Cream Puff Killer: Lexy Baker Cozy Mystery Series Book 13

by Dobbs, Leighann

  "Let's not forget that Herman knew about the coins. He admitted it in the restaurant," Nans cautioned. "I don't see why we let him go. He could be the killer."

  "Herman?" Helen scrunched up her nose. "He's too nice. Besides, he has an alibi. He wasn't in town."

  "So he says," Nans said. "We should check that first before ruling him out."

  "We will," Helen said.

  "Looks like they cleaned up from the break-in quickly," Lexy said while Ruth fixed them a tray of tea and cookies in the pass-through kitchen.

  "Yes, thankfully. To think someone would toss my place to try and find that stupid coin."

  Ruth shuddered. "Whoever it was, they gave me quite a fright. They're just lucky Nunzio wasn't around. He would've dealt with them fast, and not very nicely, either."

  "Coins?" Ida said again, snapping her fingers, her tone impatient.

  Nans gave her friend a look. "Let me see if I can find them." She reached into her large patent-leather handbag and pulled out a small mason jar filled with the coins they'd pulled from the Olds. She unscrewed the lid and spilled them out onto the table then spread them out into one layer. "Let's go through these one by one while Helen looks them up on her iPad."

  "Got you covered," Helen said, pulling out her tablet and firing it up. "Ready."

  Ruth brought out the refreshments, and Lexy helped her set them out, then they all got to searching. Twenty minutes later, however, they'd still not found the four-million-dollar winner, just a few silver dimes and a couple of old quarters that were worth about a dollar each.

  "So much for anything valuable," Ruth said, sighing.

  "Oh no!" Ida said, her expression aghast. "You don't think it was one of the ones we used in the slot machines last month, do you?"

  "Don't be ridiculous," Ruth said, frowning. "Those casinos don't take real coins anymore, remember? You have to feed your bills in, and then they give you that ticket thing at the end of your games. I distinctly remember because you got into a heated discussion with that nice older fellow who was running the cashier cage because you wanted a free bucket for your coins, and when he tried to explain that you wouldn't need one, you told him exactly where he could get off and how to get there. Why, Lexy, I'm telling you, I've never been so mortified in all my—"

  Ida jutted her chin out, a sure sign of trouble. "For your information, those new slot machines are ridiculous. And I was nothing but nice to that cashier until he started to treat me like a helpless little old lady. Heck, I could bench press him and that slot machine receipt maker contraption with one hand tied behind my back. Why, I should've done more than tell him off. I should've—"

  "Wait a minute!" Nans frowned over at Ruth and Ida, cutting off their less-than-titillating discussion about modern slot machine protocol. "What about that jewelry you had made, Ruth? The earrings and bracelet. Those were coins from your car, right?"

  "Yes, they were." Ruth hurried into the other room and returned with the box Joe had given her the other day. She also brought a necklace Lexy hadn't seen before and laid it on the table. "Let's see if any of these match, Helen."

  Helen leaned closer and snapped a few photos then downloaded them into the search engine she was using. "Nope. No match."

  "Shoot." Ida sat back and crossed her arms. "What about your new charm bracelet? Joe made that for you too, right?"

  Ruth clasped her wrist reflexively. "Oh, I don't have it right now. It's at the jewelers. I'm getting the clasp fixed from when I caught it on the bumper the other day. It's after five now, and they're closed. I can't call them until tomorrow."

  Lexy exhaled. Seemed they were at a dead end yet again. Then she remembered something Jack had mentioned the other night. "The police found a coin at the storage bay during their investigation. Jack said it was close to the front bumper, so I assumed it must've come from Ruth's bracelet when the clasp broke. Remember how I mentioned that to you, Ruth?"

  The ladies turned to look at Lexy in unison.

  "That's perfect, dear," Nans said. "Think you can sweet-talk that husband of yours into letting us in to take a look at it?"

  Lexy's stomach cramped. Given the current precarious situation between her and Jack, she wasn't sure she could get him to tell her the time, let alone let her and the ladies sneak into the evidence room. She didn't want to say that aloud, though. Nans and her friends would only worry, and the last thing Lexy wanted right now was them fussing over her and making her feel worse about what may or may not be happening between Jack and that mysterious blonde. She cleared her throat and forced a smile. "Let me talk to him tonight, and I'll tell you all first thing in the morning."

  "Fine, dear." Nans smiled. "Jack's such a nice man."

  Lexy didn't answer, just pushed to her feet, making a show of checking her watch. "Look at the time. I really should get home. Jack will be wondering where I am."

  She said a hasty goodbye, promising to call Nans tomorrow, then headed out, hoping to beat her husband home to give herself time to prepare.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Thankfully, Jack's car wasn't in the driveway when Lexy pulled in fifteen minutes later. Good. She needed to get her thoughts centered, get her emotions under control, so she could confront him calmly and rationally about what she'd seen in his office between him and the blonde. She didn't want to be distrustful or suspicious. It went against her nature. But the mounting evidence that he was hiding something from her was growing too strong to ignore.

  First his odd behavior the night he'd brought her wine and flowers, when he never brought her wine and flowers. Then the weird conversation she'd overheard between Cassie and John, about not telling her whatever it was Jack was trying to hide. Then the blonde. Nope. Something was definitely going on, and she intended to get to the bottom of it, sooner rather than later. First, though, she needed a bit of time alone. Alone in the Baker-Perillo household, however, was relative, considering Sprinkles waited gleefully at the front door with her usual exuberant greeting.

  "Hey, girl," Lexy said, bending to pet the tiny dog and lavish her with attention. At least there was one being in her life who loved her unconditionally. She picked her up and cradled her against her chest, chuckling as Sprinkles kissed her cheek then snuggled her cold, wet nose into Lexy's ponytail. "How's my baby tonight, huh? Were you a good girl today?"

  Sprinkles squirmed in doggy ecstasy in Lexy's arms, and Lexy set her down then toed off her shoes and headed into the kitchen. "Are you hungry, huh?" she asked Sprinkles. "Want Mommy to get you some dinner?"

  Sprinkles yipped then sat near her bowls.

  "All right then." Lexy laughed and pulled a covered can of dog food from the fridge. "Let me get that for you."

  As she fixed the dog's dinner, the sound of an engine rumbled in the driveway. Jack was home. Crap. Her pulse kicked a notch higher as she set Sprinkles' food dish on the floor for her then ran around the kitchen, messing things up a bit to make it look as if she'd been home for a while. She pulled out a plate of leftovers from the night before and the rest of the bottle of wine Jack had brought home the other day. She poured a generous portion of the chardonnay down the drain before placing a splash in a glass she pulled from the cupboard. The leftovers, unfortunately, went into the trash, and the dirty plate into the sink. Her stomach rumbled, but there wasn't time to eat anything, as the front door opened and Jack appeared, looking as handsome and jovial as ever while Lexy felt as if she'd just run a one-minute mile.

  She patted her hair and forced a smile, her ponytail mussed from running around, and adding to her couch potato appearance, she hoped.

  "Hey, honey." Jack walked over and gave her a quick kiss. "How was your day?"

  "Good, fine. Uneventful." She kept her smile wide and leaned her elbow against the counter, trying to look relaxed despite the butterflies rioting inside her. "How was yours?"

  What she'd really wanted to ask him was about the blonde in his office, but she refrained. No sense starting an argument so early in the evening. T
hey had hours ahead for that, especially if Jack caught on as to why she wanted to see that stupid coin he had in custody.

  "Good," he said, taking her by the hand and pulling her into the living room to sit beside him on the sofa. He toed off his shoes then snuggled her into his side. "Busy but good."

  Their relationship had always been built on trust. To have that shaken now left Lexy feeling decidedly unsettled. "That's great." She patted him on the thigh as Sprinkles jumped up to sit between them. "That must be why you're in such a good mood, huh?"

  That or the blonde.

  Lexy forced the traitorous idea from her mind. "Would you like some wine?"

  "I'd love some, thanks."

  "Be right back." She went to the kitchen and grabbed the bottle and two glasses then returned to the living room to pour them both a serving. "How'd your interrogations go today?"

  "Huh?" He gave her a confused look before covering fast. "Oh, fine. I think you'll be happy about the result, actually."

  "Really?" Lexy sank back into her seat, handing Jack his glass. "Why would I care about your interrogations?"

  "Because I can put to rest the crazy notion Mona and her friends had about that Herman Conti fellow," Jack said.

  "Really?" Lexy said, sipping her wine then watching Jack over the rim. Had Jack discovered Herman was out of town as he'd said? That would be convenient and one less thing for Lexy and the ladies to do.

  "Yeah, he was out of town. Couldn't have done it."

  "Well, I'm glad. That Herman Conti always seemed like such a nice old gentleman when he came into my bakery." She leaned over to set her glass on the table then decided to work her way around to the coin issue. "Nans did have a new idea that the murder might have something to do with an old bank heist."

  She watched her husband's reaction closely, hoping to get him talking about the coin again, but no luck.

  Jack shrugged and took a big gulp of wine. "No kidding."

  Stunned, Lexy narrowed her gaze. "You know about the bank heist?"

  "Sure, honey. I told you a while ago that the victim was a bank robber, and I am a police officer. I have my sources."

  Fine. He wanted to play coy? Then she was done beating around the bush. "You know about the coins then."

  "Yeah." He stretched out his legs. "We got a tip about old coins resurfacing in town." Jack glanced at her. "My question is, what do you know about it?"

  "Only what I told you," Lexy said, giving him her best innocent look. Turnabout was fair play these days. If he wanted to keep his secrets, she'd keep hers. For now.

  "Hmm," he said, sitting back and not sounding entirely convinced. "I hope that's true, honey. These stolen coins are worth big bucks, and things could get very dangerous. And I don't want you sniffing around Stan at the storage lot either, okay? If anything happened to you and you got hurt, I don't know what I'd do."

  Get comfort from the blonde?

  Lexy frowned, doing her best to silence her inner critic. Snarky thoughts wouldn't help her right now. She needed to stay cool, calm, collected. And focus on the case. Why was Jack worried about Stan, anyway? "Has something come up about Stan?"

  Jack rubbed his eyes then laid his head back against the sofa cushions. "He's already lied about his alibi. Who knows what else he could be lying about. Just let us do our jobs, all right?"

  "Of course."

  Jack looked as tired as she felt, and despite all the problems and things they needed to discuss, all Lexy seemed to want to do at that moment was cuddle up to her husband and forget about everything for a while. She sighed and snuggled into his side, loving the warm weight of his arm around her shoulders. Still, her inquisitive mind wouldn't let the Stan matter drop without one last question. "So Stan the storage man isn't being forthcoming with the truth, eh?"

  Jack gave her a look, brow raised, and Lexy quickly turned her face into his chest, kissing his neck above the starched white collar of his shirt to cover her over-eagerness. "Not that I'm planning to go back there at all. Bad memories."

  "Uh-huh." Jack chuckled. "That's good because Stan's up to some shenanigans, and it would be best if you and the ladies stayed clear. Until we get things handled."

  His phone buzzed, and Jack pulled it out, scowling down at the screen. "Sorry, honey. I need to take this."

  He dropped a quick kiss on the top of her head then stood and walked into the kitchen to answer the call. Lexy missed the heat of him immediately but forced herself to remain in her seat. Jack usually never let his work invade his personal life, even going so far as to shut off his phone at night when he was home unless he was on call at the station.

  He wasn't on call tonight.

  Lexy scooted into the corner of the couch and drew her legs beneath her, stroking her fingers through Sprinkles' soft fur. Suspicions swirled inside her head, making her anxious. She'd let her emotions get the better of her and had cuddled instead of having the hard conversation she knew they needed to have tonight. If he did have something going on with the blonde, it was best to confront it head on—no matter how difficult—and work to resolve the issue.

  But Jack was home now and acting normal. He was the same old Jack, and she knew that he couldn't just come home and act normal if he had another woman. That just wasn't the Jack she knew. But if he didn't have something going on with the blonde, then what in the world was going on with him?

  Low murmurs issued from the kitchen as Jack spoke to his caller, but she was too far away to decipher exactly what he was saying. She only heard the occasional word or sentence—"looking forward to it," "can't wait," "like it was meant to be." None of them helped ease her concerns. Stewing in her love and anxiety for Jack was getting her nowhere.

  Lexy held Sprinkles closer and focused on what she'd just learned from Jack instead.

  Stan the storage man had lied about his alibi, but why? Did he have something to hide too? Seemed secrets were the order of the day all around. The guy knew about Ruth's car and had access to her storage unit too. Perhaps he even had access to tools like the titanium drill bits, given that all his storage units were metal.

  Stan's up to some shenanigans…

  Shenanigans of the lethal variety? Had he been Sherman Wilson's killer?

  She filed all that information away for the morning. Maybe she and the ladies would have to look at Stan a bit more closely. Lexy clicked on the TV instead, hoping to distract herself with the nightly news.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The next morning, Lexy couldn't wait to get over to Nans' and tell the ladies what she'd discovered from Jack. As luck would have it, there was a mad rush at the bakery, so she spent the morning ringing up sales of Danishes, brownies, whoopie pies, cookies, and bars. The new wave-shaped butter cookies with blue icing waves went like hotcakes, and Lexy made a mental note to double the batch next time.

  When the throng of customers dwindled to a slow trickle, she hung up her apron—a vintage pattern of cartoonish vegetables with smiling faces—threw a dozen pastries in a box, and left Cassie in charge while she drove her sputtering VW over to the Brook Ridge Retirement Center.

  Ida answered the door, her eyes seeking out the familiar white pastry box. It was getting so that when Lexy came over, Ida's gaze immediately went to Lexy's hand in search of the box instead of Lexy's face to greet her.

  Ida took the box and shoved Lexy inside, where Ruth, Helen, and Nans were congregated around the dining room table, going over the Wilson murder case.

  "Hi, dear. I put the dessert plates out on the kitchen counter," Nans said without looking up from the iPad screen she and Helen had their heads bent over.

  Lexy took the box back from Ida, who had already pulled out a scone, and went to the kitchen, piling the assortment of éclairs, scones, and doughnuts onto the etched green depression glass platter, then taking five matching doily-lined green dessert plates out to the table. She set the pastries down, and the ladies dug in as she relayed the information she'd learned from Jack the previous night.
>
  "So Herman might've been telling the truth?" Ruth straightened in her seat, the look on her face telling Lexy that maybe Ruth's insistence that she had no romantic inclinations toward Herman was all a bunch of hot air.

  "According to Jack, he couldn't have been the killer. His alibi checks out. I don't know if he was telling the truth about all the other stuff, but he does seem very nice." Lexy broke off a piece of scone and put it in her mouth. "If he was once in organized crime, it seems like he gave it up long ago."

  "And Jack said that Stan seems to have some shady dealings on the side then? Interesting," Helen said, helping herself to a bear claw. "Did you get Jack's permission for us to look at that coin today?"

  "No. I didn't get a chance to ask him. Sorry." Lexy picked an éclair up off the tray and put it on her plate. After Jack had taken his phone call, he'd been acting even more distant and distracted than he had before. They'd had a quick dinner, then she'd turned in early for the night. "He got a work call, so I went to bed early."

  Sleep had eluded her, though. She'd tossed and turned most of the night and ended up getting up before dawn to go into the bakery early. Jack had been sound asleep when she'd left.

  "Well, don't worry, dear," Nans said, patting her hand. "All married couples go through rough patches at one point or another. I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. Your love will get you through."

  "So true," Ruth said after devouring half a glazed doughnut in one bite. "Whenever Nunzio and I would have a disagreement, we'd both take a cooling-off period. Even George and I had spats now and again. Why, I remember staying with my mother for nearly a month one time after we'd been married about a year. Marriage isn't for sissies, that's for sure. But even the worst of fights can be overcome if both partners are willing to forgive."

  "We didn't fight," Lexy said, staring down at her uneaten pastry. Tears welled in her eyes, though she refused to let them fall. "I almost wish we would. Then maybe that would clear the air between us. I'm just so worried it's much more than a simple misunderstanding this time."