Free Dying for Danish by Leighann Dobbs Page A

with them - Trixie was there, enjoying herself fully, at two-thirty in the morning."
    Lexy felt overjoyed - two down and only five to go!  She crossed Trixie's name off the list.
    "Thanks a bunch Nan's, this really narrows down my suspect list. Now I've only got to whittle it down to just one person - the killer."
    "We did find out one other thing which might help you with that. Helen sent a description of the brooch you said Chastine usually wears - the one you think was ripped from her blouse - out to the local pawn shops and we got a bite. AtoZ Pawn over on Chestnut Street said a man brought a brooch in which sounded similar to what you described. It didn't have a big stone in it though, in fact all the stones had been removed. The man wanted to sell it for the melt value of the gold.
    "Did he describe what the man looked like?” Lexy felt her heartbeat speed up.
    "Helen tried to pump him for information but all he could remember was that the man was tall, dark and seemed like he was in a bad mood. He also said the man was in a hurry which made him a little suspicious, so he didn't take brooch."
    Tall, dark and in a bad mood?  That sounded a lot like Bronson. Suddenly Lexy knew exactly who to start focusing on first.
     
    ***
     
    Lexy raced out to the front of the store. "Cassie!"
    Cassie, who was halfway in the display case straightening out a tower of eclairs turned, looking at Lexy over her shoulder with raised eyebrows.
    "Want to go for a ride?" She asked, keys dangling from her fingers.
    Cassie straightened up  "What?  Why?"
    "Come on, it's the slow part of the day. Haley can watch the bakery for the rest of the afternoon and then lock up - we have a murderer to catch."
    Lexy saw Cassie’s brows scrunch together, her sideways glare begged for an explanation.
    "I've narrowed down the suspect list to a few people. I was hoping we could do some covert surveillance on them to see what turns up."
    Cassie shrugged. "That doesn't seem like something we should be getting ourselves into, does it?"
    Lexy felt confused. Since when did Cassie not want to do something dangerous and, possibly stupid that might get them into trouble with the police?
    She walked over to Cassie putting the back of her hand on her friends forehead in an exaggerated manner. “Are you feeling okay? It'll be an adventure - you're always up for an adventure."
    Cassie laughed. "Yeah, I guess so, I don't know what came over me. Let me just finish up this case and I'll grab my jacket."
    "Great, we have to swing by my house to pickup Sprinkles first. I'll explain more in the car."
     
    ***
     
    Twenty minutes later the girls were loaded into the car with Sprinkles balancing contentedly on the console in between them. Lexi absently patted the dog’s silky fur while she told Cassie what she had learned from Nans.
    "But, what do you think you will find out from following Bronson?"
    "I'm just hoping we'll get lucky. Maybe today will be the day he tries to dispose of the murder weapon. It still hasn't been found, you know." She glanced sideways at her friend. "I got the bill for the kitchen equipment today - it's due in seven days. I'm kind of in a hurry to help get this case closed up."
    Lexi felt Cassie put her hand reassuringly on her arm. "Don't worry Lexy, even if you don't get the payment we’ll work something out. You will eventually get paid for this job."
    "I know, but I don't want to be delinquent on that bill - it could cause a whole lot of problems for us."
    The girls fell silent as they got closer to the Toliver mansion. Lexy let off the gas, driving past the house slowly. The Toliver mansion sat next to a nature preserve with walking trials. Lexy pulled her car into the small parking lot for the preserve. She grabbed a pair of binoculars from the backseat.
    "It’s such a beautiful Indian summer day, I was thinking we could go for a walk in the woods - you know, under the guise of walking the dog, and doing some bird watching with these