Pepper’s lips curled in a triumphant smile. “So the killer couldn’t have been Ophelia.”

“No, you were right. It’s not her. She has an airtight alibi.” I told her about the time-stamped photo of Ophelia at the bank.

“I knew it!” Pepper snapped her fingers. “So now you can narrow your list down to just people with gray hair.”

“We don’t know that hair was from the killer, and anyway, that still leaves quite a long list of people.”

“Yeah, but I have a good idea where you can start.” Pepper thrust her chin in the direction of the window.

Outside, Cordelia, Hattie, Bing and Josiah were strolling by, Styrofoam coffee cups in hand, on their way to my bookstore. My stomach dropped as I realized they all had gray hair.

***

I jogged the short distance from Pepper’s shop to my bookstore where Bing, Cordelia, Hattie and Josiah were huddled together in conversation outside my door. Could one of them be the killer?

Of course not … I hoped. These people were my friends. I’d practically grown up with them. It just wasn’t possible one of them had killed Lavinia.

“Hey, Willa,” Bing said as they parted to let me open the door.

We filed inside and Hattie handed me a coffee. I leaned against my front counter, watching them settle on the purple sofa as I sipped the coffee slowly. The tea that Pepper gave me had already given me a boost and I didn’t need the caffeine as much as usual.

“That was a lovely service for Lavinia yesterday,” Cordelia said.

“Did you go, Willa?” Hattie raised a white brow at me.

“I did,” I answered. “I saw you over on the side, but you guys left and I had to talk to Augusta about something.”

“Oh?” Bing glanced up from his coffee. “About the murder?”

“Sort of.” I didn’t want to get into the whole thing about how I’d suspected Ophelia now that she’d been cleared.

“Seems to me that anyone who would be so bold as to try to steal those bronzes must have some big money problems,” Hattie said.

Cordelia nodded. “I imagine the police are looking into that.”

“Well, I hope they’re making some progress,” Hattie said. “It’s disturbing to know there is a killer in our midst.”

“Are they making progress?” Josiah asked, his eyes boring into mine.

“I’m not sure. You know how little Augusta tells me.” I chewed on my bottom lip. Josiah had been the postmaster his whole life. Surely, he didn’t make a ton of money in his retirement. And he was one of the few people that remembered about the bronzes and knew their value.

My stomach clenched. Surely, I wasn’t suspecting Josiah … was I? I caught myself looking at his hands to see if he wore a big ring. He didn’t … at least he wasn’t wearing one today.