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Having too many suspects is a good thing.

“W hat on earth is going on?” Meg stood, but Dalton grabbed her hand and pulled her back down on the couch.

“Let your uncle do his job.” Dalton put an arm around her. “Natasha, call me if you need a ride home. I don’t want you walking alone in the dark.”

Uncle Troy shook his head. “You kids take care of each other. Maybe a little too much sometimes. Don’t worry about Natasha. I’ll drop her off at her house when we finish talking.”

“I’m worried about her,” Meg declared.

“Meg, leave it alone. I’ll fill you in tomorrow morning.” Natasha wiped her hands with a napkin and then stood. “Mr. Miller, I’m ready.”

“Chief Miller or just Chief will work.” He held the door open for her.

When they left, Dalton let go of Meg. “You can’t block these things. If a police officer says to do something, you do it.”

“What does he want from Natasha? And what was that about her driving Robert around the night he died?” She closed her eyes, then turned on Dalton. “And you’re not surprised about all this.”

“No, sorry.” He took the last slice of pizza.

Meg waited for him to finish the slice, then asked, “Do you want to tell me what you know?”

“Natasha was in a bad spot when the lockdown happened. I told you part of this. Anyway, she’d remodeled the bakery and had a loan payment.

She couldn’t shutter it. She needed to make the payment and utilities and supplies.

But the island was dead. No one was coming to visit our cute little town.

Especially when they started talking about Seattle as a hot spot for the virus.

That Seattle was the first place it was detected in the United States.

” He took a breath and closed the empty pizza box.

“I remember. I was here. And stuck in Seattle when the ferries were limited to essential travel only.” Meg pushed away the memories of that time. “So Natasha was hurting. What’s that got to do with Robert Meade?”

“He loaned her the money to stay afloat. The interest rate is high, but it kept her open and solvent. It was either take the loan offer or sell the bakery to Emmett. Meade kept bringing up the money she owed him every time he visited. He was mean to her. One day a few months before you moved here, she broke and told him off in the middle of Island Diner during the dinner rush. Of course, everyone was watching when she did.” He rolled his shoulders and stood.

“I’m surprised it took your uncle this long to bring her in for a talk.

We both know she didn’t kill him. Hopefully, she has a strong alibi. ”

“And if she doesn’t? I don’t get how you can be so calm.

” She rose from the couch, then went over and looked out the window.

A few tourists were heading to dinner or the local night spot, but no one seemed to be heading to her store to grab a book.

Meg wasn’t sure why her mom had hired her, except to give her a job here.

Like she’d told Lilly, she liked having her daughter home.

“Natasha will be fine. She didn’t kill the guy, and none of Nancy Drew’s friends were ever convicted of murder.

We’re not going to let her be the one to break that tradition.

” He grabbed the pizza box. “Do you have anything else that needs to go to the trash? We probably should be working on closing up.”

* * *

When Meg got home, she texted Natasha and paced until she got a reply.

Just got home. I’m fine. Thanks for worrying about me. We’ll talk later.

Meg stared at the message. We’ll talk later. Natasha had to assume that Dalton would fill Meg in on what had happened. She flopped on her bed and stared at the ceiling. She needed to find out who had killed Robert Meade so the dead guy could stop messing with her life and her friends.

She went over to the desk and opened her laptop, then pulled up the file named “Meade Death.” Then she started updating her notes and making a list of what she didn’t know and how she’d find it out.

As she typed, she highlighted parts that could go in her guidebook.

Like not dismissing a suspect because they were your best friend.

Still, she was sure Natasha was innocent.

If Meade had been mean to Natasha, he had probably been mean to many, many others. She had to find the clues.

The next morning her alarm woke her, and blurry-eyed, she got ready for the day.

She sat down at the table once the coffee was done, and started writing a to-do list for the day.

She needed to be at the bookstore at three.

She needed Lilly’s book tour schedule so she’d know when to pick up and deliver assignments.

Unless Jolene was going to be at the house to work with her.

And since Lilly hadn’t said anything about changing her schedule, maybe that was the plan.

She didn’t want to be out of work for a month or more while Lilly was off promoting the new release.

Now she sounded selfish.

Meg opened the file on Meade that she’d updated yesterday and highlighted one of the questions in a different color.

Who was this man who would step in to help a local business but then use that help as leverage?

If he’d done it to Natasha, you could bet it wasn’t the first time he’d used power and influence to get his way.

She stood and looked out the window. Uncle Troy’s truck was still in the driveway.

When he left, she’d go to the house and talk to Aunt Melody.

As a former literary agent, she had to know more about Robert Meade.

Maybe enough to get Natasha out of Uncle Troy’s spotlight.

At least for the murder. She added the visit to her to-do list and took out one of the muffins her aunt had given her.

As she ate it, she realized she still had her aunt’s basket.

She didn’t need an excuse to visit family, but she was glad she had one today.

With that settled, she ate her breakfast and opened the new folder from Lilly she’d gotten yesterday. The page had one question. She read it aloud to Watson. “If you were going to kill someone, who would it be, and how would you stage it so someone else would take the blame?”

Lilly’s questions were getting odder with each assignment, but she had said she liked Meg’s creative mind. Maybe this was a way for her to determine a jumping-off place for her novels. Or perhaps she wanted to see how a normal person would plan a murder and why.

There was only one problem with that theory. It assumed that Meg was normal.

Romain’s note was still sitting on Meg’s desk. Why had he come all this way to return a ring that she’d practically thrown in his face? Well, without him being there. And hidden in the breast pocket of his tux, so he might not ever find it.

She should have waited for him to get home, then actually thrown the ring in his face.

But that would have meant a face-to-face confrontation.

Something that she was uncomfortable with.

Something that she hadn’t had with Romain yet.

It needed to be done; she knew it. He thought he could come to her apartment and drop off the engagement ring plus some cash and she’d be happy.

What had he expected?

Now she had two mysteries on her hands. Who killed Meade? And why was Romain being so nice? She wasn’t sure she wanted the answer to either question.

The problem was she needed the answer to both.

She heard Uncle Troy’s truck leave after she’d gotten out of the shower. She peeked out the window after she’d dressed to confirm this. It was time to get to work.

Meg grabbed the basket and clicked a lead on Watson.

She’d pop him into her aunt’s backyard before they talked.

Meg had some time to visit before she had to go to the bookstore.

Lilly’s assignment was going to take a bit of thought.

Unless she planned to kill Romain. She had plenty of ideas there.

But if she went there, she needed to change the name to protect the guilty.

“You look happy,” Aunt Melody said as Meg walked through the kitchen door. “I’m so glad you’re settling in. Your mom thought it might be a while.”

Meg didn’t want to mention why she was smiling, so instead she agreed. “I wanted to bring back your basket. Those muffins were amazing.”

“Thanks.” Aunt Melody put the basket on top of the fridge. “It’s nice to have someone to bake for. Usually, Troy winds up taking a batch to the station. Those guys will eat anything. Of course, most of them aren’t married. So if you’re looking for a date, let me know.”

“I’m okay being single for a while.” Meg thought that planning Romain’s imaginary death might not be the healthiest activity for her. “So has Uncle Troy figured out what happened to that agent of Ms. Aster’s? Will her new agent be at the signing?”

“Oh, probably. That’s tonight, isn’t it?” She glanced at her calendar. “I guess I better get something in the slow cooker for Troy. He hates book events.”

Her aunt had ignored one of her questions and barely answered the second. Was it because she’d been a cop’s wife for too long?

“Who is her agent?”

“The new one? Sarah Townsend. She’s amazing.

I told Lilly years ago she should dump Meade.

He had a horrible reputation in the business.

” She poured Meg a cup of coffee. “She finally caught him doctoring the books, which he probably had been doing for years. He begged her to forgive him. Said that he would make it up to her, but she held her ground. Thank goodness.”

“Aunt Melody, don’t you think that makes her look guilty of killing him?” Meg sipped her coffee. “If he was stealing from her?”