Pawsitively Murder (Silver Springs Cozy Mystery Series Book 2) Read online

  “Sure. Thanks.”

  Maggie settles into a wooden chair at the kitchen table and pulls out her tablet computer. She’ll take as many notes as possible and go over them with a fine toothed comb tonight.

  Before the tea kettle whistles on the stove, Erline and Jeff walk into the kitchen, hand in hand and looking much more relaxed than earlier in the day.

  “Good nap?” Maggie asks Erline, who sits next to her at the table while Jeff brings out an array of teas and three matching mugs.

  “Yes, just too short. Detective Stevens stopped by to talk to us again and that interrupted my beauty rest.” She smiles. “I’ll sleep like a log tonight.” Erline reaches over and gently holds Maggie’s hand. “Thank you again for coming. I know it seems a little out there to ask you to come up from Denver when Detective Stevens is perfectly capable of finding Felicity’s murderer, but you were so good with your parents’ murder, and I just trust you.” Erline smiles timidly and gives Maggie’s hand a friendly squeeze.

  “You’re like family, so of course I would come if you felt like you needed me. And Detective Stevens is completely open to having me work on this case, so we should have this wrapped up in no time.” Maggie hopes she’s right.

  Jeff silently fills the three mugs with hot water and Erline releases Maggie’s hand. They all choose their teas—Maggie goes with green for another boost of caffeine, Erline chooses peppermint and Jeff picks orange.

  Maggie holds the mug in both hands and says, “So tell me what you know.”

  Erline nods and takes a sip, jumping when the hot water touches her lips. “Still too hot. Be careful.” She chuckles. “I had coffee with the girls yesterday morning. Like always. And then I went with Winona to the dog park. She has her bulldog, Barney, and he really loves the dog park. And I always try to be out of the house when Felicity is here. And then Winona I ran into her friend Mitch Cable. I mean, he’s my friend too, but I know him through Winona. I always forget he has a dog until I’m at the dog park with her. And we got to talking—”

  Maggie interrupts her, “What time did Felicity normally arrive?”

  “She was here from eleven to noon. I would leave a list of things I knew needed to get done and then make myself scarce.”

  “What time did you get to the dog park?” Maggie knows Erline, Ginger Rae and Winona have coffee from eight to nine in the morning at The Coffee Bean, sometimes longer, but she can’t make the assumption they went straight to the dog park.

  Erline thinks for a moment, her fingers tapping the table top. “We went to Winona’s to get Barney, but we got distracted. She was showing me the quilt she’s making. And then we had a small snack and did the dishes. So, oh, probably not until eleven thirty.”

  Maggie nods and makes a note. “How long had Felicity been cleaning for you?”

  “Just a few months.” Erline turns to Jeff for confirmation. “She started in May, right? Right after you left,” she says to Maggie. Jeff nods.

  “Okay, so she’d been working for you for a few months and you weren’t here when she would clean. What time did you get back home yesterday?”

  Erline thinks again before answering. “Around three. Winona and I dropped off Barney at Winona’s and went to The Last Page. We got sucked into looking at books and then we went to lunch.”

  Maggie starts creating her timeline. Though Erline wasn’t even on Maggie’s suspect list, she has an alibi that would be easy enough to verify. Not only by Winona, but by her friend Mitch Cable and anyone else who was at the dog park at the same time. And the bookstore.

  “Did you notice anything unusual? Other than Felicity’s body. Can you walk me through your arrival?” This is Maggie’s least favorite request. She doesn’t like making people relive the nightmare of finding a dead body.

  Erline’s face drains of all color and her hands start shaking. Jeff takes the one closest to him in his hands and Maggie can feel how much he wants to protect her. “I came in the front door and put my purse in the kitchen. I think I hung it over your chair. Then I walked to the living room because I wanted to start the new book I’d just bought. And I saw Felicity lying on the floor.”

  Erline pauses and Maggie lets her compose herself. Then she asks, “Was anything else out of place?”

  “Nothing big. She still had the duster in her hand. And there were two pillows on the floor. But other than that, nothing I can think of.” Erline sips her tea again and doesn’t flinch at the heat.

  “Can you show me which pillows?”

  “Of course.” Erline leads Maggie into the living room and Jeff stays seated at the table. “These two here.” She makes a move to pick them up but Maggie stops her with a hand on her arm.

  Maggie slips on gloves she carries in her handbag at all times and carefully inspects the pillows. “What color was Felicity’s hair?” she asks, pulling a long red strand from the pillow fibers.

  Erline’s hand flies to her heart and she says, “Red.”

  CHAPTER 7

  Erline can’t take her eyes off the single red hair Maggie holds gingerly between her thumb and forefinger. “But she cleaned here. Of course her hair would be found in our house.”

  “If she was cleaning, don’t you think her hair would have been sucked up into the vacuum?” Maggie asks. Erline doesn’t answer. “We have to get Detective Stevens back over here. Now.”

  Maggie places the hair exactly where she found it and pulls out her cell phone. Within a couple of minutes, Detective Stevens and his team are on their way over.

  “But didn’t they collect all the evidence yesterday?” Jeff asks. He listened to the women’s exchange from the kitchen and just now enters the living room.

  “Yes. But it’s easy enough to miss a single hair,” Maggie explains.

  “And you think the hair is important?” Erline asks, sitting on a chair as far away from the pillows in question as possible.

  “I don’t know what else is on that pillow that might be helpful. But if that was one of the last things Felicity left to solve who killed her, then the police will have to test it for DNA. And maybe they’ll find something else useful on the pillow.” Maggie sits in another chair, never taking her eyes from the pillows on the couch. She regrets having picked one of them up, even with her gloves on.

  Jeff, Maggie and Erline wait in silence until they hear multiple cars pull into the driveway. Jeff goes to the door and opens it before anyone knocks. He shows Detective Stevens, Officer Malin and two crime scene investigators into the living room where Maggie quickly takes charge.

  Maggie stands and shakes Detective Stevens’ hand. “Thanks for coming back over here. I was just talking to Erline about what she did and saw yesterday and she remembered that a couple pillows were out of place when she got home. So I took a look at them and found a long red hair. It could be Felicity’s. I wanted to let you know so your team could process any other evidence that might be on the pillow. Fingerprints? Bodily fluids?”

  “Fingerprints aren’t likely,” one of the crime scene investigators says. “But you were right to call us. This pillow here?” He points to the one Maggie found the hair on.

  “Yes. And this other one was also on the floor,” Erline adds.

  The investigators place the pillows in oversized evidence bags while Maggie, Erline and Jeff watch. When they finish, Detective Stevens says to Jeff, “If you or Erline think of anything else, please call me. Of course, telling Maggie is fine, but we need to know too.”

  Jeff nods and looks exhausted. He shows the team out of the house and he returns to the living room where Erline and Maggie are still sitting.

  “I just want this to be over,” Jeff says, leaning forward and letting his head fall into his hands. He looks older than his eighty plus years in that moment and Maggie can’t imagine how hard this is for them.

  “If you need anything, let me know. I have some other things to take care of and then I think I’ll finally be able to go back to Clem’s. Today has been quite the whirlwind. A
nd if you don’t feel safe here for whatever reason, please stay somewhere else.” Maggie stands and Erline gives her a bone crushing hug. Maggie didn’t expect it and has to remind herself to hug her back.

  “Thank you again for coming up here,” Erline says into Maggie’s armpit where her face reaches.

  “Of course.” Maggie extricates herself from Erline’s embrace and lets herself out the front door.

  In her car she has to make a quick decision. It’s already past six o’clock and Clem will be home by now with dinner waiting for Maggie. She doesn’t want to ditch Clem but she wants to check on Vern before calling it a night. She settles for something in the middle.

  “Drew?” she asks into her phone when he picks up at the other end.

  “At your service.”

  Maggie laughs. “Glad to hear it. Are you at Vern’s?”

  “About two blocks away.”

  “Anything of note?”

  “Nope. I followed him to the police station earlier. He must have given a statement—maybe his second one—and now he’s back home.”

  “Great. Can you stay there for another hour or so? I have to eat. I’ll bring you something after if you want,” Maggie offers.

  “I’ll be here. But I came prepared, so don’t worry about bringing anything.”

  “Thanks. I’ll see you as soon as I can.” Maggie hangs up without waiting for a response. Already, she feels her work relationship with Drew inching toward something similar that she has with Garth. She can’t predict Drew’s next moves yet, but they seem to think along the same lines. She’s thankful he’s on her side in Silver Springs.

  Maggie drives back across town in the growing dark and pulls into Clem’s driveway. The garage is closed and lights are on inside. Maggie hopes Clem picked up dinner like she planned because her stomach is growling.

  Before Maggie gets out of the car, her cell phone rings—the one Trista always calls on. Maggie shuffles everything aside in her handbag and pulls it out.

  “What’d you find?” Maggie asks, already getting her tablet computer ready for note taking.

  “You certainly have a lot of faith in me to think I already have something.” Maggie can hear Trista’s smile through her words.

  Maggie chuckles. “I do have a lot of faith in you. Why do you think I keep you around? I know you’re the best there is.”

  Trista ignores the compliment and launches into her investigation. “Felicity used to be a debt collector until about three years ago when she and her husband, Vern, moved to Silver Springs. She opened her own business doing housekeeping. My guess is that she made a boatload of money in a job she hated and is now just keeping herself busy.”

  Maggie interrupts Trista. “A debt collector?” That single detail could be the clue she needs. How many enemies could Felicity have made in that job?

  “Yeah. I assume you’re thinking she has plenty of enemies. I thought the same thing. So I did a little more digging. You won’t believe who her neighbor happens to be.” Trista pauses for effect but Maggie waits patiently. “Jean Spellman.” The name means nothing to Maggie. “A past client, for lack of a better word.”

  “Tell me about Jean.”

  “I will. Jean got herself into credit card debt about twenty years ago. It was spread out over multiple cards, so the credit card companies eventually sold the debt collection to the highest bidder. That happened to be Felicity’s company, and it fell on Felicity to go after Jean. She kept at it even after most debt collectors would have sold it off to another collection agency.”

  “Did Jean ever pay?” Maggie asks, tapping furiously on the tablet’s screen.

  “No.”

  “Do you think Felicity actually moved here to finish the job?”

  “That’s not something I can answer, but I wouldn’t put it past her. She stuck with that single client for over ten years.”

  Maggie finishes writing and Trista remains silent. “This is great. Definitely a starting point. Anything else I should know?”

  “Not that I’ve found. But let me know if you need anything else. I’m available all weekend.”

  “Thanks. Enjoy your evening,” Maggie says and hangs up. She puts everything back in her handbag and walks inside.

  Clem is sitting at the kitchen table with plenty of takeout Chinese boxes scattered in front of her and an empty plate where Maggie sits down.

  “Thanks for dinner,” Maggie says. Clem hasn’t looked up from her magazine since Maggie walked into the house but now she graces Maggie with a smile.

  “Sure.” Clem finishes reading whatever is captivating her attention while Maggie fills her plate with a variety of noodle, rice, chicken and beef entrées. Then Clem says, “Guess who I found in the living room when I got home.” There is no malice in her voice.

  Maggie shakes her head, her mouth full and unable to respond with words.

  “Opal. She was sleeping on the couch.”

  Maggie’s eyes grow wide. “Opal?” she asks around her mouth full of food.

  Clem nods. “And guess who didn’t care that she was there?” This time Clem doesn’t wait for Maggie to guess—or not guess. “Suzie.”

  “Wow,” Maggie says after swallowing. “How did she get in there? I swear I closed the bedroom door.”

  “I thought the same thing. The door was definitely closed, and latched. She must have gone out the bathroom window you leave open for her and then come in the dog door out front.”

  “I guess she was determined to sleep somewhere else.” Maggie chuckles at her cat’s cunningness. “But, sorry about that.” Clem claims to be allergic to cats, even though they had cats growing up. Maggie is pretty sure she’s not actually allergic but just doesn’t like them.

  Clem offers a tight smile but doesn’t say anything. Six months ago she would have been at Maggie’s throat if Opal was in the main part of the house.

  “How are Erline and Jeff doing?” Clem asks, changing the subject. It could be her peace offering.

  Maggie accepts it. “They’re exhausted. They managed to sleep a little this afternoon, but they’re in their eighties and just tired. They want this all to be over, but I have a feeling it’s just beginning.”

  “It’s really awful.”

  Maggie waits a few moments before saying, “I just learned Felicity was a debt collector before she moved here three years ago.”

  Clem looks up, her attention finally focused on Maggie. “I’m sure she had plenty of enemies with that job.”

  Maggie nods. “My thoughts exactly.”

  CHAPTER 8

  Maggie can’t stop thinking about Jean Spellman and Felicity Myers’ possible relationship as she eats her dinner. Could it really be coincidence that Felicity moved next door to her? It seems too unlikely.

  Before Maggie can finish everything that’s on her plate, she’s impatient to get back to her investigation. “I’ve gotta go,” she says and stands. In her haste to get back to work, she pushes her chair roughly back from the table.

  “Did you get enough to eat?” Clem asks, worry in her voice.

  Maggie looks around for something to put her food in. “Can I take some to go? Sorry to ditch you.” Maggie is anxious to talk to Drew, check on Vern like she promised Erline, and scope out Jean’s house while she’s in the neighborhood. She can’t sit still when there is so much to do.

  “Don’t worry about it. Erline and Jeff are your top priority. Or, well, I guess Felicity is.” Clem hands Maggie a glass container and Maggie loads it up with the almost untouched contents of her plate. Her hunger has dissipated because of her excitement to follow Trista’s lead on Jean, but if she plans to spend the night watching Vern’s house, she’ll be hungry eventually.

  “Thanks. Don’t wait up for me,” Maggie calls over her shoulder as she walks out the front door. It’s an empty statement. Maggie knows Clem will be in bed before nine and Maggie won’t be back until after midnight, if she even comes back tonight. This wouldn’t be her first night spent in a car hopi
ng to gain a lead.

  Maggie feels momentarily guilty in her car for not even stopping to pat Opal on the head, but if Clem found her comfortably on the couch, then Opal has adjusted quickly and is taking control of the house as only cats can do.

  Maggie drives five miles over the speed limit all the way to Vern’s house. She doesn’t want to go so fast that she’ll get stopped, but she’s antsy to get there and can’t be bothered with the actual small town slow speed limits.

  She drives past Vern’s house and finds Drew’s white SUV on the street a couple blocks away, just like he said. Maggie parks a few blocks further away and walks to Drew’s car. Her first request will be that they park closer so they can see more details inside the house. From this distance, the only thing they’ll notice is if a car leaves the driveway.

  She taps on the passenger window. He looks in her direction, smiles, puts his binoculars in his lap and unlocks the door. Maggie lets herself in and offers him some dinner.

  “No thanks. But feel free to eat.”

  Maggie does. She takes a couple bites, suddenly hungry again, before asking him about Felicity. “Did you know she used to be a debt collector before she started cleaning houses?”

  Drew’s binoculars are back up to his eyes and he nods. “Yup.”

  “And you didn’t think to tell me?” Maggie is mildly annoyed.

  “Nope. How’d you find out?”

  Maggie smirks but he doesn’t give her the satisfaction of looking in her direction. “I have my sources.”

  He doesn’t respond. A man of few words when he’s working, it seems. Maggie puts the top back on her Chinese food and digs around for her own pair of binoculars. She threw everything she could think of into her handbag this morning and it takes a little while to locate them in the mess. As she roots around in her bag she says, “Debt collectors are notoriously disliked. And my source tells me Felicity’s neighbor, Jean Spellman, was a past client. She could have been out for revenge.”