“That’s a relief,” she said, leading the way back into the kitchen. “I’m not a very good hostess. I should at least offer you a drink for making sure I’m not going to end up a corpse tonight. Would you like something? Wine? Tea? I have arsenic, but I’m saving it for my father’s birthday.”

“A little wine is never a bad thing,” Vince said.

“I don’t have anything chilled, but I have a nice cabernet from a local vineyard.”

Vince flashed the big grin. “I love California.”

She got a couple of glasses out, uncorked the bottle with efficiency, and poured the drinks.

“I like the look of that porch out back,” he said as she handed him his glass.

“Will we be safe?” she asked, glancing up at him from under her lashes. Almost flirtatious, he thought. He wondered if she realized it.

“You’re with me,” he said. “I have a gun.”

She smiled that crooked little smile. “What more could a girl want?”

The back porch was a mirror image of the front, but filled with well-used green wicker furniture strewn with thick flowered cushions; an outdoor room with armchairs and a coffee table and big lush ferns on plant stands.

Anne curled up in the corner of a wicker sofa at one end of the porch where the illumination was as soft as candlelight. Vince took the other end, letting her have some space.

“What did you mean when you told Janet Crane if you were going to be a part of the community?” she asked.

“Presently she thinks I’m a businessman looking to relocate here,” he explained. “I had her show me a piece of property today.”

“No wonder she was so happy to see you.”

“You think she’s just after my money? I’m crushed.”

“You should be relieved she doesn’t want to hang you upside down in her lair and deposit her eggs in you.”

Vince chuckled a little under his breath. “She’s a case study.”

“Not what I prefer to call her, but whatever.” She sipped at her wine, growing serious. “What’s going on here, Vince? Last week this was Ozzie and Harriet-ville. Now you think there are two killers operating here?”

“It looks that way.”

She shook her head. “Things like this don’t happen here.”

“But they do, honey,” he said quietly, reaching a hand out to stroke the back of her head. Her hair was like silk. “They happen everywhere.”

“I feel like I’ve been looking at this lovely jewel box garden all these years only to find out there are snakes in the grass.”

“This too shall pass,” Vince said. “These cases will be solved and closed. There are still more good guys than bad guys.”