Meows, Magic and Murder

by Madison Johns

  “Nobody will ever believe that.”

  “You came here quite angry and wanted to get your revenge. It’s quite believable, if you ask me.”

  “Is that you or the voices you hear in your head telling you to do things you know you shouldn’t?”

  “Get moving,” Olivia sneered. “Down to the basement.”

  She gave Petunia a shove and she didn’t want to go down to what would be her death chamber, but had no choice since Olivia was the one with the gun, not her.

  Petunia walked down the steep steps, the musty smell pressing into her nostrils. Henry was near the far corner, bound and gagged, and she raced over, removing his gag. “Let him go. This is your husband, for Gods’ sake,” Petunia said in a panic. If she’d do this to her own husband, what would she now do to her?

  Olivia removed three knitting needles from a shelf and handed them to Petunia as she sneered, “Kill Henry, or I’ll kill you.”

  * * *

  Noah spotted Petunia talking to a woman he didn’t know and followed her, losing Petunia in the crowd as she weaved through it. Where on earth could that woman have gone? Since it wasn’t in the direction of her aunt’s shop or congratulating Lucy, he had a bad feeling that settled in his gut. All those years as a cop had heightened his instincts, and this one was telling him that she might be headed into danger. He knew he had to find her, and soon. He then went back to the woman he saw her talking to and asked, “Where is Petunia going? What did you tell her?”

  The girl’s eyes widened. “Just that she forgot the knitting needles she bought last week at the Hobby Shack.”

  Sheriff Pinkerton came up, obviously overhearing the exchange as he said, “Nobody told me those needles were left behind when I went there questioning employees.”

  “It’s hard to keep track of things sometimes. I sold them to Petunia so it was easer for me to remember, and I wasn’t there the day you were asking questions.”

  “I told your assistant manager Jay I wanted to talk to you.”

  “He must have forgotten.”

  Noah and the sheriff raced into the Hobby Shack and knocked on the office door.

  “Have you seen Petunia Patterson today?” asked the sheriff.

  “Yes, it seems one of the other managers didn’t follow policy and gave Petunia’s purchase to Olivia Brownmeyer to give back to Petunia. He wasn’t aware of the bad blood between them.”

  “When was this?”

  “Last week, Sheriff.”

  Pinkerton’s face was red now. “When I questioned Jay, he never told me that Petunia left those needles behind.”

  Jay turned in his chair, now. “That’s because I gave them to Olivia before that and assumed they were returned to Petunia,” Jay explained. “I’m awfully sorry for the mix-up.”

  “Thanks,” Noah said, marching toward the door.

  “Hold on, Noah. This is police business,” Pinkerton said.

  “I’m not about to stay out of this. Petunia might be in danger. Olivia is the killer and has been trying to frame Petunia all along.”

  “Fine, you can come along, but let me handle this.”

  Noah nodded and followed the sheriff as he called for backup. They ran over to the Brownmeyer’s house and the sheriff stopped. “I should wait for backup before approaching the house.”

  “Go ahead.” Noah walked up to the door, trying it, and pulled out a few tools from his wallet picking the lock.

  Sheriff Pinkerton said, “What are you doing?”

  “Exactly what it looks like. If we kick the door open, they’ll know we’re coming. Petunia’s life might just be in jeopardy.”

  Noah carefully opened the door and he slowly walked inside, glancing around as the sheriff followed him. Nobody was there—or so they thought until voices were heard from the direction of the basement.

  * * *

  From the moment Olivia placed the knitting needles in her hand, Petunia’s only thought was that she’d use them as a weapon.

  Petunia gripped them tightly, and exhaled. “Please, don’t make me do this. I won’t kill Henry.”

  The gun was cocked and the gun pointed to Petunia’s brow. She swallowed hard and said, “Fine. I can see I don’t have a choice, but nobody will ever believe I was the killer. People know about those needles that I left behind at the store.”

  “I’ll swear that I did deliver them. The sheriff will believe me. I’ve already funneled information to him that I feared we’d be your next victims.”

  “Funny. He never asked me about that one.”

  “I told him I didn’t want the matter pressed, but now … you get the picture. Hurry up and do what I told you.”

  “Don’t do this, Olivia. I love you,” Henry insisted.

  “You were leaving me. What did you think would happen? I won’t sit by and watch you take back up with Petunia.”

  “I wasn’t leaving you because of her, but what you were trying to do, frame her for murder. I found the bag with the receipt and the remaining knitting needles. It wasn’t hard to put together. You don’t knit, but I know how Petunia tends to buy more knitting needles than she needs. She’s compulsive that way.”

  “Great memory, Henry.”

  Tears swam in Henry’s eyes as he admitted, “I shouldn’t have cheated on you, Petunia, and I’m sorry how things went down. I still love you.”

  Petunia didn’t know what to say, but she was sure his admission was only because he was now facing death. Olivia’s eyes widened and looked like they’d pop out at any moment. She then sneered and said, “Kill him now!”

  Petunia trembled as she turned, walking toward Henry with the knitting needles clutched in her hands that were still at her side. Petunia made a motion like she was bringing up the needles to stab Henry, but instead with a backward motion, stabbed Olivia, who luckily was standing directly behind her, in the leg. Olivia swung her gun downward in response and a shot cracked off, striking Henry in the leg.

  Noah raced down the stairs, followed by the sheriff who had his gun drawn. “Put the gun down, Olivia,” the sheriff insisted.

  “No, that bitch needs to die for what she’s done to me,” Olivia said as she swung the weapon toward Petunia. Indicating the knitting needles embedded in her leg, she added, “Look what she did to me. She stabbed me!”

  “You?” Petunia said. “I’m not the one holding the gun on you here.”

  “It’s all my fault. If only I hadn’t cheated on Petunia with Olivia, none of this would have happened,” Henry said.

  “Put that gun down, Olivia,” the sheriff said again. “It doesn’t have to end this way.”

  Petunia looked helplessly from the sheriff to Olivia until she finally relinquished the gun to the sheriff, and was handcuffed with a slap of metal. He then called for an ambulance.

  Petunia turned back to Henry, who was bleeding quite badly, and she grabbed a towel from a nearby laundry basket near the washer, pressing it against his wound.

  Noah knelt next to Petunia. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes. Thankfully, you and the sheriff got here when you did. Olivia wanted me to kill Henry and she was then p-planing to … kill me. She wanted to make it look like I came here to murder them.”

  “She’d have never gotten away with it. There’s no such thing as the perfect murder,” Noah said.

  “I’m serious about what I said, Petunia. I still love you,” Henry said.

  Noah frowned and Petunia sighed. “Oh, Henry. You made your choice and you need to live with it. I’ve moved on.”

  The sound of sirens could be heard now, flashers visible through the basement windows. Deputies came down the stairs with guns drawn, including Natalie Cartwright, until they saw Olivia handcuffed, her arm held by the sheriff.

  Next down the stairs were the paramedics, toting a flexible stretcher. They loaded Henry onto it and the cops assisted them to lug it back up the stairs, while Olivia was led up the stairs by Natalie.

  Petunia told the sheriff about how Olivia
had murdered Helen, Kaye, and Charlene and why. “I suspect Olivia took those letters to Kaye and Charlene that lured them out to the Lake Forest beach where they were murdered.”

  “I’ll be doing a follow-up questioning to tie up the loose ends. I hope you don’t hold it against me for considering you a suspect.”

  “Not at all. I’d question you, if you didn’t. I really looked guilty and if it wasn’t me, I’d have thought I was guilty, too. I feel so bad that Olivia murdered three people just to frame me for murder.”

  “Olivia and Henry were having problems, from what I heard,” the sheriff said. “She must have thought that would change if you were charged with murder.”

  “So you knew about that?”

  “Small town, need I say more.”

  “Olivia’s delusional. There’s no way I’d ever take back up with Henry after what he’s done. I’ve forgiven him, but will never be able to forget about him cheating on me with Olivia. If he truly planned to leave her, it would have nothing to do with me. He told me before you arrived that he found a receipt and remaining knitting needles. And Olivia doesn’t even knit. I guess he put it together that she was the killer since he knew they couldn’t be hers, but was unable to leave before she was on to him.”

  “So questioning witnesses didn’t help you put this case together?”

  “Actually, there were some revelations, like how Helen tried to get money out of my aunt, but that’s no reason to want her dead. I feel very responsible, if only indirectly.”

  “It’s not your fault, Petunia, even though I understand how you might feel,” Noah said. “How long do we need to stay, sheriff?”

  “You can both leave now. You’ve told me enough for my report.”

  “It seems like Helen snowed people in town. The mayor and Florence McHenry were the ones who told me Helen claimed to be related, but I think that they actually believed her from the sounds of it.”

  “Thanks, Petunia. I’m glad we resolved this case before anyone else was murdered.”

  Petunia smiled at the sheriff at the mention of we. It certainly was a group effort as the sheriff and Noah arrived before Olivia killed her.

  Noah led Petunia up the stairs and Natalie offered them a ride home. Petunia was so happy, since this had been quite the day. They rode in the back of the squad car and Petunia was just so happy that she hadn’t been arrested. If she had, there was no telling if the case would ever be solved and she’d have been tried for murder then.

  Petunia glanced over at Noah, who smiled slightly. His eyes were softer than she remembered. She had so much to say to him, but now was not the time.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Petunia had a pot on the stove with a cocktail of herbs and roots. She nearly gagged on the pungent aroma.

  “What on earth is that smell?” Pansy asked.

  “It’s the potion I’m making to try and turn you back.”

  Pansy shook his head. “No way am I ingesting that. Just to play it safe, maybe I can just stay a cat for the time being—until you have time to perfect the formula, I mean.”

  Petunia relaxed. “Good, I was afraid what might happen.”

  Aunt Maxine’s orange tabby, Princess, strutted into the room, her nose twitching. Pansy then followed Princess into the other room. Aunt Maxine’s idea to have Pansy meet Princess was spot on. They seemed to get along fine and as her aunt had once said, were most likely plotting their demise.

  Petunia wasn’t making a potion to turn Pansy back, anyway. She was too afraid she’d make a bigger mess of things. She was working on another batch of the salve that she’d given to Lucy, who’d won the Lake Forest Marathon. Besides herbs and roots, the salve had five different oils, beeswax, and menthol for extra deep penetration. She lowered the amount of the ginger root this time around to hopefully tone down the results. Lucy was still quite free of pain and as lively as ever, but this batch Petunia wanted to be sure to give the mayor’s wife and her aunt for their knee pain. She planned to give out these samples on a trial basis to see if the salve worked this time around. If it worked like she hoped, her aunt planned to sell it in her shop.

  As Petunia mixed the ingredients together, she said the same words she had the last time that sounded nothing like a spell.

  “I hope this works this time.” Petunia blinked and her body felt all tingly from head to toe. That’s odd, she thought, filling the metal tins and put them on the windowsill to cool. Cora was in her backyard, gawking like always. When people in town found out how Petunia helped to solve the case, they backed down from trying to oust her from the neighborhood—not that they could, anyway.

  Noah walked into the kitchen and frowned. “And here I thought you might be cooking something good for dinner.”

  “It’s more of the salve I gave Lucy. I’m hoping this one isn’t quite as strong.”

  “Oh, so you’re finally admitting to something?”

  No, she didn’t have to admit to anything like being a witch, changing Jeremy into her cat, Pansy, or that her aunt was also a witch. Some things were better left unsaid between her and Noah.

  “I have nothing to admit to. I’m working on a healing salve, nothing more.”

  “I had hoped to ask you out to dinner tonight. If you’re not too busy.”

  “You don’t have to do that. I’m the one who owes you. I can’t thank you enough for helping me out with the knitting needle case.”

  “We actually make a pretty good team, but tonight’s invite was for an actual date.” When Petunia frowned, he quickly added. “You can say no, if you’d rather not.”

  “Sorry. Sure, dinner sounds great.”

  “It’s about time,” Aunt Maxine said as she joined them. “I was wondering if you two would ever get your heads out of the clouds and actually go on a date.”

  Petunia wondered that, too, but chose not to comment.

  “Oh, the sheriff told me that the trail of Jeremy Walters’ disappearance has led out of Lake Forest after a reliable source has said that they spotted him in a Kalamazoo bar.”

  Petunia sighed as her aunt shrugged. Luckily, Noah was looking the other way at the time. It was quite apparent that she was behind the sighting of Jeremy, but she couldn’t say that she was unhappy about the revelation—even though she knew it was quite false. “That’s a relief. What else is new?”

  “I heard Florence McHenry resigned from the city council,” Aunt Maxine said. “I saw her working at Starbucks, just yesterday.”

  “Good to know. I’ll certainly stay away from there if she’s working at Starbucks since I’m certainly not on her nice list.”

  Lucy strutted into the room, looking at the metal tins lined up on the window sill. “More salve?”

  “Yes, which you need none of.”

  “I know I don’t, thanks to you. I guess I could have used a little less. It’s exhausting to be constantly feeling the need to get up and move all the time.”

  Petunia laughed as they all did. For appearances sake, Lucy put them all to shame. She wasn’t sure how this witch thing would work out in the long run, but for now, Petunia wasn’t ready to come out as a witch anytime soon.

  About the Author

  When Madison Johns began writing at the age of forty-four, she never imagined she'd make it onto the USA Today best-selling books list with her first cozy mystery, Armed and Outrageous, as an independent author. Sure, this book is an Amazon bestseller, but USA Today?

  Although sleep-deprived from working third shift, she knew if she put what she had learned while caring for senior citizens to good use, it would result in something quite unique. The Agnes Barton Senior Sleuths mystery series has forever changed Madison's life, with each of the books making it onto the Amazon bestseller's list for cozy mystery and humor.

  Madison is now able to do what she loves best and work from home as a full-time writer. She has two children and animals galore that keep her company while she churns out more cozy mysteries and paranormal romances.

  If
you’d like to receive new release alerts and updates, please sign up for my newsletter, http://eepurl.com/4kFsH.

  Other Books By Madison Johns

  An Agnes Barton Senior Sleuth Mystery Series

  Armed and Outrageous

  Grannies, Guns & Ghosts

  Senior Snoops

  Trouble in Tawas

  Treasure in Tawas

  Bigfoot in Tawas

  Agnes Barton Paranormal Mystery

  Haunted Hijinks

  Ghostly Hijinks

  Spooky Hijinks

  Kimberly Steele Romance Novella (Sweet Romance)

  Pretty and Pregnant

  An Agnes Barton/Kimberly Steele Cozy Mystery

  Pretty, Hip & Dead

  A Cajun Cooking Mystery

  Target of Death

  Kelly Gray (Stand alone) Sweet Romance

  Redneck Romance

  Paranormal Romance

  Clan of the Werebear

  Hidden, Clan of the Werebear (Part One)

  Discovered, Clan of the Werebear (Part Two)

  Betrayed, Clan of the Werebear (Part Three)

  Shadow Creek Shifters

  Katlyn: Shadow Creek Shifters (Red-hot Ménage shifter romance-Book One)

  Taken: Shadow Creek Shifters (Red-hot Ménage Shifter Romance) Book Two

  Table of Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE