A Drizzle of Danger: A Cafe Crimes Cozy Mystery Book 2 (A Cafe Crimes Cozy Mystery Series) by Simone Stier

Author:Simone Stier [Stier, Simone]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-10-28T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

The moment we entered the Magnolia Grove archives, the musty odor of decaying paper assaulted my nostrils. Dust motes swirled in the weak sunlight filtering through old windows, and I fought the urge to sneeze. Who knew solving a murder would involve so much potential sinus irritation?

Whit and I hunched over a rickety table, surrounded by stacks of yellowed newspapers. The quiet rustle of turning pages was punctuated by my occasional sighs of frustration.

Whit was in his element, very jazzed up about this part of the investigation. His eyes danced with excitement as he pored over each article, like a kid in a historically significant candy store.

Me, I was a bit less enthused. Don’t get me wrong, I loved a good mystery, but spending hours inhaling decades-old dust and squinting at tiny print wasn’t exactly my idea of a thrilling morning. Still, seeing Whit’s enthusiasm was almost enough to make me forget about my impending sneeze attack.

“Found anything yet?” I asked, holding back a sneeze.

Whit’s brow furrowed in concentration, his finger tracing down yet another page of tiny print. “Wait, I think I’ve got something. Look at this.”

I leaned in, my shoulder brushing against his. The contact sent a little jolt through me, but I pushed the feeling aside. Focus, Parker.

Whit read aloud, “Local reporter Michael Callahan was admitted to Magnolia Grove General Hospital with severe abdominal pain and nausea. Callahan claims symptoms began after meeting Deputy Wade Tucker at a local diner. Hospital tests revealed traces of warfarin, a common rat poison. Callahan accuses Tucker of spiking his coffee.”

I smacked Whit’s shoulder. “Rat poison! Just like Dylan. Well, isn’t that a cozy coincidence?”

“There’s more. Tucker’s response when asked for a comment: ‘If a rat got his just desserts, well, that’s alright by me. Especially when they’re pokin’ their rat noses where they don’t belong.’”

“Wow. He said almost those exact words to me. A real charmer,” I muttered. “What happened next? Please tell me justice was swiftly served and Tucker was imprisoned for his dastardly deeds. Which we know didn’t happen.”

Whit flipped through more pages, kicking up another cloud of dust. I stifled a cough. “Looks like Sheriff Boggs said he’d be sure to ‘look into it,’ but nothing ever came of it.”

“Of course,” I said, sitting back. “Either Wade Tucker just happened to be coincidentally chummy with rat poison incidents, or …”

“Or he’s been getting away with this for decades,” Whit finished, his voice low and serious.

Our eyes met. The weight of our discovery settled between us. The cozy little town of Magnolia Grove once again seemed a bit darker.

“Well,” I said, trying to inject some levity into the moment, “I guess this means our quiet morning of archive diving just turned into a deep dive into decades of possible corruption. And here I thought the most exciting thing we’d find would be embarrassing high school photos of the town council.”

Whit chuckled softly. “This is big, Parker. If Tucker’s been covering up crimes for this long …”

“Then Dylan probably stumbled onto something much bigger than we thought,” I finished.

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