Lexy Baker Cozy Mystery Series Boxed Set Vol 1 (Books 1 - 4) (Lexy Baker Cozy Mysteries Boxed Sets)

by Leighann Dobbs

  “You'd have to ask him. But I'm not sure he cares too much about money.”

  “What about Chastine’s assistant…what was her name?”

  “Candice?”

  “Yes, that's it! I didn't catch her last name though..." Lexy said it nonchalantly, as if she didn’t really care.

  She saw Blake's forehead wrinkle. He paused for a moment. "Come to think of it, I don't think I know her last name."

  Damn.

  Lexy was about to press further when she was interrupted by the trilling of her phone. She pulled it out of her pocket, glancing down at the display. Jack! Why did he have to call now of all times? With a sigh, she turned the phone off without answering and stuffed it back in her pocket.

  “Who was that?” Blake asked.

  “Oh, no one important.” She turned her full attention back to Blake, tilting her head sideways, glancing at him from underneath her long lashes. "So, what were we talking about?"

  Out of the corner of her eye, Lexy could see Cassie was finishing up with collecting the trays and other items. She’d have to either give Cassie a signal to slow down, or speed up her questioning. She didn’t have all her answers yet and wouldn’t have an excuse to stay unless she wanted to get really friendly with Blake, which she didn’t.

  “Enough about the murder. I know a place where we can talk much more comfortably and about something much more interesting.” Blake leaned in closer to Lexy, his boyish good looks and charm were tempting, but Lexy had more important things to think of.

  “Oh, Blake, you’re such a flirt!” She laughed, making a joke out of it. “But seriously, aren’t you the least bit curious about who could have murdered your future stepmother right in your own home? I mean it’s kind of creepy that a murderer was in your house.”

  “Well, since you put it that way...it is kind of troubling.”

  “You were home, right? Did you hear anything?”

  “I was home that night. We all were because the brunch was the next day. It’s pretty quiet in the upper wings, but I did hear a commotion early in the morning...” His voice trailed off, his eyes moving up to the ceiling, apparently thinking back to the night before the murder.

  “What was it?” Lexy prompted, trying not to appear too anxious for the answer.

  “I thought I heard a woman giggling, but when I poked my head out into the hall, I only saw Bronson coming up the stairs—alone. I thought maybe he had brought some floozy home, but there was no one with him.”

  “What time was that? If he was just coming up from downstairs he might have been very close to running into the murderer!” Or maybe he was the murderer, Lexy thought.

  “It was around two-thirty in the morning,” Blake said, then Lexy saw his eyes grow wider. “Hey, isn’t that right about when the murder happened?”

  Lexy nodded.

  Blake turned his charm on Lexy. “But, what’s any of that have to do with us?”

  Lexy felt a sharp jolt of panic when he took her arm in an attempt to lead her into the other room.

  The sound of trays clattering behind them brought them to a halt. Lexy spun around, feeling a surge of relief when she saw Cassie standing in front of two trays that had fallen on the floor.

  “Sorry,” Cassie said. Lexy noticed she didn’t look the least bit sorry. “I’m all done packing this stuff up, Lexy.”

  “Oh...right.” Lexy looked up at Blake. “We should be getting back to the bakery.”

  “Oh...but we were just getting to know each other.” Lexy thought she saw an actual look of regret on his face, but she knew he was a notorious playboy—he’d probably forget about her as soon as she walked out the door.

  The sound of the doorknocker echoed into the kitchen. Lexy took advantage of the new visitors to make her exit. “You go answer that and Cassie and I will let ourselves out the back. Our car is just around the front.”

  “OK, well maybe I’ll see you later?” It was more a question than a statement.

  Lexy nodded and they both started walking off in opposite directions - Blake toward the front door, Lexy toward the back.

  Remembering she needed one final piece of information, Lexy stopped and spun around. “Blake?”

  “Yes?”

  “I was just wondering when the wake is. My grandmother would like to pay her respects.”

  “Oh, that’s set for tomorrow afternoon. Three o’clock at McGreevy’s.”

  “Great, thanks!” Lexy turned back, grabbed one of the boxes Cassie had packed from the table and beat a hasty retreat out the back door.

  9

  “Not that way, Cassie—this way.” Lexy nodded her head toward the back of the house.

  “Huh? Our car is that way,” Cassie said, pointing toward the front of the house.

  “I know, but we're going this way because I have a sneaky suspicion this is where the murder weapon can be found.”

  “Murder weapon?”

  “Yes, remember yesterday when John told us it was a seven inch serrated knife? Well, I think it was one of our knives! I had brought it here during the initial setup, and now it’s missing. It’s got to be the one the killer used.”

  For a fleeting second, Lexy wondered if the fact that it was their knife would cast suspicion on her—after all, she had been the one to find the body. She didn’t think she would be a suspect though since she had no motive, but it gave her even more of a reason to find the knife, which she hoped might have some evidence on or near it that would help them figure out who the killer was.

  “OK, so it was our knife, why the trip to the back of the house?” Cassie asked.

  “I happened to notice a little dumpster back here behind this fence. Seems like that would be a perfect place to dispose of a murder weapon.”

  “But do you think we should be looking for it? Maybe we should call the police—I mean we wouldn't want to destroy any evidence or anything.”

  Cassie wanting to call the police? Now this was a switch, Lexy thought. Usually she avoided any kind of authority.

  Cassie did have a good point, though. Lexy had considered calling them, but she didn't have time to wait for the police to find it, plus she was still mad at Jack.

  The girls slipped behind a stockade fence that camouflaged the unsightly necessities, like the dumpster and central air conditioning unit for the house, from the view of the mansion. It was also a convenient camouflage for the two girls in case anyone happened to look out one of the windows.

  Over to the right, on the other side of the fence, was a gigantic pool with sparkling blue water and Grecian statues all around. The construction of a new cabana building the size of most people’s homes was in full swing on the other side of the pool.

  Lexy tore her eyes from the peaceful scene to look at the grungy, smelly dumpster. Putting down her box, she stepped gingerly over the greasy debris on the ground. Next to her, Cassie wrinkled her nose in disgust.

  "It smells pretty ripe out here, huh?" Lexy pinched her nose between her thumb and forefinger to block out the smell of garbage. With her other hand, she swatted at several flies that were circling her head.

  "So, who's going to look in there?" Cassie asked.

  Lexy looked at her friend, then at the dumpster, and then took a deep breath. "I will."

  She walked over to the edge and tried to peek in. It was a small dumpster, but even standing on her tippy toes with two-inch platforms on her feet, she couldn’t see over the edge. Glancing around, she found a milk crate in the corner, pulled it over and stepped up on top, allowing herself a view into the dumpster. She felt bile rise up in her throat, the smell was even worse from up there.

  "I don’t see it." Lexy craned her head to look into the corner of the dumpster.

  "Of course not. What were you expecting—to have the murder weapon just laying on top? If the murderer had any sense they would have buried it deep down inside there." Cassie blew out a breath causing her pink-tinted bangs to flutter.

  Lexy looked down into the dum
pster again. Could she bring herself to get in there? The thought caused her stomach to churn. The Danish she ate earlier threatened to make its way back up.

  She looked around for a better solution. Over in the corner was a large push broom. If she used it to stir things around, maybe she could unearth the knife.

  “Cassie, grab that broom over there for me.”

  Cassie grabbed the handle and passed it over to Lexy. Lexy hoisted herself up, balancing her hips on the edge of the dumpster so she could get the broom down inside. Glancing at Cassie over her shoulder, she asked, “Can you hold my legs so I don’t fall in?”

  Lexy heard Cassie burst out laughing, then felt her grab her right calf.

  She shoved the broom in and started sweeping the garbage around which sent a variety of noxious smells up to assault her nose. Her eyes weren’t having much fun either—there was all kinds of gross slimy garbage, flies and who knew what else in there.

  “Ughh...this is gross!” She moved the broom slowly, her eyes searching for a glint of silver or the shape of a knife handle. She was just getting into a sweeping routine when…

  “What are you doing?” The deep voice boomed from behind them.

  Cassie shrieked, threw her arms in the air and let go of Lexy’s leg. Lexy teetered on the edge of the dumpster, her rear-end up in the air and arms flailing for something to grab onto to save her from falling in.

  Just as she was about to lose her battle, she felt someone grab her by the waist and pull her off the side of the dumpster. She let out a sigh of relief, turned and came face to face with the person who had saved her from being smothered in garbage. The last person she wanted to see right now. Jack Perillo.

  “What were you doing in the dumpster?” Jack demanded.

  Lexy felt a surge of anger bubble up inside her when she saw the hint of laughter in his eyes. She tried to back away from him, but was forced to stop when her backside bumped up against the hard metal of the dumpster.

  "I was looking for some of my catering equipment," she mumbled. Looking down, she swatted at her clothing to try to remove some of the encrusted debris.

  She heard Jack sigh. "Lexy, I hope you aren’t meddling in this case.”

  Meddling? What did he think—that she had nothing better to do? If he had been doing his job faster, she wouldn't be forced now to figure out who the murderer was in order to get her payment in the first place! The anger Lexy had felt earlier threatened to explode. She struggled to remain calm. Her eyes darted to the left. She considered sidestepping away from him but he put his hands against the dumpster on either side of her, trapping her in-between.

  “And why haven't you answered my calls?”

  Calls? Had he called more than just the one time today? Lexy realized she hadn't checked her messages in a couple of days.

  She saw Jack’s eyes soften. He reached over, pushing a lock of hair behind her ears and whispered, “By the way, you look nice today.” Lexy felt her heart clench; his words caught her off-guard and chiseled away at her anger.

  Then suddenly, he was leaning in to kiss her. She stood there frozen. Did she want him to kiss her? His lips softly brushed against hers causing Lexy to feel delicious tingles in all the right places. She was just about to return the kiss when she remembered how he had been ignoring her over the past few weeks. Then her thoughts drifted to his earlier comment about meddling, and hard cold anger chased away those warm and fuzzy tingles.

  She pushed on his chest with her hands, shoving him away from her.

  "I hope you don't think you can just breeze in here and kiss me after ignoring me for two weeks." She blurted out the words, stabbing her index finger at his chest to punctuate them.

  Jack took a step backward, a look of surprise on his face. Then, before he could say anything, she turned on her heel and stomped off.

  Rounding the corner of the fence, Lexy glanced up at the house and saw a curtain flutter back. Was someone watching her?

  Not looking where she was going, she plowed full force into the back of Cassie, pushing her into John Darling, almost causing the three of them to fall down in a tangled pile.

  “What the heck?” Lexy noticed John had caught Cassie in his arms to keep her from knocking him down. Neither one of them looked too upset about it. In fact, it seemed like Cassie took a bit longer extracting herself than necessary.

  “Sorry.” Lexy looked at Cassie, then nodded her head toward the car. “Let’s go.” She picked up her box, storming off toward the front of the house.

  Lexy put the box in the trunk, then slipped into the driver’s seat. She looked at herself in the rear view mirror - her hair was messed up, she had dirt on her face and her eye was twitching like a metronome.

  She pulled her phone from her pocket. Jack had called yesterday. She dialed her inbox. Her heart flip-flopped when she heard the apologetic message he had left the day before. He really did care. She glanced over in the direction of the dumpster. Should she go back to talk to him?

  Her thoughts were interrupted by Cassie’s appearance from the side of the house. She watched Cassie slide her box into the trunk, then open the passenger door plopping herself into the seat.

  "What took you so long?" Lexy asked.

  Cassie turned, looking Lexy straight in the face. “Did you ever hear the saying: ‘you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar’?”

  Lexy nodded, thinking about all the flies by the dumpster, but wasn’t sure where Cassie was going with this.

  “Well, while you were busy fighting with Jack, I was talking nicely with John...and I found out something very interesting."

  Lexy raised her eyebrows, indicating for Cassie to elaborate.

  “Apparently one of the sons, Bronson, has a history of violence. John said the police have picked him up a few times for fighting.” Cassie sat back with a proud look on her face.

  “That is interesting.” Lexy tapped her fingernail on her front teeth. “And I bet you won’t find any record of it because the Toliver money can come in handy for making stuff like that go away.”

  Cassie nodded. “Yep, John said all those records usually get closed and purged from the public files.”

  “Which makes me wonder...what other kinds of things Toliver money might have made go away?” She glanced nervously back up at the house.

  “Good find, though. Nans and the girls will be proud!” She turned back to Cassie and held out her fist for a knuckle tap. “Speaking of which, I’d better run home to shower and change. They’re expecting me at the Retirement Center after lunch.”

  10

  Lexy sailed into the Brooke Ridge Retirement Center refreshed from her recent shower and balancing a box of Danish. She put the box on the table. Opening the lid, she waved her hand at it indicating for Nans, Ida, Ruth and Helen to help themselves.

  Ruth, Nans and Helen dug in. Lexy pushed the box toward Ida who held her hand up, palm out. "None for me thanks.”

  Three pairs of eyes turned toward Ida, the Danish pastries paused midway to their mouths.

  "It's that new gentlemen on the third floor, isn't it?” Ruth’s said.

  Lexy was surprised to see Ida's cheeks turned pink. "No, I'm just gaining a little weight is all," she stammered, eliciting a giggle from the other women.

  "OK, let's get down to business." Nans voice boomed over the giggling. She turned to Lexy. "Were you able to find anything out?"

  "Cassie and I went back to the Toliver’s and I talked to Blake. Both the sons were home that night but I found out something else. Xavier's ex-girlfriend has appeared back on the scene."

  "Oh, that's right," Nans said. "He was dating that actress, Trixie...what was her last name?" She asked turning to Helen, her eyebrows raised in a question.

  Helen punched the button on her iPad bringing it to life on the table in front of her. “Should be easy enough to find out, they were all over the society pages a few years back.” She punched in a few keys then sat back with a satisfied smile. "Yep, here it is—Tr
ixie Masters."

  "Yes, that’s it! We’ll need to do some checking up on her - I wonder where she was when Chastine was killed?"

  “Speaking of which, did either one of the Toliver boys have an alibi?” Ruth asked around a mouthful of cherry Danish.

  “They were both home but, both were alone.” Lexy peered into the box of Danish, choosing one with a gooey apple center. “Blake said he saw Bronson out in the hallway around two-thirty that morning. He also said he thought he heard a woman giggling but he didn't see anyone.”

  "And what about the murder weapon?"

  Lexy felt her stomach clench. "Umm...it turns out the murder weapon is actually one of the knives I took there...and it seems to be missing."

  "Oh, well maybe we should be investigating you then.” Ida joked.

  “Very funny,” Lexy said. Picking up her Danish, she took a dainty bite from the edge. “I don't think the police know it was my knife yet. I was hoping to find it today when I looked around out by the dumpster.”

  “What did you guys find out?” She asked, taking another bite from the edge of the Danish.

  “Ruth did some research on Chastine. We found an article about her being engaged to some oil tycoon down in Texas, but apparently it didn’t work out and she moved out here.”

  “We couldn't find too much about the Toliver boys. Bronson was discharged from the military and there seems to be some controversy over that. Blake is a bit of a playboy—you probably already knew that,” Nans looked at Lexy over the top of her glasses as she read from their notes. “Of course, Chastine would have gotten control of the bulk of the Toliver money after she married Xavier so both boys would have had a motive to kill her.”

  Lexy considered the information while she ate her way around the edge of her Danish, carefully saving the middle for last. She didn’t think Blake had anything to do with the murder, but Bronson’s military discharge added an interesting element.

  “According to the police, Bronson has been picked up a few times for fighting. I wonder if his military discharge has anything to do with him being violent.”