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

  “But the cats could have seen you.”

  “They didn’t. Opal was still inside. I know because the window she uses was closed. She has two guard cats, but they weren’t there yet. They don’t come until later in the morning when Opal has free range to go out as she pleases.”

  Suzie can tell Barney still doesn’t trust her. He keeps glancing behind him at his person and her friend but Suzie can see that their backs are to the fence. “Fine. Just make sure Oscar is always aware of its location.”

  Suzie nods grudgingly. She doesn’t like having to depend on Oscar for anything, especially something of utmost importance that could make or break life with their people as they know it.

  “And the keys? This should be the fourth and final one that we weren’t in possession of or have direct knowledge of its whereabouts. The missing piece for all those years.” Suzie is excited to have played such a pivotal role in achieving the long time goal of the group of dogs in Silver Springs.

  Barney stops his pacing and looks her in the eye. “We may have lost one.”

  CHAPTER 15

  After hanging up with Erline, Maggie and Drew’s plan of going to the casino to talk to Jean is suddenly waylaid. Erline has Maggie worried and she wants to make sure she’s okay.

  Maggie and Drew part ways from Vern’s house with the promise of getting together to go to the casino if they can both keep their eyes open that long after Maggie’s double date dinner with Clem, Denis and Daniel. The little bit of sleep she got in her car last night doesn’t lend itself to being productive all day. Neither of them have had a chance to go home, and both are still hoping for a chance to shower, brush their teeth and maybe even enjoy a cat nap before tracking down Jean.

  Maggie goes to Winona’s house to talk to Erline and Jeff about the break in. She lets herself into the house and finds Erline sitting on a couch and staring into space in the living room, back in her catatonic state. Jeff is reading a newspaper in a chair, completely calm. Their body languages portray such different emotions that Maggie is momentarily thrown off.

  She sits down next to Erline and gently puts her hand on the older woman’s knee. Maggie does not usually offer physical comfort, but in this situation she can’t think of anything else to give. “Are you okay? You said something irreplaceable was missing from your bedroom.”

  Maggie’s touch seems to wake Erline from staring into space and Erline looks at the private investigator she’s brought to Silver Springs to help her. Erline’s eyes show no more life than when she was in a near coma, but she’s able to speak. “A family heirloom. Among other things. But everything else was replaceable.”

  Maggie notices Jeff glance in their direction. She wonders if he’s really even reading the newspaper or if he’s just holding it up as his cover story and eavesdropping but remaining silent.

  “I’m sorry to hear that.” Maggie isn’t sure what else to say to offer her condolences. “Did the police have any suspects?”

  Erline nods slowly, turning her head away from Maggie and back to the blank wall she was staring at when Maggie came inside. “Vern Myers.”

  Maggie tilts her head to the side. “I saw him taken out of his house in handcuffs. It was because he was suspected of robbery?”

  Erline nods again. “Detective Stevens told me he had to go talk to Vern about another matter. I thought he meant about his affair and suspicion of killing Felicity. But then he called me and said he found some jewelry in the house and was bringing him in for questioning.”

  “Okay, so he hasn’t been arrested. Maybe he was just resisting being brought in. But how could he have been the person I saw in your bedroom this morning? I had someone tailing him since you were suspicious of him and I would have known if he’d set foot in your driveway, never mind inside your house.”

  Erline’s eyes register fear and Maggie feels bad for taking away her small sense of security. “But if he wasn’t in our house, then who was?”

  Maggie shakes her head. “I don’t know.”

  “Are you going to tell Detective Stevens?”

  “Not yet. He might get important information from Vern in the questioning that he wouldn’t get otherwise. He thinks Vern is guilty, so let’s let him think that for a little while.”

  Erline nods and looks to Jeff but the paper is still mostly obscuring his face.

  “Where are you staying tonight?” Maggie asks Erline.

  “Here. We can’t take your bedroom again. And I think your cat missed you. She paced most of the night.”

  Maggie chuckles. “Sorry about that. She’s pretty particular about the people she’ll sleep next to on the bed. I hope you got some sleep though.”

  “Oh yes. Much more than if we’d stayed home. Winona and Mitch should be back soon. You don’t have to stay with us.” Erline stands, ready to see Maggie out the front door.

  “Don’t get up,” Maggie insists and Erline sits back down. “If you need anything, you have my number. I mean anything. And if I learn something new from Detective Stevens, I’ll let you know too, but he’ll probably want to be the one to tell you.”

  Erline nods. “Thanks again, Maggie. This whole nightmare is much more manageable with you here.”

  Maggie isn’t sure what she’s doing to help. None of her leads have panned out yet, but if her presence makes Erline feel safer, then so be it. She smiles and walks back to the front door and out to Clem’s car.

  It’s getting late in the afternoon and Maggie knows she has to return Clem’s car to Two Sisters. She isn’t looking forward to dinner with Daniel and Denis tonight, but she doesn’t see a way out of it. She’s far too tired to make polite conversation and would rather make impolite conversation with Jean. But the bright spot that keeps her going is that if Daniel learns anything from Vern this afternoon, maybe he’ll tell her tonight.

  Maggie pulls the car into the parking lot of the town offices behind Two Sisters and walks in the back door. The small store is the busiest it’s been since she arrived yesterday, with some of the neighboring store owners browsing items just before it closes.

  “Maggie!” Leah Scott shouts when she spots Maggie who is trying to discretely sneak into Clem’s office unnoticed. No such luck.

  “Hi Leah,” Maggie replies, nowhere near as excited. She’s only met Leah once, in May, when she was investigating her parents’ death. As their neighbor and a neighboring business owner, she hadn’t been able to offer any leads, but it had been important to talk to her.

  “How have you been? I’ve been asking Clem about you. You know, you turned a lot of men’s heads when you spent that week here in May.” Leah winks.

  Maggie can’t help but smile. Normally she wouldn’t care about turning men’s heads, but attracting the attention of Drew Kent has turned out to be a good thing. Not only is he helping her find Felicity’s murderer, but he’s good looking and fun to be around.

  “I’ve been . . . good,” Maggie answers, ignoring the jab about turning men’s heads.

  “I still can’t believe everything you found out about your parents’ death. Murdered? It just doesn’t make sense. They were such good people.”

  Maggie nods. She doesn’t want to talk about this with Leah, who she hardly knows. But she remembers from their first meeting that Leah is a talker and Maggie clams up around her.

  Leah glances at her watch and saves Maggie from any further discomfort. “I’ve got to run. Taylor, he’s a junior now—I can’t believe we’re already looking at colleges for him—anyway, I have to go pick him up from his weekend job. I told him he could take the bus but somehow he talked me into driving him.” Leah shakes her head, smiling, probably looking forward to spending that time in the car with her son.

  Leah turns and waves, not even giving Maggie enough time to react. Maggie briefly remembers that she has another son who might now be in college. She can’t remember his name and is glad she’s spared from having to try to ask about him.

  Maggie speed walks to Clem’s office, looking d
own to avoid making eye contact with anyone else. She spots Clem out of the corner of her eye talking with a customer but she isn’t sure her sister sees her. Maggie sits in the office chair behind the desk and leans back, her feet on the desk, and closes her eyes.

  Finally not having to keep her eyes open allows the exhaustion to wash over Maggie and she isn’t even sure she’ll make it to dinner. She feels herself drift off and has no idea how long she sleeps—if at all—when Clem taps her shoulder.

  “I just closed. You want to get out of here?” Clem asks, a smile on her face. Maggie knows the smile is for the thin trail of drool she wipes away with the back of her hand.

  “Yeah. What time is it?”

  “Five. I talked to Denis. They’re picking us up at six thirty. You gonna be awake for that?” Clem chuckles.

  “Yeah. I just have to shower. I can smell myself.”

  “I can smell you too.”

  Maggie stands and is momentarily light headed. She’s definitely come down from the sugar high she enjoyed after lunch. She wonders if a small cup of coffee would keep her up later than she wants or if it would do just the trick to get her through dinner.

  She doesn’t have time to decide, because just as the sisters exit Clem’s office, the phone booth rings and Maggie has a good idea who is on the other end of the line.

  CHAPTER 16

  Clem and Maggie exchange a look that only they can interpret without words. Maggie can feel the silent communication they shared as kids returning with every minute they spend together. Clem turns back into her office and Maggie knows she’ll patiently do work until Maggie finishes the phone call. Maggie jogs to the phone booth, hoping she’ll get there before it stops ringing.

  “What took you so long?” the familiar female voice says.

  “Sorry, Felicity,” Maggie answers, leaving out any excuse or explanation.

  “What’s going on? Did they find the pillow?” Felicity sounds anxious to know who killed her on Friday night. Maggie can’t blame her.

  “They did, thanks to your tip yesterday. I led the police right to it.”

  “Great. So who killed me?”

  Maggie pauses, at a loss for words. “We don’t know yet.”

  “What do you mean?” Felicity’s voice is impatient.

  Maggie takes a deep breath before answering. She wishes she’d met Felicity before she was killed. “Your DNA was on the pillow, but nothing else has been recovered. The killer seems to have known what he—or she—was doing and covered their tracks.”

  There’s near silence on the phone but Maggie knows Felicity is still there. “What other clues do you have? Who are your suspects?”

  Maggie has been dreading this question. She doesn’t want to be the one to tell her about Vern’s infidelity with her sister but she doesn’t see a way out of it. “There was a break in this morning at Erline’s house and some jewelry is missing. We don’t know who it was yet, but I’m hopeful it was connected to your murder and that will give us a clue.”

  “Okay. But you must have suspects.”

  Maggie pulls her right ear and continues. “Yes. We have a couple. Your husband—”

  “What? How could he have killed me? He was working all day on Friday.”

  “We don’t know for sure yet, but he’s a person of interest.”

  “Why? What do you have on him? Doesn’t he have an alibi?”

  “Well, that’s the thing,” Maggie says slowly. “He doesn’t have one that can be verified. It seems he wasn’t at work at the time of your murder.”

  “Where was he?” Felicity is growing ever more impatient.

  “We don’t know. He won’t tell anyone.” Felicity is silent as she takes in this information so Maggie decides to continue with the bombshell. “He’s been having an affair, Felicity.”

  Her silence continues but Maggie doesn’t press. Finally, Felicity asks, “With who?” She doesn’t seem surprised that the affair was happening but doesn’t confirm that she knew about it.

  “Your sister. April.”

  “I know who my sister is,” Felicity snaps and Maggie removes the phone from her ear for a moment.

  “What was your relationship like with April?”

  “It wasn’t good, but she wouldn’t have slept with my husband. She isn’t like that. We were civil with each other but we weren’t best friends. We saw each other on holidays. You’re sure it was her he was sleeping with?”

  Maggie can relate to not being best friends with her sister. Until recently, that’s how Maggie thought her relationship with Clem would be for the rest of their lives. Now she sees hope that they can reconcile their past and become at least good friends again.

  “Pretty sure. Would April have wanted you dead so she could be with Vern?” Maggie asks as gently as the question can be asked.

  “No. We didn’t see eye to eye on everything, but she wasn’t like that. She was . . . selfish but honest. She wouldn’t have killed me.”

  Maggie nods to herself but isn’t convinced. April will remain on her suspect list, below Vern, even if the police aren’t questioning her and Felicity thinks she’s innocent.

  “Can I ask what was missing from the house after today’s break in?” Felicity asks demurely.

  “Some jewelry. And a family heirloom that Erline is really torn up about losing,” Maggie tells her. When Felicity doesn’t say anything, Maggie asks, “What about Jean Spellman. What was your relationship with her like?”

  Felicity pauses before answering. “So you found out we had a past.”

  “Yes,” Maggie confirms.

  “Look, I didn’t move here because of her. I visited Silver Springs, and Vern and I loved it. We both wanted to get away from our office jobs that were stressful and start our own businesses. Housekeeping paid the bills. And Vern’s landscaping and snow plowing allowed us some level of comfort. I didn’t move next door to her on purpose.”

  Maggie waits for Felicity to finish her explanation. There is no anger or frustration in her voice. She remains calm throughout the whole thing. “But would she have held your past against you and wanted revenge?”

  Maggie is met with only silence and knows that Felicity has disappeared, something she can’t get used to when talking to those stuck in limbo after they’re dead. She experienced the same frustrations in May when she talked to her parents on this same phone.

  Maggie replaces the receiver and returns to Clem’s office. She finds her sister working on the computer but she looks up when Maggie walks in.

  “All set?” Clem asks. Maggie can tell she’s anxious to see her boyfriend, Denis, and doesn’t want to delay dinner any longer.

  “Yup. Thanks for waiting.”

  “Well, you need a ride, don’t you?”

  Maggie chuckles. “I guess I do.”

  Maggie still has the keys to Clem’s car in her handbag and she digs them out while Clem locks up Two Sisters. As they walk to the car, Maggie’s curiosity gets the better of her. “Where did you even find that phone booth?”

  “I didn’t. Mom did,” Clem says. She unlocks the car and gets in and Maggie does the same on the passenger side. “You met Delilah at The Dancing Donkey last spring?” Maggie nods, thinking back to the tea leaf reader who gave her a warning about her safety that she didn’t understand until it was too late. “She had it and thought it would be a nice permanent piece in the shop. And I have to agree that it’s been coming in quite useful for you lately.”

  Maggie smiles. “Do you think Delilah knew that we’d be able to . . . talk to murder victims over it?”

  Clem shrugs and turns left out of the parking lot. “Probably. But it’s best not to ask her questions like that. She offers the information she thinks you need to know, when you need to know it. She has her ways.” Maggie can hear the smile in her sister’s voice and wonders if Clem is in on some plan with Delilah.

  On their way home, they swing by Vern’s street to pick up Maggie’s car and then they each drive home separately.
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br />   Back at the house, Maggie finally gets her chance for a shower and to brush her teeth. She has to forego the nap that she so badly needs, but she can always just go to bed earlier than her normal midnight or later bedtime.

  She’s just putting the finishing touches on her face when she hears the front door open and Denis’ voice greet Clem. Maggie pulls the bathroom window closed, wondering if Clem opened it in the morning, rubs her cat’s back and walks out of her bedroom, making sure to close the door securely behind her.

  She’s surprised that she’s excited to see Daniel outside of the police station. Some of that excitement might be because she wants to ask him about Vern, but she’s not sure how much is work related.

  “You look . . .” Daniel starts but can’t seem to come up with the word he’s searching for.

  Maggie throws him a lifeline and runs her fingers through her short hair. It’s still damp from her shower and she can smell the lavender conditioner. “Better than this morning?”

  Daniel blushes. “That wasn’t what I was going to say.”

  “I’m just giving you a hard time.”

  Clem has finally parted from Denis’ arms and asks them, “Ready?”

  Maggie and Daniel follow them out of the house to Denis’ car in the driveway. “Where are you taking us tonight?” Maggie asks. The last time the four of them went out to dinner they enjoyed an Indian meal.

  “Ethiopian,” Denis says from the front seat. “I’ve taken Clem a couple times and she loves it.”

  Maggie is impressed with the dining options in Silver Springs. For a small town, they make a lot of cultural foods available.

  The restaurant is a small hole-in-the-wall, similar to the Ethiopian restaurants Maggie has visited in Denver. The smells immediately envelop her and her stomach rumbles. Besides the chicken sandwich earlier in the afternoon, she has not eaten enough to keep her going all day.