Jose read Scarlett the Miranda rights then cuffed her. After he called his precinct, he turned to Annie Mae and me. "Good job solving the murder. But about the matter of breaking in..."

Chapter Twenty-Three.

The next evening Bezu placed a ladle in the chili. Next to the pot of chili was a plate stacked with cornbread. A container with b.u.t.ter sat next to a gla.s.s pitcher of iced tea. "I don't want this conversation to get as ugly as ten miles of bad road, but we have to talk about how y'all almost got killed trying to be detectives."

"We were on our first case. And it was quite a success." Annie Mae spread a hunk of b.u.t.ter on top of her cornbread and then poured chili on top.

"I wouldn't exactly say that." Jose stretched his arms behind his head.

"But we caught a killer. It doesn't matter how we went about it, right?" I filled my gla.s.s with iced tea.

"It does." Jose let out a deep breath. "Where do I begin? You committed several felonies. Including breaking and entering."

"Scarlett's office?" Annie Mae asked.

"And trespa.s.sing," Jose said.

"Where?" I asked.

"The construction dumpster is not public property, and you two entered it then nearly got fried. Let's just say there are a slew of wrongs there."

"Oh." Annie Mae looked down at her plate.

Jose leaned his elbow on the table. "Impersonating an officer."

"I forgot about that." Annie Mae put a bite of food in her mouth. "We couldn't really hear your answer because of a siren, so I can claim that as just a miscommunication."

Jose continued, "And committing fraud."

"We never did that," I said, picking up my fork.

"Not you, exactly. But our resident actress. Remember the fall in the Red and White?" Jose twisted a grin as he inclined his head toward Annie Mae.

"It wasn't like we were trying to extract money from anyone. We were just trying to get information." Annie Mae wiggled her fork in the air. "And we succeeded."

Jose reached over, plucked a piece of cornbread, and put it on his plate. "What I'm trying to say is I love you girls, and you almost got yourselves killed. Putting yourself in danger is inexcusable."

"We never thought we'd end up with a gun pointing at us. Scarlett seemed so prissy. Who knew she was packing?" Annie Mae held her hands up.

I shrugged. Andrew and my mom were sick at the thought of someone with a gun aimed at me. However, they were glad we'd avenged Lucy's death and that Annie Mae and I were safe.

Bezu straightened her back in her chair. "I agree with Jose. You two were not using the good sense G.o.d gave you."

"And that needs to be the end of whatever that was." Jose held the palm of his hand facing us.

"But we put a murderer behind bars." Annie Mae put another spoonful of chili in her mouth.

"Breaking the law is breaking the law. Thankfully, you don't have any charges against you. I'm sure if it was anyone else but me coming to your rescue at Susie's house, you would have been taken into custody." Jose b.u.t.tered his cornbread.

"That would have been a hoot if we were thrown in jail-even better, in the same cell as Scarlett." Annie Mae wiped her mouth with the linen napkin. "I can't wait to visit her in a few months."

"She's a murderer. Why in the Lord's name would you want to see her?" Bezu asked.

"Not her per se. Her face. Can you imagine what she will look like after a few months with no cosmetic injections and such? I bet she will age ten years in the span of a few weeks." Annie Mae giggled. "That I want to see."

"Scarlett spent the night in jail. The judge is setting her bond today. With all the evidence, she should be there a long time," Jose said.

"Wasn't it cool, too, that the vase turned out to be from the Ming dynasty?" I tore off some of my cornbread then plucked it in my mouth.

"The Ming Dynasty. Absolutely amazing," Bezu said.

"Once the news showed a picture of the vase, a museum expressed interest in purchasing it. It's worth over twenty million," Annie Mae said.

"You can't make that kind of money in fifty lifetimes," Jose said.

I added, "Even better, if they acquire the vase, they would have a plaque displayed next to it with Lucy's name in her memory."

"Now that is super neat." Annie Mae put her napkin on the table.

"Even better, after taxes, the money will be split between Lucy's church and the humane society, per Lucy's will. And she ended up leaving them way more than she ever thought, not knowing about the vase and all," I said.

"That cheating sc.u.m, Bert, was left with the house," Annie Mae said. "Too bad he got anything."

"Good or bad, he was her husband," Bezu said. "So he should have been left something."

"A pile of garbage would have been better," Annie Mae said.

"The Blue Belle Shoppe is temporarily closed, although I heard rumors that Zachary's family wants to buy it and let him run it," I said.

"He's a sweet kid. I bet he'll do a great job," Annie Mae said. "I wonder if he could get me the silver windup clock and candle?"

"I'm sure he could." I grinned.

"Looks like we made the front page of the newspaper, our pictures and a great article and all." Annie Mae slid the Savannah Morning News to me as we sat around Bezu's dining room table. "I think I should've at least gotten that hundred-dollar candle as a reward. But I did take her plant I named JC; after all, I couldn't let him die in her office. Plus, my plant Marvin Gaye needed a friend."

I grinned. "Solving Lucy's murder was reward enough for me."

Bezu looked at the newspaper. "You're celebrities. What a good photo of both of you."

"You did take a great picture," Jose added.

"I do photograph well." Annie Mae patted her hair. "Now I have so many people calling me, acting like I'm the queen bee of Savannah. It's great. This has to be a boon for my dating life. Speaking of dates, Tadcu is picking me up for the movies soon. I think your mom is coming with. She wants to see the movie, too."

"Good. They really think you and I are quite the team. And my girls absolutely loved that I solved a crime like Nancy Drew." I smirked. "To them, I'm a hero."

"What about the boys?" Bezu asked me.

"They thought the whole episode was kind of cool. Except for the gun pointing at me. We didn't tell the girls about the gun. They'd have nightmares, mostly because of what happened to their grandfather." I filled my gla.s.s with iced tea.

"No kidding. It gave me nightmares thinking of you and Annie Mae putting yourselves in such danger." Bezu wrung her hands. "Don't ever go and do that type of fool thing again. Y'all acted like you had no sense."

Jose cleared his throat. "They sure stirred up the city. Getting stuck in a burning dumpster will go down in our unofficial police department history book of stupid people predicaments."

Looking over at me, Annie Mae lifted an eyebrow and smiled. "Jose, I have no idea what you're talking about."

Jose stood and stretched his arms. "You know exactly what I'm talking about."

I said to Jose, "Fine. So maybe we did have a little unorthodox way of going about the investigation. We got the job done. And that's what counts."

"I agree," Annie Mae said. "We made a great team and put a killer behind bars."

I sipped on my iced tea. The cool, lemon-infused liquid tasted great.

"I'm just glad that your makeshift detective days are over," Jose said.

"Andrew and Tadcu feel the same way you do, Jose." I chuckled. "My mom, well, she just rattles off stuff in Korean at me while shaking her hands. Which I think means that she's happy I'm safe but thinks I was crazy getting involved."

Although I still grieved for Lucy and my father, I knew at least Scarlett was paying for her crime. My dad's murderer was still out there, I felt that finding the second crossword puzzle meant I was somehow closer to finding my father's killer.

The doorbell rang. Bezu let in Tadcu and Yunni.

Yunni wore white Capris and a blue, sleeveless top, her hair up in a loose bun. Tadcu wore a pressed, white, short-sleeved shirt and khaki slacks. His hair was slicked back.

We all said our h.e.l.los.

"We're a little early. I hope we didn't interrupt anything," Tadcu said.

"Not at all. We were just having some chili and catching up. Please, join us." Bezu lifted two plates.

"No, thank you. I already ate. Also, I want to get ice cream at Leonardo's after the movie." Yunni winked. "So I could check in on grandson, too."

"Mom, I don't think Timmy needs any checking up on, but I know he'd love to see you." I took a sip of tea.

"Oh, here is extra paper for you. Nice picture of both of you." Yunni waved the paper at Annie Mae and me.

"Thanks." I took the paper from my mom and put it in my purse.

"I've got to go. It was nice seeing everyone again." Jose looked at Annie Mae and me. "No more breaking and entering."

"We actually didn't break anything. But we did enter and look. No crime in that." Annie Mae tapped Jose on the arm. "Right?"

My phone signaled a text. I read it out loud: "Dog lost. Can the Chubby Chicks Club find him for me? I will pay big money."

Jose stood and put his hands in the air. "I'm out of here."

Bezu shook her head and walked out of the room.

Tadcu and Yunni both stared at Annie Mae and me as though we had lost our minds.

Annie Mae said, "What type of dog and how much?"

I shrugged. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to call them back, huh?"

Chapter Twenty Four.

As I left Bezu's house, I pulled the paper out of my purse. Opening the story about Annie Mae and me solving Lucy's murder, I saw the headline next to our story. Prominent Lawyer, M. Zwick Dies. My heart skipped a beat.

I sat down on Bezu's front step and read the story. I had just talked to him the other day. He'd said that he was fine. I felt an overwhelming need to go over and pay my respects; after all, he'd said that he and my father were like brothers.

I went to my house and grabbed a sympathy card. Since I lived close by, I decided to hand deliver the card.

Fifteen minutes later, I stood at Micky's front door. I rang the bell.

The door opened.

Karen, dressed in black, her eyes red, said, "Hi, Catherine, right?"

"Yes. I just found out about Micky. I am so sorry."

"Please come in." Karen led me into the front sitting room. Vases of flowers adorned tabletops. A side table held a stack of papers and cards. It smelled of flowers and coffee.

"Can I get you anything?" Karen asked.

"No, thank you. I just came by to pay my respects. I am so sorry."

"We all are. Micky was one of a kind." Karen's eyes welled up.

"I just spoke with him the other day, and he said he was fine," I said.

"I know. He was. It all happened so suddenly. I feel it's all my fault." Karen wrung her hands.

"Why?"