Tomes and Terriers by Hillary Avis

Author:Hillary Avis [Avis, Hillary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: cozy mystery, paranormal womens fiction, amateur sleuth, paranormal mystery, magical realism
Publisher: Hilyard Press
Published: 2020-05-27T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

Allison sprawled out on the living room floor and put her pen down on the notebook beside her. It rolled off the page, and Pogo pounced on it. Grasping it between his paws, he began gnawing on the end.

“Drop it!” Allison said, laughing, and Pogo obediently released the pen into her grasp. “You’re going to end up with a blue mustache if you chew on that. Go get your bone.”

With a resigned sigh, Pogo got up and trotted into the kitchen to retrieve his rubber chew toy, and Allison went back to her task: figuring out exactly what was in the envelope on top of Gertrude Winter’s bureau. She’d collected several promising books that were now spread out before her on the leafy green carpet. She bent her head over her notebook and recorded their titles, leaving room for notes just like she’d learned back in her high school’s study skills class.

If Allison could find Theo’s memory of delivering Gertrude’s mail in one of these books, she might catch a glimpse of the return address on the envelope. She’d noticed that the memories she read in the books were much more vivid than her own memories. She could reread them to look at every detail, decipher every street sign. It might take her some time to wade through the books, but it’d be worth it if she could find out who sent Gertrude the envelope that was so tempting to her killer.

She cracked open the first book, Important Deliveries. She scanned the first few chapter headings—Anniversary Gifts, Apple Pies, Babies, Birthday Greetings—and groaned. The table of contents was listed by topic, not recipient or delivery person. She’d never find Theo’s memory in this book unless she knew what was inside the envelope.

Allison set it to the side and crossed it off the list in her notebook. She picked up the next one, Good News. A smile spread across her face when she saw the table of contents was a list of names. But when she checked for “Curtis, Theo” and turned to read the memories, her heart sank. All the memories in the chapter were Theo receiving good news, not delivering it. The book was organized by recipient, and of course, “Winter, Gertrude” was nowhere to be found on the list.

Allison reluctantly scribbled out the book’s title in her notebook. After another hour of similar disappointments, she ran out of books. None of the ones she’d found showed mail delivery from a postal carrier’s point of view. She stared at her list, now just a swath of blue ink. Where were Theo’s memories of delivering mail?

She stacked up the discarded books and sat back on her haunches, thinking. Maybe Theo’s memories of his route weren’t stored under “mail” or “envelopes,” but under “work” or “daily grind” or something more general like that. Dusting off her knees, Allison stood and began re-shelving the volumes where she’d found them on one of the bookcases nearest the foyer.

Of course, even if she

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