Lola met us at Cider Ridge Inn for dinner. We had decided to make some vegetable pot pies. Lacey and I had stopped at Emily's garden for some potatoes, carrots, green beans and sage. Other than a few early century milk cans and glassware from the depression era, it seemed Lola's first find, the Brown Brothers Pottery, was going to be the only real treasure. She sat at the kitchen table sipping some iced tea and lamenting her long day of scavenging while Lacey chopped vegetables and I prepared pastry dough for the pot pie. Naturally, Edward had joined us, silently watching the scene from his perch, his long legs and tall black boots dangling over the brick hearth. I'd been too busy and too surrounded by other people to have a conversation with him, but something told me I'd be hearing a lot about Lacey once the visitors left.
Even though the murder investigation was at the forefront of our thoughts, we had veered off on other subjects during the drive home and the vegetable pick at Emily's. And once Lacey met my adorable goat nieces, we spoke of little else the whole way home. Lacey spent a few minutes online to find out if there was any kind of ordinance in Port Danby that would keep her from having a goat of her own. Much to her dismay, there was no livestock of any kind allowed inside the town limits. It seemed Lacey would need to buy a farm in the rural area just west of the main town. She was so excited about the goats, she actually checked out the real estate site to see if there were any farms available. Again, no luck. She came to the conclusion that she would just have to travel back to Firefly Junction to visit again. I heartily agreed.
Lola had gotten into a game of catch with Newman, tossing it from her chair just high and far enough for him to catch and return it. "What was the reasoning behind making it vegetable pot pie instead of the usual chicken or turkey?"
I turned back to her. "There will be a rich gravy and flaky crust, need I say more?"
"No, you needn't." Lola relaxed back and stretched out her long legs, crossing her feet at her ankles. "Good thing I found that piece of pottery on day one, otherwise this trip would be a total bust."
Lacey's face snapped her direction. "Except that we've met new friends and had a great time."
Lola looked rightfully embarrassed. "Yes, of course. I'm loving every minute of this trip. I just meant a bust as far as antiques were concerned. By the way, I talked to Ryder earlier. He took in a massive order for a January wedding."
"Awesome," Lacey said. "January is usually slow, but I guess it won't be this time."
"Ryder is your shop assistant and Lola's boyfriend?" I was fairly certain but wanted to make sure.
Lacey scooped up some chunks of sweet potato and put them in the pot. "Yes. He is the best assistant anyone could ask for. He knows everything and he's always in a pleasant mood."
"Unless I do something silly to throw his day out of whack, which I am prone to do," Lola confessed.
Lacey snuck an affirmative head nod my way. "I've been thinking about the case, Sunni." She tossed carrot chunks into the pot. "What would Etta's motive be for killing her sister?"
"Did the twin do it?" Lola tossed the ball again. Newman missed it and it bounced down the hallway. The dog bounded after it.
"No, we don't have much to go on yet," I said. "We talked to Etta, the sister. They'd been very close growing up but they weren't talking anymore. It seems Etta didn't care for Minnie's unique lifestyle. However, she said she'd come to grips with it lately and realized she had judged her too harshly. Yet, it seems they still never communicated." I tossed flour on my ball of pastry dough and began rolling it out. "Like you, Lacey, I've been trying to come up with a motive for Etta to kill Minnie. I suppose it's possible she was lying about coming to grips with Minnie's Wiccan lifestyle. Remember her church threatened to kick Etta out because of her relation to Minnie."
Lacey chopped away on another carrot and stopped to taste a piece. "Hmm, fresh from the garden beats store bought anytime." She returned to her task. "But it seems like a rather drastic solution to Etta's problem. What about the shop? Maybe Minnie owns the property and she's left it to Etta in her will?"
I rolled along with the pin and flattened the dough. It was Emily's flaky pie crust recipe so I was certain it would be delicious on a pot pie. "Except that Etta was already left a fortune by her late husband. I just can't imagine she'd go to such lengths and risk everything for that small piece of property in Hickory Flats."
"Good point. Etta certainly didn't seem to be lacking in money," Lacey said. "That house was fabulous. Maybe there was some hidden issue between the two sisters, some terrible fight or family problem that Etta wanted to keep quiet or quash to keep it from harming her reputation in the community as a fine lady."
"That's always possible," I said. "We know so little about the two women. I'll ask Raine if she knows anything else. She seemed to have some insight on the Smithers twins." I stopped my rolling for a second and leaned my hip against the counter. "But here's the other sticky question. How did a little old woman like Etta, who is supposed to have severe arthritis, manage to hold a pillow over her sister's face long enough to suffocate her? That would take some strength."
Lola got up from the chair to help herself to a carrot. "It would take some strength if the person she was suffocating was much stronger than her. But Minnie was probably no stronger than Etta. They were identical, so unless Minnie had, I don't know, been a carpenter or painter or lumberjack when she was young, she probably had about equal arm strength as her twin sister."
I looked at Lacey. "She's got a good point."
Lacey tilted her head side to side. "She occasionally comes up with them."
"Hey," Lola said. "But she's right. I'm probably more of an anti-good point person. Lacey is the town's unofficial therapist and purveyor of good points. But I do have a good idea," she added. "Minnie's shop probably had a website and a blog. Especially if she was some high falutin' member of Wiccan society. Sometimes comments reveal all kinds of friends and enemies."
"Another good point," I said.
"Guess that's two for two, so I'm probably maxed out." Lola walked over and picked up the ball. "I should go before I do something predictable to ruin my perfect record. Newman and I will be outside playing ball. Call me when that veggie thing is done."