“These are good, Lexy,” Nans mumbled beside her, the napkin spread on her lap.
“I got the cranberry orange. It needs a little bit more orange, I think, dear,” Ida said.
“You need to come up with a chocolate scone,” Helen said. Then she added apologetically, “Though this apple-cinnamon one is delicious.”
“She could’ve put a little bit more of the granulated sugar on top, don’t you think?” Ruth asked.
She pulled into the police station, and Nans, Ruth, Ida, and Helen hopped out, practically running to the door. Lexy followed at a slower pace, feeling a niggle of trepidation about Jack’s reaction. Hopefully he would be happy to have witnesses to a case and not wary about Nans and the gang butting in to try and solve it themselves. Which Lexy was sure they would do.
The Brook Ridge police station was a utilitarian brick building that had been in town since the early part of the twentieth century. The lobby had been updated in bland vanilla industrial. It had a row of orange plastic chairs to the left of the entrance and a receptionist desk across from it. It smelled of paperwork and pastrami sandwiches.
The ladies had already breezed past the receptionist and were making a beeline for Jack’s office by the time Lexy got inside. They hovered in his doorway, casting glances back at Lexy as she approached. They parted when she got to his door as if her presence was going to get him to take them more seriously.
Jack sat at his desk, his left brow quirked up, his eyes drifting from Nans to Ruth to Ida to Helen and then coming to rest on Lexy.
Lexy quirked her lips in something that she hoped looked like a smile but really felt like a grimace. “Hi.”
“What a pleasant surprise,” Jack said tentatively then pushed up from his desk and came around to give Lexy a quick peck on the cheek. He took her hand and squeezed it then gestured for Nans, Ruth, Ida, and Helen to fight over the two available chairs. Ida and Ruth won, so Nans and Helen leaned against the wall. Judging by the way Nans tapped her foot impatiently, Lexy figured she couldn’t wait to get down to business.
Jack dropped Lexy’s hand and leaned his hip on the corner of the green metal desk as he studied them, a hint of amusement in his honey-brown eyes. “Okay, I know this isn’t just a social call. What’s going on?”
“We’ve witnessed a murder!” Nans blurted out.
Jack’s face turned serious. He glanced back at his computer. “Really? I didn’t get any calls about a murder. Are you sure?”
“The body probably hasn’t been discovered yet,” Ruth said.
Jack’s eyes narrowed. “But if you saw it happen, wouldn’t you have stayed and called the police? You know better than to leave the scene of a crime.”
Nans shuffled her feet. “Well, we weren’t actually there.”
Jack crossed his arms over his chest. “I see. This is one of those hunches, right?” He glanced at Lexy for confirmation.
“No, we saw it. It’s just … well, it’s complicated,” Lexy said.
“Why don’t you back up and tell me exactly how, when, and where this happened,” Jack suggested. At least he wasn’t dismissing them right away.
Nans leaned forward. She was in full-on detective persona, her voice taking on an official tone. “Well, you see, Ida had a drone from her grandson Jason, and we were flying it around the neighborhood.”
Jack held up his palm. “Wait a minute. A drone?”
“Yeah, you know, one of those things they use to take videos of real estate,” Ida cut in. “Jason’s a big real estate developer, as you might remember.”
“Yes, I remember. Okay, go on, then. You were flying this drone…”
Nans continued. “We were checking out the Kingsleys’, where Lexy is going to be doing that big catering job on Wednesday, except Ida didn’t really know how to work the controls.”
Ida frowned at Nans. “I was working them pretty darn good.”
Nans shot a wrinkle-browed look at Ida. “The thing was jerking all over the place, and you were going in the wrong direction.”
“You practically ruined Vera’s hairdo,” Ruth added.
Ida stood facing Ruth and Nans, her hands on her hips. “Well, it was my first time, and I was just getting—”
“Ladies!” Jack cut in, and everyone turned to look at him. “Let’s get back to the murder.”
Ida sat down, and Nans continued with the story.
“So anyway. It just so happens that writer lady lives right behind the Kingsleys’. Olive Pendleton?” Nans paused to see if Jack recognized the name. He nodded, so she continued. “We wanted to get a gander at her house, and there she was out on a balcony up on the very top floor.”
“Tell him the important part,” Ida cut in. “She was trying to get a dog off the roof.”
“A dog on the roof?” Jack’s gaze shifted to Lexy, his right brow quirked up as if seeking confirmation. Lexy nodded, and his eyes flicked back to Nans.
“What was a dog doing on the roof?” he asked.
Nans shrugged. “How should I know? She has a pack of them. Little fluffy things. I don’t know what they are.”
“Peekapoos,” Ruth informed them. When everyone looked at her strangely, she just shrugged and said, “My sister-in-law has one. They’re a mix between a Pekingese and a poodle.”
“Anyway, one was on the roof, and the woman was leaning out to get it,” Nans said.
“And she fell?” Jack went to the other side of his desk and looked at his computer screen. “There would be an ambulance call…”
“Oh no, she didn’t fall.” Nans leaned toward Jack and paused dramatically. “She was pushed… well, hit over the head, actually.”
Jack looked up sharply. “You saw someone hit her over the head. Can you describe them?”
Everyone glanced at each other nervously.
“Not exactly. We didn’t see all of him,” Ruth said.
“What do you mean?”
“We were watching on the LCD screen of the controller.” Helen glanced at Ida apologetically. “It was a little hard to see since the drone wasn’t flying so smoothly, and things were a little blurry. But a hand came out from the window and clobbered her on the head with a baseball bat!”
Ida straightened in her chair, shooting a sideways glance at Helen. “We could see good enough, but only his arm was visible.”
“That’s right,” Nans said. “The arm came out, and she was leaning over the balcony to get the dog. He bonked her on the head, and then she fell. It’s four stories in the back of that house. She smashed onto the cement patio. Lights out.”
“Are you sure it was Olive Pendleton?” Jack asked. “There are no calls from that part of town.”
“Absolutely.” Ruth nodded vigorously. “She had the blond hair and had on the same maroon sweater she wore for her author photo on the back of her book Blood on the Forge.”
“You read her books?” Nans asked.
Ruth shrugged. “I read lots of books.”
“And you’re sure she was dead?” Jack narrowed his eyes at them before looking at his computer screen again.
Ruth nodded. “As a doornail.”
“She never moved after that,” Nans confirmed.
Jack frowned at his screen. “When was this? I don’t have any calls about anyone falling to their death.”
The ladies exchanged a glance. “It was about forty-five minutes ago. Surely someone would have found the body by now.”
“Yeah, the murderer. Probably trying to make it look like an accident.” Ida rummaged in her purse, took out the napkin, unfolded it, and broke off a small piece of scone. “My money’s on the husband.”
“Well, of course it is,” Ruth said. “It usually is the spouse.”
“Do you think he was having an affair?” Helen asked.
“Ladies, ladies.” Jack sat in the chair, his fingers clicking the keys. “Let’s not speculate. That’s a job for the police, right? But I don’t see any call here. Are you sure you saw this happen? Maybe I should
take a look at this video from the drone.”
Silence.
Jack’s eyes narrowed. “Surely you have this incriminating video, right?”
“That’s the other thing.” Ida pinched the crumbs from her napkin between her fingers and thumb, then tilted her head back and dropped them into her mouth. “I’d like to report a missing drone.”
“Wait. So you don’t even have the drone?” Jack asked.
“Well, I got a little nervous when we saw her fall, and my hands were a bit jittery on the controls. The drone swooped down toward the ground. I couldn’t pull it up in time, and the dogs came chasing after it. The last thing I saw from the transmitter screen was the inside of a Peekapoo’s mouth.”
“The dog took it?”
Ida grimaced. “Yeah, and I really need it back or I’m gonna be in dutch with my grandson.”
“Not to mention that it has the murder video on it,” Nans added. “It’s probably lying out in the yard somewhere, so if you simply go over there and retrieve it, we can have this case wrapped up in a jiff.”
Jack gestured toward the computer screen. “What case? There’s no police call. Which means there’s no body. And where there’s no body, there’s no investigation.”
Nans' brows tugged together, her eyes flicking from the back of the monitor to Jack. “But we just told you we witnessed it. Don’t you believe us?”
Jack sighed. “It’s not that I don’t believe you. It’s just that without probable cause, I can’t go launching an investigation.”
“Well, you’d think our say-so would be enough to go on,” Ruth huffed.
Jack leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers. “So let me get this straight. You have no body, no motive, and the dog ate your evidence. And you expect me to convince my boss to launch an investigation?”
“Well, since you put it that way, I guess it would be kind of hard to convince your boss. But we can’t just let a killer get away with murder!” Nans said.
Jack rose from his chair, herding them toward the door. “I’ll keep my eyes peeled today and see what comes in. Maybe I’ll have one of the patrol cars do a drive-by and see what’s going on. Unfortunately my hands are tied.”
He pushed them out into the hallway, and Ida turned to look at him. “But what about the drone? I want to report that missing!”
“That’s just for people, Ida.” Nans said.
“Okay, then I want to report it stolen!” Ida said.
“Well, technically it wasn’t stolen, but if you want to file a report…” Jack gestured toward the bullpen, where two uniformed officers sat.
“Never mind that.” Nans took Ida’s elbow and started down the hall. “That will take up too much time for nothing. We’ll find the drone. Don’t worry.”
“Mona.” Jack’s stern tone stopped Nans in her tracks. She turned to look at him. “Don’t go investigating this on your own, now.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t dream of it.” Nans waved a hand in the air and turned around.
Jack leaned against the doorframe, his arms crossed over his chest. He looked down at Lexy. “She’s gonna investigate, isn’t she?”
Lexy watched the backs of the ladies as they marched down the hall. “’Fraid so.”
Jack sighed and stepped back into his office. “Okay, all I can say is … just be careful. Judging by what you saw, there may be a clever killer on the loose, and he’s not going to like four nosey old ladies and one cute baker digging into his business.”
3
“Was Jack mad?” Nans asked after they were all situated in the car.
“No. He seemed…resigned.” A smile played on Lexy’s lips as she thought about how far Jack had come with regard to her investigating murder cases.
Nans and Jack had been neighbors, and she’d initially met him when she’d bought Nans' house—the one she and Jack lived in now. Of course, there had been that unfortunate incident in which she was suspected of murder that had thrown her and Jack together. But Nans had been thinking about fixing them up for months, though Lexy wasn’t sure if that was because she thought Jack and Lexy would be good together or if she just wanted to get closer to him so she could get in on more investigations. Either way, things had worked out pretty well for Nans—and Lexy—on both counts.
At first, Jack hadn’t been keen on either Nans or Lexy investigating. In fact, he’d been downright resistant. And while Lexy loved running the Cup and Cake, she must have inherited some of the investigating gene from her grandmother, because she couldn’t resist digging into murders. It had been a bone of contention between her and Jack in the beginning, but now he was really coming around. Sometimes he even fed them clues on the side. Hopefully, this would be one of those times. She had a feeling they were going to need his help.
“Well then, if he’s resigned, we might as well take a ride over to the Pendleton house and see what we can see.” Nans slid her eyes over to Lexy.
“I really should be getting to the bakery…” The dejected sighs from the ladies in the back seat gave Lexy pause. “But since Cassie is there now, I guess I could take a quick swing over. Maybe I can get a better look at the Kingsley property in person.”
“That’s my girl!” Nans patted her knee.
“Hopefully that drone is just lying out in the yard somewhere, and I can grab it,” Ida said.
“I don’t know.” Images of Sprinkles taking her favorite toys and hiding them sprang to mind. “Sprinkles likes to hide her toys. We may have to do some hunting.”
Ruth rubbed her hands together. “Good. I’d love getting my hands dirty.”
“Maybe we can find the murder weapon,” Helen said. “He might keep it beside the door or in the garage.”
The Pendleton house was on a quiet street lined with tall maple trees. Birds twittered and chirped in the leaves overhead while chipmunks darted in and out of an old stone wall at the edge of the property. Lexy had parked on the intersecting street, thinking they could walk to the Pendletons’ and then backtrack past the car and over to the next street to get a look at the Kingsleys’ yard in person.
As they strolled toward the Pendletons’, Ida grabbed Nans arm and pulled her back. “Look! You can see the backyard from here,” she whispered, pointing to a space in between the shrubs that revealed a section of the patio and the half-finished gazebo.
Nans parted the shrubs and poked her face through, craning her neck to see. She turned and looked at them over her shoulder. “I don’t see any dead body there,” she whispered.
“And apparently one hasn’t been discovered.” Ruth gestured to the quiet street. “There are no police cars, no commotion. Look, there’s not even any crime-scene tape.”
Nans pulled her head out of the shrub and looked around, her forehead creasing. “You’re right. That’s odd. Where is the body?”
“You don’t think she could have survived, do you?” Helen asked.
“I don’t think anyone could survive that fall. You saw her lying there. And the blood…” Nans shuddered. “But even if by some miracle she did survive, she would’ve surely needed a trip to the hospital, and Jack said there was no such emergency call.”
“Well, maybe that happened in between the time we left Jack’s office and arrived here,” Ruth suggested.
Nans pressed her lips together. “Doubtful. But there’s one way to find out.” She clutched her purse tighter and marched toward the Pendleton house.
The house didn’t look quite as dilapidated from the front as it had from the back. It was an English Tudor design with eyebrow windows and lightning rod–topped turrets. The front steps led to an old oak door made for giants and rounded at the top, with big iron hinges turned black with age. The windows had diamond-shaped grilles, giving the house the look of an oversized cottage.
Nans marched toward the door, her sensible beige shoes squeaking on the slate slabs that made up the walkway.
“Hold up there, Mona.” Ida crouched to look under an azalea bush, brushing away a pil
e of crisp dead leaves that had accumulated underneath. “That drone could be anywhere.” She darted over to a giant rhododendron, pulling apart the branches and peering in.
But Nans was already knocking on the front door. Lexy heard a chorus of barking, and then the door opened, revealing a man in his mid-sixties. His salt-and-pepper hair was cut short and covered only the sides of his head. The top was shiny and bald. He was wearing a white T-shirt and an angry scowl. Four dogs circled the mud-stained cuffs of his tan chinos, and Lexy was relieved to see one of them was the black dog that had been on the roof.
He looked Nans up and down with narrowed eyes. Then his gaze drifted over her shoulder to assess the rest of them. “I told you ladies before. We don’t like fans coming to the house unannounced.” He started to close the door.
Nans stuck her foot in the door. “Hey, we’re not fans. We’ve come to see Olive.”
The man stopped long enough to stare inquisitively at her. “Aren’t you the ladies from that fan club that’s been hanging around here?”
Nans shook her head. “No.”
Something to their right caught his attention, and his eyes jerked in that direction, where Ida was on her hands and knees rummaging through a forsythia bush.
“What is that woman doing over there?” he demanded.
Nans' head whipped around. “Ida, stop that!” She turned back to the man and whispered, “Sorry, she’s a little bit senile. That’s why we’ve come, you see. My poor friend here, well, she doesn’t have long, and she’d really like to see a famous author in person.”
The man didn’t seem at all sympathetic to Nans' story about Ida. He glanced back into the house over his shoulder uncertainly. “My wife is…napping.”
“Suuure she is.” Ida, who had joined them, brushed the dirt from the knees of her tan polyester slacks.
“I’m sorry, but she works very hard and needs to rest. Maybe you could make an appointment on her website like normal people. We don’t like strangers just showing up here.” And then he slammed the door in their faces.
“Well, go figure that,” Ruth said as they turned from the door and started down the walk. “Sounds to me like he was a little bit upset that we were asking for Olive.”
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