Whisker of a Doubt (Mystic Notch Cozy Mystery Series Book 6)

by Leighann Dobbs

  24

  Barney was waiting for me when I arrived at his shop. He opened the door for me and escorted me inside to where he’d been inspecting some coins.

  “I was just about to close up. Excuse me while I finish grading these coins.” He slipped behind the counter where he had a self-standing lighted magnifying glass, slipped on a pair of white cotton archivist gloves, and picked up a small silver coin.

  He squinted into the magnifying glass. “Oh yes… this one looks to be in EF condition.” He looked up over the rim of the magnifier at me. “That means ‘extra fine.’ Not the best but will bring a tidy sum.” He snapped off the light and placed the coin in a plastic sleeve.

  “So, settling up for that book then,” I said to get things moving along lest the man make me suffer through more coin grading. I wanted to warn Barney about Nathan, but I didn’t know quite exactly how to put it.

  As he fiddled around behind the desk, I did my best to remain polite and forced a smile I didn’t quite feel. For some odd reason, Barney seemed nervous—barely meeting my gaze since I’d arrived. He futzed around with some items on the counter while I did my best to put him at ease. “You really don’t have to—”

  “That wasn’t the reason I asked you here,” he said, cutting me off. “Not really.”

  Barney raked a hand through his thinning white hair and exhaled slowly. “Honestly, I debated long and hard if I should even mention this to you, Willa. I don’t want to get anyone in trouble, see, and I don’t like stirring up issues when there are none, but Nathan brought this into my store earlier because he wanted an appraisal on the stamp.” He held out a yellowed envelope. “After he left, I got to thinking this might be the letter Albert was trying to mail. It’s not postmarked.”

  I took it from him, doing my best not to tremble as I spied the return address—Helen Warren. Oh no. I knew it! Nathan was the killer. And my assumption about him following Barney was right. But the envelope was empty. Where was the letter?

  “Like I said, Nathan dropped it off to see if the stamp on it had any value.” Barney turned away. “I haven’t had a chance to do much research into it yet.”

  “Is there anything inside the envelope?” I asked, my voice sounding strained, even to my own ears.

  “Nope. Nothing.”

  My heart sank even as my mind whirled. It made sense. If Nathan discovered the letter listing the ingredients and their locations to lift the pleasantry charm, then he wouldn’t need the envelope. He could get money for the stamp if it was rare and still have the letter.

  Barney walked behind the counter and opened his cash register drawer, withdrawing the money for the coin book he’d taken from my shop. He handed it to me, and I pocketed the money before handing him back the envelope.

  “Thanks,” I said, heading for the exit and eager to call Striker to tell him what had happened. “You might want to be careful around Nathan.”

  “Oh dear, really?” Barney said from behind me, forcing me to stop. When had he slipped out from behind the counter? “I thought I saw Nathan a little bit ago, out in the woods behind the shop here. It’s nearly dark now, and I’ve not seen his Prius again. Why would he want to go out in the woods at night?”

  To dig up more ingredients.

  I didn’t say that out loud, though. Barney didn’t know anything about the pleasantry charm or the list of ingredients. As near as I could tell, the majority of Mystic Notch residents had no idea what went on behind the scenes here in town. Instead, I fished for more information, thinking that perhaps tonight might be the perfect time to catch a killer.

  “Huh,” I said, trying to look only mildly concerned even though my heart was threatening to pound out of my chest with all the adrenaline pumping through my system. “So, you think he’s still out there?”

  “Think so, yeah.” Barney frowned at me. “You aren’t planning on going out there, are you, Willa? That’s not wise, and I won’t hear of it. Not alone. If you want to see where he went, then I’m coming with you. It’ll be easier to show you rather than tell you.”

  The bells of First Hope Church were chiming six times for six p.m. as Barney locked the front door and led me around to the back door of his shop, which opened into a dense part of the town forest.

  Wind gusted, and leaves crackled around our feet as we walked into the trees. The zing of adrenaline in my bloodstream soon burned away, leaving a gnawing path of dark unease in its wake. It might have been smarter to call Striker instead of coming out here with only Barney to protect me. The promise I’d made about not doing anything dangerous echoed in my head. I could call him now, but then I’d really be in trouble. Better to just see what was going on out here first.

  But the farther we went, the uneasier I became. Night had fallen, and with it, so had the temperature. I hunkered down inside my jacket and clenched my hands in my pockets to keep them from shaking.

  Every noise seemed ominous. The crackle of branches, the whisper of unseen creatures stirring, the chill of coming winter in the air. My overactive imagination went wild, streaming facts about Albert’s case.

  Emma Potts claimed she’d seen Nathan driving past the church parking lot as the church bells had chimed six in the morning. But Striker had told me the ME had confirmed Albert Schumer’s time of death at five forty-five. That was fifteen minutes before Emma had seen Nathan’s Prius. Surely it wouldn’t take Nathan fifteen minutes to find Albert’s letter when he’d been carrying it in his hand, right? Seemed more logical that he’d bash Albert on the head, take the letter, and get the heck out of there to avoid discovery.

  So why had Nathan hung around so long at the scene of the crime?

  I stumbled on uneven ground and grabbed Barney’s arm to steady myself. I noticed he still had on his white gloves from the store. As I looked down, one of the gloves slipped down on his hand, and I saw a long scratch.

  It was then that I realized I’d made the worst mistake of my life.

  25

  Willa may be with Barney Delaney right now,” Pandora said, her panic rising by the second. “I saw him leave a note for her as I left to come here.”

  “I know Willa’s been investigating the murder and checking into suspects like Barney. And if I know that, then so does he.” Nathan’s expression turned deadly serious as he peered into the dense forest. “We need to find them. Someone broke into my toolshed earlier today and stole the shovel. If that was Barney, he could be preparing to put Willa into a shallow grave.”

  “No!” Pandora hissed loudly, all her nerves on high alert. “I must save her!”

  “I’ll take you in my car.” Nathan started toward the road.

  “No.” Inkspot stopped him. “We can run faster through the woods.”

  Inkspot started toward town, but Pandora hesitated. What if Barney had a gun? What good would a bunch of cats be against that? No… she needed human help.

  “You guys keep him from hurting Willa. I’m going for help!” Pandora yelled as the others followed Inkspot.

  “Wait!” Otis sprinted after her through the trees, surprisingly agile despite his extra bulk. He cut Pandora off and forced her to stop. “Where are you going?”

  “To get Striker.”

  “And how are you going to tell him what’s wrong?” Otis gave her a flat stare. “I know you said you’ve been making headway, but—”

  “I’ll do it. Don’t worry.” Pandora lifted her head high. “I know you don’t believe me, but tonight I’m going to put my money where my meow is. I’m going to break through the telepathic barrier holding Striker back from communicating with me. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get to the police station immediately!”

  “Okay, but be careful, and may Bastet be with you!”

  Otis’s words were only slight comfort as she took off toward the Mystic Notch Police Station. She only hoped she could make good on her confident prediction about communicating with Striker.

  26

  The Mystic Notch Police Station was qu
iet when Pandora arrived. She’d sprinted all the way over and had to take a moment to catch her breath. Luckily, one of the deputies left shortly after she got there, allowing her to slip through the open door inside the place.

  She’d only been there a few times before, so it took a bit of time to get acclimated and remember where exactly Striker was. Once located, she stalked over and prepared to jump up onto the desk he was using while he finished up a phone call.

  “Yes, Ms. Charles. I realize you think the rose bush in your front yard is haunted, but please remember it’s a windy night and some of those noises are natural.” He winced and held the phone away from his ear, turning away. That was when he spotted Pandora. A frown creased his brow.

  Striker finished up the conversation with Ms. Charles by assuring her he’d swing by in his squad car later then hung up the phone. Pandora leapt onto his desktop and took a seat in front of him, atop a stack of paperwork, tail swishing and eyes intent on his.

  “How’d you get in?” Striker asked before looking around the room. “Is Willa with you?”

  No, Willa wasn’t with her. That was the problem. Pandora took a deep breath then focused all her concentration on the human male before her, compelling his attention back to her.

  He craned his neck to see around her, clearly expecting Willa to appear in his doorway. “Okay, where is she? And why in the world would she bring you here?”

  “Hey, why wouldn’t she?” Pandora bristled.

  Oh dear, Striker didn’t seem to be receiving her telepathic thoughts. He kept petting her and looking for Willa. Pandora stared at him and focused harder.

  Striker leaned forward slightly, his gray gaze narrowing, his pupils dilating slightly. “What is it, girl? What’s wrong?”

  The air between them seemed to sizzle, and Pandora felt the barrier between her mind and his waver then disappear completely. She was in!

  Pandora began to send messages of panic and warning. Willa in trouble! Willa need help!

  In return, she could feel his concern for her human caretaker, his razor-sharp intelligence, and his kind, brave heart. That was good. They’d need those qualities to save Willa from danger tonight.

  “Willa’s in danger,” Striker whispered, speaking in time to Pandora’s thoughts. “Willa needs my help.” He blinked then jumped to his feet. “Willa’s in danger! Willa needs my help.”

  Without asking, he scooped Pandora up under one arm and jammed his hat on his head before grabbing his car keys and badge from the desktop. “Where is she, girl? Tell me where to go.”

  Normally, Pandora would have hissed, clawed, and squirmed to get away. Being carried under someone’s arm was so undignified. But these were special circumstances, and causing a ruckus would only delay them getting to Willa. Instead, she sent telepathic images of Barney’s antique store and the woods behind it as they headed for the squad car. After he set Pandora in the passenger seat, Striker climbed in behind the wheel and started the engine, giving a bark of disbelieving laughter. “It’s a good thing Gus isn’t around,” he said. “Otherwise, I’d have some explaining to do about why I’m driving around Mystic Notch with her sister’s cat.”

  Pandora answered with an urgent meow that had Striker squealing out of the station parking lot in a blaze of rubber and flashing lights.

  “Right,” Striker said, frowning. “Doesn’t matter now. All that matters is making sure Willa is safe.”

  They pulled up outside the store moments later, and Striker got out let Pandora out the passenger side. “Where to now? Are they inside or out here somewhere?”

  Pandora took a moment to get her bearings. Her whiskers twitched, her nose high in the air, seeking the scent of Willa. She wasn’t inside the antique shop. She was beyond it in the woods. This was not good.

  Pandora rushed around the side of the building toward the woods. Behind her, she heard Striker’s muttered curse then the pounding of his footsteps as he followed behind her into the darkness.

  “Guess it’s the woods, then,” he said, his tone dry.

  27

  I swallowed hard, staring down the barrel of Barney Delaney’s gun and resisting the urge to kick myself for not noticing before now that he had a weapon under his coat. Gus was right. I should leave the murder investigations to trained professionals like her.

  “Keep moving,” he growled, waving the weapon in front of my face. “Can’t stop now.”

  “Barney, why are you doing this?” I asked, futilely stalling for time. No one was coming to help me. I knew that. I’d foolishly wandered off without telling anyone where I was going. Even Pandora didn’t know where I’d gone.

  My chest constricted at the thought of her back in the bookstore, wondering when I would come back. Maybe never. I hoped someone would figure out she was in there and feed her. Who would take care of her? Wait, it wasn’t productive to think like that. I’d gotten myself out of much worse predicaments. Okay, maybe not worse but at least just as bad. I needed to keep Barney talking until I could figure a way out of this mess. “It’s not too late.”

  “You’re wrong.” He shook his head. “It was too late from the minute I saw you hesitate when those bells rang at the church. You know what happened, and now I need to take care of it. Now get walking.”

  He was nothing if not perceptive. Yes, I’d figured it out from the bells. Barney must have hidden his car on the side street and walked over to the post office, killed Albert, then rushed to the diner to establish his alibi. Score one for me, amateur detective. Too bad I hadn’t figured it out about a half hour sooner.

  He gestured with the gun, and I plodded forward through the trees, wet mud and leaves sucking at my shoes. I continued to press for answers. “You never answered my question, Barney. Why do this? Why did you kill Albert?”

  Silence reigned for so long I thought he wouldn’t answer. Then he spoke in quiet tones, so low I wouldn’t have heard him if I’d not been paying attention.

  “I’m a descendent of Miles Danforth, one of the original magical families that settled here in Mystic Notch,” he said. “I knew about the pleasantry charm and the buried ingredients well before that letter surfaced. In fact, I’ve already collected the first one and have it hidden amongst the items in my shop.”

  Guess that explained the weird vibes I got in there.

  “Don’t bother looking for it though,” he continued. “No one will ever find it.”

  “So, you plan to gather the rest of the ingredients and lift the charm. Why?”

  “Because it’s time for a little shake-up around town. Things have been too peaceful for too long. Mystic Notch has become nothing but a quaint little tourist trap, full of tacky souvenirs and cheap T-shirts. That’s never what the founders of the town intended. Never.”

  “And you think creating chaos will help?” I did my best to keep the censure from my tone and failed miserably, if the glare Barney gave me as we walked was any indication. “Seems like it would only hurt a lot of people.”

  “Maybe some will be hurt, but others like me will be helped.”

  We stopped in a small clearing near a babbling brook. As I scanned the area, I spotted a shovel leaning against the trunk of a tree, and my heart sank.

  “I’m sorry it has come to this, Willa.” Barney might have been sorry but not enough to prevent him from jamming his gun in my back hard enough to make me yelp as he guided me toward the tree with the shovel. “But you were too nosy for your own good.”

  “What are you going to do?” I considered running, but given my bad leg and the darkness and the fact that he had a loaded gun handy, my chances didn’t seem good. “Kill me?”

  “As a matter of fact, yeah. Got a brilliant plan all worked out, actually.” Barney sounded proud of himself. I wanted to kick him hard in the shins. “See that shovel there? I’m going to conk you on the head with it then shove your body in the stream there. You float off, trace evidence gets washed away, and I escape, then I can come back later and blame it all on Nathan A
nderson since the shovel belongs to him.”

  “You’re the one who broke into his shed earlier, aren’t you?” I wasn’t always the brightest bulb in the lamp, but I had my moments. “And that’s why you’re wearing the gloves tonight, huh? No fingerprints.”

  “Bingo.” Barney’s teeth shone dull white in the moonlight. “Since you’ve been sticking your nose into Nathan’s business too, following him around and all, you just made my job a lot easier. The cops already suspect him of Albert’s murder, seeing as how he was at the scene of Albert’s death. Yeah, I saw him pull up just as I was slipping through those shrubs. Figure all I need to do is tell Gus that Nathan tried to sell me that stamp on the envelope, and she’ll take care of the rest. After all, she’s got no clue about the true value of that letter, and that dummy Desmond Lacroix can verify he told Nathan his father-in-law had the envelope.”

  I did my best to stay calm and not panic, though adrenaline pounded through my system like a jackhammer. “Where’s the letter now?”

  “Right here.” Barney pulled it from his pocket with his free hand and waved it in the air. “Once I finish getting all the ingredients, Mystic Notch will be restored to the great town my ancestors intended it to be.”

  I watched as he waved the letter. If nothing else, maybe I could somehow destroy it. But the gun was still pointing at me. To lunge for it would be a death sentence. I had to think of something quickly.

  “And now it’s time for you to die.” Barney lowered his hand, about to put the letter back in his pocket.

  I tensed. It was now or never. He was old. Maybe I could overpower him.

  Meroowww!

  A god-awful screech echoed through the air, followed by a white ball of flying fur.