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Even when you think you’re right, you may be wrong.

J olene. Meg hadn’t even considered her a suspect.

She’d found the body. If she’d killed Robert Meade III, wouldn’t she have built an alibi and let someone else find the body?

And how had Dalton pulled her name out of thin air after hearing that Tabitha had been meeting with someone on the island without Josh?

She texted him a few times after she got home, with no reply. Natasha said that tomorrow she’d bring dinner to the bookstore after she closed her bakery so they could talk.

Dalton showed up at her door at seven on Saturday morning.

“I’ve got the day shift today, and the ferry is going to be crazy with the farmers market and a show at the art museum, so I don’t have much time.

But I wanted to let you know what I’m thinking and ask you not to go over to Summer Break today to talk with Jolene. ”

She held open the door and waved him inside. “Coffee’s ready, and Aunt Melody dropped off blueberry scones as soon as she saw me take Watson out at six. She’s anxious about the case, and when she’s anxious, she bakes. I’ll take the leftovers she gives me. So how did you get to Jolene?”

“I started wondering who would know about Meade’s misdeeds.

And maybe about Lilly’s. If Meade had tried to leverage knowing about the affair to keep his job, Jolene might have protected her employer.

You told me that she worships Lilly Aster.

” He poured coffee into a travel mug and grabbed a scone before sitting at the table.

He wore his blue ferry uniform, and his hair was still wet from the shower. Even this way, he was pretty cute.

Meg shook her head and stopped thinking about Dalton.

Everyone was getting in her head. Especially Crissy and the double date comment.

Maybe she’d ask Dalton and he’d tell her that they weren’t dating.

They were friends. Meg sat down at the table, with the murder board propped up on a chair so she and Dalton could see it from the table.

She’d printed out the picture of Tabitha and put it on the board.

She’d even printed a picture of Jolene. The other pictures, besides the one of Nate, all had yellow sticky notes with an A written on them.

They all had alibis. She hadn’t been able to sleep last night after the coffee on the ferry, so she’d added to the board.

Meg had put a pink sticky note with an even bigger A on Natasha’s picture.

“I didn’t say she worshipped Lilly. She is dedicated, though.

” Jolene’s picture was on the board as the person who’d found Robert Meade.

Should she be added to the list of suspects?

“There is no evidence pointing to her except the fact she might have a motive to try to protect Lilly. Knowing about the affair would explain why Meade thought Lilly would forgive his actions and take him back as a client.”

“Just don’t go talk to Jolene today. I’m not working tomorrow morning. I’ve got the late shift again. I’ll go with you to talk to her in the morning.”

Meg stood up and pulled out her weekly schedule. “I’m going to church with Mom in the morning. Come over at noon and we’ll go then, unless Aunt Melody pulls us into brunch. Then we’ll go afterward. And maybe Uncle Troy will let slip what he’s thinking.”

He finished his scone and stood. He met her gaze and asked, “So we have a plan?”

She nodded. “We do. Have another scone for the road. Maybe two.”

“They’re amazing. I’m not sure why you’re giving them away.” He took two, and Meg handed him a ziplock bag to put them in. “I’ll see you tonight at the bookstore, and we can plan our questions.”

“Sounds perfect.” Meg refilled his travel mug, then watched as he headed down the stairs for work.

Then she grabbed Watson and went down to talk to her aunt.

Her uncle had left around six thirty, after Aunt Melody had dropped off the basket of scones.

Maybe Aunt Melody knew more than she was saying.

Lilly had to have told her about the affair. Meg would lay money on that.

When she knocked on the kitchen door, Aunt Melody was already standing on the other side. “Oh, I was coming out to sit and drink one more cup of coffee. I’ve got an online book discussion at ten, and I don’t want to be jumpy. Can I get you a cup?”

“I’ll get it. The scones were amazing, by the way. Dalton says thanks. He ate three.”

Meg went into the kitchen and found a cup.

After she filled it, she noticed her uncle’s notebook on the table.

She opened it and read the notes he’d written from some sort of meeting.

There was a list of suspects. But instead of scratching off suspects and their alibis, he had put a big A after their names.

Natasha’s name was there, but so was the A .

She marveled at how similar her sleuthing process and her uncle’s official process were, at least on paper.

He had a badge and a reason to ask questions. As she ran down the list, she saw that Jolene’s name was there, with no A . So her uncle considered her a suspect. She wondered what evidence he had against her.

She pulled out her phone and took a picture of this page in his notebook. Then she closed the notebook and went back out to talk to her aunt.

Gossiping went better with coffee.

Aunt Melody was as concerned as Meg was about Lilly Aster. As she talked, she rubbed Watson’s head. Meg assumed with Watson here, her aunt’s need for a dog of her own might ease, but maybe not. Maybe they’d wind up with two dogs, one for her and one for Uncle Troy.

“I’m probably breaking a confidence, but I need someone to talk to.

And I can’t talk to Lilly. She’s too worried that what she says will get back to Troy.

I wouldn’t do that, but here I am, talking to you.

Maybe her fears are warranted.” She took a sip of her coffee.

“Anyway, the day I talked to Lilly about Robert Meade threatening your mom and her bookstore with pulling the launch event, she told me she was firing him. They’d already found the fraud he’d committed, and she was going to fire him before she signed a contract for the next book.

He’d been coming over on the ferry for days, trying to get her to sign the adjusted contract, but she’d kept putting him off.

She’d decided to hire security for the next day, and she fired him on the porch, with the guard watching.

She told him she knew he’d been stealing from her. ”

“That must have been awful.” Meg remembered how threatening he’d been the day she showed up for her first assignment.

“It was, but it was long overdue. Lilly called me afterward and told me what a relief it was that it was done. But then he called the next day and told her he’d be over for her to sign the contract the next day.

Or else he’d tell everyone about Josh.” Aunt Melody leaned back.

“Of course, the first thing Lilly did was call Josh. He came over, and they went to their rental for the night. She told him about Robert’s threat, and he told her he didn’t care.

He was going to break up with Tabitha, anyway.

He loved Lilly. He’s been going with her on book tour this time. I have to say, she’s happy about it.”

“So what happened with Robert?” Meg felt like she was missing something.

“He never showed up until Jolene found him in the water by the dock.” Aunt Melody leaned closer.

“Troy says you’ve been investigating this.

Have you figured out who killed that awful man yet?

Troy knows about the affair, and their alibi holds up.

Street cams show them driving to the house and not leaving until after Jolene called them.

And they have food delivery people who verified they were there around the time of death.

Thank goodness for Island Diner and Josh’s love for breakfast.”

Meg thought about the loose ends that her aunt had tied up.

Lilly and Josh, she’d known about, but Uncle Troy had verified their alibi.

They hadn’t killed Meade. Tabitha didn’t have a reason to, unless she could pin his death on Lilly.

That left Jolene and Nate, along with any other suspects her uncle had.

Meg leaned forward with her elbows on her knees and asked the question she didn’t want to ask. The one Dalton had asked her. “What do you know about Jolene?”

* * *

Meg had promised Dalton that she wouldn’t talk to Jolene without him.

But after hearing her aunt’s story, she wondered if Jolene had been protecting her boss.

Would she be in all that much danger if she went to talk to her?

Lilly hadn’t done the deed, so there was nothing to protect.

Unless Jolene had killed Robert Meade with her bare hands.

As Meg thought that idea through, she decided not to take a trip to Summer Break before going to work at the bookstore. There was no reason to go up to a potential killer and poke the bear. Besides, if Jolene hadn’t killed Meade, accusing her of murder might affect their working relationship.

Solving crimes surrounded by friends and family was hard, especially when some of them were perfect suspects. She was going to have to write this sentence in bold when she added it to the guidebook.

As she was finishing up the chore list at the bookstore, the bell over the door jingled and Jolene came inside. She looked around, found Meg, and made a beeline toward her. She had a folder in her hand.

“Meg, I’m so glad I found you. Lilly told me that she told you and your friend about Josh. You need to keep that to yourself. It’s covered under your NDA. I need to talk to your friend, too. We’ll pay him to sign the NDA.”

“Jolene, neither Dalton nor I am going to spread the news that Lilly’s seeing her ex.” She nodded to the couch. “I need to talk to you, though. Do you want some water or coffee?”