Scissors, Siblings and Surprises (Paper Crafts Club Mystery Book 6)

by Emily Selby

  Katie touched his cheek with her thumb, sliding it along the jawline. It felt smoother than in her dream last night!

  'Yes, I've even shaved for our lunch date. Let's get this flower into a vase,' he pried it gently from her fingers, uncurling them one by one, and looking into her eyes.

  Her knees melted into cotton-candy again.

  'So where are we going?' he asked carrying the flower to the kitchen. She followed him, reporting on her top choice of a Japanese café.

  'I've heard it's great. Are you ready to go?'

  'I am,' she replied and then remembered the tears and the makeup 'Well, maybe five minutes. But what about the case? What's happening?'

  'All right, the prisoner is charged and, cooling her heels in the cells. What else do you need to know?' he asked, grabbing a tall glass from the shelf.

  'It's Keeva, isn't it? How did you prove it?'

  'That was the part I was concerned about the most. I could prove she wasn't Ava Fischer, because I had Ava's fingerprints from New Zealand, but I couldn't prove she was Keeva O'Reilly without her cooperation. But it turned out to be quite simple, really.'

  He opened the tap and poured water into the glass.

  'What did you do?'

  'Her phone. That darn phone she had set up on redirect. It was registered to Keeva. I forgot all about it. I've been a bit distracted during this case, I suppose...' He paused.

  Katie pricked her ears. He had indeed been unusually distracted during the investigation case.

  'And everything has been happening so fast,' Jack continued. 'But Chris pushed a note right into my face just when her lawyer was about to say something unpleasant.'

  'Thank heavens for Chris.'

  'He's been great. He's worked hard.'

  'You should recommend him for a promotion.'

  'I will do.'

  Just don't take him away from Sunnyvale.

  'So why and when did she assume Ava's identity? After the incident?'

  'Yes, you were right. The trip to New Zealand to identify the body, this was the trigger. She left as Keeva, got off the plane in Hong-Kong as Keeva, but cancelled her original trip, or simply missed it. She boarded another plane to take her back home a little later, but as Ava Fischer.'

  'What about the passport?'

  'That was a fluke. Her sister indeed posted all her belongings to Keeva in Dublin before taking her own life. Keeva had Ava's passport in her handbag when she travelled. She says it wasn't planned until the time of her return.'

  'Why did she do it?'

  'She's always been jealous of Ava’s life: married, a good profession, money to travel.'

  'Except Ava wasn't exactly happily married. She hated travelling and, and she committed suicide!'

  'If you don’t mind a slight modification to an old saying, one woman’s meat is another woman’s poison, I suppose,' Jack shrugged. 'Where do you want the flower? It needs to lean on the wall, I guess.'

  'In that corner, over there, besides its lovely paper sister.' Katie pointed. 'And going back to the sisters. Why did Ava kill herself?'

  'She was homesick.'

  'Couldn't she go back to Ireland?'

  'Apparently, she didn't have enough money and nothing to go back to. I’m guessing she was clinically depressed.'

  'Poor girl. Alone in a foreign country, far away from home,' Katie folded her arms. 'Why didn't Keeva travel the world under her own name then?'

  'I suspect she didn't have money. She lived modestly. She'd been quite sick, she says, unable to work in her profession. She had long periods off work and I suspect depression like Ava. Depression sometimes runs in families.'

  'Was she a nurse, too?'

  'No,' Jack said seriously. 'She couldn't get into nursing college. She was a lab technician but couldn't work due to an allergy to some key products used in labs.'

  'So, she pretended to be a nurse,' Katie said shaking her head. 'Gee, I hope she didn’t kill any of her patients. Oh, my... she did. But, I mean, not like that.'

  'No, there were no incidents with her. None of the nursing colleges had anything on her. One of the employers in New Zealand wasn't happy with her skill levels. Somehow, she managed to fit in and learn quickly. Do you need your five minutes now?'

  'Yes. You stay in the kitchen, leave the door open. I'll be using the mirror in the hall, so you can continue telling me what else you've found out. You've never said how you got her to talk,' Katie said, marching to the hallway.

  'Once we could prove who she was, it was obvious why she killed Benjamin,' Jack carried on.

  'He realised she was Keeva, not Ava.'

  'Yes. She must have fooled him to a point, but then he started to doubt. She says she doesn't know what tipped him off.'

  'I wonder if he confronted her, and she somehow managed to reassure him. Maybe that was the short argument the waitress, Angie, witnessed. And she mixed his pills. Where did she get the beta blocker from?'

  'They were her own. Keeva swapped the pills when Benjamin Fischer was at the counter, getting the waitress to witness his signature.'

  'Ah,' Katie squealed partly due to a sudden realisation, and partly because she found a cotton bud - perfect for removing the tiny smudges of mascara from under her eyes. 'That was why she ran out of her medication and needed to go to the pharmacy for an emergency supply.'

  'Exactly. You've done an excellent job, Inspector Redford.'

  'You've promoted me.'

  'Because you've done a great job.'

  Katie dropped her shoulders. 'I don't feel like it. It was different this time. You did a lot of evidence collecting, and I didn't do the final challenging of the key suspect.'

  Not to mention that you didn't let me be part of some key interviews. This might have been a much easier case if you had!

  Katie put her face closer to the mirror, careful not to press it against it. She patted her left eyelid with the bud.

  'What did she do with Benjamin when they left the café?'

  'She drove towards town, and when he lost consciousness, a few minutes later, she stopped the car and did the phone trick to create the alibi for herself.'

  'How cruel.' Katie shuddered. 'Chatting away with yourself when a man is dying in your car.'

  'Yes. She deserves to end up in jail. After making the calls, she dumped the body by the Community Centre.'

  'Why there?'

  'I guess, she wanted to the body to be found far away from the café. And when she saw Julian wandering with the scissors, she immediately saw the opportunity and seized it.'

  'Wasn't she concerned he'd recognise her.'

  'She says, he didn't. She's worked a lot in aged residential care and has seen plenty of people with dementia. And this will be certainly of consolation to your friend, Miriam, and you. Keeva admitted to stabbing the body. She then wiped the scissors and put them back into Julian's hand.'

  'I'm glad it wasn't Julian,' Katie said. 'Why did she kill Chloe?'

  'Before I explain that, Chloe's murder may be harder to pin on Keeva. She claims to have nothing to do with Chloe’s murder. She says she was out since late that morning, trying to get an appointment with a GP. She managed to obtain a short script for propranolol in the morning, which was when you saw her, but it wasn't enough, so she continued her hunt for an appointment at one of the urgent clinics in town.'

  'Have you got any evidence to support her claim?'

  'Good one, Katie!' Jack laughed. 'We have a record of her being issued a script on Thursday morning, a few days’ worth only. One of the clinics had her on the waiting list, but she wasn’t seen. After 7 pm she went to a restaurant in town for dinner. We've confirmed that she arrived shortly after seven. We're trawling through the CCTV recordings from a camera outside the front entrance to the hotel, but Ava, or rather Keeva says she left by the side entrance. There were too many people in the front of the house, she said.'

  'She's prepared it well. It's amazing. She must have some acting talents,' Katie said, thinkin
g back to Julia's little performance in the cafe.

  'Yeah, the voice fooled me. She must have changed it when she was on the phone. Or maybe just used a sock over the mouthpiece.'

  'Looks like she needed time not only to perform the redirection trick but also find a piece of hosiery.'

  They both chuckled.

  'You still haven't answered the "why" question,' Katie asked moving the cotton bud to her right eye.

  'What do you think?'

  'My guess is Keeva either overheard Chloe talking to Ally about sitting in the bin, or the rumour was already out. You know this town can gossip.'

  'That's one thing I've learnt for sure.'

  'And, by the way,' Katie said as lightly as she could, given the still somewhat hurt pride. 'Have you checked that apple for DNA?'

  'Not yet. There is little point. She admitted she threw the apple into the bin. As you said, there is nothing wrong with throwing rubbish into skip bins.'

  'Did she use it to cover the potential noise of the tablets and the packaging?'

  'That's right.'

  Katie put the bud away and looked at her reflection in the mirror. Almost perfect, just this little strand of hair...

  'How did she manage to travel on her sister's passport? They weren't twins after all. The new passports are all biometric,' she asked, tucking the hair behind her ear.

  'They were quite alike, according to the photos Chris, and I have seen. Ava had an old passport, without the biometric data embedded. So Keeva crossed borders on it until it was no longer valid, which was only two years ago.'

  'True,' Katie said.

  'Are you ready?' Jack called. 'Am I allowed to look yet?'

  'No!' She yelled, grabbing the jar of loose powder. 'Twenty seconds.' She patted her cheeks and under her eyes. 'Ready now!'

  Jack stepped through the door. 'You look gorgeous. Just as gorgeous as five minutes ago and I'm impressed it actually took you less than five minutes.

  'And it's all for you, Inspector,' Katie replied, letting the soft, warm sensation trickle from her chest, all over her body.

  'Let's go then,' he said offering her his arm. 'I want to celebrate closing this case, and even more, meeting the loveliest girl alive.'

  Katie blushed. She took a deep breath. 'And I think I've got something to shout from the rooftops.'

  Thank you for reading Scissors, Siblings, and Surprises. I hope you enjoyed Katie’s new adventure.

  Let me and other people know what you think of the story, the characters, the mystery… by leaving a review (please, no spoilers :)).

  Click here to review the book on Amazon.

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  Interested in the Paper Crafts Club Mystery Series and cozy mysteries in general? Join my mailing list for offers on my and other mystery books.

  Thank you

  Emily Selby

  Also by Emily Selby

  Did you enjoy Scissors, Siblings and Surprises? Can’t wait to find out what happens next? Is Katie going to move into that new house? Will Jack move back to his original job?

  If yes, then you absolutely have to read the next book - out soon!

  Book 7: Origami, Odium and Old Sins

  Katie finds the body of her co-worker, Amanda, shot. Everyone assumes it’s a suicide until Katie discovers a note disguised as an origami animal left by the victim, suggesting this was a murder. More notes are found, all “coded in origami” but Katie can’t do origami!

  On top of that, Jack is asked to return to his previous job and Katie is torn what to do with their relationship.

  Will Katie finally learn how to do origami, help Jack discover the truth about Amanda’s death and will they take their relationship to the next level?

  Don’t miss out - click here to make sure you get your copy of the book when it’s released!

  Have you read the previous books in the series?

  Book 1: Filigrees Fortunes and Foul Play

  The Paper Crafts Club Mystery Book 1

  Katie finds the body of her best cleaning client stabbed with a… quilling needle in an empty house, and ends up being one of the prime suspects. She meets DI Jack Heaton and sparks fly.

  Will she find the murderer before there is another victim and clear her name?

  If you haven’t read the story yet, click here to find out.

  Book 2: Dip Pens, Descendants and Dirty Deals

  Katie has just returned from a weekend away, only to find... another dead body right under her window and the beautiful ring missing from her drawer. Yes, that ring!

  Is the missing ring a clue to solve the murder mystery? Why was the victim killed using Katie's dip pen? And most importantly, will Katie find out who has been on a killing spree this time around?

  If you haven’t read the second book in Katie Redford's cozy crime adventures, click here to read it now!

  Book 3: Glitter, Greed, and Gatecrashers

  The long-awaited church fete has just closed for the night and everybody is looking forward to another day of fun and laughter. Maybe, except one uninvited guest... Katie finds his lifeless body, covered in glitter in the storage room.

  Among good 'ol secrets and gossip, and mind-boggling new technology, Katie, Jack and the rest of Sunnyvale police team race to find the murderer before another person dies. Will they succeed? Click here to find out.

  Book 4: Journals, Jealousy and Jilted Sweethearts.

  Remember Katie’s new cleaning gig for Jane and Keith Starr? Good, because Katie finds one of them dead. Which one? Why? And why it’s the wrong spouse?

  And, most of all, whodunnit…

  Murder, old secrets, new gossip, a little romance - the usual Sunnyvale stuff. Click here to read it now.

  Book 5: Blades, Betrayals and Broken Ties

  Katie finds another body in the old, derelict house behind her workshop. Is this really Mrs Weatherspoon's missing lodger? What was he doing there and why was there an accident?

  Or maybe, as Katie thinks, it was a murder?

  Find out who and why might have wanted Archie Blackburn dead, and, of course, snoop a little on Katie and Jack. Murder, old secrets, new gossip, a little romance - the usual Sunnyvale stuff ;-)

  Click here to read it now!