Read Sweet Taffy and Murder: Sweet Taffy Cozy Mysteries Book #1 for Free Online Page A

letters. Technically, it was illegal to open someone else’s mail. But what if the person was dead? She picked at a corner of one envelope. Then she remembered the letter opener. She sliced neatly into one of the unopened letters. It was addressed to Janet from someone named Tony.
    Staring at Janet’s loose swoopy writing reminded Taffy of her grandmother’s notes and manila envelopes, which quickly put Taffy in a bad mood. She closed the lid of the bench and walked away from the piano.
    Standing at the threshold between the parlor and the foyer, she assessed her situation: banished New York socialite bored stiff in dead woman’s house while waiting for a moody utilities technician to appear .
    What if he didn’t show up? Taffy didn’t want to stay in the house alone after dark. She’d have to call up Ethan, ask him if she could crash on his couch. She wished she wasn’t such a scaredy cat. Cats… Where was Midnight?
    Would he come if she called? Probably not. But he might if she opened a can of food and banged it with a fork. She took the long way around to the kitchen and searched the cupboards. On the shelves amid the soup cans she found a tin of kitty chow. She pawed through drawers for a can opener. In one drawer she found strange things like heavy gauge wire, cutters, and some kind of putty mixed in with other utility items such as ceramic glue, matches, X-Acto blades, and screwdrivers. In another drawer she found semi-familiar items such as small strainers, a cheese grater, potato peeler, and finally, a can opener.
    She tipped the cat food onto a chipped plate and carried it toward the front door.
    The sun had fallen behind the trees. Slanted orange stripes of light reached through the western windows and faded quickly. Soon it would be full dark. She hadn’t noticed any candles or a flashlight in the drawers she’d searched. Maybe she should go back to Ethan’s. But first feed the cat, for Ethan’s sake.
    She headed down the hall leading from the kitchen to the foyer. She walked right by the spot where Janet Harken had died. Her breathing got shallow, and her steps picked up speed until she was at the front door. She let out a sigh of relief, and then opening the door to call out for Midnight, she choked on that relief and failed to stifle a scream.
    The plate of cat food crashed to the floor.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
    A dour, long-faced man wearing a cap that shadowed narrow, dark eyes stood on the threshold. Embroidered onto his dark-blue work shirt was the name ‘Bill.’ Taffy silenced her scream.
    “You scared the Beetlejuice outta me,” snapped Taffy.
    He looked past her into the house. His eyes rested on the floor in front of the closet.
    “McCoy called me.” His voice was rough, reluctant. He reached down and picked up a toolbox Taffy hadn’t noticed was there. One corner was splattered with cat food.
    “Sorry about the wreckage,” said Taffy. She’d have to pick up the shards and mop up the mess.
    “You want power, I’ll have to get to the breaker box inside.”
    Taffy stepped aside to let him pass. He was tall, lean, and wiry with a long jaw and shifting eyes.
    He gave the floor around the closet a wide berth on his way to the kitchen, just as Taffy had done. She left the cat-food mess where it lay and followed him. In the kitchen, he paused to look at the long farm table and tiled counters. For a moment he seemed frozen.
    “You were the one who found her, weren’t you?” Though her words were gentle, he startled where he stood and turned with surprise, as if he’d forgotten she was there. After seeming to remember, he gazed around the kitchen again.
    “I had many much-needed meals and fortifying cups of coffee in this kitchen.”
    “Unfortunately, I can’t make you any coffee without power.”
    Actually, Taffy had no clue how to make coffee with or without power.
    “That’s not what I meant,” said Bill gruffly. “I don’t need anything.” He reached for a long-handled