Pet Psychic Mysteries Boxset Books 5-8 (Magic Market Mysteries Book 2) by Erin Johnson (simple ebook reader .txt) 📕

I followed Peter and Daisy inside and looked around. She hadn’t been kidding about it being a bad time. Unless her apartment looked like this all the time? I shuddered.

Shouts and thumps still sounded from the neighbors through the thin walls. A dead plant sat in front of the window, which had been propped slightly open and let in sounds from the street—shattering glass and angry shouts. I raised my eyebrows and nodded as I looked around. Felt like home. It was extremely odd for an heiress to be living in the kind of squalor I was used to.

Aside from the one kitchen window with the plant, all the others were covered in black drapes, as was a full-length mirror and a couple of smaller ones hanging on the walls. The place was cluttered, the sink piled with dirty dishes, and several bouquets of dying flowers were littered on dressers and a dinette set.

"My mother recently passed away." Rebecca dabbed at her eyes with the hanky, and I suddenly realized that she was also wearing funeral blacks. Her gray, wiry hair hung unstyled around her drawn face, her eyes swollen from crying. She wrung the hanky between her trembling hands.

I gasped as I recognized her as the woman who’d pushed past me earlier this evening. “You were at the Night of the Phoenix party tonight.”

She gulped and shook her head, but Daisy growled. Liar.

I nodded at Peter. “I saw her—she rushed out of there looking upset.”

16

Pushed to the Edge

Peter and I exchanged concerned looks, as Daisy sniffed around the water-rotted base of the kitchen cupboards.

“I’m sorry to hear about your mother.” Peter stepped closer to the older woman and removed his policeman's cap. "Are you all right?"

Rebecca hadn't moved from her place beside the door, so Peter gently closed it and turned one of the locks. She stared down at the hanky between her trembling hands and nodded. “Uh-huh.”

Daisy looked up from her sniffing and let out a quiet growl. Lie.

I shot her a flat look. No doy, Daisy. I wasn't sure I'd seen anyone who looked less okay in my life.

Peter, in a soft tone, asked, “Do you know why we’re here, Ms. Rutherford?"

Rebecca's voice shook. "No…"

Daisy trotted to Peter’s side and growled. Lie.

Peter almost looked regretful as he glanced down at his dog and then addressed the mourning woman. "My dog, Daisy, smells lies. I'd like you to keep that in mind as you answer our questions."

Rebecca slumped against the wall and let out a whimper.

Oh, she was definitely guilty.

Peter licked his lips and began gently. "We’re here because Malorie Rutherford, your stepmother, was killed earlier this evening at a fundraising event."

Rebecca did her best to look surprised, but her expression just came out pained. "Oh?"

Daisy looked almost bored as she huffed. She's lying.

I crossed my arms. “Again—I saw you. You bumped into me.”

Rebecca whimpered. She startled when Peter began speaking again.

"A couple of witnesses say they saw you speaking with Malorie.”

“Oh, uh—” She scratched at the back of her neck and looked away. “They must’ve been mistaken.”

Daisy, ears flat, growled. Untrue.

I crossed my arms and huffed. “You are aware that we know you’re lying, right?”

Muffled shouts sounded from the other side of the wall that Rebecca leaned against. The woman cowered.

Peter, frowning, kept his tone gentle but firm. “Did you kill Malorie Rutherford?”

She looked up so quickly and her tone grew suddenly so venomous that I startled and instinctively took a step behind Peter.

“It’s Malorie Smithe, Smithe!” Spit flew from her mouth, illuminated by the few stubby candlesticks littered about the apartment. “How dare she keep my father’s name!” She bared her teeth and clenched her bony hands. “Yes, okay? Yes, I killed her!”

Peter and I looked at Daisy, who stood with her chest puffed up between Peter and the suddenly irate woman. The dog barked. True!

I shrugged at Peter. “Well, this has been an easy one.” I dusted off my hands. “Case closed.”

Rebecca lunged forward, and Peter spread his arms wide to shield me. The hackles rose on Daisy’s neck, but the older woman seemed not to notice the danger she was in from the huge German shepherd. She bared her yellowing teeth and snarled.

“That witch took everything from me! She killed my father—you’ve heard that, right? He disappeared at the last phoenix party, not long after he left my mother for that bottom-sucking sea slug!” She ground her teeth. “She got him to put the ring around her finger and then she whacked him! Probably fed him to the lava bear!”

“Hm. Lava bear?” I made a mental note to check that out.

Peter slowly withdrew his wand from his pocket. “So you killed Malorie for revenge? Why now?”

Rebecca sneered. “I got my revenge, yes, but…” She dropped her gaze and frowned, suddenly troubled. “I didn’t actually mean to kill her.” She looked up and spread her palms imploringly. “I’d been trying to get her to see me for weeks. My mother passed away recently, but she was sick for a very long time. When Malorie inherited my father’s estate, very little money came to me or my mother. The medical bills added up. I got desperate.”

Peter nodded, and I marveled at the compassion he could show a woman who was clearly so far gone that she’d just killed someone.

Rebecca talked with her hands, the hankie fluttering between them. “She wouldn’t even show me the courtesy of speaking with me! So I snuck into her party. She couldn’t just ignore me there—not in front of all her high-class friends. She asked me to step in the back, into the sanctuary for more privacy.”

Her pale eyes grew hard. “I demanded more of my dad’s money.” She clenched her jaw, eyes far away. “We walked and talked. She couldn’t even give me her full attention. Said she wanted to make sure all was in order in the phoenix’s cage. Malorie, always so smug, refused