JOIN MAGGIE AND NAT AS THEY RETURN TO THE BUSTLING CITY OF VANCOUVER AND EMBARK ON A COMPELLING NEW CASE.. . .
From Death on a Short Leash . . .
SANDRA OWENS NERVOUSLY pushed her lank brown hair away from her face. “I don’t think I can help you very much,” she said, peering short-sightedly at Maggie through her thick glasses.
“But you are Johanna’s friend?”
“Well, kind of.” She reached for her cup of coffee. “Sometimes she asked me to go to the movies with her . . .” Her eyes misted over. “We went to see The King and I. Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr. Did you see it? Wasn’t it marvellous?”
“Yes. I saw it a couple of years ago. About Johanna . . . ”
“Well . . . it was a Saturday afternoon,” the girl continued, hitching her chair closer to Maggie. “We saw the show and then Johanna suggested we go have tea at the White Spot.”
“Yes?” Maggie encouraged.
“We were eating our cream puffs when she told me that she was going to Abbotsford the following Saturday.”
“Who did she know in Abbotsford?”
Sandra put her cup down and leaned across the table conspiratorially. “She said that she was going to see some dogs there. It was someplace that had a really weird name. Something about a light.”
“A light?”
“Something about a circle of light. Have you heard of anything like that?”
Maggie shook her head. “Did she say why she was going there?”
“No. Just that she needed to see this place.”
“And did she get in touch with you afterwards?”
“No. That was the last time I saw her.”
“How long have you known Johanna?”
“We were in high school together. Then her parents moved up the coast someplace . . . Gibsons, I think it is . . . but Johanna stayed in the city to take some courses at the vocational school for looking after animals. So we lost touch.”
“Easy to do,” Maggie commented. “So what did you do after you left school?”
“Me? Oh, my dad got me my job in Eaton’s. You can just imagine the surprise Johanna gave me when she walked into my department about six months ago.” She leaned toward Maggie to add in a whisper, “To buy a push-up bra!” Then she sat back in her chair. “We’ve seen each other a few times since.” Then she added as an afterthought, “I do hope you find her.”
“If you hear from her,” Maggie said, picking up the tab, “please call me at this number.” And she handed over one of the agency’s cards. “I’ve written my home phone number on the back.” Then, gathering up her purse, she asked, “Have you ever met Johanna’s boyfriend, Hans?”
“No. Didn’t know she had one.”
“Do you have a boyfriend?” Maggie asked brightly.
Sandra nodded, a faint blush rising up her thin neck. “Desmond. He’s in menswear.”
• • •
NAT WAS ACTUALLY quite nervous around small dogs and cats—he tolerated Emily because she belonged to Maggie—so he was rather glad when he opened the door to the waiting room of Richmond Little Pets Hospital and found it devoid of pets, except for a black rabbit clutched in the arms of a small freckledfaced boy. A short man sporting a neat black goatee and dressed in an immaculate white coat stood behind the counter. “Dr. Williams?” Nat asked.
“Be with you in a minute,” the man answered before turning back to the child. “Get your mother to give the rabbit these pills. Instructions are on the bottle.” The boy nodded and began trying to stuff the squirming animal back into its cardboard box.
“Here,” Nat said, “let me help.” The animal put up quite a struggle, but eventually it was subdued and in the box, and with Nat holding the lid on firmly, the boy quickly tied it up with a piece of string.
“Thanks, mister,” the boy said, making for the door.
“Tell your mother she now owes me ten dollars, and don’t bring that animal back here without it,” Williams called out angrily. “And if the pills don’t work, eat the damn thing.” The boy gave the vet a terrified look and ran out the door. “It’s like getting blood out of a stone to get those people to pay up,” the doctor muttered before turning to Nat. “Now what can I do for you?”
“Nat Southby. My assistant phoned. About Johanna.”
The doctor turned away without replying.
“I’d like to ask you a few questions,” Nat persisted. “Is there somewhere we can talk in private?”
“I suppose you’d better come into my office,” the man replied grudgingly. “This better not take long—I only take a half-hour lunch break.”
Nat took in the man’s appearance. Roman nose, brown hair and eyes, the snowy-white lab coat making a perfect setting for the man’s bronzed-tanned face. Looks as if he’s just returned from the Riviera, Nat thought, not a little envious, and he’s probably only in his thirties. “When was the last time you saw Johanna?” Nat asked, before they were even seated.
“A couple of weeks now. I had to get temporary help.” He scowled as he munched on a sandwich while pouring himself a cup of coffee from a Thermos on his desk. He did not offer Nat any. “You know what they’re like.” Nat nodded. He’d been that route several times before Maggie came into his life. “I had to get rid of her,” Williams continued, “and hire another full-time assistant.”
“How did Johanna seem when you last saw her?”
“Same as usual.”
“She didn’t seem worried about anything?”
“I’m a vet. Not a bloody psychiatrist. How the hell would I know if she was worried about something?”
“Did you meet any of her friends? Her boyfriend, for instance?”
“I run this hospital on a strictly professional basis. What she did after hours was her business.” The man stood up. “Sorry I’m not much help.” There was no sorrow in his voice.
As he got up, Nat reached into his pocket and handed over one of his business cards. “Perhaps you’d give me a call if you hear from her.”
Williams nodded and threw the card onto the desk. “I’ll see you out.”
GWENDOLYN SOUTHIN was born in Essex, England and launched her career after moving to the Sunshine Coast of Canada. She co-founded The Festival of the Written Arts and the region’s writer-in-residence program. She co-edited The Great Canadian Cookbook with Betty Keller and her short stories and articles have appeared in Maturity, Pioneer News and Sparks from the Forge. She lives and writes in Sechelt, British Columbia.
Stay tuned for more adventures in the Margaret Spencer series which currently includes: Death in a Family Way, In the Shadow of Death, Death on a Short Leash, and Death as a Last Resort.
“The flow is smooth, the action well-paced.”
—Quill & Quire
“A good puzzle plot and an engaging character to carry it along.”
—Globe and Mail
“[Margaret] has her way with the reader . . . you want to find out how she’s going to make out as a detective (she seems better at it than the professionals).”
—The Vancouver Sun
“Satisfies throughout. Fascinating story.”
—Sunstream Magazine
“Margaret Spencer is a smart and feisty woman to whom people open up. Original.”
—The Saskatoon Star Phoenix
DISCOVER MORE GREAT MYSTERIES LIKE THE ONES HERE AT OUR WEBSITE, TOUCHWOODEDITIONS.COM
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Never Sleep with a Suspect on Gabriola Island
Always Kiss the Corpse on Whidbey Island
Never Hug a Mugger on Quadra Island
THE MARGARET SPENCER MYSTERY SERIES BY GWENDOLYN SOUTHIN
Death in a Family Way
In the Shadow of Death
Death on a Short Leash
Death as a Last Resort
THE SILAS SEAWEED MYSTERY SERIES BY STANLEY EVANS
Seaweed on the Street
Seaweed on Ice
Seaweed Under Water
Seaweed on the Rocks
Seaweed in the Soup
Copyright © 2008 Gwendolyn Southin
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Originally published by TouchWood Editions Ltd. in 2008 with ISBN 978-1-894898-71-3.
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Prologue
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
An Excerpt from Maggie's Next Adventure
About the Author
Other Mystery Titles from TouchWood Editions
Copyright
In the Shadow of Death Page 22