A Lexy Baker Bakery Mystery Series (10 Titles) - A Lexy Baker Bakery Mystery Series (10 Titles) Part 74
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A Lexy Baker Bakery Mystery Series (10 Titles) Part 74

"Hello?"

"Miss Lexy? It's Philippe Montague."

"Yes, Philippe. What can I do for you?"

"Please, I must beg you to bring the dress in so we can repair it. I feel terrible about what happened with you and Miss Veronica. I wish you would give me a chance to make it better."

Lexy fingered the tear on the dress. She was reluctant to go back to Chez Philippe, but she'd been unable to find anyone else who could repair it on short notice and her wedding budget was stretched so thin already she didn't know if she could even afford to pay anyone to do it.

Sensing her hesitation, Philippe said, "Miss Veronica has already agreed to meet here tonight."

Lexy's anger started to simmer at the mention of the other bride.

"Well, I have no intention of going anywhere near any place where she is," she said stiffly into the phone.

"No, no, Miss Lexy. I will meet with her separately. I will not subject you to her ... how do you say ... intimidations?" Lexy melted a little at Philippe's voice, which sounded full of apologies. His next words clinched it. "And, of course, the repairs will be free of charge."

"Free? Really? Great. What time do you want to meet?"

A niggle of doubt pulled at Lexy's stomach as she eyed the darkened interior of Chez Philippe through the glass door. Her appointment was at seven and, according to her phone, it was six fifty-eight.

A few minutes early, but shouldn't Philippe be here?

Then she remembered the main shop only stayed open until five-Philippe was probably in the back room and had left the lights off out front to discourage shoppers. She got out of her car with a shrug, grabbed her wedding dress from the back seat and clip-clopped up to the door in her tan suede Jimmy Choo's.

Opening the door, Lexy felt a shiver of premonition ... or maybe it was the air conditioning that seemed to be blasting on high. She hesitated in the doorway for a second, expecting Philippe to have heard the bell over the door and come out of the back to greet her.

A few seconds of silence ticked by before she proceeded further into the shop.

"Hello? Philippe?" She ventured.

Silence.

"Is anyone here?"

No one answered.

Maybe he is sewing in the back and can't hear me over the machines?

Lexy made her way across the salesroom floor toward the back of the shop. The mannequins, showing off the latest bridal gowns, which seemed fashionably welcoming in the light of day, suddenly leered at her with sinister intent.

Clutching her dress tighter to her chest, she picked up the pace.

"Mr. Montague ... it's Lexy Baker," she announced as she rounded the corner, then stopped short.

That's odd. The lights are off back here, too.

A familiar coppery metallic smell tickled Lexy's nose and the doubt that had pawed at her stomach earlier spread as she fumbled for the light switch. The lights came on and Lexy craned her neck to see around the sewing table, dreading what she might find.

Her heart jerked when she saw the bodies lying side by side on the floor. She threw her dress down on the table and ran over. She skidded in something wet and her stomach churned with the nauseating realization that it was a pool of spreading blood.

The back of her mind was screaming for her to run in the other direction, but she had to check if they were alive so that she could perform aid if necessary.

Why would someone kill Philippe and his assistant?

She reached Philippe first and checked for a pulse. Nothing.

She turned to the other body. From the doorway, she'd assumed it was Philippe's assistant who lay beside him but now, close up, she could see she'd been wrong. It was Veronica Maynard. And she was dead.

Why would someone want to kill Philippe and Veronica?

Lexy stood up, grabbed her dress off the counter and ran out to her car to call nine-one-one.

Chapter Three.

Lexy's stomach churned as she heard the sirens getting closer and closer. It wasn't the site of the two bodies so much-she was getting kind of used to stumbling over dead bodies-but the arrival of her homicide detective fiance that made her nervous. Jack had a tendency to get irritated with the way Lexy seemed to be a murder magnet, and with the wedding so close, she didn't want to rock the boat.

Two black and whites pulled to the curb along with an unmarked police car with Jack at the wheel and his partner, John Darling, riding shotgun. Lexy saw Jack's eyes narrow as he recognized her car, and she steeled herself with a deep breath.

Lexy got out and leaned against the car. Her top teeth worried her bottom lip as she watched Jack come toward her. She had to admit, his tall frame, broad shoulders and ruggedly handsome face still made her heart flutter. She just hoped he wouldn't be too mad.

"You called this in?" He raised a brow at her.

Lexy nodded.

"Two bodies?" He glanced back at the building where John was organizing the rest of the crew.

Lexy nodded again.

"Jeez, Lexy. Now you're finding them in batches." Jack shook his head and turned to start back across the street. Then he stopped, turned back toward her and took a step closer. He tucked a stray hair behind her ear, and her heart swelled when she saw the concern in his honey-brown eyes.

"Don't leave. We're going to need to question you." He brushed his lips quickly against her forehead then jogged back to Chez Philippe, disappearing through the front door and leaving Lexy to wonder what the heck had happened in there.

Lexy glanced into her car at her wedding dress, feeling selfishly happy that she hadn't left it in the store where it might be confiscated as evidence. The thought gave her a pang of guilt when she realized Veronica's dress might not be so lucky. Was it in there covered in blood? She couldn't remember what the room had looked like or what was in there, she'd been so focused on determining if either of them was alive. Either way, Veronica would never get the chance to wear it.

Suddenly stricken with an overwhelming curiosity, she stood on her tiptoes craning to see if she could make out what was going on inside. Jack probably wouldn't like it if she barged right in though, so she took out her phone and called Nans instead.

Not that long ago, Lexy discovered that Nans and three of her friends, Ida, Ruth and Helen, had an unusual hobby-they liked to solve murders. They were actually quite serious about it and even had a name for themselves-The Ladies Detective Club. That hobby had really come in handy when Lexy had been accused of poisoning her ex-boyfriend. Since then, the five of them had gone on to solve several other murders.

Lexy had to admit she had a fondness, and a bit of a talent, for solving murders ... even if Jack took a dim view of her extra-curricular activities. Nans would never forgive her if she found out Lexy had stumbled across more bodies and didn't call right away.

"Hello?" Nans answered the phone and Lexy could hear a din of conversation in the background.

"Hi Nans. It's Lexy."

"Oh. Hi, dear. I forgot to look at caller id again. How are you?"

"Good," Lexy said, "I have some interesting news."

"Hold on, dear."

Lexy could have sworn she heard someone yell "Bingo" before the sounds on the other end were muffled by Nans' hand covering the mouthpiece.

A few seconds later Nans came back on. "Sorry, dear. I had to go outside because I couldn't hear."

"Are you at Bingo again?" Lexy asked.

"Yes," Nans said sheepishly. "Ida just won a hundred dollars-that's a lot when you're on a fixed budget with only social security checks to support you."

"I'm sure it is." A movement over in the store caught Lexy's eye and she lowered her voice. "Never mind about that though, I have something exciting to tell you."

"Oh? What?"

"Remember how I told you I was bringing my dress back to Chez Philippe tonight?"

"Yeeees." Nans drew out the middle of the word.

"Well, you won't believe what I found," Lexy said.

"What?" Nans was starting to sound aggravated and Lexy could almost picture her making a circling gesture with her hand to indicate Lexy should move it along.

"Philippe Montague and Veronica Maynard." Lexy paused for effect.

"In a compromising position?" Nans asked sounding much more interested.

"No. Dead."

Nans gasped on the other end of the phone. "Did you say dead?"

"Yep."

"But who would want to kill them?" Nans asked.

"That's what I was wondering," Lexy said. "Jack's inside investigating the scene right now."

"What? And you're not in there?" Nans practically yelled into the phone.

"No. He told me to stay here." Lexy looked over at the doorway again. She really wanted to know what was going on in there.

"You need to get in there and listen to what they are saying. Find out what the clues are. Memorize the crime scene," Nans instructed. "Otherwise, how do you expect us to solve the murders?"

Lexy pressed her lips together trying to remember Jack's words. He hadn't actually said not to go in there, he'd just said not to leave. Which meant it was perfectly fine for her to go in.

"Okay, I'm going in. I'll call you later."

Lexy snapped the phone shut, walked over to the shop door, opened it and strode in like she belonged there.

No one questioned her entrance, so Lexy snuck into the back room and slid into a corner, wedging herself in between a dress form and the counter. The form was fully clothed in a hoop skirt wedding gown, which she hoped would hide her.

Jack was busy bending over the body with John and the medical examiner, Naomi Sprigs. Several crime scene investigators were busy taking pictures, dusting for prints and putting down yellow plastic cards with numbers on them. No one paid any attention to her.

She craned her neck to see what was going on over by the bodies. Naomi was pointing at different parts of the bodies, presumably the parts where the blood was coming out. With a start, Lexy realized she didn't even know what had killed them. She tilted her ear toward the trio, hoping to hear what they were saying.

"... gunshot wound here ... and here," Naomi said.

John stood up and walked to the back of the room. Lexy noticed there was a back door right behind him. He made a motion like he was holding a gun. Some of his words drifted over to Lexy.

" ... Killer ... stood ..."

From what she could gather, he was saying the killer must have come in the back door and stood where John was, firing the shots from there. So they were killed with a gun.

"Then, he probably ran back out." Jack's deep baritone carried over to Lexy.

Naomi stood up and pointed to something on the opposite side of the bodies. "Well, then, what about that?"

"And these." A crime scene tech pointed to several places on the floor leading out into the front room.

Lexy craned to see what she was pointing at. She cringed when she saw the smudged area of blood and subsequent footprints leading to the front, realizing it was she who had smudged the blood. Looking down at her shoe, she recoiled when she saw the smear of dark red on tan suede. Her elbow jerked out and hit the dress form, which teetered precariously before crashing loudly to the floor.

Everyone in the room jerked their heads in Lexy's direction making her feel like she'd been caught running naked down Main Street. Her cheeks burned and she managed a smile and finger wave.

"Lexy? What are you doing in here?" Jack's forehead pleated between dark masculine brows.

"Oh, I thought you said to stick around ..." Lexy plastered a look of innocence on her face.

Jack's eyes narrowed. "I think you knew I meant to stick around outside."

Jack's partner, John Darling stood behind Jack, his long ponytail cascading down the front of his leather jacket. He laughed good-naturedly and jabbed Jack in the arm.

"I think she's got you there, buddy," he said then turned to Lexy. "Hey Lexy, how's it going?"

"Good. You?" Lexy favored John with a genuine smile. Not only had she known the long-haired detective as long as she'd known Jack, but he was married to her best friend Cassie. She considered him a good friend.

"Never better," he replied. "I see you're up to your usual tricks of finding bodies."

Lexy cringed as she watched Jack and Naomi examine the bloody footsteps.

"Those look like high heels," Naomi said.