Mystical Murder: A Whiskers and Witches Cozy Mystery, Book 1 (Whiskers and Witches Cozy Mysteries) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Mystical Murder

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Epilogue

  Mystical

  Murder

  A Whiskers and Witches

  Cozy Mystery

  Book One

  By

  Patti Benning

  Copyright 2017 Summer Prescott Books

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication nor any of the information herein may be quoted from, nor reproduced, in any form, including but not limited to: printing, scanning, photocopying or any other printed, digital, or audio formats, without prior express written consent of the copyright holder.

  **This book is a work of fiction. Any similarities to persons, living or dead, places of business, or situations past or present, is completely unintentional.

  Author’s Note: On the next page, you’ll find out how to access all of my books easily, as well as locate books by best-selling author, Summer Prescott. I’d love to hear your thoughts on my books, the storylines, and anything else that you’d like to comment on – reader feedback is very important to me. Please see the following page for my publisher’s contact information. If you’d like to be on her list of “folks to contact” with updates, release and sales notifications, etc…just shoot her an email and let her know. Thanks for reading!

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  Mystical Murder

  A Whiskers and Witches Cozy Mystery Book One

  Chapter One

  * * *

  Tess Quinn stared at the clock on the wall. She drummed her fingers on the tabletop as she mentally counted down the time until she could leave. Only about half an hour longer, as long as nothing went wrong during the last appointment. With kids, it could go either way. She didn’t envy her boss in the slightest. Her boss, dentist Dr. Vanessa Morrow, got bitten by her patients a few times each year. As far as Tess was concerned, even once was one time too many.

  Working as a secretary at Elk Hill Dental Care wasn’t exactly her dream job, but she enjoyed it much more than she had expected she would. Dr. Morrow, or Vanessa as she asked people to call her, was optimistic and easy to get along with, and most of Tess’s coworkers were friendly. They went out for dinner or a drink sometimes on Saturday evenings, after the office had closed for the weekend. The newest dental assistant, a young woman named Ann, wasn’t the easiest to get along with, but all in all it was a good job with good people.

  That didn’t mean that she wasn’t eager for the work day to end. Her feet were killing her—her own fault for wearing her new boots to work before breaking them in—and she still had a lot to do that evening. One of her New Year’s resolutions had been to be more active in the community, so she was a new volunteer for Meals on the Move, a local charity that took dinner to elderly and disabled people around town. Signing up to deliver meals twice a week had seemed like a good idea at the time, but in reality, she was having some trouble getting up enthusiasm for the idea of spending another couple of hours after her day at the dental office driving around after dark.

  “Hey, Tess, the doc’s almost done.”

  Deidre Orson, the other dental assistant, came up and leaned against the counter. Deidre had been working there nearly as long as Tess had. With her dark complexion and her love of bright, flashy clothing, she stood out in the small, northern Wisconsin town of Elk Hill. She had a gift with the kids that Tess could only admire, and had more than once convinced a terrified child that having their teeth cleaned was actually a fun experience.

  “Thanks for letting me know. I’ll pull up their account. Has Vanessa told them we’re raising our prices starting next month for the new year?”

  “Nope.” Deidre grinned at her. “I think she’s leaving that to you.”

  “Great,” Tess said unenthusiastically. Every few years the clinic had to bump up their prices to keep up with the cost of the drugs and equipment. Even though the rise in cost was usually covered by the patient’s insurance, no one liked to hear that they would be paying more.

  “Oh, she also said I should tell you that you can leave early tomorrow if you want. She doesn’t have anyone scheduled past two, and she knows it’s your birthday. She and Ann can take care of any calls that come in.”

  “That’s nice of her. I’ll thank her if I see her before I leave. It’ll give me time to go home and get changed before dinner.”

  “Wear something nice. We’re taking you to a bar after dinner.”

  Tess laughed and shook her head. She knew what Deidre and Jackie had planned, and there was no use in fighting it. The two women were always trying to set her up with someone. She was sure they would “accidentally” run into a male friend at the bar and the two of them would disappear to leave Tess and her blind date to chat over appetizers. They had done it before. She didn’t mind; she had met a few interesting people that way, and had even dated one of the men for a short period of time. They just didn’t understand that she was happy on her own. She would find the right person one day, but there was no rush.

  Half an hour later, she said goodbye to Deidre and Vanessa and walked out of the office, already thinking about what she was going to make for dinner. Tonight was spaghetti and meatballs night for the Meals on the Move program, and she was planning to make a pot big enough to feed her and all three of the houses she was delivering to. It was tempting to pick up a bag of frozen meatballs from the store on her way home, but that didn’t seem to be in keeping with the spirit of the idea of providing home-cooked meals to people in need.

  By the time she pulled into her driveway, her stomach was rumbling and she couldn’t wait to get started. She was an old hand at making spaghetti, but had never tried to make her own meatballs before. There were two pounds of ground beef waiting for her in the fridge, and she had already saved a recipe to her phone. She was a decent cook, but hadn’t often made food for people outside her immediate family. The thought of strangers—or near strangers; she had already gone on a couple of deliveries this year—depending on her entirely for dinner made her nervous. What if she messed up? What if the meatballs weren’t any good? What had she been thinking when she committed to this?

  Tess shut off the engine of her little grey sedan and kicked aside icy chunks of snow as she walked up the path to her front door. The house that she had lived in for the last five years was a small two-story home that had been built in the forties. It was a little bit creaky—especially when the wind picked up—and the furnace had been making some suspicious knocking sounds lately, but it was hers. She shared the two-bedroom house with her pets; a rabbit named Glov
es, and a fat rat named Benedict. Both of them had been unintended additions to her small family. Gloves—so named because his previous owner had threatened to turn him into a pair of winter gloves if he didn’t stop biting—had been a Christmas present gone wrong for one overwhelmed parent at the dental clinic. Tess had volunteered to foster him temporarily until another home could be found. That had been three years ago, and she had long since come to terms with the fact that the rabbit had snuggled his way into her life permanently.

  Last year, while buying food for Gloves, she had discovered Benedict at the pet store. He had been the only black rat in a cage of white feeder rats. When she reached into the cage and he ran up and started to groom her fingers, she had known that there was no way she could leave him to become snake food. He had been young when she got him, and had since nearly doubled in size. Now he spent most of his time sleeping in a hammock in his cage, coming out in the morning for treats and in the evening for playtime.

  It was nice to have the two of them around. The house felt so much less lonely with the rabbit and the rat there. Her small, unconventional pets took up a lot of space in her heart and gave her something to smile about every day.

  Before getting started on dinner, Tess took a detour to visit the rabbit and rat, whose cages were set up in the living room. She gave them each a treat and told them about her day before shutting their cages again. She felt bad that she didn’t have time to take them out as she usually did after work, but she’d try to make it up to them later. Right now, she had a meal to make.

  Chapter Two

  * * *

  Tess hummed to herself as she pulled the ingredients out of the cupboard and fridge and lined them up on the counter. She did enjoy cooking. Maybe this whole Meals on the Move thing wouldn’t be too bad. She just had to get used to her new schedule. Two nights a week wasn’t too much to give up, especially when she was donating her time to a good cause. Especially in winter, it could be hard for some people to get to the store. If the person in question was unable to drive, then getting access to healthy food would be that much more difficult.

  A huge pot of water was on the stove and already beginning to bubble. She checked the clock, then dumped in two full boxes of spaghetti before turning her attention to the meatballs. She opened the package of ground beef and dumped the meat into a large mixing bowl. After washing her hands, she peeked at the recipe on her phone again. Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, salt… it wasn’t anything fancy, but the recipe had good reviews online.

  She was just reaching for the sauce when her cellphone rang. She didn’t recognize the number—the area code certainly wasn’t local. It’s probably the cable company again, she thought. Ever since I dropped them, they’ve been bugging me to pick up their service again. She ignored the call and began mixing the ingredients together in the ground beef. It wasn’t until she had the meatballs on a tray in the oven that she scrubbed her hands clean and checked her voicemail.

  “Hi Tessie, this is your Aunt Loretta. I’m going to be in town for a few days. Would you happen to have a spare bedroom, by chance? It will just be me; your Uncle Jan is still overseas. Thanks, dear, and sorry to intrude. I’ll talk to you soon. Oh, here’s my phone number in case your device doesn’t show it…”

  Tess listened to her aunt reciting the number in case she said anything else afterward. When the message ended, she put down her phone and gazed at it in silent shock. Aunt Loretta was the exotic, footloose member of the family and Tess had only the vaguest recollections of the woman. She hadn’t spoken to or seen her mother’s younger sister in years. How Loretta had gotten her phone number, she had no idea, nor did she have even the slightest inkling of what sort of business her aunt might have in Elk Hill. Last she had heard, the woman was touring Europe with her husband, Jan.

  There was nothing she could do but call her back. She dialed the number. It rang long enough that she expected it to go to voicemail. When her aunt finally answered, it took Tess a moment to gather her scattered thoughts.

  “Um, hi,” she said. “It’s me. Tess.”

  “Tessie!” her aunt exclaimed. “Oh, I’m glad you called back so soon. I should be there tomorrow, late in the evening. Maybe around ten or so? Is that a good time for you, dear?”

  “Well—” Tess began, only to be interrupted.

  “Of course, I could always come earlier, but I thought you might have birthday plans with your friends. I wouldn’t want to interrupt.”

  “No, it’s fine,” she said automatically. She kicked herself mentally and sighed. That had been the perfect chance for her to say sorry, but she did have plans. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see her aunt, but she needed more time to prepare. Between the Meals on the Move delivery tonight and her birthday dinner tomorrow with her friends after work, she wouldn’t have a chance to clean the house or stock up on food. She would have to cancel the drinks at the bar after the meal, which wasn’t the end of the world, but she had been curious to see who her friends would set her up with this time. Elk Hill wasn’t exactly a big town; they must be running out of guys by now.

  “Wonderful. It will be good to see you, Tessie, and on your birthday and everything. Thirty! I can’t believe it. It seems like just yesterday you were a wee little thing running around your mother’s kitchen. Anyway, you get back to your evening, dear. I’ll see you at ten tomorrow.”

  Tess put her phone down slowly, her brain still trying to come to terms with what had just happened. Somehow, she had agreed to let her aunt stay for an undetermined length of time. She didn’t think she had said more than five words during their entire conversation. How had Aunt Loretta gotten her number in the first place? She supposed her mother might have given it out, though if that was the case it would have been nice to have a heads-up. Sure, the woman was family, but she was also essentially a stranger.

  “I’ll have to make the best of it,” Tess said aloud. She checked the clock on the oven. The meatballs would be out soon, and she still had to finish the sauce and throw together a salad. She could figure out what she was going to do about her aunt later. Right now, she had dinner to deliver.

  The time spent cooking, and then driving through the cold and dark, was all worth it when she made her first delivery. The elderly woman who answered the door began smiling as soon as Tess introduced herself.

  “Come in, come in,” she said. “Get out of the cold while we unpack the food. You must be new; I haven’t seen you around before.”

  “I signed up just after the new year,” Tess told her. “I hope everything’s good. I don’t have a lot of practice at cooking for other people.”

  “Well, Ms. Quinn, if it tastes anything like it smells, I think this will be the best meal I’ve had all week. Are those homemade meatballs?”

  “Yes, ma’am, I just made them tonight.”

  “I can’t wait to try them. Thank you so much, dear. You drive safely, all right? Those roads are treacherous.”

  Tess was in a great mood by her last delivery. She could see why people enjoyed doing this so much. It felt good to know that she was helping others, even if all she was doing was giving them a good meal. It did make her sad in some ways, especially when she thought about all of the elderly and disabled people out there who didn’t have anyone to do this for them. When she got up there in age, she would love to have someone bring a home-cooked meal to her door even just once a week. She knew from experience how much the body craved something fresh after living off frozen and microwavable meals for too long.

  Keeping one eye on her GPS and the other on the road, she pulled into a driveway and quickly double-checked the address. She was at the right place. Her last delivery of the evening—then she would be free to go home and start cleaning in preparation for her aunt’s visit the next day.

  She knocked on the door, and was surprised when a man about her own age opened it. “Hi,” she said. “I’m with Meals on the Move.”

  “Oh, my dad’s the one you want. You’re here f
or Frederick Colt, right? Come on in, he’s in the kitchen.”

  Tess followed him through the house and into the cozy kitchen, where an elderly man was sitting at the table. She introduced herself and began unpacking the food.

  “Enjoy,” she said when she was done. “I’ll see you next week.”

  “I’ll walk you out,” the son said. He led the way back through the house and to the front door, where he pulled it open for her. “Sorry.”

  “What for?” Tess asked, confused.

  “I know your organization delivers meals to people who can’t make their own or don’t have anyone to help them. I don’t want you to think that we’re taking advantage of your generosity. My dad had no idea I’d be in town tonight; I stopped by to surprise him. I offered to go get something for dinner, but he said he was all set. I just feel bad about it.”

  Tess smiled and shook her head. “Don’t worry. I know everyone’s situation is different. I’m just happy to help.”

  “It was nice to meet you,” he said. “My name is Luke, by the way.”

  “Tess,” she said with a smile. “Have a good evening.”

  As she walked down the path to the driveway, she could have sworn that she felt his gaze on her. When she reached her car, she paused to glance over her shoulder just in time to see the front door swing shut.