I sigh, shake my head.

“Want to head back, Rita?” Chase says.

“What? Yeah, in a minute. You think the perp was coming back for that necklace?”

“Could be. Dr. Bradley hid it, and recently, for a reason.”

I sigh. “Who knows? But we need something to pop.” I stand still by the altar. The scent of flowers is sweet and pungent. “Let’s go. See if Lauren’s got anything.”

CHAPTER 22

Molly

THERE’S SOMETHING STRANGE ABOUT THE GATHERING AT MY HOUSE after the funeral. It’s almost like Jay’s birthday party, but everyone is wearing black. And my sister and parents are here, along with other family members. A carful from back home made the trip across Massachusetts.

But our little group, the ones who were here a week ago to celebrate with Jay, are clustered at the kitchen table with drinks and plates of food. Corrine organized it all, the food ordered from some fancy shop in Boston. Rich is manning the drinks, and he catches me coming down the hall.

“Aunt Ellen asked for a glass of white wine, Molly.”

“Um. Sure. In the cellar.”

He stands still for a moment. He’s rarely at my house and isn’t familiar with its layout. “I’ll show you.” He follows me to the door, where I stand on tiptoe and slide the lock open. He gives me a quizzical look, but I’m not going there. Not today, not with him. “Downstairs. Turn right. You’ll see the racks. There’s a light switch to the left.” I walk briskly away and into the kitchen, which is full of conversations mingling together in a subdued cacophony.

“Hayes said you went back to work yesterday,” Laken says.

“Yes. It felt good to be out of the house. Doing something normal.”

“Good for you,” Laken replies. “You need to keep busy.”

“Speaking of busy,” I say, “some kids broke one of the attic windows at the mountain house. Jay went up a couple weeks ago to check on it, and he ordered the window from Mr. Barton. He called me and said it was in. I guess I’ll need to go up there.” Although I’d rather not, especially by myself.

Scott, who’s been leaning against the kitchen door frame, holding a bottle of beer, straightens. “I can put it in for you, Molly. There’s no need for you to worry about it.”

“I appreciate that.”

Kim takes a deep breath. “It seems like a lifetime ago that we were all there.”

I half smile. Jay and I’d hosted our friends for a big Fourth of July week and my birthday celebration rolled into one.

“I can give you a hand, Scott,” Cal says.

“I can handle it,” Scott replies. “But either way.”

Hayes gives me a look. “Don’t take on too much right away, Molly. Jay said he boarded up that window.” Hayes’s gaze falls to the table. “He told me about it when we had lunch.”

Josh, who’s sitting next to Kim, his arm draped around her shoulders, says, “That road gets slick in the winter. And with the snowfall yesterday, you might want to wait.”