Chapter 19

I ris opened the door to her house just as Ness and Morag were finishing breakfast. Ness turned round and saw her. She looked furious, and rightly so. Although Iris didn't want this argument now, she needed to tell her nan about their home.

‘What the hell were you playing at last night?' Ness said, getting up from the table and putting her hands on her hips.

‘I know, I'm sorry, it was a mistake.'

‘You're damned right it was a mistake. You make all this noise about coming down here to protect us from Christopher and you go back there, on your own. Have you lost your marbles?'

‘I was trying to protect the village. I'm sure you heard yesterday that the police came here looking for me, demanding to be let in. I thought going back to get the evidence to prove the locket was ours would make the police leave the village alone. It's something we should have done from the beginning as soon as Christopher stole it. If we'd gone to them straight away with our proof then none of this would have happened.'

‘I didn't want the police to see my memories,' Ness said. ‘If they got the locket back and touched those memory crystals and saw everything I've put in there, they would know that the locket was magical and I couldn't let that happen.'

Iris sighed. ‘I understand now. And I'm sorry but I thought going back to get the evidence was my only option to protect everyone in the village. I didn't mean to hurt anyone or make anyone worry,' she addressed that to Morag. She swallowed down the pain of what she was about to say. ‘I have some bad news.'

‘What?'

‘Maybe you should sit down,' Iris said.

Ness sat down at the breakfast table and Iris sat opposite her, taking her hand. Tears filled her eyes as she took a deep breath. ‘Our home is gone.'

Ness frowned. ‘What do you mean, gone?'

‘There was a fire. There's nothing left.'

Ness gasped, her hands going to her mouth, tears filling her eyes and pouring down her cheeks.

‘I'm so sorry,' Iris said softly.

‘Everything is gone?'

Iris nodded and Ness put her head on her arms and sobbed.

Iris quickly got up and hugged her nan. She looked at Morag over her nan's shoulder and even she looked broken-hearted too. She held out an arm for her and Morag jumped up on Ness's lap, leaning her head against her chest. Iris embraced them both. She stood like that for the longest time before her nan's sobs finally subsided.

‘What happened?'

Iris went and sat back down, but Morag stayed cuddled up on Ness's lap.

‘We think it might have been Christopher, although we have no proof. It's likely he came back up to the farmhouse after I stole the locket and either burned it down as revenge or to destroy any evidence we had to claim the locket as ours.'

‘That little shitbag,' Ness said.

‘I know. We're going to get him back for this, for all of it. We're going to find a way to turn the tables on him, to make the police see the truth, that he's the thief here, not us.'

‘You make him pay for this, you hear me. I want to see him rot in jail for a very very long time.'

‘I will.'

‘And if you can't make a criminal conviction stick, then you need to come up with something very painful. Eternal fleas or maybe a spell that makes his willy fall off.'

Iris let out a bark of laughter. ‘I will, I promise.'

She fished in her pocket and pulled out the locket. ‘This is yours now. It's open, your memory crystals are all intact, as far as I can see. There doesn't appear to be any damage.'

She slid it across the table and her nan took it eagerly. She opened it and smiled at the picture of her and Pops on their wedding day. Then she slid her fingers over each crystal, smiling at the memories they showed her.

‘Hopefully some of those memories will be of inside the farmhouse so not everything is lost.'

Ness nodded. ‘They are. Some of my best memories are in that house and most of them are in here.'

‘That's good. We can rebuild. I know it won't be the same but we can still have a home there.'

Ness nodded sadly. ‘I think I'm going to go out to the stream.'

‘And I'm going to talk to Lynx about what we're going to do next.'

Iris watched her nan get up and walk out into the back garden. It broke her heart to see how small she suddenly looked. They had lost everything, nothing of any monetary value, just sentimental things that were irreplaceable. If Iris had given Ness more time to pack when they left in such a hurry, they could have taken more of the important things, not just clothes. But Iris had assumed they were going back, it was never supposed to be a one-way trip.

Iris stood up and went out the front.

Lynx was waiting for her outside, sitting on her front lawn. He'd wanted to come with her to tell her nan but Iris thought it was probably better to do that alone. Ness didn't know Lynx well enough to be comfortable crying in front of him.

He hopped up as soon as he saw her and took her in his arms. ‘How did it go?'

‘As you would expect, tears, anger and a determination for revenge.'

‘And while I agree with that sentiment, I think our biggest priority has to be to find a way to get the police off our backs for good and somehow put the blame for all this on Christopher. All of this is his fault. And even if the police don't pursue us anymore, he won't ever give up, that locket is his golden ticket.'

‘Which is why cursing him is a brilliant plan,' Iris said, though she knew they couldn't really do that. ‘I have been thinking about it actually. We have to discredit him somehow, turn the tables on him. I was looking into the exhibit information this morning while we had breakfast. I had no idea the locket had so many precious gemstones on it until Christopher announced it on the exhibition leaflet and gave a detailed description of it. And it all seemed a bit too convenient that there were rare and expensive stones like jadeite on it, which hadn't even been heard of fifty years ago. The locket has been in the family for hundreds of years so that just doesn't ring true. Even Ashley said the locket wasn't twenty-four carat gold as he claimed and was more likely to be copper than anything else. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the stones were simply crystals or something that was created magically, nothing rare or precious at all.'

Iris pulled her mobile phone from her pocket, swiped the screen a few times and passed it to Lynx.

‘The locket was supposedly verified by leading gemologist Professor Wolfgang Augustin,' she said, pointing to the photo. ‘There is a video online of this supposed professor and Christopher discussing the rare stones. I can't find anything online to say this man exists. Not saying he doesn't, he might have better things to do with his time than have an online presence, but I did a search for his image on Google and found someone who looks identical called Steve Abernoth, who's an actor. Now maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree here but I think Christopher faked the verification. How could anyone with any knowledge of jewellery identify the locket as twenty-four carat gold when it's not even gold, it's copper? And if that part of the verification is fake, I think the rest of it is too. And Christopher has done it before. I looked him up. Six years ago he sold a diamond ring at auction that turned out to not be a diamond at all. He got into a lot of trouble but he offered to give all the money back. He said he'd been duped as well and he had no idea it wasn't real, so it never got as far as the police being involved, or at least he was never charged. But if he's done it before, then he could have done it again, either because he's trying to sell it for a much higher value than it's worth or as part of some big fraud scam.'

‘What are you thinking?'

‘I could be Professor Wolfgang Augustin. I could do a video which I post online saying I was paid to confirm the authenticity of the locket and that really I'm an actor with no knowledge of gems at all.'

‘That could work. Although what if the real actor comes forward and says the person in the video isn't him?'

‘If you were an actor whose video was now at the heart of a major jewellery heist or fraud scam, would you be sticking your head above the parapet and saying, "I made that fraudulent video not the person on the video."? Or would you keep your head down, grateful someone else is taking the blame for it?'

‘Good point. Oh, I know a cloning spell, I could make an exact copy of the locket, appearance-wise anyway. It won't be diamonds or opals or anything like that, if they are indeed real, but it will look exactly the same.'

‘A cloning spell? What is that used for?'

‘I have no idea. While on my travels around the world, I've found tons of worthless spells that I can't see what use they would have. One that makes grass grow five times as quick, and it literally only works on grass, not plants or crops. I know another that helps to find lost socks, another that helps to tie your shoelaces. None of them will change the world. I came across the cloning one in Finland. It's like a photocopy of something – it looks the same but when you pick it up and touch it, it's not the same. My point is that while you're discrediting him online we can send the fake back to the police to prove your video is the truth. If they get a real jewellery expert to analyse it, they'll soon see that it's not real gold and that none of the jewels are real. We'll make out that Christopher never had any intention of selling it, that it was one big insurance scam. He'll go to prison for that.'

‘Oh, I like that. I can do another video of me as the blonde woman who stole the locket, saying I'm a magician that normally works on cruises or in clubs and that I was paid to steal it and that there is definitely nothing real about it.'

‘I like it. But my only worry is discrediting Christopher will make him angry and I don't want him coming here.'

‘Why not? We have armed guards on the gates and a whole village of firepower. We can handle him.'

He smiled and nodded. ‘You may be a water witch but I love your fire.'

‘He's not going to get away with this.'

‘No, he won't. Let's go and talk to Wolf and make sure he's OK with all of this.'

Iris nodded. She knew that doing anything that could bring danger to the village had to be approved by Wolf but she just hoped he'd be on the same page.

‘I am Professor Wolfgang Augustin, leading gemologist at Smithfield University,' Iris said, in her best male voice. ‘Well, that's what Christopher Matthews would like you to think. In reality I'm an actor, you might have seen me on TV commercials selling floor cleaner, beer and erectile dysfunction medicine.'

On screen, Iris adjusted her glasses. ‘I was asked by Christopher to take the part of learned gemologist and authenticate the gemstones. I was told it was for a joke video that would go on TikTok or some other form of social media. I was paid eighty-five pounds for an hour's work. I was given a script before and in the video, which is widely available online, we chat about the rarity of the gemstones on the locket. But I'm not an expert, I know nothing about precious jewels. However, I can say that in my opinion the locket was made out of copper and the stones looked like they were made from glass. After I did the job, I didn't think any more of it. With most acting jobs you never see the end result for months afterwards. I had no idea Christopher was going to use it to try and pass off that lump of cheap metal as something real. I don't know whether the intention was to try and sell it, although I can't see that anyone would be fooled that the locket was genuine. It might look good but as soon as they touched it they would know straightaway it was a fake. After talking to the woman seen stealing the locket at the exhibition, who you'll hear from in a moment, I now worry it was part of a big insurance scam. But I have been horrified by the events of the last few days and my unwitting part in it. It was never my intention to deceive anyone and I hope now the police will look closer to home in their investigations.'

The video Iris was watching cut to her next alter ego, the blonde woman who stole the locket. Of course, she knew what the video was going to say, she'd practised both parts enough times, but she wanted to see the comments from the public too now it was live in the world. Lynx had gone down to London, heavily disguised, and posted the video from an internet café so it couldn't be traced back to Midnight. So now it was out there and there was no taking it back. Not that she would. Christopher needed to pay for this.

‘I, too, have been taken in by Christopher Matthews,' blonde Iris said, on screen. ‘I'm a magician, I do performances in clubs mainly and a few cruise ships. Christopher asked me to do a magic trick where I stole the locket for a video on TikTok. It was all set up with smoke machines and darkened rooms and a special kind of glass that would melt as soon as I touched it. We practised it several times before I actually did it and he was there for the whole thing. I just thought it was some big joke. I was paid a hundred pounds to do it. When I saw the locket during my practice runs, I could tell it wasn't real so I didn't think anything of it. And now my face is on the cover of every newspaper, plastered over every TV news story as if I'm some kind of Great Train Robber. It was a magic trick and Christopher was fully aware of it, it was his idea. I can only assume it was part of some insurance fraud. I have the locket and it's being couriered to the police as we speak. They will see for themselves the whole thing is fake and I'm hoping I can finally come out of hiding. I urge the police to look at the real criminal here. I haven't done anything wrong.'

‘That felt very genuine,' Lynx said as he sat next to her. ‘Very heartfelt.'

The video changed to Iris as herself. She was definitely pushing her acting capabilities to the max with this one.

‘My name is Iris McKenzie. You may have seen my name in the news associated with the theft of the Ocean Flower locket but that is simply not true. The locket belongs to my nan, it was a wedding gift from my grandad over sixty years ago and she has worn it every day since. And while it looks genuine – the person who made it is obviously very skilled – it has no value. The stones are glass, the locket itself is made from copper. But it has huge sentimental value.'

On the screen, Iris took a drink of water before she continued. ‘I dated Christopher for a few months and then one day he drugged my nan and stole the locket she was wearing. I don't know why, maybe he believed it was worth more than it was, or maybe he thought he could convince people of its worth. My nan was heartbroken but at that time we decided not to tell the police and that was a mistake. We believed that because it was completely worthless the police wouldn't care or be willing to do anything about it. We also had no proof the locket belonged to us, other than the wedding photo from my nan's wedding day that was engraved inside.'

The video cut to a shot of the fake cloned locket, complete with the photo inside.

‘But the photo is so grainy that it could be anyone. We no longer have the original photo this was taken from and so we felt like it would be our word against Christopher's. I knew nothing of the exhibition until I heard the locket had been stolen for a second time and it was all over the news, along with my name as the person who had stolen it. I can't believe, after the time we spent together, Christopher would steal from me, let alone try to use my name in whatever fraud scam he's trying to pull off. And it would seem this is not the first time he's done this. Six years ago, he got into a lot of trouble for selling a supposed diamond ring which turned out not to be a diamond at all. Maybe this was another attempt at deceiving people. Hopefully, now the police have the locket, this can be put to bed once and for all.'

The video came to an end and Iris sat back and looked at Lynx.

‘Do you think it's enough?'

‘I don't know,' he said, wrapping his arm around her and sinking back on the sofa. She snuggled into his chest. ‘They have the locket now, which they'll be able to tell is fake. But if the police can't speak to Professor Wolfgang, the blonde lady who stole the locket or you, then there may not be enough evidence to take this any further. At the moment all they have is three people claiming one thing and Christopher saying something else. But it may be enough to look twice at him, maybe do some digging into his past, ask some questions they hadn't thought to ask before. As you've mentioned that he's done this kind of thing in the past, and you found the details online easily enough, I'm sure they will too. That will definitely send alarm bells ringing.'

‘I hope so. Do you think he'll come here?'

‘I think this place is the only lead he and the police have. I think once the police show him the fake locket, he'll know we have the real one. A man who is desperate enough to burn down your house is a man that will act outside of the law. I give it a day max before he's at the gates.'

‘Good, then we can carry out the rest of our plan.'

‘We'll be ready for him.'