Poisoned Prose (A Books by the Bay Mystery)

Violetta’s did. The other guy got his girl, and folks went after the masked man with torches. I never saw the play, but Dixie’s talked about it so much that I feel like I have.”
    “She cares about you, Lowell.” Olivia spoke gently. “Please don’t let her down. Dixie Weaver is one of the finest people I know.”
    “I’m glad she has a friend.” He waved his hand to incorporate the whole of the diner. “Folks respect her in this town. I like to come in and watch her work. Only the tourists stare at her like she belongs in a circus. The rest of you accept her. She’s lucky.”
    “You could stay in Oyster Bay too. You don’t have to run anymore. Start over. That’s what I did when I came back here.”
    Lowell gave a humorless laugh. “Dixie will never want me around her kids after this. I’ve blown it.”
    “Then make it right,” Olivia insisted. “Who attacked you? Amabel and Greg?”
    “Yes.” Lowell seemed to deflate after the admission. He sagged against the booth cushion and wiped a drop of water from the point of his chin. “They showed up at Dixie’s place and said they were going to frame me for the murder unless I gave them the diamonds. All I could think of was getting those two out of there before the boys came home. I had the dogs, sure, but I wasn’t close enough to grab the rifle from behind the door, and I didn’t know if that pair of psychopaths were armed, so I went with them.”
    Olivia couldn’t begin to imagine how frightening that moment must have been. “You made a very noble decision.”
    “Not really,” he said dismissively. “It was me or the kids. Real simple. I didn’t protect Violetta, but I’d be damned if I let something happen to Dixie or her family.”
    “Then make sure it doesn’t,” Olivia pleaded. “Press charges against Greg and Amabel. See that they’re locked away. If you don’t get involved, they could walk, and Dixie will never rest easy again.”
    Lowell wiped his face with his hands and sighed. His gaze returned to the Phantom mask. And then he looked at Olivia and nodded. “I’ll do it, but I’d like to have a cup of coffee first.”
    Smiling, Olivia said, “Have two. I’m buying.”
    Lowell drank his coffee, and when he was done, Grumpy agreed to drive him home so that he could change clothes before heading to the police station. Dixie rode along with Olivia. The two women stood like sentinels by the station’s front door until Lowell arrived. After Lowell followed Rawlings into the conference room, the two friends sat in the chief’s office and listened to the rain.
    Dixie was the first to break the silence. “Lowell says he doesn’t have the padlock, but I don’t believe him for a second. I hope your man worms the truth out of him.”
    “Me too,” Olivia said. “And I still can’t figure out how Lowell got to Oyster Bay from the hospital.”
    Dixie grimaced. “All he said was that he got to know which of the nurses lived out our way. I’m sure he stowed away in her car. And you were right about him hidin’ inside the robot, though Lowell’s always hated tight, dark spaces. After what he’s put us through, I hope he was absolutely miserable inside that thing.”
    Olivia took Dixie’s hand. “Don’t be too hard on him. In the end, he chose to come forward, and he nearly died making sure the killers didn’t get near your kids.”
    “I suppose that’s somethin’, but we won’t be gettin’ out the good towels and askin’ him to stay in the guest room anytime soon.”
    Olivia laughed and Dixie joined in, and for a moment, the sound of their mirth was stronger than the storm.
    • • •
    A week later, after the media grew tired of reporting on the murder of Violetta Devereaux and vanished to cover a shark attack off the coast of South Carolina, the Bayside Book Writers met at their usual time in the lighthouse keeper’s cottage.
    Laurel made it through the first fifteen minutes before bursting into tears. “I’m sorry,” she sobbed. “But I can’t handle your leaving, Harris. Not after what happened to Violetta. Not after Flynn. And now there’s a “for sale” sign taped to the front door of Through the Wardrobe.” She sniffed. “I don’t want to lose anything else. Any
one
else.”
    Harris put his arm around Laurel. “I bought a round-trip ticket,” he whispered into her ear, but Olivia caught the words and her spirits rose just a little.
    “Okay,” Laurel said and dried her tears with a