The Type-A Guide to Solving Murder by Elizabeth Spann Craig

Author:Elizabeth Spann Craig [Craig, Elizabeth Spann]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: small town cozy, cozy mystery humorous, cozy mystery humor, southern cozy, cozy mystery short, cozy mystery with dogs, cozy mystery, cozy mysteries
Publisher: Elizabeth Spann Craig
Published: 2024-04-08T17:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Arlo did indeed need water and guzzled quite a bit of it. Then he curled up on his bed for a nap, snoring enthusiastically while Sam tidied up. After tidying up inside, she moved into the yard for a little yard work. The yard service did a good job, but there were definitely weeds that could use pulling. She felt it made more sense to pull them on the edges of the property first, since those were the areas people could see. She walked down near the street, holding a plastic bucket and gardening gloves.

The weeds were well-entrenched, which made Sam even more determined to yank the interlopers out of the ground. She hadn’t realized going in that she’d be engaging in such aerobic activity or she’d have worn breathable clothing. Despite it being September in the North Carolina mountains, it was decidedly warm.

On a particularly vigorous yank, she ended up falling backwards when the stubborn weed finally gave up. She was sitting flat on the lawn, looking very surprised, when she found Nora Snodwick staring at her from the road with a mixture of amusement and concern on her face.

“You okay?” she asked. “You didn’t break your tailbone, did you?”

Sam delicately stood up. “No, nothing seems to be broken.” She glared down at the offending weeds. “These things are tough to pull up.” She looked back at Nora, who was walking a pit bull wearing a pink tutu, who was also observing her with interest. “I didn’t know you had a dog. May I pet her?”

“Him,” said Nora with a sniff. “And you may. Let Precious smell you first, to get acquainted.”

Precious wagged his tail at her encouragingly when Sam offered the back of her hand for a sniff. Then she petted him. “Cute guy.”

“He is, isn’t he?” said Nora proudly. “Can you believe there was an active effort to ban him from the neighborhood?”

“Really?” That seemed overstepping, even for an HOA. “Were there any problems with neighbors or something like that?”

“Of course not,” snapped Nora. “Precious is always perfectly behaved. I wish I could say the same for other dogs in Maple Hills. The campaign was spearheaded by George Turner. I believed at the time he’d done it simply to be mean and get back at me.”

This was precisely the type of information that Sam was looking for. “Oh? Why would he do something like that?”

“Because that’s the kind of man he was. He added a section to the HOA bylaws that would state dog breed restrictions. Pit bulls were to be included. Can you imagine?”

Sam said slowly, “That seems very directed at you. There wouldn’t have been any grandfathering?”

Nora shook her head angrily.

“What precipitated the whole issue?”

Nora frowned at her. “If you’re asking why he did it, it was because he was trying to get back at me, I’m sure. But the things I was complaining about were completely reasonable.”

Sam scratched Precious behind the ears, and Precious grinned happily. “What kinds of things were you complaining about?”

“Well, there were a few.

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