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That evening, Mitch stopped by the cottage after dinner. Zoe discreetly left the two of them alone in the living room, saying she was going to text Chris.
“So what was up with Annie today?” Mitch asked as he sat beside Lauren on the couch. He looked over at Annie, sitting in the armchair, her expression alert, as if she knew he was talking about her.
Lauren told him about Zoe’s idea to train AJ as Annie’s assistant, and AJ’s antics that afternoon. Mitch chuckled. “It looks like you’ve got the café to yourself, Annie.”
“Brrt.” Yes.
“If you’d told me a year ago that I’d be talking to a cat like a regular person, I would have thought they were crazy,” he admitted to Lauren.
“But you’re not.” She smiled softly at him. When she’d met him, he’d told her he’d never had a cat, or had much to do with them. Annie seemed to have gradually changed his attitude, though.
They spent a pleasant evening together watching a TV show, Lauren snuggled in his arms, Annie sitting on the other side of Lauren. When it was time for him to leave, he kissed her goodnight.
“Be careful if the detective talks to you again about Jason’s death,” he cautioned. “I heard at the station today that he considers you and Zoe major suspects.”
***
“EEEK!” ZOE’S PIXIE cut seemed to stand on end as Lauren told her the news. She’d just put her PJs on, and now stood in front of Lauren and Annie in a red t-shirt with matching red cotton sleep shorts.
“I know.” Lauren nodded, trying not to be shaken by the news. At least Mitch hadn’t told her that before they watched TV. She wouldn’t have been able to concentrate, or enjoy spending time with him.
“Brrt!”
“What are we going to do about it?” Zoe demanded.
“Apart from saying we’re innocent, what can we do?”
“Investigate!”
“Brrt!” Investigate!
“First, we need to make a suspect list.” Zoe looked around, as if expecting a piece of paper or a device to suddenly materialize. “Where’s my phone?”
“I haven’t seen it,” Lauren replied.
“We’ll have to grab a piece of paper from somewhere. And a pen.”
“There’s scrap paper in the kitchen.”
Zoe and Annie rushed to the kitchen, Lauren following.
“Should we do this now?” She stifled a yawn as she sat down at the kitchen table. “We’ve got to get up early tomorrow and open the café.”
“I know, but this is important.”
“Brrt!”
“Jessica.” Zoe scratched on the piece of paper.
“You think Jessica killed Jason?” Lauren sounded shocked.
“I don’t know,” Zoe admitted. “But she was there at the scene, wasn’t she? And you know what they say – there’s a good chance that the person who discovers the body is the killer!”
“Who says that?”
“Everyone.” Zoe waved a hand in the air, as if citing her sources wasn’t important. She tapped the pen on the kitchen table. “And his friend Scott.”
“Why would Scott kill Jason?”
“I don’t know.” Zoe looked exasperated. “You’re not playing along, Lauren.”
“Sorry.” Lauren covered her mouth in an attempt to halt another yawn. “It’s late and I just want to go to bed.”
“Ooh, I know!” Zoe scribbled something. “The angry man who demanded a refund on the cupcakes.”
“That’s right.” Lauren sat up a little straighter.
“He was very upset about the cupcakes not tasting good, wasn’t he?”
“Brrt,” Annie agreed.
“So that’s three suspects,” Lauren said.
“And us. Zoe and Lauren.” Zoe scratched down their names.
“You’re putting us on the suspect list?” Lauren’s eyes widened.
“I know we didn’t do it,” Zoe told her, “but that detective seems to think so, if what Mitch told you was true.”
“That’s a depressing thought.”
“It certainly is.” Zoe sounded far too cheerful. But Lauren reminded herself that her cousin enjoyed investigating the murders that sometimes occurred in the small town, dragging her reluctantly along.
“Anyone else?’ Lauren asked.
“Not that I can think of right now,” Zoe admitted.
“Then maybe we should go to bed.” Lauren rose.
“Good night, Mom.” Zoe giggled, then patted Lauren’s arm. “We can think up more suspects tomorrow.”
***
THEY DIDN’T GET A CHANCE to talk further about the murder until late the next morning. They were busy with customers from the time they opened until eleven o’clock.
Ed informed them that AJ had been fine once he’d taken her home, but he didn’t think becoming Annie’s assistant was a good idea for the Maine Coon, and they both agreed, Zoe reluctantly.
Finally, they were able to sit down on the stools behind the counter and grab a mocha each.
“I definitely need this.” Zoe sighed as she sipped on the cocoa-laced coffee. Ms. Tobin was the only customer right now, and she was talking to Annie at a table in the middle of the room.
“Ooh, Ms. Tobin!” Zoe jumped up, stuck her hand in her jeans pocket, and pulled out a piece of paper.
“Don’t tell me that’s last night’s suspect list,” Lauren said, keeping her voice low.
“Yep.” Zoe grinned.
“And you think Ms. Tobin is a suspect?” Lauren glanced over at the middle-aged woman.
“Well, not really,” Zoe admitted. “But she did say she didn’t care for Jason’s cupcakes. And about never trusting a smirking man.”
Lauren watched her write down Ms. Tobin’s name.
“I think you should put that list away,” she murmured. “We don’t want to give anyone the wrong impression – including Ms. Tobin.”
“I guess.” Zoe reluctantly tucked the piece of paper back into her pocket. “There. Out of sight.”
They finished their mochas, Lauren wondering if they would have a lunch rush today, or if the rest of the day would be quiet. She was just about to ask Zoe if she wanted to take her break first, when Scott walked into the café, wearing jeans and a t-shirt, looking a little unsure as to his welcome.
“It’s Smirky Jason’s friend!” Zoe dug her elbow into Lauren’s ribcage.
“I can see that,” Lauren muttered. She rose from the stool. “Hi.”
Annie jumped down from the chair at Ms. Tobin’s table and trotted over to him. “Brrt?”
“You’re a nice cat.” Scott smiled down at her.
“Brrp.”
“Annie will show you to a table,” Lauren told him.
“Really?” He looked like he didn’t quite believe her. “Okay.”
Annie led the way to a four-seater at the rear. “Brrt.”
“I’m going to take his order,” Zoe whispered to Lauren. “I wonder what he’s doing here.”
“I’ll come with you.”
“What can we get you?” Zoe whipped out her order pad as they approached Scott. Annie sat in the chair opposite him, looking at him inquiringly.
“Um – well – I really wanted to come in and apologize to you guys.” Scott looked uncomfortable. “What Jason did wasn’t cool – trying to steal your customers like that.”
“Thanks,” Lauren replied. “We appreciate that.”
“Yeah,” Zoe replied. “So why did he target us?”
Scott squirmed in his seat. “He told me that a lady friend of his raved about your cupcakes, and your coffee, and he thought it would be easy to set up the truck outside. He didn’t think there’d be any problems with permits or law enforcement, because this is a small town.”
“Well, he got that right,” Zoe muttered.
Lauren silently agreed. Even Mitch warning off Jason hadn’t done the trick for long.
“I wanted to let you know I won’t be continuing with the truck. I’ve been accepted into college.” His expression brightened. “I’m going to study earth sciences and get into environmental consulting.”
“What’s that?” Zoe asked.
“It’s how I can have an impact on future generations,” he told them earnestly. “I can advise developers how to tread more lightly on the earth – instead of ramming in big housing projects that don’t leave any room for lawns or trees or wildlife, I can show them how much better it would be for the environment if certain species of trees were planted in a particular area, and which bushes and flowers to choose to help the native wildlife. Like planting the right kind of flowering bushes so that butterflies and bees can flourish, even in suburbia or the city.”
“That sounds cool,” Lauren remarked.
“It is.” He nodded. “Did you know that the world’s population of bees is dying off? They need as much help as we can give them, or one day there won’t be any bees to pollinate our food.”
“That’s a scary thought.” Zoe grimaced.
Scott ordered a large latte and a lavender cupcake.
“Won’t be long,” Lauren promised, as she and Zoe headed back to the counter.
“He seems much nicer than Jason,” Zoe said as she plated the cupcake.
“I know,” Lauren said, as she steamed milk for the coffee.
“I wonder why he was hanging out with Jason?” Zoe pondered.
“Didn’t Jessica say they were childhood friends?”
“Oh, yeah.” Zoe snapped her fingers. “That’s right. Hmm. Maybe I should cross him off my suspect list.”
“Because he’s too nice to be a killer?” Lauren teased.
“That’s right.” Zoe grinned.
They brought the order over to him, Annie still keeping him company.
“I didn’t see Sweet Boy yesterday,” Zoe remarked as she set the cupcake down in front of him.
“Who?” Scott looked bewildered.
“The French bulldog,” Lauren explained. “I think Jason said his real name was Butch?”
“Oh.” Scott’s face cleared. “Yeah. Butch belongs to Jason’s grandfather, and he wanted Butch with him yesterday. He said he had plans to go to the park, and that Butch gets the ladies for him.” He glanced at them. “Sorry.”
“No worries,” Zoe told him. “I’m afraid I didn’t think Sweet Boy/Butch was very cute, unlike some of the ladies who bought cupcakes from Jason.”
“I know, right?” Scott grimaced. “In fact, this whole cupcake truck idea started off as a joke. It was my idea and then Jason said we could totally do it and he even knew where we could sell the cakes.”
“Where did you get the truck from?” Lauren asked.
“Jason bought it. See, me and Jason—” he looked proud and embarrassed at the same time “—won the lottery.”
“No way!” Zoe gasped, her brown eyes huge.
“Not the first prize,” Scott hastened to assure her. “Thirty-k. So we had enough to buy this secondhand truck. Jason insisted it would be a huge moneymaker and we’d split the profits.”
“Did he bake the cupcakes himself?” Lauren asked, her professional interest piqued.
“Yeah.” Scott nodded. “But he didn’t bake them from scratch. He used box mixes.”
“I knew it,” Lauren murmured under her breath.
“And he bought the frosting as well,” Scott continued. “The cheapest he could find. He even started clipping coupons to get the best deals he could.”
“Huh,” Zoe muttered.
“He said he didn’t care what the cupcakes tasted like, he thought the ladies would go ga-ga over them because of the huge amount of frosting he put on them, and all the decorations.”
“I think he was right,” Lauren replied. “At first, anyway.”
“Yeah, he complained about business being down the last couple of days.” Scott paused, as if remembering that his friend was no longer here.
“That’s when some of our customers returned to us,” Zoe remarked.
“So what will you do with the van now?” Lauren asked.
“Sell it, I suppose.” Scott shrugged. “I don’t know if anyone will want to buy it as is, though. Jason had it painted that bright pink, and did the gold lettering himself.”
“It looks like it,” Zoe muttered.
Lauren nudged her cousin in a warning manner.
“We’re sorry for your loss,” Lauren said, realizing that should have been the first thing she’d said to him.
“Thanks.” He nodded.
“How’s Jessica holding up?” Zoe asked.
“Not good. I don’t know what she saw in Jason – yeah, he was good looking, and my friend, but he was a real ladies’ man, you know? He liked to play the field.”
“Even when he was dating Jessica?” Lauren asked.
Scott hesitated. “Yeah,” he finally said.
“And she still wanted him back?” Zoe probed.
“Uh-huh. Even when she found out he’d cheated on her.” He shrugged, as if he couldn’t understand that.
They left him alone to enjoy his treats.
“I hope his coffee isn’t too cold by now,” Lauren said.
“We were talking to him for a while,” Zoe said in satisfaction, “and got some good info, too.”
“But not another viable suspect to look at,” Lauren commented.
“Nope.”