From Madrigals and Mayhem by Elizabeth Penney. Copyright © 2024 by the author and reprinted by permission of St. Martin’s Publishing Group.
Chapter 2
Daisy and I crowded through the doorway to see a young man wearing jeans and a sweater sprawled on an orange vinyl sofa, his eyes at half-mast. Empty plastic drink bottles lay scattered on the floor and a bakery box sat on the coffee table. Party for one?
The young man groaned, clutching his stomach, and a whiff of vomit drifted to my nose. Ugh. I bumped into Daisy, who was also backing away.
“Who is he?” I asked. “Is he drunk?” I couldn’t think why else he would be so sick.
“Maybe.” Watching where she stepped, Charlotte made her way to the sofa. “Barnaby.” She pushed at his shoulder. “Barnaby. You need to leave.”
“Is he your boyfriend?” Daisy asked.
“No. My grandfather’s step-grandson.” Charlotte peered closely at Barnaby’s face. “He doesn’t look right. His face is green.”
With a sigh, Daisy edged past me and went over to the sofa. “It could be alcohol poisoning. We’d better call an ambulance.”
“If so, where is the alcohol?” Charlotte pointed out. “I only see energy drinks.” Bravely, she bent close and inhaled. “I don’t smell any booze.”
I took a few steps into the room. “Is it something he ate? Maybe he’s allergic.”
Daisy turned and flipped the bakery box open. “Tea cakes. Most of them are gone.” She picked up a card lying next to the box. “Huh. This card is from my shop. It says, ‘Enjoy.’”
I took the card, recognizing the Tea & Crumpets logo. “Those cakes came from your shop?”
Daisy wrinkled her nose as she studied the confections. “Nope. I never use blue frosting. It doesn’t appeal to me.”
So someone had deliberately tried to give the wrong impression regarding the cakes and where they had come from. Very strange. Nefarious? Maybe. I took a picture of the card with my phone.
Charlotte pulled a phone out of her jeans pocket. “I’m calling nine-nine-nine. He’s not breathing that great.” The front door bells jingled. “Molly, can you tell whoever it is that we’re closed?”
“Sure thing.” I hurried out into the main room, weaving through the displays and trying to locate the customer.
A thin young woman with short black hair was standing in front of the dolls. She glanced at me with curiosity. “Is Charlotte here?”
“She is, but she’s busy right now,” I said. “The store isn’t open yet,” I added when she took a baby doll off the shelf. Not to mention we had a backroom emergency.
“I know.” She put it back. “I want to talk to Charlotte. She’s my, um, step-cousin. Who are you?”
Another step-relative? “Are you related to Barnaby?”
Her brows rose. “Yeah. He’s my brother. Well, adopted—”
I gestured. “Come with me. He’s in the back room and really sick. We’re calling an ambulance.”
She started running, leaving me to follow at a more normal pace. By the time I arrived at the back room, she and Charlotte were facing off.
“What are you doing here, Tori?” Charlotte asked.
Tori pointed at her brother. “Looking for him. He wasn’t home last night.” She leaned over him and touched his face. “He’s all clammy. Is he going to be okay?”
Charlotte sighed. “I sure hope so. The ambulance will be here any minute.” As Tori continued to fuss over Barnaby, she tilted her head toward the main room. “Let’s give them some space.”
Once out of earshot, Charlotte clenched her fists and said through gritted teeth, “What is he doing here? I knew I should have changed the locks.”
“He broke in?” I asked. That put a whole new spin on the circumstances.
“Well, he used a key, I’m sure,” Charlotte said. “There’s a whole lot more to the story.” She glanced toward the open doorway. “Now is not the time to talk about it.”
Flashing lights outside the front window caught my eye. An ambulance was easing down the alley.
“I’d better go meet them,” Charlotte said, striding away.
Daisy and I looked at each other. “Should we leave?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Not yet. After the medics examine him.” Frowning, she chewed at her lower lip.
“What are you thinking?” I could tell something was weighing on my friend’s mind. She shook her head again, turning as the front door opened and two medics came in, with medical bags and a gurney.
“He’s back here,” Charlotte said, leading the way. “This place is cool,” the male medic said. “I haven’t been in here for years.”
“Thanks,” Charlotte said. “I’m reopening this week.”
Charlotte showed them into the back room, and Tori moved aside so they could work. “We came in, what?” Charlotte glanced at us. “Fifteen, twenty minutes ago? We didn’t find him right away. Only when we came back here, to this part of the store.”
Daisy and I nodded to confirm this. “We found him lying on the sofa, obviously ill,” I said. “He had even thrown up.”
“I had no idea he was in the store,” Charlotte told them. “I didn’t stop in before I met Molly and Daisy at the tea shop this morning.”
“When was the last time you were in the shop?” the female medic asked.
“Yesterday evening around five or six. He wasn’t here when I locked up and went home.”
Had he been hiding upstairs, perhaps? If so, why? What possible business could he have in the toy shop?
The medics were now taking Barnaby’s vital signs and although they were careful not to say much, I caught their concerned glances. The male medic spoke into his chest radio. “Preparing for transport.”
“You’re taking him to the hospital?” Tori burst out. She’d been standing to one side and watching, her eyes wide with fear.
“We are,” the female medic said. “And you are . . . ?”
“His sister,” Tori said. “Tori Winters. Can I meet you there?”
“Of course,” the medic said.
Working together, the medics rolled Barnaby out of the break room and through the store. Charlotte and Tori accompanied them.
“Should we leave now?” I asked Daisy.
She was still staring at the box of cakes. “Go ahead, if you want. I need to talk to Charlotte first.”
“I’ll stay, then,” I decided. “Want to go out front?”
From Madrigals and Mayhem by Elizabeth Penney. Copyright © 2024 by the author and reprinted by permission of St. Martin’s Publishing Group.
Cambridge Bookshop #4
In Madrigals and Mayhem, the fourth in Elizabeth Penney's charming Cambridge Bookshop series, Molly Kimball finds that even the holidays can come with a healthy dose of mystery.
Molly is eager to experience her first English Christmas with family and friends now that she's adjusted to her move to Cambridge and her restoration of her family’s ancestral bookshop, Thomas Marlowe—Manuscripts and Folios. When local toyshop Pemberly’s Emporium reopens, Molly is excited to meet the new owner, Charlotte Pemberly, who is determined to make the toy store a success after unexpectedly becoming her grandfather Arthur’s sole heir.
Arthur's new wife Althea Winters and her unpleasant family loathe Charlotte for inheriting what they believe was theirs and have set their sights on a valuable Madame Alexander doll that's gone missing. When Althea's grandson is poisoned by cakes from Tea&Crumpets, Charlotte becomes the top suspect. Molly believes Charlotte was the intended victim and investigates the Pemberly’s home, only to discover that Arthur had been murdered.
To get closer to this treacherous family, Molly and her boyfriend Kieran go undercover by volunteering to act and sing for a madrigal dinner directed by Althea and her daughter at St. Hildegard’s College. Molly must help her new friend clear her name while searching for the missing doll and wrangling her own family during the chaotic holiday festivities at the bookshop.
Mystery | Holiday [Minotaur Books, On Sale: November 26, 2024, Mass Market Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781250344137 / eISBN: 9781250344144]
A Fun Holiday Cozy with Awful Step-Relatives, Poisonings, a Missing Doll, and a Disastrous Play!
Elizabeth Penney is an author, entrepreneur, and local food advocate living in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. In addition to writing full-time, she operates a micro farm, a challenge in that climate! Elements that often appear in her novels include small towns, past/present mysteries, and the domestic arts. Elizabeth grew up in Maine, where family still lives, and she draws inspiration from the state’s timeless landscape and rich heritage.
Elizabeth's writing credits include over twenty mysteries, short stories, and hundreds of business articles. A former small business consultant, banker, and nonprofit executive, she holds a BS and an MBA.
She loves walking in the woods, kayaking on quiet ponds, trying new recipes, and feeding family and friends. Oh, and pampering the only child still at home, a very demanding Siamese cat.
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