On the way to the pub, Lexy tried to call Nans but there was no answer, so she called Ida.

"This is Ida." Ida answered the phone like she was running a business.

"Hi, Ida, it's Lexy. I tried to call my grandmother, but she didn't answer."

"She's gone out in Ruth's car again."

"Oh." Lexy felt that familiar pang of worry.

Ida must have read her thoughts. "Now, don't you worry. She's just man-crazy. You know how it can be."

"Right. Of course." Lexy pushed aside her worry and brought her thoughts back to the case. "Did you find anything on Nesbaum?"

"Not a thing. He's clean as a whistle. We plan to pay him a personal visit tomorrow, though. You in?" Ida asked.

"Absolutely," Lexy replied. "I'm on my way to The Elms Pub. My neighbor told me Earl hung out there."

"Oh, that's interesting. Tom O'Keefe did, too." Ida paused. "But I guess we've already ruled O'Keefe out, what with the timeline and all. What else did you find out from the neighbors?"

"I guess Earl wasn't well-liked. In fact, one neighbor saw another neighbor fighting with him in the street."

"Oh, that sounds promising." Ida's voice carried a hopeful lilt.

"Well, normally I would say so, too, but all the neighbors fought with Earl ... including my grandfather."

"Mona's husband?"

"Yep."

"But I thought Mona barely remembered Earl."

"That's what she said, but she also said Nesbaum was dead. I'm a little worried her memory is failing."

"Mona? No. She's still sharp as a tack. It's her hormones-she's gone dumb over this guy. It can be that way, you know. Why, I remember when I met my Norm, we used to sneak away and-"

"One of my neighbors also mentioned that Earl was running some kind of insurance scam," Lexy cut in. She didn't want to hear about what Ida and Norm used to do when they snuck away, much less picture her grandmother doing similar things with this new boyfriend.

"Scam? Oh, my, the plot thickens."

"Tell me about it." Lexy turned into the parking lot of The Elms. "I'm at the pub so I gotta run. Maybe you guys could do your magic and look into Earl's financials to see if there's any truth to this insurance scam?"

"We're on it," Ida said. "How bout you swing by the retirement center right after your visit and we can compare notes."

"Sounds good. See you then."

The bar was empty except for the bartender who was arranging the liqueur bottles behind the bar, facing away from her. Lexy shifted her eyes to the booth in the back, disappointed to see it empty. Sam wasn't there. Her eyes darted up to the clock-no wonder-it wasn't even nine o'clock!

The bartender turned and Lexy noticed it was the same guy from the previous day.

His brows ticked up. "Back again, eh?"

"Yeah." Lexy smiled sheepishly. "I didn't realize how early it was. I was hoping to catch Sam."

"We're not really open, but Gramps is in the pool room out back." The bartender thrust his chin toward a dark opening in the back of the bar. "Go ahead back. I know he enjoyed talking to you the other day."

Lexy made her way tentatively toward the opening. Peering in, she saw two pool tables side by side, dartboards on the wall and various tables with chairs resting upside down on top of them. Much to her surprise, Sam was swishing a large mop around the floor, a yellow-wheeled bucket beside him.

"They put you to work for your beer?" Lexy asked from the doorway.

Sam squinted up at her, his face cracking into a smile as he recognized her. "Well, hi there. Lexy, right?"

Lexy nodded.

"Come on in." Sam took two wooden chairs down from one of the smaller tables and pulled one out for her to sit in. "Watch out for the wet floor there."

Lexy deftly stepped over the wet area and sat in the chair. Sam sat in one opposite her. "So, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

"I had some more questions about the mummy in the basement. If you don't mind."

"Mind? Heck, no. Not too many people come by to ask me questions anymore. Whatcha wanna know?"

"I don't know if you saw on the news, but they found out who it was. I heard he used to come in here. A guy by the name of Earl Schute."

Sam's eyes widened. "Earl Schute. He's the mummy? Well, I'll be."

"You knew him." Lexy said it as a statement more than a question.

"Oh, sure. He came in here quite a bit at one time. Troublemaker. I'm not surprised someone killed him."

"Did he cause trouble with anyone in particular?"

"I don't think he played favorites. As I recall, he was mean to everyone."

"Did he know Bobbie Nesbaum?"

Sam shrugged. "I think they both came here around the same time. Of course, it's all kind of fuzzy now. That was years ago. But I don't remember them being friends. I don't remember Earl being friends with anyone."

"Yeah, that's the impression I get," Lexy said. "Do you remember any strangers in the bar ... people coming in and asking about Earl?"

"Well, there're always strangers coming in along with the regulars." Sam puckered his lips and looked up at the ceiling. "I don't remember anyone asking about him, though, except Violet."

Lexy's brows shot up. "Violet Switzer?"

"Yep. That's right. I remember you said you're going up against her in some competition."

"Yes, the Brook Ridge Dessert competition." Lexy's stomach twisted. She really needed to get going on her meringue recipe. "But why was Violet asking about Earl?"

"Well, at first I thought she might have the hots for him, but then I realized a woman like her probably didn't get the hots for anyone. Though they would have made the perfect couple-both of them being so nasty and all." Sam shrugged. "Anyway, I just figured they must have been competing in some contest and Violet wanted to get info on him."

"What contest?"

"She didn't say."

"Did Violet come here a lot?"

"Nah, only for the dart and pool tournaments."

Lexy remembered the trophies on O'Keefe's mantle and wondered how many different trophies Violet had on her mantle. "So, you don't know if she lives around here."

"Oh, sure ... well, she used to. Used to live right down in The Elms. On Oak Drive, I believe."

Lexy stared at Sam in shock. "Oak Drive?"

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure."

Oak drive was the street that intersected with Lexy's. Nans must have known Violet-as far as Lexy knew, her grandmother had made it her business to know everyone within a two-mile radius of her former home.

And now, Lexy had another person to add to her suspect list-Violet. Which was just as well since she had to talk to Violet about the contest, anyway. She might as well ask her a few questions about Earl while she was at it. "You said she used to live there. Does that mean she doesn't anymore?"

"Nope. She came into some money and lives up on Chapel Hill now," Sam said, referring to the ritzy section of town.

Lexy's eyes narrowed. "Really? When did she come into this money?"

"Oh, years ago."

"Around nineteen-fifty-five?"

"It could have been around then. It was a long time ago. Do you think she had something to do with Earl gettin' killed?"

"Maybe." Lexy wanted to think she did because it was starting to look like Earl's death might have something to do with one of her neighbors and she'd much rather have it be Violet. Her coming into money around the time of Earl's death was suspicious, but it still didn't explain how Violet could have gotten him into the McDonalds' basement or why she would have killed him.

Sam leaned across the table. "I wouldn't put murder past that woman, but if you asked me who would have wanted to kill Earl, I'd say it was Paddy Sullivan."

Lexy reared back in shock. Paddy and his wife, Mary, had lived on Jack's street since she was a little girl. They were good friends with Nans. "Paddy Sullivan? Why?"

"Earl had his eye on Paddy's wife, Mary. Made quite a few passes at her in front of everyone. Paddy's got an Irish temper if I ever did see one, and he didn't like that at all. Almost punched Earl out right here in the bar. Course I stopped that from happening." Sam raised his right arm, flexed his pale, thin bicep and shrugged with a sheepish grin on his face. "I used to be more buff back then."

Lexy laughed along with Sam, but her heart wasn't really in it. Now she had a new suspect to add to her list and another neighbor to interrogate.

Paddy Sullivan.

Chapter Fourteen.

Lexy's shoulders slumped as she walked into the Brook Ridge Retirement Center. Her conversations with Floyd and Sam had been enlightening, but she felt a feeling of foreboding that most of the clues pointed to her elderly neighbors.

"Yoo-hoo, Lexy!" Ida's voice boomed from across the room, pulling her from her thoughts. She headed toward the table where the three ladies were sitting, her heart sinking even lower when she realized Nans was not with them.

"Where's Nans?"

"Still not back." Ruth pulled out a chair and Lexy sat.

"We didn't have much luck with our searches." Helen peered at Lexy over the tops of her half-moon glasses. "What about you?"

"I'm not sure if you'd say I had luck', but I did get some new information. It's too bad what I found out has me more confused than anything else."

"What did you find out?" Ruth asked.

"Earl did hang around there," Lexy answered. "And it turns out he was a jerk there, too."

"Did your contact say if there was anyone in particular who might have wanted him dead?"

"Not really, but interestingly enough, he said that Violet Switzer had been asking around about Earl."

"Violet?" Ida's face wrinkled in distaste. "Were they competing in a contest?"

"He didn't know."

"Would Violet kill to win a contest?" Ruth asked.

"So far, she hasn't had to," Helen answered. "She just annoys people so much that they lose because they are so rattled."

"Speaking of which," Lexy said. "I heard she used to live in my neighborhood and has since moved to Chapel Hill."

"That's right," Ida said. "She must have won enough prizes she could afford one of them fancy houses."

"Or got a big pay-off for something ..." Lexy suggested.

"You don't think she had something to do with Earl, do you?" Ruth asked.

Lexy shrugged. "It's probably just wishful thinking because my other suspects are all people I know, but she did come into some money to move to Chapel Hill. I just don't know when or if it could be related to Earl's strange death."

"Well, it's easy enough to find out when she moved." Ruth whipped an iPad out of her purse, placed it on the table and started typing. A few seconds later, she said, "Yep, she bought that house in the beginning of nineteen-fifty-six."

"Ha! I knew she was ruthless!" Ida said. "She must have known he was gonna beat her in some contest and she did away with him."

"Now, Ida, that's speculation," Helen said. "Intimidating people to win a contest is one thing, but killing them is quite another. No one does that."

"At least we better hope not, or Lexy might be next on her list," Ruth added.

Lexy frowned. "I was planning to visit her later ..."

Helen held up her hand. "Wait, this doesn't make sense. She couldn't have killed Earl and put him in the basement by herself. This isn't about winning a contest. There's got to be more to it."