Leighann Dobbs - Mystic Notch 01 - Ghostly Paws (11 page)

Barry laughed. “I guess Felicity needs to find clever ways to get at the Bates money. She always was kind of strange. Come to think of it Carson’s kind of strange, too.”

I nodded in agreement, looking around the room. “You’re not missing anything?”

Barry glanced around, looked at the silver on the table and in the box. “Nope, everything is here. Now that I think about it, I’m sure no one came … my memory’s just a little screwed up. Anyway, I have that box of books for you over here.” Barry retrieved a cardboard banana box from the pantry.
 

I noticed he was steady on his feet and my worry for him started to subside as I peeked into the box, eager to check out the books. An old leather-bound was on the top and my stomach flitted with excitement as I pulled it out.
 

Barry frowned at the book, then looked into the box. “That’s strange. I’m sure I put the leather-bound on the bottom. I wanted to surprise you with the best book last.”

“Oh?” I frowned, only half-hearing him, my attention riveted on the beautifully preserved book. My fingers caressed the soft leather as I carefully opened the front to look at the publishing information. The musty smell of old paper hit my nose and I closed my eyes to breathe it in. I loved that smell.

Barry pressed his lips together as he thumbed through the books. “Maybe I don’t remember, though. I might have switched them around. I’m not remembering correctly because of passing out.”

I set the book aside and looked into the box, pulling out some of the books and stacking them on the table.
 

“Is there anything good in there?” Barry asked.

I tapped the leather-bound. “This one is pretty good. It’s not a first edition, but I could probably get a couple hundred for it.”

“Good. I want to repay you for those silver nut dishes, so I hope there’s something else good in there.”

I picked some more books out of the box. “There are some great children’s books here and a few classics that are always popular. I’ll have to do some research to see if there are any rare editions, but I’d say I’ll make a pretty penny. What do I owe you?”

Barry waved his hand in the air. “Forget about it. I only paid a couple of bucks at a yard sale.”

“You sure? I took the buck from you for the silver dishes.”

Barry laughed. “You can buy me a coffee next time we see each other at an auction.”

“Deal.” I pushed up from the table and grabbed the box, hefting it onto my hip. “I hope you’re really feeling okay.”

 
“Don’t worry, I’m feeling fine.” Barry wrestled the box away from me. “Let me take this to your car for you.”

I followed Barry to the front door. Pandora was fervently sniffing the threshold and she looked up at me. “Meow.”

“Yes, we’re going now,” I said.

I could have sworn she made a face. “Meeeooow.”

“What is with your cat?” Barry asked.

“I have no idea. She’s probably cranky because she misses her soft cat bed.” We crossed the threshold and Pandora gave me what seemed like an exasperated look before following us to the Jeep.

I took the box and loaded it in the back. Pandora hopped up on the tailgate and made her way to the passenger seat. “Well, thanks for picking these up. If you see any more, feel free to grab them. I’m woefully low on stock.”

“Will do. You do the same for me. Anything silver at a reasonable price.”

“Okay.” I hopped into the Jeep and started it up while Barry made his way back into the house.

I drove toward town, feeling uneasy. Finding Barry lying on the floor had unnerved me. Pandora put a comforting paw on my thigh and I felt my heart surge. Could it be I was really getting attached to the fur ball?

“Doesn’t it seem odd that a healthy young guy like Barry would pass out for no reason?” I said out loud, then realized no one was in the car except me and Pandora.
 

“Mew.” Pandora nodded her head.

“But, if someone was there, surely Barry would remember. And if they hit him to knock him out, surely he’d feel the lump on his head, wouldn’t he?”

I snuck a look at Pandora, but she merely gave me a blank stare

“And why would someone knock him out? It didn’t seem like anything was taken. All his silver was there and the books were all in the box, although he did think the leather book had been moved.”

“Mew.”

“But, who would do that?” My mind drifted back to the truck I’d seen racing down the hill. Bing’s truck.

“Probably just coincidence, right?” I turned to Pandora.
 

“Meow.”

“I guess it’s a mystery,” I said to Pandora. “Probably has nothing to do with Lavinia’s murder, though, and that’s what I need to focus on today.”

Pandora let out a string of meow’s and, for a second, I thought it sounded like “
you never know
.”
 

I shut my mouth and focused on the road. Not only was I getting into the bad habit of talking to my cat, but now I thought she was actually answering me. I really did need to get a social life.

Chapter Sixteen

I parked in the small parking lot behind my store since I had the box of books to lug inside. I went in through the back and dropped off the books. When I finally got to the front, I could see Cordelia, Hattie and Josiah waiting outside with coffee mugs in their hands. I rushed to open the door for them.

“I was wondering if you were going to make it today.” Josiah handed me a Styrofoam cup and I practically swooned with gratitude. The happenings out at Barry’s had made me late for my morning caffeine fix.

“Sorry,” I said in-between sips. “I had to pick up a box of books this morning and it took me longer than I expected.”

“Oh, that’s no problem,” Cordelia twittered. I noticed she and Hattie were dressed in matching polyester pantsuits—Hattie’s in lemon yellow and Cordelia’s in lime green. They wore the same exact lemon and lime colored blouses underneath the jackets.
 

“Well, don’t you ladies look nice,” I said.

“Thanks,” Cordelia answered for both of them. “Lavinia’s funeral is today, you know.”

“Yes, I’m going,” I said, my attention captured by a light, misty swirl coming from the end of the biography row. Was it Lavinia listening in again?
 

“I imagine most of the town will turn out,” Josiah said. “Everyone knew her from the library.”

“Where’s Bing?” I asked, suddenly realizing he was missing.

“Oh, he called this morning,” Josiah answered. “Said he didn’t feel good this morning and not to worry about him if he didn’t show up.”

I frowned at my coffee. He sure looked okay when I saw him rushing down the road. Then again, maybe he was rushing to the doctor’s office.
 

“Did you find out any more about those bronzes?” Hattie asked.

“No. You?”

She shook her head. “Some of the old-timers remember them being donated, but no one knew they were valuable.”

I caught a glimpse of Pandora trotting over to the biography row and watched her swat at the mist out of the corner of my eye.

“I was going to close up early today and check them out at the library before I headed out to Lavinia’s funeral,” I said.

“Good idea.” Hattie nodded. “I’m sure the police must be looking at them by now.”

“We don’t even know if the police know about them.” Cordelia turned to me. “Did you mention them to Augusta?”

I shook my head.
 

“Not yet.” I’d been too busy snooping around in Ophelia’s house.

“Well, you probably have work to do seeing as it’s a short day, and I have to get home and start getting spiffed up for the funeral.” Josiah started toward the door.

“Come on, sister. We need to get some tea over at Pepper’s and then take a little nap before we go to Lavinia’s service.” Cordelia grabbed Hattie’s elbow and they followed Josiah to the door.
 

Josiah opened it and gestured for the ladies to precede him. They stepped through, then turned back to me. “See you there, Willa.”

I nodded and waved, then the three of them spilled out onto the street and the door shut, leaving me alone in the store. Well, alone as far as earthly inhabitants go, that is.
 

The swirling mist at the end of the biography row glided toward me, slowly forming into the shape of Lavinia. “So, you’re going to my funeral?”

“Of course. The killer might be there. Maybe I can pick her out.”

“Her?”

“My money is on Ophelia, although I have to admit I still can’t figure out her motive.”

“Oh yes, you found that blue cape. I remember that cape, now that you mention it. She used to wear that out a lot with Pete.” Lavinia leaned in toward me. “Haven’t seen her wear it since he died.”

“So? You’re not trying to tell me she wouldn’t have been wearing it, are you?”
 

Lavinia shrugged. “I just think you might have blinders on here. Maybe you should consider some other suspects.”

“I don’t
have
any other suspects.”
 

“Because you haven’t been looking. It’s never good to focus on one thing. Besides, my feeling is there may be more to this than meets the eye.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Maybe there are other forces at work.”

“Other forces?” I scrunched up my face at her. Now she was starting to sound like Elspeth.

“Oh bother,” Lavinia waved her hand in the air, making a swirly trail of misty goo that hung suspended for a few seconds before falling to the ground and evaporating. “What other clues do you have?”

“Well, Ophelia did say she saw a long, dark car speeding away from town that morning.” My leg was starting to throb, so I turned back toward the front of the store where I kept a tube of
Iced Fire
. Lavinia floated along beside me, Pandora at her heels.

“See? Now, that’s a clue you should be looking into.” Lavinia suggested. “And what about the bronzes?”

“You know about those?”
 

“I overheard you talking about them yesterday. I had forgotten all about them until you mentioned them. They’re downstairs, just like you said.”

“How many are there?”
 

“Four. At first we had them on display upstairs, but then people’s tastes changed and Western stuff wasn’t as popular. We moved them downstairs decades ago,” Lavinia said. “Do you think I stumbled across someone trying to steal them and they did me in?”

“Maybe.” I plopped onto the sofa, then pulled up the leg of my jeans and rubbed some
Iced Fire
on my leg. Pandora came over to investigate, sniffed at my leg, yowled and ran to the back of the store.
 

Lavinia laughed. “That
is
a rather potent smell.”

“Yeah, but it works wonders.”
 

Two misty figures materialized before us—Franklin Pierce and Robert Frost—and they were both holding their noses.

“Iced fire? Will the world end in fire or ice?
 
I know not, but either way I hope it doesn’t smell like
that
,” Frost said, pointing down at the tube.

Pierce and Lavinia burst out laughing at the poetry reference. I didn’t think it was so funny. Did I really smell that bad?

“I heard you talking about bronzes, and I do say some are quite valuable.” Franklin Pierce looked at us importantly. “In fact, I could boast that there were a few bronze busts made of me in my day.”

“That’s right,” Lavinia said. “We have one in the library.”

“I’ve had one or two made of me as well,” Frost said, not to be outdone. “In fact, mine was so valuable it was stolen from its spot at Wichita State University some years back.”

Pierce narrowed his ghostly eyes at Frost. “I heard that was a drunken prank.”

Frost shrugged. “Whatever. Anyway, I dare say the scoundrel that killed Lavinia might have been after those bronzes. Money makes people do strange things.”

Pierce nodded. “On that, I concur.”

“Your theory on the bronzes could be a good one,” Lavinia said. “But I don’t think Ophelia would be breaking into the library to steal them. It’s just not her style.”

I had to admit, Lavinia was right about that. But I
wanted
to continue thinking it was Ophelia. Mostly because I didn’t like her and if the killer turned out to be her then I wouldn’t feel bad. Plus I had some good clues pointing to her and I knew there was a secret between her and Lavinia … that secret might be the true motive.
 

On the other hand, maybe I
had
been ignoring other clues because I’d been so focused on Ophelia. Bing had been acting strangely … did his odd behavior have anything to do with Lavinia’s death? I certainly hoped not. Bing had been almost like a grandfather to me for as long as I could remember. I’d much rather the killer ended up being Ophelia.
 

And what about the weird thing with Barry this morning? It had looked like Bing was driving away from his house. Barry thought someone had been looking in the box of books … but what would books have to do with anything?

I looked up and realized all three ghosts were staring at me expectantly.
 

“I plan to go to the library and see if the bronzes are there before I go to your funeral,” I said to Lavinia.

“That sounds like a good idea,” she replied. “But don’t be so focused on one path that you are blind to the others.”
 

“That’s right.” Robert winked at me. “Sometimes it’s best to take the path less traveled.”
 

“Well, I think we should be off.” Lavinia linked her arms through the two men’s elbows. “Shall we?”

They both nodded and the three of them disappeared, leaving me sitting on the sofa, blinking at nothing.

“Wait.” The word tripped off my lips and fell into the silent room. I had wanted to ask Lavinia about the candles in the church, but she’d disappeared too fast.
 

I waved my hands at the empty space in frustration. I had been so sure the killer was Ophelia, but Lavinia had sprinkled my thoughts with doubt, and now I had to take some of the other clues more seriously.