"Well, I'm just glad it wasn't one of us," Nans said. "And we don't have to go to jail."

"Oh, I didn't say you weren't going to jail. I just said you weren't going for murder." Binder leaned back in his chair. "But you're all accessories. After all, you did dispose of the body and that is against the law."

"Oh, dear." Nans looked at him with wide eyes. "So you're going to incarcerate all of us?"

"Well, I could ... but I might be able to convince the judge to go easy on you if you help me out."

"How can we help you?" Nans asked.

"You were all out there that night when Earl died. The assassin was out there, too. If any of you can give me information that helps us uncover the identity of the assassin, then I'll make sure you all get off with probation and community service."

"Well, obviously the assassin must have been the stranger," Lexy blurted out.

"Stranger?" Nans looked at her quizzically, then her brows shot up. "Oh, yes, how could I forget? You all remember the stranger that was around the neighborhood back then, right?"

The others nodded.

Binder's brows shot up and he leaned in toward the middle of the table. "Tell me about him. What did he look like?"

They all talked at once.

"Tall."

"Medium."

"Blonde."

"Dark."

Binder's brows crept higher on his forehead with each person's description. "That sounds like more than one person. But our sources tell us he may have been a master of disguise. Maybe he just changed his look so no one could describe him."

Nans nodded. "That's probably it."

"Did any of you talk to him?" Binder asked.

They glanced at each other and Nans spoke. "I don't believe so. We all just kind of saw him lurking around."

"Where?"

"On the street and in the yards."

"Did it seem like he was stalking Earl?"

"Now that you mention it, I think he was." Nans turned to Paddy, Ron and Floyd. "Don't you guys think he was?"

"Oh, yeah," Paddy said.

"Yep," came from Ron.

"I'm pretty sure I saw him poking around Earl's yard," Floyd added.

"How long was he around?"

"Just a few weeks that summer." Nans scrunched up her face in thought. "It wasn't more than two weeks."

Binder pressed his lips together, and his eyes sparked. "This could be our guy."

"Yes," Nans said. "I do believe you could be right because I don't recall seeing him at all after Earl died."

"Is that right?" Binder looked at Paddy, Ron, Floyd and Violet.

"Yep, I didn't see him after," Paddy said.

Ron looked at Esther. "I don't remember seeing him after Earl died, do you?"

She shook her head. "Nope."

"Me, either, Violet said.

"Nor me," Floyd added.

"So, you see, we've solved the mystery." Nans looked at Binder. "So you'll help us avoid jail time, like you said?"

"No. I said I'd help you if you gave us information that helped us uncover the identity of the assassin. You've only verified a stranger was on the street. That doesn't help us figure out who he is."

Nans bristled. "Well, how are we supposed to help you do that?"

Binder stood up. "Give us something concrete to go on and then I'll think about helping you."

He walked toward the door and had it halfway open when Nans asked; "What do you mean by concrete?"

Binder turned. "Something tangible. A clue that leads me to a person. But you'd better hurry. You only have two days and after that, the deal is off."

And with that, Binder stepped out into the hall and closed the door, leaving them all looking at each other and wondering how in the world they were going to come up with a concrete clue in only two days.

Chapter Twenty-Five.

Lexy, Nans and the neighbors headed to The Cup and Cake, which they hoped the FBI hadn't bugged. They didn't want them to overhear their conversation. Davies and Jack had police business to attend to, so it was only Lexy, Nans, Violet, the Sullivan's, the Witt's and Floyd Nichols. They pulled two tables together and sat down to discuss their plan.

Lexy tingled with anxiety-she should have been in the kitchen, focusing on her meringue cookie recipes for the dessert contest, but instead she was out here, seated across from her rival, Violet Switzer, and trying to keep Nans out of jail.

She glanced at Violet out of the corner of her eye. Was she scoping out the bakery? Lexy hoped the older woman wouldn't find something in here to use against her and get a leg up in the contest, but the truth was that Violet's demeanor had changed since the meeting at the police station. She wasn't combative or snarky anymore-quite the contrary. Lexy hated to say it, but Violet was acting nice. Then again, maybe that was part of her plan to throw Lexy off-kilter.

"What does he mean by something concrete?" Paddy asked as he bit into an almond scone.

"I guess something physical, that you can hold in your hand," Floyd answered.

"Or maybe a lead to a real person, like an address or something," Esther suggested.

"Well, it's going to be kind of hard to get anything like that," Ron said.

Lexy nodded. "Right, because it happened over fifty years ago and any physical evidence of the stranger would be gone by now."

"Well, that ..." Nans looked at Lexy and grimaced. "And also because there was no stranger."

Lexy jerked her head back. Had she heard Nans correctly? "What?"

"We made it up," Nans confessed.

Lexy's brows drew together. "Why?"

"When I heard Earl's body had been discovered, I knew someone would come asking questions. So I high-tailed it over to the McDonalds', then to Floyd, Paddy and Ron and we agreed to pretend we all saw a stranger. That way, we could act like the stranger had killed Earl."

"Except we forgot to get together on the description," Mary said.

"We never dreamed there really was another person ... we thought one of us killed him!" Nans added.

"But if there was no actual stranger, then who really killed Earl?" Lexy looked around the table, but everyone seemed just as perplexed as she was as to who the real killer could be.

Nans shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. I guess the assassin really was lurking around and we didn't know it at the time."

"Right," Ron said. "Binder said this Blow Gun Bennie shoots the darts from a distance. He must have been hiding behind the houses and shot Earl when he was fighting with Floyd."

"That would explain why you thought Earl had fallen into the punch," Nans said to Floyd. "He really did fall and he was already dead before his face hit your hand."

Floyd shuddered. "Well, I'm glad Bennie had good aim. He could have missed and hit me."

"Yeah, but the problem still remains," Paddy said. "How are we going to get this concrete evidence Binder wants?"

Violet, who had been quietly listening, said matter-of-factly, "We'll just have to manufacture it."

Floyd looked at her over the rim of his coffee cup. "Now, Violet, I don't know if you want to get involved. If the Feds catch us manufacturing evidence to support our lie about this stranger, we could be in even more trouble than we already are. And you weren't even involved in killing Earl ... why, you just happened across us that night and helped us out in an act of neighborly kindness."

"We're in this together now. I'm not going to abandon you." Violet's voice shook and Lexy thought she saw tears in the old curmudgeon's eyes. "Why, the way you all stuck up for each other in that meeting and refused to let one person be singled out to go to jail makes me proud to be associated with you. I wish I hadn't moved away all those years ago and had gotten to know you all better."

"Well, you can still get to know us, dear," Mary said. "You're invited to our place any time you want to visit."

"Which will be in the state penitentiary if we don't get Binder this evidence he wants," Ron said dryly.

"And that brings us back to the question." Floyd put his coffee mug on the table and sat back in his chair. "Just how are we going to do that?"

Nans pressed her lips together. "We need something from back then. Something we can tie to the murder that will point to another person."

"A scapegoat?" Violet asked.

"Yes," Nans answered. "But not some innocent, unsuspecting person-a criminal-someone who deserves to get blamed for being an assassin."

"And someone who is dead with no chance of proving their innocence," Violet added.

"That sounds great," Paddy said. "But where are we going to find physical evidence linking to Earl's murder?"

"Don't worry," Nans said, "I think I have an idea."

Chapter Twenty-Six.

The next day, Lexy stood in the front room of The Cup and Cake, eyeing the plate of meringue cookies nervously. She was supposed to be working on perfecting her recipe for the dessert contest, but instead, she was waiting for Nans to pick her up for the trip to the police station.

With a sigh, she poured some hot water into a mug and dunked a chamomile tea pouch into the steaming water. It had been a harrowing morning. Ruth, Ida and Helen had marched in with their noses still out of joint about missing the meeting at the police station the day before. They couldn't understand why Davies hadn't invited them.

It had taken Lexy two hours and over a dozen pastries to soothe their ruffled feathers and they'd finally calmed down while Lexy filled them in on the exact details of the meeting.

They'd been shocked to find out the real truth, and even more shocked to hear Lexy say she thought Violet wasn't all that bad.

"Not that bad?" Ida's blue eyes looked like a storm at sea. "You just wait and see. I wouldn't trust her. You'll find out tomorrow at the dessert contest."

The three women had bustled out to go to hair appointments, leaving Lexy on her own. She tapped her finger impatiently against her teacup and worried what Violet might do at the dessert contest as she waited for Nans.

A blur of red whipped around the corner and Lexy's eyes grew wide as Violet Switzer's Mustang squealed to a stop in front of the bakery. The passenger door opened and Nans gingerly stepped out and opened the bakery door, her gaze scanning the room and then stopping at the stunned Lexy, still rooted in her chair.

"Oh, hi, Lexy." Nans gestured toward the door. "Are you ready?"

"We're going with Violet?"

"Yes, dear. Violet helped me out. I think we have just what Binder wants." Nans winked and held the door open, gesturing for Lexy to get a move on.

"What is it?" Lexy put her teacup in the dirty cup bin and walked toward the door.

"Oh, now, I don't want to spoil the surprise."

Lexy narrowed her eyes at Nans and then called to Cassie over her shoulder. "Cassie, I'm taking off."

"Okay. Good luck, Mona!" Cassie's voice rang out from the back room.

"Thanks!" Nans yelled back as she ushered Lexy outside and into the back seat of the Mustang.

Lexy settled into the soft leather and looked up to see Violet angling the rear-view mirror to look at her. Lexy stared into her piercing, blue eyes. Not twinkling blue like Nans were, though. Violet's eyes were still and dark, like a shark.