“Thanks, but I’d better stay here in case he comes home.”

  They said their goodbyes and she ended the call. Flora’s mood was somber as she went to bed that night. She felt terrible for Teddy, and for Grady too. How terrible must it be to not know whether a loved one was guilty of a crime as dark as murder?

  She woke up the next morning to the feel of her cat’s sharp claws kneading her stomach. She moved Amaretto off of her with a groan. “I’ve got to cut your nails, sweetie. That hurts.”

  Undeterred, the cat rolled onto her back, making a cute chirping sound that just about melted Flora’s heart.

  “Okay, that’s adorable. I forgive you. What do you say we go get some breakfast? Then we can take a walk out back and see how hard it will be to cut a path through all of that brush toward the pond.”

  Since she wasn’t going into town today, she turned the coffee maker on and served Amaretto her breakfast while she waited for her drink to finish being made. Just as the coffee machine was gurgling its last few drops, her phone started ringing. She could hear the sound faintly from down the hall, and realized she had left it upstairs. Hoping it might be Grady with an update, she leapt to her feet and raced toward the stairs. She made it to her room just as the call went to voicemail.

  Picking it up, she saw the caller had indeed been Grady and quickly redialed his number.

  “Hey,” she said as soon as she heard him pick up. “Sorry, I was making coffee. I didn’t bring my phone downstairs with me. Is everything all right?”

  “Wade finally came home late last night. I told him what happened and he agreed to go down to the police station with me this morning.”

  “And? Did they arrest him?”

  He heaved a sigh. “They’re keeping him in custody for the time being. I don’t know why or what was said, but I told him I’d help him find a lawyer. I just… I don’t know what to think, Flora. He told me he didn’t do it. But if he’s really innocent, why would the police be holding him?”

  “I’m sorry, Grady. I don’t know what to say. What does your gut tell you? Do you think he did it?”

  “Honestly, after talking to him last night… I don’t think he had anything to do with it. I don’t know if I’m being stupid, trusting him, especially since he swore he was innocent of the drug charges that got him into prison as well, but I know my brother. I think he was telling the truth when I talked to him last night.”

  “Then I’ll help you,” she said. “Even if there isn’t enough evidence for the police to keep him in custody, with the way this town is, he’s never going to find a job or be able to rebuild his life here if people think he killed someone. We need to figure out who killed Teddy Martin.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  Grady told her he was going to start looking into lawyers, though he wasn’t sure if he would be able to contact any of them since it was a Sunday. Flora, for her part, decided to do some information gathering… which sounded a lot better than what she was really going to do; gossip with her neighbor, Beth.

  Beth York had lived in Warbler all her life, and knew everything there was to know about the town, or that was how it seemed. She was always more than happy to share the latest gossip, and Flora thought talking to her would be a good place to start.

  She had time to finish a few tasks on her chore list first, though. After drinking her coffee and getting ready for the day, she took Amaretto’s harness and leash down from the coat tree by the front door and put the harness on her cat. Training Amaretto to be comfortable in the harness had been a long process, but the cat loved going outdoors, and now walking her was almost as easy as walking a dog — assuming she and Amaretto agreed on which direction they wanted to go. If Flora tried to go somewhere the cat wasn’t interested in, Amaretto would flop over onto her side and refuse to move.

  “Are you ready to help me with some work today?” Flora asked the cat as she slipped her shoes on and unlocked the door. “We’re going out back to the woods. I think you’ll enjoy it.”

  She opened the door and let Amaretto strut outside first. The cat paused on the porch and looked around, her ears twitching as she took in the morning. After letting the cat adjust for a few seconds, Flora made kissing sounds and led her slowly around to the back of the house, where the shed was. Here, she paused to grab the orange marker flags she wanted to use to mark out what would become a path to the pond.

  Walking with the cat was always slow going, and she paused more than a few times to let Amaretto sniff at a spot on the ground or stare up at a bird as it flew by, but before too long they reached the tree line, and she set two markers where she wanted the entrance of the path to be. She thought it was about where the old path had been — she knew the pond used to be a popular swimming hole for the local kids and teens — but it was long since overgrown.

  She took her time walking through the woods, pausing every few steps to plant more flags to mark out the path or let Amaretto explore. It was mid-morning by the time she finished, setting the last two flags a few feet away from the muddy bank of the pond. She stared at the murky water for a few seconds, trying to envision how it would look when it was cleaned out. She could bring some sand in to make the banks nicer, and maybe even install a little gazebo. Hiring someone else to build one would be out of the question, but between her discount at the hardware store, all of the free instructional videos she could find online, and help from her friends in exchange for free food and plenty of summer nights spent hanging out in said gazebo, she thought she might be able to build one on her own.

  Satisfied that she had gotten at least a little bit of work done – now that she had the path marked out, she could either pay someone to clear it or borrow a brush cutter herself – she scooped up Amaretto, who was rolling in a patch of something that smelled like catnip, and walked back to her house.

  After taking Amaretto’s harness off and giving the cat a few treats, she grabbed her phone and keys and let herself back out of the house, locking the door behind her. Then, she headed down the dirt road toward her closest neighbor’s house. It was a good quarter of a mile walk. The sheer solitude of the area had been astonishing to her when she first moved here, having lived in Chicago for all of her life before that. She had gotten used to it by now, and had come to value and appreciate the privacy and quiet of her country home.

  When she finally reached the Yorks’ property, she strode across the grass to the front porch. Climbing the steps, she knocked on the front door and waited. It wasn’t long before Beth opened the front door. Her wrinkled face creased into a bright smile when she saw Flora.

  “What a lovely surprise. Why don’t you come in, dear?”

  “Thanks, Beth,” Flora said. She made to take her shoes off, but the older woman paused her with a hand on her arm.

  “Actually, before you get too comfortable, do you think you could give me a lift to the feed store? I forgot to add Sammy’s food to the list when I went shopping yesterday, and I need to pick up another bag. I can pay for the gas, of course.”

  Sammy was their Basset hound, a droopy, calm dog that Beth walked down the road and back again multiple times each day. Beth and her husband, Tim, were both too old to drive, so they didn’t have a car. There was a small bus that took Beth into town to shop every Saturday, and if she needed to go to an appointment or pick up groceries any other time, she called one of her friends for a ride. Flora didn’t think she would like being stuck out here without a car, but it seemed to work for the older couple.

  “Oh, of course. And no need to pay me for anything. I walked over here; do you want me to run back and get my truck?”

  “I hate to put you out, but that would probably be faster than waiting for me to walk over to your house. I’ll get ready to go while you get it. You’re such a peach, Flora.”

  It took her a few minutes to jog back to her house and retrieve her purse from inside. By the time she pulled into Beth’s driveway, the older woman was standing on the porch, waiting for her. Flora unlocked the passenger door and waited while Beth got in.

  “Just the feed store, or do you need anything else?”

  “Just the dog food, I think,” Beth said. “Before I forget, what did you want to talk to me about? You must have had something on your mind when you came over.”

  Beth was kind enough not to mention that Flora rarely initiated any of their visits. She felt a pang of guilt for the reminder, and resolved to make more of an effort to visit the other woman just for a friendly chat every now and then.

  “Well, I don’t know if you heard what happened at the hardware store yesterday,” she said as she guided the truck toward the main road. “Teddy Martin was murdered in the parking lot.”

  “One of the women in my book club called to tell me about that,” Beth said, a sharp glint in her eyes as she latched onto the subject. “I wasn’t sure how accurate her information was. That’s just horrible, Flora. I hope you and that nice Barnes boy weren’t too affected. You didn’t see the body, did you?”

  “I’m the one who found him,” Flora said grimly. “I just wish I knew who did it. Grady’s brother just got out of prison, you see, and the police think it’s him.”

  Beth looked even more interested than before. “Oh dear, he’s out already? It was big news around town when he got that conviction years ago. You be careful around him. He is the black sheep of that family. Grady might be a nice boy, but his brother sure isn’t. The police know what they’re doing, especially when it comes to a man like him.”

  That wasn’t what Flora was hoping to hear. “You really think he could have done it? Because Grady talked to him about it, and he seems to believe his brother is innocent.”

  Beth reached over and patted her hand gently. “Of course he does, dear. It’s his brother we’re talking about. Family sticks together, especially out here. Try not to follow your heart on this one, Flora. A man was murdered, and it happened when a convicted felon returned to town. I know you want to support your friend, but sometimes we have to listen to the facts rather than our emotions.”

  Flora hit the blinker to turn toward town, mulling over Beth’s response. She wanted to believe Grady about his brother’s innocence, she really did, but even he had been hesitant to say whether or not he believed Wade. Despite having been here for a year, Flora was still a newcomer. She didn’t know much about Wade’s history in town, or what his past was like besides the fact that he had been convicted of a drug-related charge serious enough to put him in prison for years. As much as she hated to admit it, Beth might have a point.

  “I mostly just don’t want it to be true for Grady’s sake,” she admitted as the truck sped toward Warbler. “He seemed nice enough when I met him, I guess, but I have to admit, it does look pretty bad for him.”

  “The most important thing is that you keep yourself safe,” Beth said. “Let Grady deal with his brother. You should stay out of this, Flora.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  She wasn’t sure whether to count her attempt at information gathering as a failure or not. She hadn’t gotten the information she wanted, but that didn’t mean Beth hadn’t given good advice. When they reached the main intersection in town, she turned right, heading toward the feed store. The ride was mostly quiet – thankfully, Beth seemed to sense that she needed time to think.

  When they arrived at the store, they got out and went inside together. Beth grabbed a cart and headed toward the dog food section, but Flora paused at the front counter to say hi to Sydney, Violet’s boyfriend, and one of Flora’s closest friends in town.

  She exchanged a brief greeting with him before realizing Beth was here to buy dog food – which meant there was probably going to be a heavy bag and some lifting involved. She hurried off to help Beth lift the bag into the cart, then pushed it back to the counter and chatted with Sydney while Beth paid.

  “I put in an order for some of that food your cat likes so much,” Sydney told her as he handed Beth her change. “I know how picky she is. It should be in on Friday.”

  “Thanks, Sydney,” Flora said. Her musings on building a gazebo felt very far away, but she knew she couldn’t put her work on the house on hold while she and Grady dealt with the mess Wade was in. “I’ve got some plans for the summer I want to talk to everyone about, so let me know what days you’re free this week and I’ll see about getting everyone together.”

  “I will,” he promised. “Have a good day, both of you.”

  She pushed the cart outside for Beth and walked around to the back of her truck. Opening the tailgate, she heaved the heavy bag of kibble into the bed. When she reached for the cart to bring it back into the store, Beth shooed her away.

  “I appreciate your help, dear, but I’m not an invalid yet. Let me at least take this back inside. You’ve already done more than enough.”

  Flora leaned against the side of her truck, watching as Beth pushed the cart back through the parking lot and toward the store. She felt at loose ends. Today was technically supposed to be a day off, but she felt too unsettled by the murder to relax. She needed something to focus on.

  The sound of another car pulling into the parking lot got her attention, and she turned to see a blue sedan approaching her. It was Ellison. She felt a jolt of relief that he was okay, along with guilt when she remembered that she hadn’t even thought about him since the murder. She wondered if he had shown up, late for his shift, only to find the store closed and the parking lot cordoned off with crime scene tape.

  He parked his car in the spot next to her truck and got out, leaning with his elbows on the roof of the car as he looked over it to talk to her.

  “Sorry to ambush you like this, Ms. Abner, but I saw you while I was driving past. Mr. Barnes called me this morning and told me the hardware store was going to be closed for the next couple of days, but he ended the call before I could get any details. I tried texting him, but didn’t get a response. What’s going on?”

  “Yeah, getting him to respond to text messages is like pulling teeth,” Flora said. “Your best bet is to call him, or just text or call me if you need something.” She hesitated. She didn’t want to give out personal information about Grady’s brother or any specific details about what had happened, in case the police wanted to keep it quiet. “There was a death in the parking lot, and the police are still investigating. I’m sorry you had to find out this way. I think we’re planning on reopening Wednesday, but I’m not sure.” She paused. “You didn’t go to the store yesterday afternoon at all?”

  “Nah, I was out of town,” he said. “I don’t usually stop by when I’m not working, anyway. I live in an apartment, so there isn’t exactly much maintenance I can do myself, and I think my landlord would kick me out if I tried to paint the walls or something.”

  She frowned. “You were out of town? I thought you were scheduled to work yesterday.”

  He gave her a puzzled look. “No. I had the day off. I think I have a picture of the schedule on my phone…”

  She shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. I must have been wrong about the schedule. It’s probably a good thing you weren’t there, anyway. It was a mess.”

  “Do you know who died? Was it, like, an accident or something?”

  “Teddy Martin,” she said. “I don’t know if you know him. He’s a regular, and owns a scrap metal recycling business. He was murdered. Someone attacked him with a hammer.”

  To her surprise, Ellison’s expression darkened. “Oh, I know him all right, but not from the store. My parents got into a big dispute with him last year – he stole the chassis of some fancy classic car my dad owned right off their lawn. He said he thought it was scrap that they wanted him to take away, but it was worth a lot of money. They never got it back.” He winced. “Not that I’m saying I’m glad about what happened to him or anything.”

  The doors to the feed store slid open and Beth came out, heading toward the truck. Flora shifted, pushing away from the truck and getting her keys ready.

  “Well, one of us will be in contact with you. I’m hoping it won’t be too long, just another day or two.”

  He nodded and got back into his car just as Beth arrived. She let the other woman into the truck silently, thoughts buzzing in her head.

  Teddy had seemed like a perfectly normal man. He had helped her prevent a theft, for goodness sakes. It was hard to imagine him stealing from Ellison’s family. But in a strange way, her employee’s words had given her hope. If Teddy Martin had more enemies around town than just Wade, maybe Grady’s brother wasn’t the killer after all.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  After dropping Beth back off at her house, Flora returned home, still feeling at odds with herself. She didn’t want to sit on the couch and do nothing, but she also wasn’t feeling inspired about working on the house anymore. She wanted to talk to Grady, but she didn’t want to interrupt him while he was busy hunting for a good lawyer for Wade.

  In the end, she busied herself with looking up gazebo designs online and watching videos about how to build one herself. She made a list of things she would need to do and the permits she would need to get for the construction, and then spent the rest of the day alternating between reading and watching the news.

  She woke up bright and early Monday morning with her phone ringing all too cheerfully from her nightstand. She reached for it blindly and squinted to hit the right button to answer it, spotting Grady’s name on the caller ID.

  “Hello?” she said groggily.

  “Good morning,” he said. “Did I wake you up?”

  She glanced at the clock on her nightstand. It was just past nine in the morning. Grady, she knew, woke up ridiculously early from years of having the opening shift at the hardware store before the previous owner passed away.

  Flora liked to sleep in. She felt a peculiar sense of shame about it, especially since all of her closest friends were early risers.