Probable Paws (Mystic Notch Cozy Mystery Series Book 5) (17 page)

“I’m sorry, ma’am. I don’t know what is going on here. What are you doing in this parking lot after hours?” Striker tried to pull a seal-point Siamese off Marion’s shoulder, but the cat hissed and struck out at him, causing him to jump back. What was the old lady doing here? The building had been closed for hours. What possible reason would she have to be here…unless she was also looking for the book?

“I just came out for a ride. I’m an old woman and shouldn’t be subjected to this. Please get rid of these creatures.”

The back door of the car was open. Marion had been trying to get in the backseat. But if she was getting in the back, that meant she wasn’t the driver. “Who drove you here?”

“I drove her.” Striker turned to see John, the Hamiltons’ butler, at the edge of the woods, brushing leaves and debris from his black suit.

Striker looked over John’s shoulder into the woods. “What were you doing in the woods?”

“I was chasing after Fel… er … I mean, I had a call of nature.”

Striker knew enough to know the man was lying, but he didn’t have a chance to interrogate him, because just then a loud crack from the building stole his attention. He whirled around to see plumes of smoke coming from the back. The building was on fire! He swiveled back to look at Marion and John. “Did you set the building on fire?”

John’s eyes were wide. He looked just as surprised to see the building on fire as Striker. “No. I had nothing to do with that, but there are two people in there.”

“How do you know? What people?” An uneasy feeling settled in Striker’s chest.

John’s eyes drifted to the other end of the parking lot. Striker hadn’t thought to look down there when he’d driven in—his attention had been on Marion and all the cats. He followed John’s gaze, his heart twisting when he recognized Willa’s Jeep.

“I’m not sure if they are still in there, but I believe that nosy bookseller woman, Brian, and Evie Hamilton are inside.”

Striker didn’t wait for him to finish. He was off and running toward the building as soon as he’d seen Willa’s Jeep. Sirens wailed in the distance. Someone had called the fire department, but Striker couldn’t wait for them to arrive. He rushed toward the burning building and prayed that it wasn’t too late.

“
I
t’s locked
!” I released the knob and pounded on the door. “Help! Is anyone up there?”

Evie collapsed against the door. “There’s no one up there, Willa. The museum is closed.”

I spun around and eyed the growing fire. There was no way we could get through it to the basement door, so I would have to find either another door or a way to put the fire out.

“The toad escaped through here.” Evie pointed to a wet splotch under the door. “Now I wish I had never cast that spell.”

“Why? Seemed like that was smart. He was going to cut us up with a sword.” I looked around the perimeter for the signs of another door … or maybe a fire extinguisher.

“Brian killed Gram, and I want him to pay. But unless I can turn him back from a toad, that’s not going to happen.”

“Won’t happen if we burn up in a fire, either,” I said. “But anyway, I don’t think it was Brian who killed her. He seemed to be telling the truth when he said he didn’t.”

Evie screwed up her face. “Well, then who killed her?”

“I hate to tell you, but I think it was Marion…and I think I know how to prove it if we can just get out of here.” It made perfect sense now. Marion wanted the spell book and probably killed Adelaide in an attempt to get her sister to tell her where it was, or to get her out of the way so she could search for it. Marion didn’t have a lot of time left herself, so she wouldn’t want to wait around for Adelaide to die of natural causes. The squeaking Josie had heard in the hall that morning wasn’t someone sneaking up through the dumbwaiter—it was Marion’s wheelchair. I’d noticed tracks near the disturbed earth the first time I’d gone to the daisy field. I’d thought it was someone digging for the spell book, but what if it was Marion hiding evidence? She knew they only opened the time capsule once a year and only to put stuff
in
. If she’d killed Adelaide and had buried the evidence underneath everything else in there, the chances were no one would find it for a hundred years.

Evie’s eyes misted. “No. I thought Aunt Marion was…” Her voice drifted off, and she glanced at the window that Marion had slammed to bar our escape. “Well, I guess she wasn’t what I thought she was.”

“Meow!”

My blood froze. Was I hearing things?

“Did you hear a cat?” Evie asked.

“How could there be a cat in here? We would have heard it before, wouldn’t we?” I vaguely remembered something about the historical society museum having a resident cat. Maybe it had been napping down here and was now trapped in the basement with us. If that were the case, I would have to find it. I couldn’t escape and leave the cat to burn in the fire.

“We have to find it!” Evie echoed my thoughts as she looked around frantically.

“Meow!”

I squinted in the direction of the sound. Visibility inside the basement was waning, but I thought I saw the shape of a cat. And then they materialized out of the gloom. Not just one cat, but three…and one of them looked very familiar.

“Pandora?”

“Meow.”

Pandora trotted over to me and rubbed her cheek against my ankle. How had she gotten in here? The last time I’d seen her, she was at Elspeth’s, and that was several miles from here. Had she followed me? I bent down to pet her silky ears, my heart twisting at the thought of Pandora burning up in the fire. Not to mention the thought of
me
burning up in it.

But if Pandora had found a way to get in, maybe we could use that same path to get out.

“
Merooomee.
” Pandora nipped at my ankle and then trotted off toward a stack of boxes.

“No! Pandora, stay here!” I didn’t want her disappearing into the bowels of the basement, where I wouldn’t be able to find her.

She turned and flipped her tail at me, the kinked end pointing toward the pile of boxes she’d been aiming for.

“I think she’s trying to tell you something,” Evie said.

The other two cats, one of them a large black cat, the other an orange calico that I thought I’d seen at Elspeth’s before, trotted over to the boxes, each of them meowing and rubbing their faces against the bottom box. I could see the top box had been clawed open.
Was
Pandora trying to tell me something? She did seem to be much more perceptive than other cats, and if there was ever a time to believe that Pandora was more than just an ordinary house cat, now was that time.

I headed over to the boxes, took the top one from the pile, placed it on the floor, and pulled the flaps open wide. Evie looked in over my shoulder.

“It’s just a bunch of glass balls.” Her voice dripped with disappointment.

She started to walk off, but I grabbed her arm. “Wait a minute. These aren’t just glass balls.” In my hunt for antique books, I attended estate sales and antique auctions on a regular basis and was quite familiar with all kinds of unusual antiques. That’s how I knew these were not just glass balls filled with water—they were fire grenades, the old-fashioned version of a fire extinguisher. They were good at putting out fires, and twelve of them were nestled inside the box. I glanced back at the fire, which had spread to encompass the entire corner of the basement. Would twelve be enough?

I turned to Evie. “These are antique fire grenades. They were old-fashioned fire extinguishers. But I’m not sure they’ll be enough. Can you do a spell to make them more potent?”

Evie’s eyes widened. “Spell? No. I’ve never been any good at spells. Not without the book.”

“But surely it can’t hurt to try? You must remember something...”

She glanced down into the box uncertainly. A flicker of emotions ran across her face. The cats sat stock-still, staring up at us, their tails swishing on the basement floor. My heartbeat ticked away each precious second. We didn’t have any time to lose.

“Okay. I’ll try it.”

She stepped closer to the box and shut her eyes tight. Waving her hands over the balls, she chanted.

“
W
ithin these balls
, I summon the power

Triple their strength for our need of the hour

Fight the fire and save our souls

Let nature take course, so mote it be.”

E
vie stepped back
, looked at me, and shrugged. “I don’t know if it worked.”

Pandora meowed and nudged my ankle as if telling me to go for it.

I picked up the box and headed to the corner where the fire was. “Come on. Let’s go find out!”

Evie hurried behind me. When I got close enough, I set the box down and grabbed two of the grenades. “Grab one in each hand, and throw it at the base of the fire as hard as you can.”

She grabbed one, and we pulled our arms back at the same time.

“Ready?” I looked at her, and she nodded. I glanced behind me to make sure the cats were at a safe distance. They stood in a row, staring at us intently. “Okay. One. Two. Three. Throw!”

Four balls hurled toward the base of the fire. They smashed on the ground, the liquid spreading out, eating into the orange flames, which hissed and sputtered in protest. The fire receded a few feet. Either Evie’s spell had worked, or these things did a lot better job than I’d anticipated.

“It’s working! I think my spell worked!” Evie grabbed two more balls, as did I.

“Let’s focus on the area near the door. We might be able to beat the fire back enough to create an opening we can run out through.”

We skirted to the left and raised the balls.

“Ready?” I asked.

Evie nodded.

“One. Two. Three. Throw!”

The balls smashed in the edge of the fire, resulting in a cloud of smoke and hissing steam. We covered our noses and mouths, waiting for the smoke to clear. When it did, my heart leapt—I could see the cellar door!

We had four more balls left, and if they worked as well as the others had, we’d be able to set the fire back enough to run through. “One more time!”

We picked up the balls and smashed them into the fire. It sputtered, the flames shooting high then dying back to the ground. “Let’s go!”

Evie didn’t need to be told twice. She took a deep breath and plunged through the thin wall of flames.

I glanced back at the cats. Would they follow, or would I have to pick them up and carry them out? I needn’t have worried. The cats shot forward, diving through the fire, out into the night.

I turned and lurched after them just as a large body barreled through the opening and collided with me, knocking me back into the basement.

“
S
triker
?” I sputtered just as he caught me from falling on my butt.

“Chance! Thank God you’re okay.” The look of concern on his face melted my heart, but the flames jumping up behind him told me we didn’t have time for a mushy reunion.

I turned him around and shoved him forward. “The fire!”

He put his arms around me, covering me to shield me from the flames, and we ran through the thin line of fire and spilled out into the night just as the firefighters were coming around the corner.

“In there!” Striker pointed down to the basement as if they needed direction. Flames were already coming out of the stairway.

I sucked in the first night air. Even though it still smelled of charred wood, it was refreshing. I bent over with my hands on my knees and coughed as my lungs got used to the clean air.

Striker grabbed my hand and turned me toward him. “Are you okay? What were you doing in there?”

“I’m fine. What are you doing here?” I straightened and glanced toward the parking lot.

“I got a strange call about her, and when I came I saw Marion surrounded by cats. I don’t know what’s going on—”

Cats! “I have to make sure Pandora is okay!” I broke free from Striker and ran around the building, looking for Pandora, stopping short when I got to the parking lot and saw Marion in her wheelchair, covered in cats.

Pandora was sitting on the ground in front of the chair. She looked at me and slit one eye shut, almost as if winking.

“Scat!” Marion batted at the tenacious felines, who seemed quite content to cling to her. Too bad the spell book was not in her lap or clutched in her hands. My stomach tightened. Where was the book? I looked around for Felicity. She was nowhere to be found, but I did notice deep divots in the ground, heading off to the woods. Stilettos? It looked as if Felicity had gotten away, but had she taken the book with her?

I didn’t know what kind of deal Felicity had going with Marion, but I knew one thing—if Marion would sell out her own grand-niece, Evie, she’d likely have no qualms about double-crossing Felicity. I doubted she’d given her the book.

Maybe Marion had tossed the book in the car.

I ran around to the passenger side, opened the door, and poked my head in. It wasn’t on the seat. Maybe underneath? I crouched down and tilted my head to look under the seat. Nothing. I lifted up the floor mat. Nothing. The door on the other side of the car opened, and I jerked my head up, meeting Striker’s gray gaze over the hump in the middle of the car.

“Are you looking for something?” he asked.

“No. You?”

“Nuh-uh.”

“Oh dear, this is quite a mess, now isn’t it?” I pulled my head out of the car and spun around to face the owner of the familiar voice. “Elspeth?”

She stood next to the car, her eyes drifting over to the smoking building, then to Marion, then to me.

“Hello, dear. I hope you are not hurt.” She looked me up and down, clutching a large patent-leather purse to her chest.

“No, I’m fine, but what are you doing here?”

“Oh. I heard about the fire on my scanner, and I rushed right down. You know some of Mystic Notch’s most precious artifacts are in that building, waiting to be put in the new displays. I do hope nothing has been ruined.” Her face looked agitated. She glanced over at Marion. “I didn’t know Marion liked cats so much.”

I followed her gaze. “I don’t think she likes cats so much as …”

“Evening, ma’am.” John, the Hamiltons’ butler, appeared seemingly out of nowhere. His outstretched hand held the leather spell book.

Elspeth’s eyes dropped to the book. “Oh dear, is that Betty’s old recipe book? I thought we lost that years ago.” She took the book gently from John, who smiled at her.

“It was lost for a while, but now it is right where it should be,” John said, then he turned to me and winked.

I wasn’t sure what to say, but before I could open my mouth to speak, I was distracted by Evie, who was crouched down by the back tire of the car.

“Here, Toady.” She lowered her head, peering under the tire.

“What are you doing, child?” Elspeth asked.

“Oh, there’s a toad under here, and…I…”

“
Meow!
”

Leo, a beige Persian with long fur and a smooshed-in face and orange eyes, trotted over. Sneaking his paw under the tire, he swatted at the toad, giving it no choice but to hop out from its hiding place. Evie pounced on it, cupping it in her hands. She stood with a triumphant look on her face.

Elspeth had moved closer to watch her. “A pet toad? An unlikely pet for a girl like you. What are you going to do with him?”

Evie opened her cupped hands to look in at the toad. “I’m going to make sure he has the life that he deserves.”

Elspeth nodded as if understanding exactly what Evie meant.

“You look like a young girl that would be interested in cooking.” Elspeth held the book up. Evie’s eyes widened, and she nearly dropped the toad.

Elspeth slipped a thin arm around Evie’s shoulders, leading her away from the car. “Maybe I could teach you how to make some of these recipes the right way.”

“That sounds lovely,” Evie said.

I slid a look at Striker. Did he think it was odd that Evie had a toad or that John had given Elspeth a book that she was now going to use to teach Evie to cook while all the time, the building was on fire and Marion was draped in cats?

He just watched them walk off, a bemused smile on his face.

“Figures I would find you here.” My sister’s voice interrupted my thoughts. Gus stood a few feet away, her arms crossed over the chest of her khaki sheriff shirt. “Did you have something to do with this fire?” She gestured toward the building.

“No. Of course not,” I said.

Her eyes raked me from head to toe, and I realized I was probably covered in soot, and I was pretty sure my hair was sticking out all over the place.

“You look like you had something to do with it,” she said.

“Well, I was
in
it. I didn’t
set
it.”

“What were you doing in there? Were you following Marion to investigate Adelaide’s death?” Her eyes flicked over to where Marion was, and I realized the cats had all dispersed and one of Gus’s deputies was attempting to put Marion in handcuffs.

“No, I wasn’t actually following her…you’re arresting her?”

Gus snorted. “Come on, I know you’ve been investigating. In fact, I suspect you were responsible for the anonymous tip that led us to Marion.”

“Tip?”

“Don’t play dumb with me. The time capsule. We found the evidence buried inside.”

My brows tugged together. I hadn’t had time to call in a tip about my suspicions that Marion buried something in the time capsule, so who had called it in? Max? Maybe he saw Marion on one of his surveillance tapes and decided to turn her in. I knew he’d watched the tapes from the morning of Adelaide’s death, but he probably hadn’t looked at any after that. And given the time of death and when Marion pretended to discover Adelaide, she wouldn’t have had time that morning. Plus she’d have wanted to wait until dark. Which meant she probably snuck out that night. I’d probably never know if Max had called that in, but it didn’t matter as long as justice was done.

“I wasn’t exactly sure it was in there, but I knew Marion had been out to the time capsule, and I just put two and two together.” I shrugged.

Gus frowned. “How did you even know there
was
a time capsule? You seem to have a way of getting these suspects to open up and spill their guts. Maybe I should consider hiring you to help with investigations.”

My brows shot up. That could be fun. “Really?”

Gus laughed. “No.”

“Oh.” I tried to hide my disappointment.

“Why would I spend money hiring you when you already do it for free?” she added.

Was she giving me the okay to meddle in investigations? It was hard to say, knowing her. “So what was in the time capsule anyway?”

“Adelaide’s pillowcase. We think Marion suffocated her, and if that’s true, we’ll find epithelial cells and saliva from Adelaide on one side of the pillow and cells from Marion on the other.”

That was why Adelaide’s pillowcases didn’t match when Josie found her that morning. Marion had taken the case off the pillow she’d used to suffocate her.

A loud shout came from the deputy trying to cuff Marion, and Gus glanced over. “Excuse me. Looks like I need to go help out over there.”

She stormed off toward Marion, who was beating at the deputy with her cane. Marion was not going in without a fight. Sad that she would kill her twin sister. My heart crunched for Evie, who had trusted Marion. I got the impression the young girl thought of Marion as a mentor.

But maybe Evie had a new mentor now. Across the parking lot, Evie and Elspeth stood shoulder to shoulder. Their heads were bent together conspiratorially over the book. As I watched, Evie brought her cupped hands up and opened them a crack. Elspeth poked a finger in at the toad, and the two of them laughed. Maybe Elspeth would ensure Brian got just what he deserved.

Everything might just be okay in the end.

I glanced at Striker. Maybe everything would be okay for everyone else, but what about Striker and me?

Striker might have been thinking along the same lines, because he stepped closer and tucked a lock of flyaway hair behind my ear.

“Maybe now that this business is all over, we can pick up where we left off.” His eyes flicked from mine to something behind my left shoulder, and his brows tugged together slightly.

“That would be nice,” I said as a misty form appeared behind his shoulder.

“Yes, you can get back to your young man now. Because of you, I’ve reunited with my true love, Louis,” Adelaide said.

“Finally,” I replied out loud.

“Well, it hasn’t been
that
long,” Striker said.

“What? Oh, I didn’t mean that.”

“What did you mean?”

“Nothing. Everything is going to end up just perfect.” My attention drifted from Striker to Adelaide, who mouthed the words “thank you” then puckered up and turned to kiss the empty space beside her as she slowly faded away.

* * *

S
triker gave
Louis’s ghost a slight nod then raised a brow in a silent gesture for the old guy to be on his way. The book had been found. Louis had never said what to do with the book, but the fact that Elspeth had it in her possession
felt
right. He still wondered what the fuss over a recipe book was but was learning that there were many mysteries in Mystic Notch that defied reason.

“Now that the book is where it should be, I’ll leave you to your earthly pursuits. Don’t forget, son, once you find the right woman, she’s worth waiting decades for.” Louis waggled his brows at Striker and then puckered up and turned to kiss what appeared to be thin air.

Weird thing to do, Striker thought. But then who could make sense of ghosts, anyway?

“She sure is,” Striker said out loud.

“She sure is what?” Willa asked.

Striker flicked his gaze from the quickly vanishing Louis to Willa. His chest tightened at the strange look she was giving him. Had he said that out loud? He’d have to watch himself around Willa if any more ghosts appeared. He didn’t want to scare her off.

“She … err …
you
sure are
welcome
to invite me over for dinner any time you want now,” Striker said.

“Oh. Well, you have been working a lot of hours lately, and I wasn’t sure if you’d have time for dinner with me...”

“That’s done with now. I’m going to have a lot more free time.” Striker looked up again just to reassure himself that Louis was actually gone then stepped closer to Willa, cupped her chin with his hand, and pressed a kiss on her lips.

“Then I can’t think of any better time to start picking up where we left off than right now.” Willa stood on her tiptoes and kissed him back.

* * *

P
andora watched
Willa and Striker kiss with mixed feelings of happiness and disdain. She was glad to see the two of them resuming their romance, but she found the human habit of touching lips to be disgusting. Pandora was thankful Elspeth had the book, and it looked as if she was going to pass along some knowledge to Evie. Pandora’s chest tightened at the mistake she’d almost made. When she’d sensed evil in the mausoleum, it hadn’t been Evie as she’d assumed…it had been Brian. Luckily Brian was now in a form that could harm no one. She’d have to take care next time not to jump to conclusions.