Murder By Muffin (Lucy McGuffin, Psychic Amateur Detective 3)

“First, how’s Gilly?” After Gilly nearly screamed my eardrums off, I managed to calm her down a bit. Not much, though. I get it. Seeing a dead body, especially someone you know, is pretty shocking.

“She’s in the dining area, talking to Zeke.”

“I hope she’s okay. Do you think I should make her some tea or something?”

“No.”

Something in his voice puts my Spidey sense on alert. He sounds almost … angry. But that doesn’t make sense.

“Um, let’s see, after I came home from The Burger Barn, I watched some TV, then I fell asleep on the couch. I woke up this morning when Paco started barking. I thought he wanted me to take him for his walk, but he was leading me to Tara’s body.”

Travis raises a brow. “Because of the barking?”

“We’ve been through this before. It’s a completely different kind of bark. Very aggressive-like. Then when we get near the body, he becomes quiet.”

He rubs his chin. “Interesting. I’ve been looking into how they train dogs to sniff out cadavers, but they usually have to be closer to the body before they catch the scent. His sense of smell is remarkable.”

Not this again. “I’ve already told you. Paco’s not a cadaver dog. He’s a ghost whisperer.”

“If you say so,” Travis says, humoring me.

I glance down at Paco, who shakes his head as if to say, When will this guy get a clue?

“Yep, I say so.”

Before Travis can ask me any more questions, my mom flies through the kitchen door. “Lucy, are you all right? What happened?” My dad follows her, looking equally worried.

“It’s okay. I’m fine.”

She grabs me into a tight hug. I glance over her shoulder and catch Travis’s gaze. He does not look pleased.

“I’m sorry, Molly, George, but right now this is a crime scene, and I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

“Leave? Over my dead body!” Mom winces when she realizes what she’s just said. “I can’t believe this. Whispering Bay used to be the safest city in America.”

“Yeah, well, that ship sailed a while back,” says Dad.

“How did you know what happened here?” Travis asks.

“Lucy called us.”

He whips around to face me. “Zeke specifically told you no phone calls until we gave you the go-ahead.”

“I wasn’t about to let my parents hear that Paco and I have found another dead body through the Whispering Bay grapevine. Done that. Never want to get lectured again.”

Dad puts a protective arm around my shoulder. “We’re her parents. We have a right to know if our daughter is in danger.”

Travis narrows his eyes at me. “I suppose you called your brother too.”

“Well, yes, but no worries. Since it’s Sunday, he’ll be too busy saying Mass to come over right away.”

“As long as you didn’t call anyone else—”

Will comes through the door next. “Lucy, are you all right?”

“Cunningham,” Travis says wearily. “Doesn’t anyone in this town have any respect for crime tape?”

Rusty Newton, one of Whispering Bay’s finest, follows Will into the kitchen. Rusty is a good old boy and has been a cop here in town for over twenty years. He’s also one of my best customers. He starts his shift every morning by stopping by to get one of my lemon poppy seed muffins along with a cup of coffee. His hands are full of yellow crime tape. “I found all this on the ground. Don’t know how it