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“They’re definitely up to something,” said Lily. She lowered her binoculars and fixed me with a look that said she was certain she’d positively identified criminals in the midst of a nefarious act.

“They’re getting coffee,” I said before sipping mine, a small puff of foam erupting from the cup and threatening to stick to the tip of my nose.

“They’re shifty .”

“You said that about four different guys yesterday. These ladies have the combined age of two hundred and fifty. They couldn’t look shifty if they tried.” I watched the trio of elderly ladies shuffling out of the jewelry store across the street, chattering away, and queue at the sidewalk coffee cart before shaking my head.

“And that’s why they’re definitely up to no good,” Lily decided. “They might have fooled you, but they haven’t fooled me.” She pushed back her blonde curls with one hand and lifted her binoculars again.

“Do you have to use those things in the coffee shop?” I asked.

Lily lowered the binoculars and frowned. “Would a telescope be less conspicuous?” She began to reach for her purse as I sighed. There was no telling what Lily might have stashed in there although a telescope seemed the most reasonable item I could think of. Plus, I had to harbor the hope she wouldn’t upgrade a simple tool like that to an actual weapon. That would be scary. I took another look at her purse. Was that my purse? “It’s not your purse,” said Lily. “They look the same but yours has the skinny handles. This one has wider handles.”

“I never said it was!”

“You were thinking it! I know you!”

“I would nev…”

“They’re on the move,” Lily cut in, the binoculars firmly pressed to her eyes.

I followed her gaze as the elderly ladies shuffled towards a bus stop, the coffee cart now abandoned, and not a single takeout cup in sight. “Are you sure they’re moving?” I asked. I did a mental calculation and estimated they might reach the bus stop in three to four business days at that speed.

Lily tracked their epically slow movements. “We should follow.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Why not?”

“Because there’s no reason to. They’re just three nice, old ladies enjoying a day out…”

“In an upscale jewelry shop?”

“Maybe they wanted some jewelry appraised? Or possibly buying a gift? Or perhaps one of them is treating herself to a big purchase? We don’t know,” I said.

“Exactly! We don’t know . They could have been casing the joint.”

“I don’t think their joints allow for anything that exciting.”

“But we followed them this far!”

“We happened to be going in the same direction, and I wanted a coffee. I still have no idea why you wanted to follow them , of all people!”

“I told you already! They were acting suspiciously. They were being furtive. And they were in the jewelry store a weird amount of time. Too short to get an appraisal, and too long to buy a gift.”

“Maybe one of them was indecisive. Maybe it was a joint gift and they were all arguing?” I reasoned, although I wasn’t sure why I was bothering. Lily was as determined as me, only we were heading in different directions mentally. Lily thought she had a trio of geriatric thieves in her sights. I thought the three old ladies needed to be left alone by me, Private Investigator Lexi Graves and her nutso best friend, and much-loved sister-in-law, Lily Shuler-Graves.

A bus glided to a stop. Nearly a minute later, the three ladies shuffled down the aisle, flopping into seats near the back. “They’re getting away,” wailed Lily.

It was the slowest, most inefficient getaway I’d ever seen if that were the case. I countered, “They’re going back to their homes for an afternoon nap.”

“That does sound a good idea,” said Lily. Then she gasped. “What have I become?”

“A mom.”

“You’d think I’d be used to it by now.” Lily stifled a yawn. “Well, those master criminals…”

“Elderly, law-abiding ladies,” I corrected her.

Lily shot me a withering look. “Those master criminals have gotten away this time but mark my words, that won’t be the last we’ll see of them.”

“Ooo-kaaay,” I said, dragging the syllables out far longer than necessary as I made my point.

Lily peered at me. “Did you just have a stroke?”

“No,” I said as my phone beeped. I pulled it from my pocket and checked my screen.

“Is it your man wanting to play the baby-making game again? If so you’re excused,” said Lily. “And maybe order a shot of espresso to go.”

I shook my head. “It’s my cousin, Tara. She says she’s looking forward to dinner later and it’s a shame you can’t make it. She says we should do a spa day soon. Just us girls.”

“Pick a date and I’ll find a babysitter. I’m sad I can’t make dinner tonight but with Jord on night shift and your mom and dad already having plans, I’m a babysitter short. Jord says we should try a babysitting service so we don’t over-rely on family.”

“That sounds like a good idea. Although maybe next time we could do lunch and take Poppy too?”

“And miss out on child-free time? No thank you! Much as I love my precious girl, I’m determined to enjoy life occasionally as someone who doesn’t spend their personal life eternally covered in applesauce and spit, or at work splashed in beer and tears. I’m not even going to feel guilty about wanting some me time. No matter what society tells me.”

“What does society know?” I asked with a shrug.

“You’ll find out when it happens to you,” said Lily. “The minute you’re pregnant, suddenly your body belongs to everyone else, and then you give birth and everyone has an opinion on how you raise your kid and live your life. Stay-at-home mom? Bad. Working mom? Bad. Hobbies? You should have them or you’re pathetic. But spend time on them? Bad! Unlike men. Men hobbies are oooooh so amazing, look at him, he’s so strong ! Also, unlike men, no one slaps us on the back and thinks we’re great for doing the bare minimum. Jord changed a diaper in the park once and five women offered to help him. I changed all the diapers the day before and three women told me I was doing it wrong. Don’t get me started on breastfeeding.”

I crossed my legs. “I’m rethinking the whole getting pregnant thing.”

“Sensible.”

“But I kind of like the doing the bare minimum and getting praise for it thing.”

“Hence your job,” said Lily.

“I am not doing the bare minimum,” I pointed out. “I’m doing absolutely nothing and not getting praise for it either.”

“You’d think someone would thank you for you not getting into trouble at least. Think of all the mayhem you could be causing.”

“I barely ever cause mayhem!” I wasn’t usually the cause but that was probably semantics since I definitely got involved in more than my reasonable share of strange events. The mayhem definitely wasn’t my fault. Most of the time, anyway.

“That’s going on your epitaph.” Lily checked her watch, placed the binoculars on the table and hoisted her bag onto her knee. “I really should get going. I need to go over the bar’s alcohol order with Ruby. I think we’ve over-ordered but she thinks we’ve under-ordered given the recent uptick in happy hour sales. I can fit that meeting in before picking up Poppy from daycare if I go now.”

“Are you really leaving so you can follow the bus?” I asked, my eyes narrowing at Lily’s suspicious slide from determined amateur sleuth into being a responsible adult who wanted to conduct a logistics meeting.

“No!” Lily scoffed. “There’s no way I’d catch that bus now! Plus, you’re probably right. They’re probably not up to anything truly dangerous. Just little, old ladies on a day out from their nursing home. Minding their own business. Shuffling along. Waiting to die.” Lily gathered her purse, hugged me, and grabbed her coffee. She was already out the door by the time I realized she’d left her binoculars. I grabbed them and my coffee, and hurried after her.

As I stepped onto the sidewalk, Lily sped past me in her car and hung a right, just as the bus had done minutes earlier, only she sailed through the light change. “Not following indeed,” I snorted. Well, let Lily have her wild goose chase. I had other fish to fry, and other idioms to try.

Tara had picked a Greek place downtown for an early dinner with our respective partners and I was looking forward to hanging out with her. Since the restaurant was near the agency’s office, I headed there first and parked in the underground lot. Bypassing the office entirely, I walked up the exit ramp and called Solomon. He didn’t answer but a moment later, I got a text: Might be late. Start without me .

That was disappointing. I’d looked forward all day to the four of us enjoying dinner together but I knew Solomon was working on a case that was sucking up a lot of his time. If he couldn’t make it, it was for a reasonable cause.

I headed to the restaurant, unsurprised that I arrived first. My office was closest. Tara, like numerous members of my family was a police officer who worked at the Montgomery Police Department where she would be finishing her shift. Her boyfriend, Sadiq Farid, was an FBI agent and their building was a little further away.

The restaurant was wedged between a fancy juice bar and a no-packaging foodstuffs shop. The interior had been decorated in what I assumed a Greek taverna looked like, never having been lucky enough to travel to the country nor its many islands: whitewashed walls picked out with blue accents and a pretty sea mural covering the back wall. Plants hung from the ceiling and trailed over shelves displaying Greek tchotchkes. The tables had pristine white tablecloths, each with a pink posy in a small glass vase, and the chairs were pale wood. Several families already occupied some of the tables, myriad small dishes and baskets of bread covering the surfaces, while their chatter and softly piped music filled the air.

After being shown to a table in the window facing the street, I settled in to wait and nibble on the fresh pita bread and oil deposited in front of me. Only minutes later, Tara and Sadiq strolled past the window, hand-in-hand, before entering the restaurant.

“Isn’t this nice?” said Tara, hugging me before slipping off her light summer jacket. “Can you believe this restaurant has been here decades, and in the same family, and I never knew? I’m glad I saw the review in The Gazette .”

“Me neither,” I said, “but it is tucked away on a backstreet.”

“A real word-of-mouth type place,” said Sadiq, leaning in to hug me too before taking the seat opposite, while Tara sat between us. “Is Solomon on his way?”

“He said he’ll be late and not to wait.”

“Good. I’m hungry!” said Tara.

“If we order now, either the food will arrive by the time he gets here, or the food will have arrived and we’ll have the opportunity to eat some before he vacuums up the rest,” I added.

“Big guy gotta eat,” said Sadiq with a broad, jovial grin.

“I’ll tell him you’ll share yours,” I said.

“Not a chance!”

“Don’t tell me you’re turning into a food hoarder,” said Tara as she reached for the bread basket.

I shrugged. “More like a ‘defender of my plate’. Although Solomon might suggest that it’s the other way around. He’s getting territorial about his fries.”

“A worthy cause,” said Sadiq. “I can get behind that.”

“Does that mean you’re not going to pick at my plate?” asked Tara, her eyebrows raised.

Sadiq grinned, his dark brown eyes sparkling. “Heck, no. What’s yours is mine, honey.”

“I’m sure Solomon was more flexible on his sides ownership pre-marriage,” I said, enjoying their banter. “Now he’s got me, he doesn’t want to share.” I pulled a face and they laughed.

The waitress deposited a carafe of iced water, handed us menus, and ran through the day’s specials before she left the three of us to make our choices from the mezze options. Making a decision wouldn’t take me long; I wanted one of everything.

“So how’s work?” asked Tara, glancing up from the menu. “Any wild cases?”

“I wish,” I said. “It’s been quiet these past two weeks since we wrapped up that cold case from my parents’ street. A little surveillance work. I followed a guy last week whose wife thought he was stepping out on her.”

“Was he?”

“Yeah, but to an actual step class. Turned out he was trying to get fitter because he thought she didn’t find him attractive anymore.”

“Awww,” said Tara.

“She cried, he cried, then there was a huge outburst of love yous . It was sweet. I recommended they turn the class into something they could share together or actually designate a date night so they could get those romantic moments. Case closed.”

“A positive outcome.”

“And the week before that was another husband surveillance case.”

“Tell me it was a cute story too!”

“Nope. This one actually was stepping out on his fiancée. Only he was stepping out with his wife… and also his girlfriend.”

“Oh, boy,” said Sadiq as he blew out a breath.

“I’m not sure if that’s devastating or a lucky escape,” said Tara.

“Both,” I said.

“I wonder if he was ever going to marry the fiancée. That would be bigamy,” said Sadiq.

“I doubt it. From what she showed me, it sounded like he was stringing her along with a bunch of false promises. I’m not surprised she was suspicious,” I explained, “despite his top-notch time management skills.”

“I’m surprised Solomon put you on those nickel and dime cases,” said Sadiq. “He doesn’t have any more pressing cases?”

“I don’t mind. It’s nice to have easy wins between the big cases and they’re not as arduous as going undercover or tracking down leads. Plus, Solomon always says you never know when small clients will remember us and recommend us for a big money case.”

“I saw two of your guys, Fletcher and Flaherty, hunkered down outside one of the warehouses out of town last week,” said Sadiq.

“That must be because of all the break-ins over there. The new owners wanted peace of mind with a visible security presence before they moved in and had to make any more repairs. It ended up being bored kids stirring up trouble.”

“We need more facilities for youths so they don’t go making their own fun,” said Tara. “It’s a shame they have nowhere to go. I’m sure it wasn’t so bad when we were kids.”

“Now I feel old.” I laughed. “But these kids rolled up in their beamers looking for trouble so I don’t think they were suffering from lack of options, just poor judgment.”

“I bet they don’t even get slapped on the hand for getting caught either,” said Tara with a shake of her head. “I wish I could say life was more exciting in the police force but it’s not. I’m stuck on paperwork for a string of thefts over in Frederickstown.”

“There’re always thefts in that neighborhood,” said Sadiq.

“Hence the paperwork. Actually, there’s talk of new initiatives going on over there. More police, more investment into the neighborhood. Better lighting, improved public transport, a gardening initiative. It could be a nice area if it’s done right. I’ve been asked to go along to the community session to listen to what the residents want. It could be an exciting project,” said Tara. Her eyes lit up as she spoke. “I was involved in something similar in Chicago so I have a lot of knowledge to bring to the table.”

“That sounds great!”

“It’s all dependent on money, of course. Isn’t everything? Hey, did Sadiq tell you he’s going to Europe next week with work?”

“Germany is back on,” clarified Sadiq. “Maddox and I are working a case with a strong lead in Berlin.”

“Why do you get all the fancy jobs?” I wondered. “Why don’t I ever get a job in Berlin?”

“It compensates for federal pay,” said Sadiq.

“Have you ever thought of moving to the private sector?” I asked.

“Do you get jobs in Berlin?”

“No.”

“Then no. Plus, I want to move up the ranks and serve my country.”

“I tried serving my country once,” I remembered, thinking back to my brief and not very shining Army days. Well, I attended boot camp before I was served an unceremonious return home. I’d like to say I gave it my best shot, but that would be lying.

“What happened?”

“Turns out I was better serving at a bar.”

“A true service to your countrymen and women,” said Tara. “Let’s order.”

We ordered several sharing plates and spent the time chatting while we waited for the food to be delivered.

“Does the Berlin case have anything to do with your mysterious, brilliant thief?” I asked. Only a couple of weeks ago, we’d been foiled from returning a priceless ruby, missing for years, to the small European state that claimed it. While the common line was our expert had simply misidentified the jewel, I was certain an audacious thief named Cass Temple had broken into MPD’s evidence locker and stolen it right out from under their noses. MPD, meanwhile, had swept the embarrassing incident under the rug. I figured Cass could be anywhere in the world now and given that Maddox was determined to catch her, Berlin sparked my curiosity.

“Maybe,” said Sadiq and winked.

“You’re not going to tell me?”

“I can’t discuss ongoing cases,” he said.

“Can you talk about the Cass Temple case?” I asked.

“Like I said.” Sadiq grinned and I knew I didn’t have to press further. Cass Temple had been sighted in Berlin!

“Have you heard anything about the Queen’s Ruby?” I wondered.

“It seems to have disappeared.”

I shook my head, not at all surprised. The ruby was subject to a diplomatic clash and I suspected it would never officially turn up.

Just as the plates were placed on the table, my phone rang.

“Sorry,” I said as I reached for it, noting Solomon’s name flashing on the screen.

“I’m not going to make it,” he said.

For a moment, my heart stopped and the restaurant receded into the background. “You’re… dying?” I gasped.