Free The Ghost and Mrs. Mewer (A Paws and Claws Mystery Book 2) by Krista Davis

reception area.
    Zelda had shed the dark glasses. She crooked her finger at me and shuttled me over to the tiny inn gift shop. “Officer Dave is here,” she whispered. “They’re going to think I killed Mallory!”
    Chill bumps rose on my arms. Oh no. Not Zelda! “What happened?”
    “I’m in so much trouble. I don’t remember a lot about last night, but I’m pretty sure I said some choice threatening things to Mallory.” She must have seen the horror in my eyes because she hastened to add, “Well, she was being a real pest. Felix invited me to go to Hair of the Dog with the Apparition Apprehenders. We were having a great time”—a wisp of a smile crossed her mouth—“I think Felix really likes me, and then a couple hours later, Mallory waltzed in and acted like she owned Felix. I’d had a couple of drinks by then, and my tongue might have been a little bit loosened up.”
    I relaxed. “Oh, Zelda. That was stupid.”
    “Hey, I didn’t know someone was going to kill her! The cops must suspect us. Why else would Dave be here to see Felix?” Her eyes darted wildly about the room.
    “You think Felix is a suspect?”
    “He walked us home,” she said glumly.
    “Us?”
    “Felix and Mallory dropped me off at my house first, and then Felix walked her over to Mark’s place.”
    “Zelda.” I wrapped a reassuring arm around her. “Then you have nothing to worry about. Even if someone did kill Mallory, you have an alibi. Felix!” Of course, he had a serious problem, but I didn’t mention that. “It’s not as though you were the last person to be with her.”
    Her top lip slid inward, and she chewed on it. “Yeah, you would think so, wouldn’t you? Except I was snockered and didn’t trust her, so I might have just happened to sneak out and follow them.”
    “Zelda!”
    “Well, it seemed logical at the time. If they were, you know, sleeping together, I didn’t want to be chasing him.”
    “Did he stay at Mark’s?”
    “No. He kissed her on the cheek and left.” She turned huge eyes toward me. “But I didn’t kill her.” Her hand shook when she briefly covered her mouth.
    “Of course you didn’t. Where did you go?”
    “Home.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “But I can’t prove it.”
    “Maybe you won’t need to.” I hugged her and tried to be upbeat, but I was worried for her.
    Zelda went back to work.
    I collected my purse and a set of master keys, snapped a leash on Trixie’s collar as a precaution, and walked along the pedestrian zone. I stopped by the front porch and asked Gingersnap if she wanted to come with us. She was far too busy kissing two little girls who were giggling and hugging her.
    The merchants had outdone themselves with Howloween decorations. In addition to pumpkins and cornstalks, they had added cute Halloween signs like
Watch Out for Flying Bats
and
Black Cat Society Meeting Here
. Store windows featured witches, ghosts, and ghastly goblins. Animatronic skeletons at Pawsitively Decadent stopped their dance and seemed to peer at us! Trixie yelped in alarm and backed away.
    I located Shutter Dogs just around a corner on a side street. The hardware store must have been a home once. It was painted a fresh gray with white trim. The merchandise had overflowed to the sidewalk, including colorful wagons that looked like toys but were clearly useful around Wagtail. The front door was set back between two glass showcase windows. A ghost holding a pitchfork ogled customers on one side, while a zombie with a chainsaw glared out of the other.
    I found someone who could duplicate the keys and shopped around while he replicated them. Upstairs I discovered an amazing assortment of cat, dog, and horse hooks and drawer pulls that forced me to dawdle and admire. I made note of the lamps that featured all sorts of creatures, like ceramic bunnies and bronze horses, thinking I would have to stop by again when I had actually unpacked and found that I needed a lamp.
    To my complete