Deja Moo

Book 3: A Perfectly Proper Paranormal Museum Mystery

by Kirsten Weiss

Genres: Holiday books; Cozy Mystery; Animal Cozy Mysteries; Cozy Mystery; christmas murder; light paranormal

Synopsis

The holiday season turns udderly dangerous for Maddie and her paranormal museum.

Maddie Kosloski is no fan of San Benedetto's Christmas Cow, a thirty-foot straw bovine that graces the town square every December. For one thing, the cow displaces her paranormal museum as the number one tourist attraction. Plus, every year, despite around-the-clock surveillance, the cow goes up in flames.

But this year, there's more than just a fire blazing in Maddie's wine-country hometown. One of the Christmas Cow guards has been found with an arrow in his chest, and Maddie's new haunted cowbell exhibit is fueling a panic. Are the spirits in her museum getting too hot to handle? If Maddie can't stop the hysteria—and the murderous archer—her holiday plans might not be the only thing full of holes.

Release date: June 13, 2020

Publisher: misterio press

Print pages: 362

Sample

one

 

I aimed the flashlight beneath the hood of my vintage pickup and frowned at the tangle of wires. 

The night was cold and still, aside from the occasional metallic squeak of my feet on the chrome bumper. No breeze rustled the dying vines in the nearby vineyard or stirred the bare branches of the apple orchard on the other side of the road. Stars blazed brittle and cold, undimmed by the lights of nearby Sacramento.

Rubbing my arms, I regretted my wardrobe choice. My jeans, Henley, and electric-blue down vest weren’t enough for winter in central California. I undid my ponytail, letting my wavy brown hair fall around my shoulders for warmth.

I tugged lightly on a cable leading to something I couldn’t name. Yep, it was still attached. So why had my truck died?

True, the red pickup was over fifty years old. But my dad had babied it like a prize heifer. After my dad died, my now-ex boyfriend Mason had made sure the truck continued running like a dream. 

I hopped off the bumper, thudded hard to the uneven ground, stumbled, and winced. The drop would have been lighter if I’d ever been able to lose those last ten pounds. But blue eyed and freckled, I seemed doomed to be shaped like my central European peasant ancestors.

Something rustled in the vineyard. Giving a little jump, I turned my flashlight in that direction. The unsteady beam elongated the shadows of hunched and twisted grapevines, their gnarled arms reaching.

Shivering, I turned back to my pickup. I’d promised to help my mother guard San Benedetto’s most sacred bovine—the Christmas cow—and I was an hour late. Every year, a committee of representatives from local government, the Ladies Aid Society and the Dairy Association built a thirty-foot straw cow, and every year, someone set it on fire. Well, nearly every year. It got run down by an RV once. Now people placed bets on the cow’s fate.

Twin headlights appeared on the arrow-straight road. 

I swallowed, remembering every single urban legend about bad things and dark crossroads. Striding to the driver’s side of my truck, I opened the door and tried to remember where I’d put my phone.

The headlights grew larger.

Movements jerky, I scrabbled in my purse on the passenger seat. So what if the road was deserted? San Benedetto wasn’t the scary big city. I was safe. Totally, totally safe.

The driver was probably a farmer on his way home. Or a tourist who’d waited to sober up after too much wine tasting before getting in his car. It wasn’t a psycho killer armed with an ax and creepy clown mask.

“Totally safe,” I muttered.

The car roared closer, its lights blinding. I could tell by the wideset headlights that it was big, a sedan with ample trunk room for bodies. 

The car slowed. The driver had spotted me.

Heart rabbiting, I turned my purse upside down on the seat. A wallet, breath mints, a candy wrapper, museum brochures, and my phone tumbled out. My phone skidded sideways, fell to the floor, and bounced beneath my seat. Stooping, I rummaged for it.

A window whirred down. “Maddie?” a man asked.

Phone in hand, I jerked upright and gasped with relief. “Detective Slate?” Jason Slate was one of our local cops, and a good one. 

“What’s going on? Car trouble?” He unfolded himself from the car, his shadow long on the asphalt. Tall, dark, and handsome, with broad shoulders and narrow hips, Detective Slate stood somewhere over six feet tall. He was in a suit, so I guessed he’d just gotten off work on the wrong side of midnight.

And even though I knew he wasn’t going to dismember me and fertilize the vineyard with ground-Maddie, my heart beat more quickly. I had a crush on the cop. 

“The engine died. I was about to call my mom,” I said, my cheeks warming. “And then a tow truck.” It wasn’t like I went running to mommy every time something went wrong.

“Is she guarding the cow tonight?”

I bumped against the open truck door. “Yes, and I’m late.” My mother did not tolerate late. 

Slate grinned. “No one’s been able to really explain that tradition to me. What does a straw cow have to do with Christmas?”

“It’s Swedish.”

“So I’ve been told, and why Swedish?” he asked. “San Benedetto was founded by Italians.”

“Because of the great Swedish influx of 1908. That’s when the Jorgensen family arrived.”

“One family makes an influx?”

Leaves rustled on dry earth and I glanced at the vineyard. “It did in 1908 San Benedetto.”

“Now I know you’re pulling my leg.”

“Nope. Serious. It was a really big family.”

“Did they force-feed local history to you in grade school?”

If they had, I couldn’t remember it. “I researched Swedish Christmas traditions as part of my Paranormal Christmas exhibit at the museum.” The phone buzzed in my hand and I checked the screen. “That’s my mom now. Do you mind?”

“Go ahead.”

“Hi—”

“Madelyn, this is your mother,” she said, terse. “Don’t come. I repeat, do not come.”

My scalp prickled. “What—?”

“The cow is under attack.”

“Attack?” My grip tightened on the phone. “What’s happening?”

Slate straightened. “Maddie?”

“Oh my God. The gingerbread men!” she shrieked, and the phone disconnected.

“Mom? Mom!” I shouted into the dial tone. Oh-my-God-oh-my-God-oh-my-God. My mom is never flustered. She’s known for always being perfectly, terrifyingly in control right down to her ironed jeans. But her voice had held an unmistakable thread of panic.

“What’s happening?” Slate asked, his tone hard and brisk.

“The Christmas cow’s under attack. My mom’s there!” 

“Get in.”

But I was already sliding into the passenger side of his sedan. The attackers were probably trying to set the cow on fire. What if my mom tried to stop them or attempted to put out the flames herself?

Slate revved the engine. Spitting gravel, we tore onto the road. He grabbed the radio between us and shouted numbers to the dispatcher. 

I buckled up and grasped the dashboard, straining forward as if that would make us go faster. 

He flicked a switch and a siren wailed. “There are always two people on guard, aren’t there?” he asked.

“Usually. But my mom didn’t think the other guard tonight would be much help, so she asked me to stop by.” It was nearly two a.m., the end of my mom’s shift.

“Who’s her partner?”

“Some guy from the Dairy Association.”

“She’ll be okay,” Slate said. “Those farmers are tougher than they look.”

My fingertips whitened on the dash. “Can you go any faster?”

He accelerated. “And since the cow attacks began … what was it, thirty years ago?”

“It was 1988.” You never forget your first straw cow conflagration. 

“Since then, these cow arsonists have never hurt anyone. They’re probably just kids. I’m sure your mom is okay.”

I gasped. Ahead, an orange glow lit the night sky. “The cow!” 

My mom had failed, and like my truck, my mom never failed. Had we reached the end times? Had my broken-down pickup been an omen? Not that I believe in omens. Just because I own a paranormal museum doesn’t mean I have to believe in all things supernatural. True, I’d seen some odd stuff at the museum. But nothing I couldn’t attribute to a trick of the light or … something.

The edge of the phone bit into my palm. Hands shaking, I dialed my mom. The call went to voicemail. 

We roared through the adobe arch that proclaimed Welcome to San Benedetto. Clouds of black smoke billowed down the street. 

We passed the brick bank and the local microbrewery, their windows dark for the night. I glanced at the dash clock. It was two fifteen in the morning, and San Benedetto sidewalks rolled up at eleven. The arsonists had timed their attack well. As usual.

Other sirens wailed, red and blue lights flashing through the roiling smoke. 

We screeched to a halt beside the park, and I gaped. The thirty-foot cow was now just a metal skeleton atop a smoldering ash heap. 

Firemen piled from their trucks. 

A slender figure staggered through the ashes.

I leapt from the sedan. “Mom!” I raced to her. “Mom, are you okay?”

Blue eyes wide, she stared through me. “Gingerbread men,” she moaned. 

“What happened?” I clutched her shoulders, assuring myself she was in one piece. Her cropped, silvery-blond hair stood up in places. Her orange safety-fleece jacket was gritty with ash.

Slate jogged across the park to us. “Mrs. Kosloski, are you hurt?”

She gulped, shook her head, straightened. “I’m fine. There was a gang. They shot flaming arrows into the cow. Flaming arrows!” She grasped my wrist. “Arrows!”

“Can you describe the people who did this?” Slate asked.

Anger flashed across her soot-stained face. “Right down to the icing. They were dressed as gingerbread men with candy buttons and … and …” Her lips quivered.

“What?” he prodded gently.

“Santa Claus,” she whispered. “He was involved.”

“No,” I said, shocked. Christmas was my mother’s favorite holiday, and Saint Nicholas her favorite saint. And she wasn’t even Catholic. 

She actually had a Santa Claus toilet seat cover. If the seat’s up, Santa covers his eyes with his mittens. When I was a kid, the wealth of tinsel and glitter in our house made the holidays magical. As an adult … heck, I still loved it.

“What will the children think?” My mother clutched Slate’s arm. “There must be a way to …” She shook her head. “No, we won’t be able to keep Santa’s involvement out of the papers, not with the webcams.”

“Webcams?” The detective’s golden-brown eyes narrowed.

“Webcam,” I said. “Singular. Leo helped them rig one this year so other townsfolk could help guard the cow from their computers.” My assistant at the Paranormal Museum was versatile.

“And the video feed is recorded?” Slate asked.

“It’s on three-second intervals,” I said.

“I’ll need to see that video,” he said.

My mother buried her head in her hands. “It’s probably all over the Internet by now,” she wailed. “What will the children think?”

“How many attackers were involved?” Slate asked.

“It’s hard to say. They were all moving so quickly, and it was dark. I think there were four gingerbread men plus Santa.”

“Where’s the guy who’s supposed to be helping you guard?” I asked.

“Bill.” Her lip curled. “Since he’s president of the Dairy Association, he thinks he’s too good for guard duty.”

“But where is he?” Slate asked. “He didn’t go after the arsonists, did he?” 

She motioned vaguely at the park, the burnt metal skeleton, the gazebo. “I don’t know. We agreed to guard opposite sides of the cow. I had the street side, and he had the creek. And then I was surrounded by laughing gingerbread men and flaming arrows were flying everywhere. It happened so fast.”

“Thanks,” Slate said and walked toward the creek. 

My mother and I looked at each other, then followed him past the gazebo. 

Firemen showered water on the ashes. A jet of water hit a white canvas sign and sent it flying to the ground.

“I knew we shouldn’t have built the Christmas Cow this year,” my mother said, edging around a park bench. “This always happens. And the worst of it is, I really think people look forward to the fire more than the cow!”

I knew they did, but I patted her on the back. “It’s okay.”

“No, it isn’t. San Benedetto has changed, Madelyn. Murders. Flaming arrows!”

“At least we haven’t had a murder with a flaming arrow.”

“That isn’t funny.”

“No.” I sighed. “I’m sorry.”

Slate shuffled sideways down the creek bank.

“Do you think Bill went after the miscreants?” she asked me. “I hope he’s not hurt.”

I shook my head and watched Slate pick his way down the uneven slope. The creek ran low in December, but its bank was filled with prickly bushes that plucked at the detective’s suit. I turned toward the gazebo. “Which way did the gingerbread men go?”

“Everywhere,” she said. “They scattered. Laughing. As if arson was a joke!”

“They were probably kids. To them, a giant flaming cow is funny. And no one got … hurt.” I cocked my head. A dark pile of rags lay slumped over the rear gazebo steps. Dread slowed my breath. “What’s that?”

My mother’s face paled. She hurried forward. “Bill?”

I trotted to catch up, then stumbled to a halt.

A middle-aged man lay sprawled on the gazebo steps, his eyes wide, staring. An arrow stuck upright from his chest.

 

 

two

 

Dead. A man was dead. My brain tilt-a-whirled, my stomach twisting. Getting a grip on myself, I raced to the top of the gully and stumbled over a loose rock in the darkness. Slate’s flashlight beam bobbed on the opposite side of the low creek.

“Detective Slate!”

The light swiveled, hitting me in the chest. “I found tracks leading across the stream,” he said. “I think they go to the high school.” He sloshed back across the creek. “What did you find?”

“Bill Eldrich,” I said, voice splintering. “He’s … he’s dead.” 

“Where?” Bent low for balance, the detective ran up the slope toward me.

“The gazebo.” I nodded in that direction. 

My mother had backed away from the body. Two firemen in helmets and sturdy coats knelt beside the lump on the gazebo steps. I rubbed my chest.

Slate strode past me to the gazebo. 

I stood paralyzed. The creek splashed against the rocks below. Radios crackled. A man shouted. 

I dug into my down vest and pulled out my cell phone, called Leo.

After a few rings, my museum assistant picked up. “Maddie?” Loud music blared in the background.

“Hi, Leo. You’re not in a bar, are you?” My sole employee wasn’t yet twenty-one, but he was on his own in the world. I couldn’t help worrying about him.

He laughed. “I get enough mothering from Mrs. Gale. And no, I’m not in a bar. I’m at a party. What’s up?”

“The cow burned down.”

“No way! Hold on.” He shouted something, and there was the sound of cheers and whooping. “I always miss the action,” he said into the phone. “Were you there? Did you see it go up?”

“No, but my mom was. The police want to see a copy of the webcam footage.” 

“Oh,” he said, sobering. “Is your mom okay? She wasn’t hurt, was she?”

“No, but the police need to see that footage.”

“You mean … now?”

“Now.”

“Are you at the cow?”

I stared at the pile of sopping ashes beneath the metal frame. “What’s left of it.” The firemen had done a thorough job killing the embers. The park stank of smoke and wet straw.

“I’ll get to the museum and post it on YouTube, then—”

“No.” My grip tightened on the phone. “Don’t.” 

Sirens wailed in the distance.

“Why not?” Leo asked. “That’s what the plan was.”

“I know, but … Don’t tell anyone, but the Dairy Association president was killed.” I probably shouldn’t have told him this, but he’d hear about it soon enough. And I trusted him not to blab the news at the party.

Leo sucked in his breath. “Damn. But your mom’s okay.”

“She is. Can you email the video to Detective Slate? I’ll explain everything tomorrow.”

“Sure. What’s his address?”

I recited it, shouting above the blaring sirens, then scrunched my brows. Even to me it seemed odd that I had a detective’s email address memorized. In my defense, it was an easy one to remember. Plus, Slate had helped me research objects in my museum connected to local historical crimes. 

And in the past, I might have been peripherally involved in a crime or two.

A blue Mustang with flashing lights screeched to a halt by the park. An Amazon with short blond hair emerged and surveyed the scene, fists on the hips of her tight pantsuit. 

My shoulders hunched. 

“If the police are still there,” Leo said, “I can come and bring the file.”

Leery, I eyed the newcomer, Slate’s partner Detective Laurel Hammer. “Uh, no thanks. That’s okay.”

“Are those sirens? The cow’s not still on fire, is it?”

“No, it’s out. There mustn’t be much happening tonight, so the entire fire and police departments are here.”

Laurel spotted me. Nostrils flaring, she stormed across the remains of the cow.

Discretion being the better part of valor, I hustled toward my mother, who was speaking with Detective Slate beside the gazebo.

“Kosloski!” Laurel shouted. “Halt!”

My mother turned. 

I kept moving, head down, phone pressed to my ear. “Gotta go. I’ll tell Slate to expect that email.” I hung up.

“Leo’s going to email you the video file from the webcam,” I said brightly. “I told him it was urgent.”

Slate nodded.

“Kosloski!”

My mother waved. “Over here, Detective Hammer.”

“I can see where you are,” Laurel snarled. “What I don’t understand is why your daughter didn’t stop when I told her to.”

“Oh,” my mother said, “Madelyn never does what she’s told anymore. It’s strange, since she was such a well-behaved child.”

A muscle beat in Laurel’s jaw. “What happened?”

“Mr. William Eldrich is dead.” Slate pointed to the body with his pen. “Apparently killed by one of the Christmas Cow attackers. Mrs. Kosloski was in the middle of telling me what she witnessed. We’ve got webcam footage being emailed to the station. Mrs. Kosloski, would you mind repeating what you told me?”

My mother nodded, her silver earrings swaying. “Certainly. As you know, the Christmas Cow is a long-standing tradition in San Benedetto and a tribute to our sister city in Sweden. Only they have a giant goat. I’m sure you also know that nearly every year someone sets our cow on fire.”

Laurel shifted, scowling.

“Except for that year it got hit by the RV and knocked into the creek,” I said, enjoying the history because Laurel was not. She already knew the legend of the Christmas Cow. The whole state did.

“And the cow survived ’86, ’98, ’04, and ’05,” my mom said.

Three police cars roared by and came to a stop. The uniformed officers leapt out and converged on us. 

“The body is on the rear gazebo steps,” Slate said to them. “You know what to do.”

The uniformed cops nodded and hurried to the gazebo.

“And tonight?” Laurel prompted.

My mother drew a long, shuddering breath. “Mr. Eldrich, who’s the president of the Dairy Association, and I were guarding the Christmas Cow. We’d agreed to man opposite sides for better coverage. I was near the street. He took the creek side, thinking any potential arsonists might attack from the direction of the high school.” Her breath hitched. “We were both right. They came from all directions, yelling and whooping and shooting flaming arrows. The monsters were everywhere! There was nothing I could do to stop them. We were fools to try,” she said, mournful.

“But you had time to call your daughter,” Slate said.

I shot him a dark look. What was he implying? This was my mother, President of Ladies Aid he was talking about!

“I’d begun dialing right before the attack began. Madelyn was late—”

Laurel snorted.

“—and I wondered what had happened to her. Then the arrows started flying, and all I could think was to tell her to stay away.”

“When was the last time you saw Mr. Eldrich alive?” Slate asked.

My mom’s cheeks pinked. “Our shift began at ten o’clock. He was late. I think he arrived around ten thirty. I’m afraid I was rather severe with him.”

“You argued?” Laurel asked sharply.

“Of course not,” I said.

“Oh, no, Madelyn,” my mother said. “We had strong words.”

My stomach bottomed. What was she doing? You never tell the cops you had a motive to kill someone. Not that anyone could seriously think my mother was involved, especially not anyone as smart as Detective Slate.

“He thought being president of the Dairy Association meant he didn’t have to pitch in on projects like these,” my mother said. “But when you’re president, it’s important to set a good example. If you don’t care about the project, then why should you expect anyone else to? Unfortunately, Bill had such an unpleasant attitude that I didn’t explain my philosophy as calmly as I could have.”

“How did you explain it?” Laurel asked.

“What does it matter?” I asked. “My mom didn’t shoot an arrow through him because he was late for guard duty.”

Laurel eyed me. “All right, Kosloski. Why don’t you come over here and tell me what you saw?”

Now they were separating the witnesses? I knew what this meant. Laurel thought my mother might actually have something to do with the murder. I shifted my weight, and something cracked beneath my foot. I lifted my tennis shoe. A broken arrow lay in the straw, the wood cracked like a number two pencil after the SATs. 

Whoops. “Sorry,” I said.

Laurel growled, stepping closer.

“Miss Kosloski was with me,” Slate said, his tone mild. 

Laurel sucked in her cheeks and took a step backward. 

“Her truck was stalled on the side of the road,” he said. “I’d pulled over to assist when the call came in from her mother. We drove here together.”

“Maddie!” a woman shouted. 

Laurel hissed, “Finkielkraut.” 

I turned. One of my best friends, Adele Nakamoto, was hurrying across the park. Her boyfriend, Dieter Finkielkraut, loped beside her. The two were a classic example of opposites attracting: Adele’s parents owned a vineyard; she owned a hoity-toity tea room, which had the misfortune of being next to my low-brow paranormal museum; and she had a penchant for Jackie Kennedy-style suits, though tonight she was dressed like a pink snow bunny in a furry parka and white jeans. Dieter was a shaggy-haired, devil-may-care contractor, who worked to ski and ran a bookie business on the side. 

My eyes narrowed. Dieter specialized in odd bets, such as when and if the Christmas Cow would burn. No wonder they’d turned up.

“Look what the cat dragged in,” Laurel said. “Fancy finding you here, Finkielkraut.”

He grinned and saluted with one finger.

“There’s smoke drifting down Main Street,” Adele said. “I thought my tearoom might be on fire. Maddie, what are you doing here? Are you all right?”

“My mom was on Christmas Cow duty.”

“Oh no!” Adele’s eyes widened. “Mrs. Kosloski, were you hurt? You’re covered in soot.”

“Am I?” My mom brushed off her pressed jeans. “No, I’m fine, Adele. Thank you for asking.”

Laurel smiled unpleasantly. “It’s nearly three a.m. What were you two doing on Main Street? Nothing’s open at this hour.”

Dieter looped a muscular arm around Adele. “We just got back from Tahoe.”

“On a Thursday morning,” Laurel said, voice flat and disbelieving.

“It was so romantic,” Adele said, her breath visible in the chill night air. “We snowshoed through the forest at night and picnicked in a clearing overlooking the lake.”

And even though it was totally inappropriate for me to feel a twinge of jealousy, I did. It had only been two months since my boyfriend Mason and I broke up. I’d gotten past the hurt, but I was keenly aware of my single status.

Slate cleared his throat. “All right. I need to speak with Mrs. Kosloski alone. Laurel?”

Laurel marched the rest of us across the street, and we dutifully lined up beside my mother’s butter-colored Lincoln. After pinning us in place with a glare, she strode back across the park toward the gazebo.

“Wow,” Adele said. “The police are really taking this year’s cow burning seriously.”

“That’s because it’s more than arson,” I said in a low voice. “The other guard, Mr. Eldrich from the Dairy Association, was killed.”

Adele gasped. 

Dieter hugged her shoulders more tightly. “Killed?” 

“They attacked with flaming arrows,” I said. “Mr. Eldrich was hit.”

“Oh my God.” Adele pressed a hand to her mouth. “Your mother could have been killed. I always thought the annual Christmas Cow shenanigans were funny. But this is terrible. We knew Mr. Eldrich.”

“We did?” I asked blankly. I’d spent most of my adult life overseas, only coming home last year. I was still getting reacquainted with my hometown.

“Remember?” Adele said. “We took a school trip to visit his dairy farm. Harper got to milk a cow.”

“Oh, right.” I’d gotten chased through a field by a cow, scrambled over a fence to escape, caught my shirt on a post, and exposed myself to the entire fifth grade. No wonder I’d blotted out the memory. “Did he have any family?”

Adele shook her head. “Not anymore. His wife died five years ago. They never had children.”

“It must have been an accident,” Dieter muttered. “Kids with arrows, lots of chaos …”

“Dieter,” I said, “were you taking bets on the cow this year?”

He glanced toward the gazebo and Laurel and the milling cops. “I can’t talk about it here.”

I crossed my arms. “Dieter—”

“I’ve kept Adele out too late as it is. She’s got to open the tearoom in the morning. Come on, Adele. Let me get you home.”

“We can’t leave Maddie here alone,” Adele said.

“No,” I said, “it’s okay. I’m not alone. My mom’s here. You and Dieter go on.” I gave her what I hoped was a significant look: And wheedle what you can from him about the Christmas Cow betting.

She nodded and yawned. “I’ll see you in the morning. If you need anything, call.”

“Thanks.”

They piled into Dieter’s rickety pickup and drove off, tools and construction equipment rattling in the bed.

Turning toward the park again, I watched and waited. Watched and waited while Slate interrogated my mother. Watched and waited while the cops unrolled yellow police tape around the gazebo. Watched and waited and felt Laurel’s gaze on me the whole time. She and I had a history that went back to junior high. And though I wanted to repair it—we were both adults now—everything I’d tried had made things worse.

My mother walked across the park toward me and I straightened off her Lincoln. If they weren’t taking her into the station for questioning, then she wasn’t a serious suspect. But who could really suspect my mom, president of the San Benedetto Ladies Aid Society, mother of three, and do’er of good deeds? 

“Where’s your truck?” she asked.

“Stalled on Euclid Road by Rift Vineyards.”

“Stalled? Your father’s truck never stalls.” She pursed her lips. “But thank goodness it did, or you would have been here on time. You might have been hurt too.” 

“I don’t need that kind of good luck.”

Her jaw tightened. “Have you called for a tow?”

“I was about to when Detective Slate drove up. And then you called, and we drove here together.”

She patted my shoulder. “The detective’s a good man. Get in. I’ll drive you to your truck and we’ll wait for a tow together.”

“You don’t have to wait with me. You must be exhausted.”

She unlocked the doors and walked to the driver’s side. “Actually, I feel strangely exhilarated.”

“Exhilarated?” I slid inside.

“And angry. This will not stand.”

Uneasy, I twisted the seat belt. “What won’t stand?”

“The attack on the cow. The murder. I’ve had enough. It’s one thing for people to kill each other in Sacramento, but this is San Benedetto. The reason people live here is because it’s a nice, quiet sort of place without big city problems.”

“I doubt people in big cities like crime any more than we do.”

“But don’t you see what’s happening?” My mom started the car and we glided from the curb.

“Kids set the Christmas Cow on fire, like they did last year and the year before that. Flaming arrows probably seemed a fun twist. The cow’s such a big target that even if you don’t know what you’re doing—and I’ll bet none of those gingerbread men did—someone is bound to hit it. It’s horrible that one went astray and hit Mr. Eldrich, but it was an accident,” I said, trying to convince myself. Knobs of anxiety formed in my stomach. It had been an accident, right?

“That was no accident, Madelyn.” 

I edged sideways on the front seat and pressed my back against the door, the better to study her. “What are you talking about?”

“Santa Claus.”

My eyebrows scrunched together. “Santa Claus?”

“Bill had enemies. When you’re the president of an organization like the Dairy Association … or Ladies Aid for that matter … you’re bound to attract them. But Bill delighted in rubbing people the wrong way.”

“Yeah, but accidents do happen to annoying people. And what does that have to do with Santa Claus?”

“All the other attackers were dressed as gingerbread men. Why add a Santa?” My mother piloted the car beneath the adobe arch. The distance between the low brick buildings grew wider.

“Maybe the costume shop ran out of gingerbread men.” Did San Benedetto have a costume shop? Would the Christmas Cow attackers have been stupid enough to rent their costumes?

“Good point. I’ll have to figure out where the costumes came from.”

“What do you mean, you’ll have to figure out?” My voice jumped an octave.

“You’ve taught me a thing or two since you’ve been home.”

“I have?” I gripped the seat belt across my chest.

“I’ve always had confidence in your ability to unravel any problem. Why, look at what you’ve done with that paranormal museum. And you’ve done a marvelous job solving all those murders.”

I squirmed. “I wouldn’t go so far as marvelous.”

“But tonight a man was killed under my watch. Mine. Enough is enough.”

“Detective Slate knows what he’s doing. And the police have resources you don’t.”

“But I have resources they don’t.”

“You do?” I squeaked, not liking the direction this conversation was going.

She didn’t respond, her knuckles whitening on the steering wheel.

A tense silence filled the car. 

The Lincoln purred along the grid of roads, its headlights turning the shadows of the grapevines into wraiths. She pulled up behind my red pickup.

“I’ll call for a tow,” I said. I should have called while we were driving, but I’d been too busy thinking of ways to dissuade my mom from doing what I feared she was going to do—play amateur crime-solver. And yes, I’ve been guilty of exactly the same thing in the past, but it hadn’t been by choice.

“Why don’t you try the ignition again?” she asked. “You never know with these old trucks.”

Too tired to argue, I brushed aside the detritus from my overturned purse and turned the key in the ignition. 

The truck roared to life. 

I pursed my lips. What. The. Heck?

My mother slammed shut the hood of the truck and walked to my open door. “At least that’s one problem solved. I’ll follow you home. Just to make sure it doesn’t stall out again.”

“Thanks,” I said, puzzled. I’d still have to take the pickup into the garage. It had stalled for a reason.

She followed me to my garage apartment beside my aunt’s house and waited in the driveway until I’d unlocked the upstairs door and trudged inside. 

Through the window, I watched her drive away, a roller-coastery, fluttery feeling in my stomach. It didn’t take a fortune teller to predict life was about to go sideways.

 

 

three

 

I yawned, flipped the Closed sign to Open, and slumped behind the paranormal museum’s glass counter. Frost laced the windows overlooking the sidewalk, empty of shoppers at nine a.m. 

Grabbing a feather duster from a hook beneath the register, I did a quick walkthrough, making sure I hadn’t missed anything that needed cleaning. But no spider webs hung from the glossy black crown molding. No dust bunnies congregated on the checkerboard linoleum floor. No haunted photos tilted, askew, on the wall. The secret bookcase door was firmly closed. 

I flipped on the twinkle lights in the Gallery room. Since it was the holiday season, I’d switched my sales inventory to relevant paranormal-themed items, namely holiday fairies. They hung from the ceilings on gauzy wings, perched in the windows on piles of fake snow, posed on tall, black-painted pedestals.

Walking beneath the mistletoe into the Fortune Telling Room, I straightened an antique Ouija board on the circular table. I unlatched the door of the spirit cabinet that could hold two grown men, and the hinges squeaked alarmingly. 

Hands on my hips, I turned slowly, satisfied. Vintage tarot cards, their colors faded by time, lay artfully spread beneath a glass case. I whisked the duster over the antique Houdini poster. 

We were ready for business. 

Returning to my post behind the counter, I stared at my computer screen and yawned again. It’s all well and good to be running around at three a.m. until you have to go to work the next morning—technically, the same morning. 

I pressed play for the nth time and watched the burning of the Christmas Cow. The webcams had been on time lapse, so it was a case of now you see it, now you don’t. One moment, there was the Christmas Cow, a big red bow and papier-mâché cowbell around its neck. A blur of action. Then fire. Lots of fire. The cow builders had doused the straw with some sort of fire-retardant, but the cow had gone up fast anyway. 

GD Cat sauntered across the keyboard and lashed his ebony tail in my face. 

“Oh, come on. You only do this when I’m looking at something important.” I lifted him off the computer. 

He whipped his head around and bit my hand, but only lightly. It was a reminder that he was boss, even if I was the one who filled his kibble bowl.

“Go chase a ghost,” I said. “GD” stands for ghost detecting. The cat and the museum had been a package deal. Our relationship was wary, but the customers liked him, so in spite of his bad attitude he got to stay.

The black cat hissed and leapt off the counter. Tail high, he stalked to the giant papier-mâché cave Leo and I had built in one corner of the room. Gryla the Icelandic Christmas Ogre peered menacingly through a crack in the cave wall. 

Leo and I had gone all-out with displays of paranormal holiday traditions. The only way I was going to earn a decent living off this museum was if I got repeat customers. And that meant I had to change up the exhibits. 

To the Main Room, I’d added a display of vintage postcards featuring Krampus the Christmas Demon, a collection of antique Italian Christmas Witch marionettes, and the pièce de résistance … San Benedetto’s haunted cowbells. They hung on an iron frame in a triangular, almost Christmas-tree shape on the wall between the Fortune Telling and the Gallery rooms. The bells were reputed to bring death to those who heard their ringing. Getting my hands on them had been a major score.

I returned to the beginning of the webcam video and clicked play/pause, play/pause in quick succession to try to catch the gingerbread men in action. But all I saw were quickly vanishing silhouettes. Even Santa was elusive. The webcam had been set on a pole above the gazebo, so there were no images of Mr. Eldrich’s murder. Part of me was relieved, because I really didn’t want to watch someone die. The other part of me was annoyed the video wasn’t more helpful.

On the positive side, my mom was in full view of the webcam the whole time. So at least she was off the hook for the murder.

The bell over the door jingled, and I looked up. 

Two youngish women wearing long red Santa Hats with bells on the ends stood grinning in front of the counter. 

I adjusted my Paranormal Museum hoodie. “Welcome to the paranormal museum.”

“Two tickets please,” one said, glancing around. “Where’s the cat?”

I pointed to the “cave,” where GD huddled at Gryla’s feet. He rolled onto his back, stretching with that eerie plasticity cats have, and then walked to the door of the Fortune Telling Room. He paused, one paw raised, and his ears swiveled. I sighed. The show-off.

The good-for-business show-off.

“Oooh.” One of the women forked over the cash. “Does he see a ghost?”

“Cats are believed to be able to see spirits,” I said, vague. I was agnostic about GD’s abilities. How do you prove a cat is looking at a ghost anyway? It was possible ghosts existed, but I hadn’t seen strong evidence. Though weird things did go on at the museum that I couldn’t explain. Truthfully, I didn’t want to explain the phenomena. The mystery is what makes the paranormal fun.

Giggling, the two women hurried after GD.

I scrubbed my hands across my face, trying to wake myself up. 

The bookcase between the museum and Fox and Fennel, Adele’s tearoom next door, swiveled open. Adele minced in, carrying a delicate cup of tea. 

She set the tea on the counter and adjusted the top of her pristine white apron. “I thought you could use some caffeine after last night.”

“I thought tea didn’t have much caffeine.”

“It depends on the tea. I loaded yours with sugar.”

“You are a true friend.” I took a sip and grimaced, feeling my teeth rotting. “I take it you couldn’t get anything out of Dieter.”

She jammed her fists on the hips of her powder-blue skirt. “He wouldn’t say a word. Can you believe it? To me! He went on and on about confidentiality and the sacredness of the bet.”

“Give it time. You’ll make him crack.”

“I’m not so sure. How’s your mom doing?” The Adele blinked, looking past my shoulder, and I followed her gaze to the window.

My ex, Mason, walked by on the sidewalk outside. Smiling, he looped one brawny arm around the shoulders of a slim woman with long titian locks. His other hand clasped a young boy’s, and I felt my own smile waver.

“Are you all right?” Adele asked quietly.

“Sure I am.”

“Because you don’t look all right.”

“No, really, I’m fine.” I blew out my breath. “Mason and I are over. We did the right thing, and I’m happy for him—for all of them. It’s just …” Elbows braced on the counter, I smushed my head into my hands. “This is so embarrassing.”

“I doubt that.”

“It’s only … I don’t know. Am I doomed to die alone? I’m over thirty. My odds of finding someone are smaller than they are of getting killed by a terrorist.”

Outside, Mason paused on the sidewalk and said something to Jordan and his mother. 

“First,” Adele said, “that statistic has been thoroughly debunked. Second, you’re not quoting it right even if it were true. And third, since when did anything you did ever follow the statistical norm?” She laid her hand on mine. “It’s normal to feel this way after a breakup. But you’ll move on.”

“I have moved on. I’m not pining for Mason. I just haven’t …” I gestured helplessly. “Moved on.” It was the holly jolly season, my favorite time of year. My mother was safe, and my museum was booming. So why was dread dripping off me like the Ghost of Christmas Doom?

“I can ask Dieter to set you up with one of his friends.”

I made a face. “No thanks.” I’d met Dieter’s friends. Most were red-nosed octogenarians whose greatest passion was the track.

Mason, now alone on the sidewalk, turned toward the museum and nodded to me through the glass. 

My heart jumped, and I gave him a small wave.

“Then you’re going to have to stop feeling sorry for yourself and get out there,” she said, frowning at the window.

“Thanks for the pep talk.” 

“You’re welcome.” Casting one last glance at the window, Adele turned on her heel and slipped through the bookcase. It glided shut.

Mason strode into the museum, his brow furrowed with concern. “I heard about your mom. Is she okay?” His broad shoulders strained the seams of his vintage motorcycle jacket. With his blond hair in a ponytail, he looked the part of a biker.

“More angry than scared,” I said, happier than I wanted to admit that he’d stopped in. “She wasn’t hurt.”

“How are you doing?” His Nordic-blue eyes bored into mine, and his voice seemed to deepen.

“I’m a little worried about my mom. You remember what happened the last time she found a body.”

One corner of his mouth curved upward. “If memory serves, you found that body at the harvest fair.”

“The point is,” I said quickly, “I’m afraid she might get involved and put herself in danger.”

One of his pale brows lifted. “So you’re going to do it for her?”

“I didn’t say that,” I said primly.

Mason shook his head. “Don’t make me worry about you. This has been hard enough.”

Warmth crept up my cheeks. “How are things with Belle?”

“She’s helping me out at the shop when she’s not working at the salon. She’s determined to earn enough money to move out.”

I straightened. “She’s leaving?” Had I made a mistake breaking up with him because of Anabelle, his blast-from-the-past ex-girlfriend and the mother of his newly discovered child? No, I hadn’t. We’d needed to step apart to gain perspective. I didn’t regret that.

“Belle and I aren’t a couple, you know,” he said. “Even though we’re living together.”

“Would you like to be?” And why had I asked that? I fought the desire to squirm.

He looked out the window. “We could be.” 

My heart meteored to earth. 

He met my gaze. “But I can’t help thinking about someone else.”

And then my pulse began banging double-time. “Oh.” We’d broken up to get clarity, and now I was more confused than ever. No regrets, no regrets. “Well. I’m sure things will work out for the best.”

He hesitated, as if struggling for something to say. “How’s your old truck doing lately?”

“Great.” It wasn’t really a lie. My truck had worked fine that morning. Things were complicated enough without Mason doing work on my vintage pickup. But I didn’t want to talk about that, so I changed the subject to the first thing I could think of. “How did you and Belle meet, anyway?”

He smiled. “She was trying to steal my car.”

“You’re joking,” I said, laughing in spite of myself.

“Nope. We were both pretty young and not too smart. Fortunately, neither of us are those people anymore.”

“None of us are.”

“Let me know if you need anything. Anything,” he said with quiet emphasis as he left the museum.

The Paranormal Museum was starting to get crowded, and I shook off my funk. Life was good. My Christmas exhibit was drawing in the customers and it was only Thursday. Typically, things didn’t really start to hop until Fridays and weekends, when people were wine tasting. 

A woman I recognized from Ladies Aid asked about a set of Christmas ogre salt and pepper shakers. Deeming them reasonably priced, she bought the Icelandic Christmas fiends. I wrapped them in tissue paper. The ogress’s black eyes seemed to wink maliciously. Hurriedly, I swaddled her in tissue, tucked her into the bag, and handed the shakers across the glass counter.

The bell over the door jingled and my assistant, Leo, ambled into the museum. A quasi-Goth, today he wore a black motorcycle jacket, black jeans, and a black Paranormal Museum T-shirt. He got the tees for free, and he hated doing laundry, so his collection of museum T-shirts was nearly as big as mine. 

I sat up straighter on my seat. “What are you doing here today? You’re not scheduled to work until tomorrow.”

“I’m on winter break, and you promised to give me the low-down on what happened last night.” He raked a hand through his lanky, dyed-black hair. “Did you get the webcam video I sent?”

“Yes, thanks. Hopefully the police will be able to get more out of it than I did. All I saw were shadows, and they disappeared as quickly as they appeared.”

“There’s a good shot of the flaming arrows. So what happened?”

Quickly, I told him about the night of the flaming arrows, which now that I thought about it, sounded like a bad Bruce Lee film.

A bell jingled softly, and I glanced toward the door. It was firmly closed door. My flesh pebbled. 

A flash went off, someone snapping a picture of our cowbell exhibit. 

A lean woman in a tracksuit wandered to the counter. She brandished a porcelain fairy ornament. “I’ll take it.”

“Here,” Leo said, “I’ll wrap it up.” He shot me a sideways glance. “If it’s okay with you, I could use the extra hours.”

And I could use the extra manpower. The Christmas season was delightfully even busier than I’d expected. I rang up the purchase while Leo wrapped the fairy, set it in its box, and bagged it.

“Thank you,” I said to the customer. “Come again!”

“I’m telling all my friends about this place. What fun! And cursed cowbells!” Laughing, she sashayed out the door.

“A lot of people are talking about those cowbells after last night.” Leo shifted his weight. “You don’t think there’s really a curse?”

Seated on the barstool, I gripped my knees. “No, because there’s no such thing as curses.” Though my truck breaking down had been weird. “And even if there was, Herb did his usual binding spell on the bells. For whatever that’s worth.”

The bookcase to the tea shop slid open and my other best friend, Harper Caldarelli, strode in, the heels of her boots clicking on the checkerboard floor. She was dressed in her financial adviser gear—a thick wool coat over her navy pinstripe pantsuit. It was all good quality, because her practice was successful. “I heard about the Christmas Cow,” she said. “Is your mom okay?”

“She’s fine,” I said. “She was upset, but she wasn’t hurt.”

“I can imagine,” Harper said. “Especially with the cowbell curse business as well.”

“I know.” Leo braced his elbows on the counter. “They were just talking about it at the college.”

I glanced at him. “I thought you said you wanted extra hours because you’re on winter break?” 

“I had to stand in line to pick up next semester’s schedule,” he explained. “Between the Christmas Cow death and the cursed cowbells reappearing after thirty plus years, there’s a major freak-out in progress.”

“Guys,” I said, “the cowbells are just good fun. And the bells didn’t reappear. Herb got them at the mayor’s charity auction and sold them to me.” Unsurprisingly, city hall had lost interest in the bells, which had been gathering dust in a storage room for decades.

Harper shook her head, her long mahogany hair cascading over her slim shoulders. “I’m not so sure about fun. The sound of bells is a classic death omen. You can find it in cultures all over the world.”

“But cowbells?” I lowered my voice. “The curse is a good story, and the bells tie in with the Christmas theme—”

“They’re not tied to Christmas,” Harper insisted.

“The Swedes hung them in that metal frame shaped like a Christmas tree.” I motioned toward the bells, hanging on the wall. “Bells are holiday-esque. Besides, the Christmas Cow is erected in December and the cowbells are connected to the Cow.”

“Right, because every member of the committee who originally started up the Christmas Cow tradition in San Benedetto back in the eighties died.”

“Everyone dies.” I dragged my damp palm down the thigh of my jeans. “The mortality rate in San Benedetto and everywhere else is one hundred percent.”

“But they all died within a year,” Leo said. “And according to legend, they all heard the cowbells before they kicked the bucket.”

“I know,” I said, motioning to the triangle of bells and the small cardboard placard beside them. “I typed up the story of the curse and the committee members’ deaths.” 

I’d been promoting the cowbells like crazy. They’d been donated by our sister city in Sweden to kick off San Benedetto’s own Christmas Cow tradition, a misguided homage to our sister city’s giant straw Yule goat. One of the committee members had trekked all the way to Sweden to collect the bells, drink mulled wine, and shake hands. This connection to the cow, which had since become one of San Benedetto’s most important tourist attractions, made the cursed bells kind of a big deal. 

“Hey, have you got a Christmas gift for Adele yet?” Harper asked, her gaze darting to the closed bookcase. “I’m totally stuck. What do you get the woman who has everything?”

I gazed pointedly at Harper’s expensive boots, designer suit, perfect hair. She was the woman who had everything. “Gee, I don’t know.”

The wall phone rang. I fumbled it, then managed to get it to my ear. “Good morning! Paranormal Museum.”

“Maddie, this is Penny,” the president of the Wine and Visitors Bureau whispered.

“What’s up?” 

“You have to come to the Visitors Bureau. Now.”

My brows drew together. “What’s wrong?”

“Your mother is here.”

I went cold. “Is she all right?”

“She’s running amok,” Penny hissed. “Get over here. Now!” She hung up.

I stared at the old-fashioned receiver. Running? Amok? Neither sounded like my mother. “Sorry, Harper. I have to go to the Wine and Visitors Bureau. Leo, could you—”

“No problem,” he said. “I don’t have to be anywhere until three.”

I checked my watch. It was eleven thirty. “Thanks.” I hurried through the bookcase into the tearoom and down the bamboo-plank hallway to the alley. My red pickup sat parked beside a dumpster. 

I slid onto its front seat. Murder by arrow, cursed Christmas cowbells, and my mother on some sort of rampage at the Wine and Visitors Bureau. I gripped the cold steering wheel. What the devil was going on? 

The truck turned over smoothly, and I blew out my breath. At least my transportation was working normally again.

I drove down the alley and turned the corner onto Main Street. People milled in the park and ogled the remains of the cow. I wrinkled my nose. Even when reduced to ashes, the stupid cow attracted crowds. I don’t believe in magic powers, but mentally I willed the gawkers out of the park and into my museum. 

At the edge of downtown, I turned into the parking lot of a brick building twined with grapevines. A miniature “educational” vineyard grew beside the parking lot. A few orange and brown and amber leaves clung to the low vines trained along wires. Past the educational vineyard, San Benedetto’s real vineyards spread across the flat-as-a-pancake landscape. 

A snowman made of metal wine barrel hoops greeted visitors at the entry to the Bureau. A wreath dripping with miniature wine bottles hung from the arched wooden door.

I walked inside. A dozen middle-aged men and women bellied up to the tasting bar. A man with wispy white hair and a Visitors Bureau apron poured. He kept casting nervous glances at the open office door.

“… knows you were an almost-Olympic archer.” My mother’s voice cascaded from the open door. “That doesn’t mean you killed the man.”

I hustled past round tables filled with wine paraphernalia—cork screws and pewter wine aerators and Kiss My Glass T-shirts—and stepped inside Penny’s office, closing the door behind me.

Penny, a roundish woman in a Christmas sweater and green Christmas-light earrings, shot me a grateful look. “Maddie! What are you doing here?” Her eyes widened with feigned surprise. 

Somehow she’d managed to call me without my mother knowing. Clever. 

“I came by for more winery maps,” I said. “Hi, Mom.”

“Madelyn,” my mother said stiffly. She plucked at the white pashmina scarf encircling the collar of her camel-colored pea coat.

“What’s going on?” I asked. “I heard something about archery.”

Penny exhaled heavily. “As I was explaining to your mother, I have no reason to want Bill dead.”

“Of course you don’t,” my mother said.

“I don’t.” Penny stared over her reading glasses.

“I’m quite certain you didn’t kill him,” my mom said. “You care about San Benedetto too much. But the investigation will go much quicker if everyone simply lays their motives and whereabouts for last night on the table.”

“You’re only trying to get me to confess,” Penny said. “But I have nothing to confess to. Maddie, tell her.”

The two women glared at me.

“I don’t … um … Were you really an Olympic archer?” I asked.

“Almost.” The corners of Penny’s mouth turned down. “I learned to shoot when I was in the scouts and never stopped, but I didn’t make the cut. And I certainly didn’t assault the Christmas Cow. It’s our second biggest attraction next to the wineries!” 

Only for one month of the year, I thought sourly. My paranormal museum was second biggest the other eleven months.

“Our bureau paid for a special wine and cow promotion,” Penny continued, her frown deepening. “It sounded better when our marketing consultant came up with the idea.”

“You were at the planning meetings for the Christmas Cow,” my mother said. “And there was definite tension between you and Bill. Why?”

“There’s no tension.” Penny shook her head. “Or there was no tension. Bill was a principled man. Even when I disagreed with him, I respected his thinking. He followed the rules. And there was nothing I disagreed with him enough to kill him over.”

“But someone did,” I said.

“It must have been a terrible accident,” Penny said. “I almost feel sorry for whoever shot him. They’ll carry that guilt to their grave.” A tall stack of brochures slipped sideways, and she made an unsuccessful grab for them. A dozen glossy brochures scattered across the tiled floor. 

I bent and picked them up. “Maybe it was an accident. But there’s a chance it was deliberate—someone could have taken advantage of the chaos.” Which meant they’d have to have known when the attack was scheduled to happen. Someone on the inside of the gingerbread gang? I shook my head. An accident did seem more likely.

“If you’re looking for suspects,” Penny said, “don’t look at me. There are plenty of better candidates.”

“Oh?” I asked. “Who?”

“Try Dean, for starters.”

“Dean Pinkerton?” my mom asked.

“You heard about the squabble over Dean selling raw milk?”

My mother nodded.

“Well, guess who was behind the lobbying to shut him down?”

“Bill Eldrich?” I said. “Why would he care if someone was selling raw milk?”

“Rules.” Penny sighed. “I only hope they didn’t get him killed.”