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

“Wait.” Madge raises a hand. “That explains what I overheard today. Dylan said to one of the deputies, ‘Her card might have been all those places, but was she? We need security footage from the toy store, restaurant, and the aquarium if possible,’ end quote.”

“So Dylan still suspects my aunt.” I guess she could have given her credit card to my cousin and his wife and then returned to town to do the deed. My cousin can’t stand my uncle either. And both my cousins would do anything for my aunt.

I can’t wrap my head around my soft-spoken aunt hurting anyone. But then, I can’t imagine my uncle actually killing a person either, even as mean as he can be. I’m just not a good judge of killer material, apparently.

Madge adds, “And out of the show’s judges that day, there’s still Emily, whose husband was having an affair with Pattie. What if your uncle saw Joe and Pattie together that day when Pattie claims to have seen your uncle and Tina at The Blue Hippo? All four of them would know they just caught each other cheating. Maybe they made a pact?”

“That’s a possibility.” The Admiral rubs his chin as if in thought. “That’s a fine possibility.”

A memory has me blurting out, “Pattie threatened me while I was getting my hair cut. Sort of. She tugged my hair back and hissed at me about keeping things to myself, or someone else might be hurt like Tina was. Or something close to that.”

“A foursome. Like in golf.” Madge slowly nods. “Both Joe and your uncle live and breathe golf. And Dylan was checking tee times for Frank too. This is starting to make more sense.”

“If that’s true and Beth’s vision is reliable, then that would mean either Emily or Pattie could have done it.” The Admiral finishes off his sandwich in three bites. “But Carol still makes the most sense.”

I run everything we know about what happened backstage at the fall festival through my mind again. “Emily did a flower switch, and so did Frank. If the foursome theory is true, could this be like that Agatha Christie movie on the train where everyone claims to have killed that guy, making it impossible to find the real killer?”

The Admiral laughs. “I don’t think the four of them are that smart. Let’s think. How could a rose kill Tina? Even if there were poison on a thorn, I can’t imagine it’d be enough to do any real damage. Wouldn’t the poison have to have come from Tina’s cup?”

Madge stands and paces. “The cup Emily says she saw Max pour something into. Which we now know from Max was liquor that he drank with no ill effects. Unfortunately, I can’t get my hands on any of the lab reports to confirm because Dylan is keeping those hidden from everyone at the station.” Madge suddenly stops and spins around. “Sawyer, maybe you could go to Dylan’s house tonight, make up with him, and see if he’s got those reports on him?” She sends me a wry smile.

I laugh. “I’ll probably do that when this is all over. But for now, I promised Dylan I’d keep my distance, so I will.” I rub my temples, hoping for some sort of inspiration to hit. “Maybe we need to go back in time a bit.” I glance up again. “We now know the poisonous plants that grow around here can kill in any time from one to several hours. Maybe we need to find out what Tina was doing before she met my father for lunch at the diner.” I turn to Madge. “Can you look through the notes Dylan has made available for his deputies to see?”

“On it.” Madge taps a reminder in her phone. “I’ll look as soon as I get back to the station. But I have a question about your Aunt Carol. Frank was already in the process of trying to take everything from you because of Brittany’s adoption, right? Long before Tina was killed. Did your aunt know about that?”

I shake my head. “My uncle doesn’t discuss any of his business affairs with my aunt. She said earlier today this was the first she’d heard of any of it. But she also said she’d been stashing cash away for a long time to leave him. Why do you ask?”

Madge shrugs. “It just seems like if she was planning to leave him, she would have paid more attention to what was going on with your trust. Forgive me, but what if your aunt has known for a long time about your uncle’s cheating? Seems she’d have a very long time to plan Tina’s death, frame your uncle for it, send him to jail, take all their assets instead of a portion, and then have a tight-as-a-drum alibi ready to go. You know what they say. It’s always the quiet ones you have to look out for.”

I blink at Madge as her words sink in. All this time, I’ve been sure it was my uncle who killed Tina, but could it have been my aunt?

Dylan beating me to her house this morning probably wasn’t a coincidence.

Chapter 16

After Madge and the Admiral leave the bookstore, I grab my laptop and all the outstanding bills. The stack is a little overwhelming, so I stand and fill my mug with more coffee first while contemplating Madge’s thoughts about Aunt Carol being Tina’s killer.

Could Madge be right?

In my heart of hearts, I don’t want it to be true. But if it is, I’m sure it’s because of the verbal abuse and aggression Frank has always shown my aunt. Maybe she hit her breaking point and wanted revenge, but knew she couldn’t take out her behemoth-sized husband easily, so she settled for Tina? No. I still can’t see Aunt Carol hurting anyone, even Frank. She’s doing