Roy gave another eye roll, turned and left.
Lexy plucked at her napkin, suddenly very nervous.
What if Jack didn’t like her parents?
Jack reached over and pulled her onto his lap.
“You’re parents are charming,” he said nibbling on her ear.
Lexy swatted him away and tried to wiggle out of his lap but he held tight. She stayed in his lap casting nervous glances toward the door. With the way her mother operated, she could whirl back into the kitchen unannounced at any time. But she wanted to stay on Jack’s good side … she needed information from him.
“So, have you heard anything more about the double murder case?” Lexy asked.
“There was a break-in at
Chez Philippe
last night,” Jack said between nibbles.
Lexy pushed away to look at his face. “Really? That’s kind of strange isn’t it? Do you think it’s related to the murders?”
“Well, they were clearly looking for something because the place was ransacked. But if it was the murderer, why wouldn’t he have searched it when he was there doing the killing?” Jack asked taking a sudden interest in unbuttoning her shirt.
“Maybe he got interrupted and had to come back later.”
What if
she
was the one that had interrupted the killer?
Lexy felt a cold chill run up her spine thinking of how she might have been the third victim.
“And what about you?” Jack stopped the unbuttoning and studied her face. “I heard you had a run in with Detective Davies.”
Lexy’s stomach tightened. Jack didn’t like it when she got in the middle of on-going investigations but, in this case, she felt like she had a right to.
“Nans and I might have paid a little visit to Veronica’s fiancé.” She chewed her bottom lip and looked at Jack. “I know you don’t like it when we investigate, but I’m not that confident in Davies’ abilities. If it were
you
on the case I’d feel better, but right now I feel like investigating with Nans and the ladies is my best chance. You saw how hot Davies was to pin this on me.”
“I know, and I agree with you,” Jack said massaging the tension out of her shoulder.
“You do?”
“Yep.”
“Great, then maybe if you find anything out like what type of gun they were killed with or any other evidence the police found, you could pass that along,” she said. “But after what we found out yesterday, that might not be necessary, because I’m sure the police will soon find out the fiancé is the killer.”
“Oh? What did you find?”
“Veronica and her fiancé had a big fight and they took off in separate cars right before the murder. The fiancé hasn’t been home since,” Lexy said. “Seems to me, if I were going to kill my fiancé, I’d high tail it out of town and get as far away as I could, too.”
“Sure, that makes sense,” Jack said. “But if the fiancé is the killer and he’s on the run, who broke into
Chez Philippe
?”
Chapter Nine
Lexy didn’t have time to think about who had broken into
Chez Philippe
—she had a lot to do at the bakery and still had to find time to meet with the wedding planner to finalize the menu.
She extricated herself from Jack’s lap, pushed him out the back door, fed Sprinkles and then made a mad dash for her car stopping at her parents RV only long enough to bang on the door and yell a quick ‘good-bye’. The sound of her father’s power drill pierced the air as she pulled out of the driveway.
Fifteen minutes later, she was pulling into her spot behind the bakery. The smell of vanilla and sugar hit her as soon as she opened the door. She stood in the back entrance inhaling the intoxicating scent. There was nothing she loved more than the smell of fresh baked cookies.
Peeking into the kitchen, she could see Cassie at work folding chocolate chips into a large stainless steel bowl. Cassie looked up and smiled.
“I’ve been waiting for you!” Cassie threw down the bowl, ran over to the other side of the room and grabbed a brown box. “This came in the mail yesterday and I’ve been dying to show it to you.”
Lexy didn’t remember ordering anything. She walked over to the table as Cassie dug excitedly in the box, the smile growing on her face as she lifted out what was inside.
“I ordered it special for your cake.” Lexy stared at the item that Cassie held triumphantly in her hand. It was a wedding cake topper, the bride with a chef’s hat and the groom in a police uniform.
“What? I didn’t even know you could order stuff like that.” Lexy’s heart swelled at the thoughtful gesture. “That was so nice of you.” She turned and crushed Cassie in a hug.
“Well, you are my best friend … and you did trust me to make the most important cake of your life.”
Cassie had worked as Lexy’s assistant since she’d opened the bakery and was becoming quite proficient in baking with a particular flair for cake decorating. When she’d offered to make Lexy’s wedding cake, Lexy had happily accepted, she could think of no one better to trust the job to than her best friend.
“It’s perfect,” Lexy said.
“Well I figured you could use a pick me up after all that business over at
Chez Philippe
.” Cassie put the topper gently back into the box.
Lexy rolled her eyes and leaned against the counter eyeing the plates of oversized cookies that were waiting to be displayed in the glass bakery cases out front. Her mouth watered and she thought about nibbling on a snickerdoodle until she remembered she’d just wolfed down most of a cheese blintz. Better to hold off on the cookies if she still wanted to fit into her gown.
“I know, I need that like I need a hole in the head … I’m so busy with all this wedding stuff, when will I find time to investigate a double murder?”
“Yeah, John couldn’t believe they put a rookie in charge.” Cassie made a face.
“Tell me about it … worst part is, she seems to be hell-bent on proving
I
did it. I would feel so much better if Jack and John were investigating it.”
“At least you have Nans and the ladies, right?” Cassie crossed over to the oven, shoved her hands in oven mitts, took two cookie sheets out and deftly scraped the cookies onto racks to cool.
“Yeah, thankfully. Otherwise I might be looking forward to wearing handcuffs instead of a wedding ring,” Lexy said. “Nans and I went over to talk to Veronica’s fiancé yesterday and found out something that will hopefully clear me so I shouldn’t have to worry about it anymore.”
“Oh?” Cassie picked up two trays of cookies gesturing for Lexy to take the others. Lexy picked up the trays and told Cassie about the couple’s fight and disappearance of the fiancé while the girls walked to the front of the store.
Cassie slid the door of one of the glass pastry cases open and leaned in to arrange the cookies. Lexy took a moment to look around the front room of her shop and her lips curled up in a smile. She’d always dreamed of owning her own bakery and a few years ago, thanks to a loan from her parents, her dream had come true.
Her bakery,
The Cup and Cak
e, was situated in an old mill building that sat in the middle of downtown Brooke Ridge Falls. In the back was the kitchen where she and Cassie did all the baking, and the front room had glass display cases full of pastries along with café tables that sat next to a floor-to-ceiling window with a picture perfect view of the falls the town was named for. A self-serve coffee station was setup near the tables and the pungent aroma of fresh brewed coffee spiced the air.
“Wait a minute, I thought John told me
Chez Philippe
got broken into last night,” Cassie said looking back over her shoulder and interrupting Lexy’s thoughts.
“Yeah, I know. I just found that out from Jack. I figured Stuart—her fiancé—would be halfway across the country by now.” Lexy moved to the second pastry case and opened the door, reaching in to rearrange some of the items to fit the cookies.
“Maybe he broke back in to remove evidence or something,” Cassie suggested.
Lexy frowned at the peanut butter cookies she was stacking in the case. “Maybe, but Jack said the place had been searched. You’d think the evidence would be right out in plain sight … why would he have to search?”
“That’s a good question.” Cassie stacked the last of her cookies in the case and stood up, one giant chocolate chip cookie in her hand. “Maybe there was something in the store or their files he didn’t want the police to find? Just where, exactly, did he search?”
Lexy finished with her display and stood up. “I don’t know … I’ll have to ask Jack.”
Cassie broke the cookie in half and handed half to Lexy. “Well in any event, it seems like the fiancé running away is a sure sign of his guilt, so that lets you off the hook.”
“Yep.” Lexy nibbled her half of the cookie. “I’m going to stop by the police station later today and get my shoe back.”
“Your shoe?” Cassie wrinkled her forehead at Lexy.
“When I found the bodies I ran over to see if I needed to do CPR or something and I stepped in blood. They took one of my Jimmy Choo’s as evidence.”
“No wonder you want it back. Those things cost a mint.”
“Yeah, I just hope I can clean it off.” Lexy’s stomach twisted. She didn’t want to wear bloodstained shoes, but she’d splurged on that pair and her budget didn’t allow for too many expensive shoe purchases. “Anyway, I’m sure detective Davies will have figured out the fiancé is the killer by now and will be willing to knock me off the suspect list.”
“One can only hope. I heard she was kind of ditzy.” Cassie shoved the last of her half of the cookie into her mouth.
“You might say that, but I feel pretty confident that even Watson Davies will agree the case is closed.” Lexy nibbled on her cookie thoughtfully. “I mean, it’s pretty obvious Stuart Wiggins is the killer—why would he have disappeared if he wasn’t?”
Cassie shrugged. “Right, he would have no reason to run, so it makes sense to me that he did it.”
“He probably killed her in a fit of anger. They had the fight. He chased her in the car and found her at
Chez Philippe
.” Lexy frowned. “Poor Philippe just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“That explains almost everything … except the break-in,” Cassie said.
Lexy sighed. “I know … and I know exactly what Nans is going to say once she finds out about it.”
“What’s that?”
“If there’s something in the store Stuart didn’t want the police to find, then there may be more to this case than meets the eye.”
Chapter Ten
It was mid-afternoon when Lexy pulled into the Brooke Ridge Falls Police Department parking lot. She’d finished the day’s baking and left Cassie in charge at
The Cup and Cake
, then dropped the final guest list off at the wedding planner and reviewed the menu. Now she just had to get her shoe back and her day would be complete.
She felt pretty confident that she’d be welcome at the BRFPD because she’d brought her secret weapon—a box of goodies from the bakery.
Pushing open the double glass doors, she walked up to the desk.
“Help you?” the woman behind the chest high desk that separated the lobby from the inner workings of the station asked mechanically without even looking up. Lexy recognized her from previous visits to the station. The name on her uniform—Bristlecone—helped jog Lexy’s memory.
Lexy slid the oversized box onto the counter “Hi, Officer Bristlecone. I was hoping I could talk to Detective Davies.”
Bristlecone looked at the counter, her eyes lighting up when she saw Lexy … or was it when she saw the pastry box? Either way, she seemed receptive to Lexy’s request.
“Oh, hi Lexy. Let me see if she’s in.” Bristlecone stood up and peeked under the lid of the box.
“Please, help yourself. I brought them for everyone,” Lexy said.
Bristlecone picked out a brownie, wrapped it in a napkin and stashed it under some papers on the corner of the desk. “Thanks. I’ll go get Davies.”
Lexy tapped a cherry red nail on the counter while she waited. There wasn’t a lot of crime in her little town and the station was quiet. A few of the uniformed officers were sitting at metal desks in the squad room, busy with paperwork or phone calls. She knew from previous visits that the door on the left opened to the hallway that led to the regular offices and interrogation rooms. She’d been back there many times to visit Jack in his office and now wondered if Davies had her own office.
She didn’t have to wait long to find out. The door opened and Davies appeared wearing skintight black jeans, and a black tee shirt with what looked like graffiti on it.
She snapped her gum at Lexy. “Ahh, Ms. Baker. Did you come to confess?”
Lexy frowned at the small blonde. “Hardly. In fact, I’m sure by now you have enough evidence on the fiancé … or you should.”
“Come on in so we can talk.” Davies jerked her head toward the hall and held the door open.
Lexy grabbed the pastry box and followed her. Pastries always worked when she wanted information out of Jack and the other detectives. She didn’t know if they would have the same effect on the disagreeable Davies, but it was worth a try.
Davies’ shoes clickety-clacked on the beige industrial tile floor and Lexy studied them with envy. Black patent leather stilettos with steel spiked studs. Davies might not be the sharpest detective on the force but she sure did have good taste in shoes. Lexy wouldn’t mind a pair of those herself and was debating the wisdom of having the same shoes as the detective when Davies stopped in front of one of the offices causing Lexy to almost knock her over.
Davies turned around and gave Lexy a mashed up face look. “Hey, do you mind?”
“Sorry, I didn’t realize you were going to stop here.”
Davies rolled her eyes, pushed the door open and gestured for Lexy to go in first. The room was large with four desks set up one behind the other. Lexy remembered that it served as an office for several people—only the higher-ranking detectives, like Jack, got their own office. Davies led her to the last desk and pulled a chair over for Lexy to sit in. The top of the desk was littered with papers, post it notes and a several bottles of nail polish. Lexy pushed the pastry box across the surface.