“What?” What are you talking about?”

Derek was still standing by the door and I was on the other side of couches. Everyone’s heads were swiveling back and forth between Derek and me like they were watching a tennis match.

I decided to move in for the kill.

“Emma at the church told me she saw you skulking around here the morning Lavinia Babbage was killed.”

Derek scrunched his face up. “What? When was that? … Oh. Yes, I remember now. I was in town … but surely you don’t think I had anything to do with that?”

I looked down at his hand. Where was his ring?

Lavinia had made her way over to the counter and was gesturing at me again. I turned to the side, ignoring her.

Doubt started to bloom in my gut—maybe Derek wasn’t the killer. But he had to be—the clues all led to him.

He was young and strong, with the means to clobber and push an old lady.

He was seen in the area at the time of death.

He needed money and knew about the bronzes in the library… if the bronzes were even still the motive.

Even though his hair was dark, he did have that streak of gray. Lavinia could have easily reached back and grabbed on to that exact spot of hair.

And, even though he wasn’t wearing a ring now, I’d remembered what had niggled at me about the photo of him with his brother, father and grandfather holding the family crest in the photo album—they’d all been wearing matching family crest rings.

Not only that, but I’d seen a long black car in the Bates’ garage—just like the one Ophelia described fleeing town that morning. And hanging next to that were dark driver’s coats. Sure, I hadn’t been able to make out the color in the dark, but I was willing to bet they were navy blue.

He could deny it all he wanted—the real killer usually did.

I noticed everyone was staring at me so I continued. “Isn’t it true that you’re in need of money? You don’t have much of your own and your grandfather controls the family money.”

Derek’s face pinched and he shuffled his feet. “Well, yes, but I don’t see what—”

“And you knew about the valuable bronzes in the library,” I cut him off.

“The ones grandfather donated? That you keep pestering us about?”

Lavinia was practically doing cartwheels on the counter. I ignored her—I was almost finished, and then we’d have this whole thing behind us and Lavinia could go off to wherever ghosts went off to.

I narrowed my eyes at Derek. “Where were you last night around six p.m.?”

“Huh? I was home … just what is going on here?”