Pawsitively Deadly (Silver Springs Cozy Mystery Series Book 1) Page 3

  Maggie looks again at the mug and smiles at the cartoon characters of Sylvester and Tweety Bird. Why she thought they suited her dad all those years ago, she can’t remember.

  Her first sip of coffee is heavenly. She can’t remember a time coffee tasted better. The slight bitterness of the dark roast is perfect to awaken her senses and get her ready for the onslaught of information she hopes to endure today.

  “So, my parents,” she says, taking her tablet from her canvas handbag and opening it to the notes she made last night. “You all wanted to talk to me about them.”

  Maggie can feel a moment of hesitation while the women exchange glances she can’t interpret. She ignores it and drinks some more coffee.

  Winona starts, “What do you have so far? We’re assuming it wasn’t suicide?”

  “Right.” Maggie doesn’t tell them that it’s been confirmed by her mother that they were murdered. Clem questioning her sanity is enough for now. “Well, I know they died of carbon monoxide poisoning. And Clem told me last night that their neighbor, Leah Scott, has a spare key to their house. So she had easy access. But other than that, Clem didn’t think Leah could have done it.”

  All three women shake their heads. “Of course it wasn’t Leah,” Ginger Rae says, leaning forward on the couch and shifting all of the cushions as she moves her weight around. “She was with us at Bingo that night. Every Tuesday.”

  Maggie laughs. “Isn’t that for old people?”

  All three heads turn in her direction and shoot daggers at her from their eyes.

  “I mean, I love Bingo,” Maggie says, her laughter stifled by their glares.

  “So does Leah. Sometimes her sons Taylor and Marcus come too,” Winona tells Maggie. “Why don’t you come with us tomorrow night?”

  Maggie sips her coffee to give her time to think of an excuse. When she remains silent, the three women understand it to mean she agrees. “Great. Bingo tomorrow,” Winona says, leaning back into the tan couch.

  Maggie silently berates herself for not thinking faster. She doesn’t want to go to Bingo. She doesn’t want to go anywhere that will make her get to know Silver Springs more than she absolutely has to. She sips her coffee until the mug is empty and then refills it. Free refills are her favorite thing.

  “Who would have wanted your parents dead?” Winona asks when Maggie sits back down.

  Ginger Rae looks excitedly at Maggie and says, “They had an ongoing feud with Aurora Holt. She owns Kidz, right next door to Two Sisters, and had some different ideas about advertising.”

  Erline continues, “Kidz has only been there for five years, and it was pretty much from day one that Aurora butted heads with your mom. You know how she can be.”

  “Stubborn,” Maggie says and smiles.

  “To put it gently.” Winona picks up where Erline left off. “Aurora wanted all four shop owners to go in on marketing for their block on Main Street. But your mom’s argument was that Kidz was brand new so they needed the marketing, but the other three shops were already established and had their faithful markets. They were all doing well and Aurora wanted to use them to help herself.”

  “I can’t say I didn’t disagree with her,” Ginger Rae adds, her hands flying in front of her as she speaks. “But things got out of control. Kidz almost went out of business this winter. They move huge volumes for the holidays in December, but then sales almost died completely off in January. She thought your parents, but especially your mom, was sabotaging her shop.”

  “But they’re not even in the same market,” Maggie says. She can’t imagine someone being so unprofessional to think a neighboring business owner in such a small town would go out of her way to ruin Kidz.

  The three other women smile and exchange more looks. “You’re just like your mother, you know that? That was exactly her response,” Erline explains. “But it got even worse. There were articles in the newspaper about the feud. Aurora went on the attack and took things too far if you ask me. She claims it wasn’t her, but there were suddenly a dozen negative reviews of Two Sisters online.”

  “Like heck it wasn’t her,” Winona says and then covers her mouth with her hand. “Everyone in town knows she did it.”

  Maggie is furiously making notes and asks in the moment of silence, “When did all this end?”

  “Well, it hadn’t really been resolved when they died,” Winona admits.

  CHAPTER 5

  Opal finally braves an exit from under the bed. She hasn’t heard the dogs in hours and hopes that the owner of the house—who clearly doesn’t want her here—took them away. Even if just for the day. She wants to get to know her surroundings in peace.

  Unfortunately her human hasn’t left an escape into the rest of the house for her. She’s already surveyed the two rooms she’s had access to last night and they left much to be desired. Her food and water are right next to her litter; completely unacceptable.

  But this morning the window in the bathroom has been left cracked and she sits on the back of the toilet to check things out.

  “I told you, the new human has a cat,” Opal hears just outside the window. The voice is small and unsure of itself.

  “Well I haven’t seen it yet,” comes a response, deep and throaty and intimidating. Opal isn’t sure she wants to get any closer to the owner of the second voice. “Let’s go. They’ll be waiting for us.”

  Opal hears light footsteps, that only a predator would notice, retreating from the edge of the house and stretches her neck to get a look at who she heard talking. To her surprise, two cats stalk through the grass toward the next house.

  Her curiosity can’t be contained and Opal jumps through the window as silently as possible. They don’t seem to hear her over their own voices and she stays low to the ground, only the twitching tip of her tail above the tall grass giving her away.

  Opal creeps closer, her stomach dragging along the ground as she stays low so she can hear them talking again.

  “When did you see the cat?” the deep voice asks. It comes from the cat on the left, an enormous black cat that is missing most of its tail. Opal doesn’t want to even guess how he lost it. She wants to keep her distance from him.

  “Last night. I was taking my turn on watch duty and the human who came brought a cat carrier inside.” The second cat is much smaller, even smaller than Opal. She is nearly all white with black markings on only the tips of her ears and tail.

  “So you didn’t actually see the cat.” The black cat’s voice grows even more intimidating, to the point of bullying.

  The small white cat cowers for a moment at the anger in his voice. “Well . . . no,” she says so quietly Opal has to stop to hear her.

  “So we’ve just wasted our entire morning checking out a false lead.”

  Opal waits for a response but the conversation seems to be over. The white cat falls back slightly and walks just behind the black cat. Opal slows so she doesn’t overtake either of them.

  She follows them further and further away from her new home. She knows she’ll find her way back by following her own scent. And having the scents of two other cats will be helpful as well.

  They pass house after house until the black cat skirts beneath a board leaning against the wall of a house. He disappears and the white cat does the same. Opal knows she should wait outside but she can’t contain her curiosity.

  She slinks toward the board and sniffs all around. There are more scent trails than just the two cats she followed. She can detect at least four more but they are so jumbled that she’s sure there could be even more.

  Opal is ready to make her way back home and leave these other cats alone. She doesn’t want to get in the way of another’s territory and she has to start staking out her own if she’ll be staying for a while. She can’t say she’d mind that, other than the dogs. This place has a lot more grass and trees and smells to check out than her home in Denver.

  She turns to go home when she feels the eyes of someone on her back. The hairs on her
back stand up involuntarily. She turns slowly and the white cat is staring at her. Without moving her eyes, the white cat calls back inside, “I think there’s something you’re going to want to see, Jester.”

  A moment later the big black cat that Opal wants to avoid is peering around the board and then walking toward her. He doesn’t come aggressively, but he approaches her confidently. Opal’s fur stands taller but she doesn’t even come close to matching his size.

  “I’ve smelled you before,” Jester says. “You’re the new cat living with Suzie and Oscar. Luna was right.”

  Opal relaxes a little bit. She knows Suzie and Oscar are the dogs she’s staying with. She’s not happy to be associated with them. She answers him quietly, “Yes.”

  “I think you’d better come inside.” Jester turns and scurries back behind the board, Luna leading the way, and Opal reluctantly follows.

  Inside, Opal can’t believe her eyes. She scans the room quickly and counts a dozen cats. She’s unlucky thirteen.

  Other than the cats, there is one chair in the room. There are a few blankets in each corner of the room and Opal wonders if these cats live here. If so, whose house is it? Does a human live upstairs and take care of them?

  Jester appears to be their leader. He sits on the lone chair and all eleven other cats form a semicircle around him. Opal takes a spot at the end, next to Luna.

  Jester stares at Opal and says, “State your name.”

  “Opal.”

  “State your business here.”

  Opal pauses. She’s not quite sure what her business here is. “I . . . I followed you and Luna,” she turns pointedly toward the white cat on her left, “because I heard you talking outside my house.”

  Jester’s voice changes with his next words. He’s suddenly friendlier. “We’re happy you’re here. It’s important that you stay safe, and we are all here to make sure nothing happens to you.”

  Opal is confused. She thought she was going to get into trouble for following Jester and Luna and discovering their hiding place. Without collars, she knows they’re in danger of being taken away and rehomed. She thinks they need more protection than she does.

  “Luna and Misty will be stationed outside your window. They will be on permanent watch. If you go anywhere, they will follow you.” Jester’s voice is stern again. “You are not to try to outmaneuver them. They will never enter your house. They will remain out of sight of your humans. The dogs have been warned to leave them alone, but we all know how unreliable canines can be.” Murmurs travel around the room in agreement. “Do you understand?” he bellows at Opal.

  She cowers in surprise but answers, “I understand.” Though she doesn’t understand a thing.

  CHAPTER 6

  After enough coffee to keep Maggie going all day, she says goodbye to her mother’s best friends and heads to the grocery store. Clem has never been one for cooking, always preferring to order pre-made meals on the go. Maggie is the opposite. She’s a foodie and almost always cooks from scratch.

  When she’s satisfied that she’s stocked the kitchen to her liking and has enjoyed a quick lunch of crackers, cheese, olives and sardines, Maggie checks in on Opal. The cat has graduated from under the bed to on top of the bed again and is sleeping away so Maggie doesn’t interrupt her, though she’s surprised that the smell of fish didn’t wake her.

  Instead, she heads back out to Main Street where she has two shop owners to talk to—Leah Scott, owner of The Last Page and Aurora Holt, owner of Kidz. She also plans to stop by Two Sisters to talk to Clem again and hope that the phone rings with another call from her mom.

  She decides her first stop will be The Last Page and she will work her way toward Two Sisters, two doors down. Maggie finds a parking spot on the street and considers herself lucky. She grabs her canvas tote and goes inside.

  Maggie has never met Leah Scott—she doesn’t even remember seeing her at her parents’ funeral—but she assumes she’s the only employee in the store. Maggie takes her time browsing the best sellers placed just inside the door, keeping an eye on the short woman behind the cash register.

  Finally, when Maggie hasn’t decided on a single book to purchase in the twenty minutes she’s been there, the woman asks, “Are you related to Clem Boothe?”

  Maggie puts down the book she’s holding and reading the back of and turns to the woman and smiles. “Her twin sister,” she says, extending her hand.

  “Leah Scott. You must be Maggie. I’ve heard all about you. I’m sorry about your parents. I still can’t believe they’re gone.” The sadness in Leah’s voice and in her eyes seems real to Maggie.

  “Thanks.” Maggie never knows what to say when someone offers their condolences. “I can’t believe it either.”

  “It’s been a whole month now. How are you doing?” Leah places a hand on Maggie’s arm and Maggie tells herself not to withdraw.

  She nods. “We’re picking up the pieces.”

  “It was all so sudden.”

  Maggie nods again. The more Leah talks, the more Maggie thinks Clem is right. Leah couldn’t have killed their parents. She’s as genuinely shocked by their deaths as Maggie and Clem are.

  “Yes,” Maggie agrees. In the silence that follows, she decides to check her theory of innocence. “Clem told me you have a spare key to their house. Did you use it often?” she asks.

  Leah doesn’t make any indication that she knows why Maggie is asking. “Hardly ever. If your parents were away, Clem was home. So house sitting was very rare. And honestly, I don’t know that they always even locked their house when they were home. Or at work for the day. Our neighborhood is so safe and the neighbors on the other side of them were always home. They’re a retired couple, Vince and Harriet Flint. I think we all depend on them to keep an eye on our places just in case.”

  “How long have the Flints lived there?”

  Leah’s eyes glaze over in memory before she answers. “My oldest son, Marcus, was just starting kindergarten when they moved in. I remember because he’d just had his training wheels taken off and rode over to their house when the moving truck pulled in. I panicked and thought he was going to get hit. Well, anyway, now he’s a senior in high school, so what’s that? Twelfth grade? So twelve years ago, I guess that would be. Wow.”

  Maggie can’t think of a good segue into asking about the police investigation into her parents’ death so just blurts it out. “You don’t happen to know anything about what the police found when they looked into their death, do you?” If Clem doesn’t know—and Maggie too—it’s unlikely that anyone else does.

  Leah shakes her head and frowns. “Sorry. It was ruled a suicide. I was just as shocked as you and your sister. I actually found them in their running car in a closed garage.”

  “Why would they have done that?” Maggie asks.

  Leah continues to remain oblivious to this line of questioning. She shrugs and looks at her feet, sadness enveloping her entire body. “I don’t know.”

  Maggie is skeptical but doesn’t think Leah will have any answers. She’s just getting frustrated and taking it out on the wrong person.

  Leah shrugs again. “I really don’t know. It’s awful. I wish they’d come to me before they took their lives. I don’t know if I could have changed their minds but I would have liked to have tried. It was just terrible.” Her eyes get a faraway look and then the front door opens, bringing a quick breeze of cold air. “Sorry. I wish I could offer you more answers,” Leah says quietly so the new customer can’t hear. “I can’t even imagine how hard this is on you. Can I help you find a book?” she asks the new person, leaving Maggie standing alone.

  Maggie picks up a few more books and reads the backs of them, keeping Leah and the customer in her peripheral vision. They chat briefly before the customer walks back out and Leah returns to the cash register. Maggie returns the last book she picked up and makes her way outside. She sits on a bench in front of The Last Page’s big front window and takes out her tablet and makes plenty of
notes about Leah and everything she just shared.

  Maggie knows talking to possible suspects in Silver Springs isn’t going to solve this case for her. Her advantage is that no one knows she’s investigating a murder. At least none of the suspects know that. They all think it was suicide and she’s looking for answers for her own closure. She’ll have to get Garth on the phone and use some of the resources of their private investigation firm if she’s ever going to get to the bottom of this.

  But for now, Maggie puts her tablet away and walks into Kidz. The atmosphere is immediately different from The Last Page. Where Leah Scott kept to herself and let Maggie browse unnoticed for twenty minutes, Aurora Holt sweeps over to Maggie as soon as she’s through the door.

  “Can I help you find something?” she asks, not overbearing like some sales associates, but also not the way Maggie likes to shop. “Wait a minute. You must be related to Clem.”

  Maggie smiles. “Twin sister,” she says. They used to look a lot more identical but over the years their personal styles have gone in different directions. Maggie’s glasses are contrasted by Clem’s contacts; where Maggie’s hair is short and almost obsessively colored, Clem has kept hers long and lets the gray shine through the brown. But there are still enough similarities to get caught when Maggie wants to go unnoticed.

  “I’ve never met identical twins before. Did you two dress alike when you were little? Did you have your own language? Are you best friends?” Aurora rattles off questions like she’s an auctioneer.

  Maggie’s lips press together in a tight smile and she tugs on her right earlobe, a nervous habit of hers. Of course Clem pulls on her left earlobe.

  Aurora waits for answers to questions Maggie would rather not discuss, so Maggie finds a noncommittal way to tell her the truth, “We have a unique relationship.”

  “I knew it!” Aurora shouts, though Maggie can’t figure out what she knows. She can also see why her parents had a hard time working with her—or next door to her. “I always wanted a twin sister. I thought it’d be so much fun to always have a go-to best friend. No matter what.” She sighs. “But I was an only child.”