“Not that you know of, but have you checked all those books lately? Maybe one became rare for some reason … the author died or whatever. Or maybe you just never knew you had a rare one.”

“Maybe.” I did a mental inventory of my books. Some had been my grandmother’s. I thought I knew the inventory pretty well, but maybe I’d missed a rare one.

“So who needed money?” Pepper asked.

“Not Bing or Derek … maybe Josiah. He can’t make much on the postmaster’s pension.”

“Josiah could probably use some extra money, but Derek’s not rich, either.” Pepper took my teacup and walked around the center chimney to the kitchen area. “Idris controls the Bates fortune and he doesn’t hand money out easily, so Derek doesn’t really have any of his own.”

I stifled a yawn. “So it’s between Josiah and Derek.”

“Not necessarily.” Pepper took a pillow out of the hall closet and started making up the sofa for me to sleep on, which was a good thing since my eyelids felt like someone had tied lead weights to them. “You can’t forget about the clues. The navy blue cape, the ring and the gray hair.”

“Josiah doesn’t wear a ring. I have no idea if Derek or Josiah have a blue cape, but I know Bing does—his magician’s cape. And he has gray hair and a ring.”

Pepper screwed her face up. “I’m trying to think, but I remember Derek has dark hair. So, only Bing and Josiah have gray hair.”

“This is confusing. It could be any of them.” I moved over to the sofa, nestling under the soft covers.

“Or anyone else.” Pepper tucked the blanket under the sofa cushion and pecked my cheek. “But it’s late and you must be exhausted. Let’s get some sleep and we can think more about it in the morning.

“Mmmhmm.” I mumbled my response, almost fully asleep.

As I drifted off, my subconscious mind sifted through the clues and suspects. Visions of rings, capes and murder weapons passed before my closed eyelids. The pieces snapped into place just before I fell into the deep abyss of sound sleep.

Suddenly, I knew who matched all three clues … and I had a good idea how to prove he was the killer.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Eight

I leaned on the counter at my bookstore, tapping my finger impatiently on its polished wood surface. I’d come in early, after checking on Pandora, and set the wheels in motion.

Today, Lavinia’s killer would be brought to justice.

Outside, dark clouds had settled over the mountain. The smell of rain permeated my senses and the humidity frizzed my hair and made my leg ache. I bent down to massage it, jerking my head up as the bells over the door tinkled.