by Jinty James
“But I thought she and Ed ...” Zoe began.
“Ed.” Deborah tsked. “A nice enough fellow, and a talented baker, but Rebecca should marry my son Richard.”
“I thought Rebecca and Richard were just friends,” Lauren said, aware of Annie standing right next to her, her fur brushing against her jean-clad leg.
What were they going to do?
“They are.” Deborah nodded. “But I think they’ll make a wonderful husband and wife team and fall in love with each other in time. I’ve always thought so. But then Richard had to go and meet Nellie in college, and marry her.” She shook her head. “I love my son but anyone with half a brain could see what sort of person Nellie was – or was on the way to becoming. She gave him a terrible time because she was upset about him being allergic to cats and dogs. It’s not his fault.”
“Of course not,” Lauren agreed. She looked down at Annie and tilted her head the tiniest bit toward the door. Annie took a few steps toward it, Lauren and Zoe following her.
“Not so fast!” Deborah’s voice was suddenly embedded in steel. “You’re not going anywhere. I’m certainly not going to let you run off to your detective boyfriend.”
“But we don’t know anything.” Zoe sounded completely innocent. “Just that you got your earrings back from Nellie. You must have seen her and left before the killer arrived. So we’ll just get going and leave you to your book club prep.”
“Nice try, Zoe.” Deborah laughed.
Lauren’s spine chilled.
“I can’t let you two leave now.” She glanced at Annie. “I suppose I’ll let your cat live – she hasn’t done anything wrong. Rebecca has a soft spot for animals – she can look after her.”
“If anyone is going to look after Annie, it will be Mitch.” Lauren straightened her shoulders.
“Brrt!”
“Have it your own way.” Deborah sounded as if she didn’t care. “Whatever. It’s a shame you had to notice my earrings – I didn’t realize you girls were so sharp. All you do is bake and make coffee, and Zoe doesn’t even bake.”
“I make pottery mugs,” Zoe protested.
“Oh, yes. Your little hobby. Cute.” Deborah sneered. “Meanwhile, the rest of us have to engineer our lives. Like removing Nellie from Richard’s.”
“But why now?” Lauren asked.
“Because I’d had enough of her. She was always complaining about my son. My son was far too good for her, and always had been, but Nellie thought it was the other way around. Well, I showed her. Ha!”
“So you went to her house to get your earrings back,” Zoe encouraged.
“Yes. I wanted them for a function last weekend. When she hadn’t returned them the previous night, I went to my son’s house to get them back from her. The way she whined and complained about having to return them to me made me see red. She’d already started going on about how it was so unfair she couldn’t have that little red kitten from the adoption event. So when she turned her back on me, I picked up that ugly vase her grandmother gave her and smashed it on her skull. Then I got my earrings, grabbed the vase, and went home.”
“And nobody saw you?” Lauren asked.
“No. I was lucky.” She laughed. “I played the part of grieving mother-in-law so well, Detective Castern didn’t probe too much into my whereabouts that morning. I lied to him and told him I was at home.”
“Nobody seems to think much of Detective Castern, but you said early on he seemed to know what he was doing,” Lauren said slowly.
“Very good.” Deborah nodded. “I didn’t realize others thought he was a bit of a dumb-dumb too, or that you’d had previous interactions with him. I’m not a regular at your café like some of the other people around here.”
“But what about the vase?” Zoe frowned. “Didn’t he check your house for the murder weapon?”
“Of course not. I don’t think he’s that smart. As soon as I got home with it, I wiped it with a disinfectant cloth, to get rid of my fingerprints, and buried it in the back of a kitchen cupboard, out of sight. I thought he’d need a warrant if he wanted to search the whole house in case the murder weapon was here. He didn’t have much of a look around.” She shook her head.
“So you don’t know that we found the vase?” Lauren waited for her reaction.
“What?” Deborah paled.
“Yeah,” Zoe said in satisfaction. “Two café girls – us—” she pointed to herself and Lauren “—found your murder weapon in a thrift store in Sacramento.”
“And the police have already tested it for blood,” Lauren added. “Now it’s undergoing further testing.”
“You’re lying.” Deborah staggered back until her calves touched the sofa. “But how would you know where I dumped the vase if you are lying?” Bewilderment flickered across her face.
“You might as well give yourself up right now,” Zoe advised.
“You weren’t able to get rid of the blood stain on the bottom of the vase,” Lauren reminded her.
“No.” She shook her head. “I tried, but I couldn’t get it out. I dumped the vase outside the thrift store one night.”
“So the police will know it was the murder weapon when they match it with Nellie’s ... you know.”
“They’ll canvass the area around the thrift store, and they’re sure to find someone who remembers seeing you, especially carrying an ugly vase like that one,” Zoe added.
“No!” Deborah vaulted over the sofa in one smooth leap.
Lauren’s mouth parted.
“Pilates.” Deborah smiled in satisfaction, the sofa between her and the trio.
“We should try Pilates,” Zoe muttered.
Deborah picked up the crystal vase on the mantel behind her and hefted it.
“Now I’ll have to smash your skulls in. Not yours, Annie.” She spared a glance for the feline. “You won’t be able to tell anyone about this.”
“Don’t be too sure,” Lauren warned.
“What are you going to do with our bodies?” Zoe wanted to know.
“Aren’t your book club members arriving soon?” Lauren pressed. “What if they find you in the middle of killing us?”
“Brrt!” Yes!
“Which book are you reading, anyway?” Zoe picked up a hardback on the coffee table next to the cupcake boxes. She hefted it in the same way Deborah hefted the vase. “Nice and heavy.”
“You wouldn’t.” Deborah’s eyes narrowed.
“She would,” Lauren informed her.
“Yeah, I have done this before, you know. With killers.” Zoe sounded fierce.
Lauren glanced at Annie, then at Zoe. She noticed Annie looking at Zoe as well. The three of them reached a silent decision.
“Enjoy your book club!” Zoe hurled the hardback straight at Deborah’s face.
“Arrgh!” Deborah screamed at the same time the book thumped into her face. She dropped the vase with a thud.
Annie, Lauren, and Zoe raced out of the living room and down the hall, Annie towing Lauren.
Ding dong.
The doorbell chimed.
Lauren wrenched open the door, the three of them bursting through to the surprise of Ms. Tobin, standing on the porch.
“Lauren? Isn’t this book club?”
“It’s killer club!” Zoe grabbed her arm, urging her down the steps – to freedom.
EPILOGUE
“I CAN’T BELIEVE A MOTHER-in-law would go so far.” Chris shook his head.
It was the next day, and the five of them were gathered around the table in the cottage kitchen. They’d just finished their burgers from Gary’s, including Annie.
“Believe it,” Mitch advised. He held Lauren’s hand and turned to her. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”
“Me too.”
“Brrt!”
“What about me?” Zoe teased.
“Brrt.” You too, Zoe.
“What will happen to Deborah now?” Lauren asked.
“She’ll be going to prison for a long t
ime,” Mitch replied.
“What about Detective Castern?” Zoe joked. “I wish he would go there.”
“Zoe!”
“I’m afraid we’re stuck with him – for now,” Mitch replied. “But our boss didn’t seem pleased with the way he’d handled the case.”
After Annie, Lauren, and Zoe, as well as Ms. Tobin, had dashed from Deborah’s house, Lauren speed-dialed Mitch. Ms. Tobin drove them to the police station, shocked at their tale, but believing them. She knew of their previous successful sleuthing.
Lauren’s date with Mitch had been cancelled as he’d been asked to take over the case while Detective Castern had been located in Sacramento, having the day off. She hadn’t had a chance to ask Mitch about why he’d been outside the jewelry store, and after her close call with the killer, it didn’t seem quite so important.
“Do you think Richard and Rebecca will get together?” Chris asked.
“No.” Zoe shook her head. “I think Ed has the hots for Rebecca.”
“I think so, too,” Lauren said.
“Brrt!” Yes!
“Besides, both Richard and Rebecca told us that they were only friends,” Lauren added.
“So now all Ed has to do is ask Rebecca on a date,” Zoe said.
“I suspect he will,” Lauren said, thinking back to her recent conversation with him in the café kitchen. Now that the killer had been found, and Rebecca was proven innocent, there was nothing to stop Ed from asking her out.
“Brrt! I think so, too!
“Maybe we can help him out with that.” Zoe winked.
“If he needs help,” Lauren replied.
“Ooh – maybe Annie can do something.” Zoe grinned at the silver-gray tabby. “What do you think, Annie?”
“Brrt!”
THE END
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