Miss Frost Solves A Cold Case: A Nocturne Falls Mystery (Jayne Frost Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

speckled with mold.
    How long had this poor cat been in here by himself?
    Spider looked up from his water dish and meowed. He was still hungry. I glanced at a stack of mail on the counter and checked the name. Bertie Springle. The last employee to quit. Poor cat. Unless whoever lived here was holding Bertie’s mail, Spider’s owner wasn’t ever coming back.
    I took a quick stroll through the apartment. Other than the dust and staleness, it looked like someone had just stepped out.
    Weird.
    Twenty minutes later, Spider, his bowls, his toys, his bed, his litter box, and the bag of dry food I’d found were in my apartment and I was back on the globe with my dad.
    “What’s up? Find out something already?”
    “Sort of. Can you confirm that Bertie Springle was in apartment 2C? His dossier doesn’t list that info.”
    “I have that file in my office. Give me a moment.”
    I waited, watching parts of the house go by as he carried the globe into his office. He set the globe at the front of his desk, found the file, and flipped through it.
    He looked up. “Yep. Bertie Springle. 2C.”
    “The last one to go missing. How long ago did he disappear?”
    My father glanced at the file again. “Five days.”
    “Wow.” Spider was in the kitchen, still chowing down. My heart twanged at the thought of him all alone in that apartment with nothing to eat. “No wonder his poor cat was so hungry.”
    “What?”
    I explained to my dad about Spider and the apartment. “I’ll keep him in case Bertie shows up, but don’t you think it’s odd that he’d leave his pet behind if he was just changing jobs? Actually, it’s odd anyone would leave a pet behind for any reason.”
    “Very.” My dad’s brows pulled together. “Anything else odd?”
    “There’s a lot of stuff still in that apartment. Clothes, mail, personal stuff. That’s all strange to me. No one moves without taking their things.”
    He nodded. “Not generally, no.”
    “Did anyone else leave their possessions behind?”
    “We don’t have any records on that, just who quit, when, and the note they left.”
    “Any chance the notes are forged?”
    “No. We had the handwriting matched to samples in their files.”
    “So much for that idea.” I sighed. “It’s weird. Almost like…I don’t know, he left without knowing he was going to leave.” Except for the note.
    “That doesn’t sound good.” He frowned. “Be careful, Jay.”
    “I won’t do anything stupid, Dad.”
    “I’m not worried about what you might do so much as what whoever’s behind this might do once you start poking around.”
    “I’ll stay in touch. And watch my back.”
    He smiled a little reluctantly. “Do you remember any of those self-defense lessons?”
    “Some.” I’d taken the class only because my mother had thought it was a good idea before I went off to college. “But I’m not going to need them.” I wouldn’t. My magical powers packed a much bigger punch.
    “I hope not. Don’t be afraid to use the full extent of your magic if need be.”
    “I won’t. Talk to you soon.” I pushed the button on the back of the globe and ended the conversation. I’d been here for only a few hours. I wasn’t ready to get called home just yet because my dad thought I was in danger.
    I sat back on the couch and put my feet on the coffee table. This place was nicer than my North Pole digs. (No, I didn’t live in the palace. I’m a grown woman. I have my own place.) And Nocturne Falls was considerably warmer.
    Spider walked over, jumped onto the cushion next to me and settled in to clean himself.
    The poor, sad baby. He must have been freaked out being alone so long. “Get enough to eat, little one?”
    He stuck one leg into the air and licked the back of his thigh.
    “Show-off.” I scratched his head. He stopped licking long enough to lean in and enjoy the attention. “Bad news, Spider. Bertie’s most likely not coming back. Good news is, you’re welcome to stay with me as