Cream Puff Killer: Lexy Baker Cozy Mystery Series Book 13

by Dobbs, Leighann

  Oh wait! The bracelet had all the coins—none missing. Which meant the coin the police had found wasn't from Ruth's bracelet. Her heart skipped a beat. So if the coin near the murder victim hadn't been from Ruth, then…

  "What's going on back there?" Myra asked, swerving to miss a squirrel darting across the road. The tires squealed, and Lexy's eyes widened. They were going way too fast for this residential street, and the jarring moves caused the entire vehicle to shudder and sway from side to side. The ladies in the back took the brunt of it, with Myra and Lexy secured in place with the seat belts. Still, stuff was jangling and rustling about, including all of Myra's jewelry—dangly earrings and a flashy copper-colored charm bracelet.

  "Weird how Ruth's bracelet isn't missing a charm, huh?" Ida mused from the backseat, as if reading Lexy's thoughts. "Ow! Why'd you—"

  "Shhh!" Nans said, her tone stern. "Just hang on and try not to squish me any more than you already have."

  Soon, Myra zoomed out of Brook Ridge Falls proper and jerked hard to the left, tearing down a deserted dirt road. The sudden movement caused the visor above Lexy's head to dip precariously, and a paper fluttered out to land in her lap.

  "Pardon me for saying so, Myra, but maybe you should slow down a bit," Helen said loudly from the backseat.

  Myra didn't answer, just kept barreling down the dirt road at top speed.

  Lexy's stomach nosedived to her toes and she glanced at the paper. It was a hospital bill for Joe. According to the document, he'd had hernia surgery the week prior and had just been released Monday night. Even if he was the fastest healer in the world, today was only Thursday. Sherman Wilson had been killed early Tuesday morning. No way could he have murdered that man in such a violent and bloody fashion without significant injury to himself.

  Which meant it had to have been another person, someone else who had access to those coins and the tools Joe used to make his jewelry…

  Her gaze flew to Myra's wrist again, where her charm bracelet still jangled merrily against the steering wheel.

  A charm bracelet made of coins, just like Ruth's.

  A charm bracelet with an empty slot where a missing charm should go.

  Nans leaned in again, her gaze darting from Lexy to Myra's wrist then back again as they pulled into a secluded area of woods, so far off the beaten path it was unlikely any one would find them—until it was too late. Myra cut the engine, and quiet descended upon them as Nans whispered in Lexy's ear, "Maybe getting a ride wasn't such a good idea after all, eh?"

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Before any of the ladies could get out of the station wagon, Myra had pulled a gun from her expensive Coach purse and aimed it directly at Lexy. "I saw all of you looking in our windows. I know what you're up to, you know." Her hands shook slightly as she spoke, the glint in her eyes wild. "I should've expected as much from a bunch of nosy old ladies, always meddling in everyone else's business. You might call yourselves the Ladies Detective Club, but all of you ought to have kept your big noses out of our business." She kept the weapon trained on the center of Lexy's chest while giving a quick look back at Nans. "You might be clever, but those wits won't help you now. That's what you get for snooping in my windows."

  "We were not snooping," Nans said. "We were just bird watching."

  "Did you say bird watching?" Myra scrunched up her face as if she hadn't heard correctly.

  Nans nodded.

  "The only birds around those shrubs are sparrows. You were looking through our windows, weren't you? Trying to catch my husband doing something wrong."

  "Whyever would we do that?" Nans asked.

  Myra waved the gun at them. "You're all liars. And not to be trusted. I've got my eyes on you, so keep your hands out of your purses. There's no telling what you people keep in those. No funny business. I want to see you all facing forward and looking me in the eye."

  Lexy did her best to remain calm, as Jack had always taught her. His voice rang through her head now—stay calm, stay focused, remember details to tell the police later. The irony of the situation wasn't lost on her either. Lesson learned. Be careful what you search for, or you just might find it. Just look what happened to her when she went looking for answers regarding what Jack was hiding. A blonde, to be precise. Now, with a gun pointed at her heart, ready to fire any minute, she'd never get the chance to ask him point-blank for the truth.

  Lexy took a deep breath and closed her eyes, a faint clicking noise like the tapping of keys echoing in her head. She squinted one eye open to see Ida, head up, eyes forward on Myra, a suspiciously innocent look plastered on her face. From where Myra sat facing them, right in front of Ida, she wasn't privy to what Lexy could see from her angle in the passenger seat. Ida's hands were hidden behind her gigantic purse, her fingers furiously typing in a text on Nans' phone.

  She glanced at Myra, who didn't appear the least bit suspicious. Her hearing problems prevented her from hearing the faint clicking sound!

  Lexy's hope sprouted wings. Perhaps help would reach them in time after all.

  Myra snorted. "You all think you're so smart, don't you? Think you're such great sleuths, but look how easily I got you into my car. There wasn't even a struggle. You all just jumped right in. And if kidnapping you was such a piece of cake, shooting you will be like shooting fish in a barrel." She waved the barrel of the gun closer to Lexy's face. "Out of the car. Now. And don't even think about trying anything. That goes for any of you. I've been known to have a twitchy trigger finger, and I'm not afraid to fire."

  They all got out of the vehicle, and Myra herded them into a small group on the passenger side of the station wagon. "Great. Now start walking toward that cliff."

  "But that leads down to the river," Ruth said. "I can't swim."

  "Swimming is the least of your worries now." Myra smiled, cold and sinister. "Don't worry. You'll be dead long before you hit the water. Today, there's going to be a tragic accident within the local geriatric community."

  Slowly, the ladies backed away toward the cliff edge as Myra commanded. Lexy walked beside Nans, glancing over to see her grandmother smiling serenely, as if they were going for a walk in the park and not to their certain deaths. Either Nans had lost her marbles, or her complete lack of fear meant she had a plan to get them all out of this mess.

  Lexy prayed it was the latter of the two.

  "So," Nans said as they walked. "You were in on the murder all along then?"

  "In on it?" Myra scowled. "I was it. This whole scheme is all mine. Joe has no idea. He's so clueless. All he cares about is making his stupid jewelry these days. Besides, he's too stupid and nice to come up with all this. He'd never be able to pull it off. I'm the mastermind."

  "He had no idea?" Helen asked.

  "None."

  Myra had killed a man behind her husband's back. That kind of put Jack's secret meeting with the blonde in perspective, at least for now. Indignation rising, Lexy joined in the questioning, hoping to buy them more time. After all, she might not get another chance given how close they were to the cliff edge now. "How did you know about the coins in Ruth's car?"

  Myra scoffed. "That part was easy, since I do all the bookkeeping for Joe's little hobby. He's awful with math or computers. About the only thing he does know how to do on the Internet is chat in his dumb coin forum. One day, he forgot to shut his screen down, and that's when I saw the post about that four-million-dollar coin. Said it was linked to an infamous heist by Nunzio Bartolli."

  Ruth gasped and stumbled over a tree root, her foot slipping perilously close to the edge of the ravine. Lexy caught her arm and pulled her closer, out of harm's way.

  "Don't act so shocked," Myra said, smirking. "It's not like everyone didn't know you and that gangster were shacking up together. Didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out he might've stashed those coins in that car he gave you. Stop acting like you're an innocent in all this. No way could you have lived with a man like Nunzio and not known what he was up to."

&nb
sp; Myra waved the gun at them, urging them nearer to what looked to Lexy to be at least a fifty-foot drop down to the rocky banks of the creek below. Recent rains had swollen the waters into a rushing, treacherous torrent.

  "What about Sherman Wilson?" Lexy asked, linking arms with Nans, needing her strength now more than ever. They had to find a way out of this. She had to see her Jack one more time, to find out the truth, to tell him she forgave him for whatever he'd been thinking, to tell him how much she loved him, loved their life together. How she'd never let him go without a fight. "Was killing him just a coincidence, or were you two in on this together?"

  "I don't work with a partner, not where money's concerned. Joe's enough of a liability," Myra said. The cold, callous way she discussed her husband—as if he were nothing more than a piece of furniture—made Lexy treasure the special bond she and Jack shared all the more. No way would she let some blond bimbo waltz in and steal that away from her. The minute she got out of this—if she got out of this—she'd tell Jack how much she cared, how much she appreciated him. "Finding Sherman Wilson in the storage bay that night was just a coincidence. Unfortunately for him, we just happened to choose the same night to make our move to get that coin." She shook her head, chuckling. "Imagine my surprise when I walked into that garage and found a guy already there, pawing through the car's engine. Good thing I'd brought Joe's titanium drill to drill out the lock on the store unit and the car, since I didn't have my gun on me. Live and learn."

  Ida rolled her eyes, her voice drenched in sarcasm. "How inconvenient of him."

  "That's exactly what I thought too. The nerve of some people." Myra grinned. "Turns out that drill came in handy for more than just drilling out the locks that night. Of course, my first clue I wasn't alone at that storage bay should've been the missing padlock on the overhead door outside. Then again, I figured Ruth here had just had a senior moment and forgot to secure the place the last time she was there."

  Ruth gave an indignant sniff. "I have never in my life been so insulted."

  "I find that hard to believe." Myra shook her head. "Anyway. Yep. That drill made a nice murder weapon, if a bit too bloody for my tastes. Ruined a perfectly nice pair of Joe's white cotton archival gloves too. Those aren't cheap, you know. He says they're necessary to keep him from getting oil from his skin on those stupid, worthless coins of his, but I think some cheap old latex ones would work just fine too. Those would be a lot better if things get bloody. The cotton gloves just soaked it all in. I had a hard time getting those stains out."

  "Well, it seems to me you went through an awful lot of trouble and still came up empty handed," Nans said. "You never did find the coin you wanted, did you?"

  Myra advanced, and the ladies all took another step back, gravel slipping from beneath their heels to tumble down the ravine. "I'd have had more time to search if I wouldn't have had to get out of there so fast that night. Sherman Wilson should have just died quietly, like a good victim. But no. He made a huge racket before he kicked off, so I had to hightail it out of there pretty quickly to avoid being caught."

  "And Joe has no idea you did any of this?" Helen asked.

  "None." Myra smiled, as cold as ice. "Like I said, he's not the sharpest tack in the wall."

  Lexy's heart pounded so loudly in her ears now, it nearly drowned out everything else. If Nans did have a plan to get them out of this dire situation, now would be the perfect time. Lexy peered over the cliff to see the white water swirling angrily against the jagged rocks sticking up from the river below. Yep, any time now would be marvelous.

  "And it's not like Joe pays much attention to me these days, anyway. Being married awhile will do that to a couple. He's so unaware of me, he doesn't even know I've swapped out some of the most valuable coins his clients bring in for worthless ones. Honestly, I'm doing him a favor. The value vanishes once he cuts into them anyway."

  "Well, that explains the argument we saw on the sidewalk the other day then," Ida said, crossing her arms. "Joe seemed genuinely confused when that man accused him of switching the coins in his jewelry. Now we know why."

  "Hey. We had his massive medical bills to pay," Myra said. "Plus, a girl needs to do something to maintain her appearance. Social Security only goes so far." She raised the gun to aim at Lexy again. "Speaking of which, I searched that piece of crap VW of yours the other day while it was sitting over at the body shop and didn't find that rare coin. Which means you ladies must still have it stashed somewhere." She turned the gun from Lexy to Ruth. "I'll need you to tell me where you've put it before you take your tumble over the cliff."

  "I-I-" Ruth stuttered, clutching onto Helen for dear life. "I've never seen that coin. I swear."

  Nans nudged Lexy slightly and gave her a wink, her gaze calm and confident as she turned to Myra and pulled a coin out of the pocket of her skirt. "Perhaps this is what you're looking for?"

  Myra's eyes grew as large as saucers. "Is that—"

  "Why, yes," Nans said, flicking the coin over Myra's head and into the woods behind her with a flourish of her wrist. "It is."

  Myra gasped, her attention wavering from the ladies to the woods. Nans seized her opportunity. Before Lexy could react, her grandmother had rushed forward, smacking Myra upside the head with her huge beige patent-leather handbag. Ida and Helen joined in as well and, soon, Ruth too. With all those massive handbags striking her upside the head, the ladies quickly had Myra down on the ground. The gun tumbled from her hand as she used her arms to protect her head.

  Sirens wailed, and Lexy picked up the gun, aiming it at Myra this time, adrenaline fizzing through her veins. They'd done it. They'd solved the case. They'd caught the killer. They'd…

  Several squad cars and a black sedan pulled into the field beside the station wagon, and Jack rushed over to pull Lexy into his arms. "Are you all right? You could've gotten yourself killed, honey."

  "Oh, Jack," she sobbed into his neck. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I don't care about your secrets or your blonde or anything else except the fact that I love you, and I'm going to spend the rest of my life showing you just how much."

  He cupped her cheeks and kissed her tenderly then rested his forehead against hers. "I think you're in shock, honey. You're not making any sense."

  Lexy sniffled and pulled back slightly. "How did you find us?"

  "Ida's text helped," Jack said, stepping aside as two police officers took custody of a dazed Myra. "Then we pinpointed your location using the GPS on Nans' cell phone." Jack pulled Lexy close again, kissing the top of her head. "Don't you know I'd search the ends of the earth to make sure you were safe, honey? I love you."

  For the first time since this whole crazy week started, Lexy felt settled and secure. "I love you too. So, so much."

  Nans walked over, interrupting their moment. "Well, I'm glad to know you listen to us sometimes," She fished her phone out of her enormous handbag and handed it to Jack. "Lucky thing too. After Ida passed this back to me, I left the voice recorder on. Got a full confession from Myra. All you have to do is press play."

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  The next day, Lexy sat at one of the small café tables outside The Cup and Cake.

  Sparks of sun danced on the waterfall across the street. The smell of fresh water mingled with the scent of the extra-dark-roast coffee steaming out of her cup. The street was empty. The soft rush of the falls soothed her.

  Across the street, sparrows swooped low from the branches of the nearby maple tree to snatch the crumbs left behind by the summer tourists. The mug warmed her palms as she lifted it to her lips, her taste buds welcoming the slightly bitter tang of the coffee. Everything seemed perfect and peaceful, except for her current task.

  She felt closer to Jack now than she ever had, after her near brush with death. Still, she needed to get all her fears and concerns out once and for all. Talking seemed to be an issue between them lately, so the written word seemed best. Her note to her husband sat on the table before her, setting her already fr
azzled nerves even more on edge. She'd hoped that solving the Sherman Wilson murder case would ease the persistent tension between them, but—if anything—Jack had only been acting even more strangely since Myra's arrest. There was still something he wasn't telling her.

  The phone in her pocket buzzed, and she pulled it out to see Jack's text still shining brightly on-screen. Be home at 6pm sharp. We need to talk.

  She sighed and laid the phone on the table beside her note, staring down at the paper without really seeing it. Lexy was so distracted by all the turmoil with her husband, it took a moment for her to realize that Ruth's Oldsmobile was approaching from the end of the street.

  As the vehicle neared, Lexy spotted Ruth's curly white hair barely rising above the massive dashboard, her white-gloved hands clutching the steering wheel tight at the ten and two. Ruth veered toward the curb, causing the front tire to bump up and over the barrier to stop on the sidewalk. Several nearby pedestrians scattered to avoid the oncoming car, alarmed. Thankfully, Ruth's top speed was only about five miles per hour, so it wasn't hard to get out of her way.

  Lexy chuckled and slipped the letter into her pocket as the huge boat of a car finally came to a halt in front of the bakery and the ladies got out.

  Ida took a deep breath and grinned. "Nothing like solving a murder to put some pep in a gal's step."

  "Yes." Nans leaned in to give Lexy a kiss on the cheek as they made their way inside the bakery. "I think we proved ourselves quite clever with this case."

  "What can I get you ladies today?" Lexy followed them in and moved behind the counter. Cassie was on a break, saying she had some errands to run. "We've got some lovely caramel-swirl brownies on special and also a fresh batch of croissants still warm from the oven."

  "Oh, a brownie for me, please," Helen said.

  "Yes, I think I'll have one of those too, dear," Nans agreed, pulling out her wallet from her handbag. "You know, I still can't understand why that husband of yours won't listen to me more, dear. Especially when Jack knows that I'm usually right."