Bing gave me a knowing look and I felt like we shared a secret about that morning. Too bad I didn’t remember what it was.

“I don’t know how you got caught in the rubble.” Hattie sipped her coffee. “But it’s a good thing you weren’t actually inside the house—you could have been killed.”

I smiled and nodded. Inside the house? Why did I feel like I might have been in there? I shook my head—my memory of the day was still fuzzy and the truth was I had no idea where I was when the explosion happened.

“It’s such a shame about Carson,” Hattie said. “Felicity is crushed.”

“She’s kind of an odd one, don’t you think, sister?” Cordelia asked Hattie.

“They’re all odd, if you ask me,” Josiah said. “But at least Willa was on the right track.”

“Yeah, but I still don’t get it. Why did Carson kill Lavinia?” Cordelia asked.

“Well, you know that boy’s always been a little funny.” Josiah tapped the side of his head. “From what I understand, Felicity sold some family books and he got it in his head they were in the library.”

“Yeah, but why not just ask Lavinia? He didn’t have to kill her,” Hattie took a sip of coffee.

“Like I said, the boy ain’t right,” Josiah answered. “Rumor is that he claims he’s innocent, even though the police have ample evidence. They say he was in the library looking for those old family books and Lavinia surprised him and he killed her. I hear he denies it, though.”

“So, if Lavinia hadn’t been in town early that day, she’d still be alive,” Hattie mused.

My stomach crunched and I snuggled Pandora closer despite her protesting meow … Lavinia had been killed because of her dedication to the feral cats.

“And he broke into Willa’s house for the same reason,” Josiah added.

“That’s right. Maggie had picked up a box of books for me, and inside I found a photo album of the Bates family. When I brought it up to the Bates’ house, Carson wanted to know if there were any other books in the box with it.

“I’d told him I’d left the box at home, but made a pit-stop that afternoon to bring the box to the store. Carson wouldn’t have known that, though. He would have thought they were still at my house.”

“Well, it’s an interesting mystery, but I’m glad it’s solved.” Josiah looked at his watch. “And now, I must mosey off to the barber.”

He nodded at us and turned to leave.

“We’ll walk with you,” Cordelia said. “Hattie needs to stop in the fudge shoppe.”

“Not just me.” Hattie swatted at Cordelia’s arm. “You ate all the penuche last time.”