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

was a hard feat, given I had planned to be out of here and drinking more coffee. Did I have a problem? No. Coffee was fuel, and I would rather die than go without it. That was not a problem, just fuel requirements.

"We need clues!" Aubrey said, without a hint of trying to hide how eager she was to get started.

"I'll give you a clue," I said and snickered. "Coffee."

Aubrey gave me an eye roll and looked at Skylar, who was staying on topic. Maybe introducing them was not one of my smarter moments. Them teaming up against me would only end in me giving into their demands.

"Too bad Linda didn't roll out the prizes anyway," Skylar said, ignoring me as well. "Would have been nice to see what they rifled through."

Aubrey nodded along, deep in thought.

"We should walk around and try to gather some info." Aubrey stood up, stretching out her back as she did so.

"Linda told us to stay in our seats," I pointed out, but followed her lead on standing. "Besides, I really need coffee before I do anything else."

"Suck it up buttercup and figure out who did this," Azure transmitted.

"Go back to sleep," I transmitted, and sent a scowl.

"But I guess, since that isn't going to happen," I said. "Walking around will probably help to wake me up a bit."

Not enough, but it was better than nothing.

"Thank you," Azure transmitted in a huff. "I want my first-place prize. And the sooner I get it, the sooner we can leave!"

I did not tell him that his prize was no guarantee. Better he stay in the best mood possible. The last thing I needed was an angry dragon on my hands.

"I'll stay here and see what the other ladies think," Skylar said.

"That's a good idea," I said. "Plus, people might come by doing the same thing we are. Keep note of them."

"Sure thing," Skylar said. "These ladies have been ignoring me for some time now because I don't gossip. Doubt they will even notice I came over."

"So, it'll be just like the meetings?" I asked.

Aubrey giggled behind me, no doubt imagining crazy cat lady meetings where we sat and admired cats and cat accessories for hours on end. Boasting about shows and awards. I internally rolled my eyes. If only she knew.

"Totally." Skylar laughed as she left to take a seat further back from the stage where the other ladies huddled together.

"Where should we start?" Aubrey asked.

"First thing is to look behind the stage," I said. "I want to see if they missed something."

Aubrey's eyes widened. "What about the police?"

"I'm not going to touch anything," I said. "But maybe they left something behind."

Linda stood on stage talking to anyone walking up. While Nathan and Samantha stayed at the doors. The room had reached a boiling point. Everyone meandered instead of staying in their seats. Clearly, the coordinators had accepted this, but they were firm on not allowing anyone to leave. Why the police were taking so long, who knew?

"Are you sure?" Aubrey asked again. "Maybe the lack of coffee is making you over ambitious, Skylar and I could walk around."

I laughed.

She was right, but I still thought looking at the scene of the crime was important. Even a fully caffeinated me would think that. It was the logical place to start. Plus, the faster we got this figured out, the faster we could get on with our day.

"Yeah, I'm sure," I said. "We need to see what happened, not just hearsay."

"I'll cover you then." She crossed her arms. I was asking her to do something outside of her comfort zone, but after being my best friend for the past thirty years, she knew full well what I would get her into. This would be no different than any other time she had covered for me while I did something borderline illegal.

"You're the best," I said with a wink. She giggled, as the inside joke of it crossed her mind, causing me to giggle as well.

"Don't be reckless," Azure transmitted. "And just so you know, I trust you to not embarrass the tribe. Good luck."

"Thank you," I transmitted.

Finally, some acknowledgment from the peanut gallery.

We moved in unison through groups of people. Every conversation I overheard was about the awards. Mostly shock and wonder.

"You distract Linda," I said, "and I'll give it a quick look."

"Roger," Aubrey said, and we chortled together.

As we walked, I realized how well our timing had worked out. People within the room huddled in groups, making it easier to overhear their conversations as we made our way to Linda on the other side of the stage.

"Why would they do this though?" Aubrey asked.

"What?" My mind had been elsewhere.

"Why steal the trophies?"

I relayed the question to Azure as I had no clue.

"Dragons are sooo much drama," Azure transmitted. "You think our tribe is bad, but the jealousy between tribes runs deep. We're talking thousand-year-old family feuds."

"Maybe it's jealousy," she said. "But enough to warrant stealing?"

Great, they were on the same wavelength. How could I add to their pondering without mentioning dragons? Not that Aubrey would believe a word I said after dragon. Sometimes I questioned if my entire life was a massive fever dream.

"They take this competition quite seriously." Meaning dragons but letting Aubrey believe I meant cat owners.

"Obviously." She gestured to the decorations, and the nearly one hundred people present.

As we approached the stage, Aubrey b-lined toward Linda with a smile. There were already four other women swarming Linda, none of whom were wearing a bat pin. In fact, all the dragon protectors appeared collected in their respective tribes.

A large red curtain blocked the back of the stage. I slipped through, looking over my shoulder to make sure no one witnessed. Finding a door, I wasted no time opening it. Behind which was a small room that spanned the width of the ballroom.

After looking over the wall again, I realized it was an accordion faux piece, with a door set into it to block the area