Free A Mew to a Kill by Leighann Dobbs

Maisie, Brenda Parrish and I voted against her. Opal Winters voted for her—she and Paisley are good friends. Nina Lovejoy didn’t seem like she liked Paisley’s work, but I think she was afraid George might fire her from the real estate office if she didn’t vote his way.”
    Elspeth’s brows tugged together. “Was her work really that bad? I’ve only been in her shop a few times and wasn’t impressed, but then art is subjective.”
    “I hate to say it, but it was bad. It was some collection of photographs she took down on Main Street. They were all blurry and grainy.”
    Elspeth narrowed her eyes. “Is that the collection she had taken from the Founder’s Day parade? The one taken in the window reflections?”
    “Yep. Main Street Reflections, I think she called it.”
    “That’s the one I saw in her studio. I hate to say something bad about an artist but it wasn’t the best art we have here in Mystic Notch. I can see why Maisie was so adamant about her not getting the spot. And I could see why Brenda would be opposed to the pictures themselves.”
    “Because of the fire?”
    Elspeth nodded. “It was just awful. Her sister, Amanda, was such a sweetie and her dying like that to go in and save the kitten…” Elspeth’s voice trailed off, her eyes misting over. If there’s one thing that Elspeth was sentimental about it was cats. She had a whole barn full of them and was a big contributor to helping the population of feral cats we had in the Notch. "To top it all off, the girls were identical twins. Brenda must have that reminder every time she looks in a mirror."
    My heart tugged for Brenda. It must have been awful to lose her sister and her business like that. “At least Brenda seems to have been well compensated. She could have lost everything.”
    “True,” Elspeth said. “Good thing her parents had the good sense to insure that business to the hilt and the girls kept that insurance active. The girls didn’t have the business sense that their parents did.”
    I smiled to myself. Elspeth seemed to have the same view of younger people that a lot of old-timers did. They thought we couldn't do things as well as they could. Maybe in some cases they were right.
    Elspeth’s brows tugged together. “I seem to remember Maisie telling me that someone else was a shoo-in for that spot. Who was that?”
    “Neil Lane. You know, that reclusive artist.”
    “Oh, that’s right. He must’ve been mad to find out Paisley had gotten a spot that he was practically a shoo-in for.”
    I took a sip of tea and thought about that. I didn’t know Neil Lane personally. He was reputed to be reclusive. He lived in the woods and preferred to stay in his cabin and do his art. “Maybe. Hattie said he had a bad temper. But I couldn’t see killing someone over not getting a spot in an art show.”
    “Probably not, but if he wasn’t in the art show, then he wouldn’t be eligible for the twenty thousand dollar grand prize and that might be enough to kill over.”
    “Maybe. I’ve heard of people killing for less.” I mentally moved Neil Lane up on the suspect list.
    Elspeth broke off a little piece of cookie and nibbled on it. “It still seems pretty thin, though. Maybe the fire and her death aren’t even related to the art show. Is there someone else who would have benefited from her death?”
    “Striker said she had a brother, but they didn’t know how to find him. I guess if she had a brother, he would inherit everything. But I don’t think she had anything of value, so I doubt that would’ve been a motive for murder. Unless he had a grudge against Paisley, or there was some big family secret that he killed her over.” I chomped down on my cookie with a sigh. “Anyway, we don’t know how to find him so that’s not an angle I can pursue.”
    Elspeth brightened. “Paisley’s brother? Oh, I know how to find him. He’s right here in town. I think you can find him over at St. Vincent’s homeless