Kitty Cats and Kitsch, page 12
“Not you. Persephone.” She was still in my lap. I usually put her into the travel carrier right away when we drove, but I wasn’t sure where we were headed yet. “She smelled cat. Again. That means it’s Roy.”
Casey’s mouth formed an O, and she motioned to Persephone.
“It was the same smell from the pool,” she said. “Same cat.”
“Okay, so either someone else is traveling with their cat, or Roy has a pet.” My mind raced. It could be a dead end. “Is it similar to what you smelled at the store?”
“Noodle’s marked everything since Cupcake’s been gone, so it’s hard to pick up on Cupcake’s scent.”
I looked at Casey. “We need to visit Rosamund’s house. She’s only had us in the store.”
“Noodle lives in the store, and it seems like Cupcake did too.”
“But if you watch the videos, Cupcake’s in a house,” Casey countered. “And it’s pretty obvious Rosamund plays favorites. Poor Noodle.”
“She’d be a nice cat, if she wasn’t so mad all the time,” Persephone added. “She’s territorial because she’s had stuff taken away from her.”
“I think we should see Marnie. We have a ton of time before sunset.” Casey mimicked Roy’s voice with a shudder. “Show her the ransom notes and see if she’d be willing to help.”
“Roy kept the latest note.” I meant to get it back, but as usual, he managed to throw me off. “You really want to talk to her again?”
“I do. Rosamund gave us two suspects—Marnie and Scott. Scott wound up being super helpful—”
“But someone was watching us while we were there, or he tipped off the ransom note writer.”
Casey mashed her lips together. “True. I still think there’s a possibility Marnie cursed us.”
I groaned.
“And she did want to talk to you about Persephone. Aren’t you the least bit curious why you can talk to her?” Casey reached over and gave the spot some love. Persephone purred in response.
“We don’t have an appointment for another week.” I wasn’t sure we could handle seven more days in Rappaport.
“I say we just show up. Tell her we’re close to solving the case, and this is her chance to talk to us.” Casey raised a brow. “Even if it’s not true.”
“We might be close.” I hadn’t had a chance to tell her about what I’d figured out this morning. “Things are coming together. We know whoever has Cupcake, they’re getting bold. I think they want to get caught.”
“Why?
“Depends on what they want in return for the cat.” I lifted Persephone out of my lap and handed her to Casey. I backed out of the parking spot. I did want to talk to Marnie, but it was only eight o’clock in the morning. I didn’t think she’d cursed us, or taken Cupcake. But now I had much better questions to ask her.
The flashing lights were visible before we got to the Don’t Forget Me shop. Traffic slowed, but it wasn’t anything like the other day when Cupcake mania took Rappaport by storm. Hopefully, his fans hadn’t given up on him.
Casey gasped as we approached the store. “The front window’s totally smashed in.”
Caution tape roped off the parking lot. But a little yellow plastic wasn’t enough to keep us away. Officer Mitchell approached us with his hands in the air. “Ladies, this is official police business.”
No. He didn’t get to take this case seriously now. “We need to talk to Rosamund.”
“She won’t be able to talk to you about the investigation.”
“What happened?” Casey asked. “Was anything stolen?”
“I’m not at liberty—”
“Is Noodle okay?”
He scrunched his nose, making his sunglasses rise on his face. “What about noodles?”
Casey sighed and waved him off as she walked past him. Persephone hissed when he tried to block me from following her. He jumped out of the way.
He might not take us seriously, but at least he respected my cat.
“I could arrest you for interfering with a police investigation,” he called after us. He couldn’t be the only officer here, and if they were serious, they’d whip out the handcuffs.
Rosamund was standing in the yard between her house and the store, hugging her arms around her middle. She was in an oversized Cupcake shirt and sweatpants, like she’d woken up to this horrible event.
We weren’t quite at the hugging stage in our relationship, but she needed one. Instead, I put my hand on her arm. “Are you okay?”
“I’m not sure how much more I can take.” Her eyes were wide and haunted. “I wanted to believe whoever took Cupcake wouldn’t hurt him. But they’ve been trying to hurt us. There’s no telling what they’re doing to him.”
A chill rolled through my body.
“How’s Noodle doing?” Casey asked.
“I-I haven’t been into the storeroom,” Rosamund confessed. “I called the police as soon as I saw the broken window. They’re right down the street, and…I’m not thinking straight—”
I didn’t wait for her to finish. We needed to find Noodle, because if she was missing, then we had a whole new set of problems.
A few police officers we’d never met made a half-hearted attempt to stop us at the door.
“Rosamund hired us to find Cupcake,” I said.
That earned a couple smirks. One of the officers nodded toward Persephone. “That’s the talking cat.”
“Yes.” I steeled myself.
“My kids are big fans. If I tell them I saw you and I didn’t get a picture, they might make me sleep in the doghouse,” he chuckled. “Would you be so kind?”
Casey and I looked at each other. A simple act of goodwill could buy us a little leeway, even if he had the world’s worst timing.
“I’ll meet you inside,” she said.
“There’s glass on the floor. Don’t let Spy Kitty cut her paws,” the officer said after the most awkward selfie ever. But that was actually good information. If we couldn’t find Noodle, a trail of bloody paw prints might give us some clues to what happened.
But I really hated that option.
“Let me know what you smell that’s different than the other times we’ve been here,” I said to Persephone as we moved through the store. The Cupcake display was totally bare. Either Rosamund got cleaned out again, hadn’t restocked, or someone took it. Judging from the location of the hole in the window, door number three seemed like the most likely possibility.
“I don’t like this place,” Persephone said. Her body was tense in my arms. There was no blood on the floor, which was a good sign.
Other than the empty Cupcake display and the broken window, nothing else seemed different.
Maybe they just wanted to scare Rosamund.
Or us.
Rosamund wandered into the store, her gaze fixed on the broken glass. “Roy’s not going to be happy about this,” she said more to herself than me.
“Why not?”
“He says the two of you are trouble.”
“We’re here to help.” But things weren’t getting better. “I need to make sure Noodle is safe.”
Casey was on one knee in the middle of the storeroom. “It’s okay, it’s just Addie and Persephone. We’re your friends. You’re safe now.”
Noodle’s eyes were wide and pinned on us. But she was letting Casey pet her. That was a good sign. Casey had a special touch with even the most withdrawn animals at the shelter. She was always the first one that they’d open up to.
I stepped a little closer, and Noodle hissed at Persephone, who yowled in response. I hoped that meant they were talking.
“She’s your friend,” Casey repeated.
“Oh thank goodness, Noodie, are you okay?”
Noodle didn’t go to Rosamund. Interesting.
“She should probably stay with you in your house until things calm down,” I said. The way things were going in Rappaport, it should probably be a permanent move.
“I tried. She cried at the door all night long.”
“Can you ask her if there’s anything she’s defending back here?”
“It’s just a bunch of boxes. As far as I know.” Rosamund sounded so defeated. We had to wrap this investigation up soon, or we’d lose her.
I took a small step closer to Casey and Noodle.
Another hiss.
Persephone almost jumped out of my arms.
“She doesn’t want Cupcake to come back, ever. And she wants us to leave too. She thinks we’re making this happen.”
“Okay. We won’t ask you any more questions about Cupcake.” Our window to find the cat was closing so fast that if we didn’t move quickly, things wouldn’t end well.
“But she wants to know if her dad can come back.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
We stayed with Rosamund and Noodle until the police finished their investigation. They didn’t have any immediate answers for us—evidence had to be examined by professionals. There were still no surveillance tapes for them to review.
“Why does every day feel like we’re further away from finding Cupcake?” Casey groaned as we climbed into the car.
I ran my hand over Persephone’s back. “What did you see in there?”
“It smelled the same as the hotel.”
Casey and I looked at each other.
“The cat smell?” I asked.
“That, and the hotel smell. Damp. Chemicals.”
“Those are the cleaning products they use.” At least I hoped it wasn’t anything more sinister. I relayed Persephone’s findings to Casey.
“Do you think Roy did it?”
“I think whoever did it might also be staying at the hotel, and wants us to leave.” I watched the last police cruiser pull out of the lot. “And I have a feeling that Officer Mitchell is in on it.”
“Brian?” Casey looked incredulous. “It could be possible. He had big dreams of being an actor, and he might have seen this investigation as his chance to shine. He definitely has a jealous streak.”
“Who else would’ve known we were at the diner last night, and got back to the motor inn in time to leave that note?”
“He knew which rooms we were in, too,” Casey said. “I might have told him about the inside of the room, but I didn’t give him the number.”
“Roy likes to act like his motor inn only attracts upper-crust clients, but something tells me Officer Mitchell knows all of the rooms by heart at this point.”
“How do we tell Rosamund that a police officer took her cat?” Casey sighed.
“All I care about is finding Cupcake. Not hurting Officer Mitchell’s feelings.” If we were taking this route, we had to put a plan in place. “Rosamund is close to giving up.”
“I hated leaving Noodle there.” Casey frowned as she pulled away from the parking lot. There was still a little bit of traffic, but no one was stopping by Don’t Forget Me. “She wants to be loved, but she’s got some serious trust issues.”
“She hates Cupcake. She needs to be an only cat,” Persephone said.
“I don’t think she’s forgiven Rosamund for bringing Cupcake into the mix. I hate to think about how Noodle will react when we bring him back. Hopefully, we can convince Rosamund to let Scott have custody.”
It was business as usual at The Raven Moon. The parking lot was full, and there was no sign of the chaos just two miles away.
Casey had yet to convince me of a curse, but I could go for the idea that Marnie had put a protective bubble around her shop.
“It smells so good in here,” Casey said as we walked in. A few patrons looked at us—after all, we were the only ones shopping for our metaphysical needs with a cat in tow—and a few people recognized us. They played it cool, and wished us luck in the investigation.
No sign of Marnie. I followed Casey as she wandered between the displays, considering colorful crystals and jewelry.
A young woman with a nose ring stood at the register. She had a book open in front of her, and she was looking at cards. Maybe an apprentice?
If Marnie was unwilling or unable to help us, maybe she would.
Her face brightened when Persephone and I approached.
“Are you Addie?”
“How did you—oh, right, Persephone.” I chuckled. “Is Marnie available?”
“She’s booked solid with readings. The Cupcake investigation has brought a ton of new people into town.”
Rosamund wouldn’t be pleased that her competition was profiting off her misfortune. “When does she have a break?”
She twisted her lips as she looked at the computer screen. “Just for lunch.”
“What does she like to eat? We’ll buy.” I hadn’t realized Casey was behind me. “We’ll buy your lunch too.”
“Marnie’s vegan,” the clerk said. “Not easy to find in Rappaport. She does like the veggie scramble from the New Wave. And I like the bacon cheeseburger with a strawberry shake and fried pickles.”
“We’re gonna get along just fine. What time should we place the order for?”
“One.”
Casey bought some pink stones, a book, and a deck of cards.
“I never realized you were so interested in this stuff.”
“I dabble,” she said as we headed to the car. “Maybe if I can get good at it, I could help you find missing items.”
“It would be a lot easier than navigating Rappaport.” The New Wave Diner was packed at the height of the lunch rush. We had to park on the street. No sign of Scott, which was disappointing. I’d love to talk to him about the ransom note and the damage to Rosamund’s business. Even if he didn’t know anything, he’d probably heard what the people in town had to say about it. Diners were perfect for that.
Two cheeseburgers, two shakes, two orders of fried pickles, an order of fish with no fries, a veggie scramble, and a salad—Casey was worried that Lucky Junior might not fit after this trip—and we headed back to The Raven Moon.
The clerk’s eyes lit up when we walked in with our food.
“Marnie’s in back,” she said as she opened her takeout container.
We pulled the curtain aside and walked down the familiar hallway.
“Hello?” There was no way to knock on a curtain.
“Come in,” Marnie said. She had a sage stick in her hand, waving it back and forth over the table. “I was wondering when you’d be back.”
“You said you couldn’t see us for two weeks.” I took a seat at the table. “Will we be eating here?”
Marnie nodded. “I don’t usually like to bring food into the reading rooms, but I only read in this room. I’ve cleared the tablecloth and scarves. You won’t disturb anything.”
I almost asked what we could possibly disturb, but I didn’t want to make her think I wasn’t taking this seriously. “Thank you for meeting with us during your lunch.”
“Food can be sacred. You seldom break bread with your enemies.” Marnie might be on our side after all. “How is your investigation going?”
“Not well, but you probably know that.” I set Persephone’s container on the floor and then cracked into mine. “I have some ideas about who might be behind Cupcake’s disappearance, and I wanted to get your take on it.”
“I can’t read people who aren’t here, Addie.”
“What about Cupcake?” Casey asked. “Could you read a card for him? At least tell us if he’s okay?”
Marnie pursed her lips together. “I normally wouldn’t do this. But it would put all our minds at ease.”
She flipped a card and Casey and I gasped. There were a lot of swords in the back of the person depicted on the card.
“That doesn’t look so good,” I said.
“It’s reversed, which in this case, is good. It signifies coming out of the worst of a situation.” Marnie closed her eyes, and I could sense her going to another realm. That wasn’t freaky at all. “I can feel his energy. It’s very much live energy. But there’s sadness there, too. He’s afraid he’s let his mom down. And he wishes Noodle liked him more.”
“Noodle’s a tough customer,” Casey said.
“Can you answer my questions about what we’ve found if they’re not about specific people? If they pertain to me?” Marnie seemed like she was in a giving mood, but I didn’t want to push her too far.
“Yes, I can answer questions that involve you.” Marnie took a bite of her scramble and closed her eyes. “You can always tell when Scott’s working the grill. Everything is just right.”
“He still cooks?” I figured he’d be too busy running the show to be making people’s lunch.
“Food is his first love. Maybe his only love.” Marnie took another bite. “You’ve spoken with him?”
I nodded. My mouth was full of bacon cheeseburger. I only felt moderately guilty for eating it in front of her, because it was delicious. “We’ve met him, Roy, obviously, and Officer Mitchell. Is there anyone else you suggest we talk to?”
Casey nudged me. “Should we tell her about the ransom notes?” she whispered.
“There are no secrets in this room. The cards know everything.” Marnie closed her lunch container and pushed it aside. She picked up a deck and shuffled it, then selected a card. She gave it a satisfied nod. “The nine of swords. Deceit. Someone is lying to you.”
“We’ve mostly dealt with Bri—Officer Mitchell and Roy so far,” Casey said.
“We have a meeting with Roy tonight,” I added. “Anything we can do to prepare?”
“I haven’t talked to him much since high school. He wanted to date me, but he wasn’t my type.” She chuckled to herself. “He was persistent, too. Once that man decides he wants something, he won’t let anything stand in his way of getting it.”
Casey and I shared a look.
“What does…” I stopped to rephrase my question to pertain to me. “Does Roy want something from us?”
Marnie selected another card. I didn’t know a thing about tarot, but I could tell this was bad news by the way the tower was on fire and people were jumping out of the burning building.
“The tower card changes everything whether you’re ready or not. Whatever you plan to do next, proceed carefully. You’ll go home, back to your lives, but the people of Rappaport will be dealing with the consequences of what you uncover for years to come. Nothing here will ever be the same.”
