The Baker Street Irregulars, the name my great-aunt Octavia gave her group of friends who got together once a week over brunch to help solve the crimes that had stumped the New Bison Police, usually met on Sundays. However, as soon as I got home, I sent out an emergency text requesting everyone who could to meet at my house at nine. I knew April and Leroy would come. April lived here, and Leroy would be here baking or selling, but he’d do anything within his power to help April. Since he had been living upstairs at Baby Cakes, there was no way he couldn’t know that Clayton Davenport had been murdered. I’m just grateful he had been with Tyler and wasn’t there when it happened.
I posted early this morning that Baby Cakes was closed, so we had plenty of baked goods to eat and wouldn’t be interrupted by customers. Still, my cell phone started blowing up early. Michael was first.
U ok?
Y
U want me 2 come over?
You have surgery.
I can reschedule
I’m fine. C U @ Dinner
Sure?
Y
Wanna talk?
Later. I need 2 think
K
Love U
Ditto
I had similar texts from Leroy, but instead of messages of love, he offered food. Leroy’s love language was definitely cooking.
Coffee?
Y
Bacon?
Yess!!!
Tyler offered alcohol in lieu of food, but his message was equally heartfelt and filled with concern.
Michael and Hannah were the first to arrive. Michael had a large casserole dish, which Hannah directed him to take into the dining room.
She hugged me. “You okay?”
I nodded. Hannah gave great hugs, and I wanted nothing more than to lay my head on her shoulder and sob, but I knew if I let the waterworks start, there would be no stopping them.
She pulled away, held me at arm’s distance, and gave me a hard stare as though she were looking into my soul. “You’re good with makeup, but you ain’t had no sleep, and you’re not getting enough to eat. You’re nothing but skin and bones.”
Hannah was sweet. She was right about my not sleeping. However, that was probably due to the fact that I had only been home for three hours. It hardly seemed worth it to waste time sleeping when I needed to figure out how to solve this mess. She was dead wrong about the skin and bones part. I wasn’t skinny. Five-feet-five and one hundred thirty pounds, I was at the high end of what the outdated BMI chart called healthy. However, I’d long since tossed that chart out the window. As long as I felt good, then I stopped obsessing about losing weight. Thankfully, none of my dates seemed to mind, including Michael.
He returned, and Hannah left to give us a few moments of privacy.
Michael pulled me close, wrapped his arms tightly around me, and held me.
I snuggled close and took a deep breath. He was dressed in medical scrubs and smelled fresh, with a citrusy scent of orange, lemons, and freshly cut grass. I inhaled and allowed his strength to soak into me.
“You okay?”
I didn’t trust my voice, so I nodded.
“I can still reschedule. I can see if Dr. Hanover can cover for me. He owes me, and—”
I shook my head and reached up and kissed him.
When he came up for air, he smiled. “If that’s what’s waiting for me after work, I can definitely reschedule.”
I giggled. “You don’t need to reschedule. I’ll be here when you get done.” I took a deep breath. “But I need to work through who killed Clayton Davenport.”
I briefly filled him in on what I knew. When I finished talking, the concern on his face confirmed what I already knew. This was bad.
“Geez. I wonder how he got into the bakery. You don’t think April—”
“April what?”
We were so engrossed in our conversation and togetherness, we didn’t notice April’s entry until she spoke.
“When did you get home?” I asked. I hoped to divert attention away from Michael’s comment, but I should have known better.
“I didn’t kill Clayton, if that’s what you’re wondering.”
Baby must have sensed her distress because he got up on his hind legs and put his paws around her neck.
“I didn’t think you had,” Michael said.
April let Baby lick her face and then ordered him off. “I don’t know why not. That seems to be the popular theory right now. That I lured CJ to the bakery and then stabbed him in the back.” She folded her arms across her chest. “Well, I didn’t. I would never.”
“Anyone who knows you knows you would never kill anyone. . . not like that, anyway.”
Now it was my turn to question him. “What do you mean?”
“It’s out of character. April’s honest and straightforward, but she’s also the sheriff. If she had to kill in the line of duty, she’d probably have shot him. And she wouldn’t have left him on the floor like that. She would have admitted she’d done it and filed a police report.” He stared at April. “I don’t believe she killed him any more than you do.”
A tear fell down her cheek, and she quickly wiped it away. “Thank you.”
I pulled her into a hug.
“What’s all this hugging?” Hannah said. “The food’s getting cold. Where’s Tyler and Leroy?”
“Right here,” Tyler said. He and Leroy entered the kitchen, which felt small with everyone huddled together near the back door.
Both Tyler and Leroy looked hungover. Their eyes were bloodshot, and their faces had a tinge that didn’t look healthy.
Tyler held up a bag that contained several bottles of alcohol, and when the bottles clinked, he winced.
Leroy looked slightly better, which wasn’t saying much. He held a platter with fruit and pastries.
Michael said he needed to get to work and offered to take Baby so he could run blood work.
I thanked him and gave him a quick kiss before he and Baby left.
Hannah glanced around at the group. “Well, we better get this meeting started so we can figure out who killed April’s slimeball late husband.”
