"Who's there?"

Lexy didn't answer. She turned at the top of the stairs and, ignoring the librarian's disapproving look, made a beeline for the parking lot.

Lexy's stomach churned. Why would Nans be meeting with Violet? Surely, it couldn't have anything to do with the dessert contest-as far as she knew, Nans was not involved. But the only other thing she could think of that they had in common was Earl Schute.

With her head spinning, Lexy pulled out of the library parking lot. She didn't know what to think. Nans' oddly disinterested behavior, her lying about talking to the Sullivans, the red flip-flop and, now, this secret meeting, gave Lexy a very bad feeling.

She didn't know what was going on with Nans, and she didn't have much time to figure it out. She pointed the car in the direction of the best people she knew who could help her-Ruth, Ida and Helen.

Chapter Twenty-Two.

Lexy found Ruth, Ida and Helen clustered around their usual table in the lobby of the Brook Ridge Retirement Center. The three women looked to be in a heated conversation and, even though Lexy was bursting with the information about Nans, she didn't dare interrupt.

"My money is on Nesbaum ... he had means and opportunity," Ida said.

"But what's his motive?" Ruth asked.

"I bet we could dig one up," Ida replied.

"Nope, I bet you a twenty it was that Paddy Sullivan." Helen's eyes took on a dreamy look. "A man protecting his lady. It's so romantic, and jealousy is one of the prime motives for murder."

"Pshaw," Ruth cut in. "I raise your twenty to thirty. I think it was that couple, Esther and Ron Witt. He got taken in by Earl's scam and that's reason for killing, in a lot of men's eyes."

"What about the stranger?" Ida asked.

"He probably helped," Helen answered. "He fits in here, somehow. I'm just not sure exactly how."

Ruth scrunched up her face. "But don't you find it suspicious that they all describe him differently?"

"Maybe they are covering up for him," Helen suggested.

"But how would the neighbors even know this stranger?" Ruth asked. "How would they have gotten hooked up with him?"

"I don't know. There seems to still be some missing pieces." Ida turned to Lexy. "What do you think?"

That was the problem. Lexy didn't know what she thought. Should she tell them about the flip-flop and the meeting with Violet? She knew Nans couldn't possibly have been involved with a murder, so there must be a logical explanation and she knew the ladies would help her find it.

"I don't know what to think about who did it, but I have-"

"It doesn't matter what you guys think," Davies cut in from across the lobby. "The Feds have some evidence and I'm afraid it implicates Mona."

"What?" Lexy's heart twisted.

Davies crossed the room and stood in front of the table. "I hate to tell you, but they said they looked at the old phone records and Mona made a late-night call to the McDonalds in Europe ... on the night Earl died."

"So? Maybe she was calling them late so it would be convenient in the time zone the McDonalds were in," Lexy suggested.

"Maybe, but they also looked into her bank records and it turns out she wrote a check to Earl for two thousand dollars." Davies shrugged. "And with the lavender sachets being in with the body, the Feds are looking for a woman."

"Dang," Ida said. "That doesn't look good, especially since she told us she didn't know about the insurance scam."

And that's not even the worst of it, Lexy thought, the image of the red flip-flop coming to mind.

"You don't think Mona's involved, do you?" Ruth asked Davies.

"Murder?" Davies shook her head. "Nah. Mona's not the type. But the Feds don't know her like we do. That's why we have to act fast and figure out who did it so we can present them with the evidence."

"And just how do you propose we do that?" Ida asked.

"We already have a bunch of suspects." Davies held up five fingers pointing to each one as she ticked off the suspects. "We have Nesbaum who refinished the basement, we have Nichols who fought with Earl over their yard, we have Sullivan whose wife Earl harassed, and we have Ron Witt, who fought with him over the insurance scam."

"And the stranger," Ida added.

"Right, whom they've all been describing differently," Davies reminded them.

"That's great, but how do we narrow it down?" Helen's voice was pitched with a hint of exasperation.

Davies looked ruefully at the three women. "I've come up with a plan, but I'm afraid I can't include the three of you."

"What?" Helen scowled at Davies.

"Well, I never!" Ida said.

"Why not?" Ruth asked.

"The way I see it, we have to get them all together in the same room and force the truth out of them. I need to make it seem official and it's not going to look that way with the three of you hovering around." Davies' face softened. "Sorry. I promise we'll let you know exactly what happens."

"Well, what do you plan to do, exactly?" Ida asked.

"I'm going to bring them down to the interrogation room. I've arranged it so it will seem official, but it's all off the books, so to speak," Davies said. "The Feds don't know about it so we'll be able to act on the information ourselves first. I suspect someone is lying. Once the truth comes out, we'll be able to figure out what really happened and capture the real killer before the Feds pin it on Mona."

Davies promised to contact all the suspects and arrange the meeting for later that night. The ladies took their bruised ego's to their respective apartments and Lexy retreated to her car in the parking lot.

She felt sick thinking about how the Feds could blame the murder on Nans. But, she had to admit, there was a lot of incriminating evidence stacked up against her grandmother ... and some of it the Feds didn't even know about. Like how she'd lied about visiting the Sullivan's and how she had a red flip-flop in her garage. Not to mention how Nans had claimed not to know Earl and then backtracked. And now, the fact that she'd called the McDonalds that night and been scammed by Earl.

But Nans couldn't be involved. Lexy wouldn't believe it. Her grandmother spent her time catching criminals ... she couldn't be one. And if it turned out she was involved, Lexy was sure she would have a darned good reason. In fact, she should just come right out and ask her.

Lexy rummaged through the purse on her lap for the phone, then dialed Nans. Of course, she didn't answer.

"Arggh!" Lexy shoved the phone in her purse and tossed it in the passenger seat in exasperation. It tipped, spilling out the forms for the dessert contest.

I guess I might as well fill these out, Lexy thought. She still had to take care of business, even if Nans was about to be arrested for murder.

While filing out the forms, her thoughts turned to Violet. Lexy wondered what else the woman had done to secure a first place prize. And why had she been meeting with Nans? Did it have something to do with Earl Schute? Lexy remembered that Violet lived in the neighborhood back then and Sam had said she'd asked about Earl at the pub. Maybe it would be a good idea to pay a visit to Violet. At the very least, Lexy could scare up more information on the contest and how Violet intended to win it.

Glancing at her watch, she saw she had just enough time before she had to get to Davies' meeting, so she started her car and pointed it toward Chapel Hill.

Lexy didn't know what she was expecting Violet's house to look like. She had pictured something dark and gloomy-a dilapidated mansion with turrets and spikes that loomed above her, broken shutters flapping in the breeze. But the house at thirty-three Chapel Hill Drive was exactly the opposite. A neatly trimmed, brick Cape Cod with a white picket fence and lush, colorful gardens. Lexy might not have believed it was Violet's house if it weren't for the red Mustang in the driveway.

She made her way slowly up the brick path to the side porch, her heartbeat picking up speed as she got closer to the door. The backyard was filled with several types of purple flowers. The welcoming porch was decorated with rustic birdhouses and colorful, Chippy-paint tables. Two rockers sat empty, but Lexy could tell they were often used. The house exuded charm in stark contrast to its owner.

Lexy squared her shoulders, stepped up to the door and knocked.

There was movement behind the starched, white eyelet curtains in the window and Violet's face peered out, then the door whipped open. Violet stood in the doorway, scowling at her.

"What are you doing here?"

Lexy's gaze drifted over Violet's head into the gleaming blue and white kitchen. Mixing bowls, measuring cups and various baking ingredients sat out on the counter, but otherwise, the kitchen was neat as a pin. The pungent smell of lemon tickled Lexy's nose.

"Hi, Violet" Lexy tried to smile at the formidable woman. "I thought maybe we could be friends. You know, talk about the dessert contest and maybe you could tell me how you know my grandmother."

Lexy saw something flash in Violets eye for a second. "What makes you think I know your grandmother?"

"Well, you lived in that neighborhood, right? The one Earl Schute was killed in." Lexy tried to shake the woman up, but Violet didn't flinch. She was staunch as a redwood tree.

"Yep. So? You think just because I lived near your grandma that we're gonna be friends?"

"Well, I was kind of hoping that-"

Slam!

Lexy stood, staring open-mouthed at the door that Violet had just slammed in her face.

"Hey, you can't just slam the door on me," Lexy yelled, bending over to peer through the crack in the curtains. Inside, Violet made an unlady-like gesture and jerked the curtains closed.

Lexy raised her tightly balled fist to knock again and then realized it wasn't worth the trouble. She could hear the phone ringing inside as she turned away.

I'll show her. I'll win that damn contest if it's the last thing I do!

As Lexy stormed toward the steps, a breeze from the west wisped across her heated cheeks bringing a delicious floral scent with it.

Lexy stopped. Something niggled at her memory. Where did she know that scent from?

Her heart skipped a beat. The scent was lavender-the same scent that had been in that secret room with Earl.

She jerked her head toward the garden to get a better look at the plants. The medium-sized ones she recognized as wolfsbane, the smaller ones on the edge were pansies, but those tall ones, she wasn't familiar with. They must be lavender.

Violet grew her own lavender-that had to be one heck of a coincidence.

She couldn't wait to tell Davies, but as she started down the steps, her gaze fell on one of the tables next to the rocker. She hadn't noticed before, but at this angle, she could see the drawer was open ... and something was inside. She tiptoed over and slowly slid the drawer out to get a better look.

Her heart jerked in her chest and she sucked in a ragged breath when she saw what it was.

A lavender sachet.

Chapter Twenty-Three.

Lexy ran for her car and dove for the cellphone. She tried Davies first. No answer. Then she tried Nans. No answer. Then she tried Ida, Ruth, Helen and Jack-none of them answered.

Where was everyone?

She drove away from Violet's, bursting at the seams to tell someone about the lavender sachets. Violet had lived in the neighborhood when Earl was murdered. Violet had been asking about Earl in the pub.

Could Violet be the killer?

But, if she was, then why did Nans have the red flip-flop and why did the two of them have a secret meeting?

The thought that Nans and Violet could have been in on it together flitted through Lexy's mind, but she didn't want to believe it. She wondered if she should refrain from telling Davies about the sachets. No, if Nans was involved it was innocently. Maybe Violet had something on Nans and was forcing her to keep the secret.

Bam!

Lexy had been so deep in thought that she hadn't seen the pothole in the road. She cringed at the clunk-clunk-clunk sound that followed.

It sounded like she had a flat tire.

Lexy stopped and got out and, sure enough, it was flat.

"Damn it! Why now?" Lexy kicked the tire and then reached in the window for her cell phone to call roadside assistance. She leaned against the car to wait in frustration while she wore out her cellphone, trying to get a hold of anyone to tell them about the sachets.

To add insult to injury, just as they were putting the spare tire on, Violet's red Mustang roared by. Lexy thought she saw Violet sneering at her out the window, but she couldn't be sure.

Finally, the tire was changed and Lexy sped off to the meeting with the spare on-she didn't have time to stop at the gas station. She was late for the meeting!

Lexy ran into the station and burst into the room Davies had secretly procured for the meeting.

A sea of faces looked up at her from the table. Lexy was shocked to see one of those faces belonged to Violet Switzer.

Lexy narrowed her eyes at Davies and pointed at Violet. "What's she doing here?"

"Violet lived on the street and had contact with Earl, so I asked her to come," Davies answered. "But everyone here claims they don't know a thing about Earl and they keep insisting it was some stranger. I was just about to impress upon them how serious this is and how the evidence is quickly stacking up against Nans."

Lexy's stomach twisted at the sight of Nans' pale face. She just knew that Nans did not kill Earl Schute.