Purr Purr Purloin: A Cozy Animal Mystery (Ruff McPaw Mysteries Book 6) by Max Parrott

Author:Max Parrott [Parrott, Max]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-07-31T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Angela rang the state police office as she walked back out to her truck, hoping she could get in touch with them before eating lunch with David.

“This is Officer Davis.”

“Hi, my name is Angela Atkinson and I work in Hummings Hollow with Chief Helbar,” she said. “He said that the state office might be able to help me with some chemical analysis for a case.”

“Are you an officer?”

“No, a P.I.,” Angela replied. “But Chief Helbar can verify my credentials if needed. He was the one who gave me the state office’s number.”

“Okay,” the officer said. “I’ll call him this afternoon, but in the meantime, what type of testing do you need?”

“I have a powdered substance that needs to be identified,” she explained. “I also need the residue in a water bottle tested to see if whatever in it matches the powder.”

“Got it. Can you bring both items up to the office?”

“Yes, I was planning on coming this afternoon.”

“I’ll call Chief Helbar before you come up, then.”

“Thank you so much,” Angela said. “I’ll be out there in about an hour.”

Angela went over to David’s house to meet up for lunch. Unlike Angela’s house, in which she maintained a haphazard “organized chaos,” David’s house was nearly immaculate. Angela had only been in David’s house a dozen times, but she loved being there. He was really into black and white photography, particularly the work of Ansel Adams, and had a few black and white landscapes artfully placed on his walls. The house itself was a quirky old Tudor style home built in the 1940s. Though the appliances and furniture were modern, David had kept as many of the antique touches as he could, including a large, old-time radio in the corner by his small fireplace.

“I got personal pizzas,” he said with a grin. “Pepperoni and olives for you, and Hawaiian for me.”

“That sounds delicious,” Angela said. “Thanks, honey. I feel lately like I barely have time to breathe, let alone eat.”

“How did the meeting with the school district go?”

“It was... enlightening,” Angela replied grimly. “They’ve had issues with their state funding as well.”

“Holy cow,” David murmured. “Sounds like your hunch was right. Someone is making a lot of money skimming off state budgets.”

“And Nancy was onto it,” Angela agreed. “We just need to figure out what she learned, and who is behind it.”

“What are your next steps?”

“I really need to talk to the financial secretary at the city offices,” Angela replied. “But my appointment with him isn’t until later this week.”

“So now we wait,” he said.

Angela frowned thoughtfully, tapping her chin.

“Do you think it would be worth it to talk to the mayor?” she asked. “After all, he probably reviews financial accounts before the funding is sent to other offices.”

“It’s worth a shot,” David said. “Probably a good idea to try everything, just in case.”

“I’ll see if I can call them after I go to the state police office,” she replied. “I need to go out to Frederick this afternoon to talk to the state police department about getting the water bottle and the powder tested.

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