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“That weirdly makes sense,” she admitted. As long as it wasn’t a couple thing.

“You’ve been strange since Romain showed up Friday night. Are you regretting leaving him?” They turned left so they could walk in a loop and end up back at the bookstore.

“One, I didn’t leave him. He dumped me. And two, if I’ve been odd, it’s because I can’t figure out if someone I know killed Meade.

” She rubbed her neck, feeling the tension.

“I was going to talk to Uncle Troy today, but he’s on a date in Seattle.

Maybe that’s a good sign that it was an accident.

Natasha dropped Meade off at Summer Break, and he slipped on the dock and hit his head on a rock in the water. ”

“Sounds like a great theory, except, according to the coroner’s report, he was forcibly held under until he drowned.

And the blow to the head was from a pipelike object.

So no accidental drowning.” He looked over at Meg, who had stopped walking.

“What? The coroner left his briefcase on the ferry when he came back from teaching a class in Seattle. I had to dig to find out who it belonged to so lost and found could contact him. According to them, he’s always leaving something on the ferry. Kind of a forgetful professor type.”

“Darn, I was hoping this would all go away.” Meg turned the corner and headed back downhill. “Uncle Troy needs to clear both Lilly and Natasha.”

“The sooner the better.” He glanced in the direction of the bookstore. “I heard people talking about Natasha’s bakery as the killer’s place on the ferry. Rumors are flying about our girl.”

“How did they even figure out that she was interviewed by the police?” Meg didn’t like where this was heading. Either she would lose her job and Lilly Aster would go to jail or she’d lose her best friend.

“One of the local reporters saw your uncle pick her up at the bookstore the other night. They’ve been trying to verify her status ever since, but neither she nor your uncle has answered their calls.

” He lowered his voice as a couple walked by them.

“Vi Chin cornered Natasha at the launch party before your uncle kicked the press out, and I think she badgered her into admitting that she was questioned.”

“So they published it.”

He shook his head. “There wasn’t enough for that, but Chin has a social media account, and she posted that she was on the heels of a juicy story and showed a picture of Natasha’s bakery.

Everyone put two and two together in the comments.

She had a crowd at the bakery snapping pictures, and when she locked up and came out to meet me, they started throwing out questions. It was ugly.”

“Does she want to talk about it? Make some plans on how to deal with it?” Meg started walking faster to get back.

Dalton grabbed her arm to slow her down.

“That’s why I came with you on the walk.

Natasha doesn’t want to talk about it at all.

She wants to have a nice evening with her friends.

She asked me to tell you what was going on.

And ask that tonight not be an investigation powwow.

All she wants to do is have fun with us. ”

Meg hoped she could keep her mouth shut for Natasha’s sake.

* * *

Monday morning, Meg was sitting at her kitchen table, watching the main house. When she saw Uncle Troy come out, she hurried down the stairs. She met him at his truck.

“Good morning. Can I ask you something?”

“You just did,” he teased as he put his stuff in the cab. “What’s going on? Is the plumbing acting up? You’ll have to talk to your aunt about that. She handles the rentals.”

“Rentals?” They had more than one? Meg shook her head. She was getting off track. “No, I mean, everything in the apartment is fine. Thanks. I wanted to know if you’ve cleared Natasha yet. And if you have, could you put out an announcement?”

“We don’t announce people who aren’t charged with a murder,” he said. Then he turned and stared at me. “Why do you think your friend is even cleared? Maybe she killed Robert Meade.”

“She didn’t. And she told you what happened.

She dropped him off at the back gate to Summer Break.

Then she went back to the bakery.” Meg put her hands on her hips.

She didn’t want her uncle to see that she was shaking.

“Can’t you examine footage from the camera on the back gate to see if he went onto the property alone? ”

He took off his baseball cap with a Bainbridge Island logo on the front. “The camera to the back gate broke a month before the murder, and the repair guy is supposed to fix it this week. If he shows up. Jolene says she’s been trying to get him out here for a couple of weeks.”

“I can’t believe you think Natasha might have killed him.” Meg’s voice was almost a whisper. She teased, “Have you even met Natasha?”

“Of course I know that sweet girl is unlikely to have done the murder. However, I don’t have proof. Meade had his hand on her throat, financially, that is. His lawyer has verified the loan.” He moved to get into the truck.

“Did you check the street cameras? They should show a dry Natasha driving her car away at the same time that the gate was accessed. And parking her car at the bakery.” Meg pointed out the best-case scenario.

“Why would being dry help Natasha’s cause?”

Meg closed her eyes. She’d said one thing too many. She shouldn’t know about the medical examiner’s report. “Because Meade was held underwater until he drowned. Natasha would have been wet and besides, she doesn’t have that kind of strength.”

“Tell me you didn’t break into the morgue.” He leaned against the truck, waiting to hear the whole story before arresting her for interfering with an open investigation.

“I didn’t break into the morgue. I haven’t even been to Port Orchard since I moved back.” Meg held up her hand, three fingers extended, as if giving the Boy Scout salute. “But that’s a way to clear Natasha, right? Checking the street cams?”

He didn’t respond for a while. Finally, he nodded.

“I’m going to check the street cameras. One, because it’s a good idea.

And two, I hate even thinking anything bad about that girl.

But I need a favor from you. You need to stay out of this investigation.

It’s not safe. Robert Meade wasn’t a good man.

He had a lot of enemies, which is one of the reasons I haven’t figured out who killed him.

I might as well throw a dart at a board filled with suspects.

” He looked her in the eye. “Promise me?”

Meg nodded, hoping that Uncle Troy wouldn’t see that she had both hands behind her back and her fingers crossed.