“I didn’t think I would hear anything for a week or so. But it’s quiet over at the police lab. It takes weeks to get a DNA confirmation, but one of the guys was smart enough to disengage the knife on the end of the hiking stick. Our murderer cleaned the blade very nicely, but I guess he didn’t realize that blood got up inside of the stick.”
“So it is the murder weapon!” I screeched.
“Don’t go getting too excited. We don’t have a DNA match yet, but the blood inside is Dale’s blood type.” Dave smiled at me. “Pretty good deduction, Holly.”
I should have been thrilled, but I felt just a hair guilty for not telling him Aunt Birdie had the same kind of hiking stick. I told myself it didn’t matter anymore unless the DNA didn’t match.
“How about the blade? Did it match the holes in the Grinch?” asked Holmes.
“It did. Now if we could just lift a fingerprint off the stick.” Dave accepted the plate with cake and dug in like he was starving. “Umm. Haven’t eaten since I was here for brunch earlier today. What a bizarre Christmas.”
“Holly?” Someone knocked on the door and pushed it open. “Thank goodness, I found you. I’ve lost Snowflake.”
Tiffany might have been looking for me, but her eyes locked on Dave. “Oh, hi! I didn’t know you were here.”
Holmes and I gazed at each other and tried to stifle grins. Tiffany appeared to have an interest in Officer Dave.
“We’ll help you look. I wouldn’t be too worried,” I said. “Cats like to curl up in oddball spots. I’ll just run upstairs to my apartment and make sure that Twinkletoes didn’t take the kitten there again.”
“Tiffany! Tiffany!”
“That sounds like my mom.” Tiffany called out, “We’re all right here.”
“There you are!” Linda walked in and looked around. “What a wonderful kitchen. I love the turquoise island. It gives the room so much character. Tiffie, honey, could I borrow your phone? I’d like to call my side of the family to wish them a Merry Christmas. They’re probably finishing dinner right about now. But my phone quit working. And so did Daddy’s and Blake’s.”
“There’s only one carrier that works in Wagtail,” Dave explained.
“I’ve heard that.” Linda smiled at him. “Very odd. But all our phones worked a few days ago, so we must have the right carrier.”
“Sure, Mom.” Tiffany pulled her phone out of her pocket and handed it to her mom. “We’re looking for Snowflake. Have you seen her?”
“Goodness, I hope she didn’t get out. It’s snowing like crazy, and with her white fur we’d never see her in the snow.”
Tiffany’s eyes grew large. “No! She better be inside somewhere.”
“I’ll check my apartment.” I dashed up the back stairs with Trixie. “Look for kitties, Trixie. Where’s Twinkletoes?”
Unfortunately, they weren’t curled up in Twinkletoes’s favorite chair like I had hoped. That would have been too easy. I was about to search my bedroom when Trixie barked. I hurried into my bedroom, expecting to find the kitten with Twinkletoes. They weren’t on the bed or in the closet that I could see.
“What was that barking about?”
She wagged her tail, her eyes bright and excited.
“Silly doggy.” I checked the guest room, but they weren’t there, either.
Trixie ran to the door. There was a charming, cushy bench on the landing near my door. Maybe they had settled there. I swung the door open and realized immediately that the light bulb in the hallway had gone out. I still wore my sunglasses though and couldn’t make out who punched me in the side of my face.