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

"True . . ." Aubrey said slowly as if pondering the implications. "Yeah. I guess that would explain some of the attitude, but wouldn't she be more driven to find out who did it? She claims she's been working with the hotel staff all morning trying to locate them. But why didn't we see any of the ruckus in the lobby?"

"Maybe they are trying to keep it hushed? People are weird about scandals."

"Yeah, they are," she said, at the same time Azure transmitted his agreement.

CHAPTER THREE

Sunday, May 17th, 9:45 AM

After taking the long way back to offer Aubrey a chance to calm down and work through what she learned from Linda, we returned to our seats. Not a single group we passed had juicy gossip to overhear. I was slightly impressed at the culprits' ability to keep a secret.

With the tidbits I overheard throughout the weekend just by being in the shadows of the drama, it would have been on brand for a thief in this bunch to be bragging about their conquest.

Our tribe had moved a row of chairs into a semicircle facing the far back wall, while we were gone, and sat gathered in deep gossip. At the center of the group, the cats slept in a huddle. The life of a cat was something to admire. Though, dragons seemed to have it best of all.

We sat next to Skylar, who had prepared three chairs for us just within earshot of the tribe.

"Learn anything good?" I asked.

"Did you know," Skylar said, a tad overenthusiastically, mocking Tori, no doubt, "that Annabelle, owner of a British short-haired named Leo, just got a boob job?"

"The real question here might be, did I need to know that information?" I asked.

Skylar looked behind her, as if to make sure no one was listening and then continued in a whisper, "Maybe she stole the trophies to sell on the black market so she could pay off her medical bills. I don't think insurance covers plastic surgery."

Aubrey giggled beside me as I shrugged and responded, "Makes sense to me. Culprit found. Let's report it to Linda then storm the exit."

"If only," Aubrey said.

Silence fell between us, as I stretched in my chair. The tribe knew every tiny bean of information about the people that lived in the greater Marble Falls area, but a small cat show was too much for them to manage. Their ability to run a successful gossip mill was a bit disappointing.

"Hard to believe that they spent a whole weekend mingling with all the contestants, and have no clues to who stole the trophies," Aubrey said.

"Small town seems to be the extent of their gossip capabilities," Skylar said with an eye roll. "Once we're out of earshot, I'll fill you in on the rest but it's nothing that will break the case wide open."

"So, enlightening they are," I said with a deadpan expression.

"To say the least." Aubrey giggled beside me.

I regretted letting her in on the cat meetings. It was just a matter of time before the jokes started.

"What did you find?" Azure transmitted.

"It was a wash for us as well," I said aloud, while transmitting. "They took none of the money or other prizes. Only the three main trophies."

Skylar sighed.

"That's not nothing," Azure transmitted. "They meant to send a message, rather than acting out of a desire for financial gain."

Duh.

That was an excellent point. I should have realized myself. This was why working as a team was always best. Others could be the brains when mine was low on fuel.

As I repeated the revelation to the girls so they could ponder over it, I circled back to the desperate desire to tell Aubrey how I was getting help from my pet cat. After a life of processing every thought, or hardship with her by my side, it was impossible to come to terms with the biggest secret of my life without her insight. What were those BFF lockets as kids for, if not a promise to share when one of us found a dragon?

"One of the ladies over there was laughing about the theft." Aubrey pointed to a group of women near Linda, who were in fact another tribe.

"That's Isabel, leader of Tribe Borama, they cover the southwest region of Texas," Azure transmitted, splitting his attention between our conversation and that of our own tribe.

"Did you catch any of what they were saying?" I asked Aubrey.

"I overheard her say something about how the look of shock on her face was worth the hassle of waking up early," she said. "It's possible she was talking about something else, but I don't think so. The other ladies joined in on the laughing."

"Curious who 'her' refers to," Skylar said.

"Mmhm," Aubrey said. She might as well have been taking a sip of coffee with that knowing smile she gave us.

"Isabel has always been a drama queen," Azure transmitted. "Far beyond the usual dragon protector."

"Do you think she did it?" I transmitted.

"She's capable."

"What else did you see while I was back there?" I asked Aubrey.

"Nothing useful," she said. "I was trying to pump Linda for information. But she was more of a nuisance than a gossip."

I laughed, unable to control myself. Aubrey was so worked up over the show. She was more offended by the theft of the trophies than I was, and I had a disappointed dragon on my hands.

"Looks like you weren't the only one to not get enough coffee this morning." Aubrey pointed to a group of ladies under her arm, trying not to be obvious about it.

Seven women, all wearing scowls on their faces, stared at the doors blocked by Nathan. If I did not know better, I would have worried they were about to rush him and break out. But that was crazy talk. There was no way they could be so irresponsible as to bring attention to themselves. The lady in the