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“WE ARE NOT VISITING the bossy woman.” Oops. Lauren felt guilty using that nickname for her. Although, she had seemed a little bossy on Saturday when she’d bought a cupcake at the refreshment stand.
“No, it’s too late today,” Zoe agreed as Lauren pulled up outside the cottage.
“We are not visiting her tomorrow, either.”
“I guess I can go on my own,” Zoe mused. “But it is more fun with you and Annie.”
“Zoe.” Lauren looked at her. “Detective Castern told us not to get involved in this case. He hasn’t bothered us anymore since he took our statements on Monday, so maybe we shouldn’t bother him.”
“Party pooper.” Zoe stuck out her lower lip. The gesture reminded Lauren of Annie’s recent pout.
“I’m sure he’ll find the killer.”
“Well, I’m not.” Zoe crossed her arms. “He never finds the killer. But we do! We’ve found how many murderers so far?”
“Ten,” Lauren replied reluctantly.
“Exactly! They should make us honorary policewomen – or is it police person these days?”
“It’s not as if we handcuff the guilty party and march them to the station,” Lauren pointed out. “We call Mitch or 911.”
“That’s true,” Zoe conceded. “But we do seem to find out whodunit quicker than Detective Castern.”
Unfortunately, Lauren couldn’t disagree.
“So, it’s settled.” Zoe got out of the car. “We’ll visit the bossy woman after work tomorrow.”
***
“THIS IS NOT A GOOD idea.” Now Lauren felt like pouting. It was the following afternoon and they were closing the café.
“Brrt?” Annie asked. She followed Lauren to the counter.
“Zoe wants to go sleuthing.”
“Brrt!” Annie’s green eyes sparkled.
“Annie and I could go, if you don’t want to join us,” Zoe said.
“I don’t think so,” Lauren replied. Maybe she was a little overprotective of her fur baby at times, but it was a case of where Annie went, she went.
“Oh, good, you’re coming.” Zoe stacked a chair with a satisfying thud. “I looked up the bossy lady’s – Margaret’s – address online. They live between Gold Leaf Valley and Sacramento.”
“Fine.” Lauren tightened her lips. “But we are not staying long. And you need to come up with some way of asking her whatever you want to ask her, without it sounding nosy.”
“Yes, Mom.” Zoe grinned.
Lauren sighed silently, wondering how she got mixed up in Zoe’s schemes. But deep down, she knew why. It was because she wanted to discover who had killed Eugene, and also because she was a tiny bit of a pushover at times.
On the other hand, Zoe was a kind person, if a little impulsive. She was Lauren’s biggest cheerleader, and she hoped she was Zoe’s.
Zoe zoomed around the café, getting it ready for the next day.
“I wonder if Molly and Claire are coming in tomorrow.” She stacked the last chair.
“I hope so.” Lauren hadn’t seen them that week.
“Brrt!” Annie agreed. Little Molly loved giving her fairy pats.
“Let’s go!” Zoe raced to the door and looked at Lauren and Annie expectantly.
“Do you know what you’re going to say to this woman?” Lauren grabbed her purse.
“I’m going to grill her!” Zoe grinned. “Annie will have the cuteness factor – how can Margaret resist her?” She winked at the silver-gray tabby.
“Brrt!”
“How are we going to explain why we’re knocking on her front door?” Lauren wanted to know. She pulled open a drawer and took out Annie’s harness.
“That’s easy – I’m going to say her husband’s auto repair shop was recommended to us and we were thinking of taking our car there.”
“You mean my car.”
“That’s what I said.”
“But ...” Lauren wondered if it was worth debating the matter with her cousin. Hopefully Zoe would come up with a plausible excuse if Margaret asked why they didn’t just take their car straight to her husband’s shop.
They piled into Lauren’s vehicle. Zoe read out the directions from her phone, and in twenty-five minutes they’d arrived at Margaret’s address.
Lauren drove down a pleasant, tree-lined street with modern houses on either side.
“I didn’t realize mechanics made so much money,” Zoe commented.
“Her husband is the boss,” Lauren reminded her.
“Number twenty-eight!” Zoe pointed at a cream, ranch style house. The yard was neat and tidy, the grass mown so short it looked nearly bald. One pink rose bush decorated each side of the garden gate. It looked like a weed would not dare to grow.
The late afternoon sun shone down on them, a slight breeze ruffling the tips of Lauren’s hair.
“I hope we’re doing the right thing.” Lauren buckled on Annie’s harness and helped her out of the car.
“Brrt!” Annie tugged Lauren toward the house.
“I know what I’m doing,” Zoe assured her. “The sooner we interrogate her, the sooner we can go home and have dinner. Don’t forget you’re choosing the pizza toppings tonight.”
“I haven’t.” She couldn’t wait to surprise her cousin with her choice. But right now, she needed to focus on the interview with their new suspect.
Annie led the way to the front door, Zoe by her side. Lauren followed them, holding Annie’s lead.
Zoe knocked politely on the door. “No doorbell,” she told Lauren.
After a minute, the door swung open. The bossy woman from Saturday’s competition stood in front of them.
“Yes?” She sounded a little wary.
“Hi!” Zoe gave her a big smile. “I’m Zoe and this is Lauren. “We’re from the Norwegian Forest Cat Café in Gold Leaf Valley. And this is Annie.” She gestured to the silver-gray tabby.
“Brrt!” Hello!
“Didn’t you run the refreshment stand at the pizza competition on Saturday?” the woman asked. “Your cupcake was quite good, but I’m afraid I’m not interested in buying any more. Your cat is pretty, though.” She started to close the door.
“Wait!” Zoe’s voice held a tiny amount of panic. “That’s not why we’re here. We’re thinking of getting our car serviced and we were told the best place to take it to was your husband’s shop. You are Margaret Prumpley, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I am.” The woman stood a little straighter and preened. “My husband is excellent at what he does, and makes sure his workers are, too.”
“We’re not sure where his place is,” Zoe said.
“I’ll write it down for you.” She hesitated. “You might as well come in.”
“Thanks.” Zoe followed her inside.
So did Annie.
Lauren drew in a breath and followed.
They entered a living room that was decorated in yellow and cream floral patterns.
“What a lovely room,” Lauren felt compelled to say. It was true.
“Thank you.” The woman smiled. “Please, sit down.” She gestured to a gold sofa that seated three.
“Thanks.” Zoe plopped down, her eyes widening. “It’s very comfy.”
“I believe in buying the best,” Margaret said. “I’ll just get a pen and paper.”
Annie sat at Lauren’s feet.
Her cousin was right. The sofa was gorgeously comfortable.
“Why didn’t we see a sofa like this when we went shopping a few months ago?” Zoe muttered.
“If we had, we wouldn’t have been able to afford it,” Lauren replied. Something this lovely must cost a lot.
“Mechanics who are bosses must make tons of money,” Zoe said once again. “Maybe I should look into becoming one.”
“Do you want to?” Lauren stared at her. Although she’d started off running the café by herself when she’d inherited it from Gramms, she’d quickly gotten used to Zoe working with her – as well as being roomies. What would it be like if Zoe worked somewhere else?
“No.” Zoe giggled. “Got you!”
“Don’t do that.” Lauren put a hand to her heart.
“Sorry.” Zoe genuinely looked contrite. She patted Lauren’s arm. “I don’t think I’d like getting super dirty and having grease under my fingernails all the time. You must know I love working with you and Annie in the café.”
“I do too – with you and Annie.”
“Brrt!” Me three!
“Here we are.” Margaret strode into the living room, holding a piece of paper. “I’ve included his landline, cell, and address.” She glanced at her watch. “He’s working late tonight – they have a very complicated repair they need to finish by tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you,” Lauren said.
“Did you enjoy competing in the pizza competition?” Zoe asked.
“It wasn’t really my cup of tea,” Margaret confessed. “But I did think it would be something different, so I thought, why not?”
“How did you hear about it?” Lauren said curiously.
“Yes, Sheryl said you do your shopping in Sacramento,” Zoe added.
“Well, obviously, I do,” the woman admitted. “The variety is so much better than what I could get here or in Gold Leaf Valley. No offence.”
“None taken,” Zoe said breezily, but Lauren detected a tiny undercurrent of something.
“I actually heard about it in a gourmet pizza shop in the city.” Margaret laughed. “Can you imagine? I overheard one of the customers talking to the staff there, about how he was going to win the competition. And I got curious. My husband loves pizza and I tried to make it once for him, and he said it was terrible. And he doesn’t like frozen pizza, either. So, I thought, I’ll show him, and enter this competition.”
“How did you know where it was going to be held?” Zoe asked.
“I searched online for the details and found them right away,” she replied. “So I entered.” She glanced over at Annie, sitting demurely on the carpet next to Lauren’s feet. “Your cat is quite well behaved.”
“Brrt.” Thank you.
“Annie helps out at the café,” Lauren told her. “She chooses tables for the customers and seats them.”
“I did hear something about that at the park on Saturday,” Margaret said, “but I didn’t really believe it.”
“You should come to the café and see for yourself,” Zoe offered, contradicting her earlier comment on Saturday about not wanting the woman as a customer.
“Perhaps I will.”
There was a short silence. Lauren glanced at Zoe, sending her a silent, I think we should go look.
“It was terrible about the winner being murdered,” Zoe commented. “Did you hear about that?”
“Yes, I did. How did you find out?” Margaret eyed them.
“We found his body,” Zoe told her.
Shock flickered across her face.
“Did the police question you?” she asked them.
“Yes.” Lauren nodded.
“I thought they would have caught the killer by now,” Zoe remarked. “It happened on Saturday and today is Thursday.
“Perhaps they’re going to arrest the culprit any second now.” Margaret narrowed her eyes.
“I think we should be going.” Lauren rose. “Thank you for giving us your husband’s details.”
“Yeah – thank you.” Zoe reluctantly stood.
Margaret ushered them out of the house, as if she couldn’t wait to get rid of them.
“Well,” Zoe said once they were in the car, “I know who’s top of my suspect list!”