Pawsitively Murder (Silver Springs Cozy Mystery Series Book 2)

by Ginny Gold

  Maggie doesn’t blame her. “You’re free to go?” Erline nods. “Can I bring you to The Coffee Bean? I need another coffee, and it looks like you could use one too.” Secretly, Maggie is hoping Ginger Rae and Winona will still be there, but it’s been well over an hour since she left. It’s unlikely they’ll find Erline’s friends but she has to try.

  Maggie takes Erline’s elbow and guides her back out front. No one tries to stop them so Maggie leads her straight out the front door and to her car. Erline lets Maggie take care of her and gets into the passenger seat of Maggie’s Prius.

  They don’t say a word as Maggie drives back to Main Street. Closer to midday, she’s unable to find a spot on the street and parks in the parking garage. It’s less than a block to the coffee shop and they walk slowly and silently.

  To Maggie’s surprise and relief, Ginger Rae and Winona are still sitting on the couch. Next to Winona sits Mitch Cable, her friend from the dog park. All three of them look in Erline’s direction and Maggie’s eye quickly catches Mitch’s. Shivers run down her spine and she knows without a doubt that she saw him in Erline and Jeff’s bedroom.

  CHAPTER 19

  Maggie takes a deep breath to keep herself calm. She doesn’t want to give away that she just figured out Mitch was the masked gun man who made a threat on her life a day earlier. When she met him yesterday, he excused himself too quickly for her to make the connection.

  There is hardly a doubt in her mind that he is also responsible for Felicity’s death. It would be too coincidental for those two events not to be related. But she has no proof of his guilt. She whispers to Erline that she’ll bring her a coffee and lets the older woman sit with her friends. While she waits in line and at the counter, Maggie keeps one eye on Mitch.

  Her mind comes up with far too many unanswered questions: How did the missing jewelry end up with Felicity’s fingerprints? Did Mitch put the jewelry in Vern and Felicity’s house? What is Mitch’s connection to Felicity?

  Maggie brings two steaming mugs of coffee to the couch and places them both on the table in front of everyone. The four people on the couch try to squish together to make room for a fifth person but Maggie waves away their efforts and pulls up a nearby chair instead. She likes her personal space too much to be squeezed between two people.

  As soon as Maggie sits, Mitch stands and says, “I’ve gotta get going. Enjoy your coffees, ladies.” He smiles in Maggie’s direction and she gets goosebumps on her arms.

  Ginger Rae, Erline and Winona offer him smiles and well wishes for his day. Maggie watches him closely and convinces herself that his eyes darken as they pass over her face on his way out. She watches his back as he leaves the coffee shop and has to restrain herself from getting up and following him. She doesn’t want to have to tell Erline that a friend of hers robbed her.

  “So you’ve been spending quite a bit of time with Mitch lately,” Erline says with a smile to Winona. Maggie can see them as much younger women, teasing each other about boys as teens and young adults.

  Winona nods. “It’s been nice to have a companion to go to the dog park,” she replies innocently.

  “Oh come on. There must be more to it than that,” Ginger Rae teases, gently pushing Winona’s shoulder. “It’s been too sudden for us not to notice.”

  Winona smiles and looks to each of her friends with Maggie watching. “Well, there might be something there.”

  Ginger Rae slaps her knee. “I knew it! Good catch. He’s what, twenty years your junior?”

  “What’s age except a number anyway?” Erline asks. “I sure don’t feel 81, whatever that’s supposed to feel like.”

  Maggie wishes they’d talk more about Erline’s predicament or about Mitch as an individual but she understands that this teasing is probably their way of distracting their friend from all of the negativity in her life lately. The teasing continues in circles, moving from Winona and Mitch to suddenly Maggie and Drew.

  “What do mean, what are we?” Maggie asks, the first words she’s said since Mitch left.

  “Well, you seem to be spending an awful lot of time together suddenly,” Ginger Rae says, too loudly in Maggie’s opinion.

  Maggie smiles. “It’s work related.”

  “Mm hmm. And I’m sure that’s your excuse with Detective Daniel Stevens, too,” Ginger Rae continues, smirking with her lips pressed tightly together.

  Maggie points at the women to defend herself but realizes that makes her look guiltier. Her mouth opens and closes once, twice, like a fish, before she gets any words to form. “It’s all work related,” she repeats in a whisper. She tugs her right ear and catches herself, knowing she’s nervous based on her action. She asks herself what she’s really doing with Drew and Daniel.

  All three women on the couch are staring at her, their eyes wide, waiting for her to admit the truth—that she’s interested in either Drew or Daniel. But she isn’t. Right? She’s not interested in anything in Silver Springs beyond helping Erline return her life to normal.

  And for that to happen, right now she has to go talk to Mitch Cable.

  Defensively, Maggie says, “I don’t know what you all are talking about. You know Erline asked me to come to Silver Springs to help catch Felicity’s murderer, and that’s exactly what I’m doing. The fact that I happen to work with men to do so has nothing to do with any romantic interests.” Maggie can feel her face warming but she isn’t sure if it’s because of her little tirade or because she might actually be drawn to Drew. Just a little.

  All three mouths drop open slightly and Maggie picks up her handbag. She still has half a cup of coffee, and against her better judgment, she drinks it all, then places the mug back on the coffee table. One of the three employees will pick it up as soon as she leaves.

  Without another word from anyone, Maggie is out the front door and looking in every direction for Mitch. She doesn’t look back to see the three women turn and watch her through the big front window. They are all immediately pushed out of her mind.

  There is no trace of Mitch on Main Street. She waited too long to go after him and now he could be anywhere. Maggie considers her options. She could get in her car and drive aimlessly, hoping to find him. She could go straight back to the police department, where she’s already spent too much time today, and tell Detective Stevens she knows who broke into Erline and Jeff’s house. She doesn’t have evidence, and she’s already told him she didn’t see his face, so it would be a long shot that the police would go after Mitch. Or she could call Drew and finally update him on everything that’s happened since the last time they spoke yesterday afternoon.

  She sits on a bench on the sidewalk and pulls out her phone to call Drew.

  “Good morning. Sleep in?” Drew asks in the most cheerful voice she’s ever heard from him. It’s almost noon.

  Maggie laughs. “I wish. But it sounds like you did. You sound wide awake.”

  “Yup. I was glad you didn’t call last night to go track down Jean Spellman.”

  “I fell asleep in my clothes as soon as I finished dinner. But that meant waking up much earlier than usual. And I spent most of my morning at the police station waiting for Erline.”

  “What?” Drew asks, shocked, and Maggie can imagine his bright blue eyes clouding over in surprise.

  Maggie relives Erline’s news about the stolen jewelry and then goes on to tell him about Detective Stevens’ suspicion that Vern was guilty of the robbery and the murder. Drew knows better than anyone Vern couldn’t have robbed Erline and Jeff and he reminds her of that.

  “Don’t worry, I already cleared that up with Detective Stevens. Oh, and one more thing. I know who the thief was. Mitch Cable.”

  Drew’s silence is unnerving. “How did you figure that out? Were his fingerprints on the missing jewelry?”

  “Well, no. Only Felicity’s were. But he was definitely the person I saw in Erline’s bedroom yesterday. I met him yesterday afternoon but too briefly. This morning I met him again—he’s friends with
Winona—and there was no mistaking him.”

  “I don’t understand. How could he be the thief if only Felicity’s fingerprints were on the jewelry?”

  “Two things are possible: she’s being framed, or she did actually steal the jewelry before she was killed and Erline didn’t know or was going to confront Felicity since she knows her. But there’s still a single item that hasn’t been recovered. That must be what Mitch was after. Maybe he didn’t have anything to do with the jewelry.” Maggie crosses and uncrosses her legs, antsy to figure out what is going on.

  Maggie can almost hear Drew considering the possibilities. But he surprises her by asking, “Want to go to the casino? I got a tip from a friend that Jean’s there.”

  “Way to change the subject. Did you not hear that Mitch was in Erline and Jeff’s house yesterday with a gun? What makes you think Jean is guilty still? We have nothing on her, and I think it would be too much of a coincidence if someone else killed Felicity and then Mitch robbed Erline and Jeff.”

  “Okay. So you don’t want to go to the casino.”

  “I didn’t say that. I’ll meet you there.”

  Maggie hangs up and drops her phone into her handbag. She stands from the bench and a black sedan drives slowly by. She sees clearly that Mitch is the driver and she’s torn between following him or meeting Drew like she planned.

  CHAPTER 20

  Maggie runs to her car in the parking garage but by the time she’s back on Main Street, Mitch is out of sight again. She’s lost him twice in the last half hour.

  The evidence is piling up against him. He was definitely in Erline and Jeff’s bedroom with a gun, and he drives the same car Maggie noticed making slow passes by Vern’s house Saturday night.

  Maggie comes to terms with having lost him and heads toward the casino. She’s not hopeful that Jean will offer any information, or that she’s guilty of Felicity’s murder, but it’s worth following up and being sure.

  As Maggie drives, her phone rings and she roots around in her bag with one hand. She pulls out her phone but no one is there and there is still a ringing. She finds her second phone and sees that Trista is calling.

  “Hey Trista. Good news?” Maggie asks. She pulls over and takes her tablet out of her bag so she can make notes.

  “Hey Maggie. I think so. I looked into April and Vern like you asked, and I found some interesting things.”

  “Oh?” Maggie is intrigued. Her fingers are poised over the tablet, ready for details.

  “April has a kid. And the dad is Vern Myers. What are the chances it’s a different Vern Myers?” Trista’s voice remains flat.

  Maggie tries to tell her fingers to type but the synapses won’t fire. All she can think about is April and Vern’s affair. “You’re kidding me,” she says, when she finally regains her senses.

  “Nope.”

  “So this affair has been going on for a while.”

  “Seems like it. The girl’s four years old.”

  Maggie comes up with a question that Trista might not be able to answer. “How did Felicity not know about this? They were sisters.”

  “April put the baby up for adoption,” Trista explains simply.

  Maggie remembers her conversation with Felicity in the phone booth and says, “And they didn’t have a good relationship so April hid it from Felicity, who was in denial and didn’t want to see what was really happening.”

  “There’s more. Vern has recently tracked down the girl and he might have even met her.”

  “What about April? Has she tracked her down too?” Maggie interrupts.

  “I don’t know. I imagine if Vern knows where she is, he would have told April.”

  Maggie takes all of this information in. “Wow, if someone ever needed a motive to kill someone. Vern gets his wife out of the way, gets to be with the woman he loves and gets to have a relationship with his daughter. How crazy is that?” She can’t imagine that April would kill her sister, no matter how poor their relationship was. “But why didn’t Vern just divorce Felicity?”

  “They probably didn’t divorce because of the pre-nup Vern and Felicity signed before they were married.”

  “Oh? What was in there?” Maggie asks, her fingers moving furiously over the screen. She’s completely forgotten about all the clues pointing to Mitch or Jean right now. Her entire brain is focused on Vern.

  “Well, at the time, Felicity must have thought they would have kids and she’d be a stay at home mom. So to cover herself, she would receive half of Vern’s earnings, plus child support if they divorced. But then when they didn’t have kids, he didn’t want to give up half of his income to his working wife.”

  Maggie waits silently, as she makes more and more notes, to see if Trista has any more details. Finally, Maggie exhales the breath she’s been unknowingly holding and thanks Trista for all of this new information. They disconnect and Maggie waits on the side of the road a little longer to regain her composure.

  She doesn’t want to continue on to the casino. She has nothing on Jean Spellman that’s more recent than three years, and why would she wait that long to get her revenge? But Drew is waiting for her there and Maggie doesn’t know where Vern might be to answer some questions. She pulls back out onto the road and drives the rest of the way to the casino.

  Inside, Maggie remembers why she never gambles. The lights, stuffy air and sounds are enough to overwhelm her instantly. She stops to compose herself and a hand touches her elbow.

  “Not your usual stomping ground?” Drew asks.

  Maggie turns and sees his smiling face. “Not even close,” she responds. “Let’s find Jean and get out of here.”

  Drew laughs and leads her toward one of the many clusters of slot machines. “I already found her.”

  “Did you talk to her?” Maggie asks. She really wants to get out of here and tell him about Vern. Maggie is sure he should be their new focus.

  Drew shakes his head. “I was waiting for you. That’s her.” He points to a blond woman so engrossed in the slot machine in front of her that she has no idea Maggie and Drew are talking about her.

  “She knows you?” Maggie asks. She’s forming a plan in her head.

  “Yes. What are you thinking?”

  “I’m thinking of making small talk and finding out where she was on Friday around noon. If she’s been here for the last few days, maybe she was here when Felicity was killed too and we can definitively cross her off our list.”

  Drew nods. “Okay. I’ll get out of your way.”

  Maggie watches him walk to another slot machine and sit down with a perfect view of Jean. Maggie turns and walks toward the blond woman. She sits next to her and inserts her credit card. Jean barely glances in her direction but Maggie can tell she hasn’t slept in days. Her eyes are bloodshot and there are dark circles around them.

  Maggie takes advantage of the quick look. “You come here often?” Maggie asks and pulls the lever.

  Jean grunts her answer and nods.

  “I never do,” Maggie tells her. “I never gamble.”

  “Then why are you here now?” Jean asks. Her tone is unfriendly. Maggie suspects that casinos are not the place for idle small talk with strangers.

  Maggie shrugs. “I’m always up to try new things and I was in Silver Springs for the long weekend.”

  Jean nods and her shoulders relax. Maggie can see that her presence is no longer making Jean anxious. “You have to be careful having your credit card in there. The money goes fast. Unless you win.”

  Maggie notices that Jean also has her credit card inserted into her machine. They both pull their levers. “This was quite the weekend to be in Silver Springs,” Maggie says.

  “Oh yeah? Why’s that?” Jean asks, not taking her eyes off her machine and pulling the lever again.

  “How often is someone murdered here?”

  This grabs Jean’s attention and she turns toward Maggie. “Someone was murdered?” The surprise in her voice is genuine and Maggie is sure this i
s the first she’s hearing about Felicity’s death.

  Maggie nods. “Felicity Myers. She was only—”

  “What did you say her name was?” Jean asks, interrupting Maggie.

  “Felicity Myers. You know her?”

  Jean’s face pales and the circles around her eyes darken. She nods. “She’s my neighbor. What happened? When? It was that crazy husband of hers, wasn’t it?”

  Maggie’s head tilts to one side. “Your neighbor? Sorry to hear that. Why would her husband want her dead?” Jean has played right into Maggie’s plan.

  “He’s been sleeping with her sister. Everybody knows it. Felicity just chose to ignore it.”

  “Wow.” Maggie has to fake her surprise but she hopes it’s not noticeable.

  “When was she killed? I haven’t been home since Friday morning and I waved to her when she left home for work. I came here right after she left.” Jean’s face is expressionless.

  “Friday around noon.”

  “Oh my . . .”

  There is no doubt in Maggie’s mind that Jean is telling the truth and had nothing to do with Felicity’s murder. But hearing from Felicity’s neighbor that everyone knew about Vern’s affair is another mark against Vern.

  “I’ve got to go,” Jean says, pulling her credit card from her slot machine and standing abruptly.

  Maggie watches her walk toward the front door before she pulls her own card out and walks to Drew’s slot machine.

  “What was that about? You just let her leave?” Drew asks.

  “She’s innocent. She had no idea about the murder. Her reactions were genuine.”

  “If you say so.” Drew pulls the lever one more time and then they get up to leave.

  They walk back through the chaos of the casino and outside. Maggie breathes a sigh of relief and has to shield her eyes from the bright sun after the artificial lighting inside.

  Drew walks with Maggie to her car. “What now?” he asks before she gets in.

  “We have to find Vern. I think he’s guilty.”