Probable Paws (Mystic Notch Cozy Mystery Series Book 5)

by Leighann Dobbs

  His thumb rubbed slow circles on the inside of my wrist, making me forget all about Pandora and her catnip toy. “Don’t worry. I’m not looking into Adelaide’s murder. I was there for another reason entirely.”

  Striker’s brow creased. “What could you have possibly been there for—”

  The bells over the door chimed, interrupting his question. A customer slipped in. From where I stood, I could only see him from the side. A young guy with a baseball cap pulled down over his face. He glanced at us quickly then darted behind Striker’s back toward the aisle where I kept the comic books. Not unusual for a young person, but something about his demeanor set my nerves on edge.

  Striker released my wrist and ran his hand through his short-cropped dark hair. “Okay, well, I’ve got to get back to work. You give me a call if you need me.” He dropped a kiss on the top of my head and was gone.

  I approached the comic aisle tentatively and nearly peed my pants when the customer peered out at me just as I peeked around the corner.

  “Max?” I recognized Adelaide’s grandson. Up close, I could see he was thin, with long brown bangs that fell in front of his eyes.

  A sheepish look spread over his face, and he pushed the cap up higher on his head so I could see more of his face. “Sorry.”

  “Were you hiding from Striker?” I asked.

  He scanned the store to make sure it was empty. “I need to tell you something, but the police can’t know.”

  “Why tell me, then?” It seemed odd he wanted to confide in me today considering he wanted to kick me off his property just last night.

  He leaned toward me, lowering his voice even though no one else was in the store. “I’ve done some checking on you. You’re looking for Gram’s killer, aren’t you?”

  “He always was such a good kid.” Adelaide’s ghost popped up out of nowhere, scaring the bejesus out of me. She swirled and glowed with pride. I ignored her and focused on Max.

  “What makes you think someone killed her?”

  “I don’t know. A bad feeling, I guess.” Max looked straight at Adelaide, but it was clear he couldn’t see her. “I just sense it.”

  Adelaide snorted. “No wonder. I’ve been trying to alert him since the moment I died. He’s smarter than he looks, I promise. And he has the gift like you—he’s just not in tune with it yet. I don’t think he’s in any danger, but it doesn’t hurt to be on one’s toes.”

  “So what do you want to tell me?” I asked Max.

  “You promise you won’t tell the police? I mean, I’m not sure if she did anything…”

  “I won’t tell. Who aren’t you sure about?”

  “Aunt Josie wasn’t there.”

  “She wasn’t where?”

  “In the house. On the property. The morning Gram was found. Everyone was yelling, and we called the ambulance, but Aunt Josie couldn’t be found. I mean, even Julie’s boyfriend was there with us.” Max’s brows drew together. “Though there was some speculation as to why he was in the house so early in the morning. Gram didn’t like it when Julie snuck him into her room to…you know…”

  Max’s embarrassment over what Julie and Brian might have been doing in her room was cute, but I was more interested in Adelaide’s body—if she’d been murdered, there might have been some signs that her death was not peaceful.

  “Just exactly how was your grandmother found?”

  Max shrugged. “She didn’t get up for breakfast, I guess. Aunt Marion went in to get her up, and then she started screaming.”

  “And you’re all usually in the house for breakfast?”

  “Well, Dad, Lisa, and I live in the converted barn, but we usually go over in the morning. Cook puts out a big breakfast around seven-thirty. Josie, Marion, and the twins live in the house with Gram.”

  “So you think Josie killed her? Her own mother? Couldn’t she have just died in her sleep?”

  His eyes misted. “No. Not Gram. She was doing really good. The doctors even said so. We played Scrabble the night before, and she was happy …”

  “Did you see her?”

  He nodded slightly and looked down at his sneakers. “She was just lying there like she was sleeping.”

  Darn. There would have been no sign of struggle or poison if she looked as if she’d died in her sleep … unless someone had positioned her that way.

  “But if Josie wasn’t there, wouldn’t that prove she didn’t kill her?”

  “Not if Gram died hours before. If she had something to do with it, she might have been out disposing of evidence.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket. “My surveillance camera at the cottage captured her taking off in the car that morning.”

  He tilted the screen toward me, and I saw the Hamilton mansion in the distance. Josie appeared out a side door then scurried across the driveway to the five-stall garage. A few seconds later, the door opened, and out she drove in a shiny black Mercedes.

  “You have a surveillance camera aimed at your own family?” Did Max think he needed to keep an eye on his family, or was this some kind of setup? He was a supposed computer whiz—he could have faked a video incriminating someone else.

  “It’s not aimed at them. I have a lot of expensive computer equipment in the cottage, so I have cameras aimed in all directions in case someone breaks in. Then I’d have evidence to give to the police. Unfortunately, I see a lot of things I’d rather not see. Like Julie and Brian in the field. It’s disgusting.” Max made a face. “And Evie with her midnight offerings.”

  “Midnight offerings?”

  “Yeah, not sure what she does out there in the full moon, but it’s creepy.”

  Images of Evie in a hooded cloak, worshipping the full moon, came to mind. I wasn’t surprised—the girl looked as if she could be into something strange. But what about Josie? Could she have been involved in her mother’s death? Or did she just have somewhere to go?

  “This doesn’t really prove anything. Maybe Josie had an appointment or was meeting someone. Just because she went out that morning doesn’t mean she killed your grandmother.”

  “That’s true, but if that were the case, then why did she lie?”

  “She lied?”

  Max nodded. “Aunt Marion’s shrieks brought the whole family to Gram’s room. We called the ambulance. While we were waiting, I noticed Josie wasn’t there. Which was a little odd because she usually doesn’t get up until noon. We thought maybe she didn’t hear the commotion, so Evie went down to her room, but she wasn’t there. Then the EMTs came and things got crazy. They worked on Gram for a while, but she was already gone.” Max’s voice broke, and he looked away.

  “That must have been hard,” I said.

  He sniffed and swiped his nose with the sleeve of his hoodie. “Anyway, as they were leaving, Josie came sauntering down the hall in her bathrobe. She acted surprised about Gram, but I don’t think she really was. She claimed she wasn’t in her room, as she’d fallen asleep in the library, and you can’t hear a thing that is going on in the house from in there, so we all believed her. It wasn’t until a few days later that I got the idea to look at the surveillance videos from that morning. I don’t usually look at them at all but wanted to see them bringing Gram out. Anyway, imagine my surprise when I rewound it a bit and saw Josie leaving in her car earlier that morning.” He tapped on the lower right corner of the video. “See, it’s time-stamped.”

  “Hmm. I see.” He did have a point. Why would Josie lie if she was innocent? “But why would she want to kill your grandmother?”

  “I’m not sure. She’s not very stable, if you ask me. I know Gram wasn’t too happy with her. Maybe she was afraid Gram was going to cut her out of the will or something.”

  “Was she?” I cut my eyes over to Adelaide, who shook her head.

  Max shrugged. “If she was, no one said anything to me.”

  “Did Josie or anyone mention a recipe book?”

  “Recipe book? No. We have a cook, so no one needs recipes. Well, Brian tried to cook d
inner for Julie once, but he set the smoke detectors off.” Max shifted on his feet. “What have you found in your investigation?”

  “My investigation? Umm … well, I haven’t found out much yet.” If I kept him thinking that I was investigating Adelaide’s death, his information might help me get the recipe book. “But thank you for coming to me with this. I’m sure it will help.”

  “Right. Well, if you need my help again, here’s my cell number.” Max handed me a piece of paper then left.

  I stared after him as he closed the door. It was certainly a change of heart after his angry reaction at finding me at the cottage, but maybe I’d taken him by surprise last night. He did say he’d checked into me. He probably discovered I had an aptitude for solving murders, and since he already had suspicions about it himself, he just assumed I was looking into Adelaide’s death. Though it did seem odd he would turn in his own family. Was it possible he had something to do with Adelaide’s murder and he was trying to throw me off track?

  “Max didn’t have anything to do with my death. I told you he’s a good boy,” Adelaide said. Could she read my mind?

  “Is he telling the truth? Was Josie not there when you were discovered?”

  “I don’t know. When I woke up, I was on the mortician’s table. I doubt my own daughter would try to kill me, but I was so very sleepy that night, and when I woke up, my head felt heavy, so I think someone did …”

  “And what about Betty’s Recipes? What does that have to do with any of this?”

  Adelaide scrunched her brows together. “Surely you know how important recipes are.”

  “You said it was in the daisy patch. Did you mean the one in front of the cottage where Max has his computers?”

  “Daisy patch? What are you talking about? I never said that. I said it was with Daisy…but now I’m not sure. It seems everything has been moved around. Someone has been messing with my things.”

  Great. I was no closer than before to finding the book, and now I had a potential recipe-book-stealing-killer to deal with. “So where do you suggest I look, then?”

  “I’m not really sure. But I know you will figure it out. You have a knack for these things.”

  I opened my mouth to ask more questions, but Adelaide cut me off. “Oh, by the way, your grandmother dropped by to visit me, and she’s doing great in the afterlife. She said to tell you that you were doing a good job and she’s very proud of you.”

  “Really?” My eyes stung. I’d seen quite a few ghosts since I’d gotten this rare ability, but never once had Gram come to me. Even though she was the one ghost I would’ve loved to speak with. The thought that she was doing well and watching over me from beyond warmed my heart.

  “Yes indeed. And she wanted me to remind you not to forget to believe in magic.” And then Adelaide disappeared before I could ask any more questions about her killer, the recipe book, or my grandmother.

  13

  Later that day, I was crouched in the art aisle, trying to stuff a tall book into the bottom bookshelf, my leg cramping somewhat from the effort, when the bell over the door chimed and a familiar voice called out from the front room.

  “I’m baa-ack…”

  “Pepper!” I shoved the book into place and darted out front.

  Pepper was standing in the doorway, her red hair pulled into a tight chignon at the base of her neck, one long strand falling down beside her oval face. Her pink T-shirt and black yoga pants with matching pink stripes on the sides were just loose enough to be tasteful while still showing off her slim figure. In her left hand, she balanced a silver tray complete with coffeepot, cups and saucers, and a crystal creamer and sugar bowl. A doily-covered plate loaded with scones rested beside the teapot.

  I rushed over and took the tray, setting it on the coffee table and giving her a hug. “How was your trip?”

  “It was great. You know I love to see the family.” We sat on the sofa, and Pepper busied herself pouring coffee and putting the scones on little white napkins. “How are things here?”

  “Oh, nothing new here. A ghost appeared and wanted me to find some weird book, and then I find out she’s been murdered. The usual stuff.”

  Pepper laughed then turned somber. “Wait, that means someone died. Who was it?”

  “Adelaide Hamilton.”

  Pepper nibbled her scone thoughtfully. “I remember her. I didn’t know her well. So her ghost contacted you?”

  “Yes.” It felt wonderful to finally be able to talk to someone about Adelaide’s ghost. Pepper was the only one who knew I talked to dead people. It wasn’t exactly something I wanted to be public knowledge.

  We sipped the coffee and nibbled the scones while I told her the whole story, starting from Adelaide’s appearance at her own wake and ending with Max’s video and his suspicions of his grandmother being murdered.

  “What do Gus and Striker say about her murder?”

  “Gus seemed convinced it was natural causes the other day, but something must’ve happened in the meantime. Otherwise why would Striker have been at the Hamilton mansion at night?”

  Pepper shrugged. “Well, he could have just been patrolling like he said. Maybe he saw your car and followed you. How are things between the two of you, anyway?”

  Good question. “Things are okay. It does kind of put a damper on dating when a ghost keeps popping up everywhere.”

  Pepper laughed and settled back in the couch. “Well, then I guess you’ll just have to do what you need to do to get rid of her. So I assume you’re investigating? What have you found?”

  I shook my head. “I’m not investigating her murder. Adelaide never asked me to. She just wanted me to find the book.”

  Pepper squinted at me as though she had a headache. “What book?”

  “Some recipe book. Weird thing is that Gram actually mentioned the book in her will. Wanted to make sure it got to Elspeth, but I never found it in her belongings.”

  Pepper’s face turned serious. She put her coffee cup down, spilling a little bit of mocha-colored liquid onto the white saucer. “Did you say recipe book?”

  “Yeah, it was a friend of theirs, Betty. Must have some really good recipes in it.”

  Peppers eyes widened. “Betty’s recipes?”

  “Yeah. You’ve heard of it?”

  “My grandmother mentioned it…” Pepper’s voice trailed off. Pepper had always said her grandmother was magic. In fact, that’s where she had gotten her recipes for the special teas she made, which she claimed could produce enchanting results. And it wasn’t just the herbs she used—Pepper claimed to have inherited certain spiritualistic gifts that she used to infuse the tea. She’d been making magic tea since we were kids, and I’d often brushed them off as fanciful…but lately I’d come to realize that maybe Pepper’s teas really did have something special to them. If Pepper’s grandmother had mentioned Betty’s Recipes, the book might contain more than just your average recipes for breads and stews.

  “You don’t mean…” I couldn’t bring myself to say it, but it made sense with everything that was going on. I should’ve thought of it before—why would a ghost care about a book? Only one reason. That book was important. Even my own grandmother had mentioned it in her will.

  “That’s not a book of recipes, Willa. That book is a spell book.”

  “Meow!” Pandora came trotting out from the back room and rubbed her head against Pepper’s leg while I absorbed the information. Of course it was a book of spells—why else would it be so important? I’d known there had to be more to it. But spells? My grandmother hadn’t been involved with spells, had she? I thought about Adelaide’s recent message from my grandmother—she’d said “don’t forget to believe in magic.”

  The practical side of me wanted to scoff that there was no such thing as a spell book, but seeing as I talked to ghosts, I could hardly just dismiss the idea of mysticism and magic. It didn’t matter anyway—whether the book was full of recipes for spells or not, I still had to find it.


  “No matter what’s in that book, I need to find it, or Adelaide is going to keep popping up and ruining my dates with Striker.”

  “But now it may be more complicated than you thought. I mean, if it really is a spell book, others will be after it.”

  “And it might give someone motive to kill Adelaide … but why kill her now?”

  Pepper shrugged. “Maybe they got tired of waiting. You did say that her cancer was in remission. Maybe whoever it was got frustrated and decided to take a chance.”

  “So someone in Adelaide’s house might want the spell book for themselves? Like a witch?”

  “Yeah, and not the good kind, either.” Pepper’s emerald eyes darkened. “If Adelaide had the book in her care, then she was one of the good guys. Like your grandmother and mine. But if someone killed her to get it, then that person would want to use the spells for evil intent.”

  “Meow!” Pandora jumped up on the coffee table.

  “Hey, that’s not polite.” I shooed her away, and she hopped down reluctantly, leaving a deep scratch mark with her claw. I could have sworn she smirked over her shoulder at me as she trotted back to her cushion in the window.

  “But which one is it?” I wondered. “Josie was leaving in the car that morning. Did she kill her mother and then take the book somewhere? Or maybe it was Evie…Max said she did creepy things under the full moon. But then it could also be Max trying to throw us off track.”

  “It could be any of them or all of them,” Pepper said. “We don’t know if Adelaide was killed or if the book has already fallen into wicked hands. You still need to make an attempt to find it and get it to Elspeth.”

  “And one way to do that would be to find Adelaide’s killer.”

  “Mew!” Pandora lay with her paws curled in front of her and her tail swishing behind her as she listened to our conversation, giving the impression that she actually knew what we were saying.

  “I need to go back into the Hamiltons’. I think I might have been onto something in the library, but I doubt they are going to let me in again.”