Ten

Sky wasn’t fast enough to outrun the determined black and gray dog. When the dog caught up to her and jumped playfully, Sky ducked behind a nearby hedge.

“Atticus! Atticus!” A young blonde woman ran toward us. “Have you seen a little dog run by?”

Nessie pointed in the wrong direction. “He was chasing a rabbit and went that way.”

“Thanks!” The woman kept running.

“I’d have known Sky’s daughter anywhere,” whispered Nessie. “She’s not as thin as her mom, but otherwise she looks just like her.” She lowered her voice further and whispered, “Right down to the scruffy hair in dire need of conditioner.”

Sky peeped over the hedge. “Psst. Here, hold on to Atticus and call her back.”

“Honey? Maddie? We found Atticus!” called Nessie.

I grabbed Atticus and snapped the leash onto his collar. Sky crouched behind the hedge again.

Maddie returned, panting. “Thank you so much!” She swapped her leash for mine and handed it to me. “Oh, Atticus,” she cooed, “you’ll get lost if you run off like that. And that would make me very, very sad.” She picked him up and held him close. “He’s usually so well behaved. I don’t know what came over him.”

“I’m glad we were able to catch him.” Nessie was right. Up close, the resemblance to Sky was remarkable.

Maddie stopped fussing over Atticus and studied Nessie. “Do I know you?”

Nessie held out her hand. “I don’t believe so. I’m Nessie Jamieson, and this is Holly Miller.”

Maddie eyed us. She maintained a pleasant expression but asked, “Then how did you know my name?”

Nessie’s smile faded fast. “The tag on Atticus’s collar.”

“I see. Well, thanks again for catching him for me.” Maddie walked away, glancing back at us a few times.

“That was close! How stupid of me to have called her by her name.” Nessie sighed with relief.

Sky joined us again. “I don’t think I have the nerves to be a spy. I should have realized that Atticus would give me away. I need a strong cup of coffee.”

We all returned to the dining area. Nessie and Sky opted for a table outside on the patio overlooking the lake. I made a beeline to Oma, who sat at a table with Officer Dave.

I scooted into a chair without asking if I could join them, hoping Oma and Dave would be less likely to shoo me away if I simply sat down.

Oma’s floral dress in happy shades of pink and yellow contrasted with her worried face.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

Oma frowned. “Dave says the egg and avocado toast is delicious.”

She’d sidestepped my question, and I didn’t like that at all.

Dave glanced at her. “I’ve been hearing about avocado toast. It’s supposed to be very healthy, and it tastes better than I expected.” He took a swig of coffee and started to say something else but stopped when Shelley came along with coffee for me.

A proper breakfast was one of the many luxuries of living in an inn. No more hurried yogurt or dry toast on the run. Not to mention the bliss of not having to sit in traffic for an hour to get to work.

“Avocado toast special?” asked Shelley.

“Yes. Thanks, Shelley.” Buttercup placed her front paws on the edge of my seat as though she didn’t want me to forget her. “Is there a dog version?”

“They weren’t excited about it, but dogs love it now that we swapped the avocado out for chicken livers,” she said.

Trixie yelped and danced in a circle. “Sounds perfect. For Huey and Gingersnap too, please. Have you seen Twinkletoes and her friend, Marmalade?”

“Oh, sure. Twinkletoes brought him by for breakfast. I gave them Loverly Liver, which is a fancy way of saying chicken livers and chicken. Last I saw of them, they were out on the terrace lounging in the sun.”

What had happened to Marmalade’s mom? She had probably been out late partying and was still catching up on beauty sleep.

As soon as Shelley left, I demanded, “What’s the big secret?”

“It’s not really a secret. We just don’t want this getting around town,” Dave said. “I like Shelley a lot, but, you know, she sees and talks with a lot of people.”

In other words, Shelley was a gossip. “So what’s up?”

“We think Gustav must have been mugged, because his wallet and money are missing,” Dave said. “If it hadn’t been for the letter from your grandmother, we wouldn’t even know his identity. He was probably on his way over to the Alley Cat and someone was lying in wait. You know how poor the lighting is there.”

I looked at Oma. “Why would that have to be such a big secret?”

“I am not the one who wishes this.” Her lips drew thin in annoyance.

After I’d joined Oma as her partner at the Sugar Maple Inn, she had run for mayor and won. I was happy for her, but it meant that all of tiny Wagtail’s problems were her problems, too. And to some extent, my problems, since she expected me to help her.

“We’re going to bring undercover cops over from Snowball to patrol there for the next few nights in the hope of catching our killer. Obviously, if word got out about that, the killer wouldn’t lurk around in the Shire.”

“You really think he’d go back to the same place?” I asked. “Seems kind of stupid to me. I’d be glad I got away with it once and wouldn’t try again.”

Dave almost smiled. “Criminals usually don’t think these things through. If they did, they wouldn’t commit a crime in the first place.”

I shrugged. “Maybe. Have you notified Gustav’s family?”

Oma placed her palm flat against her cheek. “All we have are his mail and e-mail addresses. I know that he has a daughter named Trudy and a son called Michael. But that doesn’t help much.”

“I’ll be contacting the police in Tucson, where he lives. Lived,” Dave corrected himself. “They can probably help us track down his next of kin.”

Shelley arrived with breakfast for Trixie, Huey, Gingersnap, and me.

Dave thanked Oma for breakfast and excused himself.

I hated seeing my grandmother so down. “Oma, we’ve been through these kinds of things before. Dave will get to the bottom of it.”

Oma shook her head in dismay. “Another murder in Wagtail. And it was someone who was supposed to be a guest of the inn. This is very bad.”

“I’m sure Dave will catch him.”

Oma changed the subject and got down to business while I savored the creaminess of the avocado, which went surprisingly well with the soft egg yolk. “I have a meeting this morning,” she said. “You can take care of everything here and fill in for Zelda when she goes to lunch?”

“Absolutely. Is this a mayoral-type meeting, or are you participating in one of Macon’s events?”

Oma didn’t laugh. “Please. Of course it is about Wagtail.”

“Oma, what’s wrong?” I stopped eating and looked her in the eyes.

She averted her gaze. “You like this John Adele?”

“I don’t really know him very well. So far our relationship consists of finding a dead man together.”

“Lesser things have helped couples bond. And he is better than the Ben. Where is the Ben?”

“Probably still in bed. Did you hear about the dogs getting into the food?”

My description of the pantry raid in the middle of the night had her in stitches. I was glad to see a smile return to her face.

“I can only think that Ben didn’t close the door properly. Otherwise I can’t imagine how they managed to get out.”

“But this does not explain the presence of the other dogs, like my Gingersnap.”

“It’s a mystery!”

Oma seemed more like herself when she headed off to her meeting.

But I was disturbed because so many doors had been opened during the night. Almost as though someone had gained access to the master key. Ben stumbled down the stairs and joined me. He’d visited often enough that Shelley came over to say hi and bring him coffee.

After she left with his order, I told him about the dogs escaping, and concluded with, “So one of us must not have closed the door properly.”

Ben grimaced. “You’re so passive-aggressive. Just come out and say I didn’t shut the door. I admit that I came in a little late, and I might have had—”

“May I join you?” I hadn’t noticed Laura Pisani, Marmalade’s mom.

“Yes, of course.” I started to introduce her to Ben, but she interrupted me.

“We’ve met. We had the best time last night.”

I was stunned to see Ben blush. He actually ran his hands through his hair like he was primping for her. I wouldn’t have admitted it to him, but it did feel a little odd to see my former boyfriend interested in another woman. Still, as they carried on, laughing about something like old friends, I was genuinely happy for him. Laura was very attractive. Maybe she even had a slightly nerdy side.

I finished my tea, handed Huey over to Ben, and found I was smiling as I set off on my morning walk-through of the inn to make sure everything was in order.

I began in the main lobby, which bustled with Animal Attraction participants, then made my way to the small library. One lone woman was curled up in the window seat with her cat, reading a book. The library connected to the cats-only wing, where the rooms were outfitted with screened porches, a real tree to climb, and a catwalk near the ceiling that ran around each room. I picked up an umbrella that someone had dropped and continued upstairs. I couldn’t help noticing quite a few Do Not Disturb signs. A lot of guests must have been up late the night before.

I walked through the second floor, pausing briefly at the grand staircase to gaze down at the lobby. Still busy. I kept going to the other end, where Oma’s apartment was. The hallway ended at a balcony that overlooked the reception lobby. I trotted down the stairs to the desk where Zelda worked and placed the umbrella in our lost and found box.

“Did you meet an interesting guy last night?” I asked.

“I don’t think I’m the only person in Wagtail with a hangover this morning,” she groaned. “Macon matched me up through Live Love Meow. I brought my cat Leo along for our meeting because everyone loves him. My guy, Axel, turned out to be adorable. He had the most open, friendly face and sweet blue eyes that just melted my heart the minute I looked into them. But my good-for-nothing ex-husband, Hank, showed up at the bar of the restaurant. So then, of course, I acted like a complete idiot, trying to avoid being seen by him.”

“Did you tell your date what was going on?”

“In spite of my best efforts, Hank spotted me and had the nerve to pull a chair up to our table. Naturally, he was a total jerk and made it sound like we were still together! Holly, it was a nightmare. And even worse, Hank made some thinly veiled threats! So I tricked him into going to the bar for more drinks, grabbed the cats, and told my date we were on the run.”

Uh-oh. “I hope you paid your check?”

“Luckily, our waitress was a friend of mine. She knew all about Hank and could see what was happening, so she said, ‘Go, go, go!’ After that the date was very romantic. I’m seeing him again when I get off work.”

“How are you going to dodge your ex?”

“I wish he didn’t know where I live. That creep came around and banged on my door in the middle of the night. Good thing I changed the locks when I got rid of him. I didn’t let him in, of course, but I didn’t get much sleep knowing he was hanging around out there. I even saw him looking where we used to keep a spare key! Today I’ve outsmarted him. I rented a boat and ordered a picnic! The only way Hank is going to be able to bug us is if he swims out to the boat.” Zelda cackled with glee.

“Are you taking your cats?”

“You bet! Well, not all of them. Only Leo. The inn chef is making them Something Fishy, which is Leo’s favorite.”

I retreated to the office to take care of some paperwork. Sunshine streamed through the open French doors. Twinkletoes sat on the desk trying to open a drawer, and Marmalade assisted her from the desk chair.

“What are you two doing?” I asked. “There are no treats or catnip in there.”

That information didn’t stop them. Marmalade managed to pull the drawer open slightly. From above, Twinkletoes immediately jammed her paw into the drawer and felt around.

I was so amused that I watched to see what she would find. She dragged out a plastic bag of catnip with her claw, seized it in her mouth, and jumped off the desk.

“I stand corrected.” I dashed after her to rescue the catnip.

Marmalade and Twinkletoes followed me back to the desk, desperately trying to snag their catnip booty again. I put it back in the drawer and located two catnip-filled mice for them to play with. Thrilled, they seized their toys and ventured outside into the sun. I could see them rolling on their backs with the mice clutched in their front paws.

Trixie settled near me. I tried to concentrate, but my thoughts kept turning to Gustav and the abrupt end to his life.

An hour later, Zelda showed Laura into the office. Apparently, they had met the night before too, because they were carrying on about how much fun they’d had.

“Marmalade!” cried Laura. She ran to the terrace, scooped him up in her arms, and carried him inside, holding him like a baby. “Thank you so much, Holly. I saw him briefly this morning, but then my little sweetie took off again. I was worried sick about him yesterday until I received your text.”

“And then we sang ‘Don’t Go Breakin’ My Heart’!” Zelda laughed.

“I’ve never sung karaoke before,” said Laura. “It was a blast.”

I could hear Marmalade purring in her arms.

“Thanks again for letting him spend the night, Holly. We’re on our way to a cat store. Marmalade has never been shopping before. Then Marmalade and I have a lunch date!”

Zelda walked out of the office with Laura, still gabbing about the previous night.

I spent the next couple of hours catching up on paperwork.

At eleven, Zelda popped her head in. “Mind if I take lunch now? I’m leaving at three.”

“Sure. Perfect timing. Seems like things are pretty quiet.”

Zelda sat down in the chair opposite me. “Holly? I’ve been debating whether to tell you this, but I think maybe you should know.”

I tensed. Had she seen the killer? Was Zelda in the Shire last night?

“I met Laura at Hair of the Dog last night. She was with Ben.”

I stared at her for a moment, waiting for the bad news, then laughed aloud when I realized she was done. “That’s fine. I’m glad Ben met somebody nice. I was afraid you knew something about the murder.”

“Murder?” she screeched.

I told her about finding Gustav and warned her to be careful.

Zelda took off, shaken by the news. Minutes later, I heard the sliding glass doors to the reception lobby slide open. Trixie jumped to her feet and ran out to see who it was before I had left the office.

An older gentleman walked in. He carried himself quite erect but shuffled a tad and relied on a walking stick that was covered with medallions. I was familiar with them. Many of our hiking guests had similar walking sticks with badges marking the places they had visited in Europe.

“Good morning!” I said.

“Good morning. I should like to check in,” he said with a pronounced German accent. “I have a reservation under Gustav Vogel.”