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

in an official capacity. They must have built the entire ballroom to be divided up as needed—the cubical of rooms. The backstage room held meticulously organized tables of supplies: brushes, leashes, number label sheets, and much more needed for the cat show.

In the center of the room was a large black metal trunk—the kind a band would use to move around sound equipment. Within were three empty slots, surrounded by protective foam. Beside the trunk sat a large decorated table on wheels, full of goodies. From gift cards to cat-related merchandise, it was a cat owner's vision of heaven. Over forty smaller vases were arranged around the various prizes, with inscriptions for the many awards, awaiting winners. Plus, four medium silver vases which I assumed were for the Best in Division awards.

Secretly I hoped we were going to win one of the small ones, because they were adorably small. The height of a coffee cup, maybe an inch or two wide, skinnier at the bottom, wider at the top. I would be able to put it on the back counter in the cafe for all to see. It would make for great fun in teasing him over the coming months.

At the back of the table, the three platforms meant for the main categories were empty. Tea, not a single clue. Nothing on the table seemed to be out of place, not even picked through. Not that I had really thought there would be one. This was not Scooby Doo, where the thief is always just a step away.

Making sure not to touch anything else, I made my way through the maze of show supplies to check the doors. Maybe it was as simple as someone forgetting to lock it? But no luck.

The two sets of doors to the hall were both locked. While a door at the far back of the room led to a storage cabinet full of faux flowers, vases, candles, and other various center piece décor options. Would have been great if the trophies were just misplaced in this cabinet. I closed the cabinet and was at a loss for what else to look for. Guess it really was going to come down to the police. If they ever arrived.

This would not have been so hard if the hotel had cameras! Well, I was assuming they did not monitor the halls, and ballroom anyway. If they did, the coordinators would have already found the culprit. Instead, there I was sneaking through the side room looking for any sign of wrongdoing.

I took a deep breath to calm my stress and headed back to the door I came through.

Careful not to be seen, I slipped back out into the main room through the red curtain. Aubrey was distracting Linda, as I made my way over to her.

"What about them?" Aubrey pointed to a group of show participants.

"We are not considering anyone a suspect at this time," Linda said.

"Then why can't we leave?"

"We are preserving the scene for the authorities," Linda said.

"And when will they be here?" I asked, stepping behind Aubrey.

"We have spoken to them, and they are on their way," Linda said. I could see that the non-stop questioning was wearing her down.

"Leave it to dragons to cause this much drama," I transmitted to Azure as Aubrey and Linda had a stare down.

"Nothing this crazy has ever happened at this show," Azure transmitted. "And I will be the first to admit a cat show is nothing but drama in the first place."

"I guess that makes sense," Aubrey said.

"Such as you knowing you're getting first?" I transmitted.

"You're not funny," he transmitted.

"Good, as there is nothing funny about your ego," I transmitted back.

"I guess you don't want my help then?" Azure asked. "Not that I have a clue to offer up, but Butter is a drama llama. I had planned to recruit him. But if you're going to keep cracking jokes, I'll leave you to solve this alone."

"Don't be a tea-tart," I transmitted. "How about, if I solve this, I get to see you in your fluffy form at least once a month."

"Solve it and we'll talk."

Dang it. I had hoped threatening him with cat cuddles would be enough to distract him from his insistence that I solve this mystery. Guess it just showed how much he really wanted to win. I had not been paying attention to their conversation, consumed by my telepathic one with Azure, but Aubrey sighing brought me back to reality.

"Thank you for understanding," Linda said. "If you don't mind, I need to answer these other ladies' questions."

"Thank you for taking the time to speak with me," Aubrey said, and I could not be sure if she was being sarcastic.

She walked off, and it forced me to hurry to keep up.

"What did you learn?" I asked.

"That Linda is stuck up," Aubrey said. "Honestly, I think she did it."

"Really?" I asked. Squeezing past two groups that were practically touching, in an effort to keep pace with Aubrey.

"With the way she's acting? Yes." Aubrey crossed her arms while picking up her pace. "She didn't seem driven to find the real suspect, but she was adamant that no one leave. It seems like she knows who did it and is stalling."

That was an interesting development. If it was Linda, that would help the show, if only by creating a news story. Entertainment people always say, "There's no such thing as bad publicity." Maybe it would increase their turnout next year? I mean, if I read a news article about the trophy scandal, I would at least watch a video of the show. If for no other reason than morbid curiosity.

"I'm just not sure," I said.

"It was a dragon," Azure transmitted, reading my thoughts. "There's too much that points to one of them. Dragons are suckers for flair, and this screams flair."

I laughed inside my mind and transmitted it to him.

"Well," Aubrey said. "I don't have any evidence, but my gut says she knows more than she is letting on."

"She