Snowballs, Fluff, and Murder: A Cozy Magic Midlife Mystery (Silver Circle Cat Rescue Mysteries Book 5) by Leanne Leeds

Author:Leanne Leeds [Leeds, Leanne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Badchen Publishing
Published: 2024-01-18T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

“That was bizarre,” Laurie murmured after the video call abruptly ended. The larger than life projection that just moments before had transmitted Clara’s tense features now showed only an expanse of white, the glow from the projector creating a halo against the bare surface.

“That’s an understatement,” Josephine murmured, shaking her head slowly as if attempting to understand the baffling interaction.

I tore my eyes from the vacant wall, meeting Landon’s puzzled gaze. Neither of us appeared to comprehend the rapid shift in Clara’s demeanor or her swift dismissal of Mario’s questions, either.

If we were confused, Mario was alarmed.

I watched him pace the room, shoulders hunched, his expression etched with bewildered turmoil and disbelief. Matt and Landon moved to his side, speaking to him in low, serious tones.

Mario seemed oblivious to their efforts, trapped in the maelstrom of his own mind.

“Ellie. Laurie.”

I turned to see Josephine standing stiffly by the doorway, manicured hand discreetly motioning for us to join her. Laurie met my puzzled gaze with raised eyebrows, as confused by Josephine’s summons as I was.

I mean, it’s not like the room wasn’t already pretty big.

We both crossed the room on quiet feet and followed Josephine into the hallway and down the stairs, her heels clicking rapidly against the hardwood. She glanced back over her shoulder until we had reached the second floor, well out of sight and earshot of the others.

“Jeez, Josie, was this necessary?” Laurie’s voice came out clipped, her words punctuated by the deliberately exaggerated chattering of her teeth. She wrapped her arms around herself, vigorously rubbing her hands up and down her sleeves in an attempt to banish the chill.

Josephine whirled to face us, lips pressed into a thin line. “Yes.” Her eyes glinted with an intent that told me whatever she had to say, it wasn’t meant for all ears. “Poor Mario’s going through enough. He didn’t need to hear this.”

I raised my eyebrow. “Poor Mario?”

“Oh, be quiet, Ellie. That woman, Clara? She’s hiding something,” Josephine declared (as if she was the only one watching the video call that could have possibly noticed). She crossed her arms, leveling a severe stare first at me, then Laurie. “Her entire demeanor changed the moment Mario mentioned looking into Juna’s case. She couldn’t end that call fast enough.”

Laurie fixed her gaze on the lawyer. “Hey, Josie?”

“Yes?”

“We were there, you know.”

“Pfft,” Josephine snorted, slicing her palm sideways to brush off Laurie’s point as if it were mere lint on her sleeve.

“In the interest of getting us back upstairs quickly, I’ll grant you she ended the subject and the call pretty abruptly.” I frowned, hesitant to make assumptions. “But I don’t know, Josie. It’s clearly still a painful subject for her after all this time. Maybe she just doesn’t want to dredge up hard memories.”

“Rubbish,” Josephine scoffed with another dismissive wave of her hand. “She told Mario that Paul wanted him to let the case stay unsolved. How would she know unless Paul confided in her about why he didn’t want his daughter’s case pursued?” The lawyer arched one eyebrow.

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