Scones, Skulls & Scams by Leighann Dobbs

between being polite and not wanting to let Victor in on their plans.
    “I’m not sure,” Nans said. “Lexy’s the only one we ever let help us with our investigations.”
    “Perhaps we should take a look at these plans first,” Victor suggested.
    “Yes, let's.” Helen re-anchored the corner that had come loose from under the mug and the five gray heads bent over the blueprint.  
    “This is the downtown section.” Nans pointed to something on the upper left. “That’s where the manhole cover for the main entrance is.”
    “Perfect, we’ll just go in through there,” Helen said.
    “You can’t,” Lexy cut in and everyone turned to look at her. “Jack said it could only be opened with some special tool. It’s too heavy for you and besides, it’s right in the middle of downtown. What are you going to do? Stop the traffic so you can climb in the sewer hole?”
    “We’ll just have to find some other way,” Nans said picking up one of the other rolls and spreading it on the table.
    The five of them studied it for several minutes without finding an easy entrance to the sewer.  
    “There’s nothing on this one, let’s check the next one,” Ruth said.
    Victor looked at his watch. “Darn, I better get back to the store. I’m meeting a customer who wants to consign some vintage jewelry. You ladies will let me know if you need my assistance later on, won’t you?”  
    The four ladies murmured a “Yes” and Victor stood, then nodded at each of them. Lexy thought she saw him wink at Helen, but she couldn’t be sure.  
    He pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and turned to Lexy. “What do I owe you?”
    “Oh, don’t worry about that. It’s on the house,” Lexy said as she walked him to the door. “We neighbors have to stick together.”
    “Ain’t that the truth?.” Victor glanced knowingly across the street then headed out.
    “I thought he’d never leave.” Nans sighed.
    “Yeah, imagine him trying to hone in on our investigation,” Helen said.
    “I think he’s kind of sweet on you, Helen,” Ida teased.
    Helen’s cheeks turned pink. “What? Don’t be silly … he’s way too old for me.”
    Nans, Ruth and Ida raised their brows at her.
    Helen looked at Lexy and smoothly changed the subject. “Did you ask Jack if the police found out anything about the murder when they were down in the sewer?”
    “No, they didn’t find anything and he made it sound like they aren’t going to pursue it anymore,” Lexy said.
    “I figured that,” Nans answered. “So it’s up to us.”
    “Right.” Lexy chewed her bottom lip. She wasn’t sure how involved she wanted to get in this whole sewer business. Victor was right, it did seem dangerous. And the murder was decades old, so who really cared? But she didn’t want to disappoint Nans and she knew the older woman would go ahead no matter what. Lexy knew she couldn’t talk Nans out of it. Her only hope was that Nans would get too busy with the historical society project to have time to investigate.
    “I did find something in Jack’s basement you guys might be interested in,” Lexy said.
    “Really?” Nans raised a brow at Lexy.  
    “Yeah, he had a stack of newspapers from 1948 down there. I saved them out for you guys.”
    “Oh, that’s wonderful … does it have articles from the bank robbery?” Ida asked.
    “I don’t know. I didn’t read any of them.”
    “Let’s see them.” Ruth looked around the shop. “Where are they?”
    “Sorry, I left them at Jack’s,” Lexy said. “But I promise to pick them up tonight and bring them to work tomorrow, so if you guys are going to stop by, I’ll have them.”
    “We’ll make a point of it, won’t we, girls?” Ida asked.
    “Of course,” Nans answered and then turned to Lexy. “Now let’s get back to these sewer plans, I don’t see any entrances we can use on either of these.”
    The ladies rolled out the rest of the sheets and poured over them. Finally, Nans said, “I