“I didn’t mean to be short with you earlier. Violet’s death has been hard. I know I should have seen it coming it, but I guess I was holding out that one small hope.”

“Understood,” I said, knowing she didn’t know the half of it. “Listen, can you spare me half an hour? There’s something we need to talk about.”

“That sounds serious. Like what?”

“Let’s don’t go into it now. I think it’s better in person.”

“When?”

“Now, if possible. It shouldn’t take long. I have an appointment at nine, but I could swing by in the next half hour.”

“That sounds okay. Kathy’s coming over in a bit, but I suppose that would work. Can you give me a hint?”

“I will when I get there. It’s really no big deal. See you shortly.”

I signed off before she had a chance to change her mind.

I leaned against the counter in Liza’s kitchen, watching her decorate a cake. She wore an oversize white apron over her jeans and white T-shirt. A scarf was tied around her head to keep her hair out of her eyes and off the cake. I could see one curve of the silver locket visible under the apron bib.

“How’s your granddaughter?”

“She’s great. I know everybody says this, but she really is gorgeous. Big eyes, little pink bow mouth, and this fine brown hair. I can’t wait to get my hands on her. Marcy let me hold her for a half a minute, but she was hovering the whole time so it was no fun at all.”

She’d smoothed on the first two coats of frosting before I arrived and she was now piping an elaborate design on the top. “This is for a kid’s birthday party. Actually, a thirteen-year-old who’s into Dungeons and Dragons, in case you’re wondering.”

She’d set up a series of parchment-paper cones, each filled with a different vividly tinted icing, each capped with a metal tip cut to produce a specific effect-leaves, shells, scrolls, flower petals, and rope bordering. With a practiced hand and steady pressure, she created a dragon with a strange dog-shaped face. Switching cones, she defined its arched body in vibrant lime green and orange frostings, and then added strong red frosting to detail the flames that twisted from the dragon’s mouth.

“I’ve seen that dragon. It was on a kimono hanging on the back of Daisy’s bathroom door.”

“That was her mother’s. I’ve got the image burned indelibly on my brain.”