Vanilla

Darien, Connecticut - A Very Nice Coffee Shop

We are waiting for Petra Schultz in a coffee shop in a very ritzy part of Connecticut.  Petra, another career teacher, took the day off when she understood the gravity of the situation—Wally from the F.B.I. let us know that he was about ten minutes away. 

I have been teaching my dog Tango the art of going undercover, so I wedged him into his "service animal" vest to bring him into the coffee shop.

Just so you know, Eve does not think this is funny, legal, or cute. She will most likely stay angry with me for a day or two. When we walked in, Eve said, "I want to see you have a debilitating meltdown in the coffee shop to legitimize this behavior."

I have to say Tango looks excellent in his service animal vest, which has upped his cred as an undercover crime fighter since he lost a few pounds. 

While waiting for Petra and Wally, Eve gives this coffee shop a professional critique. The claws are out. "The mugs look like they fell off the Temu truck." "Look how thin the cutlery is." "The muffin was frozen once, you can tell." "Look at the prices, Allston. I must be charging too little."

I thought the coffee was good.

I had just taken another sip when a woman came through the front door, looking like she was looking for someone.

"Petra?" I asked.

The woman smiled and walked between tables to sit with Eve and I. Her hair is white, and she smells like vanilla.

Tango started to thump his tail on the floor slowly.

"We are waiting for one more person; he should be here in a minute."

"I'm scared, Mr. Allston, Miss Crowder," she said.

"I knew Casey and Kim, and I know Hannah," Petra said,

The waitress came over, and Petra ordered a coffee with a shot of Bailey's and whipped cream. The waitress was amused that someone was kicking off the day so early. Her face lit up, and she smirked but went along with it all.

"This is all very scary, Mr. Allston, very scary."

Eve reached across the table and touched Petra's hand. "It's good that we are here, and a man from the F.B.I. will be here in a minute."

"Everything will be explained," Eve said.

"How many people live in your house on Bower's Lane?"

"It's just Charlie and me, but he's in France right now, which makes this scary." "I called him and asked him to come home, but as usual, he thinks I'm acting all crazy."

At that, she took a large sip of her coffee and looked up with a whipped cream mustache on her upper lip. Her blue eyes were bloodshot and wide, and she looked, in my professional opinion... crazy.

Nothing has been released about Hannah being dead, so I don't want to light the fuse on this bomb in the coffee shop. I thought intercepting Wally and conversing before we start would be a good idea.

"Eve, Petra, please excuse me for a minute?" "Tango has his legs crossed, he's gotta go."

We walked outside and sat at a table on the little patio. Tango took care of business, and my mind started looking down at this situation.

It was a sunny and cool morning. I thought of Hannah and the fight she had in her.

I could see Wally pull up and get out of his truck—typical F.B.I. uniform with a starched white shirt and a red and blue tie.

I saw a spill on his shirt that looked like coffee as he approached.  "Iced or hot?" I asked

"Iced or hot what?" Wally asked

 "The coffee on your shirt."

Wally looked down and issued a few choice words.

"I want to tell you what's going on before we go in and speak with who we think is the fifth target."

"All four of the victims and the woman sitting with Eve all went to the same college. I'm sure the F.B.I. has figured that out by now."

"Eve and I went through the yearbooks at the college library, and we found a dormitory photo of all five girls in one shot." "They lived in the same dorm and knew each other."

"This clown left a cassette tape with the same five songs at each victim's house." 

"We think one song per victim for whatever reason."

"The woman inside the coffee shop is a little spooked by it all, but she does not know that Hannah is now dead," I said

"We hope to determine if she knows who is doing this."

"About Petra, that's her name, Petra; she seems a little Planet Pluto.  I'm unsure if the situation is dragging her down or if this is just how she is?"

"I expect a lot of Academy Award Drama when she learns that a fourth friend of hers just died last night."

"Wally laughed and said, "I have seen the type." "I'm banging an actress that has Emmys."

"Different sort of crazy Wally."

"You'll see." 

"Getting her to her house for a security check and then questioning her there would be better."

"Let's get it done," Wally said. 

We stood up and walked into the coffee shop.