I recognized Cora, who was a neighboring shop owner, and Alice and Gertrude from the protests.
“Hi, Rosie!” Emmie greeted a fourth woman.
“Order.Order!” Gertrude banged a cat-shaped gavel, causing several cats to scurry.
“Oooh! A new member! Don’t worry,” Rosie purred to me. “We don’t bite. Except for David. He definitely snapped at a police officer the other day. Don’t worry. As the new person earlier this year, I’ll show you the ropes. You just stick with me, handsome.”
I turned back to the meeting. The weirdo cat-committee people were now in a shouting match about proper fees for adopting a cat.
“I can barely give away a cat,” Emmie was arguing. “We can’t charge for them. They’re stray animals!”
“That’s why you murdered your husband!” Gertrude thundered. “To drum up business for your café. You are using these poor innocent cats for your own financial gain.”
“Don’t,” Rosie whispered when I was about to interject. “They hate her.” She ran her hand up and down my arm. “Gertrude and Alice were talking about it earlier.”
Across the room, Emmie glared at me.
I smirked at her.
But my mind was racing.
Could it be that Emmie had been the real target all along, not Brooks? If so, she could be in danger.
“When you said ‘widow’”—therewas a twitch of a smile on Grayson’s mouth—“I was thinking, you know, a widow. Not…”
Not Emmie with her too-tight sweaters, the apron that hugged her curves, and literal rosy cheeks.
“She looks like she should be on a Christmas card, greeting you with a homemade dinner and a baby on her hip.” My friend and boss had just come into town with his girlfriend. Lexi was shopping. He was there under duress.
His two Dalmatians wagged their tails furiously as I petted their big sleek heads.
I buttoned up my coat and let the door shut behind me.
“Isn’t that the cat girl who nerfed her cheating husband?” A group of excited teenagers stopped in front of the café, and I opened the door for them.
“Everyone’s talking about it.” I sighed.
“You’re her lawyer.” Grayson raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean, ‘everyone’?”
I grimaced.
“Rookie mistake, letting the publicity go wild,” I admitted. “Though it shouldn’t be that big of a deal.”
“The tabloids got ahold of it. She has means, motive, and opportunity. It’s all over the internet, or so Lexi tells me,” Grayson unhelpfully reminded me.
“You didn’t want to spend time shopping with her?”
“Lexi says she didn’t want to ruin my surprise Christmas present,” he said dryly.
“I hope it’s something noisy and colorful.” I smirked as we headed into the lively Christmas market.
Everyone was capitalizing on the cupcake murder. Murder-related merchandise was everywhere. The food stalls even had murder-themed offerings.
I didn’t live in Harrogate, but I was sure it wasn’t normally this busy on a weekday. The cupcake murders had attracted a crowd. People were standing around, speculating about whether Emmie had done it.
“What do you think?” Grayson asked.
“It doesn’t matter; she claims she’s innocent, and as her lawyer, that’s what I have to go with.”
