Kitty Cats and Crime

by Jinty James

  “Your pottery ashtray?” Chris checked.

  “Yes.” Zoe beamed at him. “I also knew you were a good listener.”

  A small stain of crimson hit Chris’s cheeks at the compliment.

  “When we return home, we can see if the two scraps are from the same photo,” Lauren said.

  “I was going to run after Scott and tell him he’d dropped this.” Zoe furrowed her brow. “But now—” she craned her head to the left and then to the right “—I can’t see him.”

  “Maybe I should put it away for safe keeping.” Mitch dug out his black leather wallet.

  “But I found it,” Zoe protested.

  “He outranks you,” Lauren murmured to her.

  “But he’s off-duty!”

  “And I can be on-duty any second,” Mitch informed her.

  “Fine.” Zoe handed him the photo. “But I want it back when we get home.”

  “Fine.” Mitch nodded. “We can see if it matches the other piece of photo you found and didn’t tell me – or the detective in charge of the case – about.”

  “But even if it matches, what does it mean?” Chris asked. “The victim’s friend took some photos of him – what if the photo didn’t turn out the way they thought it would, so they ripped it up so no one else could see it?”

  “So why would he have a piece in his pocket?” Zoe asked. “Ooh, maybe it’s Jessica! She was in the cupcake truck the day of the murder – she’s the one who found the body, and she was in our café. She could have dropped the little piece of photo without realizing it, if it was actually stuck on her shoe and not Lauren’s. We didn’t actually see it stuck on Lauren’s shoe.”

  “That’s true,” Lauren replied.

  “What we need to do is go back to your house and see if the two fragments are a match,” Mitch informed them.

  Zoe peered at Lauren’s watch. “The market closes in thirty minutes and we haven’t seen everything yet.”

  “We should go home now,” Mitch told her.

  “Maybe we could do this again next weekend,” Lauren offered. “Another double date.”

  “Sounds good to me.” Chris grinned.

  “Okay.” Zoe gave in.

  “Does that work for you?” Lauren turned to Mitch, realizing she hadn’t given him much choice in the matter. Oops.

  “Yeah, it’s okay.” He smiled at her, making her stomach flutter.

  Mitch drove them home, Chris following in his own car.

  Once they arrived at Lauren’s cottage, Annie ran to greet them.

  “Brrt!”

  “I’ve found a clue, Annie!” Zoe’s voice was full of excitement.

  “Brrt!” Let me see!

  “This way!” Zoe led the way into the kitchen and fished around in the clay ashtray. “Here!” She brandished a torn scrap of photo.

  Mitch pulled out his wallet, carefully took out the fragment Zoe had found, and placed it on the kitchen table.

  “Snap!” Zoe fitted her piece next to Mitch’s. “It fits – just like a jigsaw!” The two pieces showed the side of the serving hatch, the pink of the truck, and the yellow blonde of Jason’s hair.

  “Yeah, it does look like it could be the cupcake truck,” Mitch said. “Have you got a plastic bag? I should take this in for evidence. I’ll let the detective in charge of the case know about it as well.”

  Zoe looked mutinous while Lauren fetched a plastic bag from a drawer.

  “Thanks.” Mitch carefully sealed up the bag.

  “Brrp.” Annie sounded disappointed.

  “It could be important evidence, Annie,” Lauren spoke to her.

  “You found something important,” Zoe told the cat, bending down to stroke her. “And so did I!”

  “We don’t know for sure yet if it means something or not,” Mitch told her.

  “That guy could be perfectly innocent,” Chris reminded them.

  “Mmpf,” Zoe muttered.

  Mitch said he would take the photo scraps to the station right away.

  Chris invited Zoe to lunch at Gary’s Burger Diner, which she accepted. “Only if you’re paying, since you’re wrong about Scott.”

  “But if I’m right, you’re paying next time,” Chris replied with a smile.

  “Deal,” Zoe agreed.

  Lauren felt like a third wheel in her own kitchen.

  “Do you want me to bring you back something, Lauren?” Zoe asked.

  “No thanks, I’m good,” Lauren replied.

  Once Zoe and Chris had left, Lauren sat down at the kitchen table, for a moment feeling abandoned. Until Annie jumped up on her lap and snuggled into her chest. She would never be alone as long as she had Annie.

  CHAPTER 12

  The next day, Monday, Lauren and Zoe decided to go grocery shopping and check on Mrs. Finch.

  “We can tell her what happened at the farmers’ market,” Zoe said. She’d returned from lunch with Chris yesterday in a cheerful mood.

  Mitch had called Lauren the previous afternoon apologizing for disappearing. He’d contacted the detective in charge of the case who’d been interested in the photo fragments they’d found.

  “I’ll make it up to you,” he promised. “What about dinner Tuesday night?”

  “Since most places around the small town were closed Monday, she accepted.

  “Hopefully this case will be wrapped up by next weekend,” he’d continued, “so when we go to the farmers’ market again, we can just enjoy ourselves.”

  Chug chug, grr grr. The sound dragged Lauren back to the present.

  She dropped her spoon at the breakfast table and turned wide eyes to Zoe.

  “What?” Zoe put down the slice of whole-wheat toast she was about to bite into. “No way.”

  Chug chug, grr grr.

  “Brrt?” Annie jumped onto the chair next to Lauren, her green eyes inquiring.

  “It can’t possibly be Jason.” Zoe chewed her lip. “He’s dead.”

  “Scott said he wasn’t going to continue with the cupcake truck,” Lauren said.

  “It’s not Jessica, is it?” Zoe scooted back her chair. “Let’s find out!”

  Lauren hurried after her, Annie by her side.

  Zoe pulled open the front door and stepped out onto the porch.

  “It is the truck!” She pointed at the gleaming pink vehicle parked outside their cottage. The van still had the gold lettering loudly proclaiming Cupcakes.

  The engine idled, chugging and grring away.

  “Hi!” The serving hatch opened and Scott appeared, smiling at them. He wore jeans with a leather belt and a green t-shirt.

  “What – what are you doing here?” Lauren managed.

  “Don’t worry,” he said easily, “I’m not here to sell cupcakes. I thought I’d take this thing for one more spin before I sell her.”

  “You’ve got a buyer?” Zoe asked, her eyes round.

  “Nope. I’m going to take her to a dealer and get the best price I can. I was going there this morning, then I thought it wouldn’t hurt to visit this place one more time. Jason raved about it.”

  “You mean he raved about stealing our customers.” Zoe’s eyes narrowed.

  “Not at all.” Scott shook his head. “What he did with setting up shop here wasn’t great, but he genuinely seemed to like this place. He said it had a cool vibe, and it was almost as good as being in Sacramento.”

  “What do you mean, almost?” Zoe’s eyes narrowed even further, until she squinted like a pirate.

  “Hey, don’t get mad.” Scott held up his hands.

  “It’s nice to see you,” Lauren said.

  “Want to check out this rig?” Scott asked. “Hey, are you two in the market for a truck like this? You could sell your cupcakes anywhere!”

  “Not at the moment,” Lauren replied, thinking of her finances.

  “That thing probably costs a lot,” Zoe added. “But, it would be cool one day to go on the road and spread cupcake joy everywhere.”

  “Brrt!” Annie agre
ed.

  “I could give you a good deal,” Scott continued. “And it would save me having to drive all the way to the dealership and haggle with them. I won’t rip you off, I promise.”

  “Well, if you put it that way ...” Zoe ran down the steps.

  “Zoe—” Lauren shook her head. They hadn’t discussed anything like this. Who would look after the café while they plied their wares somewhere else? What about permits? She certainly didn’t want to butt in on someone else’s business the way Jason had with theirs. And if one of them was out on the road, how would the other cope with a busy café on their own, even if Annie helped them?

  “Brrt,” Annie said, brushing against her leg.

  “Do you want to take a look?” She picked up Annie. “We’d better stop Zoe before she agrees to buy it in the very next second.”

  “Brrt!”

  Lauren carried Annie over to the truck.

  “Come inside, Lauren!” Zoe beckoned to her from the interior of the serving hatch. The engine was now silent – Scott must have turned it off.

  The memory of finding Jason’s body in there caused Lauren to hesitate. Hadn’t her cousin felt the same way just now? If Zoe had, she certainly wasn’t showing it.

  “I think I’m good right here.” Lauren stood at the rear door of the truck, which was open.

  “But this set up is so cute!” Zoe grinned at her. “Look, there’s a small refrigerator, and there’s drawers and tiny cupboards. You could practically live in this thing!”

  “Zoe’s correct.” Scott appeared inside the rear door, right in front of Lauren. “Why don’t you and Annie come inside and check it out? No sales pitch, I promise.”

  “I’m certainly not in the market to buy any type of vehicle,” Lauren said, before allowing curiosity to get the better of her.

  “I totally understand.” He smiled at her.

  Wondering if she was doing the right thing, Lauren entered the truck.

  The faint scent of Jessica’s rose perfume flashed her back to the moment she’d seen Jason’s body lying on the floor. Her stomach jittered. Annie tensed in her arms.

  “I need to go outside and get some air,” she muttered to Zoe, turning around to exit.

  “That won’t be happening.” Scott stood in front of the rear door, barring her from leaving.

  “Uh-oh,” Zoe whispered. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.”

  “Now you think that?”

  “Brrt!”

  “I just can’t afford to buy anything like this, Scott,” Lauren said, pretending to misunderstand his meaning.

  “Who cares about this stupid truck?” Scott stalked toward her and Annie. Zoe stood behind her, so close she could feel her cousin’s sharp inhale of breath.

  “Umm, you do?” Zoe offered.

  “The sooner I dump this truck the better. I’m going to college and I’m going to be an environmental consultant and make the world a better place.” His voice was fierce.

  “Don’t let us stop you.” Lauren took a deep breath and stepped toward him. “We have to get going to the grocery store, anyway.”

  “Yeah.” Zoe was right beside her. “It’s our day off.”

  “I know.” Scott smiled, and it wasn’t a nice smile. “That’s why I came here today. No witnesses.”

  “I knew it!” Zoe pointed her finger at him. “You did it! You killed Jason!”

  “Zoe,” Lauren hissed. It might not be the best time to accuse him of murder.

  “Yeah, but he pushed me to do it. And I thought I’d totally gotten away with it. Until I bumped into you yesterday at the farmers’ market.”

  “But how did you know I picked up your piece of torn up photo?” Zoe asked.

  “I put my hand in my pocket to see if I had any loose change, because Jessica wanted me to buy her some daisies, and that’s when I felt one of the scraps of photos in my pocket. I turned around to check I hadn’t dropped any, and I saw you showing something to your friends. What else could it have been?” He scowled.

  “But why would you carry a torn-up photo in your pocket?” Lauren asked.

  “Brrt.” Yes.

  “I forgot about it,” Scott admitted. “See, I have three pairs of the same jeans I wear all the time and five different t-shirts. I rotate them. After – Jason – I got drunk and slept it off. When I woke up, I thought I must have gotten rid of those photo scraps. Besides, what can they prove? That I took a photo of Jason and tore it up? So what?”

  “That’s what Chris said,” Zoe muttered.

  “Then Jessica called and asked me to take her to the farmers’ market. Of course I wasn’t going to refuse. Jessica’s a great girl – except she seems to think I have money.”

  “But you won the lottery,” Lauren said.

  “Yeah, but we didn’t win that much money. Jason and I went halves in the ticket, but Jason was the one in charge of it, and he’s the one who collected the money. He kept saying he’d give me my half, but it never happened.” Scott shook his head.

  “Anyway, just before we bought a lottery ticket, I came up with this cupcake truck idea. It was a joke. But Jason had dated a woman from around here, who kept raving about your cupcakes. He decided we should operate a cupcake truck and make the cakes from box mixes and put any old stuff in them—”

  Lauren’s eyes widened.

  “—and the ladies would buy them because Jason has – had – that special appeal to the ladies.”

  “Not these ladies,” Zoe told him.

  “Brrt!”

  “Will you stop interrupting?” Scott glared at them. “So Jason borrowed money off my Mom to buy this piece of junk.” Scott waved his hand around the interior. “Without clearing it with me first. I couldn’t believe it! Mom—” his voice broke “—Mom beat cancer and had returned to work not long before he asked for the money. Mom’s always had a soft spot for him – we’ve been friend since kindergarten, and he’s always at our house. He promised to pay her back, said his idea was gold, and we’d make a fortune.”

  “Then what happened?” Lauren asked, unable to help herself.

  “We won the lottery. Jason kept telling me he’d pay back Mom, and give me my share of the winnings, but he also kept saying he was busy selling cupcakes, and didn’t realize how long they’d take to make, even using a mix. Then he had to drive out here, which is an hour from Sacramento—”

  “We know.” Zoe nodded.

  “Now Mom needs the money for some more tests. She – we – thought she’d beaten it, but she’s found another lump and she’s worried ...” his voice trailed off and he looked miserable, certainly not like a killer.

  “I’m sorry.” Lauren meant it.

  “I dropped out of college to look after her the first time,” Scott told them. “I hadn’t been doing well, anyway – too much partying – so it made sense to take a break. Besides, Mom needed me. Dad works hard six days per week to provide.” He cleared his throat. “Jason told me he’d paid back Mom, but it was a lie. Mom told me she hadn’t received a penny from him.” His eyes flashed with anger. “I couldn’t believe he’d taken advantage of Mom like that – he knew she’d been sick. I confronted him that morning and told him he’d better pay Mom back that day and give me my share of the lottery money.”

  “What did he do?” Zoe asked.

  “He laughed! Can you believe that?” Scott’s face twisted. “He said he’d pay up when he was good and ready. I tore up the photo I’d taken of him with the instant camera and threw it in his face, telling him our friendship was over. That made him laugh even harder. So I grabbed the tire wrench and hit him over the head. He wasn’t laughing after that,” Scott said with remembered satisfaction.

  “But why did you have a tire wrench here?” Zoe waved her hand to indicate the cupboards and small refrigerator.

  “I told him we needed one, just in case we ever got a flat. So he bought one the day before, but just chucked it in the back here.” He laughed without any humor. “I made sure to wipe my print
s off it – after – after.”

  Lauren shivered.

  “I picked up all the pieces of the photo and shoved them in my pocket. Then I got out of here. Jason wanted to get here super early that day. He thought you opened too late at nine-thirty and he’d sell tons of cupcakes to people who didn’t want to wait until then.”

  “How did you get back to Sacramento?” Zoe asked.

  “I hitched a ride in the back of a truck. They didn’t even know I was lying down in the rear. When they reached the city, I got out when they parked. I don’t think anybody saw me.”

  “Huh,” Zoe said. “But you missed one piece of the photo.”

  “That’s right.” Lauren nodded. “One of us – or Jessica – tramped it into the café on our shoe. Annie found it.”

  “We didn’t realize the significance of it until yesterday, when I picked up the fragment at the farmers’ market,” Zoe said. “The two fitted together and we could see it was a photo of this truck.”

  “And some of Jason’s hair,” Lauren added.

  “If only you hadn’t picked up that piece of photo,” Scott said sorrowfully. “Then I wouldn’t have to kill you.”

  “The police have the photo fragments,” Lauren said quickly.

  “Yeah! If you kill us, the police will know you did it,” Zoe told him.

  “You’re bluffing.” Scott advanced toward them. “Because otherwise, why isn’t that detective knocking on my door right now?”

  “Because he doesn’t know you’re here?” Lauren offered.

  “How do you know he’s not at your house right now in Sacramento?” Zoe challenged him.

  “Arrgh!” Scott slapped his hand to his forehead. “Stop talking! Here’s what we’re gonna do. You’ll drive the truck.” He pointed to Lauren. “And you’ll ride shotgun.” He pointed to Zoe.

  “And what are you going to do?” Zoe asked.

  “I’m going to stand behind you and make sure you two don’t try any funny business.”

  “Brrt!” Annie sounded indignant at being overlooked.

  “Three,” Scott amended. “Don’t worry about your cat. I’ll give her to Jessica after this is over. She rarely talks about anything else since she met her – unless it’s all the stuff she wants me to buy her – Jessica, I mean.” His glaze slid towards Annie. “Unless she’ll want me to buy stuff for the cat as well. Oh, jeez.”