A mystery in St. Louis (a Lackadaisy fanfic)

Mysterious Felines Pt. 2

"Strange you'd think we would have heard about them before huh Frecks?" Rocky said to his cousin.

"They usually tend to hang around successful speakeasies and pimps usually end up missing if they try to enroll one of them."

Freckle flinched at what Bluebeard said revealing that he knew about them. Rocky continued talking, "Well I don't know about Freckle but Zib has probably encountered one when-"

"Rocky for god's sake please hush!" The orange cat implored the tan tabby before turning to the old dick. "How long have you known?"

"Since I saw you with the Pepper girl. Her old man was an informant of mine on a case, so I make sure to keep tabs on his daughter and give him peace of mind," he explained, seeing the nervous look on the boy, "Now don't get your whiskers in a knot kid I'm not going to turn you over to the fuzz and have them raid the place."

"You're not?" Freckle whispered.

"Nope. As far as I'm concerned when Atlas passed, any heat on his involve meant with bootlegging diverted over to his buddy Asa Sweet," Announced Bluebeard, "The only headache is finding a way to pin it on him. Plus you boys seem decent enough if you managed to have two smart fillies hanging around you."

"Well, Freckle is still timid around Miss Pepper despite having kissed her before. Fran and I-"

"Rocky! I think we should focus more on the case that Francis sent us up to discuss though I wish she was here right now."

"Me too," Bluebeard added.

"Aw, I'm touched," Francis' voice intruded, the trio turned and saw her in her waitress uniform, smiling at them while sitting on the bed. "Though I thought one of you would at least try to focus on the case," she directed to Bluebeard. "and not our autobiographies."

"What can I say I love a good love story?" Bluebeard remarked.

Francis rolled her eyes, "First thing first: Did you talk to Joker yet?"

"No but he's probably at home, rehearsing for his next Bible class," Bluebeard said.

"So we should head over to the church," Rocky said holding up his keys.

"Joker doesn't live at the church anymore after his last check-up he moved in with his kids," Bluebeard noted.

"Where would they live then?"

"A couple of blocks from here. His kid runs a shop that sells china, porcelain, and hand-blown glassware."

"Why do you need to speak with Joker?" Freckle asked handing Rocky his hat.

"Remember what Jesaja told us," Francis said. "Joker is deep, and I mean very deep in this. But the main question is whether we can pin it on him or not."

"Not to mention Joker had a connection to both Solitere and Felicity," Rocky pointed out. "Even if it turns out he isn't the murderer I bet my hat that he'll lead us to him."

"Well, first I want to talk to Pascal again, Freckle since you're here maybe you can accompany Bluebeard when he gets Joker," Francis asked her friend.

"Sure Francis but what about your shift?" The McMurry boy asked.

"I won't be needed until tonight so we have plenty of time to compare notes with Pascal and interrogate Joker," Francis said confidently but was wivered by the quiet looks the boys gave her. "What?"

"Francis, are you sure you want to continue this case? After all Bluebeard and the cops can handle the rest with Pascal," Rocky suggested in a serious tone.