Free Bake, Battle & Roll by Leighann Dobbs

Ruth frowned at Lexy. “You seem a bit out of shape.
    Lexy looked down at her slim body. Out of shape? Well, sure she was a bit winded after the climb but she still looked good. At least that’s what Jack had said down at the beach. 
    “You’re not in your twenties anymore,” Nans added looking her up and down. “And you won’t be able to keep that cute shape without having to work at it for long.”
    “Yeah, you don’t think our girlish figures come without a price, do you?” Helen ran her hands up and down the sides of her body and everyone laughed.
    “Okay, where’s this path?” Nans asked.
    “Over here.” Lexy pulled Sprinkles to the end of the path and walked the short distance to the back of the dining hall where the trails intersected. 
    Nans glanced over at the dumpster, still marked with crime scene tape. “Is that where …?”
    “Yep, that’s where I found him.” Lexy shivered despite the warm afternoon air.
    Ruth walked right up to the crime scene tape. “Maybe we should take a little look around. The police may have overlooked a clue.”
    “Good idea,” Helen said. She held the tape up while Nans and Ruth scooted under, then ducked under it herself. 
    The smell of old fish, sour milk and rotting cabbage assaulted Lexy and she pinched her nose shut. 
    “Can you guys hurry up?” she said, except it came out as ‘hubby up’.
    Nans bent down, scuffing at the debris under the dumpster with her shoe. “Come take a look at this.” 
    Ruth and Helen bent over to take a look. Lexy pinched her nose even tighter and got as close as she dared, craning over the crime scene tape to see what they had found.
    “Is that …?” Ruth asked.
    “I do believe it is,” Helen replied.
    Nans worked at something with her shoe, sliding it out from under the dumpster. She pulled a kleenex out of her pocket, then bent over to pick up the item. She stood holding it in the air, careful to touch it only with the kleenex. 
    “Is that blood?” Lexy asked. The item Nans held up looked to be a swatch of fabric—plaid flannel. It was about one inch square and a rust colored smear on it that looked suspiciously like blood. But, whose blood?
    “I think so,” Nans said. Wrapping the fabric in the tissue, she slid it into her pocket.
    “Is that Dugasse’s blood?” Ruth asked.
    “It could be. But the fabric was wedged under the dumpster so it could have been there before he was murdered.”
    “Or it could have come from the killer.”
    “I wish we had our own forensics lab.” Nans pressed her lips together. “I don’t trust that Detective Payne not to fumble this up. He didn’t even find that fabric when he searched the area!”
    “True. He seems like a dope,” Ruth said.
    “I don’t see anything else. Do either of you?” Helen asked.
    “Nope. Let’s move on,” Ruth answered and the three of them scurried under the crime scene tape and then joined Lexy at the intersection of the paths.
    “So which path?” Nans looked at Lexy.
    “Well, this one goes to the front parking lot so I doubt the killer used that one,” Lexy said pointing to the path on the left. Then she turned and pointed to one of the middle paths. “And this is the only other one I haven’t walked on.”
    “Well, let's go!” Ruth started in the direction of the path in a power walk and Lexy trotted after her. 
    “We should slow down and look for clues … you know anything unusual,” Lexy said remembering Jack’s advice.
    “Yes, we know what clues are, dear,” Nans teased.
    They walked leisurely letting Sprinkles make her various pit stops. They were only about twenty feet down the path when Sprinkles found something she must have thought was irresistible. Lexy tugged on the leash, but Sprinkles insisted on sniffing whatever it was she had found under a small shrub.
    “What have you got, Sprinks?” Lexy bent down to investigate hoping it wasn’t a dead animal. It wasn’t. Lexy picked it up and held it out for the