Pawsitively Fatal (Silver Springs Cozy Mystery Series Book 4)

by Ginny Gold

  “Don’t even worry,” Winona interrupts. “Of course I’ll stop by. I don’t know how much help I’ll be, but I’d be happy to help figure out who killed James. And now that the initial shock has worn off, I might even be able to remember more. I’m on my way.”

  Maggie hangs up just as the next customer of the day comes in, snowflakes blowing inside when the door is open. When Winona arrives, she’ll have to wait to answer Maggie’s questions until they’re alone in the store.

  CHAPTER 8

  “Hi, can I help you?” Maggie asks the middle aged woman after she stashes her phone back in her handbag.

  The woman doesn’t answer right away, but continues picking up items as she makes her way to Maggie. Clem would cringe at how nonchalant Maggie is about not putting the pieces back exactly in the same place, facing the same direction, angles seemingly measured to make sure that everything is just perfect.

  As the woman gets closer, Maggie notices the same stunningly blue eyes that James had. She has a sinking feeling that this woman is James’s sister, Kami.

  “You must be Maggie,” the woman finally says. Her tone isn’t unfriendly but her expression is cold.

  “I am. And you are . . .?” Maggie asks even though she’s pretty sure she already knows.

  “Kami Vaughn.” She doesn’t offer her hand to shake.

  Maggie does her best to feign surprise. “A relative of James?”

  “I think you know that I’m his sister.” Kami’s tone never changes but her eyes grow even harder.

  Maggie shakes her head. “I wasn’t so familiar with James. I just knew him in passing. I’m so sorry for your loss.” Kami nods once. Maggie is still behind the counter with the register and she wants to make Kami feel more at ease. “Can I make you some tea? Have a seat.” She indicates the chairs off to the side of the counter.

  “Thanks, I’m fine,” Kami says as she takes a seat, shedding her winter coat first and draping it over the back of the chair. Maggie cringes for Clem, thinking of the melting snowflakes on the antique fabric.

  Maggie sits in the second chair and the front door opens, bringing another gust of cold air and blowing snow. She looks up and sees that Winona has walked in. She desperately wants to talk to both Kami and Winona, and she hopes Winona has the good sense to wait.

  “What can I do for you?” Maggie asks, crossing her legs and clasping her hands together in her lap.

  Kami’s lips form a tight line before she answers, contemplating her words. “I’m in possession of James’s will. It was only drawn up within the last year.” She pauses to pull it from her coat pocket and then continues. “He left some significant items to Two Sisters in exchange for donations to charities he supported once they sell. I wondered why you thought he might do that.”

  Maggie thinks back to her conversation with James. She can’t tell Kami he chose to leave the family heirlooms to Two Sisters because Kami didn’t need the money and he wanted to support his favorite charities one last time. But she can’t come up with any other reason.

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

  “So you did know that he was leaving these family heirlooms to your store then?” Kami asks, her voice fierce with anger.

  “I just found out this morning. Detective Daniel Stevens told me—”

  “You’ve already talked to the police about it?” Kami interrupts Maggie a second time. “It looks like you and your sister had plenty to benefit from James’s death.”

  Maggie is shocked. Is Kami accusing her and Clem of being coconspirators in James’s murder? To the best of Maggie’s knowledge, Clem doesn’t even know about it. She closes her mouth which was left hanging open in shock.

  Maggie finally responds slowly and quietly. “I was also told that much of the proceeds from any sale will go to specific charities.”

  Kami nods. “But you’ll still make a boatload of money. And you’ll get plenty of publicity. Do you know how much a grand piano from 19th century Germany is worth?”

  “Not off the top of my head, no.” Maggie has enough sense not to let on that she knows next to nothing about antiques.

  “It’s been promised to me for years. My great-grandmother bought it. It survived two World Wars and traveled across continents and oceans. My mother and I played duets on it. It was a surprise when James inherited it when my mother passed. But it was always with the understanding that he only got it because he had space for it. It should have been mine. I was the one who knew how to play it.”

  Maggie is surprised at Kami’s outburst. “I’m sure we can work—”

  “We can what?” Kami snaps. “Work something out? That’s not the point. The point is that clearly James had something going on with you and Clementine if he left such an important family treasure to your store instead of to his own sister.”

  Kami stands abruptly and grabs her coat. She walks quickly to the front door and tries to slam it as she closes it. She’s unsuccessful as a gust of wind blows in at just the right moment.

  Maggie is shocked by the entire exchange and wishes Clem was here to deal with all of this. She’s much better with customers, and antiques are her area of expertise. Maggie just wants to know what happened to James.

  “Wow,” Winona breathes out when she sits in Kami’s vacated seat.

  Maggie is speechless.

  “That was something,” Winona continues when Maggie can’t offer any conversation.

  Finally, Maggie regains her composure and offers tea, which Winona happily accepts. Maggie is thankful for a quick break to get her thoughts in order and figure out what exactly just happened.

  She’s pretty sure Kami accused Maggie and Clem of somehow being associated with James’s death. But Maggie can’t shake the feeling that Kami might just be covering her own possible guilt.

  CHAPTER 9

  Suzie is cold. The snow doesn’t usually bother her as she has a thick coat of fur, but today she’s been waiting outside the dog park fence in the falling snow.

  It’s been days since Suzie saw Bruno. He doesn’t go to the dog park everyday in the winter and Suzie desperately wants to talk to him. She’s concerned that Opal is up to something involving the keys that unlock time travel and she wants to update Bruno.

  Bruno always seems to know what’s going on. He might actually know more about Opal’s plans than Suzie does. If that’s the case, then Suzie wants to get all the details so she can stop whatever plans are in place.

  Finally, Suzie sees Bruno and Pluto being led through the gate to the dog park by their elderly owner, Winona. Even though Suzie has been waiting for them, she’s still surprised to see them now. The snow is falling heavily and doesn’t seem to be letting up.

  Suzie has to continue to bide her time. Bruno and Pluto are the only dogs inside and Suzie knows she’s not always welcome without a person, even on the outside of the fence. Of course, Winona knows her, but she doesn’t want word getting back to Clem that she frequents the dog park alone. She is deathly afraid of restrictions being placed on her—like an invisible fence or her dog door getting locked—so she tries her best to keep a low profile around Silver Springs.

  To Suzie’s utter disappointment, she doesn’t get a chance to approach Bruno without risking being seen. Bruno and Pluto are given only a few minutes of freedom in the park before being ushered back into the car. Suzie waits to watch the car leave the parking lot and her shivering starts again. She’s not sure if it’s only from the cold or if nerves and frustration are adding to it.

  When Winona doesn’t start the car right away, Suzie creeps closer, staying hidden in the trees along the edges of the dog park’s fence. To her surprise, Winona gets out, leaving the dogs inside. This may be just the chance she’s been waiting for.

  Suzie waits to see where Winona heads and when she’s out of sight, walking along Main Street, she approaches the car cautiously.

  “Bruno,” Suzie barks quietly, not wanting to risk exposing herself to any passing cars.<
br />
  No windows are open and Bruno is forced to shout back. “Suzie. I’m glad you’re here. I have great news.”

  Suzie is pleased. Hopefully whatever Bruno shares overshadows Suzie’s concerns.

  “I found information left by Clem’s parents about time travel. It was in Winona’s basement and I happened to come across it when I was chasing a mouse.”

  Suzie’s pleasure quickly turns to concern. Does Bruno have the same information as the cats?

  He continues, “They recorded their time travels and I found a book detailing their successful trips.”

  Suzie lets out a quick bark to let Bruno know she’s heard everything he said.

  “I think this information will help to convince everyone the keys must be preserved and protected. For the good of the world. The cats want everything destroyed because they don’t trust humans, but we’re here to serve our people. And they need these powers.”

  Bruno pauses and Suzie looks around the end of the car to check for Winona returning. The sidewalk is mostly deserted at this end of town so Suzie takes a chance and tells Bruno her news. “I’m glad you found information about the good trips, because I’m almost positive the cats have found evidence of failed and dangerous trips.”

  Bruno’s face appears in the car window and fear glows in his eyes. “How do you know?”

  “I don’t know for sure, but Opal has been acting strange and she brought another cat into the house. Their scent was in Maggie’s bedroom, where the final piece to the keys is kept.”

  Bruno doesn’t answer right away and Suzie can tell that he’s thinking about a plan to move forward.

  “We have to make sure everyone sees the journal I have. There is too much opportunity to improve the world with time travel. I’ll make sure Winona finds it. I know she’ll share it with everyone else,” Bruno says, but his voice is unconvincing. Suzie is worried the cats might have the upper paw this time.

  CHAPTER 10

  Maggie returns to Winona with two mugs of tea and the only teabags she could find quickly in Clem’s office—green tea with lemon. She brings her tablet computer as well so she can make notes while they talk about James’s murder.

  “I hope a little caffeine is okay. This was all I could find.” Maggie carefully places both steaming mugs on the small table between the chairs.

  “I can always use a little boost. But I can’t stay long. The dogs are in the car and it’s awfully cold out there,” Winona says, picking up the mug and holding it between her hands to warm them up.

  “Has it stopped snowing?”

  “Not yet. The roads look better than when I went out to the dog park.” Winona takes a cautious sip. “But I don’t think you asked me to come here to talk about the weather.” She smiles.

  “You’re right. Anything you can tell me about what you heard or saw yesterday at Flower Power?” Maggie asks, jumping right in.

  Winona returns her tea to the table. “I’ve thought a lot about that already. And I told Daniel everything I could remember right after it happened.”

  Maggie nods, encouraging her to continue. She knows reliving a murder scene is not easy.

  “I was outside with my car and James was bringing the buckets out to me. I would just open the trunk every time he brought more out so we weren’t leaving the door open. It was so cold yesterday and we didn’t want anything to freeze.”

  Winona pauses and sips her tea. Maggie waits patiently for her to continue, and for her tea to cool down some more. She doesn’t like it scorching hot.

  “I think there was just one more bucket left, and James wasn’t coming back out. I must have waited a few minutes before I went inside. The cooler door was open so I walked in.” She pauses again and her face pales. Maggie knows she’s seeing the murder scene in her mind. “He was lying on the floor in a pool of his own blood. And a knife was sticking out of his chest,” she says quietly, a faraway look in her eyes.

  Maggie taps away on her tablet’s touch screen and looks up when Winona doesn’t continue. “Did you hear anything?” she asks.

  Winona shakes her head. “Not before I was in the cooler. And by then he was already dead. He could have been dead for minutes already.”

  “Where was your car parked? Would you have seen someone coming in or out of Flower Power?”

  “It was on the street right in front. James had saved a spot for me. I didn’t notice anyone come out the front door before I went inside.”

  Maggie adds this information and makes a note to check for alternative entrances at Flower Power. “What about anything you heard when you were in the cooler?” Maggie continues.

  Winona takes a sip of tea, her eyes glazing over as she remembers any lost details from yesterday. “I heard people talking, I guess. But no one seemed to know he was dead.”

  “Who all was in the shop?”

  “Mona Fitch and Krystal Jeffries. They work there. Oh, and Tess Shea and Gina Coon. They work at The Coffee Bean but were helping cater Clem’s wedding for some extra cash. I think they had been asked to come and help load the flowers. Tess and Mona live together so maybe they were helping each other out.”

  Maggie has no idea how Winona keeps up on so many personal details. She notices that only women were in Flower Power at the time of James’s murder. Unfortunately, her two suspects—Kami Vaughn and Anya LeClair—are both women so she can’t rule either of them out. But now she has four more names to consider. They were at least present immediately after James’s death, though they didn’t have a motive that Maggie knows about yet. At the very least, they might have heard or seen something that Winona missed when she was outside.

  Maggie has a final question she wants to ask Winona before any customers come in. She puts her skepticism aside that magical powers probably don’t exist and asks, “Do you think this murder had anything to do with the last one? Could James’s killer be connected to the time traveling powers?”

  Winona looks up slowly, relief in her eyes. “I thought you’d think I was crazy if I mentioned that.”

  Maggie thinks she’s a little bit crazy for believing in time travel but she keeps that to herself.

  “I’ve already talked to Ginger Rae and Erline about that possibility. We think it’s too much of a coincidence. We all suspected that I might be targeted next and I was just outside Flower Power when James was killed.”

  Maggie nods. “Did James know about the keys and the powers they can unlock?”

  “Of course not,” Winona nearly shouts, her shoulders stiffening as she turns further toward Maggie. “We’ve guarded this information with our lives. Well, maybe not our own, but those we love.”

  “I didn’t mean that you would have willingly told him. But could he have figured it out somehow? Josh, Mitch and Karl did,” Maggie reminds her.

  Winona relaxes back into her chair and sips her tea. “You’re right. I guess he could have known about it. But Josh, Mitch and Karl were coming after us. You don’t think that James was killed by someone else who knows about the time travel because the killer thought James knew about it?”

  Maggie shrugs. “I think it’s worth considering. How many murders have there been in Silver Springs in all the years you’ve lived here?” Winona doesn’t answer. “And how many have there been in the last year?” The answer is five and they both know that’s far too high for the previously safe town.

  Maggie and Winona are interrupted by the front door opening. The cold doesn’t make it to them at the back of the shop. They exchange a glance that they both understand to mean that the conversation is over, at least for now. Winona sinks even further into the chair’s cushions and sips her tea. Maggie stands and walks toward her new customer.

  “Can I help you find anything?” she asks the man who came in alone. It’s not often that men shop in Two Sisters without their significant other.

  He extends his hand and Maggie takes it. “Travis Kirsch. I’m looking for Clementine Boothe.”

  Travis’s handshake is uncomfo
rtably strong and Maggie releases it as quickly as she can. “I’m sorry. She’s out of town for the week. I work with her. I’m Maggie Boothe.”

  Travis glances down at the paperwork he’s holding. “Clementine is the sole owner?”

  That’s not quite correct. Maggie inherited half of the shop when their parents were killed last spring but she wasn’t listed as an owner. On paper, Clem is the only owner, but in reality half of everything belongs to Maggie.

  “Yes,” she answers to avoid any confusion and to stick to what’s written down.

  “And your position here is . . .?” He lets the question hang between them.

  Since Maggie and Clem never really pinned down a title for Maggie, she comes up with one on the spot. “Director of sales and marketing.” The words sound strange coming from her mouth.

  “I suppose I can work with you on this.” He hands her a stack of papers. Maggie is quickly acquiring more paperwork today than she’d like to see in an entire year. “I’m working with James’s lawyer to have his antiques appraised. This is a list of what’s been left to Two Sisters. I’d like to have you come to his house tomorrow so we can work through some initial numbers.”

  CHAPTER 11

  Maggie is surprised that James’s affairs are being handled so quickly. She shakes her head, completely caught off guard, and struggles to come up with an answer.

  “Yes . . . Yes, I can come to James’s house tomorrow. How’s nine?” She’ll have to keep Two Sisters closed for the morning and she doesn’t want to get up too early. Without Clem, everything is falling on Maggie’s shoulders, and into her schedule.

  “Perfect. I’ll get out of your hair then.” Travis turns and walks back outside.

  Maggie returns to her chair next to Winona and places the papers in her lap. She picks up her tea and takes her first sip. It’s colder than her preferred temperature but she’ll live. She was too caught up in Winona’s recollection of yesterday’s murder to drink any before Travis came in.