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“Hi, Christina,” Brooke greeted her.
Christina’s gaze flickered to Lauren, Zoe, and Annie as she entered. “Don’t I know you?” Her brow furrowed. “Oh, the café.”
“That’s right,” Lauren replied.
“Brrt!”
“What are you doing here?” Christina asked.
“Visiting our friend.” Zoe lifted her chin. “What are you doing here?”
“Christina is Uncle Francis’s sister,” Brooke introduced them. “These are my friends – Lauren, Zoe, and Annie.”
“We met at the café on Saturday morning,” Christina replied.
“But we didn’t know you were related to Brooke – sort of,” Zoe commented.
“I’m sure you’ll excuse us,” Christina said. “I have some private family business to discuss with Brooke.”
“But you’re not really family.” Zoe frowned.
“We might as well be.” Christina flashed a smile at Brooke. “Our families have been close for decades.”
“True,” Brooke admitted.
“I’ll have to contact Francis’s lawyer.” Christina opened her purse, an elegant diamond and sapphire ring flashing on her finger.
“Your ring.” Brooke uttered faintly, her eyes wide. “Is that mine – Grandmother’s?”
She stepped close to Christina and grasped her hand.
“What are you talking about?” Christina shook herself free and stepped back.
“Let me see.” Zoe zoomed over to Christina and peered at her hand. “It’s definitely a sapphire with diamonds – unless it’s a fake.”
“It is not a fake.” Christina glowered. “What’s going on?”
“Take a look for yourself, Brooke,” Zoe urged.
“Brrt!”
“You don’t mind, do you?” There was a determined glint in her eye.
“If you must.” Christina rolled her eyes and thrust out her hand.
Lauren watched Brooke hold her breath while she inspected Christina’s ring.
“No, it’s not.” Brooke’s shoulders sagged. “I’m sorry. For a second there, I thought it was. But your ring has three diamonds on each side of the sapphire, not two.”
“But why would I be wearing your grandmother’s ring?” Christina demanded.
Brooke explained about her jewelry going missing from Uncle Francis’s safe.
“Is that the same bracelet you wore on Saturday when you visited our cafe?” Lauren gestured to the elegant sapphire and diamond bracelet sparkling on Christina’s wrist.
Christina casually glanced at it. “Yes.”
“It’s beautiful.” Zoe stared at the piece of jewelry. “Did your grandmother have a bracelet like that?” she asked Brooke.
“No.” Brooke shook her head. “Just the sapphire ring and a diamond necklace.”
“If you must know, my ex-husband Keith bought me this ring a long time ago.” Christina touched it gently. “And also this bracelet later on.” She lifted her hand so they could see it sparkle in the wintery sunlight shining through the window. What can I say?” She shrugged. “I like wearing jewelry.”
“I haven’t been much of a jewelry person,” Zoe mused. “What about you, Lauren?”
“Not really, until now.” Lauren touched her gold L necklace that Mitch had given her when they were dating, then her engagement ring – a round brilliant diamond – and wedding ring, as if for good luck.
“Except for my wedding band!” Zoe indicated her simple gold ring.
“This has all been very interesting, but I do need to speak with Brooke,” Christina stated.
“Make sure you file that police report,” Lauren reminded Brooke as they headed out the door.
“Don’t worry, I will,” Brooke assured them.
“Well, that was interesting.” Zoe marched toward the café.
“Yes.”
“Brrt!”
“How strange that Brooke thought Christina was wearing her ring.”
“Maybe there are a lot of similar designs involving a big sapphire, and diamonds bracketing it,” Lauren offered.
“You could be right.”
They reached the café – just before nine-thirty, Lauren noted – and took their places behind the counter.
“I hope Mrs. Finch comes in,” Zoe said. “I can’t wait to tell her everything.”
“Brrt!” Annie’s ears pricked up at the mention of their friend.
A few minutes later, the feline ran to the entrance.
“Hello, dears.” Mrs. Finch appeared, tapping her way into the café with her stick.
“Brrt!” Annie slowly led her to a four-seater near the counter.
“Hi, Mrs. Finch,” Zoe greeted her cheerfully. “I’m glad you’re here!”
“Wait until we tell you what’s happened.”
Once their friend was seated at the pine table, Annie sitting opposite her, they took her order of a latte and a blueberry cream cupcake. “I’ve been looking forward to trying one,” Mrs. Finch said.
They brought her order over to her, then filled her in on Uncle Francis’s death.
“My goodness,” she exclaimed at the end. “I can scarcely believe it! Who would want to kill such a mild-mannered man?”
“Did you know him well?” Lauren asked. Since there weren’t any other customers, they’d joined their friend at the table.
“Oh, yes.” Mrs. Finch nodded. “He’s been the local bank manager for a while now, and grew up in the area. He has – had – a little sister called Christina.”
“We met her on Saturday,” Lauren remarked. “But we didn’t know who she was.”
“But now we do! And she looks like she’s in her fifties or something.” Since they hadn’t told their friend what had happened at Brooke’s salon that morning, Zoe explained it to her.
“Christina was always a bit flighty. I didn’t realize she was divorced. I met her husband Keith once and thought he was a nice man. I don’t think she ever worked while she was married, though.”
“She does now,” Zoe informed her. “We overheard part of their conversation on Saturday and she mentioned her job.”
“Not that we were eavesdropping,” Lauren added.
“She acted like we weren’t there when she was ready to pay.” Zoe sounded indignant.
Mrs. Finch shook her head. “I suppose she was always a bit like that, unfortunately.”
They moved on to happier topics, such as the pizza Zoe made for lunch yesterday, and how she was planning on getting started with her screenplay.
“I guess I’ll have to find out how to actually write it,” Zoe mused.
“Why don’t you write down your ideas as they come to you?” Lauren suggested.
“Brrt!” Annie’s green eyes sparkled.
“Good idea,” Mrs. Finch agreed.
“I’ll do that.” Zoe grinned.
More customers trickled in, and they made their apologies, Annie greeting each customer and seating them, before returning to her friend.
After a while, Mrs. Finch assured them she would be fine walking home, and they said goodbye.
“Your blueberry cream cupcake was delicious, Lauren,” she said on her way out the door. “I’m sure it will be a big success.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Finch.” Lauren smiled after her.
The new cupcakes sold out in record time, along with Ed’s honeyed walnut Danishes.
“Got any goodies left?” Their friend Martha barreled through the door, pushing her rolling walker. Her comfy looking fuchsia sweat pants and matching sweater complimented her curly gray hair.
“Brrt!” Annie scampered over to her from her basket.
“Always.” Zoe grinned. “Unless we’ve sold out.”
Martha chuckled.
“We still have super vanilla and Norwegian apple,” Lauren put in, “along with Ed’s apricot Danish.”
“But it’s not even lunch time.” Martha looked shocked. “What about these blueberry cupcakes I’ve been hearing about?”
“Sold out,” Lauren apologized, but couldn’t help feeling secretly delighted. She vowed to make extra tomorrow.
Martha ordered a marshmallow latte named after herself and a Norwegian apple.
“Want a ride, cutie pie?” She winked at Annie.
“Brrt!” Annie leaped onto the black padded vinyl seat of the walker, Martha pushing them towards the table Annie chose. The feline directed her with a series of brrts and brrps.
“I wonder if Martha has heard about Uncle Francis.” Zoe plated the cupcake while Lauren made the special latte, adding mini marshmallows to the steamed milk and mixing them in.
“Maybe she knew him, like Mrs. Finch,” she suggested.
They took the order over to their friend.
“Did you know the local bank manager died yesterday?” Martha peered inside her large mug, decorated with Annie’s likeness. “Lots of marshmallows – goody.”
“How did you know that?” Lauren’s mouth parted slightly.
“Yeah, we were just about to tell you!”
“The senior center,” all three of them chorused.
“Brrt!”
“Did you know him personally?” Lauren asked.
“No.” Martha shook her curly gray head. “Only to say hello to, or complain about something at the bank.”
“Like what?” Zoe pressed.
“It was a while back.” Martha frowned. “I think it was about them not having an umbrella bucket for customers to use when it rained. Francis fixed the problem.”
“That’s good to know,” Lauren commented.
“I have no idea who would want to kill him.” Martha dug into the cupcake. “Mmm.”
As if by tacit agreement, they didn’t tell Martha about Brooke’s missing jewelry.
Annie kept their friend company while she enjoyed her treats. More customers filled the café for the lunch rush, and Lauren and Zoe were busy for nearly two hours, slammed with orders.
“No paninis,” Zoe mourned just after two o’clock when the café was finally empty. “They’ve sold out.”
“I don’t care what I eat right now.” She wondered if her cousin could hear her stomach growling. “You take your break first.”
“No, you.”
“You go, and I’ll grab something in the kitchen and keep an eye out for customers.”
“If you’re sure.” Zoe looked longingly at the few cupcakes that were left. “Maybe I should start bringing my own lunch if we’re going to sell out of everything. It’s good for business, but not so good for my stomach!”
“Maybe I should, too,” Lauren replied ruefully.
Zoe grabbed a cupcake and zipped through the private hallway to the cottage. “I’ll pay you back,” she promised.
Lauren glanced over at Annie, snoozing in her pink basket.
“I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me.” She pointed at the swinging kitchen doors.
“Brrp,” Annie replied sleepily.
Following Zoe’s example, she grabbed a cupcake – this time super vanilla. She’d saved some for Mitch earlier this morning – thank goodness.
She munched her treat in the kitchen. Ed had taken his own lunch break, and now, after making all the pastries that morning, there wasn’t much left for him to do, except clean up. Not that he’d left the kitchen in a mess – quite the opposite.
Perhaps she should consider making up a few more paninis each day and putting one aside for her and Zoe for their lunch. She’d discuss it with her that afternoon.
Her quick lunchbreak over, she decided to make herself a mocha to keep her going until closing time. An early dinner tonight might be exactly what she needed.
“Brrt?” Annie lifted her head when Lauren entered the café space.
“Want to go home for the rest of the afternoon?” Lauren asked her. She didn’t want her fur baby to get too tired looking after their customers, and it had turned out to be a busy day so far.
Annie seemed to think about it for a moment, her silver-gray head tilted to one side.
“Brrp.” No.
“Let me know if you change your mind.” Lauren smiled at her.
“Brrt.” I will.
Zoe came back from her lunch break looking refreshed. “I owe you a can of tuna,” she told her. “Maybe I’m getting used to the stuff, because I didn’t mind eating it for lunch.”
“I know what you mean.” Lauren nodded. “Don’t worry about it.”
They discussed her idea of making some extra paninis each day, Zoe enthusiastically agreeing.
“Did Brooke come in while I was at lunch?”
“No,” Lauren replied. “No one’s been in since we took our break. Even Ed was gone from the kitchen.”
The rattle of pastry tins in the background suddenly indicated his return. He must be cleaning up before he left for the day. Since he started early, he left early.
“You can find out from Mitch tonight if she filed a police report today about her missing jewels.” Zoe paused. “I’d love to see them one day.”
“If they’re recovered.” She hoped Brooke would find her missing jewelry.
“It’s just so strange, isn’t it?” Zoe mused. “First the jewels go missing from Uncle Francis’s safe, then Uncle Francis is murdered. Have you got an update from Mitch about that yet?”
“Not since you went on your lunch break,” Lauren replied.
“I wonder why Christina was at the salon this morning,” Zoe continued. “She’s got a job, so why wasn’t she at work?”
“Maybe she’s working part-time or starts later,” Lauren replied.
“I wonder where she works?” Zoe tapped her cheek. “Annie, do you know where Christina works?”
“Brrt?” Annie lifted her head, and opened her eyes properly. She looked like she was thinking. “Brrp,” she said a little reluctantly.
“You didn’t ask me, but I don’t know where she works either.” There was a hint of amusement in Lauren’s voice. “Why don’t you question her when you see her next?”
“I will,” Zoe replied in earnest.
“I was joking!”
“I know you were.” Zoe winked. “But I wasn’t.”
“Maybe she’s taking a personal day since her brother was just killed.”
“That’s a good point.”
A few customers came in. Annie greeted them and chose tables for them, while Lauren and Zoe made the beverages and plated the sweet treats. By the time it was five o’clock, there was one lonely super vanilla cupcake left.
“Why don’t we split it?” Zoe eyed it longingly. “That can of tuna didn’t fill me up for long, even though I had the cupcake as well.”
“Good idea.” Lauren was reminded she’d had a small lunch that day. After locking the oak and glass door, they divided the treat down the middle. With a surprise buttercream filling, and a swirly dollop of frosting on top dusted with vanilla bean powder, it satisfied Lauren until dinner time.