“Wake up, baby doll.” I flipped on the light in Vivi’s room. She had one thumb in her mouth, her rump in the air, and a giant stuffed tiger as her pillow.

I should have started pulling her clothes for the day from her dresser or herding her to the bathroom so I could brush her teeth. Instead, I crawled onto the bed next to her and pulled her close.

She patted my cheek, leaving a wet smear from her thumb. “Mommy.”

“Yeah.” I kissed her forehead.

“Where you been?”

“I had to work late. Did you have fun playing with Meemaw?”

“Mmhmm. I was a mermaid who ate peanut butter.” She popped her thumb back in her mouth.

I promised her I’d break her of the habit once she lost her first tooth. She didn’t even have a loose baby tooth yet—apparently, her brand of stubborn also applied to her teeth.

“I didn’t know mermaids were into peanut butter.”

“I got a shark for a boyfriend.”

“A boyfriend?” I opened my eyes wide. Maybe she wouldn’t notice the bags under them. “That seems positively illegal.”

“What’s eagle mean?”

“Illegal means it’s against the law.”

“What’s the law?”

“We don’t have enough time to even begin to explore that subject.” I dropped a kiss on her forehead. No fever. “How’s your nose? Better?”

She sniffed, the congestion still there but not as bad. “Better.”

May Bell scuffled through the hallway, her tried and true house robe with the pink kittens on it swamping her small frame. “Rise and shine, girls.”

I wanted to stay right where I was, warm and snuggled up with Vivi. Her dark, wavy hair tickling my nose, her snuffles and smiles—all of it was like a siren song to me. But she was four, and the lights were on, so she crawled out of my arms and bounded to her feet, then threw herself at May Bell. “Can I have Cocoa Poofs?”

I stretched and sat up, then bent over to pull out some pants and a shirt for her. My phone rang from my bedroom next door, but I ignored it.

“Your phone.” Vivi turned her dark blue eyes to me.

“Later.” I motioned her over. “Let Meemaw fix your cereal, and I’ll get you dressed.”

“Your phone!” She disappeared.

“You don’t have to—”

She jumped past May Bell and stuck the phone in my face, Chief Garvey’s name on the caller ID.

“Thanks, baby doll.” I took the phone and answered the call as Vivi put the clothes back that I’d picked, then selected a ruffled skirt and a sleep t-shirt from her drawer.

“Where are you?”

“Getting Vivi ready for preschool.” I covered the mouthpiece. “You have to wear pants. It’s going to be kind of cooler out there today.”

She wrinkled her nose and shook her head.

“I need you to get over to Walnut Drive.” The rough edge to Garvey’s voice had my antenna twitching.

“What’s going on?”

“Letty Cline’s dead.”

At first, shock silenced me. Then, something jostled in my memory. “The florist?”

“Do you know of any other Letty Cline in Azalea?”

“I’ll be there in ten.”

“Make it five.” The line went silent.

“What’s going on?” May Bell hovered in the hallway, her hearing just as good as it had always been.

“We’ve got another…” I glanced at Vivi who was wrangling her skirt on backwards. “M-u-r-d-e-r.”

She canted her head to the side, disbelief painting her bleary brown eyes. “Who?”

“Letty Cline. I’ve got to head over to her house.” I knelt and pulled the skirt off a protesting Vivi, then had her step into some pants.

“Mommy!” She stamped her foot.

“You can wear the skirt on top.” I pulled up the pants, then held out the skirt.

Vivi’s nose un-crinkled and she petted the ruffles. “I’m a princess.”

“Can you drop her?” I stood. “I’ve got to go.”

“Sure.” May Bell waved Vivi over to her. “Cocoa Poofs.”

“Yay!” Vivi bounced down the hall to the kitchen, her dark hair flying behind her.

By the time I’d dressed and kissed Vivi goodbye, twenty minutes had passed, and Chief Garvey had called twice, Logan once.

I dialed Logan as I turned the cruiser toward one of the nicer residential areas just off Main.

“Hey, where are you?” Some voices in the background told me he was already at the scene.

“On my way. Five minutes out. Garvey there?”

“Yeah, and half the neighbors are out in the street over here. I’m setting up the tape perimeter to keep the gawkers at bay.”

“What happened?”

“Lead poisoning, Garvey said. But I haven’t set foot inside yet.”

“You call Pauline?”

“Garvey did. She’ll be here shortl—hey, back it up. Back it up. This is an active crime scene. And put those damn camera phones away!”

I turned onto Rose Avenue, the morning sun hidden behind a cloud bank that didn’t bode well. “I’m almost there.”

“All right, bye.” He cut off in the middle of another scolding.

I rolled down the residential street and caught sight of a school bus making its rounds. The rest of the town continued on even though we had two dead bodies and an ever-deepening mystery on our hands.

By the time I arrived on Walnut, the crowd had gathered off to one side. A camera crew began setting up on the edge of the tape.

“Shit.” Media attention was the last thing I needed.

I parked behind Logan’s Jeep and climbed out. He stood on the porch of a modest craftsman-style home, his arms crossed over his chest and a surly expression on his face. We both needed coffee.

A brisk wind promised a change in the muggy weather as it swept past. I walked up the stairs, the residents in their robes and pajama pants eyeing me.

“Detective?” A blonde with a microphone tried to call me over to the camera.

I kept walking, and followed Logan into the house.

Chief Garvey stood at the foot of the stairs, his fingers tapping on the heavy wood bannister. “About time, Detective.”

“Sorry.” I glanced around, taking in the wood paneling, gleaming floors, and the huge arrangement of flowers sitting on a dining room table to my right.

“In here.” Chief pointed to the room on the other side of the stairs, the wide entryway and the back of a leather couch hinting at a living room. I strode in, the tang of blood hitting me in the face as soon as I stepped into the room. The couch sat in front of me, the wide front window to my left, and a lounge chair with a body in it to my right.

“Jeez.” I pulled some gloves from my jacket and slipped them on. “Anyone touch anything?”

“No.” Garvey hovered at the entryway. He could be gruff, could be a total asshole sometimes, but he let me do my job. He didn’t step on my toes or try to take over my investigations. And this one was mine.

“Who found the body?”

“Cleaning lady. She only comes once a month. I guess she lucked up today.”

“Where is she?”

“Kitchen. She wasn’t looking too good, so I sent Trevor out to get her a coffee.”

I bit back my question about whether Trevor was getting me a coffee, too, and eased around the couch.

Garvey turned to Logan. “Go check on her, will you? It’s Inez from the Shop & Go. I guess she cleans houses part time.”

“Sure.” Logan disappeared beyond the stairs.

The hint of a throwaway memory turned into a full-on clue as I got a better look at the body. “You know, I saw her at the courthouse yesterday.”

Garvey scratched his balding head. “Inez?”

“No, Letty Cline. When I went by to see Judge Ingles, she was in the hallway with some papers.”

“That’ll help with time of death, at least.”

“Yeah, she was alive yesterday around noon.” I eased closer and stopped.

She was slumped over the arm of a chintz chair, her gray hair obscuring her face. Dressed for bed, she was wearing slippers, an oversized t-shirt, and pajama pants.

“I need to know what the hell is going on, Arabella.” Chief Garvey’s deep grumble resonated through the house. “This shouldn’t be happening. Not in my town.”

“I know.” I eased around behind her. “There’s another note.” Written on floral print paper, the familiar scrawl of “you’re next” had been stabbed into her with a pencil. The back of her head was a mess, the blood matting her hair and coating the chair back. Though I couldn’t see her face, I suspected I’d find an entry wound in her forehead, the same as Randall King.

“Is this a serial killer? Is that what this is?” Chief Garvey beat the side of his fist on the door frame.

I moved back around to her front and dropped into a crouch. Her hands were balled in her lap, and a sliver of paper peeked through the fingers on her left hand. “She’s holding something.”

“What?”

“Can’t tell.”

The front door opened.

“Doc, welcome to the circus.” Chief Garvey shook Pauline’s hand as she and her tech entered the room.

She raised a brow. “Something in the water?”

“Not sure.” I rose. “Thanks for coming.”

“It’s my job.” Her no-nonsense demeanor was on full blast.

“Ready.” The tech lifted a heavy-duty camera and began taking photos while he used his other hand to sweep a camcorder around the room.

“She’s got something in her hand I want to see.” I pointed. “Go ahead and video that as well as snap some pics.”

The tech obliged, moving all around Cline’s body and taking photo after photo before filming it all. “Okay, you’re good.” He stepped back and kept the camera focused on her hands as I knelt and tried to snag the piece of paper from between her stiff fingers.

“Here.” Pauline handed me a pair of tweezers from her kit. “See if that’ll get it.”

“Thanks.” I gingerly worked the tweezers inside her fist and closed them on the paper. With a few steady tugs, the small white card pulled free. I turned the crumpled mess over in my hand.

“What is it?” Garvey asked over my shoulder.

I recognized it, but not the writing on the back. “It’s Benton King’s business card.”