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The next day, Lauren and Zoe were guilty of opening the café a little later than usual.
Lauren realized she hadn’t been nervous when Mitch had appeared to take Pamela into custody, but that was understandable. There’d been too much going on at the time. Now, she wondered if the next time she saw him she’d still feel nervous – and attracted to him.
Pamela had been arrested for Steve’s murder and was currently in jail awaiting trial. But with the recording of her confession, Lauren wondered if the middle-aged woman would decide to plead guilty.
“I can’t believe what happened here yesterday.” Zoe gestured to the vacant tables as they set up for the day.
“I know,” Lauren said ruefully.
“Brrt!”
“I’ve never seen Annie look like that before when Pamela threatened us,” Zoe continued thoughtfully, “or heard her purr like that.”
“I looked it up last night,” Lauren admitted. “Cats don’t only purr when they’re happy, they can also purr if they’re afraid or about to go into battle.”
“Annie certainly went into battle for us!” Zoe grinned at the Norwegian Forest Cat.
“Brrt!” Annie said proudly, perched in her cat bed.
A thought suddenly struck Lauren. “Annie, were you trying to help us find the killer when you showed us that Pamela left her black leather bag behind in the café that day?”
“Brrt!” Annie seemed to agree.
“That’s right!” Zoe clapped a hand to her temple.
“We found out how close a neighbor Pamela was to Mrs. Finch when we returned her bag,” Lauren said slowly. “And that’s when the casino chip dropped out.”
Zoe’s eyes widened. “Annie, you helped solve the mystery!”
“Brrt!” Annie said proudly. “Brrt!”
“We’ll have a lot to talk about with Mrs. Finch at knitting club on Friday night,” Zoe said. “If I spend all my spare time until then I bet I can finish Annie’s blanket.”
“Please don’t say that word.” Lauren shuddered. “Bet.”
“Sorry.” Zoe looked contrite.
“We promised Mrs. Finch we’d bring Annie to knitting club this week. I’m so glad she’s innocent.”
“I know. Now we can totally enjoy her company without a faint niggle in the back of our mind wondering if she – you know.”
“I know.” Lauren nodded, then looked over at her cat. “Would you like to come to knitting club with us, Annie?”
“Brrt!”
“I know that’s a yes!” Zoe grinned.
THE END
P.S. Please turn the page for my other titles. Book 2 coming approximately late March 2019!