Hallow Haven Cozy Mysteries Bundle Books 1-3 by Mara Webb (books to read fiction .txt) 📕

Miller laughed. “But wedding rings… that’s not a bad idea. He had a passport and two tickets to Australia with him, he was killed and had an empty jewelry box. Was he planning to run off with someone and get married?”

“You can get married here though right?” Kate said. “I mean, Australia is obviously way better. I have been here for a few hours and seen zero kangaroos.”

“Koalas? Nope. Big opera houses? Not one. I’d run off to Australia if I could,” Effie muttered.

“It was risky though,” I added. “Honey, you said yourself that even trying to get off the island now is frowned upon, so to do it back when Robert was alive must have been—”

“Almost impossible,” Honey interrupted. “It wasn’t just a case of people judging you, I heard that people used to get into fights just for mentioning leaving Hallow Haven.”

“You think he was killed because he was leaving?” I asked.

“The station said that he had one set of tickets, no return flight. They’ve been in touch with the airline, but they don’t have records going that far back,” Millers said. “It looks like he wasn’t planning to come back to Green Holt.”

“That could be motive,” Honey nodded. “But if he had two plane tickets then it means he was taking someone with him. Was there a name on the tickets?”

“No,” Miller said.

He was running away with somebody from Hallow Haven, so where was the other person? Where was the person he was planning to marry? I was twisting the ring around my finger and closed my eyes, trying to think about what Honey had told us. Jeff would probably know who Robert was going to Australia with, who else had gotten a passport around that time? Luckily, it sounded like Jeff had just arrived.

“Hello?” Brielle called from the hallway.

“Urgh, through here,” Effie scoffed back. I rolled my eyes at her and she smiled. It had felt as if I was another sister to Effie and Kate since I moved to the islands. They were so welcoming to me, so willing to help me with my magic and tease me at every opportunity; just like sisters would. To see them squabbling with their cousin was strange, but families are complicated.

“Good evening everybody!” Jeff called out as he shuffled along the dining room floor.

“Oh, what happened to you?” Honey cooed, wrapping her arms around him. “Let me get you a tea.”

“It looks worse than it feels,” he smiled. His head was beginning to bruise, and he had an expanding galaxy of blue and purpled spreading across his forehead from the wound above his ear. “Besides, I’ve spent all day with this delightful woman,” he pointed to Brielle, “and now I’m having a night away with you fine folks.”

“Any chance you—?” Kate began to ask.

“Yes!” Jeff interrupted. “You know in all my years as a mailman I have never been pestered as much by any one person as I have by you.” Jeff was laughing and Kate stood up excitedly with her hands out. He reached back to open a bag that he had brought with him and handed Kate a parcel that was wrapped tightly in ‘fragile’ tape and covered with a dozen stamps.

“What on earth have you bought now?” Effie laughed.

“It’s a Furby!” Kate screamed as she used her magic to tear through the packaging. She hugged it tight to her body and was squealing like a frightened pig all the while.

“What?” I asked, struggling to believe my eyes.

“I saw an advert for this a year ago and I placed an order immediately, do you know how hard it is to get your hands on one of these bad boys?” Kate said. She was smiling so broadly that I could see every single one of her teeth. I’d never seen her so happy, but I was still confused.

“Wasn’t that the most in demand toy of 1998?” I asked.

“What?” Kate said, lowering the Furby and looking back at me with genuine surprise.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I got two or three for my birthday one year. I remember dancing with them in the kitchen to a Backstreet Boys song,” I said. I was getting the impression that I’d said the wrong thing.

“You had three of these! What?!” Kate shrieked. “Dang, I didn’t know we were in the presence of royalty you guys.” She gave a small curtsey, replicating Miller’s joke from earlier. “Dude, I’m kidding. I told you a thousand times, Hallow Haven is trapped in the past. We still watch VHS tapes over here. I cannot stress to you how long it took to get this Furby here.”

“Is that why you’ve been running to the door like a dog every time Jeff showed up,” Effie laughed.

“Yes!” Kate yelled. “I have been waiting for a year, do you get that? That is a considerable percentage of my adult life, just drifting on by in a fog waiting for the precious day that my Furby would make it into my arms safely.”

“You’ve lost your mind,” Effie said. “Brielle, tell her that it is in your medical opinion that she has lost her mind.” We all looked to Brielle and Effie in surprise that they might have an interaction. Brielle seemed to be equally taken aback by it.

“I…” Brielle began. “I think that it’s a nice Furby and all, but maybe I think your sister is right.” Effie stood up to high five the doctor and I felt proud of them all for overcoming the weird family tension in order to tease Kate.

“Well, I’m so happy you are having this moment,” I smiled. “But I really need to speak to Jeff.”

“Don’t mind me, I’ve got big plans for this little guy. Come on, Tarot,” Kate grinned. I wanted to point out that when you turn those things on, they announce that they already have a name. It felt like something she should figure out on her own.

“You are calling your Furby Tarot?” Effie asked. “I am truly embarrassed to be related