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Zoe groaned, then brightened. “That means we need to go back and wipe off our prints.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” She bit her lip. What had started out as mini-sleuthing mission had turned out to be something bigger.
“Someone is already in the house – and they have a key.”
“Ask Mitch if he knows anything.”
“You know he’s not on the case anymore.”
“Yeah, but what if Castern lets something slip at the station? Mitch might be nearby and overhear it – without doing so intentionally.”
“He’s out of the office a lot with his missing person cold case, but I’ll ask him.” She felt a little reluctant to do so, but her cousin had a point.
But later that night, when she and Mitch had dinner – a large lasagna she’d found at the back of the fridge that was still okay to eat – he shook his head when she asked for an update on Shirley’s death.
“Castern hasn’t let anything slip, and I’ve been in the field most of the day as well.”
“How is your missing person case going?”
“I’m making progress – but it’s slow. The slim leads back then have gone cold now.” His face lightened a little. “I thought we could have Chris and Zoe over for pizza tomorrow night – he called me today and said he’s off tomorrow.”
“Brrt!” Annie sat with them at the kitchen table, having finished her own supper.
“Annie likes the idea.” She smiled at her fur baby. “So do I.” But she couldn’t help wondering if the subject of their visit to Shirley’s house would come up.
***
THE NEXT MORNING, MARTHA barreled into the café as soon as they opened.
“Brrt!” Annie raced over to her, and jumped onto the seat of the walker.
“How did it go last night?” Martha asked, after glancing around the empty room.
“Wait until we tell you!” Zoe zipped to a four-seater at the rear, not waiting for Annie to choose a table for them. She sat down. “We won’t be overheard here.”
“Ooh – what did you find? Something juicy, I bet!”
“Oh!” Lauren clapped a hand over her mouth. She’d meant to replace the clue they’d found in the fireplace, but when they’d heard someone unlocking Shirley’s front door, she’d totally forgotten – until now.
“What?” Zoe stared at her.
“I still have the clue – it should be in my jeans’ pocket.” She’d donned a fresh pair this morning while getting dressed. The offending pair were in the laundry hamper.
“What clue? Tell me!” Martha’s eyes shone with excitement.
They filled her in, stopping before they mentioned someone else entering the house. Glancing at each other, they sent each other a silent message.
“And then we left,” Zoe finished abruptly.
“Oh.” Martha sat back in her chair, looking a little deflated.
“We didn’t want to get caught,” Lauren added.
“What about Annie? Was she with you?”
“Brrt.” No. She sounded regretful.
“Annie stayed at home and watched the first princess movie. I thought she might have been tired from your spying operation yesterday.”
“We did do a lot of spying, didn’t we, Annie?” Martha winked at the silver-gray tabby.
“Brrt!” Yes!
“Your button!” Martha pointed a finger at Zoe’s shoulder.
“I sewed it on last night.” Zoe patted the slightly crooked button on her right shoulder. “Even though I hate sewing.” She gave a little shudder. “I’ll have to wash this sweater again, though. I wish I had two of them – that would be awesome!”
“So now you have to find the next clue,” Martha urged. “Something to do with cookies, since the clue you found last night said: ‘Too many cookies are not good for you.’ Ooh – maybe a recipe!”
“We hadn’t thought of that.” Lauren’s eyes widened. And she was a baker!
“Maybe there’s an old family recipe book handed down through the generations,” Martha’s voice turned dreamy. “And in one of those cookie recipes is the next clue!”
“That is a good idea.” Zoe looked at Martha in admiration. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of that.”
“So, you’ll have to go back and have another look,” their friend urged. “I wish I was younger – I could go with you.” She sighed.
They took her order of a hot chocolate and a super vanilla cupcake.
“I didn’t like not telling Martha everything,” Zoe muttered while she plated the treat.
“I know.” Lauren steamed the milk. “I feel a bit guilty.”
“But the fewer people who know we were there, especially since someone else arrived and was unlocking the front door, the better,” Zoe concluded.
They took Martha’s order over to her. She stirred the hot chocolate, her gaze feasting on the multitude of mini marshmallows in the mug.
“Lots of marshmallows – goody.”
They chatted to her a little while longer, then more customers arrived.
“Remember – you have to look for cookie recipes and cookie jars,” she advised them.
“Brrt!”
***
DURING A BRIEF LULL, Lauren raced through the private hallway and grabbed her dirty jeans from the laundry hamper.
Her fingers closed around the scrap of paper in the pocket, making a crinkling sound. She smoothed it out – the words were exactly the same as she’d remembered: ‘Too many cookies are not good for you.’
Her underwear drawer was probably the safest place to hide it for now and she placed it under a pile of old socks at the back of the drawer. She really should sort through them one day.
She hurried back to the café, hoping an influx of customers hadn’t arrived while she’d been gone, but to her relief only the same few tables were occupied.
“I should tell Mitch about the clue we found last night.” She kept her voice low as she rejoined her cousin at the espresso machine.
Annie snoozed in her pink cat basket – she certainly had been busy yesterday with Martha.
“Do you think?”
“Yes.” She didn’t want to keep secrets from her husband.
“Maybe he might have some ideas about where the next clue is.” Zoe brightened. “Although, I think Martha’s idea was a good one, about a recipe book holding the cookie clue.”
“Yes, it was.”
She was just about to say something else about their upcoming pizza evening when the entrance door opened and Joyce walked in, wearing a rose shirt-waist dress.
They glanced at each other – Joyce had come in yesterday too. Was she becoming a regular?
“I’m afraid I can’t stay,” Joyce said. “But I was craving one of your cupcakes, Lauren.” She gave a little laugh. “I don’t think this place is good for my waistline.” She patted her trim stomach.
“Would you like coffee as well?” Zoe asked.
“Why not?” Joyce stared at her for a moment. “Zoe, is that a twin of the sweater you wore yesterday or did you find your button?”
“I found it.” Zoe patted her right shoulder. “Isn’t it awesome? They really make the sweater.”
“They certainly do.” Joyce nodded.
After deciding on a large latte and Gold Rush cupcake, she waited at the counter for her order.
“Oh, did you hear that Shirley’s adult daughter is in town for the funeral? Father Mike will be conducting the service.”
“No, we hadn’t heard.” Lauren steamed the milk, the wand making a hissing sound.
“I don’t know what they’re going to do with the house – but I heard that she left it to her two daughters.”
“She has two?” Zoe inquired.
“Yes.” Joyce nodded. “Although I don’t think they visit – visited – her much. They probably thought they were too busy with their own lives.” She sounded disapproving.
“Do you have kids?” Zoe asked.
“A son in New York,” she replied. “He’s too busy to visit me as well – but sometimes I go and see him – whether it’s convenient for him or not.” She gave a self-satisfied smile.
Lauren finished off the latte with a swan design, thinking it was a shame it would be covered up.
“Here you go.” She placed the order on the counter.
“Thank you.” Joyce sipped her coffee through the little spout on the lid. “Delicious. I’ll tell everyone at the senior center about this place – that will give them something else to talk about besides Shirley’s daughter being in town.”
After she departed, Zoe turned to Lauren. “Doesn’t everyone at the senior center know about us already?”
“I guess most of them do by now,” she agreed, “but that doesn’t mean they all come in.”
“True.” Zoe nodded.
A short while later, Lauren’s eyes widened when Howard, the historian who’d given the talk about the gold rush era, entered the café. He looked a little rumpled in his jacket with elbow patches, and spotted bowtie.
“What’s he doing here?” Zoe nudged her in the ribs.
“Find any more gold?” He chuckled as he approached the counter, not stopping at the Please Wait to be Seated sign.
“Did you get my voice mail?” Zoe asked. “About where to sell our gold?”
“Oh – sorry about that. I meant to reply but then I became absorbed in researching another part of California that had some big finds during the gold rush – but it’s one that most historians seem to have overlooked. I’m going there on the weekend to see if I can find anything.”
“Ooh – where is it?”
“It’s a secret.” He tapped his nose, then brought out his phone from his small briefcase. “But I do have those details for selling your gold.”
Zoe brought out her own phone, tapping away. “Go.”
He read out the name and address of a business in Sacramento, and the phone number.
“Thanks.” Zoe smiled. “We’ll check them out.”
“Brrt?” Annie trotted up to him.
“Hello.” He glanced down at her. “What do you do here?”
“She seats the customers,” Lauren said, “and visits with them. Would you like a cupcake or a Danish?”
“We also have hot chocolate, lattes, and cappuccinos,” Zoe added.
“A hot chocolate sounds good,” he replied.
“Annie will show you to a table,” she said.
“Really?” he asked good-naturedly.
“Brrt!” This way. She led him to a two-seater near the counter.
“Maybe Annie seated him there so we can keep an eye on him,” Zoe suggested with a giggle.
“Maybe.” She steamed the milk, and when the drink was finished, added plenty of marshmallows to it.
She approached the table, Zoe accompanying her.
“Did you know Shirley died last weekend?” Zoe kept her voice low.
“Shirley?” He knotted his brow.
“The lady who had the gold nugget.”
“Oh.” His expression cleared. “Of course. Sorry. I don’t live here – I live in Zeke’s Ridge, which is twenty minutes away. That is terrible news. What happened?”
“We don’t know for sure,” Lauren said, not wanting to discuss Shirley’s death with a comparative stranger.
“Because we’re not the police,” Zoe added.
“But it looks like she was hit on the head.”
“In her kitchen.”
“Do you think it was a robbery?” he asked. “Was anything missing?”
“Not that we’ve heard,” she replied. It was the truth. Did a missing scrap of paper with a possible clue on it that could have been in an old cookie jar count? There was no proof that a piece of paper had been in that cookie jar to begin with.
“What about her gold nugget?” His eyes were bright with curiosity.
“We haven’t heard anything about that,” Zoe said primly.
“Brrt.” Annie had jumped up on the chair opposite him.
“And her family are in town now,” Lauren said, remembering what Joyce had told them that morning.
“Of course.” He nodded. “What a terrible thing to have happened.”
They left him to drink his hot chocolate, Annie staying with him for a few minutes, and then ambling to her cat bed.
“What do you think?” Zoe whispered as they stood behind the counter once more.
“About what?”
Her cousin gave her an exasperated look.
“About whether he’s the killer. He was interested in the gold nugget.”
“He was,” Lauren said thoughtfully. “But how could he be the murderer? We saw him on Saturday afternoon while we were panning for gold.”
“We have to ask Mitch for the time of death,” Zoe kept her voice down. “We can do that tonight over pizza.”
Before Lauren could remind her that Mitch was no longer on the case, Bob walked in.
“Brrt?” Annie greeted him as he stood at the Please Wait to be Seated sign.
“Bet you don’t know where I want to sit,” he joked to her.
“Brrt.” This way. She led him to small table in the middle of the room.
“Would you look at that.” He sat down in the pine chair with an air of approval. “Good job.”
“Brrt.” Thank you. She sat on the chair opposite.
“How do I order?” Lauren heard him say.
She was just about to go over there, when she saw Annie tap the laminated menu on the table.
He peered at it and nodded. A second later, he scraped back his chair and walked over to the counter.
“Your cat says I need to order here, the same as if I was ordering to go. Well, the menu says that.”
“That’s right,” she replied pleasantly, smiling over at Annie.
“Got any of those cupcakes I had last time?”
Luckily, she remembered that he’d ordered the Gold Rush treats.
“Yes.”
“I’ll have one of those and a large cappuccino.”
“Coming right up,” she promised.
He turned to walk back to his table, but then swiveled around. “Hey, did you hear that Shirley’s dead?”
“Yes.”
“I can’t believe it.” He shook his head. “Who would want to kill her?”
“How do you know it wasn’t an accident?” Zoe suddenly came up behind Lauren’s shoulder.
“That’s what everyone is saying. Hit on the head.” He winced. “I guess we’ll never know now if she really did have a gold nugget.”
“Unless her daughter knows where it is and sells it.” Zoe turned to her, an oops expression flitting across her face.
“That’s an idea.” Bob looked happier. “I’d love to take a gander at it – even buy it from her but—” his mouth turned down at the corners “–I probably couldn’t afford to. Money doesn’t go too far these days.”
“That’s for sure,” Zoe nodded. “I’m saving up for a secondhand car.”
“You’ll probably get one eventually.” He didn’t sound very encouraging.
They watched him return to the table, Annie waiting for him. After “chatting” to him for a couple of minutes, she strolled around the room, inspecting each corner, then settled back into her cat basket.
“It sounds like it is true – Bob is short of money, just like Martha told us.” Zoe plated the cupcake.
“Could be.” She finished off the cappuccino with a peacock, the hot chocolate powder dusted on the tail, hoping her special design would cheer him up.
“Wow.” He looked at the latte art in admiration when they brought it over a few seconds later. “Really fancy.”
“Thanks.” She smiled.
“Your cat is really something, too.”
“I like to think so.” Which reminded her she needed to organize Annie’s playdate with AJ.
Dashing into the kitchen, she found Ed sliding another batch of apricot Danishes into the oven.
“When would AJ like to come over to play with Annie?”
“Anytime, really.” He smiled. “How about the weekend? Saturday afternoon?”
“That sounds good.”
“I’ll bring her over around three? Is that an okay time for you?”
“Yes.”
“Great.”
Lauren and Annie grabbed their lunch in the cottage kitchen during a brief lull, then Zoe raced home to have hers, muttering she’d have tuna salad since all the paninis had sold out.
By the time four o’clock rolled around, both of them were sitting on stools behind the counter, while Annie had returned to her cat bed.
“Yesterday must have really tired her out,” Lauren observed.
“I’m sure she’ll be okay.” Zoe touched her arm. “I mean, she’s only six or so, isn’t she? That’s not even a senior cat.”
“True.”
The entrance door opened and two of their favorite people entered – Claire, and her daughter, Molly.
“Annie!” The little girl with blonde curls waved to the silver-gray tabby.
“Brrt!” Annie woke instantly and trotted to greet them.
Lauren smiled.
“Hi, Claire. Hi, Molly.” Zoe zoomed over to greet them.
“Hi,” tall, blonde, and athletic Claire replied. She was dressed in slim-fitting blue jogger pants and a white T-shirt.
“How was school today, Molly?” Lauren asked.
“Good.” Molly’s curls bounced as she nodded. “We read a book about a cat, but she wasn’t as clever as Annie or Kitty.”
Kitty was Molly’s own cat. When the café had hosted an adoption day, the little girl had instantly fallen in love with a kitten that “looked like Annie but not like Annie”. Each time she visited the café, she updated them all about Kitty’s progress, and Claire showed them the latest photos.
Annie led them all to a large table at the rear and Claire brought out her phone.
“I took some more pictures yesterday.”
Lauren, Zoe, and Annie admired the images of Molly and Kitty playing in the living room, the duo snuggled up on a couch, and Molly on tiptoes reaching up to Kitty at the top of the refrigerator.
“Kitty wants Annie to come for another playdate,” Molly announced.
Lauren and Claire glanced at each other.
“It’s okay with me, if it’s okay with Annie,” she began.
“Brrt!” Yes!
“Goody!” Molly clapped her hands.
“I haven’t said yes yet,” Claire teased. “But it’s fine with me. I know they all enjoyed themselves last time.”
They decided on the Saturday after next, in the afternoon.
“Can’t wait!” Molly beamed at Annie.
“Brrt!” Me either!
They took Claire’s order of a large latte and Gold Rush cupcake, and Molly’s request for a cino. The babycino was something Molly always enjoyed, made from steamed milk froth, with hot chocolate powder and mini marshmallows sprinkled on top.
“Yum!” Molly eyed the mini concoction when Lauren brought it over to her. “Look, Annie.” She showed the feline her babycino.
“This looks delicious.” Claire admired her cupcake, the edible gold powder sparkling in the sunlight streaming through the windows. Then she glanced at her latte boasting a peacock design. “Do you have a few minutes to sit with us?”
“Definitely.” Zoe plopped onto a spare chair. “It’s quiet in here now.”
Claire and Molly were their only customers, so Lauren sat next to Molly.
“You’ll never guess,” Zoe said to the little girl, “but we found some gold!”
Her blue eyes rounded. “Really?”
Zoe told them all about their expedition the previous Saturday afternoon.
“How much did you find?” Molly asked.
“Not that much,” Lauren said. “We weighed it on my kitchen scales and it was not even one gram.”
“I want to do it, Mommy,” Molly pleaded.
“We’ll see,” Claire said.
“I can lend you my equipment,” Zoe offered. “It’s a bowl and a classifier, which is like a sieve.”
“I might take you up on it.” Claire looked intrigued.
“But not many people know we found some,” Zoe continued. She glanced at Molly. “Only special people.”
Molly beamed.
“So we’d like it if you didn’t tell anyone,” Lauren said to Molly. She turned to Claire. “I hope you don’t mind.”
“Of course not,” Claire replied. “I heard what happened to Shirley.” She shuddered.
They quickly filled her in on the situation, being careful with their words for Molly’s sake. But the little girl was busy stroking Annie, and didn’t seem interested in their conversation, until she spied her mom’s cupcake.
“Molly have some?” She pointed to the treat.
“I want you to eat your dinner tonight.” Claire cut a small half and gave it to her.
“I will,” Molly promised, digging into her portion of the Gold Rush. “Yum.” She smacked her lips together, smearing the vanilla buttercream on her mouth along with a little bit of pink marshmallow from her cino.
After a pleasant time chatting to their friends, Lauren and Zoe reluctantly returned to the counter. It was nearly five by then, and no new customers had entered, but they could begin a small amount of clearing up.
“I can’t wait for pizza tonight.” Zoe checked the register.
“Me either,” she replied.
When Claire and Molly finished their treats and Molly had finished stroking Annie with “fairy pats”, they walked up to the counter to pay.
“Can’t wait for Annie to visit.” Molly beamed down at her. The silver-gray tabby had accompanied them to the register.
“I’m sure she can’t wait either,” Lauren told the little girl.
“Brrt!”
***
THAT EVENING, LAUREN did a quick tidy of the kitchen and living room before Zoe and Chris arrived at seven.
“We’re here!” Zoe called from the back door.
“Coming.” She opened the door.
“Brrt!” Annie greeted them.
“Hi, Annie.” Chris bent down to say hello, his even, attractive features looking a little tired.
“Brrt.” Hi, Chris.
“I feel I hardly see you these days, even though we’re living next door to each other.” Mitch came up behind Lauren.
“I know.” Chris sounded regretful. “Hopefully I won’t have quite as many shifts next week and we can hang out.”
“That would be great.”
Lauren smiled as the two guys walked into the living room.
“Chris has been working hard lately,” Zoe murmured to her. “The sooner they hire a new crew member the better.”
“I’m sure they’ll enjoy themselves tonight – especially with pizza.”
“Yeah.” Zoe smiled.
While the guys caught up in the living room, the girls called the local pizza place, and were told their order would arrive soon.
Meanwhile, they joined Mitch and Chris, Annie sitting with Lauren, then jumping onto the other sofa to say hello to Chris.
“How’s your case going?” Chris asked his friend.
“I finally came across a new lead today.” Mitch smiled. “I’m chasing it up tomorrow. If it pans out, I might find this guy.”
“That’s great,” Chris enthused.
The doorbell rang.
“Pizza!” Zoe zipped to the front door, Lauren following.
The guys helped them bring the boxes to the kitchen. They’d ordered two Zoe specials and one Lauren special.
Annie had already enjoyed her dinner of beef and liver, so she sat next to Lauren at the kitchen table, watching as they dug into their meal.
She savored her special combination of Canadian bacon, sundried tomato, and mushroom, while the other three enjoyed pepperoni and sausage. She knew that her next slice would be a Zoe special, and that the others would also grab a piece of her combination.
After chatting with each other about general topics, the conversation turned to Shirley’s death.
“How is Detective Castern going with the case?” Chris asked after eating his fill.
“He’s not saying much, so I don’t think he’s close,” Mitch replied. “If he was, he’d be walking around the office looking very self-satisfied and telling everyone he was about to break the case.” He paused. “I haven’t been in the office much this week anyway, but I’m sure I would have heard if he was close to making an arrest.”
“What was Shirley’s time of death?” Zoe inquired.
“It’s estimated around three o’clock Saturday afternoon,” Mitch said. “But that’s only a ball park.”
“We were panning for gold then,” Lauren recollected.
“So was Howard, the historian,” Zoe added, “although I don’t know exactly what time we saw him in the park.”
“I wish I was still on the case.” Mitch grimaced.
“That reminds me.” Zoe pulled out her phone from her jeans’ pocket. “Our sleuthing plan!”
“Your what?” Chris looked sideways at his wife.
Lauren gave a guilty start. She hadn’t told Mitch yet about their excursion to Shirley’s house to retrieve Zoe’s button. She’d meant to tell him tonight before their friends arrived, but he’d gotten home just fifteen minutes before Zoe and Chris arrived and there hadn’t been time.
“There’s something we haven’t told you,” she began slowly.
“What is it?” Mitch asked, sitting beside her. He had a concerned look on his face.
“I lost a button on my sweater.” Zoe tapped on her right shoulder. “So yesterday after we closed the café, we went back to Shirley’s house – and found it!”
“You did what?” Consternation flickered across Mitch’s face. “You didn’t break in, did you?”
“Of course not,” she told him.
“We found a spare key,” Zoe informed him.
“Of course you did.” Mitch shook his head.
Zoe filled in the guys, Lauren adding comments when appropriate.
“And we found two more clues,” Zoe finished. “Tell them, Lauren.”
“‘You’re knot getting warmer.’ And, ‘Too many cookies are not good for you.’” Lauren quoted the clues, spelling out the words “knot” and “not” in each of them for the guys’ benefit.
“We think the next clue could have been in the cookie jar that was used as the murder weapon,” Zoe said, “but when we found ... Shirley, we looked in it without touching it and there weren’t any scraps of paper in it.”
“Martha suggested the next clue might be in an old recipe book of Shirley’s, if it wasn’t in the cookie jar to begin with,” Lauren added.
“Of course she did.” Mitch closed his eyes for a second. “I hope Castern doesn’t hear about this.”
“So do I.” Lauren touched his hand.
He opened his eyes and smiled at her, but it contained a tinge of concern.
“You know I want the killer to be caught, but not at the expense of yourself, Annie, or Zoe,” he told her.
“I know,” she replied softly, glad he seemed to be okay with their sleuthing expedition – after the fact.
“What else is in your plan?” Chris peered at the phone.
“That’s all, really.” Zoe made a face. “Martha and I – and Annie – were busy spying on customers yesterday, and—”
“Spying on customers?” Mitch glanced at Lauren.
“It’s not as bad as it sounds.” She hoped.
“Yeah, after some finetuning, we were very discreet,” Zoe said. “But we didn’t find out that much, except for the fact that Bob is short of money.”
“He was the man interested in looking at Shirley’s gold nugget,” Lauren added.
“Brrt!”
“I think you might have more to go on than Castern,” Mitch admitted, “but if you want to go back to Shirley’s house – and I can’t believe I’m saying this – to look for more clues, ask Castern for permission first.”
“Oops!” Zoe clapped a hand over her mouth. “I’ve still got Shirley’s spare door key!”
Lauren stared at her. “I forgot all about that.”