I ducked and covered my head as whatever it was landed squarely on Barney’s face and took him down. The letter went flying through the air. The gun fired wildly, the bullet grazing a tree nearby before pinging off into the darkness, but I didn’t care about that as I helplessly watched the letter drift off on a gust of wind, flying over the treetops.
A guttural growl and a screech had me swiveling my attention back to Barney and whatever that thing was that was attacking him. Wait. Was that Felicity Bates’s cat, Fluff?
Before I could ponder it further, another horrifying keen rang out, and Barney dropped the gun in favor of self-preservation. He had both hands on the cat now, trying to pry the fierce creature from his head.
Through the moonlight, I caught sight of the weapon a few feet away. This might be my only shot at escape. Trembling, I inched over and reached out to grab the gun, only to hear a voice behind me say, “Stop right there!”
28
Slowly, I turned to look over my shoulder and found another gun pointed in my general direction.
“Willa?” Gus said, squinting at me.
“Gus?” My voice sounded weak even to my own ears. Then again, my night hadn’t exactly gone as planned. “How did you find me?”
She glanced over at Barney, still rolling around with Fluff’s claws gouging his face, then shook her head. “What is it with you and cats, sis?”
Fluff stopped his attack suddenly and looked back at us, as if realizing for the first time that he wasn’t alone. Then he gave one last, vicious swipe with his claw across Barney’s battered nose and took off into the forest.
Barney Delaney rolled around on the ground, moaning and holding his head. “Help me! Willa tried to hit me with a shovel.”
“What?” I wrinkled my nose in disbelief. At least the guy was consistent with his lies. “I did not—”
“Nice try, Delaney,” Gus said, striding over to haul him to his feet. “Maybe next time you try to frame someone, don’t use such a lame alibi.”
“Lame?” Barney sounded outraged. “My alibi’s rock solid.”
“Really?” Gus spun him around and patted him down for more weapons before slapping a pair of handcuffs on him. “I can tell you for a fact it wasn’t. See, I’ve suspected you all along. First was that diner receipt. Yes, you were there, but your order wasn’t clocked in until five fifty-seven.” Gus stepped back and crossed her arms. “Myrna’s pretty darned quick. Meaning you would’ve had plenty of time that morning to kill Albert Schumer at five forty-five then rush back to the diner to get your food. It’s just down the street. At least you were smart enough to park your car on the street, so you were already near the diner.”
“That’s not true. Not a word,” Barney protested. “Yes, I was at the diner for a while before I ordered, but it took me a long time to decide what I wanted. Besides, I’m not the person you should be looking at for murder at all. The person you want is Nathan Anderson. There’s even a witness who saw his car coming out of the post office parking lot around the time of the murder.”
“Again, nice try,” Gus countered, the smirk on her face saying she was enjoying nailing Barney to the wall. “But Myrna told me that you ordered the same thing you always do. No menu or deliberation needed. In fact, I was just on my way over to question you when I got a disturbance call from Mrs. McCarthy about some screeching in the woods behind her house. Didn’t take long to follow all the earsplitting screeches from her driveway right here to you. I have no idea why you’d be out in the woods.” Gus nodded at the shovel. “But I think that shovel will come in handy for evidence. I bet my next paycheck it was stolen from Nathan Anderson. The only thing I can’t figure out is what Willa is doing out here too.”
“Because he made me come,” I said. “He held me at gunpoint and made me walk here. He said he was going to hit me with a shovel then throw me in the stream.”
“That so?” Gus raised a brow. “Well, I can see how my sister might drive you to want to do that sometimes, but no one hurts my family.”
Before I could say anything more, the sound of snapping branches and approaching footsteps drew my attention. Next thing I knew, Striker and Pandora walked out of the forest and over to our little group. Several other cats emerged as well, ones I recognized from Elspeth’s farm.
“Jeez, more cats?” Gus groused. She took Barney by the arm and shoved him forward toward the path and Striker. “And you. Where have you been? You were supposed to be covering my shift tonight so I could investigate. When I radioed in five minutes ago, though, they said you weren’t at your desk, and now you end up here.” Gus looked around. “With a bunch of cats. Seriously, what is up with all these cats?”
Pandora was busy rubbing her fur against my face and purring loudly. I scratched her behind the ears then glanced up to catch Striker’s eye. He gave me an embarrassed smile then turned to face the wrath of Gus again.
“I guess they must have followed me,” he said.
Gus looked at him as if she thought he was nuts. “Right. Okay, then, Pied Piper. I’m gonna traipse back through the woods to my cruiser with Delaney. Meet you at the station in ten. And no cats!” Gus led Barney off, reading him his rights as they went.
Striker came over to crouch beside me, his fingers ruffling through Pandora’s thick fur too. “So, Barney’s the killer, huh? You okay, Chance?”
“Yes, on both counts.” I took his hand to help me stand then brushed the leaves and muck off my pants. “Good thing Gus got here when she did too. He was going to knock me on the head and let me float away in the river.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re all right.” He reached out to pluck a leaf from my hair, his fingertips grazing my cheek before falling away. Heat and awareness prickled my skin from his touch, and we both looked away, awkwardness ensuing. “And I know your sister isn’t a believer in all the magical stuff around here, but she did more than lock up a killer tonight. Barney’s a danger in more ways than one.”
“He had the letter.” I glanced up into the sky. “It floated off. We’re going to need to come back here and look for it.”
“We will. As soon as daylight hits.”
I bent and picked up Pandora then walked out of the clearing with Striker by my side and the other cats swirling around our feet. “I hope it’s not lost. Though maybe that would be for the best. Still, I’d like to make sure it’s not floating around out there, able to get into the wrong hands. Though I have to say, a bit of old-world, not-so-commercial charm wouldn’t be unwelcome around here. Barney was right about that.”
Striker gave me a look over his shoulder. “Huh? So, you’d be fine with drawing your water from a well and using an outhouse again?”
“Okay. Maybe not that old-world.” I chuckled and linked arms with him. “But there’s something to be said for tiny-town treasures.”
“Yeah, Chance.” He patted my hand, his skin warm against mine. “There definitely is.”
29
What a difference twenty-four hours made. I set down a tray of Earl Gray tea—no more ghostly visions tonight—and snickerdoodle cookies I’d picked up for dessert to go along with the pizza Striker had brought over and the breadsticks Gus picked up at the corner store.
“So, explain to me again exactly how you figured out Barney was guilty?” I said, taking the seat across the table from my sister. “I mean, I know you said you didn’t believe his alibi.”
Gus gnawed on a piece of breadstick while mulling this over. “Yeah, that’s right. See, us real cops have a protocol we follow. First we get some suspects then check their alibis then follow up on clues. We don’t just run around town, accusing people and getting almost killed in the woods like amateurs.” She leveled a look at me, but then her eyes softened. “Anyway, I’d had my doubts about him all along, honestly. He just didn’t act quite right during questioning, like he was hiding something. Turned out that something happened to be the fact he’d killed Albert.”
“Yeah, but you told me he had an alibi
. Seemed like you believed it then,” I said.
“Nah, I just told you that so you wouldn’t butt in and try to investigate him.” She crunched off another bite of the breadstick. “Guess that didn’t work.”
Sipping my tea, I glanced over at Striker, who seemed quite engrossed in feeding Pandora pieces of pizza.
“Oh, you don’t care for pepperoni, eh?” Striker said, chuckling as Pandora turned up her feline nose at his offering. He tossed the meat aside and tore off a piece of crust instead. The cat sat in his lap, preening and swishing her tail like the queen she envisioned herself to be. Striker held out the crust, and Pandora sniffed it before taking a tentative nibble.
Must be nice to have someone wait on you hand and foot like that. I did roll my eyes this time as Striker cooed and praised the cat for eating. “Ah, there’s the ticket. You liked that, didn’t you? Such a pretty girl. Yes. So pretty and smart and clever.”
“Seriously, dude.” Gus wrinkled her nose, giving him a disgruntled stare. “You carry on with that cat like it knows what you’re saying.”
I snorted. “She does have a point.”
“Maybe she does understand me,” Striker said, his expression turning defensive. “You ladies don’t know.”
Gus harrumphed. “Well, what I do know it that my sister here almost ruined everything last night. Speaking of explaining things, how about you tell me why you were out in the woods with a dangerous killer last night.”
“Oh, well.” I hid my fluster behind my mug of tea, taking a good long drink as I tried to come up with a plausible excuse that didn’t involve talking to ghosts. My gaze landed on Pandora, who was now curled up in Striker’s lap, purring loudly as she snoozed. Lucky girl.
After clearing my throat, I said, “I was looking for my cat.”
As if in agreement, Pandora meowed in her sleep.
“That so.” Gus sounded thoroughly unconvinced. “Then why’d she turn up with Striker later, sis?”
Crap. I met Striker’s gaze with a help-me look.
His gray eyes widened slightly before he turned to Gus with a frown. “I was looking for Pandora too. That’s why I wasn’t at my desk when you called in. I’d received a report right before that of a loose cat running in the street, and the description sounded exactly like Pandora here.” He stroked the cat’s head. “I didn’t want anything to happen to Willa’s pet, so of course I went right away to check it out.”
“Of course you did.” Gus’s suspicious gaze darted between him and me. “What’s going on with you two, huh? You guys moonlighting on investigations or something?”
“Uh, not exactly.” Striker reached over and took my hand, which was resting atop the table. “We, um, we’ve gotten a lot closer over the past few weeks, and we’re kind of more of a permanent thing now, I guess.”
He gave me a hesitant look, and whatever reservations I’d had about our relationship caved. He was such a good guy—loyal, kind, smart, funny, brave. I’d be a fool to turn him away. I squeezed his fingers reassuringly. “Right. Yes. Striker and I are more of a permanent thing, Gus.”
“Ugh.” Gus made a face. “Please tell me you’re not going to sit around and make googly eyes at each other all the time now. I need Striker to help out in Mystic Notch sometimes. I need him to be focused on cases, not wooing you, sis.”
“I can do both,” Striker said, gently setting the cat on the floor, then pushed to his feet to take our trash from dinner to the kitchen. Pandora scampered off toward the back door of the house. “I’m gifted that way.”
I grinned as Striker winked at me. Gus groaned and stood as well. “That’s it. I’m out of here.” She wrapped half a dozen cookies in a napkin and shoved them in her pocket for later. “I’ll give you guys some alone time so you can do… whatever it is you do.”
“Thanks.” I rose to walk my sister to the door. “What’s going to happen with Barney and his shop?”
“He’s currently being held in the county jail without bail. The judge was a personal friend of Albert Schumer’s, so he’ll go hard on the guy. My guess is Barney will sit in his cell until the trial. The case itself is pretty cut-and-dried, especially with the break-in to Nathan’s shed and his shovel at the second crime scene. Your testimony will help too, him threatening to bash your head in with it then trying to frame Nathan for the murder. You’ll still testify, right?”
“Yep. Absolutely.”
“Good.” Gus started out the door then stopped. “Oh, and about Barney’s shop, I heard his niece will be coming from Salem to take over the place.”
“Is that so?” Striker said, joining us. He gave me an uneasy glance.
“Well, I’m off.” Gus waved as she walked out the door. “You two have fun. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
Alone at last, Striker and I settled on the sofa with our mugs of tea and a plate of cookies. I still couldn’t seem to shake my niggling unease about Albert’s murder. “What about Albert’s letter? We searched the entire area but didn’t find it.”
“I know. We can look some more later,” he said around a bite of snickerdoodle. “If we’re lucky, it fell in the stream and is lost for good. Too many people want to get their wicked little hands on it.”
I shuddered and cuddled into his side. His arm came around my shoulders, warm and comforting. My gaze settled on the paperweight on the table. I half expected to see some ghastly vision of death or destruction, but all that shone back at me was my own reflection. Funny, but it was sort of disappointing after all the excitement of the last few days. Still, maybe it would be better if all those visions and clues in the glass globe had been nothing more than fantasies cooked up in my own imagination, as Gus would suggest. At least it would mean there was no new mystery to solve.
Pandora hopped up on the couch and nestled in between us. My worries about the letter melted away. Things felt good, right. The letter had blown away, probably stuck in a tree or decaying in the dirt by now. I was almost certain that Mystic Notch would remain as pleasant as it had always been for a long, long time.
30
Later that night…
Deep in the woods of Mystic Notch, Fluff sat hunched over the small stream, the full moon glimmering off its silvery waters.
Things had not turned out the way he’d wanted, but he could make it right. His human was counting on him, and he had to redeem himself.
It wasn’t his fault the letter had been lost. That dimwit, Barney Delaney, should have just handed it over. But no, he’d clung onto it and then tossed it in the air. And that stupid Willa Chance—her presence had messed everything up.
Pandora and the other cats thought they were so superior. He’d show them. Bunch of ingrates. Not once had they even tried to make friends with him. Not that he cared. He was a loner. And besides, he was much more powerful than any of them, even that loudmouth, Inkspot.
They’d see. Once things turned around in Mystic Notch, Fluff would have his own band of cats. Then Pandora, Inkspot, and the others would be sorry. And Hope would wish she’d come over to his side.
Fluff hunkered down, staring into the dark water. The sounds of it lapping against the stones in the brook mingled with the buzzing of nighttime insects.
Fluff grumbled to himself then jerked in surprise as something came floating down the stream—pale and soggy. He dipped a paw into the icy waters and skewered the object with his claw, dragging it out.
A half piece of paper, torn down the middle. It was waterlogged, its smudged black ink smearing all over it. Carefully, Fluff batted the paper open with his paw. This was it, the list of ingredients. Well, only half a list, to be exact. But one could still make out some of the words. Maybe this would still be of use to his human.
Fluff gently put the list in his mouth and ran toward the Bates Mansion.
**********
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Ghostly Paws
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A Mew To A Kill
Paws and Effect
Probable Paws
Also by Leighann Dobbs
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A Spell of Trouble (Book 1)
Spell Disaster (Book 2)
Nothing to Croak About (Book 3)
Cry Wolf (Book 4)
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Cozy Mystery Series
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Dead & Buried
Dead Tide
Buried Secrets
Deadly Intentions
A Grave Mistake
Spell Found
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Kate Diamond Mystery Adventures
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Hidden Agemda (Book 1)
Ancient Hiss Story (Book 2)
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A Crabby Killer
A Treacherous Treasure
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Mystic Notch
Cat Cozy Mystery Series
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Ghostly Paws
A Spirited Tail
A Mew To A Kill
Whisker of a Doubt (Mystic Notch Cozy Mystery Series Book 6) Page 13
