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Paige worked on inventory until around four o’clock. She locked the shop door and walked down the sidewalk to the bakery to meet Scott. Other than about a dozen missing or fake first editions, everything else was checking out fine.
The bells on the bakery door tinkled when she opened it. Her brother sat at a small, round table munching on a sandwich.
“Aren’t you going to ruin your appetite? Isn’t dinner in, like, two hours?” She sat next to him and scanned the shop. She hadn’t really wanted to come to Lucy’s place, but Scott had his heart set on it.
“Yeah, but it’s tempeh or something like that tonight.” Scott grimaced. “Figured if I eat now, I can get away with having just a little of Sarah’s meal.”
“Are you ever going to tell her you don’t want to be a vegan?”
“No.” Scott feigned shock at the suggestion. “Why would I do that? She’s helping me get healthier.”
Paige scoffed. “But you don’t stick to the diet!”
“No, but I eat a lot less animal protein and sugar than I would if we had that stuff at home. Plus, she thinks I’m following it full-time, and that makes her happy. So I’m going to let her be happy.” He lifted his jaw.
“You look mighty smug for a guy who sneaks cookies into and out of the dining room hutch.”
“Yep, that’s me. I already asked Lucy to pack me up some warm ones to go.” Scott grinned. “How’d it go at the shop today?”
“Fine, I guess. I met Aunt Nora’s employee, Neal, and there was something strange with some of the inventory . . .”
Before she could continue, Lucy appeared at the table. “Oh, Paige, dear. I’m glad you’re here. Do you want something to eat? Maybe a Reuben like your brother? Or a chicken salad croissant? That’s what Nora used to have.” The woman’s voice hitched, and Paige saw tears spring to her eyes. The poor lady really was having a hard time coming to terms with Nora’s death.
“That sounds great, actually. I’ll have the croissant. Thank you.”
The baker hurried off behind the counter, and Paige turned back to Scott. “Is there anything new going on with the investigation into Aunt Nora’s death?”
Around a big bite of sandwich, Scott replied, “Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that. The chief says he needs all hands on deck for a drug sting we’ve been working on. It’s a huge thing and we’re poised to break it wide open and get a bunch of bad stuff off the streets of Comfort Cove. If there’s enough evidence from the autopsy that foul play was involved, though, Chief said he’d put somebody on Aunt Nora’s case next week.” He chewed, swallowed, and took a bite of pickle.
“But that’s not fair.” Paige made a pouty face and realized she was mimicking her cousins. She felt like stomping her foot. Something about arguing with her big brother made Paige want to act like a kid sometimes. “I think there’s enough evidence to investigate already. I mean, even if what happened to her was an accident or self-induced—which I don’t believe—it’s still their job to figure it out. Can’t they put another team on it? That’s how they do it on TV.”
“This is Comfort Cove, not Chicago. We don’t have enough manpower. But we will, sis, once we’re further along in this drug ring investigation.” He lowered his voice. “There are a lot of people involved in it. In fact, part of me almost wonders if it could have played a role in Nora dying.” Scott paused, and a troubled look clouded his features. He leaned close and his voice was tense. “Right now, it’s best if you don’t trust anyone.”
Scott sighed and leaned back as Paige continued to pout. “Listen,” he said, “you know I’m still going to do the best I can to keep my eyes and ears open regarding what happened to Nora. But I can’t risk losing my promotion by defying the chief.”
Paige straightened and dropped the sullen face. “That reminds me. I started to tell you about the inventory at Beachside. There are at least five new editions that aren’t what they’re supposed to be. Plus, some are missing completely. Oh, and a guy came in this morning demanding to buy a tattered old book our aunt kept in a locked glass case with a couple others. Neal says those were her personal collection, so I didn’t sell it to the dude.” She paused. What was the red-haired giant’s name? “Horace something. Belefonte. No, Bellevue—that’s it. He seemed pretty angry when he left the shop.”
“Here you are, dear.” Lucy spoke from directly behind Paige and Scott. She was so close it was impossible to think she hadn’t heard some of what they were discussing. Paige nearly jumped out of the chair. This lady definitely had a way of startling her.
Lucy set the plate down on the table, and the sandwich looked so delicious Paige’s mouth actually watered.
“Dear, have you seen,” Lucy hesitated, adjusting her hairnet over her black curls, “or maybe heard anything unusual at the bookstore? You’ve been over there more often in the past day or two, so I just wondered.”
Paige eyed the sandwich, wishing she didn’t have to answer so she could dig right in. She gave a little sigh and glanced up at Lucy. “Just before I talked to you yesterday, I heard something in the attic. Probably a squirrel. Neal went up there today to look for some books and didn’t mention seeing anything.” She studied the croissant again, hoping Lucy was done talking.
Lucy did that sniffling thing again. “Oh. The attic, you say? Interesting. And you think it was a squirrel?”
Paige tore her eyes from lunch to study Lucy. Did the woman have perpetual allergies? The plump woman’s gaze pierced into her.
“I guess so,” Paige said slowly. “I didn’t go in and check.”
Why did it feel like Lucy was trying to see right into her brain? What was it about the noise in the attic that was so intriguing to the lady?
“What about you? Have you seen or heard anything unusual in the bakery lately?”
Bless Scott for saving her. With Lucy’s gaze torn away from her and landing on her brother instead, Paige grabbed the sandwich and took a big bite. It was heavenly. There had to be some secret ingredient in there to make it so yummy. If she chewed slowly enough, maybe Lucy wouldn’t ask her any more questions.
“Here?” Lucy’s eyes swept over the inside of her small, tidy shop. A middle-aged couple sat at a table in the corner, their heads bent close together as they chatted and sipped lemonade. Other than that, the place was empty. “No. It’s been same old, same old around here. Of course, I do have the occasional misguided young person come in, asking in code words for illegal substances.” She said the last two words in a stage whisper as she leaned down closer to Scott and Paige. “Probably because I named my shop Just Baked.” She straightened back up. “I admit I was a tad innocent when I thought that one up.”
Paige snorted out a laugh.
Scott grinned. “Okay, well, you call me right away if you do notice anything suspicious.”
Lucy’s eyes opened even wider than normal. “Like what?”
“Anything at all. Unusual people, strange happenings—if something is out of the ordinary, I want to hear about it.”
“Well, sure, honey. Sure. I’ll call you up if anything is odd. Oh! I meant to tell you that your sweet wife called me today. She asked if I’d cater Nora’s memorial service tomorrow, and of course, I said yes as quick as I could. There won’t be any charge to your family either. It’s the least I can do for my friend.” Lucy’s voice cracked on the last few words and she dabbed at her eyes with a tissue pulled from an apron pocket.
Thank goodness Sarah was on top of things. Scott hadn’t mentioned that Sarah and Lucy knew each other.
The bells on the door rang, and a family of five entered the bakery with exuberance. Lucy drifted off to greet them. Paige gazed at her empty plate, wishing there was more chicken salad on it.
“Maybe the memorial service won’t be as bad as we thought,” Scott said and wiped his mouth. “With Lucy making the food, at least we’ll know that’s good. I think most of the downtown businesses will be closed for the afternoon so everyone can attend—Aunt Nora really had a lot of friends here. She was always doing what she could to help other business owners out.”
Their aunt had wanted to be cremated, which would be done once the autopsy was complete. Paige had never attended a funeral without the body present for viewing, and she wondered if it would impede her sense of closure not having it there. Nothing to be done for it, though. She’d make sure everyone followed Nora’s last wishes.
As she glanced wistfully at the crumbs on her plate one last time, a sudden thought struck her. Aunt Nora had eaten a muffin from Just Baked the morning she died. Paige’s stomach, with the delicious croissant sandwich inside, quivered.
She scoffed internally and tried to shove the crazy notion out of her mind, but as she left the bakery and headed to Beachside Books to check on Casper one last time before closing for the night, she couldn’t shake the concern.
Was it safe to have Lucy cater the memorial? Could she have poisoned Nora?