Prelude to Murder by Edale Lane

Author:Edale Lane [Lane, Edale]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Past and Prologue Press

“Honey, I’m home!” Jenna tossed her leather jacket on the couch and secured her gun in a little end table drawer near the door.

“Meow.” An expectant cat trotted in from the direction of the bedroom. He made a beeline for his mistress and began the customary purring and rubbing against her legs. When Jenna bent to pet him, Bandit rushed into the kitchen, calling back to her in a questioning tone. “Meow?”

“Yes, dinner, alright I’m coming.” There were three great things about the cat: he made her laugh, he shared his affection freely, and he didn’t leave her. “You may not be much of a conversationalist, Bandit, but you’re a terrific listener.”

Jenna spooned some of his favorite wet food into a dish and set it on the floor, where he immediately chowed down. “Now, what will I eat?”

The half-full plate of wings from last night crashed into her thoughts and she had to shake it off. Despite a good day of gathering information about her murder case, Jenna felt dissatisfied. “Maybe I should give up on the notion I’ll ever find the woman of my dreams,” she confessed to her cat. Though he kept eating, Bandit flicked an ear to let her know he was listening. She pursed her lips as she perused the cupboard. “Oh, what the hell. I’ll just eat cereal.”

Jenna pulled down the box and poured a bowl full before dousing it with milk. Not even bothering to sit down, she just ate at the counter where she stood. The date with Brittany had been a disaster, as had the previous one with some other desperate lesbian. She recalled a few relationships she thought would last, even falling in love… they all ended in disappointing fashion. “Is it me or the job?” she asked her therapy cat. “Maybe both,” she admitted. “Still, I wouldn’t trade it—nope. I love what I do, and my cops are my family. It’s funny how Dr. Gillis could have so many women, and I can’t even score one who’ll stick around long enough to see where we could go. I want off the merry-go-round.”

By the time she drained her bowl, Bandit had dispatched with his and hopped onto the counter in hopes she would leave him a few drops of milk. “Oh, go ahead and lick it,” she consented, and grabbed a beer from the fridge. “Let’s watch a movie where things blow up.”

Even as she tried to relax with non-stop explosive action, Jenna’s mind revolved around her case. “Poisoning the baton has to mean something,” she repeated. “There are so many easier ways to kill a person. And the murderer wanted it to be on stage, like a public execution. Did somebody blame him for wrongdoing? Could any of his flings have been married? Would a junkie be sophisticated enough to plan a poisoned baton murder without accidentally killing himself in the process? Dr. Gillis, what secrets were you hiding which made someone want to kill you?”

The black and white kitty curled in her lap, purring contentedly.

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