Vanished in Cherry Hills (Cozy Cat Caper Mystery Book 4) Read Online Free PDF

soaring with hope. If something in here led her to Maybelle Harper she would be eternally grateful.
    Careful not to disturb the tabby, she set the folder on the empty couch cushion next to her and flipped the top open. The newspaper clippings inside were yellowed with age but still in good shape. She studied the top one, a half-page article dated June 28, 1985. It was a review of a restaurant called Country Eats that had opened that winter down in Estacada, Oregon.
    Mrs. Polanski reseated herself. “Every now and then something in the news catches my attention. What you’re holding there are some of the things that captured my fancy around the time your mama left town.”
    Kat riffled through the pages. The folder included everything from opinion pieces on the best places to live in the Pacific Northwest to obituaries of people who had died thirty years ago.
    “I miss the days when every place had a paper,” Mrs. Polanski said. “The Cherry Hills Courant was my favorite, though I read the big publications from Seattle and Spokane too.” She smiled. “Maybe my collection will help you on your quest.”
    Kat closed the folder, pushing aside her disappointment. Unless she wanted to know where to find the best prime rib dinner in rural Oregon, she wasn’t sure how these articles would help. Still, she appreciated Mrs. Polanski’s willingness to assist. “Thank you.”
    Kat darted a look at Helen, who had taken out what looked to be a half-finished scarf patterned in Christmas colors. The knitting needles in her hands clicked together at a steady pace. She seemed oblivious to the two cats batting at the yarn as it unraveled.
    Kat turned back to Mrs. Polanski. “Maybe you could tell me a little bit about my mother. Did you know her?”
    Mrs. Polanski brightened. “Oh, yes. Maybelle was a sweet woman. Had a smile that could make a man fall instantly in love and a laugh warm enough to melt steel.”
    An ache blossomed in Kat’s chest. She wished she remembered that.
    “Of course, she had her own share of problems,” Mrs. Polanski continued. “She didn’t always hang with the best crowds or make good decisions, mind you, but she had a heart of pure gold.”
    Kat swallowed hard. “You’re referring to the bank she’s accused of holding up?”
    The whole room seemed to freeze. Mrs. Polanski’s wide eyes stared unblinkingly, and Helen’s knitting needles came to a standstill. The two cats swatting at the yarn dropped their paws to the floor and stood like statues. Even the tabby in Kat’s lap stopped purring.
    Mrs. Polanski was the first to move. She reached down and picked up an all-black cat resting underneath the coffee table. She set him in her lap and scratched his ears for a moment before saying, “Actually, I was referring to Maybelle’s drug addiction.”
    Kat frowned. “Oh. I guess I have the robbery on my brain, since I just learned about it.”
    Mrs. Polanski patted Kat’s elbow. “You were too young to remember. By the time you got to the point where you were toddling about town on your own, there were bigger and better things to talk about.”
    “The stock market crash,” Helen piped up.
    “Oh, yes, Black Monday.” Mrs. Polanski shook her head. “Didn’t really affect Helen and me. We weren’t into stocks. But you should have heard some of the other folks in town discussing how much money they lost.”
    “When was this?”
    “A couple years later,” Mrs. Polanski said. “October ’87.”
    Kat’s brain churned. Assuming her mother wasn’t guilty, she couldn’t help but wonder if the person who had robbed that bank might have invested their loot only to lose it all two years later.
    “Who was affected by the crash?” she asked.
    “Oh, anybody with investments.” Mrs. Polanski grinned ruefully. “Even I lost a bit, although we really only dabbled in the market.”
    “What about single women?” Kat said, shifting as the tabby began grooming himself. “Were any of them hit