Justine Windsor - Goodly and Grave in a Deadly Case of Murder

First published in Great Britain by

HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2017

HarperCollins Children’s Books is a division of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd,

HarperCollins Publishers

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

The HarperCollins website address is:

www.harpercollins.co.uk

Text copyright © Justine Windsor 2017

Illustrations copyright © Becka Moor 2017

All rights reserved.

Cover design © HarperCollins Publishers 2017

Justine Windsor and Becka Moor assert the moral right to be identified as the author and illustrator of the work.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780008183561

Ebook Edition © ISBN: 9780008183578

Version: 2017-07-04

For Charlie and Nikki

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2017 HarperCollins Children’s Books is a division of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF The HarperCollins website address is: www.harpercollins.co.uk Text copyright © Justine Windsor 2017 Illustrations copyright © Becka Moor 2017 All rights reserved. Cover design © HarperCollins Publishers 2017 Justine Windsor and Becka Moor assert the moral right to be identified as the author and illustrator of the work. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library All rights reserved under International and Pan-American copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins. Source ISBN: 9780008183561 Ebook Edition © ISBN: 9780008183578 Version: 2017-07-04

Dedication For Charlie and Nikki

Prologue PROLOGUE The graveyard was silent and deserted. An owl hooted from the great oak tree that grew next to the church. A fox slunk stealthily between the headstones, perhaps hunting for voles or on its way to raid the vicar’s henhouse. When the church gate creaked open, the fox froze and listened intently, sniffing the night air. A man crept into view, carrying a lantern in one hand and a spade in the other. A large bag was slung over his shoulder. The fox trotted silently away, melting into the dark of the moonless night. As for the man, he made his way over to two freshly dug graves. A cage of iron encased one of them and the man cursed softly under his breath when he saw it. But the other grave had no such protection. The man put his bag and his lantern down next to it, plunged his spade into the mound of soil and began to dig.

Chapter One: A Grave Affair

Chapter Two: The Coachman and the Stinking Bishop

Chapter Three: Angel Eyes

Chapter Four: The Not so Pitiless Predator

Chapter Five: The Snake Ouroboros

Chapter Six: The Break-In

Chapter Seven: Cockroach Crunch

Chapter Eight: Uncle Ebenezer’s Quill

Chapter Nine: The Emerald Eye

Chapter Ten: A Very Precise Death

Chapter Eleven: A Mouthful of Dust

Chapter Twelve: Golems and Murder

Chapter Thirteen: London Smog

Chapter Fourteen: O’Brien’s Midnight Circus

Chapter Fifteen: A Den of Iniquity

Chapter Sixteen: The Poodle That Barked in the Night

Chapter Seventeen: Lucy Cracks the Case

Chapter Eighteen: The Real Jerome Wormwood

Chapter Nineteen: No Choice

Chapter Twenty: Meeting Mortimer Thorne

Chapter Twenty-One: Stone and Earth

Chapter Twenty-Two: A Pact or Two

Acknowledgements

Keep Reading …

Books by Justine Windsor

About the Publisher

The graveyard was silent and deserted. An owl hooted from the great oak tree that grew next to the church. A fox slunk stealthily between the headstones, perhaps hunting for voles or on its way to raid the vicar’s henhouse. When the church gate creaked open, the fox froze and listened intently, sniffing the night air. A man crept into view, carrying a lantern in one hand and a spade in the other. A large bag was slung over his shoulder. The fox trotted silently away, melting into the dark of the moonless night. As for the man, he made his way over to two freshly dug graves. A cage of iron encased one of them and the man cursed softly under his breath when he saw it. But the other grave had no such protection. The man put his bag and his lantern down next to it, plunged his spade into the mound of soil and began to dig.

“So this is where it all ’appens, Luce,” Smell the cat said to Lucy Goodly, nodding towards a large wooden door.

Lucy took a deep breath, trying to control her nerves. She was about to attend her first official meeting of Magicians Against the Abuse of Magic, otherwise known as MAAM. It was a big moment for any magician, but an especially big moment for a new magician like Lucy. A month ago she hadn’t even known she was magical.

Lucy turned the handle, but the door wouldn’t budge.

“Only opens when you say the password,” Smell advised, gazing at Lucy. He was not the most attractive cat in the world, with his one and a half ears, stumpy tail and single eye.

“You could have said! What is it?”

“’avana.”

The door stayed resolutely shut.

Smell made an impatient noise. “ H avana,” he said, putting a rather sarcastic emphasis on the ‘h’. In response, the door swung open to reveal a very grand wood-panelled room with large stained-glass windows.

“Come along, you two! We’re about to start!” said Lord Grave, who was sitting at the head of a vast polished table. He was the leader of MAAM, owner of Grave Hall and Lucy’s employer (Lucy was officially the boot girl at Grave Hall). His panther Bathsheba was snoozing at his feet.

The other members of MAAM were gathered round the table. There was Lord Percy, a sorrowful-looking man with a deeply lined face. Sitting next to him was Lady Sibyl, a tall and elegant woman. Then there were the silver-haired twins, Beguildy Beguildy and Prudence Beguildy. Bertie Grave, Lord Grave’s son, was also at the table. Bertie wasn’t a magician and, in fact, didn’t believe in magic (he thought magic could be explained by science), but he provided what he called “practical input” to MAAM.

Lucy hurriedly pulled out one of the heavy ornate chairs and sat down. Smell jumped on to her lap. There was so much to look at in this fascinating room and, being a very curious girl, Lucy wished there was time for her to explore everything thoroughly. She was especially intrigued by the enormous display cabinet that held numerous strange objects, some of which ticked and vibrated. Lucy guessed they were for magical crime-fighting purposes.