“I was looking into who was in town that morning and someone saw Ophelia Withington here at the church.”

Emma’s back stiffened at the mention of Ophelia’s name, and her face took on a sour look.

I continued, “She said she was here and I was wondering if you saw her.”

“Here? At the church? Certainly not. Why, she’s done everything she can to…” Emma let her voice trail off and looked around as if to make sure no one had heard her.

“To what?” I prompted.

“Well, let’s just say she was no friend of the church,” Emma said primly. “Just what did she say she was doing here?”

“She said she was lighting a candle for Pete.”

Emma huffed. “Well, that right there proves she was lying.”

“Why’s that?”

“This church doesn’t have candles.”

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

Pandora was waiting for me in the bookshop window. I unlocked the door, cashed out the register and then locked up again. We trotted to the Jeep together.

I glanced back toward the church as I drove out of the parking lot.

“So, Ophelia lied about lighting a candle at the church … which makes me wonder what else she lied about,” I said out loud.

“Meow.” Pandora blinked at me, her luminescent eyes taking on more of a green tint in the afternoon light.

“But, then again, that also means that Lavinia lied about lighting a candle.”

Pandora licked her front paw, running it behind her ear a few times.

“Why would they both lie? Did the two of them share a secret? And, if so, did that have anything to do with Lavinia’s death?”

“Meoow!” A gray paw snaked out and tapped my arm.

“What?” I looked at Pandora who simply withdrew her paw, but not before snagging her claw on the fabric of my turtleneck.

“Ahh, geez.” I twisted my arm, looking at the pinprick-sized hole in my shirt. “Thanks a lot.”

“Mew.” She curled into a ball and purred noisily all the way home.

I pulled into the driveway, and instead of racing me to the back door, Pandora trotted off toward the path that led to Elspeth’s house.

“Hey, where are you going? Don’t you want supper?” I yelled after her.

She responded by flicking her tail at me and breaking into a run.

“Sheesh, I must be lonelier than I thought. Now I’m talking to the cat,” I said out loud to no one. Thoughts of Sheriff Striker invaded my head. He was kind of cute, but I wasn’t really sure I wanted to get involved with anyone right now. My marriage had ended badly only a few years ago and the thought of going through anything like that again didn’t appeal to me.