3 Bodies and a Biscotti (9 page)

“I was, but it can wait until you’re feeling one hundred percent better.” He traced the tip of his finger down the side of her neck causing her body to shiver with anticipated pleasure. “Right now, I think we have some other important business to tend to.”

“Would you guys like to test out another one of my new recipes?” Lexy opened the cardboard bakery box, and produced a tray of aromatic white chocolate biscotti which she placed in the center of Nans’s dining room table.

“More biscotti?” Ruth asked as she, Helen and Nans picked a biscuit from the plate. Lexy had already helped herself and bit into the confection, the white chocolate dip coated her tongue with a creamy sweetness, which was the perfect compliment to the dark blend coffee that was sending up spirals of steam on the table in front of her.
 

She took a sip.
 

Nans, Helen and Ruth laughed. Lexy louvered her eyes at them. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing,” Helen said, her eyes wide. “Did the hypnosis work for your eye tic?”

Lexy realized that her eye hadn’t bothered her the previous night when she’d been nervous about Jack’s behavior. “Well, it hasn’t bothered me, but I think I need more time to know for sure.”

“Oh, I’m sure it worked.” Helen said, amidst more laughter from the other women.

Ruth finished off her biscotti, adjusted her dentures and brushed the crumbs off her shirt. “That was delicious—I’d say you have a winner on your hands.”

Lexy felt a swell of pride when the other women nodded their agreement.

“Now, let’s get down to business.” Nans put her elbows on the table and leaned across toward Lexy. “What did Jack have to say about the case?”

“Not much, I’m afraid. He’s still not convinced the first two were murdered.” Lexy’s stomach dropped at the disappointed looks on the women’s faces. “But he did say he had a suspicion the murder might be tied to the drug ring case he is working on.”

“Really?” Helen asked. “How so?”

“Apparently the drug ring sells quite a bit of oxycontin. They don’t know where it is coming from. You need a prescription for it, so it has to be tied to some place medical. He was starting to think it might be coming from the retirement center because the hospitals and doctors’ offices have such strict rules.”

“I don’t see how they would actually get the drugs to sell them, I mean I’m sure they are carefully watched here too. But that
is
something we should look into,” Ruth said.

“I researched the janitor, Sam Turner. He has some financial problems. That would be motivation for stealing drugs and selling them on the black market. Janitors don’t make very much money, you know,” Helen said.

“That’s very interesting,” Nans nibbled on the end of her second biscotti. “I happened to talk to the person who was staying in the room with Bertram Glumm when he was murdered. I asked him who was in there and he didn’t remember seeing Nurse Rothschild, but he did say he remembered Sam being there.”

Helen and Ruth gasped.
 

“Wait a minute,” Helen said.” Who was Bertram’s roomie?”

“Willard Stevens,” Nans winced.

“Oh, he’s practically senile!” Ruth said.

“That explains why he didn’t notice a murder happening right in the next bed.” Lexy rolled her eyes.

“Well, he
is
hard of hearing and maybe a little forgetful, but he did say he remembered that night. He said the curtain was drawn around the bed all night which he thought was odd. At least it’s something to think about.”
 

“Looks like all fingers point to the janitor, Sam,” Ruth said. “And that’s good because I found out that nurse Rothschild couldn’t have committed the last murder. She wasn’t working at the time.”

Lexy’s eyebrows rose a few notches. “Interesting. So that rules her out? She could still be in on it with Sam … or maybe she snuck back in to do the murder.”
 

“True. But I think we can put her on the back burner and turn up the heat on Sam,” Nans said. “But I still don’t understand how the murders would tie in to stealing drugs. I’m not convinced they are related.”

A couple of taps sounded on the door and they all turned toward it in time to see Ida bustle in, leading with her left hand, on which sat a new sparkling diamond ring.

“Guess what, girls!”
 

They all stood and leaned over her hand.
 

“It’s gorgeous!”

“Gigantic.”

“He proposed in the nursing care ward?”

Ida giggled like a schoolgirl. “Yes, I guess he was planning on doing it and didn’t want to wait just because he was laid up.”

Lexy felt her heart squeeze. Was everyone
except
her getting engaged? She immediately regretted her jealous thoughts. She was happy for Cassie and Ida, heck, she didn’t even know if she
wanted
to get married. Her and Jack didn’t always see eye to eye, so maybe it would be a mistake. Still, it would be nice to be asked.

They all got in line to hug and congratulate Ida. Lexy pulled Ida’s hand up to her face to admire the ring. It was very similar to Cassie’s.
 

Crap!
 

She’d forgotten that Cassie’s dress rehearsal was tonight. She glanced at her watch, her stomach clenching. She had forty-five minutes to get home, change and then over to the restaurant where Cassie planned to get married. She pushed away from the group.

“I gotta run, I’m late for Cassie’s wedding rehearsal!” She said, grabbing her coat and bolting out the door.

Lexy rushed into the entrance of the Brook Ridge Falls restaurant. Her hair sat piled on top of her head in an unruly mess, her dress needed adjustment and she sported sneakers on her feet instead of the Manolo Blahnik rhinestone-studded stilettos she planned to wear for the wedding. But at least she’d made it on time … almost.

The restaurant, an old mill, boasted a gigantic picture window with a spectacular up-close view of the waterfall. Cassie, John, and Jack stood in a huddle in front of it.
 

Jack turned as she approached, his face blanched and he shoved something into his pocket. Her eyes narrowed as she saw him say something to the others and they whirled around to look at her.
Why was everyone acting so strange?

Her disturbing thoughts fled and her eyes widened as she got the full view of Cassie in her deep red gown, hair highlighted to match. She had accentuated the outfit with black rhinestone jewelry and a black veil which hung from the back of her head.
Stunning.

 
“You look amazing!” she said, making Cassie blush.

“You look pretty good yourself,” Jack said, his eyes traveling down her body and back up to her eyes.
 
Lexy’s heart flip-flopped in her chest as a smile lit his handsome face.

“Oh, well, I kind of got ready in a hurry.” She shrugged, reaching up to straighten her messy hair.

“Yeah, you usually have much better shoe choices,” Cassie said, causing Lexy’s cheeks to grow warm as everyone looked down at her sneakers.
 

Thankfully, the minister interrupted their inspection of her footwear. “Are we ready to start?”

Cassie looked around the room. “I think everyone is here, so I guess so. We’re having a lattice archway made with red roses that we’ll stand under.” She walked over to the center of the window. “I’d like to put it here. We’ll stand facing the waterfall and you can stand here facing us.”

Cassie pointed to a spot and the minister obediently stood there. Cassie and John took their places in front of him.
 

“Wait,” Cassie said. “I need a stand in so I can see how this looks." She grabbed Lexy and put her in the bride’s spot, then shoved John out of the way and replaced him with Jack. “Stay there so I can see how it will look from the guests’ point of view.”

Lexy glanced at Jack out of the corner of her eye. He looked impossibly handsome in his tux. When he turned to look at her, she felt a little weak in the knees. Until she noticed how nervous he looked.
Was standing at the alter with her that nerve wracking?
 

“That’s perfect.” Cassie’s voice pulled her from her thoughts and she turned in time to see her friend walking back to take her place, a devious gleam in her eye. “How did it feel for you two to be standing in front of the minister?” She cocked an eyebrow at Jack who shuffled backwards, his hands held up in the air.
 

“I wouldn’t want to steal the limelight from you and John,” he said, pushing John back into the groom’s spot.
 

The minister cut in. “Will someone be walking you down the aisle?”

“My brother,” Cassie motioned for her brother, Brandon, to join them.

“Wow, you look dapper.” Lexy admired Brandon. He owned a fitness studio and his muscular body was evident under the tux.

“You too,” he said, then glanced down at her shoes. “Almost.”

Lexy swatted at him playfully. Cassie and Brandon were close and, since Lexy and Cassie had been best friends for decades, Brandon was like a brother to her.

The minister ushered them all to the back of the room and they were joined by Cassie’s cousins, Sam and Justine, and another cousin Mick. The minister paired off the wedding party and they practiced marching down the aisle.

Lexy couldn’t help but feel all warm and fuzzy when she saw the look on John’s face as he stood at the alter waiting for Cassie to join him. She hoped someday she would have someone waiting up there for her with the same look on his face.
Would that
somebody
be Jack?

Eventually they got it perfect and retired to the bar to celebrate. Lexy ordered a coffee. She sauntered over toward Sam, who sat with her elbows propped on the bar, her hand curled around a bottle of beer. Now was the perfect time to try to get more information about the murders out of her.

“Hi,” Lexy cupped her hands around the coffee mug to warm them. The restaurant was chilly inside and the sleeveless dress didn’t provide much in the way of warmth.

“Hey Lexy, have you heard any more about what happened at the retirement center yesterday?” Sam asked.

“Not too much, what about you?”

“Isn’t that the police detective who was there?” Sam tilted the top of her beer bottle towards Jack.

“Yes, he works with John.”

“Oh, thats right. Sometimes I forget that Cassie is marrying a cop.” Sam swiveled her chair to face Lexy. “She never used to like them. But if the rest of them are as good looking as those two, I can see the attraction.”

Lexy leaned against the bar, ignoring the pang of jealousy she felt when she saw the way Sam looked at Jack.

“I was wondering, what happens after someone dies at the retirement center?” Sam’s perplexed look invited her to elaborate. “Specifically, what’s the procedure. I mean, do you call the police for all of them … or the funeral home?”

“Well the last one, Mr. Turco, was clearly not natural so, of course we called the police for that. But the others, if the doctor on duty deems the death to be of natural causes we just call the next of kin and the funeral home. It’s usually listed in their files.”

 
“What happens to their belongings?”

Sam pursed her lips. “Why? Are you thinking that’s why they were killed?”

“Maybe.”

“Their clothing and other effects go to the family.”

Lexy chewed her bottom lip, trying to think up the right way to phrase her next question.

“What about their medications?”

Sam’s eyes grew wide, her hand jerked, spilling her beer on the bar.
 

“Crap!” She jumped away from the bar looking down at the stain on her dress. She glanced up at Lexy, her eyes darting wildly, then ran off in the direction of the ladies room. Lexy grabbed a pile of napkins and mopped up the spill.

A bit of an over-reaction to a beer spill.
Lexy stared after Sam, then finished the clean up and took a sip of her coffee.

“Did you say something?”

Jack appeared at her elbow, startling her out of her thoughts. She narrowed her eyes at him.

“No.”
Had
she said something out loud?

“Oh, it sounded like you made a clucking sound.”

“What?”

“You know, like a chicken.”

Lexy furrowed her brow. This wasn’t the first time she’d been accused of clucking recently and it was starting to get as annoying as the eye tic. Something in the corner of her mind nagged at her, but she was distracted by Sam coming back into the room.

She noticed Jack looking at Sam too, and felt a bit envious of how Sam’s figure filled her dress out perfectly. Lexy looked down at her own figure and wondered if she still needed to lose a few pounds from her hips.

She looked back at Sam. The other woman looked more put-together in her outfit. A nice pair of heels, glittery earrings, and a necklace that complimented the dress perfectly.
 

Lexy leaned forward, squinting her eyes to see the necklace better, her heart freezing in her chest. The gold chain glittered with reflection from the chandeliers overhead, but that wasn’t what caught her attention. It was the pendant in the center. A black pearl in a unique setting.