Rapid Rodent Response: A Cozy Animal Mystery (Ruff McPaw Mysteries Book 2) by Max Parrott

Author:Max Parrott [Parrott, Max]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-03-22T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

“I mean, he was technically right to ask for a lawyer,” Michelle pointed out before popping another bite of pasta into her mouth. “Innocent or not, they say it’s always a good idea to ask for a lawyer, no matter what the police think.”

Angela sighed. “I know you’re right. It just felt like we were finally getting somewhere.”

“Well, think about this.” Michelle set down her fork and leaned forward to be heard over the clatter of the busy small-town cafe. “A couple of days ago, there were no leads. Now you have several! And what about this Principal Wycock? Do you believe him?”

Angela shrugged and swirled her spaghetti around the plate; it was largely uneaten—aside from one meatball that had fallen on the floor to be quickly cleaned up by Ruff.

“I’m not sure. He was sweating a lot. I guess I never realized how political schools could be. It seems like everyone has some intense ambition—even the parents.”

Michelle didn’t seem remotely surprised at this. A lifelong skeptic, Michelle had always looked for the dirty truth under the glossy lies. Besides, her younger brother had only recently graduated high school, and she had been pretty involved in his extracurriculars, so she was more familiar with the world of public-school politics than her older friend.

“Anyway,” Angela sighed. “How’s your story coming? I saw his death announcement in the paper, but nothing else.”

Now her friend sighed, eyebrows furrowing as she stabbed another piece of bowtie pasta. “That’s because there isn’t enough evidence to say anything for sure. I don’t want to write something one day that’s disproven the next. It makes the gazette look bad—plus it’s shoddy journalism all around. I guess you could say I’m really rooting for you to solve this case, too.”

“You mean you’re rooting for the police to solve it,” Angela corrected her with a wry smile.

Michelle waved a hand. “Sure, them too, I guess. But I don’t know, Angie. Maybe you need to consider a career in law enforcement. You could let some of the other stuff go so you have time to breathe—and you spend all your extra time working on these mysteries anyway, don’t you?”

Angela laughed, as if this wasn’t something she had struggled with time and time again. “I’m not sure the schedule of a police officer is really for me, plus, it’s a little too—”

“Inflexible?” Michelle guessed.

Angela spun up the perfect bite of spaghetti and admitted, “Sort of,” before taking a bite.

“Well, I’m just saying that you have the talent for it.”

“Thanks Michelle. That means a lot coming from the best friend I can always trust to be totally impartial, especially when assessing my amazing genius.”

Michelle laughed and lifted her juice for a toast, which Angela met happily, feeling strangely relieved, though nothing more had been figured out over this lunch than when she arrived. Maybe there was more to mysteries than just solving them.

***

Angela was on her way to check on her parents with a box of fresh donuts when her phone rang; it was Kathy.

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