Page 64 of Poison Apple Crisp
“Bingo,” I say. “Every single one of these is about a true crime story. Noah, she’s practically a collector.”
“Huh,” he muses as he loses himself for a moment going through them. “I guess she is.”
Carlotta sighs. “I’m glad you found something. All I’ve got are these personal files on the board members of the PTA.”
I zip over just as a spray of tiny orange stars emits and lights up the room with a pumpkin glow.
“Have we missed it?” Ginger shakes out her tawny fur as she materializes before me. “Thirteen and I stopped off at his place to get a quick rut in.”
“Oh my word.” I squeeze my eyes shut tight because I’ve never heard that verbiage before from any animal, or human for that matter.
“What’s the matter, Lot?” Carlotta chuckles. “Is she speaking your language?”
I shoot her a look as Noah steps over.
“What’s going on?” he asks, and Carlotta waves him off.
“Lottie’s just jealous because Ginger got something she’s been looking forward to all day.”
“Is it a pickle?” Noah leans in. “Because I just so happen to have one in my pocket for you.” He pulls a small wax bag out of his suit jacket, and Carlotta breaks out into a fit of laughter that lands her on the floor.
“Apickle!” she screams with laughter. “Hey, Foxy? Is that a pickle in your pocket, or are you just glad to see Lot Lot?” She chortles herself into a conniption as she slaps the floor with her hand.
“Never mind her,” I say. “Let’s look at these files so we can go home. I’m exhausted.”
Noah gets right to work by my side, and truthfully, I knew if I spewed the buzzword he’d do just that—the buzzword beingexhausted.
I pull out one of the applications—Alyssa’s—and take a picture of it. The same for Rachelle’s and Brenda’s. It’s nothing more than a list of addresses, previous addresses, previous schools, and jobs they’ve held down. For the most part, it looks nominally boring.
“Look at this.” Noah points to Alyssa’s application. “It says she’s divorced and happy about it, too. Her words, not mine.”
“It looks as if that was the one place she was honest,” I say, pulling out Rachelle’s application. “Rachelle’s looks rather sparse. It shows she moved to Honey Hollow a year and a half ago. Married about that same time. Under employment history it reads masseuse.” I blow out a breath. “After the day I’ve had, I feel as if I need to seek her services.”
Noah leans in close as he holds out an application between us.
“Brenda’s paperwork.” He points to the middle of the page. “Her favorite quote? If you can’t control your life, control others.”
“Nice,” I muse. “I suppose Brenda was being honest as well.”
We button it up and head home. Noah comes over, and we start a fire. We sip hot apple cider while curling up with Pancake and Waffles, and it feels like a blissful end to a hectic day.
Evie and Carlotta are in the kitchen working on polishing Evie’s cheer routine for tomorrow’s tryouts, and every now and again, the entire house shakes from their efforts.
“So what do you think, Lot?” Noah toasts me with his mug. “What did our little field trip yield tonight?”
“I think Cokie is looking pretty guilty. Tomorrow night, at the fundraiser, I think we should grill her.”
“We as inme?” He dips his chin. “Or we as inyou?”
There’s a knock at the door just before Everett steps in, and he wastes no time in glowering over at Noah.
“You should really lock the door, Lemon. All sorts of trouble can wander in if you don’t.” He holds up a bag of Wicked Wok, and I let out a cheer as if I haven’t seen food in a year.
We eat right out of the containers in the living room as we talk about the case.
And the more we mull it over, the more Cokie Hickman looks as if she’s ripe for a little revenge.
“She had the motive,” I say. “A scorned heart. She had the obvious addiction to crime novels. That autographed copy might have been a prize.” Something she said to me comes to mind. “Hey, that night we were at Mangias, she asked where the two of you lived. I told her everything. In fact, I practically described my house to a T. Is it any coincidence that was the exact night I was robbed?”