Silver Springs Cozy: Pawsitively Lethal Part 2

"Oh good, youre going to talk to her. I hope shes doing . . . as well as she can be after last night. And what happened at File and Style that made your blood boil?"

Maggie flicks her wrist, trying to make the whole experience disappear from her memory. "These young women were gossiping about Clara. They were saying some really nasty things about her. You just dont do that in a small town. I mean, you dont do that anywhere, but what were they thinking? Of course someone would overhear them who knew Ginger Rae." Maggies heart starts pounding again in anger.

Clem reaches across the small table separating them and rests her hand on top of Maggies. "Its not on you to make sure no one speaks badly about Clara. Or Ginger Rae."

"I know, I know. I gave them a piece of my mind though. Told them how inconsiderate they were being."

Clem chuckles and picks up her tea again. Maggie smells the fruitiness as the mug moves through the air from the table to Clems lips. "Im sure you did," she says with a smile before taking a sip.

Maggie wants to ask what that is supposed to mean but lets it go because a telephone ringing interrupts their conversation.

"I think we both know who thats for," Clem says, giving Maggie a pointed look.

Maggie stands and walks quickly to the red English phone booth near the front of the store. She lets herself inside and picks up the ringing phone.

"h.e.l.lo?" she asks.

"I hear you can help me," the voice on the other end of the line says.

"Clara?" Maggie asks, wanting to make sure shes talking to the right . . . ghost. Shes still not used to this phenomenon.

"Of course. Who else would it be?"

Maggie wonders why every ghost shes spoken to on this phone is so impatient with her questions. Its not every day she talks to the other side.

"Right. Yes, Id like to find out what happened last night," Maggie says.

"Well, I didnt kill myself like some people probably think. Sure, my life wasnt that great, but I came to my aunts house to turn it around. I really was ready to make changes this time."

Maggie decides to ask a question to which she doesnt expect a helpful answer. "So what happened?"

"You tell me." Claras remark is quick and biting.

"Itd make it easier if you can tell me anything you remember about what happened. And anyone who might have . . . held a grudge."

"You mean anyone who wanted me dead." Clara is right but it sounds so much harsher than how Maggie phrased it. Maggie doesnt respond and Clara continues. "Well, I was about to take a shower. Aunt Ginger Rae had invited me to join your birthday party-sorry it was ruined-but I thought Id make myself a little more presentable first. So I went to my dresser to get some clothes to bring with me to the bathroom and the next thing I knew, there was a gun to my head."

"Did the perpetrator say anything?" Maggie asks.

"Perpetrator? How about we tell it like it is. The killer. And no, I dont remember hearing them say anything."

"How long before they shot you?"

"Just long enough for me to scream. Why would I scream if I killed myself?"

Maggie smiles. Clara has more going on in her head than those girls who spoke ill of her at the salon. "I thought the same thing. Is there anyone you can think of who would have done this to you?" Maggie asks, getting Clara back on track.

Theres a pause on the phone before Clara says, "I dont think anyone would actually want me dead, but I didnt exactly get along with everyone I met."

"How so?"

"Well, theres my ex-husband Stewart Cole. Find me a divorced couple who does get along," Clara says snidely.

"Fair enough," Maggie agrees.

"And my adoptive parents, we didnt exactly see eye to eye."

So far none of this information is new to Maggie. "What about your birth parents, were you in touch with them?"

"Only my birth mother, Jessie. She found me about ten years ago and wanted to rekindle the relationship we didnt have but it didnt go well."

"Why not?"

Maggie is met with only silence.

"When was the last time you saw her?" Maggie tries again.

Maggie can almost hear Clara tap her chin as she thinks. "Six months ago maybe. Before this last trip to rehab."

"Any indication that things had gotten worse?" Maggie is sure her time is limited with Clara and wants as much information as possible.

"Nope. Sorry. Thats not helpful. Maybe next time I can offer you more."

"Next time?" Maggie asks as the line goes dead. She hangs up, coming away with no more information than Detective Stevens and Ginger Rae gave her as leads to follow.

She walks back to Clem who is still enjoying her tea with no customers in the store. "Clara?" Clem asks, looking up from her smart phone.

"Yeah."

"Helpful?"

"Not really. I have the first name of her birth mother, but everything else she told me just corroborates what Ginger Rae shared with me about Clara last night."

"Well thats something," Clem says optimistically.

Maggie smiles and picks up her handbag from next to the antique chair. "Im heading over to see Ginger Rae early. Ill let you get back to work."

Clem laughs. "Yeah, because Im so busy right now."

As if on cue, the front door opens and a group of six adults, immersed in conversation, walks through the door. Maggie smiles at her sister and heads back out to Main Street and to her car.

CHAPTER 6.

Opals whiskers twitch as her cat reflexes kick into high gear. Shes having a hard time keeping up with the long haired gray cat in front of her.

"Where are we going, Misty?" Opal pants between breaths.

"Its just up here," Misty replies without looking back at Opal, or sounding out of breath. Opal hopes 'up here means nearby.

Opal is sure theyve been running as fast as they can-or at least as fast as she can. She hopes shes not slowing Misty down or sh.e.l.l hear about it later. Opal is used to leisurely days with plenty of napping and minimal running. Some days, the most movement she allows herself is to sprint after a bird that dares come within range.

But today is different. She was summoned early this morning by her cat friend Luna yowling outside her window, before Maggie had even opened her escape route through the bathroom.

Together, Opal and Luna returned to the abandoned house where a group of a dozen cats-excluding Opal who doesnt visit as often-meet regularly and their leader, Jester, informed them that another murder had taken place in Silver Springs the night before. Another murder at one of the homes the cats had been keeping surveillance on for decades.

Completely of out character for Opal, she had spoken up at the meeting. "Why do we care about these people?" shed asked, and immediately regretted it. Jesters glare was penetrating and Opal wanted to disappear.

"It was at the home of Ginger Rae, a friend of Maggies. I believe Maggie is important to you." His eyes started to clear and his voice returned from the low growl. "But more than that, she has in her possession another one of the keys used to unlock time travel."

Opal has been told about these keys and their powers in the past but thought it was all a bunch of make believe. She pressed on and asked, "Why do we care about time travel?"

Jester jumped down from the chair he was perched on and landed right in front of Opal. His eyes never blinked and Opal tried her best to match his stare. "There are humans who want to use the powers for good, and there are others who want to use it for themselves." He paused to let that sink in. "As the story goes, pa.s.sed down from our ancestors, there was once a time travel episode that went bad. Maggies parents, Eleanor and Charles, used the powers only for good. They saved lives. But the last time they traveled, someone got wind of what they were capable of and duplicated the keys."

Jester paused and Opal asked, "But what about that trinket on my collar? Wouldnt they need that too?"

"They made a copy of it. No one knows how. But it was faulty. It worked for a while and the people using it did terrible things. They used time travel to their advantage to win power and wealth. They changed the course of history and brought corruption to places it should never have been. Now theyre looking for all of the original pieces because their copies arent functioning and our fear is that they wont stop searching until theyre all found. Then theyll be the only ones capable of time travel and will use the secret for world domination. Were keeping tabs on the location of all of the keys and the final trinket on your collar and waiting for the perfect opportunity to destroy everything. Thats the only way to keep the world safe."

Jester walked off, abruptly ending any further questions Opal had.

To Opals relief, Misty stops running and crawls under a bush where Opal happily follows. Misty is barely breathing hard but its a few moments before Opal can form a sentence.

"This . . . is the . . . house . . . were looking for?" she huffs and puffs, embarra.s.sed that she sounds like a dog whos been chasing a ball. Its demeaning.

"Just through there." Misty doesnt take her green eyes off the house through the bushes. Its white with two levels.

"Who lives here?" Opals breathing is returning to normal.

"Winona. But were here to make sure Ginger Rae still has her key. The murder was at Ginger Raes house last night and we think whoever killed her niece was actually after Ginger Raes key."

"How will we know if she has it?" Opal asks, her breathing returning to normal.

"She wears it all the time."

As Opal and Misty lie hidden in the bush, Opal hears a familiar sounding car on the opposite side of the house. Shes been fooled before, but shes almost positive that her human, Maggie, has just arrived. Her car is quieter than most others and can easily be missed by the untrained ear. Misty makes no indication that shes heard the car.

Opal creeps out of the bush and around the side of the house, keeping low to the ground and out of sight in the dense bushes.

"Where are you going?" Misty hisses, suddenly beside Opal again.

"I think someone just got here and I want to see who it is."

Misty emits a low growl but backs off, returning to the safety of the bush. Opal continues on and sees Maggie enter the house just before the front door closes. She keeps moving forward and sees the car she knows will be parked out front, the one that brought her to Silver Springs. But there are other cars she doesnt recognize.

CHAPTER 7.

Maggie parks at Winonas house and checks the time before turning off her Prius. Shes an hour early for her lunch with Ginger Rae but the conversation in the red phone booth at Two Sisters with Claras ghost has Maggie wanting to keep working on this murder right away. She grabs her bag off the pa.s.senger seat and walks to the front door.

Theres a long pause after Maggie knocks and she briefly wonders if the cars in the driveway dont mean that someone is home. Just as she raises her hand to knock a second time, Winona opens the door.

"Maggie, we werent expecting you for another hour," the older woman says cheerfully.

"Sorry. Should I come back later?" Maggie asks self consciously as she hesitantly walks inside. "I finished things up early and thought Id see if Ginger Rae was around now."

"No, no. Dont go anywhere. Were just sitting down to another cup of tea with Karl Jacobs, have you met him?" Maggie shakes her head. "Thats surprising. Hes covered all of the previous murders for the Silver Times. I cant believe he didnt get a statement from you when you were helping Erline and Jeff last month."

Maggie is surprised too. "I guess I wasnt the person he wanted to talk to." Maggie continues following Winona toward the living room where she hears laughter coming from multiple mouths.

Conversation stops when Maggie and Winona enter, but Maggie can see that Ginger Rae was belly laughing from the redness of her face. "You must be Maggie," the only man in the room says, standing and offering his hand to shake.

Maggie accepts and asks, "Karl Jacobs?"

"The one and only. In Silver Springs at least." This elicits more laughter that Maggie can barely join in on. She was looking forward to talking to Ginger Rae alone and now she has to at least pretend to want to make polite conversation with a reporter. At least Ginger Rae appears to be calmer and happier than last night.

"Can I get you some tea?" Winona asks. Maggie sees a kettle and boxes of tea bags on the coffee table, but the only mugs she can find in the room are already in hands and are full.

Maggie hesitates. She doesnt want to waste her time with idle chit chat but she also doesnt want to be rude. "Sure," she finally says, settling into an empty chair that she hopes isnt Winonas.

Winona leaves the room briefly and Karl launches into a lively story about a recent event he covered. "You heard about the to-do at The Dancing Donkey?" His attention is focused completely on Ginger Rae and she nods, sipping her tea. Karls hands wave in the air as he continues. "Well, Delilah swears it wasnt her tea that caused the food poisoning, and to prove it, she drank a whole gallon of it."

Ginger Rae gasps and her hand flies to her mouth. "You havent written the follow-up. I think the whole town is wondering if The Dancing Donkey will be shut down."

Maggie hasnt kept up on her reading of the Silver Times so this is the first shes hearing about the tea leaf readers business troubles.

"I havent yet, but its coming. So dont spread this." Karl points his finger at Ginger Rae and Maggie, then at Winona as she enters with an empty mug and more hot water.

"Dont look at me," Winona says in her defense. "I wasnt even in the room."

Karls eyes narrow in a teasing squint. "I know you women; youre always listening to every word anyone says around you."

Winona and Ginger Raes eyes meet and they exchange a knowing smile.

"So what happed to Delilah?" Ginger Rae asks. "She was invited to Maggie and Clems party last night but she was a no show before all of the . . . drama." Her voice trails off at the end, losing the carefree sound its held since Maggie walked in.