"Nothing was broken and they took it in good part. Truth is, we bring them a lot of business. So, I had another pint and then it was last call. I went back to the college." He glanced around to make sure no one was listening. He dropped his voice to little more than a whisper. "It was when I was walking towards my building that I saw him."

  Instinctively I also spoke barely above a whisper. "Who."

  His eyes looked sad. "Charlie."

  "Charlie was on the college campus after you’d walked him back home? It must've been dark, are you sure it was him?"

  He nodded. "He didn't come through the main gate. Well, they wouldn't have let him in if he’d tried. He came over the wall."

  "Over the wall?"

  "Sure. When you’ve lived at the college a while, you get to know ways in after the gates are locked. The full moon had passed, but it was still quite bright and I could see him clearly. He was walking towards the theater wing."

  “No.”

  Liam looked truly distressed. "I don't want to get a nice bloke in trouble. Do I tell the cops what I saw?"

  I wanted to tell him to hold his peace, but for all the wrong reasons. I returned his gaze and I'm sure my eyes were sad and serious as his were. "Yes. You have to tell them."

  I felt a sort of buzz going through the atmosphere and looked up to see Ellen walking down the corridor. She looked pale but calm. She stopped at each group to talk quietly, or listen. She didn’t stay long, but every group she walked away from seemed a little calmer.

  When she got to where Liam and I were standing, Polly and Scarlett and Will walked over to join us. The director looked at each of us in turn. “How are you all doing?”

  I was certain she’d said the same words ten or twenty times by now, but it felt for the moment as though we were her top priority. Polly said, “Oh, Ellen, it’s so awful. Poor Jeremy.” And then she began to weep.

  “Do you want a hug?” Ellen asked.

  Polly nodded and Ellen put her arms around the sobbing girl. After Polly had calmed, she said, “This is a terrible tragedy, and obviously we will do everything we can to help the police solve this heinous crime.” I was impressed. How many people can use ‘heinous’ in a sentence and not sound pretentious? Somehow, she managed it.

  Scarlett said, “I don’t know what to do, or where to go. I feel I want to stay here, where we can all be together.”

  “Of course, you do,” Ellen said soothingly. “We all do. I’m opening the big rehearsal hall later so we can come together and share our grief. I’ve asked for some grief counselors to be available should anyone need their services.”

  Scarlett said, "I will, definitely.”

  Polly sniffed. “What about the play?"

  Ellen shook her head. "It's too early to say. And in the end it won't be my decision. It will be up to the college. But I know that Jeremy would have wanted us to go on. Perhaps we can dedicate the play to his memory."

  I was fairly certain that Ellen would have more influence than she was letting on. If she was already thinking of dedicating the play to Jeremy’s memory, then she definitely planned to continue. Cynically, I imagined the tragedy would increase ticket sales.

  And Will would get to play Demetrius after all.

  I told Scarlett that I needed to get back to my shop and was relieved when she decided to stay with the other actors. Already, tributes of flowers and a couple of small cuddly toys had begun to arrive and the groundskeeper was helping organize them in a flowerbed beside the door into the theater wing.

  I knew I didn't have much time until Liam told the detectives about Charlie. I didn't know what I could do for him, but I could warn Alice. At least, she would hear about the murder, and Charlie’s possible role in it, from me. If she felt guilt-bound to tell the detectives about the love potion, I wouldn't try to stop her. My own guilt was too great.

  As I walked down Harrington Street towards Cardinal Woolsey's I realized how much I'd grown to love it here. Not just the shop, but my customers, my friends, the vampires who met in my back room to gossip and knit, my grandmother who I loved so dearly.

  If the police discovered that my love potion had incited someone to murder, I imagined I'd end up in jail. I hadn't killed Jeremy, but I would likely be deemed an accessory to murder. I certainly felt like one. It was like I'd handed a loaded gun to Charlie and then filled him up with rage. I hadn't meant to, I'd only wanted to help two lovelorn souls find each other and look at the mess I'd made.

  Instead of finding true love, Charlie would likely end up in jail, and I knew Alice well enough to know that she would never forgive herself. In Shakespeare's hands, potions and mismatched lovers caused comedy and, ultimately, true love. In my hands the same elements were turning into a tragedy.

  I was striding down Harrington now, determined to get to Alice before she found out from anyone else what had happened. As I passed Frogg’s Books I shuddered and quickened my pace.

  “You were gone so long,” Alice said when I rushed into the shop. “Was Scarlett struggling with her lines?”

  Alice was so kind, worrying about Scarlett’s performance. Her world still intact. I could hardly bear to destroy it.

  Fortunately, there were no customers in the shop, so I flipped the sign to closed. “Alice, I’ve got dreadful news.”

  She paled. “Is it Charlie?”

  Of course in her obsession she never thought about anyone but Charlie.

  “Yes.” I took a deep breath. Encouraged her to sit down and then told her everything.

  Alice remained silent, her eyes fixed on my face, growing so pale I was glad she was sitting. When I’d finished she didn’t say anything. Her hands were clasped tightly in her lap. Then, very quietly, she said, “This is all my fault.”

  “No. It’s not. It’s mine and Violet’s. We never should have sought a love potion.”

  “If Charlie did this terrible thing, it’s not his fault. I’ll explain that to the police. This is my doing.”

  The jails were going to be full if they imprisoned every one of us who felt guilty about this murder, and yet, in some way we were all guilty. Me and Vi, Margaret Twig, Alice and Charlie.

  She rose and put her shoulders back. “Are the police still at the college?”

  “Yes.”

  She nodded. “I’ll go up now.”

  “I’ll go with you.”

  “But, who will look after the shop?”

  “Anyone having a knitting emergency will have to wait.”

  We gathered our bags and then I pulled my keys from my bag so I could lock the door behind us. But, before we’d even got outside, the door opened and Charlie walked in.

  "Charlie?" Alice and I both called out at once.

  He looked rather surprised. Was it possible that he hadn't heard?

  Then he grinned, in his usual self-effacing way and put a hand to his jaw, where a dark shadow of bruise was spreading. “Don't worry, it's only a flesh wound."

  Then, when he saw our expressions, he grew serious. "I'm terribly sorry I acted so appallingly last night. That's why I came here, to apologize." His eyes were on Alice and, for the first time, I saw an expression in their depths that reflected the way Alice had been looking at him for the past three years. Was it possible that he had finally fallen for Alice, now that it was too late?

  Or was this a clever act? Designed to make Alice and me believe he was innocent of Jeremy’s murder.

  He said, "Alice, I've been a dreadful fool."

  She took a step back and said, "Charlie? What have you done?"

  His eyes went puzzled and he gazed at me and then back to Alice. "I've come to my senses. That's what I'm trying to tell you." He stepped closer. "Could we go next door and get a cup of tea, and talk in private?"

  Alice said, all in a rush, "Charlie, the police are going to be looking for you, they think you killed Jeremy Booth, and it's all my fault." And then she burst into tears.

  An expression of shock crossed his face. "What's all this? Nobody killed anyone, though our egos both took a blow. It was bloody stupid, and I’m heartily ashamed of myself, but at least having a turn up with Jeremy seems to have knocked some sense into my head.”

  But Alice had her face in her hands. He turned to me and I thought if he was acting this look of utter bewilderment then he was better than any actor that Ellen Barrymore had trained.

  I said, "It's true, Charlie, Jeremy is dead."

  "He can't be. All I did was punch him in the nose. Who dies from a punch on the nose from someone like me?” He spread his arms and I had to agree he didn’t look very buff. “I lift books, not weights. Honestly, you could beat me up. I only managed to hit him because he didn't see it coming."

  But, for all his charm, Charlie couldn’t change what had happened. "Jeremy didn't die from the punch on the nose. His head was bashed in."

  All the color left his face so the bruise on his jaw looked suddenly darker and more ominous.

  I knew that Ian would be furious if I gave Charlie all the details so I stopped giving information and started requesting it. "What happened after you left us last night?"

  He winced, more from embarrassment I thought than pain. "Jeremy and I and four of the actors went round the corner into the alley and continued to make utter arses of ourselves. Then, Jeremy and Miles and the other fellow. Will is it? Walked back to the college, I think. And Liam walked back with me to Frogg’s Books."

  So far, his story tallied with Liam's. It was what had happened then that I really wanted to know. "Then what did you do?"

  He glanced at Alice who’d taken her hands away from her face and was looking at him through tear-stained eyes. "Alice, I didn't kill him. I wouldn't kill anyone." He let out a breath. "I just felt so confused. I thought I was crazy about Polly, but then, seeing you go off with Jeremy made me crazy. I couldn't bear to think of you with anyone else. And yet, I had these feelings for Polly. Honestly, I've never been so thick-headed. I couldn't settle. I'm sorry, Alice. You won't like this bit, but I walked up to the college. I thought, if I could talk to Polly, I could sort out my feelings. See if she had any for me, I suppose.”

  He rocked back on his heels. “Even though I'd only drunk a pint, and I don't think I finished that, I felt peculiar. Not drunk, exactly, but as though I was in a dream."

  Oh how I wished I'd never heard the words love potion. Obviously, his dose had worn off, but had it done so in time? Had he done something in his ‘dream’ that he couldn’t remember? Something horrible, like murder?

  "I couldn’t walk in the front gate, of course, as I'm no longer a student and it was late. But I remembered a spot where I used to be able to climb the wall and get in and, sure enough, I was still able to manage it. I knew where Polly's room was because we’d talked about her view. I told her which room I'd once occupied and she told me where hers was."

  Alice looked very disappointed. "You went to Polly's room?"

  He smiled, ruefully, and shook his head. "I only got as far as the front door of her building. And then it struck me how ridiculous I was being. I can't describe the feeling but as I stood there, under the moonlight, in the grounds of the college I'd attended a decade ago, I realized I was acting like a boy and not a man.

  “I don't love Polly. I blinked a few times and I had strangest feeling as though I were coming awake. I looked around and I realized I needed to see you, Alice. I'd acted badly and I wanted to apologize and talk to you without everyone being around. So I turned around, climbed over the wall, and walked back to my shop."

  He closed his eyes, as though we were in pain. "Then I got in my car and I drove to your place. I rang your bell, but you clearly weren't home yet"

  Alice went red and then white. "You drove all the way to my house? And I wasn't there." She nearly wailed the last few words."

  "No. You weren't. I don't care where you were. It's your business. And I was an absolute fool, and let you get away when you are the best thing that has ever happened to me."

  “Oh, Charlie.”

  And then he looked quite puzzled. "Wait a minute. I waited all night, and you never came home. Weren't you with Jeremy?"

  Her jaw fell open. "No! I wasn't with Jeremy. He was only going to walk me to my car. After you had the fight and Lucy could see I was upset, she invited me to come here and spend the night. I tried to go and see you this morning before the shop opened, but you weren't there."

  "I fell asleep in my car waiting for you to come home." He rubbed his neck. "Got a dreadful crick in my neck, too."

  "So, you were sitting outside in your car all night? In front of Alice's house?"

  "Yes. Stupid, I know, but I fell asleep."

  Stupid and really unfortunate if it was true. "Did anyone see you?"

  "I don't know. They may have. Someone may have seen the car."

  Oh this was not good. This was not good at all. Charlie didn't seem to be as worried about Jeremy's murder as he was about Alice. He reached out and took her hand. "You do believe me, don't you?" Then he smiled his very charming smile. "I think I went a little crazy when those rehearsals started. I saw Polly and I thought in a blinding flash that she was everything I’d ever wanted. You hear all that nonsense about love at first sight but I'd never believed it until I saw Polly. But, I don't love Polly, I barely know the girl. I began to realize, last night, that it's you. It's always been you.”

  I glanced at Alice and saw her eyes and cheeks begin to glow.

  “You’re there in the morning, always cheerful, you look after all the customers, know where all the books are." He patted his stomach. "I've gained about ten pounds on your delicious cakes. It just wouldn't be the same without you. I can see that I took you for granted. I really didn't see what was under my nose."

  Alice snorted. "That's because you always have a book under your nose."

  He chuckled. "Well, no more. If you will please come back to me, we’ll start fresh. We’ll be partners. Proper partners."

  She wasn’t completely certain yet. “You mean, partners in the book shop?”

  “No. Partners in life. Alice, I’m asking you to marry me.”

  "Oh, Charlie," Alice said, and then he pulled her into his arms and kissed her, thoroughly.

  She threw her arms around him and I averted my eyes and thought I'd better leave the closed sign up on my door when I caught sight of Ian and a uniformed police officer heading toward my shop.

  "Alice. Charlie." It was all I managed, before Ian opened my shop door. I suspected he'd come to talk to Alice for his eyes widened when he saw Charlie.

  He said, "Charles Wright?"

  Charlie took a step away from Alice and straightened his shoulders. "Yes."

  "You’ll need to come to the station and help us with our inquiries."

  Charlie nodded, looking resigned. "Yes, of course."

  As they left, Alice ran forward. "Charlie…"

  I put a hand on her shoulder to stop her following them. "They’ll only question him. They won't arrest him without more evidence."

  "So I'll see him again?"

  "Of course you will."

  "I suppose they’ll want to question me, as well."

  "I imagine so."

  She bit her lip. "Do I have to tell them about the love potion?"

  And wasn't that the thorny question. "Alice, I don't know. Jeremy didn't die of a love potion. If Charlie had killed Jeremy over you, then we would have had to tell the police. But I believe Charlie, don't you?"

  She looked appalled. And said, quite scolding. "Of course I believe Charlie. He’d never tell a lie. Someone else killed Jeremy."

  "Then, instead of worrying about the potion, I think we’d better figure out who did kill Jeremy."

  Chapter 16

  I'd given Violet the day off but now I phoned her and asked her to come in, telling her it was an emergency. I didn't care what she had planned, she could change those plans, since she was the one who'd thought up the stupid love potion idea in the first place.

  A customer came in and Alice served her. She was doing her best to hold it together but her hands were shaking and when she went to bag the purchase she dropped one of the balls of wool onto the floor. As soon as the woman left I said, "Why don't you go home? You’ve had a terrible shock."

  She shook her head vehemently. "I will not leave Charlie when he needs me most. And she turned to me, "Lucy, did I dream it or did Charlie ask me to marry him?"

  I smiled at her. "He definitely asked you to marry him." Right before he was hauled off by the cops.

  She sighed. "This should be the best day of my life, instead it feels like one of the worst."

  I had to admit Charlie's timing could have been better.

  She looked at me as though I had all the answers when I had none. "Lucy, I must do something. Tell me what to do?"

  I understood that need to push forward for the truth, and, since she was helping with the play, she knew a lot of the cast and crew. There must be something she could do.

  My mind was racing. "If Charlie didn't murder Jeremy-" I put up my hands to stop her before she burst into all the reasons why he was innocent. "And I believe he didn’t, then we have to help the police discover who did. It was awfully bad luck that Liam saw Charlie on the grounds. But maybe if he saw Charlie, he saw someone else, too.

  “Someone he wouldn't think was out of place so he wouldn't mention it." I was pacing up and down now, something I did when I was agitated and thinking deeply. "Miles and Will were the ones who walked back to the college with Jeremy. We need to talk to them. Did they take him right up to his room? We need to know every step they took from the moment they left us."

  She looked puzzled. "But won't the police have already asked them all that?"

  "Probably, but the police won't tell us what they’ve discovered. And, we are all friends because we’re working on the play together, so the actors and stage hands and so on won't be so nervous talking to us. They might remember things when we ask that they wouldn’t think of under the stress of police questioning."

  "I don't know. I've never done anything like this, before." She looked uncertain. “I’d try to ask the right questions and make a mess of it.”