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  “Dell,” she complained, “this ain’t like some social club. I don’t have the number of every ghost in town.”

  “Fine. Still. What clues were you talking about?”

  She set her cake down next to mine, light cake and dark cake, side by side, and leaned over to kiss the top of my head. “You’ll figure it out.”

  She stood, and walked away into the trees.

  In the dream I watched her go, and then I turned to the path that led back to my Inn, where I knew I’d have to go next.

  On the path stood two figures.

  Heeral Stone.

  And Mister Brewster.

  I woke with a start in a strange bed in a dark room, scared and confused until James took my hand and eased me back down into the sheets with him. His bed was more comfortable than mine, to be sure, and it wasn’t long before I was asleep again.

  To dream once more.

  “In a way, I’m glad.”

  Which was just about the oddest thing that Kevin could have told me, as far as I was concerned.

  It was a week after Mabel had confessed her undying love for my husband. A week after George had whacked her good across the back of her head, knocking her into unconsciousness long enough for Kevin and Ben Islip to get to the Inn and place her in handcuffs.

  In all that time, Kevin and I hadn’t stopped talking about the way things had gone. We talked about his father, mostly. About the good times we’d had together, about what an amazing father he’d been, and about how much we both still missed him.

  The town hadn’t stopped talking about it all, either, and the same could be said about the national media. The Sydney Morning Herald had run a second story on the whole thing just yesterday. Yahoo had even made us one of the top stories on their homepage. I think someone said something about the New York Daily News carrying the story, too, although I hadn’t checked to be sure. Lakeshore was once again a media sensation.

  And I was once again wondering if any other small town in the country had as many mysteries wrapped into it as ours did.

  Kevin and I were sitting in the Morris Milkbar, having a sandwich together on his lunch break. Ellie was supposed to have joined us but Kevin explained that his fiancée had a big job interview today and had to skip out. He wouldn’t tell me what the interview was about yet. Not until she got the job, he told me.

  As we chewed our chicken salad and washed each bite down with cold soft drinks, we talked it all through again. I knew there would never be enough talking to make it all right. Not for me. Not for Kevin either, apparently.

  So when he said he was glad to have found out Mabel killed his father, I think it was understandable for me to be a little confused.

  “All right,” I said, putting my sandwich aside. “Why are you glad?”

  “Because,” he explained with a smile. “It means my police intuition was right. Knew there was something off about arresting Mick Pullman. Just glad to know I was right, I mean.”

  My Kevin can always make me laugh when I’m feeling low. Just one of the reasons I love my son.

  “Although, it’s funny,” he added, brushing crumbs off the front of his uniform shirt. “See, we figured out what caused the blackout.”

  “Oh?” I raised an eyebrow at that. “How’s that funny?”

  “Well, turns out the power failure was caused by a jury-rigged mess of wires in the building next door to the bookshop. The new restaurant they’re putting in there? You know the one? Turns out the owners hired Mick to do their contracting and he messed it up like usual. A spark did an overload and it fried a mainsboard, or some such thing. Took out the whole town.”

  Well. Imagine that. “And if the power hadn’t gone out, I wouldn’t have gone over to Mabel’s bookstore in the first place.”

  “Right,” he said. “Mabel never would’ve given herself away and you never woulda caught wise to what she’d done, if not for that blackout. So in his own way, Mick helped solve the case and prove himself innocent.”

  I raised my canned drink to that. “Then by all means. To Mick Pullman, worst contractor ever.”

  Kevin clinked his own drink against mine. “Don’t worry, Mom. I’m not ready to forgive the man either, but at least we know he’s not a murderer.”

  “Just a lazy drunk?”

  “I’ll drink to that.”

  We were silent for a time, just eating and enjoying our time together. I had so much to do today back at the Inn, but they could stand to be without me for a little while longer. They usually made out fine without me. As long as I wasn’t away for too long.

  “What time do you have?” Kevin asked me, looking at his watch.

  “Don’t worry. She’ll be here.”

  “I know, it’s just been so long…”

  As if on cue, the door to the Milkbar opened, making the shopkeepers bell ring. Kevin and I both looked up.

  There she stood. Tall and thin, with hair that was long and straight like mine but dark like her father’s. Her eyes were Richard’s, too, that special mix of hazel fading to a deep brown at the center around the pupil. She wore a blousy white top over a red cami, and dark green shorts that had her sunglasses slid over the pocket. I remembered how she always did that when she was younger. I was glad to see some things hadn’t changed.

  She saw me and Kevin right away but if I’d been hoping for a smile, I was disappointed.

  I stood, and Kevin followed me, and we met somewhere in the middle. For a time, no one said a word.

  Then Carly threw her arms around my neck and exhaled a shaky breath.

  “Hi, Mom,” she whispered. “Thanks for calling me.”

  Tears brimmed in my eyes as I held on to my daughter. “Welcome home,” I said to her. “Welcome home.”

  Continue reading? Book 5!

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  Glossary of Australian Slang

  A few clicks - a few kilometres(miles).

  A goner - person or thing that is dead, lost, or past recovery or rescue.

  Aces - good.

  Back of beyond - a remote place.

  Back of Bourke - an isolated place; middle of nowhere.

  Bloke - man.

  Bludger - an idle or lazy person.

  Blue - incident/drama.

  Bonkers - crazy.

  Bonza - most excellent, cool, great etc.

  Brekkie - breakfast.

  Bugger - used as a term of abuse, especially for a man or used to express annoyance or anger.

  Bugger off - go away, leave a person alone.

  Bunyip - the bunyip, or kianpraty, is a large mythical
creature from Aboriginal mythology, said to lurk in swamps, billabongs, creeks, riverbeds, and waterholes.

  Chuck a wobbly - To overreact to something.

  Deadset - true, the truth.

  Delish - delicious.

  Devil's Marbles - a famous natural rock formation in Australia.

  Dipstick - a loser, idiot.

  Donkey Track - very rough, unpaved road.

  Down in the dumps - sad, unhappy.

  Drongo - idiot.

  Drop bear - a dropbear or drop bear is a fictitious Australian marsupial.

  Fair dinkum - true, genuine.

  Favs - favourites.

  Fella - man.

  Flat out like a lizard drinking - very busy.

  Fossick - search, rummage.

  Git - an unpleasant person.

  Give it a burl - Give something a go. To have a try at something.

  Give them the flick - To break up with somebody.

  Give you a ring - Call on the telephone.

  Good oil - useful information, a good idea, the truth.

  Got crook - was ill.

  Grouse - a medium to large game bird, colloquially also means "great".

  Had a gutful - fed up, had enough.

  Have tickets on oneself - to have a high opinion of oneself.

  In a Jiff - in a minute, very soon.

  Jiff - a brief moment.

  Keen - very interested/interesting.

  Mad as a cut snake - Furious.

  Mobile phone - cell phone.

  Nipper - child.

  Noggin - head.

  Old biddy - old woman.

  Pav - Pavlova - a dessert consisting of a meringue base or shell filled with whipped cream and fruit.

  Pull the wool over someone's eyes - to deceive someone.

  Ratbag - trouble maker or someone causing havoc.

  Real Crank - a crazy person.

  Right as rain - satisfactory, comfortable, well.

  Roos - kangaroos.

  Sammies - sandwiches.

  Senior Sergeant - ranking officer in the Australian police force.

  She’ll be right - It will all be okay.

  Sheila - a woman.

  Spiffy - great, excellent.

  Spit the Dummy - a sudden display of anger or frustration; to lose one's temper.

  Stellar - outstanding.

  Strewth - exclamation, mild oath.

  Strike a light - an exclamation of surprise or frustration.

  The Sarge - nickname for Sergeant.

  To string along - to keep someone waiting or in a state of uncertainty.

  Too right - definitely.

  Vaca - pronounced vay-kay - vacation, holiday.

  About the Author

  K.J. Emrick

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  Kathrine Emrick writing as K.J. Emrick is the author of the popular Darcy Sweet Cozy Mystery series and the Pine Lake Inn Cozy Mystery series.

  Strongly influenced by authors like James Patterson, Dick Francis, and Nora Roberts, Kathrine Emrick dreamed of being an author for the majority of her life.

  She never quite gave up on the idea of being a published author and at the age of 51, thanks to the self-publishing explosion, she finally realized her dream. Her maturity allows her to bring a variety of experiences and observations to her writing.

  She lives in beautiful South Australia with her family, including several animals. Kathrine can always be found jotting down daily notes in a journal and like many authors, she loves to be surrounded by books and is a voracious reader. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family and volunteering at the local library.

  Her goal is to regularly produce entertaining and noteworthy content and engaging in a community of readers and writers.

  To find out more please visit the Kathrine's website at kathrineemrick.com

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