“What’s going on?” I said.

  “We should be asking you that,” Shannon said.

  I grimaced. “I’d prefer it if you didn’t.”

  “Fair enough,” Shannon said.

  “Actually, fair is the last way that I’d describe things,” I said.

  “You’re right,” Shannon said. “That was a poor choice of words.”

  “It’s no big deal. Especially considering everything I’m wrestling with at the moment,” I said.

  Kelly looked at me with wide eyes. “What a sad time for you.”

  I winced. “I really do think it’s for the best if we don’t talk about it.”

  “All right. We won’t ask you about the case then,” Kelly said.

  “Good,” I replied. “Now, what’s been going on with you two?”

  “Nothing compared to all the things that have been happening in your life,” Kelly said.

  “This isn’t a competition to see who is juggling the most plates in the air,” I said. “I want to hear how life has been treating you lately. Especially if you have any funny stories to tell.”

  “Unfortunately, those are in short supply,” Shannon said.

  “Really? Well, how about a general update? For example, what were you two talking about before I walked over here?” I asked.

  Shannon and Kelly tensed up. In addition, neither of them said a word. After a few seconds went by without a word being spoken, I grew impatient.

  “What aren’t you telling me?” I asked.

  “You’re not going to want to hear this,” Kelly said.

  My friend was probably correct. The problem was, my interest was piqued.

  “Maybe not, but if you don’t tell me, it’s going to drive me crazy,” I said.

  “All right. You’ve been warned,” Kelly said.

  My eyebrows rose. “Uh-oh. Let’s hear it.”

  “I saw your father yesterday,” Kelly said.

  “Let me guess. He wanted you to talk to me. He figured that maybe you could convince me to give him another chance.”

  “Actually, that topic didn’t come up.”

  “Good. Because he isn’t getting another chance.”

  “He certainly doesn’t deserve one,” Kelly said.

  “He sure doesn’t,” I said. “It still burns me that he asked for money in the first place. Honestly, I don’t know if I’m ever going to get over that.”

  Shannon put her hand up. “Why don’t we talk about something else?”

  I bit the corner of my lip before speaking up again. “After the way things ended with us, I was kind of hoping that Walter would leave town. I have no interest in ever seeing him again.”

  “I’ll understand,” Kelly said.

  My nose scrunched. “That said, I can’t help but wonder, what is he still doing here?”

  “From what I gather, he has no plans to leave Treasure Cove,” Kelly said.

  I put my hands on my hips. “Are you serious?”

  “Unfortunately,” Kelly said.

  “Do you happen to know what his plans are?” I asked.

  Kelly shook her head. “He didn’t tell me.”

  I squinted. “What did he say to you exactly?”

  “This is the weirdest part. When he came into my crystal shop yesterday, he was looking for a good luck charm.”

  “Wait a minute. He came into your shop?” I asked.

  Kelly nodded.

  “Wow. He’s the last person I’d ever expect to see in a crystal shop,” I said.

  “Trust me. I was very surprised to see him,” Kelly said.

  “Did you sell him a good luck charm?” I asked.

  “I did. Although, I told him it would take far more than a charm to turn his luck around,” Kelly said.

  “How did he respond?” I asked.

  “That he would take all the luck he could get,” Kelly said.

  ***

  Even though I could have spent a great deal of time focusing on my father’s surprise trip to Kelly’s crystal shop, I decided not to linger on that point for very long. As far as I was concerned, I didn’t want to have anything to do with Walter Cobb. In addition, there were other matters that needed my attention. Namely, Roger Osgood’s unsolved murder.

  When my drinks were ready, I said a quick goodbye to my friends and headed out to the car. After I took a seat in the passenger-side of my husband’s vehicle, I didn’t even mention my father’s name. Instead, I asked David if he had an update about the case. Unfortunately, no new leads had materialized overnight.

  That news could have discouraged me, but I decided to remain optimistic. To start, it was early in the day. In fact, I was still waiting for the caffeine to hit my system. There was no telling what was in store for us.

  ***

  Apparently, the only thing on tap for the day was frustration. Even though David and I were eager to get somewhere with the case, we only managed to hit a series of dead ends. By the time we finished up work for the day, we had nothing to show for our efforts.

  It was incredible how often that happened during the course of a case. Investigations had a way of turning into absolute beasts sometimes. That was definitely true right then.

  As great of a quality as determination was, patience and timing often played a much more crucial role in solving a case. Of course, it didn’t hurt to get lucky either.

  Ultimately, none of those factors came into play that afternoon. The break that we were looking remained elusive.

  After a number of hours of investigating, we ended up heading home empty handed. On the way back to our place, we told ourselves that perhaps we would get lucky in the morning.

  That was the refrain we always clung to. Then again, what was the alternative? It was important to keep hope alive. Even if we only had a faint glimmer to work with.

  On the flip side, the longer a case dragged on, the more difficult it was to keep my head up. I knew the statistics. With each passing day, the odds of catching the killer went down.

  Even so, it had only been two days since Roger had died. Right then, I felt like it was important to remind myself of that.

  As David and I arrived back home with our daughter in tow, I managed to push my thoughts about the case aside. There was dinner to cook and relaxing to do. Downtime had a way of working wonders sometimes.

  That particular evening, I spent a fair number of hours in front of the television. But rather than turning on the news or a detective show, I elected to watch something light and fluffy. Just like most of my friends, I had a weakness for cooking shows. Especially the ones that focused on dessert items. So, when a reality show featuring a pie-baking contest came on the air, I was completely riveted by it.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Not surprisingly, the next morning, I woke up with pie on my mind. While I could try to ignore my craving, deep down, I realized how futile my efforts would be. I had a hard enough time sticking to my diet under normal circumstances. When I was investigating a case, I found willpower to be scarce. More often than not, I indulged in every dessert whim that came my way.

  This time would be no different. Rather than wasting energy fighting off my craving, I just gave in. Shortly after getting dressed, I headed out to my car and set a course for Mitchell’s Bakery.

  At that point, the question became, what kind of pie to get? I loved apple, but it was also hard to go wrong with a slice of mixed berry.

  Decisions, decisions.

  Luckily, I still had a few minutes before I arrived at the bakery. I would probably need every last second to make a call.

  Typically, when I was thinking about sweets, nothing could distract me. As I approached a red stoplight at the intersection of Nelson Drive and Bradley Road, however, something else caught my attention. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw an argument taking place in the parking lot of Higgleman’s Grocery Store.

  As I turned my attention to the parking lot, I realized that I knew both of the people who were arguing. Interestingly enough, it was Jerry Backstrom and Luke Whitaker. Talk about an eye-catching scene.

  Unfortunately, I was too far away to hear what was being said. What a shame, too, because their discussion was quite heated.

  Part of me wanted to pull my car over right then to get closer to them. The problem was, there was no way of doing that discretely. If I pulled my car over, Jerry and Luke would definitely spot me.

  If David was with me, the situation would be much different. My husband and I could directly confront them. Since David wasn’t present, I wasn’t about to walk right up to them. And not just for safety reasons. There was also the fact that I wasn’t an official member of law enforcement. Without a police badge, I couldn’t make anyone talk to me. The best I could do was to try and trick suspects into answering questions. I knew that approach would fall flat if I attempted it, so I decided not to bother.

  On the other hand, I also didn’t want to just keep driving either. That said, just as I was trying to figure out my next step, the driver of the car behind me began honking their horn.

  I looked into my rearview mirror and saw the annoyed driver giving me a nasty facial expression.

  I then glanced up at the stoplight and realized that it had turned green.

  No wonder the driver behind me was so mad.

  At that point, the loud honking had drawn the attention of Jerry and Luke in the parking lot.

  The two men looked over at me.

  When they saw me sitting at the light, they stopped arguing and dispersed.

  Jerry headed back toward the grocery store, where he was a manager. Meanwhile, Luke walked toward his car.

  Suddenly, one thing became very clear. If I was going to find out what they were so heated about, I would need to go about it another way.

  But first, I had to get the driver behind me off of my back.

  I pushed down the gas pedal and drove away from the scene.

  As I continued down Nelson Drive, I couldn’t get Jerry and Luke off of my mind.

  So much for pie. My cravings would have to wait. I had to get to the bottom of what had just happened.

  With that in mind, I dialed my husband’s phone number and filled him in on what I had just seen. When I finished speaking, he was just as concerned as I was. In his mind, it was clear what needed to happen next.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  After looking up Luke’s address in the computer database, David and I decided to head over to the southeast corner of town. Mr. Whitaker was renting an apartment on Cotton Drive.

  When we arrived at Luke’s charmless stucco building, David and I approached his unit number. My husband then knocked on Luke’s wooden front door, unsure of what to expect. Much to my relief, Luke answered the door after the first set of knocks.

  The short and chubby forty-eight-year-old adjusted his wide-rimmed glasses as he squinted at us.

  “Hey, wait a minute. You’re the woman who was staring at me earlier,” Luke said. “What are you doing here?”

  “Mr. Whitaker, we have some questions for you,” David said.

  Luke gave David a blank stare. “Who are you?”

  David pulled out his police badge. “I’m Detective David Carlson. We spoke on the phone the other day regarding Jerry Backstrom’s alibi. Don’t you remember?”

  Luke’s eyes widened. “Right. Of course. I remember.”

  “Good. Because I have some questions about our previous phone conversation. As well as the argument that you just had with Jerry Backstrom in the parking lot of Higgleman’s Grocery Store.”

  Luke’s muscles tensed up. “What kind of questions?”

  “Would you mind telling me what you and Jerry were just arguing about?” David asked.

  “It was nothing, really.”

  I jumped in. “It didn’t look like nothing.”

  “It was no big deal, all right? Sometimes, friends have disagreements,” Luke said.

  “If it was no big deal, then why don’t you just tell us what your conversation was about?” David asked.

  “What are you hassling me for? Why don’t you go and bother Jerry?” Luke said.

  “We will. When we’re good and ready. Right now, I have questions for you,” David said. “Now, what were you arguing about?”

  Luke took a deep breath and then prepared to respond.

  Before Luke could get a word out, David issued a warning.

  “I just want to remind you that it’s a crime to lie to a police detective,” David said.

  Luke became as stiff as a board.

  “Now, what was this argument of yours about?” David asked.

  “Jerry gave me a bad horseracing tip. It cost me a few hundred bucks. So, naturally, I was pretty upset.”

  David stared Luke down. “Is that so?”

  Luke nodded. “Uh-huh.”

  “All right. Let’s go back to our phone conversation the other day,” David said.

  “Why?”

  “Because the last time we spoke, you confirmed Jerry’s alibi. I just want to ask you again, were you really at Jerry’s house watching baseball at the time of Roger Osgood’s murder?”

  “Yes.”

  David narrowed his eyes. “Mr. Whitaker, if I find out that you’re lying to me, you are going to be in serious trouble. Do you understand that?

  Luke nodded. “I do.”

  “With that in mind, are you going to stick with that same story?” David asked.

  “It’s not just a story,” Luke said. “It’s the truth.”

  ***

  As I walked back to the car with David, my instincts were going nuts. My gut was telling me there was way more to this story. The question became, did David feel the same way?

  “I don’t know about you, but I’m convinced that he was withholding information from us,” I said.

  “I’d go one step further,” David said. “I think he outright lied to us.”

  “I’m glad we’re on the same page.”

  “For a moment there, I thought he was going to crack.”

  “He still might. Which is why I think that we need to keep a close eye on him.”

  “I agree. In fact, I don’t think we should let him out of our sight.”

  “What are you suggesting exactly?” David asked.

  “That we follow his every move,” I said.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  David and I decided to set up a stakeout. If my gut was correct, Luke would make a move shortly.

  It ended up taking about four hours, but my instincts ended up being spot-on. Shortly after noon, Luke left his apartment and got into his green sedan. He then pulled out of his parking spot and headed west.

  At that point, David had a difficult task ahead of him. He wanted to tail Luke’s car without being too obvious. If Luke caught on that we were following him, it would blow our cover and our efforts would most likely be a complete waste.

  With that in mind, David stayed a safe distance behind Luke’s sedan. After a number of blocks of following Luke, I began to develop a theory about where Mr. Whitaker was headed.

  In my mind, he was going to stop at Jerry Backstrom’s house. So, when Luke turned right onto Jerry’s street a few minutes later, I knew my instincts were dead-on. It also meant that things could really get explosive in a hurry.

  Luke parked his sedan in Jerry’s driveway. He then got out of his vehicle and walked toward Jerry’s back yard.

  Meanwhile, David parked his car on the street in front of a neighbor’s house. My husband and I then got out of the car and slowly made our way up Jerry’s driveway.

  While we could have just stormed into the back yard, we elected to take a different approach. Once we reached the back of the driveway, we stopped in our tracks and peered around the corner carefully.

  If at all possible, we wanted to avoid being spotted. The plan was to listen in on Luke’s conversation with Jerry. If either one of them said something incriminating, David would step in.

  The moment that David and I began spying, things heated up between Luke and Jerry.

  “Luke, what are you doing here?” Jerry snapped.

  Jerry was still in his work uniform, but he had cracked open a cold beer and was sitting on a lawn chair.

  “If you want me to keep my mouth shut, I’m going to need more money,” Luke said.

  Jerry narrowed his eyes. “Go home.”

  “Not without more money,” Luke barked. “A lot more.”

  “I’ve already given you plenty.”

  “I need more.”

  Jerry put his beer down and got up from his lawn chair. He shot Luke a glare. “Stop right there. I’m not giving you any more cash.”

  Luke didn’t budge an inch. “What makes you think that you’re the one who is dictating terms around here?”

  Jerry put his hand up. “Don’t get greedy.”

  “I’m not,” Luke said. “The way I see it, you owe me big time.”

  Jerry threw out his arms. “How do you figure?”

  “Do you know what it’s like to have cops breathing down your neck?”

  Jerry nodded. “Yes. I do.”

  “It’s miserable,” Luke said. “Just absolutely nerve-wracking.”

  Jerry put his arm on Luke’s shoulder. “Stay strong.”

  Luke pushed Jerry’s arm away. “Don’t tell me what to do. Now, if you want me to keep covering for you, I’m going to need a lot more cash.”

  Jerry gritted his teeth. “I already gave you a thousand dollars.”

  “The price of my silence just went up…to ten-thousand bucks.”

  Jerry scoffed. “This is crazy.”

  “No. It’s just the new reality,” Luke said. “Now, pay up or I’m going to go to the police.”

  “You wouldn’t dare do that.”

  “Don’t test me,” Luke snapped. “Imagine what the cops would say if they found out you don’t have an alibi for the night Roger was murdered.”