Purrfect Roast: A Dragon Cozy Mystery by Verena DeLuca (the giving tree read aloud TXT) 📗

"Absolutely," Kara said. "We also offer larger single or second deliveries each month if you are interested?"

"No," I said. "Maybe next year if he really enjoys eating nothing but salmon. Something tells me his obsession will diminish once he can eat it all the time."

"No problem," Kara said. "You can adjust your subscription at any time. Buying the year package only locks in the price. Just log into your account and you'll be able to change flavors and adjust deliveries."

"Even better," I said.

"If he's anything like my children, he'll eat it every day with no request for variety," Aubrey said.

"Totally," Skylar said. "They're little better than children."

We all laughed together as I entered my credit card info. No truer words had ever been spoken.

"All done," Kara said. "You'll get your first box in seven to ten days, and the order of treats will come around the same time."

"Thank you," I said and led the way out of the Pure Balance vendor room before I spent more money.

"Now that he's taken care of, I need to eat," I said.

"Yes, please," Aubrey said.

I picked my coffee cup up off the table. "All this waiting is making me hungry."

"What about the cats though?" Aubrey asked.

"Oh, they prepared for the cats at the hotel," I explained. "They provide little bowls for them while we eat."

"That's so cute," Aubrey said. "It's like they're people."

"Keeps them from being naughty kitties anyway," Skylar said. "I can only imagine the dining room with hangry cats knocking cups off tables."

We giggled at the thought, even though I knew dragons were more civilized than the average house cat.

"Lunch at the buffet?" I asked.

"Sure," Skylar said. "The food has been better than last year."

"That's fine with me," Aubrey said.

"I'll say," I said, "I was expecting way less quality when you guys told me the hotel was providing a buffet throughout the weekend. Glad you're okay with it since we can't leave to a restaurant as we'd planned."

"Such a shame this has turned into an all-day event," Aubrey said. "I haven't seen either of those officers around since leaving the ballroom."

"Yeah, they weren't in the lobby either time we've been through here," I said, trying to look around for them. "I'd love to know what their plan is."

"For real," Skylar said. "Speaking of, I guess we need to make a suspect list of our own."

"Yup, guess so," I said.

The dining room entrance was on the right side of the lobby, past the restrooms, through a small hall. We walked past the other two vendor rooms toward the hallway. Usually, they offered a full restaurant with waiters, but for the conference, they brought in a buffet bar for the attendees. The show reserved the entire hotel, so there was no one here aside from competitors and spectators—apparently, people come to the cat show as fans year after year. They were getting their show this year!

"Do we think it could have been those ladies?" Aubrey asked.

"No," I said. "It doesn't make sense. I really think they just come for the entertainment value. They genuinely seemed uninterested in competing. What do you think, Skylar?"

"I've never known them to try," she said. "It would make sense that they only come for the socializing."

"They could be using it as a cover though," Aubrey pointed out. "Isabel seemed rather sure that the trophies would turn up."

"True," Skylar said.

"I could see them laughing about it either way," I said. "Stealing them to show us all, or knowing they weren't going to win and finding it funny."

"Totally makes sense," Skylar said. "I would have laughed had I not actually thought we had a chance, and trophies already at home."

"But why bring so much attention to yourself during an active crime announcement?" Aubrey asked.

"If they really don't think they are valuable, I would assume they also wouldn't take it seriously or expect Linda to call the cops," Skylar said.

I opened one of the glass doors leading into the dining area. At that point, I was walking on auto pilot as the conversation we were having had taken hold of my thoughts.

"I mean, the drama of it all is absurd to the point of hilarity," I said. "Only at a cat show does someone steal trophies and leave the valuable prizes behind."

I could not help but laugh as I finished the sentence, causing the girls to giggle. It was in fact ridiculous that someone would really stoop this low.

"That's true," Aubrey said. "Guess that means we can't really cross them off though."

"Yeah, but I'm going to mark them as not likely," I said. "Really we should focus on figuring out where everyone was between six AM and nine AM, as that's when Linda said they went missing."

"Good idea," Aubrey said. "We should start looking at this as entertainment instead of torture."

"Like the one lady said, it's better than their soap operas," I joked.

I looked around the dining room and realized we somehow managed to find the buffet line. The girls and I picked up our empty plates.

"I don't know the last time I watched one," Aubrey said. "Probably when I was living at home. My mother is obsessed. I would watch them during the summer with her when there was nothing else to do."

"I've never seen a full episode," Skylar said. "I was a game show or talk show watcher on sick days."

"I always worked with Aunt Tona over the summer while I was in school, so I never had time to watch them. Not that I have ever been much of a tv watcher, anyway."

I beamed with excitement, they had mac and cheese again. There was something about their version that made it the ultimate comfort food.

"You're not missing anything," Aubrey said, chuckling as we continued to fill our plates.

The other competitors had the same idea, most of the tables were already full. Thankfully, the more awkward tables were open, so we took a table by the buffet line walkway after