Too bad they couldn’t chill out and talk about the subjects normal people discussed at the beginning of a relationship—movies, hobbies, sports, travel, childhood escapades.

But until the mysteries of the sunflower seeds and the terror campaign against Grace were solved, two troubling topics would continue to dominate their conversations.

Mayhem and murder.

“You first.” Grace picked up her fork, giving Nate the floor as they dived into their baklava. “Is your news about Dave?”

“No. It’s about the other lead I received. I know who vandalized your car.”

Grace’s fork jolted to a stop halfway to her mouth. “I didn’t know you had a lead on my case.”

“I didn’t either. It came as part of a package deal.”

She set her fork back down and folded her hands. “You have my full attention.”

Dessert forgotten, she listened without interrupting while he recounted the visit from Tyler Holmes and his attorney, concluding with the younger man’s request that she accept restitution rather than press charges.

As he finished his story, Nate ate a bite of baklava, and an expression of pure bliss swept over his face. “Wow. This is incredible.”

“My sisters and I agree, although I’m the only one who makes it.”

“You have any other amazing recipes in your repertoire?” He gave her a hopeful look as he continued to chow down.

“A few. I like to experiment in the kitchen. Believe it or not, a lot of pathologists are foodies.”

He stopped chewing. “For real?”

“Uh-huh. Go figure.” She motioned to his plate. “Should we wait to continue our discussion until after you finish that?”

“No. I think I can give both their due attention. But I have to admit this is a major distraction.” He ate another bite.

She leaned forward. “Do you think this Tyler Holmes is committed to cleaning up his act?”

“From what I can tell, yes.”

“Did the Templeton attorney accept the offer of restitution?”

“Yes.”

“Then I will too—and I won’t press charges. I trust your judgment. But the information he passed on raises more questions.”

“I know. And we still don’t have a clue who’s behind the campaign directed against you.”

“Nor did he offer any leads on Fred and Mavis.”

“It’s possible there aren’t any.” He started on the second piece of baklava, brow wrinkling. “I don’t put much credence in flukes, but maybe those seeds were a coincidence.”

“Or not. I have news too.” She told him the foxglove story.

He stopped eating again. “You’re thinking Fred and Mavis were poisoned?”

“It’s possible. Poison can be an effective murder weapon. Unless it’s a common substance that shows up in a normal tox screen, you have to test for each element specifically. Without a clue suggesting which ones to target, it’s like shooting blind. An expensive and time-consuming effort.”

“I assume you have samples we could test from Fred and Mavis.”

“Russ does, and I have a couple of samples from Mavis too. I’m thinking we may want to run a test for digitalis now that Dave is a suspect. Have you talked to him yet?”