"Paddy and Mary have thirty days trash pickup on route five, Ron has to renovate the mayor's office, Esther has to knit scarves for the councilmen, Violet is teaching a gardening class at the women's prison, and Floyd is teaching fishing classes at the Y."

"But, I wonder, Mona, how did you come up with that evidence?" Davies turned sharp eyes on Nans. "If you'd had that wig all along, I'm sure you would have produced it. You might fool Binder, but you can't fool me."

"Oh, well, you're right about the wig-I didn't have it. I'm sorry, though, dear. I can't tell you my secrets. After all, the judge said the case is closed now and I think it's best we don't talk about it anymore, especially not in public."

Davies turned to Lexy. "At least Jack's house is cleared and you can finish cleaning it out and get it on the market."

Lexy's stomach pinched. "Yeah, if anyone wants to buy a house that had a mummy in it. I don't have high hopes on that one and I was counting on the money from the sale to pay my parents back on my bakery loan."

"Well, you might be in luck." Davies pulled a business card out of her pocket and slid it across the table to Lexy. "This is a friend of mine. He's a ghost hunter and he's very interested in Jack's house because of the mummy."

"Really?" Lexy raised her brows. "That would be great. I think my parents need the money to fix their RV."

"No, they don't," Nans cut in. "I got a text from Vera this morning. They got that old part you sent and the RV is running good as new. In fact, they're leaving Maine and are on their way to Alamo Heights, Texas, to visit the toilet seat museum."

Davies made a face. "Toilet seat museum?"

Nans shrugged, "What can I say. They like to visit strange places." Nans turned to Lexy. "I didn't realize you were in that old storage area in the garage. You didn't find anything strange in there when you got that part out did you?"

Lexy narrowed her eyes, wondering why Nans was asking. Everyone already knew the flip-flop had been hidden in there ... unless there was something else in there Nans didn't want her to see. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, nothing ... just that ... we'll that's where the flip-flop was."

Lexy had the distinct impression Nans was hiding something, but she didn't have the chance to think about it, because she could see the judges out of the corner of her eye and they were tasting the last dish-her meringue cookies.

Lexy focused her attention on the front of the room, trying to gauge the judge's' reactions to her cookies, but their faces didn't give anything away-Lexy wondered if they all played poker in their spare time.

Finally, they pushed away their plates and Miriam Hash, the town clerk and head judge, stood up at the podium. She tapped the microphone, causing an ear-shattering screech to fill the room.

All talking ceased while heads jerked in Miriam's direction.

"Thank you, everyone," Mariam trilled into the microphone. "Welcome to the tenth Brook Ridge Falls Dessert contest."

Lexy tapped her foot impatiently while Miriam introduced the judges and went through her spiel about the contest and the various entries. Finally, Joan Barnstead stood up with the ribbons and handed Miriam a piece of paper. Miriam settled blue, half-moon glasses on her nose, looked at the paper and took the yellow third-place ribbon from Joan.

Lexy held her breath.

"And now, I would like to announce our winners." Miriam paused for effect and Lexy thought her lungs would burst. "In third place is Agnes Flint with her rhubarb meringue pie."

The room erupted in applause and a small, gray-haired lady shuffled up to get her ribbon and shake hands with the judges.

Miriam waited for Agnes to sit down and then she took the red ribbon from Joan. "In second place ... Lexy Baker, with her meringue cookies!"

Lexy's breath whooshed out and she tried to hide the disappointment on her face.

Second place!

She knew she should have been grateful, but she was a baker, for crying out loud. She should have won. Lexy glared at Violet, who was watching her intently, and wondered if the older woman had paid off the judges. She'd seen her bribe the town hall clerk, so it wouldn't have surprised her.

But, it was too late now and she'd just look like a sore loser if she tried to cast any accusations Violet's way. Besides, she didn't even know if Violet would win.

Lexy pasted a smile on her face, collected the ribbon and the judges' congratulations and sat back down, the ribbon clenched tightly in her fist.

"Congratulations!" Ida, Ruth, Helen, Davies and Nans chorused.

"Thanks," Lexy said, managing a tight smile.

Miriam cleared her throat and Lexy glanced down at her disappointing red ribbon.

Oh, well, second place was still pretty good, wasn't it?

Lexy straightened in her seat, vowing to be grateful for what she had instead of moaning about not getting first place.

Miriam squinted at the paper. Joanne slapped the blue ribbon into Miriam's outstretched hand. Miriam held it up in front of her. "And the first place prize goes to ..."

The room fell silent.

"Violet Switzer and her lemon meringue pie!"

Violet stormed up to the podium amidst the applause. Lexy was surprised to see her grab Miriam in a bear hug ... or so it appeared. But from where Lexy was sitting, she could see that Violet was whispering in Miriam's ear and slipping a note into her hand. Miriam's forehead wrinkled and she looked at what was in her hand, then her face turned white.

Miriam straightened the jacket of her navy polyester suit and grabbed the microphone. "Ahem ... I've just been advised that there is a slight change in the contest winners ... err ... there's actually a tie for first place so the ribbon goes to both Violet Switzer and Lexy Baker!"

Violet ripped the ribbon out of Miriam's hand and broke out into the first genuine smile Lexy had seen since she'd known her. Then she stormed toward Lexy holding the ribbon high.

Violet thrust the ribbon out at Lexy. "You deserve to share this ribbon with me."

Lexy stared at Violet, perplexed. "Why?"

"After what we've been through," Violet nodded toward Nans, "I feel like we're on the same team. Besides, your cookies probably would have won except they had a tad too much sugar. I'm proud to be splitting the ribbon with you."

Lexy was too taken aback at the shimmer of tears in Violet's eyes to say anything. She watched as Violet whipped out a pair of pinking shears and clicked them open. Lexy noticed they were very large-industrial-sized with fancy, curved blades that glimmered in the light while Violet worked the shears to cut the ribbon in half.

Something niggled at Lexy's memory.

Then she remembered how Davies had said Earl's toe had been cut off, with curly-blade pinking shears. Her stomach dropped as she watched the blade of the shears slice through the ribbon, cutting into the thick steel ring at the top like it was butter.

Her thoughts drifted to Violet's garden and she remembered the purple flowers. She was pretty sure one of them was Wolfsbane.

Lexy's mouth dropped open as she stared up at Violet.

Violet had access to a poisonous plant.

Violet had industrial strength, curly pinking shears.

Violet had moved to the neighborhood the same time as Earl and tried to cover her tracks.

Violet was the last person to see Earl's body in the secret room when she jumped in to place the lavender sachets.

Violet had appeared out of nowhere right after Earl dropped dead.

Violet had moved into an expensive new house after Earl died.

Violet was an excellent pea-shooter and could easily have shot a dart at Earl ...

Lexy jerked her head to look at Nans, remembering Nans' words from the day before about the wig not being from the actual assassin.

Lexy shot her hand out and grabbed Nans arm. "I think I know who the real assassin is-"

"Shush, now." Lexy's eyes met Nans. Her grandmother was giving her the look'. The one that meant she was deadly serious and Lexy should shut up and pay attention. That look had worked like gangbusters when she was a kid, and it worked now, too. Lexy shut her mouth.

"It won't do to go around casting accusations now," Nans said. "The case is closed. And some things from the past are better left in the past."

Violet handed Lexy her half of the ribbon, winked and stomped off. Lexy stared after her.

Could Violet have been the real assassin and, if she was, should Lexy say something?

Lexy looked back at Nans, who shook her head sagely and put her index finger to her lips.

Lexy's teeth worried her bottom lip as she weighed the situation. Nans was right. There was no sense in dragging that all up now, and if Nans thought she should keep her mouth shut, then that's what Lexy would do. She'd always followed her grandmother's advice before and it had never steered her wrong.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Ruth, who said, "Oh, Mona, here comes your new boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?" Nans swiveled in the direction of Ruth's gaze where a tall, dapper, white-haired man in a bolo tie was scanning the room.

"Oh, that's not my new boyfriend. That's our new client." Nans said waving her hand in the air to attract his attention.

Ida's forehead creased. "But that's the square-dancing guy you've been sneaking off to meet."

"Yeah, I met him at the square dance. And we have been meeting," Nans laughed. "You guys thought I was having a fling with him?"

Ida, Ruth and Helen nodded.

"Sorry to disappoint you. I've been meeting him about a case. His sister was killed and he fears the police botched the investigation." Nans face turned serious. "And he greatly needs our help because he thinks he might be the killer's next victim."

"Oh, really?" Ruth's brows rose with interest, and she whipped out her iPad and set it on the table. "I'm ready to take down the preliminaries."

"Well, I'm glad to see you're ready to tackle a case again, Mona," Ida said. "You had us worried there for a while."

"A new case would be very exciting." Helen self-consciously patted the sides of her hair as she eyed the man approaching the table. "Introduce us to your friend."

The introductions were made and Ida started peppering the man for information on the case while Ruth typed it all down on the iPad.

Lexy felt a sense of closure as she stared down at her half of the blue ribbon. Everything was going to work out okay. Nans was back to her old self and interested in cases, she had a lead on a buyer for Jacks house, her parents' RV was running well again, and she had almost won first prize in the dessert contest.

And as for Violet Switzer being Earl's real assassin ... well, maybe Nans was right and some things from the past really were better left in the past.

The end.

Want to read about more of Lexy's and Nans' adventures? Get the rest of the Lexy Baker series for your Kindle: Save 30% when you buy the Lexy Baker Cozy Mystery Boxed Set: Lexy Baker Cozy Mystery Series Boxed Set Vol 1 (Books 1-4) Or buy the books separately: Killer Cupcakes (Book 1) Dying For Danish (Book 2) Murder, Money and Marzipan (Book 3) 3 Bodies and a Biscotti (Book 4) Brownies, Bodies & Bad Guys (Book 5) Bake, Battle & Roll (Book 6) Wedded Blintz (Book 7) Scones, Skulls & Scams (Book 8) Ice Cream Murder (Book 9) Sign up for my newsletter and get my books at the lowest discount price: http://www.leighanndobbs.com/newsletter Meringue Cookies Recipes Chocolate Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookie Recipe These cookies have a double dose of chocolate from the batter and the chips. You could vary them by using white chocolate chips, or not adding the cocoa powder to the batter ... or both! Why not try them with butterscotch chips? You can also add chopped nuts.

Ingredients: 3 egg whites 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 2/3 cup sugar 1/2 cup chocolate chips 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder Procedure: Make sure egg whites are at room temperature.

Preheat oven to 250 degrees(F).

Combine egg whites, cream of tartar and vanilla. Beat until soft peaks are formed (about 4 or 5 minutes).

While still beating, slowly add sugar, then beat until mixture becomes glossy and stiff peaks are formed.

Fold in cocoa and chocolate chips.

Push batter onto parchment-lined cookie sheet and put in oven on middle rack. Reduce heat to 200 degrees(F) at once. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Turn off oven and let it cool before removing cookies.

Flavored Meringue Cookie Recipe Meringue cookies can be made to any flavor by adding flavored extract. You might have to experiment with extract amounts, though. Food color can make them fun colors to go with your flavors!

Ingredients: 1/4 teaspoon extract (orange, maple, lemon, almond ... whatever extract you want) 3 egg whites 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar 3/4 cup granulated sugar.

Procedure: Make sure egg whites are at room temperature.

Preheat oven to 250 degrees(F).

Combine egg whites, cream of tartar and extract. Beat until soft peaks are formed (about 4 or 5 minutes).

While still beating, slowly add sugar, then beat until mixture becomes glossy and stiff peaks are formed.

Push batter onto parchment-lined cookie sheet and put in oven on middle rack. Reduce heat to 200 degrees(F) at once. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Turn off oven and let it cool before removing cookies.

A Note From The Author.

Thanks so much for reading, "Mummified Meringues". I hope you liked reading it as much as I loved writing it. If you did, and feel inclined to leave a review, I really would appreciate it.

This is book ten of the USA Today best selling Lexy Baker series. I plan to write many more books with Lexy, Nans and the gang. I have several other series that I write, too - you can find out more about them on my website http://www.leighanndobbs.com.

Also, if you like cozy mysteries with ghosts, magic and cats, then you'll like my book "Dead Wrong" which is book one in the Blackmoore Sisters series. Set in the fictional, seaside town of Noquitt Maine, the Blackmoore sisters will take you on a journey of secrets, romance and maybe even a little magic. I have an excerpt from it at the end of this book.

This book has been through many edits with several people and even some software programs, but since nothing is infallible (even the software programs), you might catch a spelling error or mistake and, if you do, I sure would appreciate it if you let me know - you can contact me at: lee@leighanndobbs.com.

Oh, and I love to connect with my readers, so please do visit me on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/leighanndobbsbooks Signup to get my newest releases at a discount: http://www.leighanndobbs.com/newsletter.

About The Author.