Murder Has a Sweet Tooth - By Miranda Bliss Page 0,69

too. “Well, I’ve certainly learned my lesson,” he said. “From this moment forward until the day I get back on the plane to go home again, I’m not leaving your house, Jim. I’m going to work on that—”

In all the excitement of the investigation, I’d forgotten about the renovations on the house. Too bad I remembered now and was so eager to hear more, I leaned too far forward and almost fell off my bar stool. Otherwise, Alex might have spilled the beans.

“Oh, no!” Laughing, Jim reached across the bar, grabbed my shoulders, and pulled me back in place.

“But I could drive Alex home tonight. And if he needed anything, I could take it over to him. That way he wouldn’t have to leave the house.” It was worth a try.

Jim wasn’t buying it. “I’ve given my word that I will keep an eye on Alex. And you . . .” He had a beer, too, and he raised it in a gesture that was more a friendly warning than a toast. “You will mind your own business. Which might include murder, but definitely does not include snooping around the house.”

I may have grumbled. Like anyone could blame me? It was hard to stay in a good mood when even Tyler bought into the whole Annie-can’t-see-the-house-before-the-wedding scenario.

“I’d take you on a grand tour of that house of Jim’s,” Tyler grumbled, “if it would help us solve our case.”

It was all the reminder we needed that there was a lot to do and a long way to go before Alex could put the experience behind him.

I drummed my fingers against the bar. “Beth thinks Edward did it,” I told Tyler. “But Edward has an alibi.”

“Detective Harold thinks Alex did it,” Tyler added. “But forensic evidence seems to eliminate him.”

I thought and drummed, drummed and thought. I hadn’t had a chance to update Tyler on the latest news so I took the opportunity to catch him up. Since we’d talked on the phone the day after Eve, Norman, and I followed the women, he knew they were all stepping out on their husbands, but what Tyler didn’t know was everything I’d just found out at the wine tasting that evening.

“Beth was angry at Vickie,” I explained, leaning across the bar so that I could keep the information private. “A couple weeks ago, Beth spent the night with some guy she met at Preston’s Colonial House, and Vickie was supposed to cover for her. Vickie didn’t.” I listened to my own words and my stomach soured. “To get even, Beth told Edward Monroe about Vickie and Alex.”

“And you just said it yourself,” Tyler reminded me. “Edward Monroe has an alibi. You just said something else, too, Annie. You just said Beth was mad at Vickie.”

“Sure she was. But that can’t possibly mean anything.” Could it?

The idea bounced around my brain and when it was done in there, it hit my toes and settled in my stomach, souring it. I gulped. “You don’t suppose—”

But I knew Tyler did, because he sat up like a shot. “Do we know where Beth was the night Vickie was killed?”

“Probably back at Preston’s with Jack.” Even though Tyler hadn’t come out and said it, I sat back, distancing myself from what he was thinking. “Beth isn’t the type.”

In spite of my protests, Tyler was all over the theory. “She’s shorter than Alex, right?”

I couldn’t deny this.

“Is she right-handed?”

I had to think hard, but I remembered watching Beth at the wine tastings, and I had to admit she was.

“It’s worth pursuing, Annie,” Tyler told me. He slipped off the bar stool. “You may not like it—”

“I don’t.” I shrugged. “It’s hard to explain. But she’s a mom. Just like Vickie was. And she was a friend of Vickie’s. Sure, she was mad at Vickie for nearly blowing her cover the night she spent with Jack, but as it turned out, her husband never found out she was fooling around, anyway. So she might have been annoyed at Vickie, but—”

“How do you know her husband never found out?” Tyler pinned me with a look.

And all I could do was shrug again. “Beth said—”

“And you believe her?”

I wanted to. Don’t ask me why. When it comes to investigations, I’m usually all about following the clues no matter where they lead. And I was as eager as anyone to get Alex completely off the hook and clear his name. More eager than most, since I had Jim to think about and I