“You locked me in a room against my will. I think the time for talking has passed.”

“That’s only because I knew you would react like this!”

“You knew no such thing,” Nora said, sweeping down the steps. “You don’t give me enough credit. I can be very reasonable.”

“Then what are you going to say to the police?”

Nora stopped dead. Izzy and I bumped into each other trying to stop too. She laid her fingertips lightly on the handrail, then looked back at us. “I will ask them to kindly remove themselves from my greenhouse, or I will destroy each and every one of their bloodlines.”

“That is not reasonable!”

We all resumed our chase.

“You two need to relax. I’m not going to do anything. If you had come to me in a civilized manner in the first place, I would have told you I just want to supervise the search. There are rare plants in that greenhouse, not to mention dangerous ones. Don’t you think it would be best if I were there to guide them?”

This time Izzy stopped her descent. “Really? That’s all you want to do?”

“Yes, really.”

“If that’s the case, then I’m sorry,” Izzy said, speeding up again. “It’s just that your temper sometimes gets the better of you, and as your big sister, I’ll always want to protect you.”

Nora made it to the front hall landing and swirled around to face us. “I accept your apology.” She spun back around and reached for the door handle. I came to her side just in time to hear her whisper, “But if any one of those filthy officers has rummaged through my herbs, I’ll remove their toes and fry them up like shrimp.”

“What was that?” Izzy asked, rushing in behind us.

“Nothing, Sister dear,” Nora said, swinging the door open.

Izzy looked at me, but all I could manage was a weak smile.

“Bartholomew Barnes!” Nora commanded, striding down the front steps. “What is the meaning of all of this?”

Beatty’s shoulders slumped. “Now, Nora, I can promise you this is all legal. They had the judge’s signature.”

“Who is this judge? I would like to have a word with him.”

“Over my dead body,” Beatty whispered, “and I think we’ve all had enough of those. Look. We’re almost through this, and from what I’ve seen, they haven’t found a single piece of evidence that would point to any of you as suspects in what’s rapidly becoming an official murder investigation. So, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay calm.”

Beatty’s lecture was cut short by a couple of shouts from the backyard. Then a small group of officers came around the side, the man in front holding out a clear plastic bag. It took me a moment to discern what was inside, but once I had, it was unmistakable.

A mallet.

All the color drained from Nora’s face, turning her skin a ghostly white against her dark red hair.