Brookstone mysteries-Porch pirate case solved

  

   Laura stopped into Beaver meadows garden center and talked to Mrs. Beaver and the staff. She found out that all of the poinsettias that had not already sold were stolen well before Christmas and all the other greenhouses in the area report the same thing. Mrs. B had no idea why or what the motive could be as she had not heard of them being resold anywhere near by. Mrs. Beaver (Betty) stated that she had just given up on the Holiday plants and was tending to the Spring seedlings. 

Laura moved on to talk to a group of pack rats hanging out on the corner, to her surprise they were very chatty and polite. They were listening to the local radio station and laughing up a storm. They offered to show Laura their stash of goods. Laura followed them to a shed behind a pub and they proudly presented a treasure trove of goods none of which were on the list of missing items from the porch pirate thefts. They had a large pile of shiny bottle caps which they bragged came from the dumpster right by the pub, several chicken bones and various pieces of wood. Laura thanked them as she left and crossed them off her list of suspects. As she walked away she heard the radio turned back up and tuned to KPAW7 as the DJ's laughed and announced "all feral all the time".

As she drove to her next stop she tuned into KPAW7 and listened as the the DJ's talked about a cat getting kicked out of the casino after losing everything. Apparently this cat and his family were well known, Boston Baby Shark had just moved into town a few weeks ago his wife was known as Mac the Butter Knife or (Macaroni) as she had once stabbed Boston with a butter knife after he lost all the rent money gambling. They had one kitten and they were all outside the casino right now trying to hustle gas money to get home. Laura made a turn around and headed to the casino on a hunch.

  Boston baby shark's dad sent his girlfriend Talia Tail Chaser to pick the the three cats up and Laura got there just in time to stop them for questioning. She checked her data base and got info on the cats in question. Macaroni did in fact have a history of butter- knifing Boston Baby Shark but did community service and was restricted to home until they left Boston and moved here, Boston Baby Shark had a reputation as a gambler who consistently lost and both were known for being high on cat nip 24-7, the kitten Olga  was caught and let go because of her age several times for porch pirate activity. Neither parent worked and they had Olga steal packages off porches and resold the items for gambling and nip money. Talia tail chaser was a little piece of work herself and said she was in charge of the three until her boyfriend ( baby sharks dad ) got back from driving over the road. Laura took all of them back to her office. 

After questioning all of them and contacting Charlie at the station they were all fitted with paw monitors and to be released to Talia tail chaser's care. Laura told Talia that they would be given community service assignments and to start looking for jobs and reputable kitten care. Laura and Charlie would be checking in weekly and monitoring nip use. Both Macaroni and Boston baby shark admitted to sending baby Olga to steal packages and then selling the merchandise. And that wrapped up the porch pirate case except for paying restitution to the victims.
 

Victor makes a few visits

 

Brookstone mysteries - Anubis gets wind of Laura

  The leader of the Anubis Associates, Rex gets wind of Laura snooping around and he isn't happy. He lets the group know he wants her watched. " I want weekly reports on her comings and goings. He tells the Jackal enforcers to send the pack rats, and make it worth their time. Make sure that bunch of Bozo's knows to be discreet. None of that car rolling. Rex barks orders at the group" Get me an appointment with the mayor,check in with Barbara make sure her mouth stays shut, and find Victor! 

Brookstone Mysteries- suspects and interviews

 Laura went out early in the morning to talk to some of the local trash raccoons, a rough and rowdy  bunch but not really good candidates for being porch pirates or the green house break-ins. They told her the boss paid them well and they had veterinarian  benefits too. They also informed her that they didn't need to steal off porches for anything because they found half eaten pizzas and other great stuff all the time and it was free for the taking. They laughed and gave each other high five's while they worked and ate pizza.

Next she went to a few local businesses and talked to a grey and black tabby with exceptionally good manners who seemed an unlikely culprit even though she was on Charlie's list of potential suspects. The Tabby's name was Felicia Cat and seemed very offended to even be questioned. Barbara Bunny recently had a fight with the kitchen manager who threatened to fire her, but that seemed to be smoothed over by now. Barbara was accused endlessly of eating the salads right off the customers plates and excessive farting on the job. She argued that  she didn't fart anymore than that slobbering old dog (the kitchen manager). Laura made some notes and put Barbara on her watch list, not for the farting but because she understood that she had over 20 bunnies just in the last year and possibly needed the Christmas gifts as they were all still living at home. Barbara stated defensively that she was to young to be spayed. Laura didn't argue just listened and took mental notes. Barbara had a good alibi for the time of all the porch pirate thefts as she worked full time and even some overtime during the holidays. Her boss (the slobbering dog) verified this and also said she was not the stealing type and all the cooks took a bite off plates here and there he was just sick of her farting little bunny butt.

She stopped into a few local bars in the Square which were all lively and full because of the holidays and heard a little useful gossip about The Anubis Associates being in town and maybe setting up shop but no idea where. By 4 in the afternoon the trash raccoons filed in and started drinking. Laura made her way over to one of the tables and sat with them. They were a fun group and she found out that the rumor was That some of the Anubis group had been hanging around the dumpsters and attempting to extort the trash raccoons, the raccoons said no way and told the boss. That's all they knew about that. Laura would check in with Charlie and see if he had any reports from the owners of the trash companies.

Garbage was a big business in Brookstone and there were several companies to check with. 

The pack rats were a likely candidate as they were a very organized group and their caroling scam work on a lot of people.

 

Trouble in the Kitchen