The Mayor Mystery (l.s)

Prologue

Monday, September 17th, 9.13 a.m.

Ying was humping the table leg once again. Landon sighed, smiling slightly at the sight of his dog. "You weird little thing," he said, taking the lead down from the hook on the wall. Instantly Ying stopped her... movements and was by Landon's side in a matter of seconds, head tilted to the side, tail moving from side to side.

"Ready to go for a walk?" Landon chuckled amusedly, attaching the lead to his dog's collar. Ying jumped excitedly, barking. She loved her morning walks—almost as much as food. Almost.

Landon chuckled again, grabbing his jacket from another hook on the wall, and putting it on. He zipped it, stepped into his shoes, and finally opened the door. Ying was out in an instant, pulling Landon along.

Landon barely managed to close the door behind him and lock it, but he did and then they were on their way.

After so many years as Landon's dog, Ying knew the routine and immediately went for the bakery, sniffing everything along the way—like she didn't walk there every day.

It wasn't long before they reached the bakery, the bell chiming above them as they stepped inside. Usually, dogs and other animals were supposed to stay outside, but Barbara, the owner of the bakery, had a soft spot for the dog, so she always let her get inside. At that point, Ying had even got her own feeding bowl with snacks for every morning.

"Landon!" Barbara chimed as he stepped inside. "Hello!"

"Hi, Barbs," Landon greeted, smiling. He nodded at the only other customer inside the shop. "Harry."

The curly-haired man turned to him, smiling. He was holding a bag of something in his hand, presumably on his way to work if you looked at his police batch. "Landon. Hello. How are you?" He smiled kindly, his dimples showing.

"I am great. How are things going at the job?" Landon asked as Barbara sat to work on his usual order—black coffee and a scone for the walk.

"Nothing big coming up right now," Harry said. "Which is a good thing, but mostly just paperwork and minor arrests. Not anything interesting I'm afraid. I'm glad. There shouldn't be crimes, of course. I guess I'm just trying to say it's quite... not thrilling at the moment." Harry shook his head at his own rambling, a small smile playing on his lips.

"And Tomlinson is still as annoying as ever?" Barbara chimed in. She and Harry had quite a special bond since Harry had worked in the shop since he was fourteen and all the way till eighteen. Now he was a regular customer who often got free snacks on the way home.

"Yes," Harry said, rolling his eyes. "Annoying as ever. Got to admit this weekend without him was well needed."

Barbara chuckled. "You two, I still don't understand why you don't get along."

"'Cause he is a rude mo—thing." He quickly changed his way of words at Barbara's raised eyebrow. "Anyway, I should get going. The Tomlinson nightmare awaits."

He quickly bid them goodbye and left the shop.

Barbara sighed. "Lovely boy. Can't believe he is already twenty-seven. Anyway, here is your coffee and scone. On the house."

"Barbara," Landon said. "It's on the house more and more often these days."

"Well, maybe you could pay it with your number?" Barbara smiled, her eyes crinkling.

"Oh." A blush crept up Landon's cheeks. He had not had a woman ask him out in years. "Well, if you insist."

Five minutes later, Landon was on his way again, a big smile on his lips. Nothing could ruin his day.

They went for the woods, Landon drinking his coffee in silence, listening to nothing but the sound of his own footsteps and Ying's paws on the pavement. Suddenly, when they had entered the woods, Ying stopped, putting her head in the air. She sniffed. Once. Twice. She began tugging on the leash, further up the trail.

"Ying," Landon said, getting out of breath, not able to stop his dog. "Why the rush?"

He soon got his answer, a scream rippling through his body. His coffee fell to the ground, hot coffee hitting his trousers, his hands going to cover his mouth, but then remembered he had the leash in hand and instead focused on not getting Ying near the body on the ground. The body of a blond girl, a knife in her back.