tonight.”
    Kathy looked at me. Peter looked at me. Jack looked at me. I prayed that the floor would open up and swallow me.
    “We want to give a big shout out to Jill Gooder. Please, put the spotlight on her.”
    Oh, no! The next minute I was blinded by the beam.
    “Most of you won’t know Jill,” Brenda continued. “But we owe her more than you can ever know. Jill, we just wanted to say a big thank you for TDO.”
    With that, the spotlight went off, and The Coven left the stage. Everyone was staring at me. I just wanted to get out of there, and quickly.
    “Come on, let’s go.” I led the way out.
    When we eventually made it back to the car, Kathy began with the interrogation. “What was that all about? What’s TDO?”
    “Err—TDO? Oh yeah, they asked me for some advice—about their dance routine, and I suggested Total Dance Optimisation.”
    “Total what?”
    “You wouldn’t understand, Kathy. It’s very complex.”
     
    ***
     
    Jack was a good cook. At least, he was a lot better than me. But the man simply could not make toast. It was either white or burnt to a crisp. This morning, it was the latter—black.
    “Do you think maybe you overdid the toast, today?”
    “I like my toast crispy.”
    “This isn’t crispy. It’s practically charcoal.”
    “You know where the toaster is if you think you can do any better.”
    “I don’t have time.”
    “You’d better eat it then.” He joined me at the breakfast bar. “I still can’t believe you never mentioned The Coven to me.”
    “There was nothing to tell.”
    “What do you mean nothing? You were offered the chance to join the UK’s premier dance troupe.”
    “They weren’t the UK’s premier dance troupe when they approached me. They were a little known dance troupe taking part in talent contests in and around Washbridge.”
    “Even so, you missed a golden opportunity.”
    “I’d rather you didn’t keep reminding me.”
    “Is there anything else you haven’t told me?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Any little secrets in your life which you’re keeping from me?”
    Little did he know that there was a whopper of a secret that I could never share with him.
    “No. You know everything there is to know about me. I’m an open book.”
     
    Jack left for work, and I followed a few minutes later. As I stepped out of the door, someone called to me. It was Megan.
    “Jill, have you got a minute?”
    “I’m on my way to work.”
    “It’ll only take a second.”
    “Okay.” I walked over to the fence.
    She was dressed in