Free Alibis and Amethysts by Sharon Pape

Fortunately, the sun
     hadn’t yet risen, and there was no one about to see the animal as she let it outside.
     Only after it scampered off did it occur to Jaye that it might not come back. And
     she still didn’t have a photo of it. But what had her options been? She didn’t happen
     to keep a collar and leash lying around in case a dog wandered by one day and adopted
     her. Besides, if the not-a-cat was a wild animal, it might take exception to having
     a noose around its neck and its freedom abridged.
    She stayed by the window, keeping watch for the animal’s return. After forty minutes
     passed without any sign of it, she finally talked herself into accepting that the
     not-a-cat had gone off in search of greener pastures or a better-stocked fridge. Given
     the slim pickings at her place, she could hardly blame it. In any case, it was probably
     for the best. She already worked a seven-day week and needed to spend all of her free
     time trying to figure out who killed Peggy. She didn’t have a spare minute for a conventional
     pet, much less for this strange creature. She went back upstairs, trying to decide
     if she could fall back asleep for another hour or if she should just give up and make
     some strong coffee. She was leaning toward the sleep option until she walked into
     her bedroom. There, flattening itself to squeeze under the partially open window,
     was the not-a-cat. The animal must have climbed the fir tree at the side of the building
     and then jumped from the tree to the narrow ledge outside the window before wriggling
     its way inside. The space between the windowsill and the sash was four inches max,
     yet the animal didn’t appear to be having any trouble negotiating it. Talk about a
     unique set of joints!
    Jaye knew she should probably be dismayed that the creature had returned. One less
     problem to worry about wouldn’t have been a bad thing. Yet there was no sense denying
     she was glad to see it again. In fact, she felt a bubbly bit of pride that the animal
     liked and trusted her well enough to come back. A few seconds later that pride was
     stomped to pieces by the cold, hard fact that she had absolutely no idea what to do
     with the creature. She needed help.

Chapter 8
    Sierra made it from her house to the crystal shop in record time. Jaye, who’d thrown
     on slacks and a blouse, was waiting for her in the shop. She’d locked the upstairs
     windows and the door between the apartment and the stairway to keep the not-a-cat
     from disappearing before Sierra arrived. Her friend had enough on her mind without
     having to worry that Jaye was headed for an early retirement in a padded cell.
    Sierra turned off the engine, jumped out of the car and flew across the parking lot,
     her curly hair billowing wildly around her.
    “I called Daniel and asked him to come too,” she said as she swept inside and caught
     Jaye up in a hug. “He’s lived all his life around here, so I thought he might be able
     to help us figure out what kind of animal you found.”
    “That found
me.
” The distinction was important to Jaye. She hadn’t brought more chaos into their
     already crazy lives; it had been thrust upon her. “Where’s Frosty?” She’d been worried
     about how he and the not-a-cat would hit it off.
    “I dropped him at day care early, so I’ll be able to go straight to work from here.”
    “Dee must have been thrilled.”
    Sierra shrugged. “I told her it was an emergency and didn’t give her time to ask questions.”
    “You’ll have to come up with some answers before you go back there tonight,” Jaye
     pointed out.
    “Give me a sec—okay, I’ve got it. We thought you had appendicitis, but it turned out
     to be a bad case of gas.”
    Jaye groaned. “What about something along the lines of a virus?”
    Before Sierra could answer, another set of headlights swung into the parking lot,
     signaling Daniel’s arrival. Jaye was nearly bowled over by the realization that she
     had