Read Online Kneading to Die by Liz Mugavero - Free Book Online

her manic movements with interest.
    He meowed.
    Stan rummaged around the cupboard. “They’ll have to be pumpkin. I can’t go out right now to get other ingredients.”
    Nutty blinked, indifferent. Stan turned the oven on, pulled out her mixing bowl and added spelt flour, canned pumpkin, eggs, peanut butter, some water and ground cinnamon. She used her favorite wooden spoon to mix it all together, working the ingredients into a smooth batter.
    â€œI knew I shouldn’t have gone to that appointment,” she told Nutty as she worked. “I really didn’t need to find a dead person. That was definitely not on my bucket list.”
    Nutty yawned and dropped to the floor, resting his head on his paw.
    â€œI hope they find out who did it soon. And why they threw kibble on her. Do you think it was someone mad about food? Maybe someone like this Betty person, who thought Carole didn’t do things right?”
    She glanced at Nutty. He didn’t have the answers and wasn’t shy about letting her know that. He’d fallen asleep. Stan sighed. It stank having no one to talk to when you were trying to solve a murder.

Chapter 5
    For a one-man show, the Frog Ledge Holler worked fast. A “special edition” was out first thing Tuesday. Front page above the fold, naturally, was all about the murder. The paper was two pages thin. She winced as she read the headline: LOCAL VET FOUND DEAD AT CLINIC, FOUL PLAY SUSPECTED . She took it to the kitchen and read it, standing up.

    Frog Ledge—Carole Morganwick, local veterinarian and daughter of town scion Henry Morganwick, was found dead Monday at her veterinary clinic on Main Street.
    Resident state trooper Jessica Pasquale responded to a 911 call from a client, who found the body around 8 A.M. While the cause of death has not been determined, foul play is suspected. No suspects have yet been identified, but state police are following a number of leads.
    Morganwick, who was 61 at the time of her death, has run the Frog Ledge Veterinary Clinic since 2007, reclaiming ownership after the death of Dr. Randolph Stevens. The clinic originally belonged to Morganwick’s father, Henry, who placed it under Stevens’s management in 2002. Henry Morganwick died in 2003, leaving instructions that the clinic be returned to any of his remaining family’s management upon his and Stevens’s death. Carole returned to Frog Ledge after Stevens’s death to continue her family’s legacy of caring for local animals and helping the community.
    Carole Morganwick is survived by her brother, Henry Junior, and a son, Adam Cross. Memorial services have not been planned at this time.

    There was no mention of the kibble, at least.
    Â 
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    â€œMurdered? Jeez, Stan. That’s a helluva way to get welcomed to town.” Nikki sounded out of breath on the other end of the phone. In Nikki’s world it was a normal morning—as normal as you can get taking care of fifteen dogs and a few cats. But it wasn’t a normal morning in Stan’s world at all. She had woken up with “ Highway to Hell” pounding in her head. If anyone could make her feel better, however, it was Nikki.
    â€œWhat happened? And who was it again?” Nikki asked.
    â€œThe town vet.”
    â€œWas Nutty sick?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œOkay, I’m confused. Hang on.” Stan heard a blast of static, some rustling like Nikki was shuffling cards in her ear, then a bang and finally quiet. She came back on the line a second later. “Back. Had to finish dealing with one of the new dogs. He had an accident all over his kennel.”
    â€œSounds like fun.”
    â€œMore fun than a dead vet. So why were you there? Help me with this.”
    Stan sighed. “The vet came to my door.” She relayed Carole’s visit.
    â€œAnd you went? What the heck’s happening to you out there in the middle of nowhere?”
    â€œI’m trying to