A Mew to a Kill Read Online Free PDF

here.”
    “I’m sure it was an accident,” Cordelia said. “I mean, why would someone purposely set Paisley’s shop on fire?”
    “Maybe they had a beef with her.” Josiah shrugged. “She could be rather abrasive at times.”
    Across the street, Gus chose that moment to whip her head around and pin us with a glare. All five of us stepped back from the window.
    “You don’t think it could have something to do with the art show, do you?” Hattie asked.  
    “That’s crazy,” Josiah said. “Who would kill someone over an art show?”
    I thought again about Maisie’s parting words. They hadn’t been a threat, though. She had said ‘over my dead body’, not over Paisley’s. Then again, I wasn’t entirely sure that was Paisley’s dead body in there. What if Maisie had done something drastic and ended up dead in Paisley’s shop?
    “I hate to say this out loud,” Cordelia ventured. “But you don’t think Neil Lane found out Paisley landed that last slot in the art show and got mad? I’m sure he wouldn’t kill someone, but maybe he didn’t know Paisley was in there.”
      “We still don’t even know if that body is Paisley.” No sooner were the words out of Bing’s mouth when Gertie and the EMTs stood. They raised up the gurney and we got a full view of the body. Unfortunately, it was covered in a body bag. We couldn’t tell who it was.
    Across the street, I saw Gus strip off her gloves. She flung open the door of the photography store and started across the street. My stomach clenched when I realized she was headed in our direction. The regulars must have realized it at the same time and we all scrambled toward the purple micro-suede couch, jockeying for position and just managing to settle in as Gus ripped the door open.
    “Good morning, Augusta,” Hattie said conversationally, as if it was just another normal day.
    “Morning.” Gus’s voice was short. Her gaze raked over us as she stood with her feet shoulder width apart, hands on hips. Even the boxy lines of the sheriff uniform didn’t hide her petite, hourglass figure. I felt a pang of envy. Strangers were always surprised to discover that we were sisters—Gus was built like a living Barbie doll whereas I was more … padded. I wasn’t overweight. I just had more curves, though some people, like Striker, said they were all in the right places. My cheeks turned pink at the thought of Striker and I caught Gus giving me a strange look.
    “What do you know about what happened over there?” Gus tilted her head and looked at me with wide eyes.
    “Me?” I lifted my shoulders up to my ears. “Why would I know anything?”
    “I just thought maybe by the way you were staring out the window you might know something.” Gus turned to the others. “And what about you guys? What’s the Mystic Notch grapevine have to say on this?”
    Hattie shook her head. “Nothing yet. We were as surprised as anyone to see the police when we came down the street.”
    “Was it arson?” Josiah asked.
    Gus’s eyes narrowed. “Too early to tell.”
    “We saw a body.” Cordelia’s voice shook. “Who was it?”
    “I’m asking the questions here,” Gus said. “Did you guys see anything strange going on at the photography shop?”
    The regulars looked at each other and shook their heads. “We don’t hang around here all day just staring out the windows, you know.” Josiah spoke for all of them.
    Gus turned to me. “What about you? Did you notice anything going on over there? I know you spend a lot of time spying out the window … or at least you did this morning.”
    I bristled. “I don’t spy out my window…” Then I remembered the night before when I’d been leaving and had seen George’s car.  
    Gus saw me hesitate and was on me like a hawk swooping on a baby rabbit. “What is it? You saw something, didn’t you?”
    “Well … I’m not sure if it means anything and I really wouldn’t want to get anyone in trouble,” I said.
    Gus