A Mew to a Kill by Leighann Dobbs Read Free Book Online

looking. “Help yourself. They’re apple and cinnamon, a new recipe I’m trying out.”
    I tried to be polite, taking the scone and balancing it casually on one of the pink scallop-edged napkins that Pepper had provided, instead of scarfing it down right away. Then I realized Pepper knew me better than that and I gave into my hunger and shoved half of it in my mouth. I was starving. The flavors of vanilla, apple and cinnamon melded together on my tongue. A little moan might have escaped my lips.
    Pepper laughed. “Is it good?”
    “Umm-hmm...” I mumbled around another bite.
    “I can’t wait until you try this tea. It’s a special new blend.” She shoved a pink and green flowered cup toward me.
    I eyed the tea suspiciously. Pepper fancied that she had a way with teas. She was always coming up with special concoctions that she claimed could help fix people’s problems. The problem was, her teas often backfired and had the opposite effect. I didn’t really have any problems that needed fixing at the moment, but you never knew what Pepper might have thought I needed.
    She nibbled a tiny piece from the edge of her scone and noticed my hesitation.  
    “Go on. There’s nothing magical about it, it’s just a regular tea. Not all my teas have special properties. Some of them are just for drinking.” She rolled her eyes as if I was being ridiculous to suspect her motives, then she leaned back into the couch. “So, tell me what’s going on over across the street.” She tilted her head towards the photography shop.
    Between finishing up the rest of the scone and drinking the tea, which really was quite good, I filled her in on the whole story, starting with bringing Paisley’s portfolio to the art show judges’ meeting and ending with my recent conversation with Paisley’s ghost.
    Pepper was the only one I’d told about my strange ability to talk to ghosts. I didn’t want people to think I was weird. Luckily, she didn’t think I was weird. In fact, she was fascinated, which was great because I didn’t have anyone else to share that part of my life with and Pepper was always a big help in the investigations that inevitably stemmed from my ghostly experiences.
    “Do you really think it was George?” Pepper’s nose wrinkled when she said his name.
    “He’s my only suspect.” I glanced out the window. “Unless you count Maisie Beardsley.” I’d told Pepper about Maisie’s parting words at the judges’ meeting.
    “Oh, it couldn’t have been Maisie,” Pepper said. “Could it?”
    “I don’t know. Her words weren’t really a threat toward Paisley, they were more a threat about her. At first, I thought it might even be Maisie in there. Like maybe she confronted Paisley and things went bad, but then Paisley’s ghost showed up here and I knew it was her.”  
    I noticed the binoculars I had been searching for earlier were on one of the side tables next to the chair. I grabbed them and went over to the picture window. It looked like the police were finishing up inside the photography store. I raised the binoculars to my eyes to get a better view. “We need to find out how Paisley died. That might give us a better idea of who could have done it.”
    “Right. If she was bludgeoned or something, I guess Maisie wouldn’t have had the strength,” Pepper offered.
    “Exactly.” Through the binoculars, I could see Jimmy Ford giving instructions to one of the CSI technicians. Jimmy had been an ally of mine in a previous case. He wasn’t nearly as stingy with the details of a case as Gus was. “Jimmy’s over there. Maybe he’ll come over after he’s done and give us some information.”
    “That would be great.” Paisley sat back in her chair and straightened her cute-as-a-button purple and green plaid skirt. “Jimmy was one of my favorite transformations.”
    I smiled to myself as I continued watching the store with the binoculars. Jimmy had been an awkward and self-conscious young deputy when we