MY FAIR LATTE by Vickie Fee

Author:Vickie Fee
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Henery Press
Published: 2019-12-09T19:48:21+00:00

CHAPTER 16

I ran upstairs to eat lunch and give some thought to the best way to approach the conversation with Paula “police informant” Turpin. When I walked into the apartment, Eartha was meowing loudly. She had dragged her empty bowl into the middle of the kitchen and was clearly lodging a complaint.

“I’m coming. You know I’d have dinner waiting for you if I had any idea when you were going to show up.”

She turned her head away as if to show complete disinterest in what I had to say. She did, however, act interested when I filled her bowl. She ate while I topped off her water bowl.

I sat down in the recliner with pen and paper and the intention of making notes on what to say to Paula. A few minutes later the paper was still blank as I bit down on the pen cap.

Eartha finished her meal and walked slowly toward me. She licked her paw then stretched out near, but not touching, my feet.

“You’re welcome,” I said, reaching down and gently petting her.

After I’d made my way to the community center, I stood in the hall pretending to look at notices on the bulletin board as people, mostly women, streamed out of Trudy’s class. Through the crack in the door I could see Trudy talking to Paula, who was rolling up her orange yoga mat. When the room had emptied, except for the two of them, I stepped in and closed the door behind me. Paula’s healthy glow turned into nervously flushed cheeks.

“I’d better be going,” she said.

“Don’t rush off. I had an interesting conversation with Detective Stedman this morning. He somehow had the idea that Kendra and I had taken a certain item from Vince’s cottage. Any idea what gave him that notion?”

Paula looked to her yoga instructor.

“I’d like to hear the answer to that one, myself,” Trudy said.

“I didn’t tell him I thought you two took anything. I just told him I didn’t know who else could’ve had an opportunity, that’s all.”

“You had opportunity, Paula. In fact, if you did change the locks shortly after we left, and the detective said there was no sign of forced entry, that means you are the only one who had opportunity. What I don’t understand is why did you wait until then? You could have easily gone through Vince’s cottage and taken whatever you wanted before the cops came or just after they left. If you can help me to understand then I won’t suggest you as the best suspect to Detective Stedman when I see him again.”

After a flustered moment, Paula said, “Oh, okay. If it turns out to have any bearing on the investigation, I’ll hand the dang boot over to the cops.”

My eyes met Trudy’s briefly. The boot.

“I watched you two through the window with a little help from my binoculars. I know Kendra has worked in some museums, dealing with antiques and valuables. When she took so much interest in that old boot, I thought it might be worth something, like maybe I could sell it online.

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