Bound To Be Dead: Cozy Mystery Bookshop Series Book 3 by Tamra Baumann (best historical fiction books of all time txt) 📗

The bell tinkles over the front door, alerting me to the arrival of my first guest. I hope it’s a paying customer.

No such luck. Madge is barreling toward me. Today, her Christmas sweater is blue with blobby stars all over it.

“Morning, Sawyer.” Madge swivels her head. “No croissants yet?”

“Nope. Should be here soon.” I fire up the computer on the front counter that doubles as my cash register. “Have you heard anything else about Tina? Or Uncle Frank?” Madge working at the police station has come in handy these past few months. She gets some major insider scoop.

“A little.” Madge moves closer to share her secret, even though it’s only the two of us in my store. Well, Coop’s on his favorite couch snoozing, so that makes three of us, I guess.

I lean in too. “And…?”

Madge grins. “I do love a dramatic pause.”

More like she loves knowing things others don’t. “Odd, I’m finding this pause super annoying. Spill.”

My pal chuckles, “Your Aunt Carol told Dylan that Frank was too busy last evening to speak to the cops. Dylan is in Frank’s office right now. Therefore, I took the opportunity to come see you.”

“Me? Or my croissants?” I ask as I wipe down the glass counter.

“A little of both, I guess.” Madge shrugs. “But what I know is the initial scan of Tina’s body didn’t show any major heart events, like ruptured arteries or anything. We have to wait for the autopsy for a more detailed report. They can’t rule out murder.”

I ask, “Would that scan show if someone was electrocuted?”

Madge frowns. “Don’t know. But the electrician’s report came back. The trick checked out. There wasn’t any obvious way Tina could have been hurt by your dad’s equipment. But the electrician said the floor plug it was connected to was loose. There’s still a chance Tina could’ve touched something she shouldn’t have.”

“So that should let my father off the hook?” I toss the paper towel into the trash.

“Not quite yet. The electrician said the floor plug had obviously been tampered with or incorrectly repaired, because there were exposed wires. Dylan assigned one of the deputies to look into the community center’s repair records. But guess who owns the community center?”

I already know. “Uncle Frank. He often tries to make quickie repairs on the buildings he owns before he calls in professionals.”

“Really? A rich guy like that? What a cheapskate.” Madge’s brows furrow. “Possibly no record of a repair, then. Add the fact that your uncle can’t stand your father, and things are getting even more interesting. Especially if Frank stands to lose most everything if your Aunt Carol found out he and Tina were having an affair.”

I grab the feather duster and head for a nearby bookcase. “I’m not following.”

Madge hurries to catch up with me. “It’s just a guess, but what if Frank helped your dad with the tricks because it allowed your uncle to frame your father for Tina’s death? By making sure Max used the tainted floor plug.”

I stop dusting and consider her suggestion. “If he framed my father—who some might think was a scorned man—and Tina was out of the way, there wouldn’t be anyone to confirm the affair. He could claim he and Tina were just friends. And no reason to blame my uncle. But maybe my uncle didn’t realize both Pete and Dylan knew about the affair. Did you know about it?”

“No.” Madge shakes her head. “And I know most everything. But maybe news was starting to leak, and your uncle got wind of that. Rather than lose so much, your uncle decided to get rid of the one person who could actually confirm or deny it. Tina. And let’s not forget, most people in town knew Tina was seeing your father up until recently and wouldn’t suspect she was seeing Frank too. This theory works.”

“Maybe.” I go back to my dusting. “But I’m not sure how to prove all this.”

Madge taps a finger on her lips. “I’ll have to give that some more thought. I’ll check back on my lunch break. Maybe we’ll have more information by then.”

“Sounds good. In the meantime, I’m going to talk to Pete, see if he can fill in some blanks about the name switching on the flowers. And see if he’s remembered anything else that might help us.”

Madge checks her phone. “Yikes, I’m late. See you later!”

Before I can respond, Madge is heading full steam toward the door. I’ve lost all interest in dusting, so I grab my keys.

I want to talk to Pete. His barbershop must be open by now. “Coop, hold down the fort. And no jumping on Betty when she delivers the croissants. I’ll be right back.”

My dog, who’s still snoozing on his favorite couch, opens one eye. Then he rolls onto his back, four paws in the air, and promptly falls back to sleep. A watchdog is something he’ll never be. His superpower is getting everyone who comes inside the store to pet him, and he’s darn good at that.

I flip over the sign that says I’ll be back in ten and head up the sidewalk.

A familiar big hand lands on my lower back, and Dylan says, “Where ya heading?”

Darn it. Dylan and I called a truce after I almost got killed snooping into a case recently. We agreed to disagree that Madge and I should leave the police work to him.

I stop and face him. “Hi. How’d it go with Uncle Frank?”

Dylan raises a brow and stays silent, clearly not amused with my attempt to redirect the conversation.

I open my mouth to deflect again, but then, that’d be pointless. “I was on my way to Pete’s place to ask him about the name-tag switch. I thought I’d just tie up that loose end so you wouldn’t have to waste your time doing it.”

“Considerate.” Dylan slips an arm around my shoulders, and we start walking again. “But has it occurred to you that because you’re not the cop here, you talking to Pete