by Cindy Bell
“It’s okay. Sometimes kittens act up.” Lucy pet both cats to make sure they were calm. “Now, this little kitten is going on a trip with me, to see if we can find where she belongs.” She picked up the orange kitten, and retrieved Mia’s cat carrier. The kitten wasn’t fond of the idea of being put inside, but Lucy managed to get her inside without too many battle wounds. Once in the car, the cat meowed over and over.
“Don’t worry little one, I’m not going to leave you anywhere. I just want to make sure that your family isn’t worrying about you.” She stopped at the vet clinic that she used for Mia and stepped inside. The office had just opened.
“Morning Lucy!” A petite redhead behind the counter offered her a bright smile. “Is that Mia in there?”
“No, it’s not Mia. It’s a stray I found outside my door. I’d like to find out if she’s microchipped.”
“Oh sure, no problem. It will only take a minute.” She took the cat carrier to the back. While she waited, Lucy looked through the pictures on the wall. Each was of one of Dr. Downey’s patients. Even Mia was featured in a few. The vet really seemed to care about the animals that he took care of, as well as the people who brought them in. A few minutes later Dr. Downey stepped out of the back with the cat carrier in hand.
“Hi Lucy, good to see you.”
“You too, Dr. Downey.” She smiled at him. He was handsome, with salt and pepper hair and green eyes. “Well, our little patient here doesn’t have a microchip. She is in good health though, I looked her over. Now, if you like I can have her taken to the shelter.”
“No, no absolutely not. She can stay with me. She’s so little maybe her family didn’t have a chance to microchip her yet.”
“I thought you might want to keep her.” He smiled. “Go ahead and make an appointment to bring her in for her shots, and if you find her home before then we’ll just cancel it.”
“Great, thanks.” Lucy looked over her calendar and she worked out a date. As she left the office she realized she was relieved that there was no microchip. For some reason, the little cat already felt like she was part of her family.
After Lucy dropped the orange cat off at the house, she headed for the patisserie. On her drive there Hugo’s voice kept playing in her mind. ‘Macarons, nothing but macarons!’
It was true that the patisserie sold only macarons and coffee, but was there something more to the dream than just a mixture of memories and psychology? She had to wonder because sometimes her dreams were more than that, sometimes they were predictions, revelations, or insights into a crime. However, she had no idea what insight Hugo in her kitchen could give her. She parked in front of the patisserie and stepped inside. The scent of freshly pressed coffee wafted under her nose, like a delicious elixir that would ease her restless night. It was the best way to be greeted in the morning, aside from her mother’s radiant smile.
“Hello sweetheart, how are you doing this morning? I have a cup ready for you.”
“Thank you so much.” She sat down at the small bar and took the cup of coffee. “How are you this morning?”
“I asked you first.” Jacqueline winked at her then brought her a macaron to pair with the coffee.
“Good.” She tucked her bottom lip between her teeth.
“Uh oh, you have a secret.”
“What? I do not.” She stared at her mother.
“Sure you do. I can always tell when you have a secret.”
“If you think I’m hiding anything from you you’re wrong. You’re probably just sensing that I’m really upset about what happened at the cooking school yesterday.”
“Yes, that might be true. But there’s something else as well. Something you’re not planning on telling me.”
“All right fine.” Lucy sighed. “A kitty came to visit me last night.”
“Mia?”
“No, not Mia. A little bundle of orange fur.”
“Hm. Just walked up to your door?”
“Yes.” She laughed. “I couldn’t believe it. I opened the door and there she was.”
“A stray?”
“I guess so. No collar, and she’s pretty skinny. I’m not sure how old she is, but she can’t be a year yet.”
“Oh wow, and what does Mia think?”
“Ha.” She shook her head. “Mia is not fond of the situation, not at all.”
“I imagine not. You’re her best friend.”
“Maybe, but this little cat needs a home.”
“I know you well enough to know that cat is not going anywhere. She’s stolen your heart already, hasn’t she?”
“Yes, she has. Oh, and she also destroyed my entire bedroom.” She rolled her eyes.
“Sounds rather rambunctious. Are you sure you want to take this on?”
“She chose me. As long as no one responds to the last cat picture I posted, she can stay. We just need to work out a few things.”
“And did you name her?”
“I was thinking Tiger.”
“Cute.”
“I’m not sure yet.” Lucy shrugged. “I’m going to wait a little bit longer before I give her a name.”
“See, you did have a secret.”
“Okay, maybe a little one.” Lucy grinned. “And somehow you always know.”
“That’s right, I always do. How are you doing with everything that happened yesterday?”
“I’m okay I guess. I mean, what can I do? It’s a tragedy, but there’s no way to fix it.”
“Did you have any uh, instincts about what might have happened?”
“Mother.” Her mind flashed back to her dream, but she knew better than to share it with her mother. She would pick it apart to the tiniest detail, and know far too much about the inner workings of Lucy’s mind.
“I’m just curious.”
“I try not to do that, you know that.” She turned away as the door to the patisserie opened.
“But you have a gift, Lucy, you should use it.”
“Sh Mom! Morning Jack.” Lucy smiled at him as he walked towards the counter. Lucy met Jack when she met his sister, Annaliese, who is a police officer, under less than ideal circumstances. Since then both Jack and Annaliese had become regulars at the patisserie.
“Morning. It smells like heaven in here. Can I have a cup of whatever that is?” He met her eyes, then offered a respectful smile to Jacqueline.
“Sure, I’ll get it for you right away.” Lucy stepped past her mother to the coffee pot and poured Jack a cup. She tried not to reveal the quake in her hand as she offered it to him. “Milk for you sugar?”
“Uh, sure.”
Jacqueline covered her mouth to hide a laugh.
“Oh no, I meant would you like milk and sugar?”
“No sugar, just milk. Thank you.” Jack grinned.
Lucy was certain even her ears were pink. She added some milk to the cup then set it on the counter in front of him.
“Would you like a macaron to go with it? We have some lemon cheesecake macarons left over from our cooking class yesterday.”
“We also have many other choices available.” Jacqueline kicked Lucy’s foot behind the counter.
“Ow! Oh yes, we do.”
“I’ll take one of the lemon cheesecake ones, thanks. I heard about what happened yesterday. Are you all right?”
“Yes, I think so. It was a shock that’s for sure.”
“You didn’t notice anyone strange hanging around?”
“Strange? Not really. Just the usual suspects.” She laughed, then cleared her throat. “Not that I think anyone was a suspect. That came out wrong.”
“Relax.” He smiled as he accepted the macaron. “I’m not the one with a badge, remember?”
“Yes. I uh, better check on the macarons in the back.” She hurried into the kitchen to catch her breath. Her heart raced as she leaned against the counter. What was it about him that turned her into a bumbling fool? She’d never been so nervous around a man before. Jack had dropped hints about them getting toget
her for a drink or dinner, but she pretended not to notice them. She didn’t know how to act around him, he made her so nervous, she had no idea how she would make it through a date with him.
Chapter 4
When Lucy stepped back out into the shop Jack was gone, but three police officers had entered. Her mother was busy serving them, while two of the officers bantered back and forth about something. She busied herself wiping the counters, a little disappointed that Jack wasn’t still there.
“Excuse me, I’m sorry to bother you, but what is that on your apron?” The officer asked as he leaned against the counter. Lucy looked down at her apron and blushed slightly at the fact that she had worn the same one the previous day. She didn’t realize it was stained.
“It’s the food coloring we use in the lemon macarons. It’s yellow food coloring.”
“But it’s orange.”
“It comes out more orange than yellow before it’s mixed.”
“So if someone’s shirt had orange stains on it like your apron you could assume that it might be yellow food coloring?”
“Yes, I would think so.” She frowned. “Is this about Hugo?”
“Yes, is it?” Annaliese stepped up behind the two officers. Lucy looked up with surprise as she hadn’t even heard the door open. The other officer was gone, so she assumed he’d held the door open for Annaliese. The two officers in front of her seemed stunned to see Annaliese as well.
“We’re not really supposed to discuss it.” The officer straightened up. “Thanks for the information though.”
“Speaking of food coloring, were you missing any from your supplies at the class?” Annaliese looked past the counter at the assortment of items on the shelf.
“No, not that I know of, why?”
“Would you mind checking? It might help us to get an idea of what happened yesterday.”
“Sure, I can take a look, just give me a moment.” Lucy turned to the bags of supplies and counted through the bottles of yellow food coloring. When she turned back she shook her head. “They’re all there, nothing is missing.”
“Do you know if anyone else used yellow food coloring in their recipe?”
“I don’t really know what everyone else was making, but I think it’s unlikely. If there’s some way I can help, I’d like to be able to, but I’m not sure why you’re asking about the coloring.”
Annaliese glanced over at the other officers who were busy sipping cups of coffee and looking through the macarons in the window display. When she turned back to Lucy she lowered her voice.
“Hugo had stains on his shirt. We haven’t got the forensic results back, but we suspected that they’re from yellow food coloring, but weren’t sure. I thought maybe if a tube had come up missing from your supply you might have noticed.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Did Hugo make any macarons?”
“No, he just visited the classroom, but he didn’t go near the cooking utensils or ingredients.”
“And your students, did you notice any of them with stains on their hands or their clothes?”
“No nothing, but I wasn’t really looking.” She shook her head again. “Food coloring stains everything so we’re always very careful.” She looked down at her apron. “But not careful enough it seems.”
“Did you notice anyone at the school or in the class that maybe had a problem with Hugo?”
Lucy recalled Lauren’s reaction to Hugo and the way that Hugo needled her. Was that something she should mention? She also remembered how she was so quick to leave the class. Was she in a hurry because she was going to kill Hugo? She hated to cast Lauren as a suspect when she seemed like such a nice young woman.
“Well, he’s not the easiest man to like. I was a big fan but once I met him, I realized he wasn’t a very nice person.” Lucy winced. “Maybe I shouldn’t be saying that in light of his passing, but he really had an ego problem.”
“Trust me you’re not the first one to say that about him. Honestly, I’m having a harder time narrowing down who wasn’t an enemy than I am finding enemies. However, since the murder took place at the school I’m trying to eliminate those who were students or teachers first.”
“Oh.” Lucy’s eyes widened. “You don’t think I…”
“No, of course not. But since you were there, and your class was using yellow food coloring, I thought it would be a good thing to get your perspective. So nothing suspicious, no interruptions, no outbursts?”
“Just when Hugo handed out his invitations for his launch party. He brought them into the classroom in the middle of class and handed them out. Sophia didn’t look too happy about that.”
“The owner of the school?”
“Yes. She had stopped in to check on us, and was there when Hugo handed out the invitations.”
“Why do you think she was upset?”
“I would assume he hadn’t asked her if it was okay to hand them out at the school. Or maybe, she was just irritated that he used class time to do it. I’m not really sure.”
“Okay, I’ll make a note of that. Do you know Sophia well?”
“Not very. I mean we’ve worked together on a few projects and catering jobs mainly for some charities she’s involved in, but I don’t really know her personally.”
“Does she strike you as someone who would lose her temper easily?”
“I don’t think so.” Lucy shrugged. “I’ve never seen her lose it. But again I don’t know her very well. I can’t picture her doing anything to hurt Hugo though.”
“Thanks again for the information.” Annaliese chose a salted caramel macaron. Lucy gave it to her along with a cup of coffee.
“Anytime I can help, I’d be glad to.”
“Great.” Annaliese hesitated for a moment. “I suppose you don’t have any theories on who might have done this? I mean, just guesses?”
Lucy stared at her. “Why would you ask me that?”
“Just out of curiosity.”
“Is that a common thing that you ask witnesses?”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“You didn’t, I’m just surprised.”
“It’s silly I know, I just thought you might have some kind of feeling.” She cringed and gripped her coffee cup a little tighter.
“Annaliese, I don’t know exactly what you’ve heard, or been told, but it’s not true, it doesn’t work like that. It’s not that easy.”
“Okay.” Annaliese nodded and forced a smile. “I understand. I won’t mention it again. If anything comes up, just give me a call.” She gestured to the other officers and they all left the patisserie together. Jacqueline stepped out of the back just as the door closed.
“What was all of that about, Lucy?”
“One of the detectives figured out that I was the one who called in some tips about some cases, and he told Annaliese about it.” She shook her head. “Hopefully she has her doubts and doesn’t completely believe him.”
“Why not? It’s true.”
“Maybe, but I only did that because I thought I could be anonymous. I don’t want everyone to know.”
“It’s nothing to be ashamed of, Lucy.”
“It’s also not exactly something to be proud of, it’s not as if I’m always accurate, and sometimes my hunches turn out to be completely misdirected. I don’t want people looking at me differently because of it, especially Annaliese.”
“Because she’s Jack’s sister. He told me to tell you goodbye before he left. I think he wondered why you disappeared like that. So did I.”
“I just don’t know how to act around him. Could you imagine if Jack knows about my instincts?” She sighed. “I already act like an idiot when I’m around him, that would certainly only make things worse.”
“I think you’re a little too concerned about this. It’s perfectly normal to have good instincts.”
“If you say so.” Lucy smiled. “It’s normal for us, anyway.”
“One day you’re going t
o have to stop hiding, and learn to be proud of who you are.”
“One day.” Lucy nodded. “But not today. I have other things to do. Can I leave early today?”
“Sure you can. I can close up.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
“What are you up to?”
“I just want to do a little sniffing around.”
“Mmhm. Just be safe.”
“I will.” She hugged her mother then gathered her things to leave. “When you said, he wondered why I disappeared, did he actually ask?”
“No, but he did sit there for quite some time, I think hoping that you would come back out. The more you talk to him the more you will get comfortable with him.”
“That’s the problem, I don’t want to get comfortable with him.” She frowned.
“Sweetheart, there’s nothing wrong with having an interest in someone. You’re not the one person on Earth who is immune to romance.”
“Yes, actually, I am.” She grinned and hugged her mother. “Or at least, I’m determined to be.”
“So you say.” She patted her daughter’s cheek.
Lucy walked out to the car and settled inside. For just a moment she allowed herself to wonder what it might be like to follow up that spark between herself and Jack. Did he really feel it, too? Or was he just being friendly? Her head spun with questions, the very questions she hoped to avoid. She shook her head and changed her train of thought. Just before she started the car she called her sister.
“Hey sis, what’s up?”
“Remember that one student from class, Lauren?”
“Yes. She made a fantastic macaron.”