Frost shrugged. “Whatever. Anyway, I dare say the scoundrel that killed Lavinia might have been after those bronzes. Money makes people do strange things.”

Pierce nodded. “On that, I concur.”

“Your theory on the bronzes could be a good one,” Lavinia said. “But I don’t think Ophelia would be breaking into the library to steal them. It’s just not her style.”

I had to admit, Lavinia was right about that. But I wanted to continue thinking it was Ophelia. Mostly because I didn’t like her and if the killer turned out to be her then I wouldn’t feel bad. Plus I had some good clues pointing to her and I knew there was a secret between her and Lavinia … that secret might be the true motive.

On the other hand, maybe I had been ignoring other clues because I’d been so focused on Ophelia. Bing had been acting strangely … did his odd behavior have anything to do with Lavinia’s death? I certainly hoped not. Bing had been almost like a grandfather to me for as long as I could remember. I’d much rather the killer ended up being Ophelia.

And what about the weird thing with Barry this morning? It had looked like Bing was driving away from his house. Barry thought someone had been looking in the box of books … but what would books have to do with anything?

I looked up and realized all three ghosts were staring at me expectantly.

“I plan to go to the library and see if the bronzes are there before I go to your funeral,” I said to Lavinia.

“That sounds like a good idea,” she replied. “But don’t be so focused on one path that you are blind to the others.”

“That’s right.” Robert winked at me. “Sometimes it’s best to take the path less traveled.”

“Well, I think we should be off.” Lavinia linked her arms through the two men’s elbows. “Shall we?”

They both nodded and the three of them disappeared, leaving me sitting on the sofa, blinking at nothing.

“Wait.” The word tripped off my lips and fell into the silent room. I had wanted to ask Lavinia about the candles in the church, but she’d disappeared too fast.

I waved my hands at the empty space in frustration. I had been so sure the killer was Ophelia, but Lavinia had sprinkled my thoughts with doubt, and now I had to take some of the other clues more seriously.

That didn’t mean I was going to drop Ophelia off the suspect list, though. I was still going to tell Augusta about that blue cape just as soon as I could. In the meantime, I’d just have to broaden my investigation to include some of the other clues … even if it meant investigating an old friend.

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen