Free A Charming Crime by Tonya Kappes Page B

tore it in half, and offered it to her. The duck jumped out of the kid
swimming pool and waddled over.
    “Are you
kidding?” She took a bite, inhaled, and closed her eyes. Exactly how they made
me feel. She pinched a piece off and gave it to the duck. “This is delicious.
But back to Ann. She always made her presence known.”
    Petunia went
about her chores of feeding several of the animals, taking time to talk to each
one. They seemed to understand her with their responses of purrs, barks,
tweets, and nibbles. A long-haired mutt followed her around. He had a long
scarf covering his head and a couple different strands of pearls around his
neck. Each longer than the other.
    I pointed to him
and shrugged. “Does he belong on your leash?”
    “Oh no, Elory was
a crystal ball spiritualist in a previous life,” she whispered with the back of
her hand covering her mouth. “He refuses to live without his clothes. You think
that’s bad, you should’ve known him when he was alive. He wore at least ten
necklaces at once.”
    I smiled, not
sure how to respond to these animals. She talked to them like they were
two-footed humans.
    “Now go on.”
Petunia finally shooed the bees away. Quickly, they flew through the store and disappeared
through the door she had emerged from. She sat down and used the brush to comb
through the Siamese cat’s tail.
    I wished I had
another Ding Dong to give her in case she needed a bribe. I made a mental note
to pick up an extra box at the store.
    I sat down next
to her and picked up the extra brush near her knee. Several dogs ran over to
and formed a line. The Great Dane was first in line. Gently, I ran the brush
down his back and over his back paws. Petunia brushed a few more before she
seemed to remember I was there.
    “Poor Ann. No
one deserves to die. At least she doesn’t have to deal with allergies anymore.”
She motioned for the next animal in line. The hedgehog. With every brush, it
shivered and shook, until it finally curled up and rolled away. “It would be a
shame to be allergic to honey.”
    “She was allergic
to honey?” I wondered if Oscar noticed anything funny on the autopsy. Or who
does the autopsies around here? “Patience and Constance does the autopsies,
right?”
    “Um. . .hmmm.” She
finished brushing the last animal. Mr. Prince Charming. “He is a very sweet
cat.”
    I almost asked
her to read his fortune or see if he was someone in another life, but I didn’t
want to be disappointed. I loved him just the way he was.
    “Do you think
that Constance would give me the low-down on Ann’s autopsy?” I needed more answers.
Petunia wasn’t being very forthcoming.
    “Patience. Ask
Patience when Constance isn’t around.” Petunia’s hazel eyes had specs of gold
that seemed to glow when she concentrated on something. She stared at me
intently. “Patience knows everything going on around here.”
    Petunia picked a
weed next to her leg. She was in her own little world as she crawled around the
grassy floor leaving little piles of crab grass along the way. A goat trotted
behind her gobbling them up.
    Mr. Prince
Charming and I left and walked next door to A Dose of Darla. It was time to see
what was behind the old wooden door. I had the feeling I was unlocking my past.
    When I flipped
on the light, my eyes had to be deceiving me. My heart leapt up in my throat,
and made my lips turn up into the biggest smile. I hadn’t been this giddy since
Mr. Prince Charming showed up with my turtle charm.
    Carefully, I ran
my hands along the tops of the items as I danced to the front of the store.
Darla was all about presentation, and I knew she wouldn’t disappoint.
    The front room
where all the hard work of Darla was on display was filled with all sorts of
glass bottles of different shapes and sizes.
    Lamps were
scattered throughout the shop on small tables. Each lamp shade was very
ornamental and no two were alike.. I vaguely remember playing with the strands
of beads that