Page 27 of Three Meows

“And you would be right with that guess. He handles us both so easily I live in fear of that brain of his.” Chester shuddered. “I’m pretty sure if he would enact one of the murders from his books, he would get away with them.”

“Don’t be stupid, Elijah would never,” I boinked him on the head with my pencil.

He rubbed his head and looked contrite.

“Yeah, you are right. He is too…”

“…he wouldn’t kill anyone himself when he can use Rowan to do it,” I finished my thought with a shit-eating grin.

“Hedoeshave those assassin vibes, right?!” Chester said. “Like, snkth, you are dead! Sneak attack!”

“On the other hand, he is a bit too suspicious… it’s best when the least obvious person does the crime,” I mused.

“So, it has to be you,” Chester nodded like we had an understanding and, no, we didn’t.

“Excuse you? It should be you, with your baby face and those innocent blue eyes.”

Somehow, our date turned into a heated discussion about which one of us should be a murderer.

I had a blast.

After the creak, I dragged Chester to a picturesque forest, then a hill with a sole tree on it, and last but not least, a pick-your-own apple farm.

We snacked on the apples fresh from the trees and the picnic food we brought with us. The owner allowed us to stay there for hours so we made the most of it, having fun in the sun and drawing to our hearts’ content. Chester was bound to draw the landscapes, but I had no such obligations so I sketched the apples, a cat that observed us from a distance but didn’t come closer, probably sensing weird vibes from the cat shifter, the trees, an imagined dragon… And Chester. There were, admittedly, quite a few sketches of him scattered over the pagesof my sketchbook. A graphite rendition of his slender hands holding a pen, a bold curve of his smile drawn with a pen, a stylized chibi with a speech bubble full of the funniest things he said during our outing.

By the time the sun started to inch over the horizon and the temperature dropped sharply, I was full of apples and feelings for a stupidly endearing redhead.

I considered the date a success, and the small genuine smile on Chester’s face solidified my verdict.

Chapter Fifteen

As I worked on digital drawings for my classes, I kept an eye on Elijah. He had a tell. A particular expression, a satisfied uptick of his mouth and stretching his hands over his head meant that he reached his self-appointed quota of written words for the day. That meant I could bother him now. Good, just in time. We had places to be in an hour.

“We have a new case, dear Watson,” I said in a low voice as I placed my hand on his shoulder.

“What is it, Sherlock?” Elijah played along, his eyes sparkling.

“Now, now, everything will be revealed in time. Chop-chop, get ready and let’s mosey!”

Intrigued, Elijah followed my lead and prepared himself for an outing.

To give him credit, the author lasted almost the whole ride before he asked.

“Is this a date?”

Seeing we were nearly there, I kept him in suspense while I parked the car. Only when we got out of the car did I throw out a dramatic hand towards the building.

“A date with crime!”

Inside, we were greeted warmly and ushered towards the room without even waiting for our time slot. When the door closed behind us, Elijah looked at the room with its Victorian-style furniture and old objects strewn everywhere.

“You brought me to an escape room for our date?” Elijah asked, his eyes wide.

“It’s one way to prevent you from running off,” I smirked. “Now you are stuck with me here for the next hour.”

“An escape room,” Elijah repeated disbelievingly, his eyes sparkling. “For that you can keep being Sherlock.”

“So magnanimous of you.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “Now, Watson, the game is afoot! Let’s get to work.”

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