Free Leighann Dobbs - Mystic Notch 02 - A Spirited Tail by Leighann Dobbs Page B

Van Dorn’s.
    I made it in to the bookstore early so I could get a jump-start on inventorying some new books.  Ranger listlessly sniffed the purple sofa and chairs, then curled up in a corner.  He seemed incredibly tired and still a little depressed, but I took solace in the fact that he’d eaten a little bit of the food in his bowl and had at least sniffed the furniture—maybe he was starting to feel better.  
    I slipped behind the counter and Pandora jumped up on it, taking an unusual interest in the blue and white stoneware mug that held my pens and pencils. She sniffed the sides, then stuck her face into the middle, pushed the pens aside and sniffed some more. Finally, she looked straight at me, shot her paw out and pushed the mug off the counter.  It smashed to the floor in a clatter of ceramic shards, pens and pencils.
    “Pandora!” I leaned over the counter to see pens rolling every which way. 
    Pandora calmly jumped down from the counter, padded over to her cat bed in the windowsill and curled up. 
    What the heck had gotten into her? I wondered if it was her way of protesting Ranger’s presence. Funny, though, she didn’t seem to mind him … she hadn’t really hissed at him or anything. It actually seemed like they were getting along and I could have sworn they exchanged a look right after she pushed the mug off. That was probably my overactive imagination. I was pretty sure dogs and cats didn’t exchange ‘looks’.
    Whatever the reason, I noticed they were both fast asleep before I finished picking up the mess. Both of them seemed to be unusually tired today. I resumed my activities behind the counter and was engrossed in adding up my sales for the week when the regulars came in.
    “Morning, Willa.” Bing slid a Styrofoam cup across the counter toward me. “Have you been back to Van Dorn’s?”
    “I went back last night.” I raised the coffee cup up.  “Thanks for the coffee.”
    “And?” Bing’s left brow ticked up a notch.
    “I didn’t find any journals.” I considered telling him about the letters but that didn’t seem right. The more I thought about it, the more I realized those letters were personal to Charles. He’d hidden them for a reason and it wasn’t for me to be blabbing it all around town.
    “Did you meet the nephew?” Hattie asked from where she was perched on the edge of the purple sofa.
    “Yes. He was ransacking the kitchen for stuff to sell on eBay.”
    “I saw an old ashtray from the Van Dorn estate going for over two hundred dollars this morning!” Cordelia said.
    “Really? Why so much?” Bing asked.
    “Well, it’s a big deal, what with the curse and all.” Hattie sipped her tea. “And, of course, that nephew is taking full advantage. He’s even providing a letter of provenance and everything.”
    “If you ask me, it’s all in poor taste.” Cordelia pursed her lips.
    “Some people will do anything for money,” Josiah said. “I’m surprised the police are letting him in there like that, since it’s the scene of a murder.”
    “Oh, I have a lead on that, too.” Cordelia’s blue eyes sparkled. She loved having information she could enlighten the rest of us with.
    “Do tell,” I prompted.
    “It seems Bruce got into a fight with some stranger at the Mystic Cafe the night before he was murdered.”
    “Stranger?” I leaned my elbows on the counter. “Do you think it could have been the nephew, Steve Van Dorn?”
    Cordelia shrugged. “I don’t know. Myrna didn’t know who he was, but she said Bruce saw him writing something in a notebook and he got all mad and started yelling.”
    “That was probably due to his dementia. People with dementia act all funny and unpredictable.” Hattie turned to Cordelia. “Remember how Daddy used to act toward the end?”
    “You don’t think this person would have killed Bruce because of that, do you?” Bing asked.
    Hattie and Cordelia scrunched up their faces in thought.
    “That hardly seems likely,”