Samantha, one of the two female coordinators, stepped forward to take the mic. "And now to reveal this year's top prize! Linda, can you bring out the prizes?"
No one came in from the back doors. I shifted in my seat and glanced at Skylar. She looked back at me at the same moment and we exchanged "oh tea" looks.
"Linda? Can you bring in the prizes?" Samantha laughed nervously. "There are so many, it might be weighing her down."
Linda came through the back doors, her hair in disarray, distinctly not followed by any prizes. She rushed on stage and whispered to the other two coordinators.
"Has it been this unorganized all weekend?" Aubrey asked in a whisper.
"Not that I have seen," I whispered back. "The weekend has been as smooth as a well-oiled roaster."
"Hmm," she said. "Must be because I came in."
"If your being here leads to me missing out on our trophy you won't be invited again." I smirked.
"Har, har." She giggled.
Skylar gave us a quizzical look, but before I could whisper to her about Aubrey's unluckiness the mic picked up a whisper, "Missing trophies."
As soon as it came over the speakers, the crowd began to murmur. Aubrey and I gave each other a raised eyebrow look. That settled it, I could not take her anywhere without her causing a ruckus.
Linda stepped forward and addressed the room. "There seems to have been a mishap with the trophies. I'll have to ask that all y'all stay put while we call the police."
An audible gasp filled the room and Linda looked at the other coordinators for support, only to find them abandoning her on stage.
Figures. We made it through the whole weekend, with the biggest drama being tribe rivalries, just to come to the final ceremony littered with shocking revelations. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms, letting out a sigh.
"Guess someone is a bad judge of how boring this ceremony would be." Aubrey nudged me in the side.
I gave her a death stare, but it only made her laugh, causing the ladies around us to stop whispering to try and hear our conversation.
"Hush it, you," I whispered, ignoring the other ladies while Aubrey continued to giggle.
Nathan rushed off the stage to the back doors to block the exit while Samantha strolled with purpose—as if she were on a catwalk—to the front doors and blocked that exit. Linda took her cell phone out and dialed, no doubt for the police. This time she turned the mic off.
After the brief phone call, Linda turned the mic back on. "The trophies were there at 6 this morning, when I did my initial check. Therefore, they went missing today. If the person or persons that did this comes forward right now, we won't press charges, and we can all put this behind us."
The room was dead silent. Not even a cat meowed. I looked toward Aubrey again and mouthed "wow" and she tried to hide her excitement. I had a sneaking suspicion I would not enjoy what she was thinking.
"Very well," Linda said in her most managerial voice. "The police are on their way. Please stay in your seat until they arrive."
CHAPTER TWO
Sunday, May 17th, 9:15 AM
Restlessness permeated the room as the police were taking their time responding, but I guess that was understandable. It was, after all, only a cat show. Not that I would ever tell the tribe. Most of the ladies treated it like it was their reason for living. Not to mention Azure responded to the announcement with the most outrage from him I have ever seen. All I wanted was coffee and a nap.
"It's a mystery," Aubrey said.
"Totally," Skylar said. "A locked hotel mystery."
They giggled with delight. There was no hope for it, I was going to be drawn in.
"We should solve it," Aubrey said. "You're good at that sort of thing."
She nudged me in the side, and I let out a sigh, took a deep breath, and came to terms with the fact I was going to be involved in their antics whether I wanted to or not.
"I have gotten lucky," I said. "We live in a small town. There's only so many people. This is Austin."
I glanced around the room again. Maybe I could get one of the door-guarding coordinators to slip out and fill my cup. Why had no one stocked the ballroom with a refreshment table? With the buzz of Aubrey being at the show, I completely forgot to order my usual large coffee to go before entering the ballroom.
"But it's only the hotel," Skylar said. "It's totally doable."
"Maybe you're a lucky charm when it comes to crime solving?" Aubrey giggled.
"You should listen to them," Azure transmitted.
"You solve it, I have no bean in this case," I transmitted.
"Very well," he transmitted. "As the head of our tribe, I am ordering you to give it your best effort to solve this."
"Wow!" I transmitted. "Want the trophy that bad? Fine, I'll play, but this power move won't be forgotten."
"You're grumpy without the beans," he transmitted, before sticking his nose in the air and walking to where Shadow slept at Skylar's feet. After a long-drawn-out stretch, he curled up beside him.
I put my head in my hands and rubbed my eyes before stretching out myself. Aubrey and Skylar observed the room, trying to eavesdrop on those around us.
Great, just great. Why was I being deemed the crime stopper network leader? Truthfully, I guess it did not really bother me one way or another, I just wanted my basic needs met. I was being more whiny than usual without the normal amount of coffee I had grown accustomed to, and solving a mystery was more entertaining than waiting around.
"What should we do first?" I asked, trying to make myself sound as enthusiastic as possible, but knowing it would be heard as sarcasm. That is what I get for always being quick with the sass.
It was a hard feat, given I had planned to be out of here and drinking more coffee. Did I have a problem? No. Coffee was fuel, and I would rather die than go without it. That was not a problem, just fuel requirements.
"We need clues!" Aubrey said, without a hint of trying to hide how eager she was to get started.
"I'll give you a clue," I said and snickered. "Coffee."
Aubrey gave me an eye roll and looked at Skylar, who was staying on topic. Maybe introducing them was not one of my smarter moments. Them teaming up against me would only end in me giving into their demands.
"Too bad Linda didn't roll out the prizes anyway," Skylar said, ignoring me as well. "Would have been nice to see what they rifled through."
Aubrey nodded along, deep in thought.
"We should walk around and try to gather some info." Aubrey stood up, stretching out her back as she did so.
"Linda told us to stay in our seats," I pointed out, but followed her lead on standing. "Besides, I really need coffee before I do anything else."
"Suck it up buttercup and figure out who did this," Azure transmitted.
"Go back to sleep," I transmitted, and sent a scowl.
"But I guess, since that isn't going to happen," I said. "Walking around will probably help to wake me up a bit."
Not enough, but it was better than nothing.
"Thank you," Azure transmitted in a huff. "I want my first-place prize. And the sooner I get it, the sooner we can leave!"
I did not tell him that his prize was no guarantee. Better he stay in the best mood possible. The last thing I needed was an angry dragon on my hands.
"I'll stay here and see what the other ladies think," Skylar said.
"That's a good idea," I said. "Plus, people might come by doing the same thing we are. Keep note of them."
"Sure thing," Skylar said. "These ladies have been ignoring me for some time now because I don't gossip. Doubt they will even notice I came over."
"So, it'll be just like the meetings?" I asked.
Aubrey giggled behind me, no doubt imagining crazy cat lady meetings where we sat and admired cats and cat accessories for hours on end. Boasting about shows and awards. I internally rolled my eyes. If only she knew.
"Totally." Skylar laughed as she left to take a seat further back fr
om the stage where the other ladies huddled together.
"Where should we start?" Aubrey asked.
"First thing is to look behind the stage," I said. "I want to see if they missed something."
Aubrey's eyes widened. "What about the police?"
"I'm not going to touch anything," I said. "But maybe they left something behind."
Linda stood on stage talking to anyone walking up. While Nathan and Samantha stayed at the doors. The room had reached a boiling point. Everyone meandered instead of staying in their seats. Clearly, the coordinators had accepted this, but they were firm on not allowing anyone to leave. Why the police were taking so long, who knew?
"Are you sure?" Aubrey asked again. "Maybe the lack of coffee is making you over ambitious, Skylar and I could walk around."
I laughed.
She was right, but I still thought looking at the scene of the crime was important. Even a fully caffeinated me would think that. It was the logical place to start. Plus, the faster we got this figured out, the faster we could get on with our day.
"Yeah, I'm sure," I said. "We need to see what happened, not just hearsay."
"I'll cover you then." She crossed her arms. I was asking her to do something outside of her comfort zone, but after being my best friend for the past thirty years, she knew full well what I would get her into. This would be no different than any other time she had covered for me while I did something borderline illegal.
"You're the best," I said with a wink. She giggled, as the inside joke of it crossed her mind, causing me to giggle as well.
"Don't be reckless," Azure transmitted. "And just so you know, I trust you to not embarrass the tribe. Good luck."
"Thank you," I transmitted.
Finally, some acknowledgment from the peanut gallery.
We moved in unison through groups of people. Every conversation I overheard was about the awards. Mostly shock and wonder.
"You distract Linda," I said, "and I'll give it a quick look."
"Roger," Aubrey said, and we chortled together.
As we walked, I realized how well our timing had worked out. People within the room huddled in groups, making it easier to overhear their conversations as we made our way to Linda on the other side of the stage.
"Why would they do this though?" Aubrey asked.
"What?" My mind had been elsewhere.
"Why steal the trophies?"
I relayed the question to Azure as I had no clue.
"Dragons are sooo much drama," Azure transmitted. "You think our tribe is bad, but the jealousy between tribes runs deep. We're talking thousand-year-old family feuds."
"Maybe it's jealousy," she said. "But enough to warrant stealing?"
Great, they were on the same wavelength. How could I add to their pondering without mentioning dragons? Not that Aubrey would believe a word I said after dragon. Sometimes I questioned if my entire life was a massive fever dream.
"They take this competition quite seriously." Meaning dragons but letting Aubrey believe I meant cat owners.
"Obviously." She gestured to the decorations, and the nearly one hundred people present.
As we approached the stage, Aubrey b-lined toward Linda with a smile. There were already four other women swarming Linda, none of whom were wearing a bat pin. In fact, all the dragon protectors appeared collected in their respective tribes.
A large red curtain blocked the back of the stage. I slipped through, looking over my shoulder to make sure no one witnessed. Finding a door, I wasted no time opening it. Behind which was a small room that spanned the width of the ballroom.
After looking over the wall again, I realized it was an accordion faux piece, with a door set into it to block the area in an official capacity. They must have built the entire ballroom to be divided up as needed—the cubical of rooms. The backstage room held meticulously organized tables of supplies: brushes, leashes, number label sheets, and much more needed for the cat show.
In the center of the room was a large black metal trunk—the kind a band would use to move around sound equipment. Within were three empty slots, surrounded by protective foam. Beside the trunk sat a large decorated table on wheels, full of goodies. From gift cards to cat-related merchandise, it was a cat owner's vision of heaven. Over forty smaller vases were arranged around the various prizes, with inscriptions for the many awards, awaiting winners. Plus, four medium silver vases which I assumed were for the Best in Division awards.
Secretly I hoped we were going to win one of the small ones, because they were adorably small. The height of a coffee cup, maybe an inch or two wide, skinnier at the bottom, wider at the top. I would be able to put it on the back counter in the cafe for all to see. It would make for great fun in teasing him over the coming months.
At the back of the table, the three platforms meant for the main categories were empty. Tea, not a single clue. Nothing on the table seemed to be out of place, not even picked through. Not that I had really thought there would be one. This was not Scooby Doo, where the thief is always just a step away.
Making sure not to touch anything else, I made my way through the maze of show supplies to check the doors. Maybe it was as simple as someone forgetting to lock it? But no luck.
The two sets of doors to the hall were both locked. While a door at the far back of the room led to a storage cabinet full of faux flowers, vases, candles, and other various center piece décor options. Would have been great if the trophies were just misplaced in this cabinet. I closed the cabinet and was at a loss for what else to look for. Guess it really was going to come down to the police. If they ever arrived.
This would not have been so hard if the hotel had cameras! Well, I was assuming they did not monitor the halls, and ballroom anyway. If they did, the coordinators would have already found the culprit. Instead, there I was sneaking through the side room looking for any sign of wrongdoing.
I took a deep breath to calm my stress and headed back to the door I came through.
Careful not to be seen, I slipped back out into the main room through the red curtain. Aubrey was distracting Linda, as I made my way over to her.
"What about them?" Aubrey pointed to a group of show participants.
"We are not considering anyone a suspect at this time," Linda said.
"Then why can't we leave?"
"We are preserving the scene for the authorities," Linda said.
"And when will they be here?" I asked, stepping behind Aubrey.
"We have spoken to them, and they are on their way," Linda said. I could see that the non-stop questioning was wearing her down.
"Leave it to dragons to cause this much drama," I transmitted to Azure as Aubrey and Linda had a stare down.
"Nothing this crazy has ever happened at this show," Azure transmitted. "And I will be the first to admit a cat show is nothing but drama in the first place."
"I guess that makes sense," Aubrey said.
"Such as you knowing you're getting first?" I transmitted.
"You're not funny," he transmitted.
"Good, as there is nothing funny about your ego," I transmitted back.
"I guess you don't want my help then?" Azure asked. "Not that I have a clue to offer up, but Butter is a drama llama. I had planned to recruit him. But if you're going to keep cracking jokes, I'll leave you to solve this alone."
"Don't be a tea-tart," I transmitted. "How about, if I solve this, I get to see you in your fluffy form at least once a month."
"Solve it and we'll talk."
Dang it. I had hoped threatening him with cat cuddles would be enough to distract him from his insistence that I solve this mystery. Guess it just showed how much he really wanted to win. I had not been paying attention to their conversation, consumed by my telepathic one with Azure, but Aubrey sighing brought me back to reality.
"Thank you for understanding," Linda said. "If you don't mind, I need to answer these other ladies' questions."
"Thank you for taking the time to
speak with me," Aubrey said, and I could not be sure if she was being sarcastic.
She walked off, and it forced me to hurry to keep up.
"What did you learn?" I asked.
"That Linda is stuck up," Aubrey said. "Honestly, I think she did it."
"Really?" I asked. Squeezing past two groups that were practically touching, in an effort to keep pace with Aubrey.
"With the way she's acting? Yes." Aubrey crossed her arms while picking up her pace. "She didn't seem driven to find the real suspect, but she was adamant that no one leave. It seems like she knows who did it and is stalling."
That was an interesting development. If it was Linda, that would help the show, if only by creating a news story. Entertainment people always say, "There's no such thing as bad publicity." Maybe it would increase their turnout next year? I mean, if I read a news article about the trophy scandal, I would at least watch a video of the show. If for no other reason than morbid curiosity.
"I'm just not sure," I said.
"It was a dragon," Azure transmitted, reading my thoughts. "There's too much that points to one of them. Dragons are suckers for flair, and this screams flair."
I laughed inside my mind and transmitted it to him.
"Well," Aubrey said. "I don't have any evidence, but my gut says she knows more than she is letting on."
"She could just feel guilty, since it was her job to look after them."
"True . . ." Aubrey said slowly as if pondering the implications. "Yeah. I guess that would explain some of the attitude, but wouldn't she be more driven to find out who did it? She claims she's been working with the hotel staff all morning trying to locate them. But why didn't we see any of the ruckus in the lobby?"
"Maybe they are trying to keep it hushed? People are weird about scandals."
"Yeah, they are," she said, at the same time Azure transmitted his agreement.
CHAPTER THREE
Sunday, May 17th, 9:45 AM
Purrfect Roast: A Dragon Cozy Mystery Page 2