“Ladies, Ladies. Please!” He bent down, trying to separate them. “I beg of you.”
Lexy stopped fighting. She flushed with embarrassment—rolling around on the floor in a catfight wasn’t anything grown women should be doing. Veronica must have realized how ridiculous they looked too and she rolled away from Lexy. The two women struggled to get to their feet, encumbered by their voluminous gowns.
Philippe stepped in between them, his forehead creasing as he looked them up and down. His face fell. “You have ruined my beautiful gowns.”
Lexy looked down at her gown. Her stomach sank when she saw a big rip on the side and another down the front.
Would they be able to repair it in time for her wedding?
“Hey, buddy. We have almost the same exact dress. What’s up with that? I paid for a custom dress.” Veronica held her gown to her chest to keep it from falling off as she turned her venomous stare on Philippe.
“What?” Philippe frowned as he looked from one gown to the other. “They are rather similar. You ladies must have given us similar instructions. And now they both need major repairs. You must take them off so Millie can work on them right away.”
Veronica backed away, still holding her dress up.
“No way, pal. If you think I’m going to stand around and let you fix
her
dress so she can have the same gown as me, you’ve got another think coming!”
“But Madam—” Philippe sputtered then stopped as Veronica held up her hand cutting him off. She turned to glare at Lexy.
“You better start looking for another dress, Baker,” she said holding her dress up with one hand and jabbing her finger at Lexy with the other. “Because I’m going to make sure you don’t wear
that
one … if it’s the last thing I do!”
Chapter Two
Lexy’s stomach sank as she stared at the wedding dress that lay folded on her couch. Angry over what had happened at the dress shop, she’d refused Philippe's pleas for her to leave it for him to repair and insisted on taking it home.
But now she had no idea how she was going to get it fixed. The ceremony was in less than a week. She’d worked so hard for everything to be perfect … and now her dream dress was ruined.
She leaned over, lifted the lid on the box of goodies
and peered in
.
Two éclairs, five snickerdoodles and two cupcakes. The sound of the bakery box lid attracted the attention of her dog, Sprinkles, and within seconds, the white Shih-Tzu mix was on the couch beside her, staring up at her expectantly.
“Hey, Sprinkles.” She stroked the dog's white fur. “An éclair seems like it would really hit the spot right now, don’t you think?”
Sprinkles beat her tail against the back of the couch in agreement as Lexy picked out the confection. She broke off a teensy piece of pastry and fed it to the dog before biting into it herself. Giving her dress a sideways glance she hoped she’d still fit in it as her taste buds enjoyed the explosion of sweet, silky custard.
One little éclair wouldn’t make the dress too tight, would it?
The shrill ring of the phone caught her attention. She rummaged in her purse, frowning at the display.
Chez Philippe.
Sinking back into the couch with a sigh, she pushed the talk button.
“Hello?”
“Miss Lexy? It’s Philippe Montague.”
“Yes, Philippe. What can I do for you?”
“Please, I must beg you to bring the dress in so we can repair it. I feel terrible about what happened with you and Miss Veronica. I wish you would give me a chance to make it better.”
Lexy fingered the tear on the dress. She was reluctant to go back to
Chez Philippe
, but she’d been unable to find anyone else who could repair it on short notice and her wedding budget was stretched so thin already she didn’t know if she could even afford to pay anyone to do it.
Sensing her hesitation, Philippe said, “Miss Veronica has already agreed to meet here tonight.”
Lexy’s anger started to simmer at the mention of the other bride.
“Well, I have no intention of going anywhere near any place where
she
is,” she said stiffly into the phone.
“No, no, Miss Lexy. I will meet with her separately. I will not subject you to her … how do you say … intimidations?” Lexy melted a little at Philippe’s voice, which sounded full of apologies. His next words clinched it. “And, of course, the repairs will be free of charge.”
“Free? Really? Great. What time do you want to meet?”
***
A niggle of doubt pulled at Lexy’s stomach as she eyed the darkened interior of
Chez Philippe
through the glass door. Her appointment was at seven and, according to her phone, it was six fifty-eight.
A few minutes early, but shouldn’t Philippe be here?
Then she remembered the main shop only stayed open until five—Philippe was probably in the back room and had left the lights off out front to discourage shoppers. She got out of her car with a shrug, grabbed her wedding dress from the back seat and clip-clopped up to the door in her tan suede Jimmy Choo’s.
Opening the door, Lexy felt a shiver of premonition … or maybe it was the air conditioning that seemed to be blasting on high. She hesitated in the doorway for a second, expecting Philippe to have heard the bell over the door and come out of the back to greet her.
A few seconds of silence ticked by before she proceeded further into the shop.
“Hello? Philippe?” She ventured.
Silence.
“Is anyone here?”
No one answered.
Maybe he is sewing in the back and can’t hear me over the machines?
Lexy made her way across the salesroom floor toward the back of the shop. The mannequins, showing off the latest bridal gowns, which seemed fashionably welcoming in the light of day, suddenly leered at her with sinister intent.
Clutching her dress tighter to her chest, she picked up the pace.
“Mr. Montague … it’s Lexy Baker,” she announced as she rounded the corner, then stopped short.
That’s odd. The lights are off back here, too.
A familiar coppery metallic smell tickled Lexy’s nose and the doubt that had pawed at her stomach earlier spread as she fumbled for the light switch. The lights came on and Lexy craned her neck to see around the sewing table, dreading what she might find.
Her heart jerked when she saw the bodies lying side by side on the floor. She threw her dress down on the table and ran over. She skidded in something wet and her stomach churned with the nauseating realization that it was a pool of spreading blood.
The back of her mind was screaming for her to run in the other direction, but she had to check if they were alive so that she could perform aid if necessary.
Why would someone kill Philippe and his assistant?
She reached Philippe first and checked for a pulse. Nothing.
She turned to the other body. From the doorway, she’d assumed it was Philippe’s assistant who lay beside him but now, close up, she could see she’d been wrong. It was Veronica Maynard. And she was dead.
Why would someone want to kill Philippe
and
Veronica?
Lexy stood up, grabbed her dress off the counter and ran out to her car to call nine-one-one.
Chapter Three
Lexy’s stomach churned as she heard the sirens getting closer and closer. It wasn’t the site of the two bodies so much—she was getting kind of used to stumbling over dead bodies—but the arrival of her homicide detective fiancé that made her nervous. Jack had a tendency to get irritated with the way Lexy seemed to be a murder magnet, and with the wedding so close, she didn’t want to rock the boat.
Two black and whites pulled to the curb along with an unmarked police car with Jack at the wheel and his partner, John Darling, riding shotgun. Lexy saw Jack’s eyes narrow as he recognized her car, and she steeled herself with a deep breath.
Lexy got out and leaned against the car. Her top teeth worried her bottom lip as she watched Jack come toward her. She had to admit, his tall frame, broad shoulders and ruggedly handsome face still made her heart flutter. She just hoped he wouldn’t be too mad.
“
You
called this in?” He raised a brow at her.
Lexy nodded.
“Two bodies?” He glanced back at the building where John was organizing the rest of the crew.
Lexy nodded again.
“Jeez, Lexy. Now you’re finding them in batches.” Jack shook his head and turned to start back across the street. Then he stopped, turned back toward her and took a step closer. He tucked a stray hair behind her ear, and her heart swelled when she saw the concern in his honey-brown eyes.
“Don’t leave. We’re going to need to question you.” He brushed his lips quickly against her forehead then jogged back to
Chez Philippe,
disappearing through the front door and leaving Lexy to wonder what the heck had happened in there.
Lexy glanced into her car at her wedding dress, feeling selfishly happy that she hadn’t left it in the store where it might be confiscated as evidence. The thought gave her a pang of guilt when she realized Veronica’s dress might not be so lucky. Was it in there covered in blood? She couldn’t remember what the room had looked like or what was in there, she’d been so focused on determining if either of them was alive. Either way, Veronica would never get the chance to wear it.
Suddenly stricken with an overwhelming curiosity, she stood on her tiptoes craning to see if she could make out what was going on inside. Jack probably wouldn’t like it if she barged right in though, so she took out her phone and called Nans instead.
Not that long ago, Lexy discovered that Nans and three of her friends, Ida, Ruth and Helen, had an unusual hobby—they liked to solve murders. They were actually quite serious about it and even had a name for themselves—
The Ladies Detective Club
. That hobby had really come in handy when Lexy had been accused of poisoning her ex-boyfriend. Since then, the five of them had gone on to solve several other murders.
Lexy had to admit she had a fondness, and a bit of a talent, for solving murders … even if Jack took a dim view of her extra-curricular activities. Nans would never forgive her if she found out Lexy had stumbled across more bodies and didn’t call right away.
“Hello?” Nans answered the phone and Lexy could hear a din of conversation in the background.
“Hi Nans. It’s Lexy.”
“Oh. Hi, dear. I forgot to look at caller id again. How are you?”
“Good,” Lexy said, “I have some interesting news.”
“Hold on, dear.”
Lexy could have sworn she heard someone yell “Bingo” before the sounds on the other end were muffled by Nans’ hand covering the mouthpiece.
A few seconds later Nans came back on. “Sorry, dear. I had to go outside because I couldn’t hear.”
“Are you at Bingo again?” Lexy asked.
“Yes,” Nans said sheepishly. “Ida just won a hundred dollars—that’s a lot when you’re on a fixed budget with only social security checks to support you.”
“I’m sure it is.” A movement over in the store caught Lexy’s eye and she lowered her voice. “Never mind about that though, I have something exciting to tell you.”
“Oh? What?”
“Remember how I told you I was bringing my dress back to
Chez Philippe
tonight?”
“Yeeees.” Nans drew out the middle of the word.
“Well, you won’t believe what I found,” Lexy said.
“What?” Nans was starting to sound aggravated and Lexy could almost picture her making a circling gesture with her hand to indicate Lexy should move it along.
“Philippe Montague and Veronica Maynard.” Lexy paused for effect.
“In a compromising position?” Nans asked sounding much more interested.
“No. Dead.”
Nans gasped on the other end of the phone. “Did you say dead?”
“Yep.”
“But who would want to kill them?” Nans asked.
“That’s what I was wondering,” Lexy said. “Jack’s inside investigating the scene right now.”
“What? And you’re not in there?” Nans practically yelled into the phone.
“No. He told me to stay here.” Lexy looked over at the doorway again. She really wanted to know what was going on in there.
“You need to get in there and listen to what they are saying. Find out what the clues are. Memorize the crime scene,” Nans instructed. “Otherwise, how do you expect us to solve the murders?”
Lexy pressed her lips together trying to remember Jack’s words. He hadn’t actually said
not
to go in there, he’d just said not to leave. Which meant it was perfectly fine for her to go in.
“Okay, I’m going in. I’ll call you later.”
Lexy snapped the phone shut, walked over to the shop door, opened it and strode in like she belonged there.
***
No one questioned her entrance, so Lexy snuck into the back room and slid into a corner, wedging herself in between a dress form and the counter. The form was fully clothed in a hoop skirt wedding gown, which she hoped would hide her.
Jack was busy bending over the body with John and the medical examiner, Naomi Sprigs. Several crime scene investigators were busy taking pictures, dusting for prints and putting down yellow plastic cards with numbers on them. No one paid any attention to her.
She craned her neck to see what was going on over by the bodies. Naomi was pointing at different parts of the bodies, presumably the parts where the blood was coming out. With a start, Lexy realized she didn’t even know what had killed them. She tilted her ear toward the trio, hoping to hear what they were saying.
“… gunshot wound here … and here,” Naomi said.
John stood up and walked to the back of the room. Lexy noticed there was a back door right behind him. He made a motion like he was holding a gun. Some of his words drifted over to Lexy.