Молли Фитц - Hoppy Holiday Homicide

“I don’t know anything,” Mr. Milton answered, assuming I’d been talking to him. How could I have forgotten he was here? I needed to be more careful with my secret, no matter how much I was worried about my cousin in that moment.

“Of course I don’t know that,” Octo-Cat answered with an exasperated groan. “But I think I know something else that might help.” He paused again for emphasis, the way he so often liked to do when he was building the drama of the scene.

My cat’s love of theatrics would be the end of me one day. Quite literally. I’d probably have a heart attack while waiting out one of his dramatic pauses.

“Well?” I demanded, unable to take it anymore as I moved my hands to my hips. I shifted my eyes from the cat to Nan, pretending she was the target of my ire so that I’d at least have a cover in front of Mr. Milton.

Ugh. Why had she brought him along?

“Yeesh. So impatient.” My cat stopped again and stared at me, challenging me to push him again.

I bit my tongue and waited him out while Nan filled the silence to keep up our charade.

After several moments, Octo-Cat seemed appeased and blinked his eyes slowly before continuing. “Even though you’re being a bit rude, I’ll tell you what I know. You know how all humans look the same? You and Mags look even more the same than most.”

Even though I was pretty sure I knew what he was getting at, I asked for clarification, anyway. “What do you mean?”

Nan gave an answer, but my ears were focused firmly on Octo-Cat.

He shook his head, flicked his tail, and sighed yet again. “I mean whoever took Mags probably meant to take you instead. Think about it, and you’ll see that I’m right. As usual.”

Chapter Eight

The moment Octo-Cat spoke those words, I knew they were true. Mags didn’t know anyone in Blueberry Bay besides my family and me.

No one had any reason to take her.

True, she had no friends here, but also no enemies.

Me, on the other hand… Well, let’s just say I’d ruffled more than a few feathers during the course of my investigations. But was that enough for someone to want to kidnap me?

Rather than continue to puzzle over this myself, I decided to ask Nan. Even though I already knew I believed in Octo-Cat’s theory, I still had a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that someone had meant me harm.

“Do you think the people who took Mags meant to take me instead? Everyone is always saying how similar we look, and well, maybe…” I let my voice trail off.

She bit her lip and nodded. “It would seem that way, wouldn’t it?” she asked, shaking her head now.

Mr. Milton wrapped an arm around Nan’s shoulders and pulled her tight into his side. The familiarity of this gesture made my stomach turn over.

“Who would want to take her—or you—so badly that they’d risk doing it in the middle of a crowded festival?” he asked, his eyes boring into mine.

Although that was an appropriate question, it still rankled me. I wished Nan would ask Mr. Milton to go away and leave the investigation to us.

He was also wrong. The streets had begun to fill out a bit more as the morning wore on, but we still didn’t have anything near a crowd, especially in the mostly empty area that housed the ice sculpture garden outside of the main action.

Scanning the streets, I did a quick count and noticed four people in the nearby vicinity. If they’d seen what happened with the van, they certainly weren’t letting on. Those who had witnessed my frantic run had already departed, more than likely not realizing how serious matters had become.

Nan remained cuddled up against Mr. Milton, although the lovey-dovey look she’d had in her eyes earlier had long since flown the coop.

“It wouldn’t be that hard to sneak in and out with a plan,” she pointed out. “People will be coming and going all day, there’s parking in at least half a dozen different places, and many vendors are bringing their vans and SUVs in to load and unload. So, you see, it would be relatively easy to take her. Easier than it normally would be, at least.”

“We’re going with my theory, then. Right?” Octo-Cat asked impatiently. “Because I’m right about this, just like I’m right about most things. Really, you need to start listening a bit quicker.”

I nodded in response. While I also hated to waste time discussing already established points, I also couldn’t trust everything he said at face value. Not only was he often crabby and sarcastic, but some of his ideas were a bit too influenced by the melodramatic TV shows he liked watching before and after his morning and afternoon naps.

Octo-Cat sniffed the cold air above his head. “Are you answering me or simply humoring me? It’s so much harder when you’re not talking to me. Are we proceeding with the assumption that you were the target instead of Mags?”

“Yes,” I hissed partially under my breath. It’s like he didn’t care about keeping my secret at all.

“What was that?” Mr. Milton asked with a furrowed brow and a quizzical expression.

“Oh, uh, just talking to myself,” I stuttered as heat flushed my cheeks. “What I meant was yes, Nan’s absolutely right. Anyone could have taken her, and the longer we wait to go after her, the harder it will be to find her. We need to do something, and we need to do it now.”

Nan wriggled free of his arm. “Yes, yes, we need to go after her.”

“But she could be anywhere,” Mr. Milton said with a sigh. “Someone dangerous could have her. We could be walking into a situation that we might not walk out of.”

I glowered at him, hating that he had any say in this at all.

“It’s what family does,” I said. “It’s what good people do. They show up. They help each other.”

“Especially at Christmastime,” Nan added, making a tsking noise as she shook her head dolefully. “It’s what we’re going to do.”

“Yeah, and if you’re not up for it, we can handle this ourselves,” I added, hoping that he would take the bait and make a run for it.

He cleared his throat and fixed his eyes on me with a bit of a grimace. “Well, I can’t leave you two lovely ladies on your own, especially when the situation could be dangerous.”

I shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

Then I turned toward Nan, intentionally facing away from Mr. Milton. “The first thing we need to do is call Mom and Dad and make sure they know what’s going on. We’ll need everybody working hard to find Mags—and let’s not forget, the ice sculpture murderer.”

“What a Holiday Spectacular this is turning out to be,” Nan pointed out grimly.

She turned to the side and faced Mr. Milton. “Would you please give us a moment, dear?” she asked with a slight smile.

“Oh yes. Oh yes, of course. I’ll just go get us some latkes. They looked good, and perhaps a hot snack is just what we all need now.” He stumbled away, clearly sore about Nan’s dismissal, but I was happy she’d done it and hoped she planned to avoid him during the rest of our search as well.

Her eyes flashed as she turned them on me, speaking quietly and quickly. “I’ll take care of the call to your folks,” she said. “You see what the animals know.”

“Already on it,” I said, nodding just once before scooping both animals up in my arms to Paisley’s delight and Octo-Cat’s disdain.

“Listen up, guys,” I said. “There are people down the block, so I can’t be too loud, and if anyone comes close, I might have to quiet up mid-sentence. Okay? Let’s chat. Did you hear anything? Or see anything? Or smell anything that can help us find out what happened to Mags?”

Octo-Cat shifted into a more comfortable position but still seemed put off by being clutched to my chest beside the wagging ball of Paisley. “They do this to cats all the time, you know. Come in vans, take us away, put us in the pound. I’ve never had to deal with such indignities, obviously, but nobody calls for reinforcements when it happens to us.”