“Stop and turn,” Tucker, voice firm, barked.
Pirate obeyed.
Mags approached the dogs, barely noticing them, for they stood like statues.
“Now!” Tucker speeded toward Mags’s ankles.
Pirate ran alongside the little dog. Mags paid no attention to either dog. Tucker closed in but Pirate passed Tucker, seeming to pass Mags. Then the giant shot into the air, turned midair, and grabbed the back of her neck, throwing her on the ground. He could have snapped her neck but he did not. He sat on her as Tucker grabbed her right hand, ferociously biting while blood spurted. Mags dropped the gun.
Harry, hearing Fair call to her, stopped, looked back. Susan called also.
Janice now reached Mags, gasping for breath.
“Get this dog off of me. Get Tucker off. She’s tearing me to pieces.”
Fair leaned over, took the gun. Mags’s fingers were gnawed, bloodied.
Susan now reached the prostrate woman.
Harry carefully walked back up as she was below them. “Pirate, enough.”
The big boy dutifully moved off Mags. He went over to lick Harry’s hand as Tucker also returned to stand by his human.
Fair leveled the gun at Mags. Nothing to say.
Janice stood still, shocked. “Are you out of your mind?”
Mags shook her head. “I had to do something. I’d be ruined.”
“You are ruined,” Janice curtly replied. “What were you doing? Were you stealing from all of us?”
Mags didn’t answer.
The fireworks crashed overhead, each series more impressive than the last. Blue light swept the buildings as Sheriff Shaw and a deputy slowly drove to what they now observed.
“Are you all right?” the sheriff, hurrying out of the squad car, asked Harry.
“Thanks to my dogs, yes, I am.”
Fair handed Rick Shaw the gun, handle first.
“She’s under stress. She needs psychological help,” Janice pleaded, trying to help a woman she had trusted.
“Old habits are hard to break. Mrs. Nielsen, get in the back of the squad car, please.”
“No.” Mags resisted, at which point the deputy came behind her, lifted her one arm behind her, way up, which hurt, and pushed her into the car.
Janice began to cry. Susan took her hand.
“Do you want me to send someone to drive you back?” the sheriff asked.
“No, thanks. I’ll walk back with Fair, Susan, Janice, and my dogs. Will settle me down.”
“I’ll get a statement later.”
41
July 5, 2019
Friday
Harry, Fair, Susan, Ned, Mrs. Murphy, Pewter, Tucker, and Pirate sat in Reverend Jones’s office with Cazenovia, Elocution, and Lucy Fur.
Harry and the others felt Reverend Jones should be consulted as soon as Sheriff Shaw informed them they could do so.
The chase made the morning news on TV and in the papers. All wanted to talk to their pastor.
“Mags hasn’t confessed. She was part of a smuggling network to carry illegal liquor across the Mason-Dixon Line.” Ned, who as an elected official could question the sheriff, informed them, “She testified that neither Janice nor their husbands knew anything.”
“This network is well organized, stretching from the mountains of Georgia to Virginia,” Fair added, as he and Ned had spoken. “Millions, Reverend Jones, millions. And millions to Mags for God knows what purpose.”
“How did she think they would get away with it?” Reverend Jones was aghast.
“Mags has gotten caught, but that doesn’t mean the network will be brought to justice,” Ned reminded them. “The kingpins are highly intelligent, can hide behind all manner of buffers, plus they can hire the best lawyers in the country.”
“Will they abandon Mags?” Susan asked.
“Of course,” Fair answered. “The question is, did Mags kill the South African, Pieter, as she knew of the still, or did someone in the syndicate kill him. Chances are he wanted a bigger cut.”
“I don’t know if I would be here if it weren’t for Tucker and Pirate.” Harry praised her dogs.
“If I’d been there, Mags would never have gotten as far as the library. I can smell evil. Oh, yes I can,” Pewter bragged. “And I found the skull at the old still.”
“Dead humans are disgusting.” Elocution grimaced.
“A rib cage and half a skull with a ball cap. Not enough left to be disgusting.” Tucker wearied of Pewter’s blabbing.
Ned predicted, “If Mags will tell everything she knows about the syndicate, maybe she can plea-bargain.”
Reverend Jones, wise in the ways of the world, replied, “If she tells everything she knows, she’ll be killed.”
“It’s odd, isn’t it?” Harry added. “Here we’ve all been focused on the necklace. Our attention was only on that.”
“But who would think about contraband?” Fair asked.
“When the truck was robbed at Bottoms Up, that was a clue. As it turns out, the sheriff’s department and other agencies knew of the network, but they didn’t know how extensive it was or exactly who was in on it. Then they found the still and later Harry produced the piece of the bracelet.” Ned spoke again. “Little things, but they add up. All supplied by Harry.” He praised her again. “There’s a good chance Mags had the beer stolen from her truck, a diversion, if you will. Then again, she could have done it to pocket the money herself. Any way you look at it, Mags is in deep trouble.”
“Given how much we’ve all worked together, including Mags and Janice, we thought we should come to you.” Susan looked to her pastor.
He exhaled deeply. “Thank you. I must say something tomorrow. I can’t pretend this hasn’t happened. I don’t know what my sermon should be, but I won’t hide from it.”
“Greed,” Susan simply stated.
“Never goes out of fashion.” Her husband smiled at her.
“What I can’t believe is that Mags is a Lutheran,” Harry exclaimed.
No one said a word.
Then Pewter purred. “Death by lipstick.”
In Memory of Ruth Dalsky
Brilliant, loyal, and good on a horse
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Without Cindy Chandler many things in my life would be deadly dull. She and her son, Jeffrey Howe, own Windridge Landscaping. Together with Jennifer Huges, certified arborist/estimator, they knocked themselves out researching common plants which can be lethal. Cindy drew up the horseshoe garden, identifying each plant and listing its properties, including germination, flowering, harvest time, berries, even the stems, should they prove dangerous. Not only does Cindy refuse payment, each Christmas she gives me something I can plant in the spring. Often, Jeffrey checks on my site choices, etc. If you live in central Virginia you may have seen their work but not known that landscaping was theirs.
Michael Gellatly, the artist for this series, surprises me. His point of view can make what might be a mundane picture exciting. The illustrations are in black and white but I have seen how he handles color. Michael can do anything.
The late John Holland, ever a ready source of country waters, was always helpful in explaining how this liquid magic is made. It is not hard to do but it is hard to do well. The water off the Blue Ridge mountains is perfect. Over more than a century Virginia men have created incredible liquors, managing to avoid being caught by the feds and therefore being some of the few Americans who actually reap the fruits of their labors. Of course, I am just horrified that they do not pay taxes, just horrified.
Joy Cummings typed the manuscript and did not go blind in the process. My drafts leave a great deal to be desired. I fear I do, too, but I soldier on.
Whoever I have forgotten to thank, cuss me like a dog when you next see me. My notes for some were shredded d
uring feline drama.
Dear Reader,
I did not do it.
the Saint
Dear Reader,
She did, too. She had a snit because our human would not give her dried treats in the shape of little fish. I saw this with my own eyes.
Dear Reader,
I don’t have a dog in this fight.
Dear Reader,
It’s a wonder I don’t lose my mind.
Books by Rita Mae Brown & Sneaky Pie Brown
WISH YOU WERE HERE • REST IN PIECES • MURDER AT MONTICELLO • PAY DIRT • MURDER, SHE MEOWED • MURDER ON THE PROWL • CAT ON THE SCENT • SNEAKY PIE’S COOKBOOK FOR MYSTERY LOVERS • PAWING THROUGH THE PAST • CLAWS AND EFFECT • CATCH AS CAT CAN • THE TAIL OF THE TIP-OFF • WHISKER OF EVIL • CAT’S EYEWITNESS • SOUR PUSS • PUSS ’N CAHOOTS • THE PURRFECT MURDER • SANTA CLAWED • CAT OF THE CENTURY • HISS OF DEATH • THE BIG CAT NAP • SNEAKY PIE FOR PRESIDENT • THE LITTER OF THE LAW • NINE LIVES TO DIE • TAIL GAIT • TALL TAIL • A HISS BEFORE DYING • PROBABLE CLAWS • WHISKERS IN THE DARK • FURMIDABLE FOES
Books by Rita Mae Brown featuring “Sister” Jane Arnold
OUTFOXED • HOTSPUR • FULL CRY • THE HUNT BALL • THE HOUNDS AND THE FURY • THE TELL-TALE HORSE • HOUNDED TO DEATH • FOX TRACKS • LET SLEEPING DOGS LIE • CRAZY LIKE A FOX • HOMEWARD HOUND • SCARLET FEVER
The Mags Rogers Books
MURDER UNLEASHED • A NOSE FOR JUSTICE
Books by Rita Mae Brown
ANIMAL MAGNETISM: MY LIFE WITH CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL • THE HAND THAT CRADLES THE ROCK • SONGS TO A HANDSOME WOMAN • THE PLAIN BROWN RAPPER • RUBYFRUIT JUNGLE • IN HER DAY • SIX OF ONE • SOUTHERN DISCOMFORT • SUDDEN DEATH • HIGH HEARTS • STARTED FROM SCRATCH: A DIFFERENT KIND OF WRITER’S MANUAL • BINGO • VENUS ENVY • DOLLEY: A NOVEL OF DOLLEY MADISON IN LOVE AND WAR • RIDING SHOTGUN • RITA WILL: MEMOIR OF A LITERARY RABBLE-ROUSER • LOOSE LIPS • ALMA MATER • SAND CASTLE • CAKEWALK
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Rita Mae Brown has written many bestsellers and received two Emmy nominations. In addition to the Mrs. Murphy series, she has authored a dog series comprised of A Nose for Justice and Murder Unleashed, and the Sister Jane foxhunting series, among many other acclaimed books. She and Sneaky Pie live with several other rescued animals.
ritamaebrownbooks.com
To inquire about booking Rita Mae Brown for a speaking engagement, please contact the Penguin Random House Speakers Bureau at [email protected].
Sneaky Pie Brown, a tiger cat rescue, has written many mysteries—witness the list at the front of the novel. Having to share credit with the above-named human is a small irritant, but she manages it. Anything is better than typing, which is what “Big Brown” does for the series. Sneaky calls her human that name behind her back after the wonderful Thoroughbred racehorse. As her human is rather small, it brings giggles among the other animals. Sneaky’s main character—Mrs. Murphy, a tiger cat—is a bit sweeter than Miss Pie, who can be caustic.
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