Death of a Dapper Snowman

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Authors: Angela Pepper
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on a hot blueberry pancake. I gave the dark pads of his paw a kiss and then turned to finish paying the bill and get the after-care instructions from the assistant.
    I thanked the girl, then left with the pet carrier and got us both loaded into my cold car.
    I stared the engine just as Jeffrey let out the most pitiful meow.
    “I know, Jeffrey. I know it’s cold. Hang on. Give the heaters a minute.”
    He tried to stand up inside the pet carrier, but his legs were wobbly from the surgery and he flopped down right away. I popped open the hatch on top of the carrier and gave him some pats on the head. He started purring immediately, and bunting his head against my palm.
    “Good drugs?”
    He didn’t seem concerned about the tiny stitches on his private area, but I did have a cone to put around his head in case he did start pulling at them.
    As I drove toward my father’s house, I kept one hand on the steering wheel and one hand in the cage, rubbing his head and chin.
    “You’re such a good boy. And now that you’ve had your little snip-snip, we don’t have to worry about any kittens showing up on the doorstep asking for money, now, do we?”
    Jeffrey grabbed my thumb in his mouth and gave me a love bite. It wasn’t painful at all. In fact, he seemed to be half asleep.
    “Do you think that’s what happened to Mr. Michaels? Some long-lost kid showed up and started shaking him down for cash?”
    Jeffrey agreed with me by gnawing on my thumb.
    “But why kill him?” I asked. “And don’t say for the inheritance, because you and I both know it takes ages for wills to get changed, and if the person dies under suspicious circumstances, it’s pretty obvious who the suspect is.”
    Jeffrey released my thumb and started licking it in apology. In front of the car, a squirrel darted across the street. I hit the brakes hard and slid to a stop on the snowy street. The squirrel was long gone.
    I laughed and gently chided Jeffrey for distracting me from driving.
    We got to my father’s street, and I looped around so I could park in the back lane and enter through the back door. I wouldn’t usually park back there, but I hoped to avoid any crime scene investigation activity.
    Unfortunately, there were two people taking photos and surveying the victim’s back yard and garage.

Chapter 10
 
    I got out of my car and left Jeffrey’s pet carrier in the passenger seat so I could grab the snowman’s top hat I’d accidentally removed from the crime scene that morning.
    I brought the hat over to the fence and held it out for the crime scene investigators.
    “This was on the snowman,” I said, then explained how I’d walked away that morning without realizing I had the hat on.
    The male crime scene investigator snatched the dapper top hat from my hands and whisked it into a plastic bag while muttering about the broken chain of custody.
    “The hat is from a local costume shop,” I said. “Did you know Mr. Michaels had a hobby? Shoplifting. He stole that hat. I was telling Officer Milano all about it earlier today. Did you find any stolen jewelry inside his home?”
    “Ma’am, this is a crime scene.” The investigator looked up at the sky, which was turning midnight blue already. “Leave the investigation to the professionals.”
    “I’m just trying to be helpful. I asked around downtown today, and it sounds like he mostly stole small things. A pack of gum, or shoelaces. That doesn’t seem like a motive for murder, but perhaps if he hit Ruby’s Treasure Trove?”
    The investigator gave me a look of suspicion. “Who are you again? Are you the idiot who stomped all over the crime scene?” He leaned over the fence and looked at my boots. “Yes, those appear to be the same little boots that crushed away valuable evidence. Are those children’s boots? You have small feet.”
    “These are women’s boots,” I said with a huff. “And don’t call me an idiot. I didn’t know the snowman was a crime scene.” I pointed to

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