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The next day, Zoe took off for the pottery studio, borrowing Lauren’s car.
“It’s a shame there’s not one closer to here,” she said before leaving.
“I know,” Lauren replied. They usually did the grocery shopping in the small town on Mondays, stocking up for the week ahead. She’d just have to walk and carry home what she could. She didn’t like to dim Zoe’s enthusiasm for her new project by pointing out practicalities such as going to the supermarket.
Lauren grabbed the essentials at the small store, saying hello to a couple of their customers, then carried the bags home.
“Brrt?” Annie jumped onto a kitchen chair as Lauren thunked the bags down on the table.
“I had to get some supplies,” she told Annie.
“Brrp?” Annie peered into the bags as if looking for something.
“Yes, I bought your favorite.” Lauren pulled out the small tins of Annie’s preferred brand of food. “Would you like some now?”
“Brrt!” Yes, please!
Lauren forked out chicken in gravy and placed it in Annie’s bowl.
After putting the groceries away, she pulled out a notepad from a kitchen drawer and grabbed a pen. She wanted to come up with a new cupcake flavor.
She already made triple chocolate ganache, vanilla, raspberry bonus, lemon poppyseed, cinnamon swirl, Norwegian apple, blueberry crumble, and lavender. Lauren sighed. How to come up with a new flavor?
She tapped the pen against the paper, but nothing came to mind. Maybe she’d talk it over with Zoe later.
Annie finished eating and hopped up next to her at the table.
“Brrt?”
“Got any ideas for a new cupcake?” she asked the cat.
“Brrp.” No.
The house felt quiet and empty without Zoe. Usually she wouldn’t mind, but today she felt unsettled. Was it because Kathleen had died at the cat show just two days ago?
Lauren got up and checked she’d locked the back door. She had. Mitch was busy working the case so she didn’t expect to see him today. He’d called her last night and they’d chatted for a while – but not about Kathleen’s death.
Lauren decided to enjoy the time to herself and settled on the sofa with a book, Annie curled up in her lap.
***
“SO NOW ALL I HAVE TO do is wait for the mugs to harden, fire them, and then paint them with Annie’s portrait,” Zoe finished telling her the next day.
It was early Tuesday morning and they were readying the café for their first customers.
“Brrt!” Annie called in approval from her pink cat bed.
“What did you do yesterday?” Zoe asked her.
“Not much,” Lauren admitted. “I did some grocery shopping and tried to come up with a new cupcake flavor—”
“Oh, no!” Zoe clapped her hand to her temple. “I’m sorry, I completely forgot about the supermarket; I was so excited about making these mugs. We always drive to get the groceries.”
“It’s okay,” Lauren told her. “I think we’ve got everything we need for right now. We might need to go again before Saturday, though.”
“Of course,” Zoe said. “I know! When it’s quiet, I’ll look after things here and you go and get whatever we need.”
“I might take you up on that.” Lauren smiled at her cousin. Zoe was impulsive, but she had a good heart.
At nine-thirty they opened the oak and glass front door. Ed was already busy in the kitchen making his wonderful pastries. Today, he’d decided on a customer favorite, honeyed walnut.
Lauren asked Zoe if she had any new cupcake ideas.
“We can put a suggestion box on the counter.” Her cousin’s brown eyes lit up. “And get our customers to come up with ideas.”
Since Lauren still hadn’t come up with an inkling of a new flavor, she smiled at Zoe’s plan.
“Let’s do it!”
Zoe found a small cardboard box in the pantry, and wrote in thick black lettering:
Suggest a cupcake flavor for Lauren to make!
“Let’s hope someone comes up with a great new idea,” Lauren said.
“Whoops! We’ll need some paper and a pen.” Zoe grabbed an order pad from the counter and tore some sheets off it. “There.” She also placed a pen next to the pile.
“Perfect.”
“Brrt!” Annie approved from her basket. She’d been ‘supervising’ the whole time.
“Hello, girls.” Ms. Tobin entered. Today, she wore a fawn skirt and cream blouse.
“Brrt.” Annie trotted over to her.
“Hello, Annie.” Ms. Tobin smiled down at her. “Congratulations again for winning on Saturday.”
“Brrt.”
Annie led her to a small table near the counter.
After talking to Annie for a few minutes, Ms. Tobin rose and came over to the counter.
“I’ll have my usual large latte and one of your cupcakes, Lauren.” She glanced at the glass case that held the sweet treats. Today Lauren had made triple chocolate ganache, orange poppyseed, and cinnamon swirl. “Orange poppyseed.”
“Coming right up,” Lauren promised.
Lauren made the coffee, complete with advanced latte art in the form of a peacock, while Zoe plated the treat.
“I do hope you’re not involved in this woman’s death,” Ms. Tobin said when they approached her table.
“You heard what happened?” Zoe inquired.
“It’s all over town,” Ms. Tobin told them. “Well, the senior center, at least. Not that I consider myself a senior, but they do have some interesting classes at times.”
“Of course we’re not involved.” Lauren frowned.
“Brrt!” Annie added.
“I know you couldn’t be, Annie.” Ms. Tobin gave Annie a little smile. She switched her attention to Lauren and Zoe. “That’s good news, Lauren. Is Mitch in charge of the case?”
“Yes,” Lauren replied.
“Good.” Ms. Tobin nodded. “Hopefully he’ll solve it quickly so you girls don’t need to get involved.”
“I hope so,” Lauren replied, with feeling. It was usually Zoe who was enthusiastic about ‘helping’ the police investigate local murders when they weren’t resolved in the first few days.
They left Ms. Tobin talking to Annie and returned to the counter.
“I wonder if Ms. Tobin has any good cupcake ideas,” Zoe said as her gaze alighted on the suggestion box. “I don’t think she even noticed it when she stood here at the counter.”
“Probably because she was thinking about what to order,” Lauren replied. “Why don’t we put it right in front of the cash register?”
“Great idea.” Zoe slid the box to the right. “When people look at the screen to check the total, they’re sure to see our box as well.”
“Hi, girls.” Martha barreled into the café, pushing her rolling walker at a fast clip.
“Brrt!” Annie ran to greet her.
“Hello, winner!” Martha grinned down at Annie. “It’s all around the senior center. Your pal AJ won, too.”
“Brrt!” And Toby won, too!
“I’ll have a large hot chocolate with plenty of marshmallows and one of Ed’s pastries,” she called out as Annie hopped onto the black vinyl padded seat of the walker.
“It’s honeyed walnut today,” Zoe replied.
“Goody.” Martha wheeled Annie toward a table near the middle of the room, the feline directing her with a series of brrps.
“Maybe Martha will have some cupcake ideas,” Zoe proposed as she steamed the milk.
“Maybe,” Lauren replied.
“We’ll have to fill her in on Kathleen’s death,” Zoe said as she crammed as many little pink and white marshmallows as she could into the large mug.
“She might know already since she hangs out at the senior center.”
“Maybe she’s got some gossip for us.” Zoe’s eyes lit up.
“So when are you girls going to solve this murder?” Martha asked them as they placed her order on the table. Annie sat on the chair next to her.
“How do you know it’s murder?” Zoe’s eyebrows drew together.
“What else can it be?” Martha shrugged. “A mysterious death outside the cat show – something fishy must be going on – or should I say catty?”
“Mitch is investigating,” Lauren told her.
“That doesn’t mean you girls can’t investigate as well – does it?” She looked at them slyly.
“That’s what I think,” Zoe said.
“And I think we should wait,” Lauren remarked. “I don’t think Mitch has received the medical examiner’s report yet.”
Oops. Was she even supposed to say that much? He hadn’t mentioned the report to her last night when he’d called. “Maybe it was natural causes, like Zoe’s heart attack theory.”
“And I heard the dead woman was bribing the judge,” Martha continued.
“You were there?” Zoe asked.
“No,” Martha admitted. “Iris and I must have left by then.” She looked disappointed. “But I heard about it at the senior center on Sunday.”
“That place must be a hotbed of gossip.” Lauren crinkled her brow.
“You have no idea.” Martha grinned.
They left Martha to enjoy her order and Annie’s company.
“Maybe the senior center should investigate Kathleen’s death,” Lauren joked, “since they seem to know all about it.”
“But that’s our job.” Zoe fisted her hands on her hips and frowned. “We do the sleuthing.”
***
MOST OF THEIR REGULARS came in that day – Mrs. Finch, Hans, and Claire and little Molly. They all congratulated Annie again on her win.
“Now all we need to find out is how Kathleen died,” Zoe fretted as they closed up at five that afternoon.
Their customers had noticed their cupcake suggestion box and they’d had to tear off more paper from the order pad so people could write down their ideas.
“And read the suggestions.” Lauren pointed to the box.
“We can do that during dinner.” Zoe grinned. “Pizza?” she added hopefully.
“Why not?” It was one of Lauren’s favorite meals. Maybe that was why she had a curvy figure. Although, Zoe was slim, but ate like a trooper at times.
They ordered a sausage pizza, finished stacking the chairs on the table, vacuumed, then headed next door to the cottage.
When the pizza arrived, they dug in, the tantalizing aroma of the melted mozzarella and pizza sauce filling the kitchen. Zoe shook out the suggestion box, little pieces of white paper landing in the middle of the table.
“Brrt?” Annie pawed at one of them. She hooked a paw around the scrap and pushed it over to Lauren, sitting next to her.
“Thank you.” Lauren scanned it. “Maple and bacon.”
“Is that still popular?” Zoe pondered.
“I don’t know,” Lauren replied. She knew it had been in favor a while ago. Would her customers like it?
Zoe picked up a bit of paper while she chewed on another piece of pizza, the cheese stretching from the slice into her mouth.
“Coconut and chocblut,” she mumbled through her full mouth.
That might work. Lauren made a mental note. Coconut and chocolate.
They read through the other suggestions, but Lauren thought they were either too niche, such as smashed avocado, or flavors she already made, such as salted caramel. Did that mean she wasn’t making that recipe often enough?
“Maybe we’ll get more suggestions tomorrow,” Zoe said as she finished her dinner.
“I hope so.” The most promising flavor so far had been coconut and chocolate. Would that be too ordinary? Or would their customers be tempted to buy it?
Lauren placed the scrap of paper with that idea in the kitchen drawer.
“How is your tea cozy coming along?” Zoe asked. “Are you going to bring it to craft club on Friday?”
“Don’t ask.” Lauren groaned. A couple of months ago she’d thought knitting a cozy would be fairly simple. She’d been wrong. Or maybe she just wasn’t advanced enough to knit something like that. It had taken her a while to knit a scarf and hat for Mitch, and a set for herself.
“Maybe Mrs. Finch could help you.”
“Brrt!” Annie agreed.
“Yes!” Why hadn’t she thought of that before? Mrs. Finch was an experienced knitter.
They ended the evening by watching female horse wranglers on TV, which Lauren thought a welcome respite to their usual diet of crime shows. But as she and Annie went to bed, she couldn’t help wondering why Mitch hadn’t called. Had he caught the killer already?