Point Muse Cozy Paranormal Mystery Boxed Set: Books 1-3

by Kelly Ethan

  “Are you an art appreciator?” Holly joined the conversation as Lila cleaned behind them.

  She shrugged. “Sometimes. I’m more into swords, but dragon artifacts can be interesting. I hear that Archibald Penne from the Penne clan helped to supply the artifacts. You see him anywhere?”

  Hadn’t Priss argued with Archibald just five days ago? Why was she searching him out now? “I wouldn’t have thought dragons were your thing. Didn’t you tell me your father preferred a dead dragon to a talkative one?” Xandie’s pulsed raced; having some of her questions answered would go a long way to shutting up the gossips and their pressure to solve the thefts. Not to mention cementing her reputation as the librarian and the mysterious sword wielder was beginning to appear shadier by the minute.

  Priss bared her teeth in a close copy of a smile. “His actual words were the only good dragon was a quiet dragon. But whatever. Doesn’t mean I agree with everything he said.” She looked sad for a moment.

  Talk about the guilts. Xandie felt like a bully. “Sorry, I must’ve misunderstood. Ignore me.” Xandie offered an apologetic smile.

  “No problem, death and dads are touchy subjects.”

  “Dead mothers too.”

  Holly butted in between the two girls. “And absent fathers.”

  A cackle sounded from the corner and all three women turned and watched Elspeth shimmy across the floor in a lime-green pantsuit with a bowl of fruit on her head.

  “Grandmothers too,” chorused Holly and Xandie.

  Priss snorted into her champagne glass and sprayed her top with alcohol. “Well, I have to say your family isn’t boring.” She placed her glass down. “I think I’ll mop this up.” She indicated her champagne-sprinkled top and waggled her fingers in a goodbye. Priss headed off, perky blonde ringlets bouncing.

  “That girl confuses me. One moment, grim and focused, the next, cheerleader. It’s exhausting.” Xandie puzzled over the mystery of Priss Makepeace. She liked the fencing instructor, but something about the woman niggled at her.

  “Cheer up. No glum faces at the Iris Malone Gallery.” Iris Malone walked toward Xandie and handed her another orange juice. “In fact, you know what cheers me up? Buying art. The pieces here tonight have been donated by Ronald Penne and the Penne clan.”

  “Not on a librarian’s wage.”

  “Or a funeral assistant. We’re just here to support Lila,” Holly offered.

  Iris waved the words way. “One can always appreciate art even if they can’t afford it.”

  “Are all the pieces from the Penne dragon hoard?” Xandie asked Iris, still feeling guilty for eating and not buying anything.

  “Oh yes. The Penne clan is very generous. Not everything’s for sale, but Ronald Penne has marked on the descriptions in the catalogue. Archibald has worked with Ronald and me to produce a top-notch collection.”

  The same Archibald Penne Xandie had seen arguing with both Priss and Iris only five days ago. “Is he here tonight?”

  Iris smiled over Xandie’s shoulder at another potential customer. “He’s here somewhere, as is his Uncle Ronald. Can’t have a gallery showing of dragon artifacts without a few in residence. God knows, Marjorie or her heir, Adelind, wouldn’t get caught dead here. Ronald performs most of the social duties for the clan. Now I must move on. Enjoy the art.” Iris floated away and buttonholed another art goer.

  “That woman smiles too much,” Holly grumbled. “It’s like talking to a shark. I guess it’s natural. Her mother’s a dwarf and they’re all about gold and acquisition.”

  Xandie sat her juice on the table. “You know what? I’ve had my fill of the Point Muse social circle. You want to leave?”

  “Thank God. I thought you’d never ask.” Holly grabbed the last cheese cube and munched.

  “Right, you stay here. I’ll let Lila know we’re going.” Xandie threaded her way through the crowd until she reached the back of the gallery. The employee only doors were ajar. Xandie shuffled a few steps into the hallway and called Lila’s name. No one replied, but a figure at the end of the corridor ducked out the exit.

  “If that’s you, Lila, you’re too old to play hide and seek.” She cracked a smile at the thought of her cousin hiding behind some old statue. Following the figure, she eased open the exit door and scanned the alley, but it was clear. Confused, Xandie turned when she heard the thump of something hitting the floor. Her heart pounding in her chest, she moved in the direction the noise had come from and entered a small galley-sized kitchen.

  Chills cascaded down her spine when she spied Archibald Penne on the floor. His body twisted like a pretzel, his face an odious silvery-green and his tongue protruding. A wisp of smoke trickled out from his open mouth. “Oh my God.” Xandie froze, hands over a mouth.

  “It wasn’t me. I swear. Believe me.” Priss Makepeace stepped over Archibald’s body, hand outstretched. The other hand holding a crystal vial of smoking green liquid.

  Point Muse, always a surprise and a body count...

  Four

  “I swear I didn’t kill Penne.” Priss smoothed her wrinkled shirt over her jeans. The same outfit she’d worn last night to the exhibition, when Xandie discovered her with Archibald Penne’s dead body.

  Xandie evaluated Priss and her appearance. Sure, she was rumpled, the woman had spent a night in the Point Muse lock-up. But she didn’t seem satisfied or pleased with her deadly handiwork. If anything, her pacing, clenched jaw and pinched lips indicated frustration, not guilt. So why did Xandie feel as if the woman hid a mile-wide secret from her?

  “I found you standing over his corpse with a poison bottle in your hand.” Xandie rubbed her aching head. She’d sent Holly for Agatha as soon as she found Archibald. The Brauns stepped in, removed Priss for questioning and closed the gallery. The police chief was away on course, otherwise she’d never be allowed to quiz a potential murderer. “Why were you standing over him with the poison?”

  “Argh.” The incarcerated woman threw up her hands and paced the cell. “We had a meeting. I found him dead. That’s it.”

  “Why meet with him? No offense, but you don’t like dragons much, do you?” Xandie asked Priss in a flat tone. She’d seen the dragon victim arguing with both Priss and the gallery owner. Why the sudden popularity with the town’s female residents?

  Priss nibbled her lip, her cheerleader blonde locks limp and non-bouncy. “The meeting was personal. But I didn’t kill him. That’s all anyone needs to know.” She pounded a fist against the wall, then slumped onto a bench.

  Xandie fought the swell of compassion threatening to swamp her logic centers. Sighing, she waved at Agatha to let her out. “When you’re ready to tell the truth, get Agatha to call me. I like you. You saved me from killer garden ornaments, but I can’t help you unless you let me.” She waited until Agatha let her out and paused, staring at the murder suspect. A disheveled, scared, and mysterious Priss Makepeace. It was time to bring the girls in and Nancy Drew the heck out of Archibald’s murder. Xandie stepped out of the station and raised her face to the cool sun peeking through the gray clouds. Another murder to solve.

  Wait until Theo heard.

  “Our little sword wielder is a killer? Cool.” Lila drifted around the library, trailing fingers over wooden shelves.

  “Are you’re checking out Xandie’s housekeeping?” Holly griped at Lila.

  “Well, it’d be nice if someone cleaned my apartment once in a while.”

  “How about the owner of said apartment?” Holly shot back.

  “How about the freeloader who stays because she can’t stand living with her mother?”

  “Stop squabbling over my lack of dust. The library handles it. Can we get back on target?” Xandie rolled her eyes. Her cousins fought over anything, given the chance.

  “Fine.” Lila flounced to the same couch Holly lounged on and perched on the edge with a frown.

  “Yeah. You guys will solve this murder. No worries for the woman on potential death row.” Theo the fluffy blac
k cat, a.k.a. ancient Greek teenager, strolled around the room. His pet imp, Horatio, hung off his ear, free climbing Theo’s face.

  “Hey,” Xandie protested. “I’ve solved multiple murders.”

  “You were lucky and don’t forget we all rode to your rescue.” Theo made his point by flinging his head. Horatio squealed as he flew into the air. Theo sighed and shot his paw out, flicking Horatio onto his back. Protesting, the imp crawled into his handmade saddle and adjusted his pink spangled jogging suit.

  “I had it in hand. Now we focus on Priss. Remember her? Languishing in jail for a crime she didn’t commit?”

  Holly held up a hand. “Are we positive she isn’t guilty? I mean she’s nice and has a cool sword. But we don’t know her.”

  “I hate to agree with my death-obsessed cousin. What do we know of Priss Makepeace? Is that even her name?”

  “Okay, she’s sketchy, and she argued with Archibald, but Malone threatened him too.” Xandie flashed to Priss’s reaction to Es Penne, Lila’s newest work experience girl. “I have unanswered questions for her. But murder is a big stretch.”

  “I suggest you find background on murder girl, Iris Malone, and how the dragon died. You have a week before the Chief comes back from his course. After that, you won’t get a look in.” Theo galloped past with Horatio heehawing on his back.

  Lila rose. “It’s a plan. What does the library say?”

  Xandie opened the volume on dragon migrations. She showed it to her cousins. “But what it has to do with the missing artifacts, I’ve no clue.”

  “Go through it. See what sparks that suspicious sleuthing mind of yours. Meanwhile, we’ll find out what killed Archibald. Meet up with you later.” Lila dragged Holly up and they left, still squabbling.

  Xandie dropped the book and took hold of her necklace. The pendant belonged to her great-aunt, Sera, the previous librarian. The necklace, library and Theo were her inheritance. She smoothed a finger over the design. The pendant represented the symbol of knowledge. Originally it had been a focal link between her and the library. But she’d found out when a killer knight attacked her that she could communicate with the library without it. But she felt a connection to her murdered great-aunt when she wore it. For now, she still used the necklace to help focus her questions. Xandie had already asked about the artifact thefts. So, this time she formed her question differently. “Someone killed Archibald Penne. Is the killer a supernatural?”

  The tome on draconic movement shivered and shook again. “Okay, I get the message.” She patted her desk and whispered a thank you. Didn’t hurt to play nice with the supernatural entity that controlled her paycheck. She dropped to the couch vacated by her warring cousins.

  Xandie resigned herself to reading. She scanned the contents and turned to the Pennedrakon chapter. She skipped past the information she’d read earlier. “Point Muse is a favorite of otherworldly creatures. It’s a supernatural, relatively isolated community, built on a nexus of ley lines. Visitors access the town from off the highway. A lake borders one side, with a forested reserve on the other. The secluded area has an abundant national park, hiking trails and a bustling harbor and fishing trade. Great background, but what about the Penne family?”

  With no answer forthcoming, she sighed and went back to her reading. “The clan’s matriarch is Marjorie. Previous heir was Melinda, who left with a mate of questionable origins. Current heir is Adelind, mate Ronald, and one female offspring.” Female offspring was Es, moody teenager. Xandie mused the problem over. “Priss froze at the bakery when she spotted the teenager. Plus, she’d said her father always told her a good dragon was a dead dragon.” Did Priss have an inherited grudge against dragons?

  “Doesn’t clear her name. It adds more questions.” She needed details and murder girl wasn’t divulging any tidbits. Still thinking things through, she bustled around, cleaning and adjusting books on shelves. She checked the appointment book for any requests. Then she raced through the pile of notes, writing appointments and copying information. Books and scrolls jiggled and bounced in the shelves as an industrious Xandie cleared her desk.

  Reaching the final note, she read it twice before speaking. “Seriously? You couldn’t have brought this to my attention earlier?” The lights overhead flickered furiously. “Sorry, sorry.” She held a hand up. “My bad.” She turned her attention to the note. “Archibald Penne requests an updated report on his family tree.” Why investigate your own family tree? “Unless someone had new information and he’d wanted to verify it before going to the old battleax, Marjorie Penne.” Archibald argued with both women. But Priss had a sword and a father who hated dragons. Xandie had an idea what her new friend hid.

  Sliding the request between two pages in the dragon text, she re-shelved it. She still needed more concrete material evidence.

  But first task, tackle hormonal supernatural teenagers and the exhausted staff of the academy. Priss had a job there. Surely the school had a record of her details? Now all Xandie had to do was figure out how she could acquire it.

  Point Muse, never dull.

  Five

  “Point Muse Academy, the red brick educational black hole, where hormonal mini-adults go to stagnate,” Es Penne intoned in a macabre voice-over as she gave Xandie a tour of the school.

  Was it luck or fate when the office picked the dragon for the tour? “I take it you’re not a fan of the academy”

  Es hunched her shoulders and toyed with a silver-streaked lock of black hair. “It’s okay, at least I’m away from the parents.”

  Moody teen with parents who don’t understand, a teenage cliché. Xandie hadn’t realized she’d spoken the words aloud until Es snickered.

  “Mostly I stay with my grandmother. Can’t stand my parents sniping at each other or my dad’s social sucking up. He’d do anything to be the center of society.”

  “My father’s the same, except in Andrews, and he’s a human librarian, not a dragon.” Maybe she’d underestimated the sulky teen. Es had her own valid reasons to not care. “Is your grandmother hard to live with? I heard she could be difficult.”

  Es burst into a full belly laugh. Wiping her eyes, she took a deep breath and paused at the open gym doors. “Yeah, she’s got a rep for being cranky, but we get on well. The old girl’s got life in her yet and she doesn’t care about other people’s opinions.” Es waved Xandie into the gym. “This is the academy’s pride and joy. My father donated the money for it. Aren’t I a special snowflake?”

  Xandie stared. Nothing like this in Andrews where she’d gone to school. A large gymnasium, complete with three full-size basketball courts, an indoor track, wrestling facility and a fencing room were on offer. The students even had access to strength training equipment and cardio machines.

  “Over the top. That’s Ronald Penne for you.”

  “If he’s your father, shouldn’t he have a different name?”

  Es lead Xandie over to the fencing room. “Not if you’re from a socially non-existent family and get the Penne heir pregnant. Then you drop your own name and become a fake Penne. Told you, my dad’s about social climbing.”

  Didn’t sound as if Es liked good old dad much. Xandie wondered what Adelind, her mom, was like? She’d spotted Ronald at the gallery on the night of Archibald’s murder, but the heir hadn’t appeared. She stepped into the fencing room, Priss Makepeace’s current working space. “So, Ms. Makepeace is filling in for your old fencing instructor?”

  Es leaned against a wall. “Yeah, for the last few weeks. Not much longer though, I guess.”

  “Because of your cousin’s murder?”

  “Archibald’s okay, but he was like my father. Always looking for a way up and a quick buck. I’m not surprised someone took him out, just that it was Ms. Makepeace.”

  “Why? You don’t think she could kill anyone?”

  The teenager’s answer interested Xandie, since Priss hated dragons so much.

  “Oh, no.” Es shook her head and her choppy bangs settled back
into place. “She could kill someone with that sword. You should see her train.” The teenager waved at the floors. “We have thick martial arts mats and a special sprung hardwood floor that helps absorb shock. When she trains, she’s focused, lethal. If she would kill anyone, it would be with a sword. I can’t see her doing it with poison.”

  “Poison killed him? What kind?”

  The dragon bit her lip and averted her eyes. “I heard a rumor, no clue if it’s right. My parents won’t tell me, and my grandmother doesn’t want to worry me.”

  Dragon white lie. Xandie changed the subject. “How’s Ms. Makepeace as a teacher?”

  “I love the slicing and dicing with the swords. Makepeace is strict, but she doesn’t play favorites. That’s rare here.” Es shrugged, noncommittal teenager. “But I’m not sure she’s comfortable teaching super kids. She’s kinda uptight. She doesn’t do much with me, but I’m used to it. Not many people like the Penne clan.”

  The teenage appeared to enjoy the outsider role. “Thanks for the tour. Could you take me to the office? This campus is big enough I’ll get lost.” Xandie smiled at the dragon.

  Who heaved a sigh and led Xandie out of the room. Turning left, she clomped a few steps further and turned left again before coming to a stop outside a frosted glass door. “This is the side entrance. The front door’s closed because most the staff is at lunch. Take a seat. The receptionist won’t be long.” She took a few steps and then turned. “The teachers and the office staff are in the break room. If they see you in reception, they’ll pop back in.” The teenager whistled for a moment. “If someone was digging for dirt on staff and they were quiet, the receptionist wouldn’t realize they were there.” She winked at Xandie and stomped out of sight, moody dragon hair swinging behind her.

  “Sneaky teenager.” Xandie slipped inside. A glossy wooden bench divided reception from the waiting area. Two desks were behind the bench with silver filing cabinets next to them. Frosted doors on either side of the desks faced the wooden bench. And both doors were closed. Xandie squinted and made out two body outlines. The receptionists breaking for lunch.