Pandora watched Willa and Pepper get into Willa’s Jeep. Finally! She’d thought Willa would never leave. Her seventh sense had told her hours ago that the cats were on the scent of Nathan Anderson, and she didn’t want to miss out.

Pandora ran for the closet and made her escape, glancing back down the street to see Barney Delaney at the front door of the bookshop. Oh well, he wasn’t going to get in for another free reference book. Yeah, Pandora had been keeping track, and Barney still owed Willa money.

She watched as he cupped his hands to his face and looked in the narrow window beside the oak door then peered into the front window. Finally, he noticed the closed sign and proceeded to take a blue Post-it note pad out of his pocket, write a note, and stick it on the window. Who carried Post-it note pads with them?

Maybe he was going to make good on that book, though. That would be good. Willa needed to watch finances to keep Pandora supplied with the premium cat food she favored. Speaking of Willa, Pandora was getting a little frustrated with the lack of communication. Sure, it seemed like Willa was warming to the idea of communicating with her, but she was getting the transmissions all wrong.

Take all her talk about Felicity Bates last night, for example. Pandora had tried to tell her Felicity was not the killer and that she didn’t have the letter, but did Willa listen? No. She thought Pandora was expressing her dislike for Felicity. Granted she liked the redheaded witch about as much as she liked getting a hairball stuck in her throat, but that was totally not what she’d been trying to tell her human.

It made Pandora nervous because she didn’t want Willa to focus on Felicity and ignore the real killer. But if that killer was Nathan Anderson and the cats could do something to catch him today, maybe she wouldn’t have to worry about Willa’s safety much longer.

Pandora turned and raced toward the section of town where her instincts told her the other cats were hunting Nathan. She didn’t have a minute to lose.

* * *

The High Street Clinic was shiny and modern. It was fairly new, built in the past few years, and the waiting room was pungent with the scent of rubbing alcohol. We asked for Hattie’s niece and were told to wait in the plush waiting room, which was practically empty.

A soap opera played on the wall-mounted large-screen TV, and we waited patiently. Soon, a perky woman in her late thirties, dressed in pink scrubs, came out to greet us.

“Hi, I’m Elise.” She held her hand out and looked at us expectantly.

I shook her hand. “I’m Willa Chance, from Last Chance Books. I’m a friend of your aunts, Hattie and Cordelia.”

“Oh. They’re actually my great aunts. Aren’t they a hoot?” Elise said.

“They sure are.”

Concern flickered in her brown eyes. “I hope nothing has happened to them.”

“Oh no, not at all. I just came by to give you this.” I shoved the coupon at her. “I’m running a promotion for friends and family of my favorite customers. Hattie and Cordelia told me how busy you are, and I had an errand nearby, so thought I would drop it off.”

She looked down at the coupon. “Why, that’s very nice. Thank you.”

Her eyes fell on Pepper, and Pepper shoved the travel mug at her. “And I’m Pepper St. Onge. I run The Tea Shoppe downtown, and I brought a special tea to introduce you to my herbal blends.”

Elise took the mug and looked at it, apparently not sure what to do with it.

“There’s tea in it. It’s hot and freshly made. It’ll taste the best if you drink it now,” Pepper added.

“Okay.” Elise took the mug and sipped then smacked her lips together. “Well, it is quite tasty. What is it?”

“It’s a blend of herbs and flowers. It’s supposed to give you energy for your workday. I figured it would be especially good for you, since you work with a lot of sick people, because it also has medicinal properties that will help bolster your immune system.”

I glanced sideways at Pepper. Had she just made that up, or was it really true?

“That sounds perfect.” Elise took another big gulp.

I glanced at Pepper again. Was it okay for me to start questioning her? Pepper nodded subtly.

“Have you heard about Albert Schumer, the retired postmaster? I think your aunts knew him.”

“Oh, yes. Terrible. Albert was a nice man. He used to come in for his lipid tests.” Elise made a face as if she realized she shouldn’t have told us that.

“Right, and his son-in-law, Desmond, came here too for his carpal tunnel.”

“Oh, yes. That’s right. He did. Dr. Green operated on him. I believe that was about a month ago, but his stitches got infected. Now, you know, I told him to watch out for that. Not to get it wet. Keep it covered. Not to get anything on it and to clean it very carefully because infections can set in easily.” Elise covered her mouth with her free hand and glanced at the tea. She hiccuped then added, “In fact, he was right here at the very time Albert died. The police came and asked me about it. I could vouch because I happened to be on duty.”

So much for him faking his alibi.

“Are you sure?”

Elsie slurped more of the drink. “Yes, I even double-checked in the system for the police. It’s all computerized with the time the patient comes in and so on.”

“I’d heard a rumor that he didn’t even really need that operation,” I said.

“Oh, no. He needed it. His job is very repetitive, and he had a strain in his arm. I know it was quite necessary.”

“Really? And you don’t think he could work?”

“Oh, no. There’s no working for at least eight weeks after it, and he’s still not even in his eighth week.”

The receptionist slid the glass window open. “Elise, Dr. Martin needs you in room five.”

“Oh, gotta go.” Elise held up the mug and coupon. “Thanks for stopping by.”

She disappeared through a door, and I turned to Pepper. “Will she be okay to work?”

“She’ll be fine. The tea wears off quickly.” Pepper held the door open for me, and we exited out into the sunshine. “It may cause her to confess to any doctors she has a secret crush on them, though that may not necessarily be a bad thing.”

“So I guess Desmond can’t be the killer,” I said as we got settled in my Jeep.

“Seems like his alibi is airtight if it’s tracked in the system, and Elise would have told you the truth.” A self-satisfied smile played on Pepper’s lips. “Because she drank my tea.”

“I’m not sure if I’m happy about that or not.” I pulled out of the parking lot and headed back toward our shops. “I’m glad for Albert, but Desmond seemed sketchy. He had dealings with Nathan Anderson, and I saw Nathan with Felicity outside my shop.”

“Nathan and Felicity could be in on it together,” Pepper said. “Emma told you she saw Nathan driving away from the post office that morning, and we know Felicity isn’t exactly one to want positivity in Mystic Notch.”

“I also saw Nathan following Barney Delaney… Either that, or he was spying on me.”

“Maybe he was spying for Felicity.”

“Hmm… Good point. I hadn’t thought about that,” I said. “Either way, I think I’ll warn Barney to be careful. He’s a bit of a grouch, but I don’t want to see anything happen to him.”

“So you don’t think he might have killed Albert to win the checkers tournament?” Pepper asked.

I glanced over at her. Was she serious? “That would be kind of drastic, wouldn’t it?”

“Yeah, I suppose. Hester’s letter is a much more compelling reason for murder, and we don’t even know if it had a rare stamp. Desmond might have tried to sell it to Barney, but then it would likely just be the envelope.”

“And Barney would have just bought it, not waited around to kill Albert for it,” I said. “According to Albert, he gave Desmond post office memorabilia, so that might have been what Desmond tried to sell to Barney. Desmond probably didn’t know a thing about the letter and its magical ramifications.”

“Yeah, and Desmond isn’t from an old Mystic Notch family, but Nathan and Felicity are,” Pepper pointed out as I parked at the curb.

We said our goodbyes and headed toward our individual shops. A quick glance at Pandora’s empty cat bed perked me up. The fact that she wasn’t lazing around made me feel better about her health. She was probably in back, scheming up some kind of payback for leaving without her.

For once, I might not mind that she’d knocked all my pens on the floor or clawed all the toilet paper off the roll in the bathroom and papered my back hall with it. I wouldn’t even mind a hairball under the couch if it meant Pandora was back to her usual perky self.

As I dug out my key, my mind drifted to Felicity. I’d seen her outside the shop, arguing about a letter with Nathan. And why would they be arguing? Only one reason. One of them had it, and the other one wanted it. I mentally crossed Desmond off my list and moved Felicity and Nathan to the top. I really wanted it to be Felicity—and I was sure she wanted the letter—but it was Nathan’s car that had been seen fleeing the murder scene.

But then why had Nathan been following Barney? Why wasn’t he running around town, digging up the ingredients? Hmm… Maybe not all the ingredients were buried in the earth.

Pepper had said that Hester Warren had buried and hidden ingredients. Maybe some of them were hidden in other items. Antique items. Barney had a lot of strange old antiques. Maybe one of the ingredients was right in his shop. But if so, why wouldn’t Nathan just buy it? Barney had seemed disgusted with Desmond and Nathan before. Was it possible he’d refused to sell it to Nathan, and Nathan was planning to take it by force? Perhaps use the tools he’d claimed had been stolen from his shed?

Had Nathan been stalking Barney to try to figure out when he could break into his shop and take the item? But he hadn’t broken in. If he had, Striker would have told me. He might still be intending to break in, and if he got desperate enough, he might not care whether Barney was there or not. My gut clenched—Barney could be in danger.

As I fished out my key, I noticed a blue Post-it note stuck to the side window. Speak of the devil, it was a note from Barney. He wanted me to stop by his shop to settle up for the book I’d let him take. I was sure he’d still be open.

It was late afternoon, and the street behind me was practically empty. No sign of Nathan Anderson’s silver Prius. No sign of Felicity either. That made me feel safer. The promise I’d made to Striker about being careful rang in my ears, but walking to Barney’s antique store could hardly be dangerous if Nathan and Felicity were nowhere about.

I cast another glance at the empty cat bed. Maybe it was a good time to pay Barney a visit and collect my money. I could warn him to watch out for Nathan. Hopefully, by the time I got back, Pandora would be done wreaking whatever kind of havoc she had in store for me inside the shop. I shoved the Post-it note in my pocket and headed toward Barney’s.