“What exactly are we doing here?” Ida asked, keeping her voice low with the focused effort of someone who found this unnatural.
“Getting a confession,” Nans said.
Margo looked over at them, wary.
“Margo,” Nans said.
“Ladies.” Margo set down the folded tablecloth. Her voice was perfectly even.
June saw them and came over, wiping her hands on her jeans. “We’re pretty picked over, but if you see something you need, take fifty percent off.”
“That’s not why we’re here,” Nans said. She looked at Margo. “Is it.”
It wasn’t a question.
Margo took a slow breath. “I suppose not.”
June looked between them. “What’s going on?”
“The cat Everett bought here,” Nans said. “It had a decades-old secret hidden inside it, didn’t it, Margo?”
“What are you talking about?” June turned to Margo. “What secret?”
Margo said nothing.
“I wasn’t entirely sure myself,” Nans said, “until I took another look at the list of things in Everett’s bag. Everett was pushy and annoying and a lot of things, but he was a picker. He knew enough not to buy an old high school ring, especially one with initials on it. Unless something about that ring made him stop and look twice.”
“What does a ring have to do with any of this?” Margo said. “June, let’s go inside. These ladies have clearly been at this too long.”
“No.” June’s voice was quiet but firm. “I want to hear what she’s saying.” She turned to Nans. “What ring?”
Nans looked at her with something close to sympathy. “An old one. Class of ’96. Blue stone, Initials DS.”
June went very still. “That sounds like?—”
"So what?" Margo cut in. "Everett bought all kinds of things. He picked up rings everywhere he went. Are you saying a class ring has something to do with who killed him?"
"Yes," Nans said. "Because the killer wasn't after the cat. They were after what was inside it. Something hidden in that base a very long time ago."
"And what does that have to do with the ring?" Margo asked, impatient now.
"That's the thing," Nans said. "It wasn't just a ring. There was a note in there too, wasn't there?"
The color left Margo's face so fast it was like watching a light go out.
"Why are you asking me?" she said.
"You can stop pretending," Nans said, not unkindly. "What I can't quite figure out is why you left the ring behind."
June stared at her oldest friend. "Margo. What is she talking about?"
Nans said gently, "We saw you leaving the Cup and Cake this morning with a very heavy bag. Later, that bag wasn't heavy anymore."
Margo's chin lifted. "I was donating things to the church rummage sale. That's hardly evidence of anything."
"Oh!" Ida said, with the brightness of someone solving a puzzle at a dinner party. "What an interesting way to get rid of a murder weapon."
Margo turned to run.