Paws and Effect (Mystic Notch 4 4) (10 page)

“
I
guess
she can kiss her mayor position good-bye,” Hattie said two days later.

They were gathered in the bookstore, talking about the fire and destruction of the historical society site, which was big news in Mystic Notch. No one could figure out why Rebecca would set fire to the site. No one knew what to make of her incoherent ramblings about good and evil and magical extracts.

Of course, Pandora knew what had really happened, but most of the humans thought Rebecca had just become unhinged and set the fires.

“You can say that again, and to be blunt, I’m not the least bit upset about it,” Elizabeth Post huffed. “Imagine the mayor ruining the new construction of the historical society building like that.”

“I guess the devil must have gotten into her.” Elspeth slid a knowing look in Pandora’s direction. She’d stopped by the bookstore after picking up from Doc Everett’s several of the Mystic Notch cats who had been affected by the catnip, where they’d been kept for observation.

Striker and Oscar Danforth, who had happened along while Elspeth was struggling with the cat carriers on the sidewalk, had stopped to help her and had joined in the conversation. They both nodded in agreement.

“She sure is acting like that down at the police station, talking all crazy,” Striker added.

“What is up with the cats?” Cordelia asked Elspeth.

“Oh, just brought them in for checkups.” Elspeth covered her lie by bending down to open the doors of the cat carriers.

It had been a minor miracle that none of the cats had perished due to Rebecca’s nasty experiments with the celestrium lily extract. All the feral cats had come out of their comas and all seemed to have no adverse side effects. The Mystic Notch cats who had eaten the tainted catnip had also recovered and were back to their old selves. Everything was as it should be.

Inkspot was the first to poke his face out of the carrier. His black coat was shiny and his eyes bright. He nodded to the others and they slowly made their way out of the crates. Kelley cautiously wound her way over to the sunny window, her tail fluffier than ever. Otis nodded at Pandora, then joined Kelley over by the window. Pandora marveled at how Otis had escaped harm. He’d ingested most of the extract and seemed no worse for wear, though Pandora did think his eyes glowed a bit more brightly than before.

Sasha’s wounds were the most severe; her left side had been shaved and her skin was pink where it had burned. She favored that side slightly, but shrugged off Pandora’s sympathy and headed over to lie in the sun.

Pandora’s stomach twisted. It was the first time she’d seen the cats since that fateful night and she was certain Otis had told them how she'd almost screwed things up by jumping the gun and making the mistake of going after Danforth. She couldn’t really blame him—it
was
true. Her impetuous actions could have cost Mystic Notch dearly. She had much to atone for.

“What’s wrong, Pandora?” Inkspot asked.

Pandora hung her head. “I acted too quickly and it could have cost us.”

“Pffft,” Inkspot hissed. “I think you are being too modest. Otis told us how your quick action probably saved us.”

Pandora’s head jerked up. “What?” She glanced over at Otis. What had he told them?

“Yes,” Otis nodded. “Take credit where credit is due. I told them all about how your foray to Rebecca’s house forced her to speed up the timeline. If your actions hadn't made her run to the historical society site prematurely, she might have done away with Hope before we could stop her.”

“But I di—”

“Psst.” Otis held up his paw to silence her. “I know your impetuous nature can be problematic, but in this case, I think you combined the new ways and old ways and used them to our advantage.”

Pandora was stunned. Otis was giving her credit for the whole thing when she’d almost screwed it all up. He’d been the one to save them by drinking the extract, but he wasn’t boasting about that at all. Her heart melted toward the cranky calico … maybe they would be friends after all.

“But you did the bravest thing,” Pandora said to him. “You swallowed the extract so that it can never be used to threaten us again. It almost killed you.”

“Meh.” Otis feigned indifference. “But it didn’t kill me … thanks to you.”

“That reminds me.” Danforth fished around in his pocket.

“What reminds you?” Willa asked.

Danforth slid his eyes over to the cats and turned red. “Oh, sorry … I was just thinking out loud.” He pulled the vial out of his pocket. The silver newt glinted in the light as he held it out to Elizabeth. “I picked this up when we caught Rebecca. She’d thrown it on the ground. I think it should be in the new museum, along with the box it came in.”

“You mean you aren’t going to try to prove it belongs to your family?” Elizabeth took the vial, obviously pleased.

Danforth shook his head. “Nope. I realize now that it’s part of Mystic Notch history.”

Elizabeth turned to Striker. “And you’re willing to release it to the historical society.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“Well, I just hope there will be a museum to put it in. The site was ruined with the fire.” Elizabeth's mouth tightened.

“We’re instituting a big fine for that destruction,” Striker said. “Rebecca will have to pay it and that money can be put toward rebuilding what was there. And to buying the town a new backhoe.”

Willa’s forehead creased. “Wait, so
Rebecca
was the one who stole the vial? Why?”

“Actually, it was Felicity who stole it,” Striker said.

“Felicity Bates? Why would she do that?” Hattie asked.

Striker shrugged. “I have no idea, but we dusted the box and her fingerprints were on it. She wasn’t at the groundbreaking ceremony and she never touched it in the police station that we
saw
. Near as we can figure, she lifted it out of the box when there was that big commotion with the cats that night and no one was paying attention to the box.”

Pandora remembered the big chase with Fluff. Felicity had said she’d been in the police station getting papers notarized, but maybe that was just a ruse and she’d ordered Fluff to create a ruckus on purpose so she could steal the vial when everyone’s attention was diverted. If that was the case, then Pandora had inadvertently played right into her hands.

Cordelia’s face wrinkled up. “So, she stole it
for
Rebecca?”

“Yep. She must have handed it to her sometime after that night,” Striker said.

Pandora remembered the flash of red stilettos as they ran out of the police station that night. Rebecca had still been there, probably waiting for Felicity to come out and hand her the vial. They’d planned it all along.

“But
why
?” Josiah asked.

Striker, Danforth, Bing and Elspeth exchanged a look. Striker cleared his throat. “Well, that’s where it gets a little sketchy. Apparently, she’s a little unstable.”

“She always was excitable,” Bing said.

“That’s right,” Elspeth chimed in. “Always going on about her ancestors and how many of them had been mayor of Mystic Notch.”

“If you ask me, she relied too much on her ancestors’ accomplishments,” Hattie said stiffly.

“She did go a little overboard,” Danforth said. “According to my genealogy research of the town, Rebecca’s ancestor, Nathaniel Phipps, was one of the townspeople that accused Hester Warren of witchcraft back in the 1600s. She became a little obsessed with the whole story and when the box got dug up … well … I guess she went off her rocker.”

Cordelia snorted. “I’ll say.”

Pandora’s brow wrinkled.
Rebecca’s
relative had accused Hester? She’d thought it had been Danforth’s and he’d admitted as much. The article she read online had mentioned two men—Miles Danforth and Nathaniel Phipps. She’d homed in on Danforth and now regretted never getting around to researching things further on the computer.

A vague memory of Willa and Pepper’s conversation a few days ago floated up to the front of her brain. Had Pepper mentioned something about Rebecca being related to the Phipps line?

Pandora had been so focused on Danforth, she hadn’t paid attention like she should have, too full of her first impressions to get out of her own way. Pandora made a mental note to be more thorough and not so impulsive next time.
Next
time? Yes, she was sure there would be another time when the cats would be called upon to make sure evil didn’t take over Mystic Notch.

“So that’s it, then. Rebecca just went off her rocker?” Josiah shrugged. “I always thought that woman was a little crazy. Didn’t vote for her, either.”

“Yep. She was was fixated on the site of Hester Warren’s house. Claimed it was her job as mayor to balance out the town or something,” Striker said. “Naturally, she’s been stripped of the office of mayor and she’ll be spending a little time in a mental health facility.”

“And what about Felicity? You gonna charge her for stealing the vial?” Elizabeth held the vial up in her hand.

“Can’t. We don’t have any real proof that she stole it. She’ll argue that her fingerprints were on the box legitimately. It would be a waste of the taxpayers’ money to even try. And now that it’s recovered,” Striker shrugged, “I guess it’s not that big of a deal.”

Cordelia studied Striker with hawk-like eyes. “And just how did you get involved in all this? You’re sheriff of the neighboring county. Is there not enough work over there to keep you busy? I know you help Gus out with homicides, but this was hardly a deadly matter.”

“Oh, I guess you could say I had a familial interest in the whole affair.” Striker’s eyes drifted over to the corner where Pandora noticed the ghosts of Hester and Obsidian were swirling around. She knew by their energy that their business here was done and they could finally pass over.

Hester waved to Striker and he gave her a curt nod. Obsidian raised his paw in a final farewell and Pandora echoed the gesture. Then they were gone.

Willa’s forehead creased. Her eyes flicked to the corner where the ghosts had just disappeared.

“What were you nodding at?” she asked Striker.

“What?” He turned to look at Willa. “I wasn’t nodding at anything … I was just watching a fly buzz around.”

Willa whipped around to the corner. “A fly? Where? There are no flies in here. I keep this place clean.” Then she turned suspicious eyes on Striker as if she was beginning to realize he was keeping something from her. “And just what do you mean you had a familial interest.”

“It turns out Hester Warren was my great great great great great aunt. Or something like that,” Striker said. “I’m not sure how many greats, but she was an ancestor so I guess I just kind of took an interest in the case. The box was apparently passed down to her through family lines.”

“Wait a minute,” Elizabeth said. “So, by rights this vial and the box belong to you.”

Striker glanced at Danforth. “Well, I'm not really sure. There’s some question as to whose family line it belongs to. The families in this area are so intertwined, it’s impossible to tell. Heck, most of us are related in some fashion or another. But if it did belong to me, I would want it to go in the museum.”

“And if it belonged to me I would want it in there, too,” Danforth said.

“So it’s settled, then.” Elizabeth was still holding the vial up in her hand. She twirled it around. “But I thought there was something in here when we dug it up. What was it and where did it go?”

“It sure must have been something important if it was kept in that fancy vial and locked away in that silver box,” Hattie pointed out.

“Yes, perhaps some sort of a magical potion or elixir,” Cordelia added, her eyes sparkling.

Elizabeth frowned at the vial. “That’s silly. There’s no such thing as magical potions. It was probably just some old perfume or something. If it was anything important, I’m sure the police would know.” Elizabeth glanced at Striker.

“Probably just colored water or something. We didn't have it tested or anything so we don't know exactly what it was.” Striker glanced at the cats. “And if anyone else does, they aren’t telling.”

“Well, honestly, it seems like this whole thing was much ado about nothing,” Cordelia said. “I mean, it's just an old box.”

“Right,” Hattie scoffed. “The way Rebecca flipped out and the way everyone was fighting over it, you'd think the box had the fate of Mystic Notch nestled inside.”

The two old ladies laughed and everyone joined them.

“I guess that does seem pretty silly. Thankfully, Rebecca's issues have nothing to do with the fate of Mystic Notch, even though she was the mayor.” Striker slid his eyes over to the cats, who were all basking in the sun on the windowsill. “And even with her erratic behavior, I'm pretty confident that the fate of our little town is in very good hands.”

T
he end
.

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