“She also looked like she’d swallowed something unpleasant the entire time,” Nans said. “Beatrice and Everett have been circling each other for years. Same estate sales, same auctions, same suppliers. She finds something good, he shows up. He finds something good?—”
“She shows up,” Helen finished gently.
“She told him it was worthless,” Nans said. “But she’s the most qualified person in this town to know it wasn’t. Maybe she was just trying to burst his bubble or maybe she wanted him to think it was worth less so she could buy it from him.”
“And maybe he refused and she killed him and took it.” Ida sounded downright cheerful.
They sat with that for a moment.
“There’s still a problem with Beatrice as the answer,” Ruth said. “If the motive was money, how does she sell it now? The cat was in Everett’s hands in a bakery full of people. It’s on the neighborhood app. You can’t walk that into an auction house without someone recognizing it.”
“Not locally,” Nans agreed. “But there are ways. Private sale. She sits on it, waits until the investigation cools.” She wrote Beatrice on the board, followed by a question mark. Then: motive: money?
“Who else saw the cat this morning?” she said.
Lexy had been waiting for this. “Everyone in the bakery. What about Margo Haskell.”
Ida’s hand stopped halfway to her mouth. “Margo the cat lady?”
“She has a collection,” Lexy said. “Three real ones and approximately forty ceramic ones in her garden. She came in just as Everett was leaving. She hesitated when she saw it.”
“Case closed,” Ida said. “Margo wanted it for the garden.”
“Ida,” Helen said.
“I’m just saying. Have you seen that garden?”
“That’s hardly motive for murder, but Margo might have another reason to care about that cat that has nothing to do with money,” Helen said quietly. “She and June Mercer are thick as thieves. Have been for forty years. If Margo found out Everett paid two dollars for something out of June’s yard sale that was worth twenty thousand?—“
“She’d be furious on June’s behalf,” Lexy said.
“Furious enough to kill?” Ida asked.
“Margo has always been fiercely protective of June,” Helen said. “Ever since that whole business with Daniel Shaw.”
Lexy looked up. “What business? Who is Daniel Shaw?”
“Before your time,” Nans said. “High school sweethearts. Everyone thought they’d end up married. There was even talk of a ring.” She picked up her coffee. “He left. Packed up for Nashville without so much as a goodbye. June was devastated for years.”
“Margo picked up the pieces,” Helen added. “Every committee, every church supper, every library fundraiser — she dragged June along until June had a life again. If not for Margo, who knows.” She paused. “She’s always been protective of June. That’s all I’m saying.”
A small silence settled over the table. The kind where something had been said and everyone was quietly filing it away without knowing quite why yet.
Nans wrote Margo on the board without comment.
Ruth looked up. “We need a timeline. Every person who could have seen that app post, every person in the bakery, and where everyone was between ten and noon.”
“We’re gonna need sustenance for that,” Ida grabbed two cookies from the plate.
Lexy reached over and took a cinnamon bun. Ruth, without looking up, took a lemon bar. Helen selected a scone with the careful attention she gave most decisions.
Nans poured herself a second coffee and looked at the board.
Beatrice. Margo. The cat.
“We’ll start at the Mercer yard sale,” she said. “Find out what they knew about the cat, where it came from, how long it was in the attic.” She paused.
Ida was already reaching for her purse. “Should I bring pastries?”