Pet Psychic Mysteries Boxset Books 5-8 (Magic Market Mysteries Book 2) by Erin Johnson (reading diary .TXT) 📗

Which either meant he’d taken it off when he cast his tanning spells, or he was up to something.

“Hey, Ralph—nice tan.”

He looked up and gave me a dejected nod.

“Spelled, or…?” I raised my brows.

“Uh…” His brows pinched together for a moment in confusion. “Uh, no.” He shook his head. “We actually recently vacatantioned in the Mediderrean.” He hiccupped, and his gaze lingered on my chest. “Sun and beaches, baby.”

I shifted away from him and curled my lip. I kinda hoped he’d killed his wife—always made it easier when we got to arrest a creep.

Peter looked up from his notes and shot me a questioning look. I flashed my eyes at him—you’ll see where this is going, just give me a minute.

The brief moment of interest faded, and Peter gave a dull nod, then went back to looking over his scroll.

I nodded. “Sounds nice. And your wife, Pearl, went with you?”

“Uh….” His bleary gaze drifted to Daisy, who watched him with those intense dark eyes of hers. He shook his head. “Nah. She was supposed to but got caught up worging here.”

“So you went alone?”

“Yep.” He hiccupped.

Daisy growled. Lie.

10

The Pig

Peter jerked his head up, and a grin tugged at the corner of my mouth. Vacationing without his wife? And he’d clearly taken the ring off, since it hadn’t left tan lines. I was onto something—I could feel it.

Ralph cleared his throat. “Okay, I meant, I went without Pearl, but not alone, alone. Our team came along—it was a work event.”

I cocked my head. “Your team being those people who were just in here before?”

He nodded. “And some of our top—hic—consultants—we take them on lots of trips like that as rewards.”

I glared at him. “Including that pretty, extremely young lady with the big blue eyes?”

He frowned. “Avery Ann?” He thumbed toward the door she’d exited through with the others.

I nodded. “She didn’t stay here to help Pearl with the business?”

Ralph pushed himself up straighter and puffed up his chest. His collared shirt was unbuttoned way too low, his white chest hairs clearly visible. “I’ll have you know, I’m an inegral part of—hiccup—the business, too.” He swayed slightly where he sat. “And I needed her more than Pearl did.” His throat bobbed, and his eyes grew even more glassy.

Daisy wagged her bushy tail. Truth.

I scoffed. Yeah, I bet he needed her.

“Besides”—Ralph waved a hand—“Pearl was afraid of airships.” He raised a thick hand to the side of his mouth like he was sharing a secret. “Bad blimp experience as a child.” He let his hand drop. “She’d have had to take a ship out to the island we were staying on, and the trip would’ve been over by the time she’d have arrived—what with the delay from staying behind to handle that work matter.”

“What was the work matter that called her away?” Peter watched Ralph intently.

The guy shrugged. “No idea.”

I smirked. So integral to the business.

“Fine.” Peter nodded. “Stick around—we’ll likely be asking you more questions in the coming days.”

I whipped my head around to look at Peter and lowered my voice. “We should just arrest the guy now.” I flashed my eyes at him. “He handed Pearl the vial, and I think we can infer he was having an affair—at least one.”

Peter’s nostrils flared, and he answered me in a hushed tone. “You heard Daisy—he told the truth about not tampering with it.”

I rolled my eyes. “Fine, so his mistress—probably that innocent-looking girl—did it for him. Same diff.”

Peter raised his thick brows. “I’m not saying he’s a great guy, but I don’t get the feeling he killed his wife.”

Oh, he had a feeling? Why was he fighting me on this? I narrowed my eyes, anger making my throat and face hot. “Yeah, well, your feelings can be fickle.”

His expression darkened. “Fickle? No. But they can certainly change when new information comes to light.”

I raised my brows. Oh—so this was personal? I whirled around to face Ralph. “Did you kill your wife?”

Peter shot me a furious look, his face red, blue eyes blazing. I ignored him and waited for the flustered Ralph to answer. Why waste time? We were questioning the guy—we should make it thorough.

Ralph scoffed. “No! I would never hurt my lovely wife.”

Peter and I both snapped our gazes to Daisy, whose ears flattened. She gave the tiniest wag of the tip of her tail. True.

Peter smirked and shot me an I told you so look.

Daisy cocked her head to the side, ears pricked. Mostly.

I flashed Peter a see? It’s not that simple look. Our eyes locked, my body tense, and then his expression went flat, and he turned away again. I let out a breath and my shoulders sagged. Things had been so easy and light before.

Part of me wished I could go back to the time before I’d told Peter the truth about me, so we could laugh together and I could feel the happy tingles again. I swallowed. But another part of me knew it was for the best. I’d gone down that road once with my ex-fiancé and it didn’t end well. Better to tell Peter the truth early on—even if it meant he was done with me.

“Mr. Litt—may my associate have a moment with your, er, pig?”

Ralph blinked at Buttercup, who snuffled in his face and touched her nose to his. He shrugged but pointed an unsteady finger at me. “Fine—but you be good to her.”

I gave him a salute, then rose and moved a little ways away toward the open french doors. I bent forward and patted my thighs. “C’mere, girl!” I whistled. “Here, Buttercup. Come here!” Did pigs come? I looked around for some snack to lure her with.

Luckily, Buttercup stood and trotted over. I crouched down and looked her in her dark eyes. Her pink nose twitched, ears pricked.

I quietly grunted and snuffled. Hey, Buttercup. Can I ask you about Ralph and Pearl?

The pig’s black eyes grew wide and she snorted. You speak pig?

I fought the urge to roll my eyes.