10
Lexy got out of her car in the parking lot of the Brook Ridge Retirement Community Center in a cloud of flour dust. She’d spent the afternoon at the bakery waiting for deliverymen, logging in and stocking ingredients. Somehow, she’d gotten flour all over her black tee shirt and jeans. She batted at her clothing to try to brush it all off.
Lexy opened the door to the community area. Nans came rushing over to greet her.
“Lexy, we’ve got something very interesting to talk to you about!” Nans grabbed Lexy’s hand, pulling her over to the round table where the women from the Ladies Detective Club were waiting.
“Good to see you too, Nans.” Lexy’s sarcastic smile made Nans laugh.
“Sorry, dear.” Nans gave Lexy a hug. “Of course, it’s always wonderful to see you. Now sit.” She pointed towards an empty chair.
Nans whipped out her iPad. Placing it on the table, she turned it so Lexy could see the screen. The ladies leaned in toward the center of the table excitedly.
“We found something that might be a clue.” Nans said in a hushed whisper, her eyes dramatically darting from side to side, her fingers deftly clicking the icons on the tablet.
Lexy looked down at the image of a newspaper page, the headline read Bridge Repair Fund Missing Money. “A news story?” She looked up at Nans.
Nans nodded. “The story says a government project to repair bridges has been found to have funds missing. The project is one of Jason’s pet projects. Read it and you’ll see for yourself.”
Lexy picked up the iPad to read the story while the ladies watched her in anticipatory silence.
Putting the iPad down, Lexy bit her bottom lip. “This is interesting, but it says they don’t actually know where the money went. I mean it could just be lost in the system.”
“Or someone could have embezzled it. Maybe somehow Kevin was involved. Being Jason’s brother, he might have had an in, and that’s what may have gotten him killed.” Ida interjected from the other side of the table. The other ladies nodded in agreement.
“But why use my cupcakes to do it?”
“Probably just a coincidence. Poison is a non-violent way to kill someone and you are the only bakery in town...” Nans let the sentence trail off.
“Now, tell us what you found out at the wake.” Nans leaned closer, her eyes as big as saucers.
Amidst a chorus of gasps and ooh’s, Lexy told them how Jason had told her Kevin had been asking about her. She told them about the woman with the expensive shoes who was Jason’s assistant and was dating Kevin. She purposely omitted the part about the man warning her off because she didn’t want Nans to worry. Finally, she told them how Jack had mentioned something about blackmail.
“Aha! That’s it.” Nans put her fist in the air. “Kevin was blackmailing whoever took the money from the fund!”
“Or Kevin took the money and someone was blackmailing him.” Ida said.
“The crying woman is interesting. You said she’s Jason’s assistant? I wonder how she can afford those shoes.” Ruth said matter of factly.
“You know,” Helen said, “I remember seeing an episode of Murder She Wrote...or maybe it was Columbo...where the murderer was the secretary who had been embezzling money and had to kill the sister who found out about it...or maybe it was the assistant. That would explain how she could buy expensive shoes.”
“Now don’t forget she was Kevin’s girlfriend, too.” Nans said.
Lexy’s mind was spinning with all the possibilities. She felt her heart sinking. Now there were too many suspects!
“It seems like there are a few possibilities to explore now.” Lexy felt a little overwhelmed. How would she narrow it down to the killer? “But we are making a big assumption the missing funds have something to do with the murder. It could be something else entirely.”
Nans gave her a knowing look. “Dear, trust me, we’ve been doing this for a while now. We know when something feels right…and this feels right. Doesn’t it, girls?”
Lexy looked around the table. The women nodded their agreement with all the confidence of seasoned detectives.
Lexy stood, a heavy sigh escaping her lips. “Thanks for the information, ladies. I guess I have a lot to think about now.”
“It’s all in a day’s work!” Nans said, then added, “We’re happy to help. But do be careful, dear. Don’t do any detective work on your own. If you need to do something dangerous, call Jack Perillo first.”
The mischievous glint in Nans’ eye was not lost on Lexy. She chose to ignore it. Bidding the ladies good evening, she turned toward the door hoping for a non-eventful ride home where she could spend a relaxing evening with a good glass of wine and Sprinkles at her side.
Lexy pulled into her driveway. She was exhausted; everything that had happened the past few days was starting to take its toll. A glance at her overflowing mailbox reminded her she had forgotten all about taking the mail in.
She grabbed the pile of mail, clutching it to her chest. Wrestling with the keys, she managed to get the door open without dropping the mail. As usual, Sprinkles was there to greet her. Lexy bent down to pet the dog, then crossed the living room to the kitchen, tossing the pile of mail on the table.
A strange looking manila envelope slid out to the side. Lexy picked it up, perplexed as to what it could be—she didn’t remember ordering anything.
She recognized the handwriting on the front and her heart froze. It was Kevin’s.
Lexy threw the envelope down, backing away. Fear zinged through her body like an electric current. Why would Kevin send her a package?
Lexy was torn—curious to see what was inside but afraid at the same time. Tentatively she reached out for the envelope, touching it gingerly as if it might bite her.
She sat down, perched on the edge of her chair, the envelope in her hands. Slowly, she slid a perfectly manicured nail under the flap, tearing it open. She tipped it upside down. A small blue notebook slid out onto the table.
Lexy took a deep breath. Picking up the notebook, she opened it to the first page. She felt her brow furrow when she saw what it was; just a jumble of numbers with what looked like dates and words that looked like they were in code. What the heck is this?
Lexy peered back inside the envelope—it was empty, no note or other communication to tell her what the notebook was about. She leafed through the book, but there was nothing in there to tell her what it was, just page after page of numbers and garbled words.
She sat back blowing out a rush of air through pursed lips. Now what? Clearly, the book had something to do with Kevin’s murder. If only she could figure out what all the numbers and words meant.
With a start, Lexy realized having the book could be dangerous. What if the killer knew Kevin had this book and figured out he had mailed it to her? Anxiety gnawed at her stomach, she had to get rid of it.
She knew the book should be in the hands of the police. Sneaking a peek out her kitchen window, she could see lights on at Jack’s house. Much as she wanted to avoid him, she knew she should give him the book right away.
She jumped up from her chair, her mind made up. She went out the back door shooing Sprinkles inside when she tried to follow. Crossing her yard, she wriggled through the gap in the fence popping out the other side in Jack’s yard.
Lexy felt butterflies start swarming in her stomach and it wasn’t because she was nervous about the book. She couldn’t deny she felt excited about seeing Jack again. Try as she might, she couldn’t get last nights’ kiss out of her mind. She felt a warm glow below her stomach. Cripes! Stop acting like a hormone rattled teenager and just give him the damn book!
She started up the slope to Jack’s house, but what she saw in his living room window made her stop short. Silhouetted in the window were two figures talking and laughing. One was Jack. The other one had long curly hair. His girlfriend?
Lexy felt a ball of anger in the pit of her stomach. He had kissed her just last night and tonight he has anothe
r woman at his house. She knew she didn’t have any claim on Jack, after all, it was just a kiss, not a commitment, but she felt cheated just the same.
Maybe it was because of the hurt she had felt when Kevin had cheated on her, maybe she was overly sensitive, but whatever the reason, she was too mad to go to Jack’s house now. She turned abruptly. Scurrying back through the fence, she crossed the yard to her kitchen, slamming the door shut behind her.
11
Lexy woke up at the crack of dawn in a tangle of sheets. She had barely slept all night. Her head felt like someone was trying to jackhammer cement inside it.
After her excursion in the backyard, she had called Cassie looking for advice on what to do with the notebook, but Cassie didn’t answer. Lexy had ended up hiding it in the best hiding spot she could think of…Sprinkles dog bed.
Sprinkles didn’t seem to mind at all. She was leaping around with her usual morning energy. Wagging her tail, she stared adoringly at Lexy. Lexy couldn’t help but smile at her.
“You don’t have any other girlfriends and love me no matter what, huh, girl?” She stroked the dog’s fur, then swinging her legs over the bed, got up to face the day.
Lexy caught her reflection in the mirror, a groan escaping her lips when she saw the dark circles under her eyes. It was going to take some strong coffee and a long, hot shower to get herself ready to face the day.
She padded downstairs in her bare feet. Lifting the cushion off Sprinkles dog bed, she ran her finger along the edge of the seam, feeling for the gap in the stitches. She poked her finger inside, feeling the hard edge of the notebook. Satisfied it was still there, she pushed the sides back together and replaced the cushion.
She was about halfway into her coffee and starting to feel alive again, when her cell phone sounded.
“Hello?”
“Hi, I saw you called last night.” Lexy recognized Cassie’s voice.
“You won’t believe this. Remember how Jason asked if Kevin had contacted me?”
“Yes...”
“Well, I got a package in the mail from Kevin yesterday.” Talking about it made Lexy realize the implications of having the notebook. She felt a heavy cloud of foreboding settling in her stomach.
“A package?”
“It was a notebook with cryptic writing in it. I have no idea what it means. Want to come over and take a look?”
“Ughh, I can’t” Cassie’s disappointed voice rang through the phone. “Can you send me some pictures of the pages? Maybe I can figure something out.”
“Sure, I can. I’ll hang up and send them right away.”
“Ok, I’ll call you later then.”
Lexy went over to the dog bed, taking a quick peek out the windows to make sure no one would interrupt her. She slipped the book out of its hiding place. Snapping off a few photos with her smartphone, she sent them to Cassie and then put the book back.
The cell phone went off in her hands. It was Nans.
“Hi Nans. I have some breaking news. Something big.”
“Oh really, what?”
“I got a package in the mail yesterday. It was from Kevin.” Lexy could hear a sharp intake of breath from the other end of the phone.
“What was it?”
“It was a notebook, but I can’t make out what it says. It seems to be in code or something. I have some pictures of the pages. I can bring them over if you want.”
“That would be great! Ida is somewhat of a cryptographer; maybe she can figure out what it all means.”
“OK, great. I’ll be over in a bit.” Lexy closed the phone. Fumbling to put it in her purse, she knocked the purse over. The contents spilled out on the floor.
Sprinkles jumped on Lexy’s shiny key ring, batting it around until it disappeared under the radiator.
“Oh, Sprinkles! Sheesh.” Lexy took a deep breath, then let it out in a loud sigh. She got down on her hands and knees to reach under the radiator, felt the cold metal of the keys with her fingertips and pulled. They didn’t budge—they were stuck!
Lying flat on the hard linoleum floor, she reached her arm even further in to get a better hold. She wrestled with the keys, pulling this way and tugging that way. Finally, her efforts rewarded, the keys came loose. Lexy held them up in front of her face.
She had a large amount of keys but they appeared to all be accounted for. She dropped them in her purse, then hurried upstairs to shower and get ready to go to Nans’.
Lexy sat at the table in the Brook Ridge Retirement Community Center, the Ladies Detective Club clustered around her. She brought up the pictures on her smart phone passing it around so everyone could get a look. The actual book was still hidden in Sprinkles bed—Lexy didn’t feel comfortable carrying it around with her.
Ruth and Helen quickly flipped through the pictures; Ida spent a longer time looking at them.
“It looks like a substitution cypher,” Ida squinted at the small pictures, scribbling something down on a notepad. “But it could take a long time to figure out the code without the key. Did you get anything else with the notebook?”
“No, there was nothing else in the envelope.”
“Well this proves one thing,” Nans said. “Kevin must have been blackmailing someone.”
“Yeah, but who, and what about.”
“The answer to that,” Ida said, tapping the smart phone with the tip of her pencil. “Is right here in the book. We just need to figure it out.”
“Lexy, you need to get this book to the police right away.” Nans mouth was set in a grim line, her eyes deadly serious. “It looks like Kevin got killed for this information—for what he knew. And now you know it too. You could be in grave danger.”
Lexy was jittery. She didn’t want to go home, so she opted for a trip to the mall. Shoe shopping always made her feel better, plus she could use the distraction to clear her head and help her think better.
She knew Nans was right about the book. Paging through the caller list on her phone she found Jack’s number. She clicked on it, listening to the hollow ring on the other end, her stomach a jangle of nerves. He didn’t answer. Now what? She left a short message asking him to call her.
Zipping into a parking spot at the front of the mall, she hopped out of her car, making a beeline for her favorite shoe store. Staring at the racks of designer shoes soothed Lexy’s mind. She picked out a purple suede platform pair, a black and rhinestone dressy stiletto pair, and a couple of lower-heeled sandals to try on.
Sexy red shoes caught her eye. She thought back to the woman at the wake—Kevin’s girlfriend. Did she have something to do with it?
Ruth was right, those shoes sold for $500 - $1000 and an assistants’ salary didn’t allow for such luxuries.
Of course, Kevin could have bought them for her with his blackmail money.
Or she could be the embezzler—or the blackmailer.
For all she knew, Kevin was the embezzler and someone was blackmailing him.
And why did Jason ask if Kevin had contacted her? Was he involved too? Did he know Kevin was going to send the book?
Who was the grungy man that had warned her off? Maybe he was in on it with the embezzler and didn’t want her to find out the truth.
How would she ever figure out who the real killer was? Lexy sat down hard on the bench to try on her shoes. She needed a good solid lead pointing to one of the suspects. That and a nice new pair of shoes would make everything all better.
After trying on what seemed like a hundred pair, Lexy was exhausted. A glance at her watch told her it was nearing suppertime. Jack still hadn’t returned her call.
Dragging several packages along with her, she navigated the nearly full parking lot to her car. The hell with Detective Jack Perillo, if he didn’t think her phone call was important, then he could wait to find out she had the notebook. Sprinkles needed to be fed and let out so she headed home, danger or no danger.
At her front door, Lexy balanced her packages while she searched the key ring for her key.
Damn! It wasn’t there! She remembered how the ring had gotten stuck under the radiator earlier that morning. The front door key must have fallen off in the struggle.
Remembering there was a spare key for the kitchen door under the planter in the back, Lexy set off around the side of the house. She could hear Sprinkles barking inside. The poor dog wasn’t used to Lexy walking around to the back. She probably thought Lexy was an intruder. Lexy felt herself smile with pride that her little watchdog was trying to protect the house.
Lexy put down her packages at the back door. Bending down, she lifted the planter with both hands. It was almost dark, but the key glinted in the fading sunlight. She balanced the planter against her hip, grabbed the key with one hand, then replaced the planter gently.
Turning to the door, she put the key in the lock, twisted the knob and pushed the door open. A sudden rustle of movement to her right caught her attention. She turned to see what it was. A sharp pain exploded in the back of her head. For a split second, she felt the sensation of falling…then there was nothing but darkness.
12
Lexy dug her toes in the sand. She was laying on the beach, the warm water lapping at her cheek. Jack was next to her holding her hand. She had the feeling he was about to ask a very important question.
“Lexy...”
“Umm-hmmm...” She mumbled, not wanting to disturb her perfectly positioned, bikini-clad body. She turned her head to face Jack. He looked good with no shirt on. Very good.
She felt a light slap on her cheek, the sand feeling unusually hard under her, the smell of pine permeating her nostrils. Pine? Wait a minute; shouldn’t that be the salty sea air she was smelling?
Lexy Baker Cozy Mystery Series Boxed Set Vol 1 (Books 1 - 4) (Lexy Baker Cozy Mysteries Boxed Sets) Page 5