It's a bright Sunday morning and a loud chirp can be heard from a tree when Linda's cat Ginger jumps on her bed and startles Linda, who was still asleep. Linda opens the window and immediately feels the cold breeze seep into her shirt and the shiver down her back. 

  Linda hears Ginger's loud meowing and she looks at Ginger with a big smile on her face. She puts on her black round glasses and heads down the staircase into her kitchen to feed Ginger. Linda pours the cat food into Ginger's bowl and hears a "ring ring." She shifts her gaze to her phone and sees a text from Ginny, her best friend since high school.

 "Hey Linda, the girls and I would like to have brunch with you today. Can you meet up at the bakery around the corner?"

   Linda loves spending time with her mischievous but kind goddaughters, five-year-old twins Charlotte and Vivian. She quickly replies to Ginny and starts getting ready. A choice of black and white blazer with black pants makes detective Linda satisfied even on her day off. She brushes her red wavy hair and leaves it loose. For a moment Linda stares at her freckles in the mirror while she puts on a peach-colored lipstick, grabs her black purse and heads out the door.  

   As Linda opens the door, warm air touches her freckled cheeks.  The smell of freshly baked croissants and baguettes fills her nostrils. She hears the loud chatter and takes a deep breath. Tables are filled with plates of fresh  pastries and steam coming out of mugs.  Her big blue eyes start searching for the familiar faces.

    Suddenly she spots Ginny, Vivian and Charlotte sitting at a table. In front of them are chocolate-filled croissants and two mugs of hot coffee. She smiles and makes her way moving carefully in between busy tables. The girls jump and give her a tight hug.

"Linda, we got a new painting in our house!" exclaimed Vivian excitedly.

"Daddy said it is very expensive!"  cheerfully added Charlotte. 

"You got a new painting?"  asked Linda looking at Ginny with slightly raised eyebrows and a tone of surprise.

 "Yeah, we got a new painting, a few days ago. Pete and I went to an art event and Pete really wanted it," said Ginny.

As the two best friends were happily chatting and catching up, Vivian suddenly turned around and accidentally pushed Ginny's mug with hot coffee.

  Ginny instinctively  tries to grab the mug and drops her purse to the floor.  All her items fall out of the purse. Ginny's purple wallet opens and some of her cards slip out. She anxiously starts picking up her belongings.

   A man with wavy hair, another one in a suit  and one with glasses hurriedly help her pick it all up. Ginny thanks them politely feeling grateful that she got all her items back. She then turns to Linda and invites her to see the painting. "Sure, I would love to see the painting!" exclaims Linda. As they head towards the door the twins begin giggling and hopping as they catch Linda's hand from both sides. The three men leave as well and politely hold the door.

The walk on a sunny but chilly autumn day felt relaxing and enjoyable. When they finally reached Ginny's home she opened her purse and started searching for keys. "Huh! I thought I brought my keys with me. I  guess I was wrong," said Ginny.

   Charlotte rings the doorbell and playfully thanks her dad when he opens it. He greets Linda and looks at the bag of pastries and quickly asks Ginny "Is that for me?" Before Ginny could answer a loud screechy voice could be heard from inside the house.      

"Glasses, glasses, glasses!" interrupts Chuckles, a colorful and talkative parrot when he sees Linda. Linda strokes Chuckles and starts talking to him. " Wow! You are so smart; you always remember my glasses!"  Linda steps into the living room and notices the beautiful sunset painting on the wall. "Wow! This is amazing! What a masterpiece!" said Linda. "I can see why this would cost so much."

    After sitting in the living room and chatting a bit more with Pete and Ginny, Linda decides it's time to go home. "I think I should go, I'm  starting to feel under the weather." Ginny goes in the kitchen to get Linda a cup of water. 

    Chuckles flies over to the kitchen and joins Ginny.             She heads back into the living room and gives Linda her glass of water. Linda gratefully takes the water, says goodbye and leaves. Ginny closes the door and hopes to wrap up the Sunday afternoon in a quiet and uneventful way.

   The next day, Ginny and Pete were getting ready for work while Charlotte and Vivian were getting ready for school.  Since it was a rainy autumn day Pete was planning to drop off Ginny and the kids before going to work but things unexpectedly took a different turn.