Chapter Eight.

Lexy rolled over, plumping the pillow under her head, arching her back to stretch her petite frame under the covers. Reluctantly, she opened her eyes. Deep brown ones looked back at her adoringly from the other side of the pillow. Too bad they weren't Jack's.

Sprinkles, her dog, was laying opposite her in the bed, her head on the pillow gazing expectantly at Lexy.

Lexy couldn't help but smile, the little poodle and shih-tzu mix always made her feel happy.

"Good morning, are you ready for breakfast?" She reached out to pet the dog's silky fur.

Sprinkles answered by leaping up and running circles on the bed which made Lexy giggle out loud.

Lexy swung her legs over the side of the bed and followed the dog downstairs. In the kitchen, she scooped food out of the stainless steel canister she kept on the counter, pouring it into Sprinkles ceramic dog bowl.

Before she could stop herself, she lifted the corner of the window shade to peek at Jack's house. His truck wasn't in the driveway so he had either already gone to work or didn't come home at all. She hoped it was the former.

The sound of Sprinkles nails clacking on the kitchen floor caught her attention. She bent down, placing the bowl on the floor much to Sprinkles delight. She watched the dog attack the food with the gusto of a starving lion.

Glancing at the clock, she felt a pang of anxiety. Better get a move on. She had decided she would let Haley, their part-time help, watch the bakery while she and Cassie went over to the Toliver's.

She ran through the living room, stopping only for a second to straighten out the pillows on the leather sectional. When Nans had moved to the retirement center, she had given Lexy the Craftsman style house which she had lived in most of her life. She'd also left many of the furnishings. Lexy loved being surrounded by Nan's things and she had made only a few changes, the leather couch being one of them. She had loved coming here to visit Nans as a little girl and it was still one of her favorite places to be.

She took the stairs two at a time and sprinted into the bedroom. Wrenching the closet doors open, her eyes scanned the racks searching for the perfect outfit. Something a little flirty might not be a bad idea if she was going to try to get the Toliver boys to open up to her. Then again, she had an idea where the murder weapon might be hidden and looking for it might involve getting dirty so she didn't want to wear anything too dressy.

She picked out her favorite pair of faded jeans that were tight in all the right places, paired it with a black crop top that was cut low and cropped perfectly so it revealed only a hint of skin when she stretched the right way and finalized it with a pair of platform shoes that weren't too drastically tall.

After showering, she took the time to blow dry her shoulder length hair so she could wear it down instead of putting it up in the usual ponytail. The blow dryer made her brown hair fluffy and a bit wavy. She scrutinized herself in the mirror...what was missing? Makeup! She grabbed some taupe eyeshadow, applying it lightly to set off her green eyes, then swiped on eyeliner, mascara and frosty lip gloss. After approving the look in her full-length mirror she started downstairs, her platforms making clomping noises on the wooden treads.

In the kitchen, Lexy went straight to the fridge for breakfast. She pulled out a cheese Danish - left over from the Toliver pastries. She ate it standing over the sink, the sugary sweetness flooding into her bloodstream giving her a burst of energy for the morning's activities. Sprinkles watched from her dog bed, her eyes longingly following every crumb that dropped.

Wiping a smudge of frosting from her face with a napkin, Lexy threw Sprinkles a treat, grabbed her car keys and headed out to meet Cassie at the bakery.

Lexy tapped the large brass door knocker against the giant oak door of the Toliver mansion. She glanced over at Cassie who was standing rigidly with her arms crossed in front of her.

"Relax, they're not that bad you know." She said, ignoring the angry, sideways glare Cassie fixed on her out of the corner of her eye.

The door opened inward giving the girls a view of Blake Toliver looking rather handsome with a half buttoned shirt, his hair wet from a recent shower. He looked at Lexy appreciatively "Well well, well...our beautiful baker is back. To what do we owe this honor?"

Lexy awarded him with her most dazzling smile. "This is my assistant Cassie ... Cassie, this is Blake Toliver." Lexy waved her hands between the two of them. Blake stuck his hand out to shake Cassie's which she begrudgingly offered him, then looked back at Lexy one eyebrow raised.

"We came to collect the rest of our catering trays and other things. I left everything in the kitchen yesterday when..."

"Oh, right," he said, opening the door wider. " I think the police are all done in there, come on in."

He held the door open to let the girls walk through. They preceded him into the hall. Lexy cast a furtive glance backwards, to catch him staring at her jean clad backside. She gave him a little wink - not that she was flirting - she preferred to think of it as buttering him up for questioning.

They proceeded forward into the kitchen. Lexy was glad to see it had been cleaned up but the obvious area in the middle where Chastine's body had been was a reminder of what had happened just the day before.

"So, how are you all doing? Is your dad okay?" Lexy scanned the room while trying to encourage conversation. She saw her tablecloths, trays, chafing dishes and other assorted paraphernalia where she had left them on the tables but there was one item she didn't see - the seven inch serrated knife.

"Oh, Dad's okay .. he was really broke up about Chastine, but Trixie came over to give her condolences. She seems to have lifted his spirits immensely."

"Trixie?" Lexy pretended not to know about Xavier's ex-girlfriend.

"Trixie was Dad's old girlfriend. Another gold digger - he seems to attract them." Blake shrugged. "Dad dumped her when Chastine came along."

Lexy raised an eyebrow and stepped a little bit closer to Blake who didn't seem to mind at all. "Oh really? she must've been mad when that happened."

"Madder than a nest full of hornets." He grinned, running his finger teasingly along the bottom of Lexy's crop top with a gleam in his eye.

Lexy swatted his hand away playfully letting out a little giggle. She knew she was flirting shamelessly but it wasn't that hard to flirt with Blake Toliver. He was rich and handsome - what more could a girl want? She could almost see herself wanting to get to know Blake better except for one thing - she was stuck on Jack Perillo.

"Do you think Trixie could have killed Chastine?" Lexy asked her face a mask of wide-eyed innocence.

Blake pursed his lips while apparently thinking about the question. "I'm not sure, anyone could have killed her because the back door was wide open."

Lexy swiveled her head over towards the back kitchen door. "It was?"

"Yep, I guess no one noticed it that morning, but the police asked us later who had opened the door. None of us had opened it. The killer could have been someone who just came in the back door - it could have been anyone off the street."

"But it probably wasn't," Lexy said. "Chances are it was someone who had it in for Chastine. Did she have any enemies?"

Blake snorted out a laugh. "Enemies? The question should be did she have any friends. She made an enemy out of pretty much everyone who came into contact with her."

"What about you and Bronson, you must have liked her? After all, she was going to marry your father."

Blake made a face. "Hardly, we tolerated her for Dad's sake but she was a mean, nasty person."

"Did you guys feel threatened that she was going to steal away the Toliver money?" Lexy asked innocently.

"I know that's what most people think - I'm sure we're high up on the suspect list, but I wasn't worried about it. Dad has trust funds in place for us."

"And Bronson?"

"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?"

"Candace?"

"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 forehand 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 do.

"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 up 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 brought some floozy home, but there was no one."

"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 2:30" 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 which 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 door knocker echoed into the kitchen. Lexy took advantage of the new visitors to make her exit. "You go answer that - Cassie and I will let ourselves out the back. Our car is just round to the front."

"Ok, well maybe I'll see you later?" It was more a question than a statement.

Lexy nodded and they both started off in opposite directions - Blake towards the front door, Lexy towards 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 McGreevys."

"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.

Chapter Nine.

"Not that way, Cassie - this way." Lexy nodded her head towards the back of the house.

"Huh? Our car is that way," Cassie said, pointing towards 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 the 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 - 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 which 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 them 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, sparkling blue water and grecian statues all around. The construction of a new cabana building - the size of most peoples 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 who were circling her.

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

Lexy looked at her friend, then at the dumpster, 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 2" platforms, 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.