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“What?” Lauren jumped off the stool, her sneaker-clad feet hitting the floor.
“Brrt?” Annie lifted her head and shook herself slightly, then trotted over to Thelma.
“What?” Zoe’s eyebrows raised so high they nearly touched her hairline.
“Mitch got hold of all of Nathan’s footage and apparently there’s a picture of me staring angrily at Nathan at the premiere. I already told him, that’s when Nathan practically pushed me out of the way when he took Zoe away to interview her. You were there, Lauren, remember?”
“I do,” she said slowly, thinking back to that moment. She remembered Nathan brushing past Thelma, and causing her to take a step back. But perhaps that did seem like almost pushing Thelma away – to Thelma.
“Yeah, Nathan was a bit like that,” Zoe added. “Do you want us to talk to Mitch?”
“He was there, too,” Thelma said. “But he said he didn’t like the way I looked at Nathan on film. Said he didn’t notice in the moment, because he was busy talking to his friend, but he found it on the tape the cameraman shot. Seemed he started filming before Nathan interviewed you, Zoe.”
“I didn’t know that,” Zoe said.
“Me neither.”
“Brrt!”
“Yeah, but now I’m in trouble. Who wouldn’t give Nathan a dagger-filled stare if he pushed them out of the way? That’s what your husband called it – a dagger-filled stare.” She leaned across the counter toward Lauren.
“I’m sorry,” she replied, “but Mitch is only doing—”
“His job. Yeah, yeah. That’s what all the cops say.” Thelma shook her head. “Well you can tell him from me that I didn’t kill Nathan. I don’t think he believes me.”
“What’s your alibi?” Zoe asked.
“I was in the town hall,” Thelma replied. “Okay, I was outside for a few minutes, but there were a couple of other people around. I wanted to see if I could get some good night time shots outside the hall – I thought I might even be able to sell them to a Sacramento paper with a shorter version of my premiere story.”
“That’s good thinking,” Zoe admired.
“Thanks.” Thelma preened for a second. “But now being outside has made me a suspect.” She scowled.
“Who else did you see outside?” Lauren asked.
“No one I recognized.” Thelma closed her eyes in thought. “No,” she finished regretfully.
“I’m sure Mitch won’t arrest you without good reason,” Lauren said.
“Yeah, he is pretty fair.” Zoe glanced at Lauren. “Very fair,” she amended.
“And now Phil is on my back about it.” Thelma glowered. “If I get arrested, he’ll probably fire me.”
“I’m sure he wouldn’t!” Lauren widened her eyes in shock.
“Aren’t you like an old married couple?” Zoe said. At the look on Thelma’s face, she hastily added, “Not you, you’re not old, but you’ve been working with him for years.”
“Yeah, and he knows no one else will put up with him.” Thelma brightened a tad. “Thanks, Zoe.” She turned to leave. “Tell your husband to leave me alone,” she tossed over her shoulder to Lauren.
“Wow.” Zoe stared after her.
“Yeah.” Lauren sank down on the stool.
“Brrt?” Annie looked up at them from the customer side of the counter.
“It’s okay. Thelma was upset,” Lauren tried to explain.
“But she’s gone now. What are you going to say to Mitch?” Zoe asked her.
“I’ll ask him exactly what happened during his interview with Thelma.”
***
MITCH CAME HOME AT a reasonable time for dinner, so as soon as he was seated at the kitchen table with a large plate of lasagna in front of him, Lauren told him about Thelma rushing into the café and complaining about being questioned.
“You know I have to question people.” He sighed after forking up the bubbling, cheesy lasagna. His dark brown eyes were shadowed, and weary lines bracketed his mouth.
“Yes, but she was very upset.”
“You would be too if you realized the police had seen the way you’d stared at Nathan. I thought “dagger-filled” was a polite way of describing the look she gave him.”
“Nathan did push – or brush – past her,” Lauren said.
“Yeah, I saw that on the tape as well. And I was busy talking to Chris and didn’t catch everything like I should.”
“But you were off duty,” she protested. “It was supposed to be a fun night – and a date night.” Sitting down next to him, she wrapped an arm around his back. “I know you have a tough job, and I think you do it incredibly well.”
“Brrt!” Annie agreed.
“Thanks.” He kissed Lauren on the cheek, and smiled at Annie sitting across the table. “If we can track down the couple of people who were outside at the same time as Thelma, they could be her alibi. I need more evidence before I have a solid case against her.”
“Good.”
They ended the night by watching a spy drama on TV. Then Lauren tucked the blue and cream blanket around Annie on the sofa, and said goodnight to her.
She fell asleep a couple of minutes after she got into bed, Mitch’s arms around her.