“You solve murders?” Lexy said feeling her eyes grow wide.
“Yes, dear. Well, not officially. We do it behind the scenes, so to speak. We follow the coverage of the crimes, put the clues together and figure out who the perpetrator is.” Nans beamed with obvious pride.
“I had no idea...”
“Well, we ladies have to have something with which to occupy our time,” Nans said with a conspiratorial wink. “Come on over, I’ll introduce you to the girls.”
Nans led Lexy over to the table. “Ladies, this is my granddaughter, Lexy. Lexy, this is Ida, Helen and Ruth.” Nans pointed to each woman who nodded their heads in turn.
Nans pulled a chair over from a neighboring table pointing at it for Lexy to sit. Nans sat in her own seat. Getting straight to the point she said, “Lexy has a murder for us to solve.”
Ida, Ruth and Helen’s faces perked up. “Oh do tell,” Ida said, excitement gleaming in her eyes.
Lexy recounted the story with Nans, interjecting occasionally to give her opinion. When she was done, the ladies all expressed their dismay at her situation.
“Well, I think we can help find who did this, don’t you agree?” Nans asked the other three. All three grayish-blue heads nodded in unison.
“Great!” Nans clapped her hands together. The first thing is to get on the internet and Google Kevin, see if we can find out what he was up to that might have gotten him murdered,” Nans said.
Lexy stared at her. “You use the internet?”
“Of course, we do silly. We use these...” Nans bent over, rummaging in her giant old-lady purse, which she seemed to always have with her. She pulled out a shiny new iPad causing Lexy’s eyes to widen in astonishment.
As if on cue, Ida, Ruth and Helen all bent down, fishing in their giant old-lady purses, each pulling out her own iPad.
“You see,” Nans said, “we follow the case online and on TV. We can find out all the clues and solve the crime without even leaving the complex! Of course, we can leave if we need to do some field work because Ruth still drives, so we can go in her car.”
Lexy felt her mouth fall open, her mind conjuring up images of four old ladies in trench coats descending on the streets of Brook Ridge, interrogating witnesses and hunting for clues.
“Oh, and we have an ‘in’ with the police department,” Nans said out of the corner of her mouth. “My old neighbor, Jack Perillo, is a detective there. You might want to look him up; his backyard abuts the backyard of my house…well, your house now. He could help get you cleared.” Nans shot Lexy a sly look.
“Oh, we’ve met,” Lexy said with a sigh, “he’s in charge of the murder case actually.”
“Such a nice young man...” Nans let her words trail off, a faraway look in her eye.
Lexy didn’t want to delve into the thoughts Nans might be having, so she brought everyone’s attention back to the problem at hand. “So, what do you ladies suggest I do? I can’t sit around waiting for the police to handle this; I need my bakery open right away!”
Ida spoke up next, “You need to go to the wake, of course. The murderer always shows up at the wake.”
The other three nodded in unison.
“Yes, that should be your first step. Look for anyone suspicious. Talk to everyone who knew Kevin. You need to look for the people who had means, motive and opportunity,” Nans advised.
Means, motive and opportunity? Lexy wondered when Nans had become so proficient in police jargon. Apparently, living next to a police detective had its effect on one’s vocabulary.
Sitting back in her seat, Nans looked Lexy in the eye, her lips set in a serious line. “Lexy, I think your bakery being closed is the least of your worries. It looks to me like someone is trying to frame you for Kevin’s murder.”
Lexy snorted out a short laugh. “Nans, I think you’ve been watching too much TV, why would someone want to frame me for murdering Kevin?”
6
Sprinkles came running from the kitchen to greet Lexy the second she opened the door. Lexy bent down, scooping her up in her arms and allowing the dog to plant wet kisses on her face. The unconditional love of the little dog made her feel all warm and happy inside.
Lexy’s momentary happiness was short-lived. Remembering what Nans had said less than an hour ago at the senior center caused butterflies of uneasiness to take up residence in her stomach. Could it be true? Was someone trying to frame her? And if so, why?
Lexy didn’t have any enemies that she knew of. Could it be someone who wants to harm her business? A competitor maybe?
She didn’t know of any other bakeries in the area. She couldn’t imagine who would go to such lengths just to ruin her business.
Her cellphone went off, sounding abnormally loud in the silence. Lexy jumped, her heart racing. She dove for it, hoping it was Jack announcing they could go back to the bakery. It was Cassie.
“Hi Cass, I haven’t heard anything yet.”
“Oh.” Cassie’s voice had a note of dejection. “I was thinking we could get together to brainstorm a suspect list.”
Nans had said Lexy should start looking for people with means, motive and opportunity, but hearing Cassie suggest it too made the whole thing seem so overly dramatic. Then again, with the bakery closed they had nothing better to do, so why not?
“OK, come on over, we’ll see what we can figure out while we wait for Jack to call,” Lexy said.
“Right, be there in a jiff!”
Lexy hung up the phone. Growling sounds were coming from her stomach reminding her it had been hours since she had eaten. She headed towards the kitchen, Sprinkles following along happily at her heels. She went straight for the fridge. It was loaded with day old goodies from the bakery. Lexy looked at them feeling uncertainty roil in her gut. Poison?
She shook her head; she knew nothing was wrong with her baked goods. No one else had turned up dead because of eating them. Kevin’s cupcakes were obviously tampered with after they were bought from her. Which meant the killer must have been in the bakery that day...or they sent someone to buy the cupcake tops.
Lexy made a mental note to try to remember all the customers who had bought cupcake tops in the days before Kevin’s murder. Impossible.
Hunger pangs forced her attention back to the bakery boxes stacked in her fridge. She picked out a box of cupcake tops and a gallon of milk. Reaching into the box, she grabbed two tops. Both were chocolate cake with heavy chocolate frosting. Just what a girl suspected of murdering her ex needs to make things better.
When Lexy unscrewed the top of the milk container, the cap slipped from her fingers and clattered with a hollow sound onto the floor. Sprinkles was on it in a flash, batting the top like a cat and chasing it around the room. It was an odd behavior for a dog, but Sprinkles had done it since she was a puppy—any small item that fell on the floor was fair game for her to play with. Lexy always joked that the small dog must be part cat.
Laughing, Lexy started after Sprinkles, joining in the game of chase until she finally retrieved the top. Washing it off, she poured some milk in her glass and then put the container back in the fridge. Grabbing her plate, she sat at the table to enjoy her cupcake tops while she waited for Cassie.
Lexy bit into the last morsel of decadently chocolate cupcake, closing her eyes and focusing every fiber of her being on the sweet, smooth taste of the chocolate and blocking out any stressful or negative thoughts. Tap, Tap. Peering over at the small window in the kitchen door where the noise was coming from, she saw a spray of shocking pink hair. Cassie.
Lexy jumped up to let her in. Cassie was in her usual after work attire - black tee shirt, black leather skirt and black boots, which she wore year round. Lexy couldn’t help but wonder how her feet didn’t suffocate in the hot summer sun.
“Hi!” Cassie greeted her exuberantly, giving her a big hug, which Lexy gladly returned.
“Come on in.” Lexy stood aside to let Cassie enter. Pointing to one of the chairs at the table she said, “Ha
ve a seat.”
Lexy sat opposite her, telling her about her visit with Nans and how the Ladies Detective Club had suggested she go to the wake.
“That’s a great idea!” Cassie agreed. “You might be able to connect with some of your old friends who were still friendly with Kevin. They might have some clues about what he was up to. I’d love to go with you, but I promised Brandon I’d take over his Tae Kwon Do class.”
Brandon, Cassie’s brother, owned a fitness studio downtown and Cassie often taught classes there. His wife had just had a baby and Lexy knew it was important for Cassie to be there for him to fill in.
“That’s ok,” she reassured her friend. “I feel a little awkward considering my history with Kevin…and umm…well the circumstances, but I would like to give my condolences to Jason.”
Lexy felt a twinge of sympathy for Jason, Kevin’s brother. The two had always had a rivalry of sorts, with Kevin being the black sheep and Jason being able to do no wrong.
Where Kevin had a dead-end job on the docks, Jason had become educated and had risen to be the deputy mayor of their little town. Lexy had remained friends with Jason even through her nasty breakup with Kevin. Even now, years later, they still had lunch together every couple of months.
Lexy suspected that Jason wanted to be more than friends. He’d hinted at it several times, but she always rebuked his advances because she wasn’t interested. She did however value his friendship, which had its advantages. Jason had been a big help when she needed to secure permits to open the bakery.
“OK, let’s try to come up with some people we can get in touch with who might have known what Kevin was doing that could have gotten him killed.” Lexy pulled a piece of paper and a pen from a drawer and sat, poised to write.
“He didn’t hang around much with the old gang once he started working at the docks, but I know Tom McGraw worked there with him. I could probably talk to him—he’s a friend of Brandon’s,” Cassie offered.
“Great! That’s a good start.” Lexy bit her lower lip, looking up at the ceiling trying to recall any friends of Kevin’s whom they might have in common. “What about Chuck and Sandy from the pub?”
Cassie nodded. Lexy added their names to the list.
The girls went back and forth suggesting names and writing them down for a good hour until Lexy’s phone interrupted them.
She ran into the living room, grabbing it off the sofa table where she had left it earlier.
“Hello.”
“Hi Lexy, this is Jack Perillo.” She recognized the voice before he even said his name.
“”Hi.” Lexy held her breath, waiting for him to tell her the outcome of the investigation, her stomach jittery with nerves.
The sound of Jack nervously clearing his throat came through the phone. “Well, the good news is, we’re done at the bakery and you are free to go back in.”
“And what’s the bad news?” She felt her voice rising in a panic. Had they found something in the bakery?
“There was too much for us to go through on-site so we had to take all your ingredients to the lab for testing. I can’t clear you to open for business until the testing is completed.”
“What?” Lexy cried into the phone. She felt all her muscles tensing up as anger boiled through her. Lexy saw Cassie come around the corner from the kitchen, a questioning look on her face.
“I’m sorry Lexy,” Jack said. “I’m trying to rush it along but we have to look at everything.”
Lexy felt like someone had punched her in the gut. Not only could she not open the bakery, she would have to restock all the ingredients too. Deep down she knew none of this was Jack’s fault, but her anger was directed at him anyway.
“Ok. Thanks. I’ll use my spare key. You can return mine later,” she said abruptly into the phone, then snapped it shut without even a goodbye.
She turned to Cassie. “We can go back to the bakery, but we can’t open for business yet. They’ve taken all our ingredients so we’ll have to restock.”
Lexy saw Cassie’s lips purse, her eyes narrowing. She didn’t want her friend going off on a tirade, so she tried to think on the bright side. She took a deep breath and released her tension and anger with a sigh.
Trying to put a positive spin on her situation she said, “Look at it this way, Cassie, without being able to work at the bakery, we’ll have a lot more time to dedicate to tracking down Kevin’s killer.”
7
Lexy pulled up in front of McGreevy funeral home at four-fifteen on the dot. Kevin’s wake had started at four o’clock, and the parking lot was already packed full. She maneuvered her VW bug into an end slot, which seemed barely wide enough for the small car.
Rummaging in her glove compartment, she pulled out a lint roller. Gingerly stepping out of the car, she sticky-rolled white dog hairs from her black and gray pinstripe skirt, then tossed the roller back in through the open door before closing it. Smoothing her cream-colored blouse, she surveyed herself in the window of her car. Satisfied with her appearance, she walked towards the gigantic glass and oak doors, her understated black Manolo Blahnik platform shoes making soft tapping sounds on the asphalt.
Two dark suited men opened the doors for her. Stepping inside, she was surrounded by the somber energy of the grieving. Hushed conversation, barely audible organ music and the faint scent of flowers filled the air of the tastefully decorated century old mansion.
Lexy followed the signs to a room on the left. The casket was just to the right of the door. She reluctantly glanced at it, her stomach lurching uncomfortably at seeing Kevin laying so still inside. Even though she felt no love lost for him, she certainly didn’t wish him dead. Seeing him lying in there made her heart clench. Her eyes pricked with unexpected tears. She had loved him once and no matter what he had done, he didn’t deserve this.
The sound of loud sobs to the left pulled her attention from the casket. She looked over, her eyes drawn to a gorgeous and expensive pair of red Stuart Weitzman shoes on the feet of a pretty bleached blonde who was crying uncontrollably into a tissue. Who the heck is that? Clearly, she must have known Kevin well to be so upset, but Lexy had never seen her before.
“Lexy, thank you so much for coming.” Jason appeared at her elbow. His eyes were red-rimmed with big dark circles underneath.
“Oh, Jason...I’m so sorry.” Lexy reached over to hug him. Jason grabbed onto her like a drowning man. He hugged her, a little tighter and a little longer then she felt comfortable with. Pungent pine-scented aftershave filled her nostrils, and when he finally released her, she couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
He pulled her over to the corner, away from the main crowd. He leaned in close and Lexy noticed the intent look in his eye. “Did Kevin try to contact you, maybe tell you something or give you something?” His voice was low, barely above a whisper.
Lexy was taken aback by his question. She felt her eyebrows knitting together in confusion. “No,” she shook her head. “Why would he contact me? I haven’t seen him since the breakup.”
“Oh.” Jason’s face went blank. “He’d been acting a little funny lately—he mentioned you a couple of times...” He let his voice trail off.
“That’s strange.” Lexy’s mind was racing. Kevin had mentioned her?
“Lexy, I’m sorry you got dragged into this mess with your cupcakes and all. I’m sure it’s just a coincidence.”
“Yes, of course,” Lexy said. “Thanks. I know the police will clear it up in no time. Have they told you anything?” Lexy felt like a jerk, pumping Jason for information at his brother’s wake, but getting her bakery opened and clearing herself was her top priority.
“Nothing,” he said. “What about you?”
Lexy shook her head.
“If you hear anything, will you let me know right away?”
“Of course.” Lexy no sooner got the words out than a wail echoed through the room. Lexy figured it was the woman in the red shoes. Out of curiosity, she asked Jason, “Who
is the woman over there in the red shoes?”
“Oh, that’s my assistant, Sheila—she and Kevin were dating. She’s pretty broke up about this since they had a bit of a falling out before Kevin, well, you know.”
A falling out? Lexy thought back to some of the fallings out she had with Kevin. There were times she felt like she could have killed him. Of course, she never would have gone through with it, but maybe Sheila had a darker side.
An older man in an expensive suit came up to Jason, interrupting Lexy from asking just how much of a falling out Kevin had had with the girl. Lexy recognized him as an important town official.
“Excuse me,” Jason said to Lexy, turning his full attention to the older man.
Lexy drifted off into the next room, her eyes scanning for familiar faces. A room with refreshments was set up off to the side and it was empty so Lexy wandered in—as much to get away from the crowd as to sample some of the food.
The table had an array of delicious looking cookies from a bakery—not hers though, she noted grimly. She picked a small almond frosted cookie. Taking a dainty bite, she chewed it thoughtfully thinking back to what Jason had said about Kevin mentioning her. Why would Kevin be talking about her? Suddenly, she felt someone behind her.
She turned. The man was standing barely six inches from her face. His outfit looked to be about fifteen years old, and appeared like it might be the only ‘good’ outfit he had to wear to all such occasions. He smelled like booze and his chin was dotted with day-old stubble. His dark beady eyes drilled into hers. There was something vaguely familiar about him, but Lexy couldn’t quite place it.
Lexy’s breath caught in her throat, the dry cookie crumbs tearing a cough from her chest.
“You’d do best to leave things alone.” His voice was soft and low. Lexy had to turn her ear toward him to hear.
“Excuse me?” Lexy felt a surge of panic. Who was this guy?
“I know who you are. I was real close to Kevin. I know things. Just take my advice and mind your own business.” He spoke quickly and in short sentences, his eyes darting around the room.
Lexy Baker Cozy Mystery Series Boxed Set Vol 1 (Books 1 - 4) (Lexy Baker Cozy Mysteries Boxed Sets) Page 3
