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Zoe’s question had kept Lauren up half the night. Was Martha actually investigating Ralph Lapton’s death?
The next morning though, Zoe seemed to backtrack on her theory.
“I think I got carried away last night,” Zoe admitted at breakfast. “Maybe Martha wrote stuff down because she was taking the unofficial minutes. She might email all the members with her notes.”
“That’s one explanation,” Lauren said, biting into her whole-wheat toast.
“Brrp?” Annie asked. She jumped on the chair next to Lauren’s.
“We’re wondering if Martha is investigating Ralph Lapton’s death,” Lauren told Annie.
“Brrt!”
“She is?” Zoe scrunched up her face.
“Brrt!”
“Huh. I think Annie has a good instinct for these sorts of things.”
“Definitely.” Lauren smiled at the cat.
“I hope Martha’s going to be careful,” Zoe said.
“Maybe we could have a chat with her when she comes into the café,” Lauren suggested. “Tell her that murderers are dangerous people.”
“For sure.” Zoe nodded. “That’s the only thing I don’t like when we sleuth around – the murderer trying to get us!”
“Well, it shouldn’t happen this time,” Lauren said, “because we’re not sleuthing around this time. Are we?”
Zoe wrinkled up her mouth as if debating how to answer.
“I wonder what happened at the vet’s yesterday,” Lauren tried to distract her cousin. “Ed was going to ask if anyone had reported AJ missing.”
“That’s right.” Zoe poured granola into her bowl and a large amount of milk. “And I can’t wait to find out what he says!”
***
THE TWO OF THEM BURST into the café kitchen. Annie stayed outside the swinging doors, an inquisitive look on her furry face.
“I think Annie wants an update on AJ too,” Zoe said.
“I’m sure she does.” Lauren turned to smile at the silver-gray tabby before the door closed behind her.
“Well?” Zoe asked impatiently.
Ed looked up from a mound of dough.
“What did the vet say yesterday?” Lauren prompted.
“No one’s reported AJ missing.” Ed smiled briefly, then started pounding the dough. “And I checked the lost and found column yesterday and this morning, and nothing.”
“I hope that means you can keep her,” Zoe said.
“Me, too.” Ed nodded. “The vet said they’ll contact me if anyone enquires about her. I also visited the local shelter but nobody’s looked for her there.”
“I’ll let Annie know.” Lauren turned to go.
“Annie can visit AJ anytime she wants.”
“I could be in charge of setting up the play dates.” Zoe beamed.
“Let’s open up.” Lauren nudged her cousin.
“Thank Annie for finding AJ.” Ed’s smile transformed his face.
***
“STRING-ART CLUB NIGHT at Mrs. Finch’s!” Zoe locked up the café at five o’clock exactly.
“Brrt!” Annie jumped off her bed and trotted to the door that led to the cottage.
“Don’t you mean knitting, crochet, and string-art club night?” Lauren surveyed the empty room. They’d tidied up early, as the last customer had left a few minutes before five. “All we have to do is vacuum and then we can relax for a while.”
“I wonder if Mrs. Finch will have any new craft suggestions for me,” Zoe mused as she plugged in the vacuum.
“What about quilting?” Lauren teased.
“No.” Zoe shuddered. “It involves sewing.”
After cleaning the café, they had an early dinner of paninis and a raspberry swirl cupcake each. Annie had chicken in gravy, one of her favorites.
“Got your scarf?” Zoe asked as Lauren put on Annie’s lavender harness.
“Yes.” She glanced at the brown paper bag that held her knitting. Would she ever finish it?
They walked around the block to Mrs. Finch’s house.
“Brrt!” Annie greeted Mrs. Finch when she opened the door.
“How lovely to see you, girls.” Mrs. Finch smiled at all of them. “Come in, come in.”
Once they were settled in Mrs. Finch’s brown and beige living room, Lauren relaxing on the sofa, her red scarf in her lap, Mrs. Finch asked, “Didn’t you bring your string-art, Zoe?”
“I need a new hobby,” Zoe confessed. “And Annie—” she glanced at the cat, who sat on the floor next to Mrs. Finch, “—thinks I should give something else a try as well.”
Lauren stifled a smile at the memory of Annie hiding Zoe’s string-art threads under the sofa.
“Let me see.” Mrs. Finch closed her eyes and furrowed her brow.
“Ooh, I know!” Zoe jumped up from the sofa. “String knitchet!”
“What’s that?” Lauren wore a puzzled expression.
“I just made it up!” Zoe giggled. “What if I could bash nails into something – like a tube – and then I wrapped yarn around the nails to make a shape, sort of like string-art, but what comes out of the tube is a cross between knitting and crochet!”
“I’ve never heard of that,” Lauren admitted.
“Oh dear.” Mrs. Finch opened her eyes and frowned. “I’m afraid I have, Zoe.”
“You have?” Zoe sounded disappointed.
“I had something like that once. It was called a Knitting Nancy. After winding the wool around the nails, a knitted tube would appear out of the other end.”
“Oh, pooh.” Zoe sank down on the sofa.
“Brrt?” Annie ambled over to her and placed her paw on Zoe’s leg.
“It’s okay, Annie. I thought I’d just invented a new craft and I haven’t.” Zoe sighed.
“What about making some bead jewelry?” Lauren suggested after a moment.
“Ooh.” Zoe brightened. “I’d have to go and visit the handmade shop and see if they have supplies. I could make you something, Lauren. You, too, Mrs. Finch.”
“That’s very kind of you, Zoe.” Mrs. Finch gestured to the string-art picture of a pink flower on a black fabric canvas on the opposite wall. “I love looking at what you created for me.”
“That’s what I’ll do,” Zoe declared. “Investigate bead jewelry.” A shadow crossed her face. “I hope it doesn’t involve a lot of banging.”
“I think Annie and I will be okay with a tiny bit of banging,” Lauren said, hoping it was true.
Lauren knitted a few more rows while Zoe and Mrs. Finch discussed the developer’s death.
As she slipped the last stitch from her needles, Lauren stared at her red scarf. There was only a few inches of wool left in the skein.
“I think I’ve finished.” Her voice was hushed.
“What?” Zoe looked over.
“Brrt?” Annie jumped upon the sofa next to Lauren and patted the red woolen garment with her paw.
“I’ve finally finished knitting this scarf!” She held it up so her cousin and Mrs. Finch could see her creation.
“That’s wonderful, dear.” Mrs. Finch beamed at her. “It looks very nice.”
“Yes, it does,” Zoe said. “You’ve done it! You could wear it on the way home.”
“Definitely.” Lauren stroked the scarf, relishing the feel of the fuzzy softness against her fingers.
“Now you can make one for Mitch,” Zoe teased. “The weather’s getting a little cooler now and if you start right away, you could finish it for Christmas!”
“Another one?” Lauren sank back on the sofa, the comfy cushions against her back. “But ... I’ve just finished this one.”
“I bet he’d love a handmade gift from his girlfriend.” Zoe giggled.
“Yes ...” Lauren’s voice trailed off as she looked down at the scarf. There were a few holes in it, as it was the first thing she’d ever knitted, and at times she’d wondered if she would ever finish it. She’d chosen garter stitch, which Mrs. Finch had suggested as the easiest stitch to master.
Pride flickered through her. She’d actually completed it.
But she couldn’t give Mitch a scarf that had even one hole in it. What if she knitted Mitch something and he didn’t like it? He wouldn’t say so of course, but ...
“Maybe Lauren needs a little break before she starts a new project,” Mrs. Finch said.
“Yes.” Lauren looked at her gratefully.
“Brrt,” Annie added.
“Okay.” Zoe nodded. “But we could go to the handmade shop on Monday and you can look at yarn, and I can look at beads.”
“That sounds like a good plan.” Mrs. Finch nodded. “Just looking at wool doesn’t mean you have to start something right away.”
“All right.” Curiosity flitted through her. What sort of yarn would the little shop have?
They used Mrs. Finch’s pod machine to make coffee for all of them, then said goodbye before it got too late.
Lauren wrapped her red scarf around her neck before they left the house.
“It does look good on you, Lauren,” Mrs. Finch told her.
“Thank you.” Lauren smiled.
“It’s a shame we can’t sleep late tomorrow,” Zoe said as they walked home. She suddenly stopped in her tracks and clapped a hand over her mouth. “Oh, no!”
“What?” Lauren halted, her eyes wide as she stared at her cousin.
“Brrt?” Annie did the same.
“I forgot to make posters for our Tuesday specials next week!”
“I forgot too!”
“Don’t worry.” Zoe patted Lauren’s arm. “I’ll whip up some when we get home.”
“What about tomorrow at breakfast?” Lauren suggested.
“As long as I remember.” Zoe tapped her head. “I can’t believe I forgot.”
“We’ve had a busy week,” Lauren replied. “What with catering the senior party and—”
“—someone killing Ralph, the new landlord.” Zoe nodded. “And trying to come up with solutions in case the seniors are kicked out of their center.”
“No wonder we forgot.”
“Brrt!”