Dead to Rights: A Paranormal Cozy Mystery (Mountain Shadow Mysteries Book 2) by Tarah Benner

Author:Tarah Benner [Benner, Tarah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-08-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

By the time Will left Gran’s that night, I was too queasy to finish my cookies. I liked his plan in theory, but I wasn’t certain that it would work.

If someone was trying to frame me for murder, I needed to act fast. I couldn’t wait for the killer to make a mistake — or hope that Will would solve the case. I would have to gather my own clues and figure out who’d murdered Doris before Will was forced to arrest me.

“Snowball and I are going to bed,” Gran announced from the living room as the TV shut off.

“Goodnight,” I called, squeezing into a chic black turtleneck and lamenting when it rolled back up over my stomach. I hadn’t worn this thing in months, and I’d been indulging in a few too many donuts since coming to Mountain Shadow.

Luckily the material was stretchy. Extra lucky was that I’d hauled all the wardrobe boxes over to Gran’s — even my off-season stuff. I’d paired the turtleneck with a pair of black skinny jeans and found gloves and a thin black balaclava with my cold-weather gear. I was already sweating in my cat burglar ensemble, but I wasn’t taking any chances.

“You look like someone who’s up to no good,” Gran observed as I met her and Snowball in the hallway.

I tucked the ski mask behind my back and propped a hand on my hip to cover the gesture. “Says the woman who brings her own Tupperware to an all-you-can-eat buffet.”

“Don’t throw stones, Caroline. Glass houses and all. And you know a woman my size can’t possibly get her money’s worth at one of those things.”

“Goodnight,” I said, waggling my eyebrows and slinging my purse over my shoulder.

Desmond skittered after me with a little yowl, and I didn’t try to stop him as he slinked out the door.

Fortunately, it was a moonless night, and I stuck to the shadows as I made my way up the street. I’d found Doris’s address in the phone book, which had seemed almost too easy. There was an official-looking notice on the front door — probably saying that the place was off-limits due to an ongoing police investigation or something.

Glancing behind me to make sure I was alone, I caught the flash of Desmond’s yellow eyes in the orange glow of the street lamp. He followed me around the back of Doris’s house, and my heart sank when I saw the shiny brass deadbolt securing her back door.

I whispered a curse. I was something of a novice lock-picker, and I was certain that a modern deadbolt was far beyond my skill set.

Circling the house, I squinted in through the wavy glass panes that had to be the original windows. The house was dark, but I didn’t dare shine my flashlight inside in case any of the neighbors happened to be awake and looking in this direction.

Finally, I found what I’d been hoping for — a window along the back of the house that had been left unlatched.

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