WE ARE DELIGHTED TO INTRODUCE OUR GUEST AUTHOR TODAY, CARMEN RADTKE. CARMEN IS SHARING AN EXCERPT FROM CHAPTERS 2 AND 3 OF HER NOVEL, 'FUNERALS AND FAMILIARS' #RWRTeamBlog #ReadWriteRepeat

FUNERALS AND FAMILIARS (A COZY MIDLIFE MAGIC MYSTERY)

An excerpt from chapters 2 and 3

Louisa shook hands with all of us. “I’m so sorry for your loss.” She peered at us through blue-rimmed spectacles that matched her cashmere sweater.

My throat constricted.

“Thank you,” Brenda said.

Louisa opened a thin folder. “Shall we start?”

“Please.” Brian grasped for his sister’s hand. I put mine on top of Cosmo’s carrier.

“Your aunt Violet has left a clear set of instructions in her last will, so probate shouldn’t take long. Each of you three will receive an equal share in her savings, which amounts to roughly $20,000 per person.”

I gasped. That sum would allow me to rent a decent place, hopefully here. Cosmo growled. I peered at him, startled by the unusual sound. He chirped at me, as if to say he was fine, and I returned my attention to Louisa. “The bulk of her estate is formed of her house and the lending library. She’s stipulating that the person who inherits it must carry on the business and look after it and the customers with the same diligence she’s shown it for over 40 years. This is also including caring for Cosmo.” Her spectacles slipped a little as she gazed from Brenda to Briana and, finally, to me. “’Both of my nieces and my nephew should be in the position to fulfill that request, should they be chosen.’ Is that correct?”

“Yes,” Brian said. He rubbed his hand over his hair, dislodging a strand. “Most of my business is on weekends and holidays, and my sister is running her boutique online. As for Bex --” Both he and his sister mirrored each other as they cocked their heads a little to give me a pitying look.

I ignored them. “What do you mean, were they chosen?” I asked.

“That’s the unusual bit. The cat will decide who inherits.”

“Say again?” Brenda exclaimed. The cousins and I gaped at Louisa.

“Bex, can you please make sure the door is closed?” Louisa picked up the carrier and put it down at an equal distance from the three of us. True to character, she checked by walking around and counting her steps. Only then did she let Cosmo out.

My heart hammered against my chest. I’d taken it for granted that Cosmo would stay with me. My ex-husband had been allergic to pets, and I’d promised myself that now he was out of my life, I’d never be without a pet again. My palm felt sweaty as the cat moved. Cosmo’d be fine, whoever he chose. Brian and Brenda were pet lovers, too.

“Now, sit down, all of you,” Louisa ordered. I perched on the edge of my seat as a black paw touched the floor. In the blink of an eye, Cosmo emerged fully, stretched himself, and without hesitation he jumped onto my lap.

Louisa smiled. “Congratulations, Bex. It appears you’re to be Violet Merriweather Walker’s principal heiress.”

Cosmo stared at me and held my arm with his paws, as if to claim me as a prize. Or, considering my sorry state of affairs, the kind of consolation trophy they gave me at the Christmas fair when I’d sucked so badly at the ring toss, the stall holder couldn’t bear it any longer.

“Clever cat,” Brian said. “He made the right choice, given your situation.”

I didn’t know whether to wince at his bluntness or be thankful for his acceptance of the situation. To his credit he added, “You always deserved better, if you ask me. Cosmo’ll appreciate you.”

His sister chimed in. “It’s a relief, really. Now we don’t have to go through all the hassle of figuring out how to fulfill Aunt Violet’s wishes without rearranging our lives. Like Brian said, Bex, in your situation …”

“Just to make it clear, I do have options,” I said. “It’s not as if I’m homeless or unemployable. I have an excellent reputation as a furniture restorer.” Cosmo gave a weird noise. In a human I’d have interpreted it as a snicker. I hastened to add, “Although I’m more than happy to do whatever Aunt Violet wanted.”

“None of you have any objections then?” Louisa unscrewed her Montblanc pen.

We all shook our heads.

“If you’d sign here?” She handed the pen to Brenda, as the oldest. My cousin signed with a flourish and passed the document and pen on to her brother.

“What about the funeral?” he asked. “You said it was all arranged?”

“Your aunt left clear instructions. I’ll send you a copy. Now, Bex, is there anything you want to ask?”

“Could I interrupt for a sec?” Brenda tapped her foot. “I have a long drive home, and I’d rather not hit the rush hour.”

“Sure,” I conceded. It gave me a chance to think of any questions. Cat toys. The thought popped into my mind.

“When can we expect our money? Is there anything we need to do to receive our share?”

“I’m the executor, so I’ll try to speed things up. Both of you have agreed to accept the will as it stands, with Bex as the principal heiress. That means, probate should be a mere formality. A week or two, maybe?” Louisa said.

“Great, thanks.” My cousin hugged me again, no mean feat considering I held a ten-pound cat on my lap. Her musky perfume reached our nostrils and Cosmo sneezed.

“Later gator.” Brian gave me two thumbs up. I hadn’t heard him say that since my teens, when he’d started rehearsing his DJ spiel.

“In a while, crocodile,” I replied.

When the door had closed behind them, Louisa addressed me again. “Ready to proceed?” She unlocked a cabinet and took out a bunch of keys, with a metal cat holding a book dangling from the chain. Aunt Violet’s keys.

Cosmo purred.

“I think he wants to go home,” she said.

“But can we? Before the probate clears and all that?”

“Not move in as such, you’ll have to stay at the Blue Moon. What we can do is go to the house and pick up anything you need, under my supervision.”

Cosmo climbed into his carrier as if he understood every word.

Louisa followed me in her car, saving me the return trip to her office.

Aunt Violet’s house lay in darkness, with half of the windows shuttered and the curtains drawn. She did that every evening, after her meal. Then she’d settle with a book in front of the fireplace. The only window she didn’t bother with was Cosmo’s favorite, looking out over now nearly denuded trees and onto Jake’s house.

He headbutted the plastic bubble. “Can I let him out?” I asked Louisa as we went up the staircase to her living quarters. The downstairs was almost completely taken up by the lending library.

“Of course. If you can catch him again. I hope he’s not waiting for her return.”

I opened the carrier. Cosmo dashed past Aunt Violet’s bedroom and the kitchen, into the den with his precious windowsill. He jumped onto it, growling as loud as I’d ever heard him.

“What’s up?” I stroked his head.

“That’s a good question.” Louisa had joined me at the window. Together, we gazed at a couple of people in plastic Tyvek suits entering Jake’s house. The taller one carried a large black suitcase, and behind him followed a policeman.

“What did he die of?” I asked, with a sinking heart. I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear the answer.

“A heart attack, from what I heard. Natural causes. Except –”

“Then why send the police and crime scene investigators?” I shivered. “But why only now, several days later?”

She shook her head. “No idea. I only hope it’s nothing. Because otherwise …”

I finished the sentence for her. “They might be looking at murder.”

Under Louisa’s watch, I grabbed a wicker basket my aunt had stored magazines in, emptied it, and refilled it with Cosmo’s blanket, spare blanket, blanket in case the other two were in the wash, balls, sticks with and without feathers, and his set of brushes. Meanwhile, he prowled around the room.

To my relief, he returned to the carrier as soon as I was done. Lifting it and the basket turned out to be more of a workout than I’d anticipated. Or the stupid hormones went out of whack again. Whatever the reason, when I left the house in full view of the police car, I needed to mop sweat of my brow.

Louisa locked the door behind us. “Give me a call if you need anything,” she said. She peeked at Cosmo, who pressed his nose against the bubble. “He’s such a sweet boy.”

Apart from a loud hiss as we passed Jake’s house, the sweet boy stayed silent all the way back to our room at the Blue Moon.

I let him out while I filled his bowl with chicken. He’d only had a tiny breakfast in case he suffered from car sickness or nerves while we were at the law office.

The basket was the next item on my list to unpack. I shook out the blanket, the spare blanket and the other one, when I heard words behind me.

“I was hoping it’d be you.”

I spun around, to stare directly at the cat who’d jumped onto the headboard of the bed. My head swiveled as I scanned the room. Where was the person I’d heard?

I was looking back at Cosmo when he opened his mouth. “Listen up, buttercup, we need to talk.”

I did the only sensible thing and fainted.

**********

Link to Funerals and Familiars

https://geni.us/Yw7Vbev

**********

Author Carmen Radtke

Author Bio

Carmen Radtke has spent most of her life with ink on her fingers, cozy crime plots on her mind (thank you, Agatha Christie) and a dangerously high pile of books and newspapers by her side. She has worked as a newspaper reporter on two continents, dividing her time between facts and fiction.

When she found herself crouched under her dining table, typing away on a novel between two earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand, she realised she was hooked for life.

The shaken but stirring novel made it to the longlist of the Mslexia competition, and her next book and first mystery, The Case Of The Missing Bride, was a finalist in the Malice Domestic competition in a year without a winner. 

Since then she has penned several more cozy, including the Willowmere midlife magic mysteries and the Genie and Adriana Darling ghost mysteries.

In real life, Carmen is absolutely law-abiding, has never met a ghost, cast a spell, or been able to communicate with pets (sad, but true). The only time she shed blood and swatted a fly was by accident.

Her wanderlust has led her to live in Germany, New Zealand, and the UK. She currently lives in Italy with her human and her four-legged family.

If you want to keep in touch with her and find out more about her work, writing life, and other related things, sign up for her newsletter on her website www.carmenradtkeauthor.com and receive a free quick read.

**********

COMING SOON: On Monday, 8th December, our team member, author Lorraine Carey is sharing her latest flash fiction story, 'One Last Swing'.