The Ghost and Mrs. Mewer (A Paws and Claws Mystery Book 2) (28 page)

Oma patted my arm. “She will learn soon.”

Not soon enough.

Brian sat near us, and Trixie would not leave him alone. She kept trying to bury her nose in his pocket.

“I’m so sorry.” I tugged her away and told her to sit.

She did. For two minutes. And then she went back to Brian’s pocket. She placed her paws on the edge of his chair and wriggled her nose into the pocket opening. By that time, everyone was laughing.

“What have you got in there, Brian?” asked Felix. “Dog treats to snack on?”

Brian lifted his hands. “I don’t know what she wants.”

Trixie was obsessive.

I latched the leash on her and picked her up. But this time, she had what she wanted—the black cat toy she had found near the bonfire. “Where did you get this? I’ve been looking all over for one.”

“I brought it with me. It’s my good luck charm.”

With dread, I lifted my eyes to meet Brian’s. “Hasn’t been very lucky for you, has it?

“Sure it has.”

“You lost it.” It was a statement, not a question.

“Yeah. And I found it out on the porch. Must have dropped it there.”

He might have found it there, but I knew good and well that wasn’t where he lost it. “You
did
see Mallory the night she died.”

His face flushed as red as the raspberry jam on the table. “What are you talking about?”

Maybe I was overstepping. He could have lost it at the bonfire without knowing it. Or he could have returned to the bonfire later, maybe with a stick he wanted to burn. “It was you who started the fire again.”

“You’re out of your mind. Are you in love with Grayson too, and now you want to get him off the hook by blaming me?”

“You burned the stick to get rid of the evidence. Grayson didn’t kill Mallory. You did. And you tried to pin it on Eva. How could we be so blind? That was the real reason for the handbag and the jewelry in Eva’s room. You didn’t even hide it well, because you wanted it found. You were trying to pin the murder on Eva.”

Eva’s coffee mug landed on the table with a thunk. “Nooo,” she breathed.

“Brian, what have you done?” cried Felix.

Brian glanced around furtively, as if in search of an escape route. He jumped up and dodged through the tables with Dave in hot pursuit.

Sensing excitement, GloryB, Trixie, and Casper ran toward Brian, who stumbled and fell over the dogs.

Dave caught up to Brian, latched handcuffs on his wrists, and helped him to his feet.

Felix walked over to his friend. “Aw, Brian. What happened?”

Brian swallowed hard. “Mallory said she was coming to my room that night and that I should watch for her and let her in. I stupidly thought she was finally interested in me. But she never showed.” He glared at Eva. “As soon as I saw Eva here, I knew this was my chance to get back at her. To make her change her mind about the existence of ghosts. For once, I wanted the upper hand. I wanted to discredit her. After I tricked Eva with the light, I walked over to the Wagtail Springs Hotel to see if I could find any ghosts, and there was Becca Wraith. Man, was I excited. Except it turned out to be Mallory. She was really nice to me and invited me to dangle my feet in the water with her. But then she tried to talk me into helping her murder Eva by bludgeoning her with a stick.”

He looked down at his hands and his voice sounded almost like a little boy’s. “She had my good luck cat and my
I’d rather be ghost hunting
cap. She must have taken them when we were at the bar. And I realized that she planned to pin Eva’s murder on me. I know I’m not always the brightest guy, but this time I saw through her. That was why she wanted me to open the door for her. She didn’t like me or want anything to do with me. She just wanted to be rid of Eva and have me take the blame.”

Brian’s demeanor changed. His eyes blazed. It reminded me of the way he acted the night Mrs. Mewer jumped on his shoulder. The amiable guy was gone.

“I wasn’t going to take the rap for Mallory. I hate Eva. Man, I hate her. It was tempting to imagine her dead. But I knew what would happen. Mallory would pin Eva’s murder on me. She was only being nice to me to manipulate me. No one ever cares about me. Mallory thought I was just a big tubby dummy. Well, I’m not! I showed her!”

He stopped shouting. The room was completely silent. He scanned our faces. “So I used Mallory’s death as a reason to get rid of Eva. After all, they had a history. I borrowed Mallory’s purse and necklace and planted them on Eva. If she was in jail, she wouldn’t be mean to me anymore.”

He looked at me. “How did you know?”

“Trixie found your good luck cat at the bonfire and carried it back to the hotel. I thought it was a dog toy.”

“I must have dropped it when I threw the stick on the fire.”

“So Doc wasn’t lying about that.”

Lillian grasped Grayson’s arm. “Mallory was still alive! That proves Grayson didn’t kill her.”

Grayson’s shoulders relaxed. “Holly, I’m so sorry that Doc attacked you last night. He was convinced that I had killed Mallory and wanted to protect me.”

“Why did you try to conjure Mallory’s ghost with the Ouija board? If you really believe in ghosts, weren’t you afraid she might reveal your involvement?” I asked.

Brian’s face contorted. “Why does everything think I’m so stupid? I was going to make sure it spelled out Eva’s name!”

“Brian, did you attack Clementine?” asked Dave.

Brian took a deep breath. “I heard she could identify the killer.”

“Let’s go.” Dave crooked a finger at Brian.

Brian gazed down at Trixie. “Two more hours and I would have been out of here, and no one would have ever known.”

Grayson swung Trixie into his arms and Lillian fussed over her, promising to buy her the biggest dog treat she could find.

Trixie wagged her tail, thrilled with all the attention.

“I guess word will soon be out about your relationship,” said Eva.

Lillian squared her shoulders. “It’s just as well. I could never have stood on pride to Grayson’s detriment.” She smiled at him. “And now we won’t have to sneak around.”

I couldn’t help thinking how different Becca’s life would have been if her father had valued her more than his own self-importance.

*   *   *

At mid-morning, Eva stopped by the office. “I thought I’d go over to the hotel for a few minutes. Would you and Twinkletoes like to come with Mrs. Mewer and me?”

“Sure. On one condition. Would you mind if we took a golf cart? My feet are sore, and I’m a little bruised from Doc slamming me to the floor last night.”

“Of course. That must have been awful!”

Trixie and Gingersnap joined us on our outing. This time I didn’t latch leashes onto them. They hopped into the golf cart, and we were off.

When we arrived at the Wagtail Springs Hotel, Clementine and Parker stood outside. Clementine’s sons were chasing each other, but her daughter looked as though she might burst into tears.

“What are you doing down here?” I asked.

“Now that Brian is indisposed, I’m feeling a lot safer. Parker invited the kids for ice-cream cones to cheer up Emily.”

“What’s wrong with Emily?” I asked.

“We lost Lassie a few days ago.”

“Lassie! Emily, I have Lassie. I forgot all about him. Wait here.”

I handed Twinkletoes’s leash to Eva and walked back to the golf cart as fast as I could. Did I have the right golf cart? I peeked into the storage bag. And there it was—the bag containing Lassie.

I grabbed it, hurried back, and handed it to Emily.

She looked inside and screamed. Emily pulled Lassie out of the bag and hugged her. “Look, Mommy!”

“I see!” said Clementine.

“She dropped him the day I was trying to help you lose Parker. I’m so sorry. I forgot all about Lassie.”

“Thanks a lot.” Parker might have said it with a snarky tone, but he grinned. “Tell her what happened, Clemmie.”

“Someone called this morning about leasing the hotel. It’s like a miracle. After all this time with no one interested, a call came out of the blue. And Lillian Elsworth wants to rent the store!”

“The curse has been broken.”

We turned around to see Felix and Casper.

“Come on, Felix. You know that’s nonsense,” scoffed Eva.

“No, really. I saw the letter you found, Holly. Hiram said the Wraiths would never know true love, and they would lose their money.
Misfortune and misery shall be the lot of the Wraiths until the day the truth be known.
”
He looked at Clementine. “Are you a Wraith?”

Her eyes grew large. “I don’t believe this. My father is a descendant of Becca’s brother’s daughter. That’s why Dad bought the hotel. He felt like it belonged in the family.”

“It’s all coincidence.” Eva chuckled. “There’s no such thing as a curse.”

Felix wobbled his head to the side. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that, Eva. Facts are facts. Brian’s black cat didn’t bring him luck, but in a way, Brian might have saved your life.”

It was good to hear them bantering again. I sucked in the clear mountain air. It was just about here that Eva had said
two can play this game
. Mallory and Brian had been playing games, trying to pin things on other people, and look what came of it.

Clementine’s boys zoomed around us with their arms outstretched, buzzing like bees, but I suspected they were supposed to be airplanes. Odd little balls like the one Trixie had found at the hotel were stuck to their foreheads. They zeroed in on Trixie, chasing her.

Emily scolded them, but when they persisted, she dropped Lassie and ran after them.

“What are those things on their heads?” I asked.

“Kids’ toys. They stick to each other and make all kinds of shapes.”

One of the boys tried to stick one on Trixie. She grabbed it in her mouth and ran from him. He chased her in a huge circle, and his brother and sister joined in.

Trixie sped by us, the children in hot pursuit, shouting, “I’m gonna get you. I’m gonna get you!”

Eva shrieked, “The ghost children! No wonder the recording was so clear.”

I gasped as things came together in my mind. “You were in the hotel the night the ghost hunters were investigating.”

“I thought we would be safer there. I was so absorbed in my own problems that I’d forgotten all about the ghost hunters. I shuttled the kids into the room that locks. The one where the snakes killed Hiram? I locked the door and rattled one of the kids’ toys when they tried the doorknob.”

“That explains the ghostly rattle.” Felix sighed. “Bummer. I guess those were your footsteps we heard, too?”

“Probably. I’m sorry if we ruined your investigation.”

Emily screamed. “Lassie!”

Gingersnap and Casper had hold of Lassie and played tug with the ancient stuffed dog. Trixie sprang to join them, leaping up to grab one of poor Lassie’s paws.

I ran to them. “Drop! Drop!”

They didn’t care what I said. None of the dogs wanted to give up the toy. I seized hold of Lassie and asked, “Who wants a treat? Sit!”

All three dogs sat like it was a magic trick. I rewarded each of them with a treat.

“I’m so sorry, Emily. Will you let me take Lassie to the vet for stitches?”

She nodded somberly and reached for her dog.

I handed the dog to her.

She cocked her head. “Mommy, Lassie has rocks in her tummy.”

We peered over Emily’s shoulder as she pulled a small bag out of Lassie.

Clementine took it from her, opened the drawstring, and shook sparkling diamonds into her hand. Her eyes opened wide. “I don’t believe it! Thank goodness all this nonsense will come to an end. I’m going to make sure the press is there when I turn these babies over to the feds. I want photographic evidence in all the newspapers so the diamond hunters will leave us alone.”

Parker smacked his forehead and moaned. “Your ex said he hid them in something you would never give away. How could I have been so stupid?”

“He was a complete louse but he called this one right. I could never have parted with Lassie. I guess he had this done when he took Lassie to be re-stuffed.” Clementine burst into a fit of giggles. “The ghost diamonds were with us the whole time.”

Except for all those nights they spent in the golf cart. But I thought I’d better not mention that.

Parker raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t even think about it.” Clementine quickly reinserted the diamonds and closed the bag. “Could I leave these in the vault at the inn until the feds can pick them up?”

“Absolutely.”

“We’ll talk over ice cream,” said Parker.

“I’m not as easy as my children.”

“Tell me about it, Clemmie.”

Clementine handed me the bag. “Would you mind? I don’t trust anyone who calls me Clemmie.”

I whispered, “You seem awfully chummy with Parker.”

Clementine smiled. “Maybe the curse
has
been broken. We’ll see how it turns out.” She called the children, and the five of them strolled away.

“How about you, Felix? Any future for you and Zelda?”

Felix blushed. “I don’t know yet. Zelda says there’s a community college over on Snowball Mountain. Maybe I could get a job there. If they’re not all taken by Mark and Eva.”

“At this point,” said Eva, “all I know is that I want a spring wedding at the Sugar Maple Inn.”

“That’s great!” I hugged Eva. “It will be so much fun. And Mrs. Mewer can come back and see Twinkletoes again. I’m sorry, Felix,” I said. “It must be disappointing to learn that the sounds weren’t from ghosts. I guess the old hotel isn’t haunted after all.”

“Are you sure?” whispered Felix. He aimed his phone’s camera at the hotel. “Look. The Ghost and Mrs. Mewer see them.”

Casper, the ghost dog, and Mrs. Mewer were staring up at the second-floor balcony of the hotel, exactly where I had walked in the Becca Wraith costume. Two woman in filmy white gowns looked out at us. One wore a wreath of black roses in her long white hair. I thought I recognized a softer, gentler Mallory next to her.

Eva murmured, “Becca and Mallory!”

Trixie barked at them, and they were gone.

One of my dogs suffered from severe food allergies that did not allow him to eat commercial dog food. Consequently, I learned to cook for my dogs and have done so for many years. Consult your veterinarian if you want to switch your dog over to home-cooked food. It’s not as difficult as one might think. Keep in mind that, like children, dogs need a balanced diet, not just a hamburger. Any changes to your dog’s diet should be made gradually so your dog’s stomach can adjust.

Chocolate, alcohol, caffeine, fatty foods, grapes, raisins, macadamia nuts, onions and garlic, salt, xylitol, and unbaked dough can be toxic to dogs. For more information about foods your dog should not eat, consult the Pet Poison Helpline, at petpoisonhelpline.com/pet-owners.