Purrfect Roast: A Dragon Cozy Mystery by Verena DeLuca (my reading book .txt) 📕

and ready to call it a weekend. With Sofia, Vera, and Betty being over sixty, an extended weekend of childish drama was probably outside of what they found to be enjoyable. Bethany was big on getting out of town, but through our weekly meetings, I had discovered she was more into motorcycle rallies, and less excited about the cat show than I originally assumed. Tori was Tori, of course, and her snotty expression rarely left her face. Which left Elizabeth, whom I still had not fully figured out personality wise. I knew she was in her early fifties and loved pottery, but I had no clue what she did for fun.

I decided to run interference and keep them busy. They knew full well that I was about to dive headfirst into an investigation. Might as well give them a task to feel like they are a part of it. It would keep them busy, while we ran our own investigation. I looked back to the officers, they would rather be anywhere else but on stage.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," the male officer said. "You are now free to move around the hotel. Please do not go far, we will need to speak to each of you."

Guess that settled the legalities of if we had to stay. Not that Azure would leave without a trophy.

The officer turned to speak with Linda and the mic picked up what he asked, "Where were they taken from?"

He handed the mic to his partner, who quickly found the off switch, and together they followed Linda to the room behind the red curtain.

Good thing I was no longer back there. That would have been a hard one to explain. "Sorry officer. I swear I didn't take it. Only wanted to help solve the case. See, back in my small town I'm kind of known for solving these sorts of things."

I laughed to myself. The ladies gave me uneasy looks.

"The plan?" Skylar asked with a smirk.

The tribe gathered in a closer huddle. Boundaries ladies, boundaries. I needed a good foot between me and anyone else to feel comfortable.

"I can't believe we have to stay in the hotel longer," Tori whined, and Butter nodded his head along.

Thankfully, Aubrey was not looking at the cat that was distinctly acting not cat-like. The other ladies nodded along with Tori. Convincing them to be positive about the investigation would not be an easy sell.

"I get it," I said. "We all want to go home to our espresso machines."

They all giggled, excluding Tori, who rolled her eyes.

"But look at it this way, they aren't forcing us to stay in this ballroom while they conduct the interviews, so you get an extra day of vacation," I said, making it clear there was no time for whining. "Now that the contestants will be free to move around the hotel, it's important that we spread out."

"And do what?" Tori asked. "We're not detectives."

No way captain obvious. I internally rolled my eyes. Did she have to fight me every step of the way? At least they knew my plan.

"No, but you're nice ladies who love cats. That's more than enough to speak with the fellow ladies here." I emphasized the last point to make it clear I was speaking about the fellow dragon protectors. The tribe looked confused for a second and then put two and two together as they looked at Aubrey and realized why I had to speak in code.

"I want you all to spread out and see what you can learn," I said. "All the gossiping at our meetings for years has been training you for today. You are the best hope for solving this case!"

They glowed with pride, and there was no reason for them to know I was blowing smoke. Goaled at keeping them occupied and out of the way. There was always a slight chance they would learn something helpful.

"You handled that well," Azure transmitted. "I'm proud of you. You've learned to lead this tribe. Especially with low levels of coffee."

Great. The Machiavellian dragon was complimenting me on my ability to lie to my tribe. This was going to be an excellent day.

"Stop trying to butter me up," I transmitted. "I see through your honeyed words and it's not going to make me catch the culprit faster."

He let out a sigh as Skylar squealed. Thankful for the distraction, I turned my attention to her.

"They've opened all the exits," Skylar said. "I can almost taste the freedom!"

"Should we head out?" Aubrey asked. She glanced around the room, and I hoped it was to take note of anyone rushing or acting suspicious.

"No, let's wait for a few minutes," I said, and realized the tribe planned to wait with us. "The rest of you should go, let me know if you discover anything juicy."

"I hope you know what you're doing," Tori said.

I was thinking the same thing, not that I would tell her that, or anyone else. No. Best to pretend I knew what I was doing and hope no one figure out I was faking.

Before the ladies followed the mass exodus, I remembered Aubrey's cat list and asked them to check in with her so she could write down their cats' breed and take a photo. I was surprised to not hear a single groan at the delay.

Skylar stood with Aubrey while the ladies started to rattle off their details one by one, but I stayed seated to avoid looming over her fun.

"This is Ash, he is a Siamese," Sofia said. "Say tuna, Ash."

Click.

"So cute! Love his coloring," Aubrey said.

"Ember is a Bengal," Bethany said.

"Oh my, that's a handsome boy," Aubrey squealed. "He looks just like a tiger!"

Click.

I shifted to get a better look at the line of cats from our tribe. It was weird, but I never paid attention to their coats before. Our tribe really did feature a larger variety of cat breeds.

"Thank you, he really does. I love his coat." Bethany said.

"Josiah is an American Short," Elizabeth said.

Click. "

Adorableness, thank you,"