"Miss Myrtle," Dinah called out. She was a tall, thin woman with graying brown hair that she had pulled back into a ponytail. Her eyes were red and she had every appearance of being completely exhausted from what had just transpired.

Myrtle said, "My dear. I was with Red when he got the phone call and I immediately came over. Do you need to sit down? We have Miles's car here."

Dinah gave her a grateful look. "Do you mind? I've been feeling like my legs won't be able to hold me up much longer. But I can't go into the house, because ... well ..." She gestured over to the house and the crowd of police there.

Miles quickly opened the car door and Dinah sat down with relief. "Thank you so much." She hesitated. "I guess you heard what happened."

Myrtle nodded. "After a fashion. Jasper filled us in a little bit."

Dinah had an expression on her face as if she wasn't sure Jasper's version was something she wanted spread around. "Did he? What did Jasper say?"

Myrtle said, "He was saying that he'd come by to talk to Luther about something and that the two of you discovered Luther in the kitchen. That he'd been eating a pie that had an anonymous note."

Dinah nodded wearily. "Awful. Everyone's been so kind, bringing food by. This pie was sitting outside our house this morning with a note and I just figured it was another sweet gesture from one of our friends. But instead, somebody must have put poison in it." She frowned. "Actually, I took a picture of the pie this morning. It looked so sweet just sitting on the step."

"Could you possibly send that photo to me?" asked Myrtle.

Dinah looked slightly confused but, like most people, did what Myrtle asked. Myrtle recited her phone number to her and Dinah texted the picture over.

"Jasper seemed to think that Luther hadn't had a natural death," Myrtle said.

Dinah shook her head helplessly. "Apparently not. It didn't look like he'd choked. And from what the police said, it didn't look like he'd had a heart attack or anything. It's so hard to understand."

Miles said carefully, "It was good that you had Jasper here with you. That must have been very upsetting."

"Shocking," said Dinah in a sober tone. "It's good that Jasper happened to be here."

Myrtle asked, "And why was he here, dear?"

Dinah sighed. "Well, Luther has been a little bit of a trial lately. The car accident and surgery really frustrated him. You know how he always had that take-charge attitude. He liked to be in control of things."

Myrtle had the feeling that Luther had very much liked being in charge of people, as well.

"Anyway, the point is that Luther has been very frustrated lately because of his lack of mobility."

Miles, remembering Jasper's tale of encountering Luther in the grocery store, asked, "He hasn't been mobile at all?"

"He's gotten around some, but not to the extent that he normally has. Like I said, it made him frustrated and that frustration led him to act out a bit." Thinking of this made Dinah look even more exhausted than she already did.

"And he acted out with Jasper?" asked Myrtle.

Dinah sighed. "I'm afraid so. You know how Jasper is crazy about that boy."

"I know that he thinks Archie has quite a future and might get an athletic scholarship to college."

Dinah nodded. "Well, of course, what it boils down to is that Archie is still just a teenager. Archie's life is probably super-disciplined. He has to get up in the morning very early and exercise before school, according to Jasper. Then he goes to school, goes to hours of practice, and then goes home to more hours of homework. So it probably wasn't any real surprise when Luther saw him doing something he wasn't supposed to do. Archie probably was trying to rebel, in a small way."

Myrtle raised her eyebrows. "Archie was doing something that might jeopardize his future?"

Dinah shrugged. "I guess, Miss Myrtle. Jasper sure seemed to think so. I was driving Luther to a doctor appointment and Luther said, 'Isn't that Archie Hodges?' Luther always followed the high school sports, you see. And I looked over and nodded. Luther was like, 'Wonder why he's not in school? It's a school day.' And that's when we saw Archie and a friend of his spray-painting one of the beautiful old buildings downtown."

Myrtle raised her eyebrows. "Downtown? In the hub of the town? That seems rather reckless and bold of him."

Dinah sighed again. "Maybe it was a sort of cry for help? That poor kid doesn't sound like he has much of a life at all."

Miles said slowly, "What happened after you and Luther saw Archie vandalizing the building?"

"Well, I felt sorry for Archie. I thought the most appropriate thing to do would be to call Jasper and let him know what we'd seen. But Luther wouldn't hear of it." She pressed her lips together in a tight line, remembering.

"He wanted to tell the police," guessed Myrtle.

"Even worse," said Dinah. "He wanted to tell Jasper that he was planning on talking to the police."

Myrtle and Miles considered this for a moment.

"So the point of that exercise," said Myrtle, "was to feel a sense of control over Archie's future, I'm guessing."

"I'm afraid so. It wasn't that he wanted to blackmail Jasper. It was more that he wanted to enjoy the sense of being able to close the door on Archie's promising future. When Luther is bored, like he was during the last couple of weeks, he can be very . . . mischievous."

Myrtle could think of other words that would better describe Luther's actions. From Miles's expression, he could, too.

Myrtle said, "And then Jasper came over here with a gun to talk to Luther."

Dinah looked rather alarmed. "Did he have a gun?"

"He was wearing it when I talked to him."

Dinah knit her brows together. "But why would he have done that if he'd already poisoned Luther?"

Miles nodded. "Why would he even come by the house at all?"

Dinah shrugged. "I don't know. It doesn't really make sense. It makes it look as if Jasper couldn't have had anything to do with it."

"Maybe that was by design," said Myrtle. She pressed her lips together. "Aside from Jasper, did anyone else have an issue with Luther?"

Dinah's eyes were sad. "I'm afraid plenty of people did. Like I said, when Luther wasn't feeling well, he really wasn't himself. But the person who most comes to mind is Vivian."

"Is that Vivian Lawson?" asked Myrtle.

"That's right. She was Luther's assistant. For years." Dinah paused and her brow puckered. "Oh, heavens. I suppose I should let her know."

Myrtle said, "I'm sure she'll have a lot of work to do, wrapping up Luther's business concerns."

Dinah shook her head slowly. "No, because Luther fired her recently. I'm sure that made her very unhappy, as it should have. I have the feeling that Luther was being very unreasonable. Vivian had been working for him for ages, though, and is someone I should probably notify. I felt so sorry for her when he fired her. I can imagine that Vivian was very upset with him."

"Does she bake pies?" asked Myrtle archly.

"As a matter of fact, I think she's supposed to be an excellent cook in every way. We've talked about it before."

Myrtle took out her phone and opened the text message that Dinah had sent her a couple of minutes ago. She frowned at the image and Miles peered over her shoulder at it.

Myrtle said, "That is definitely a store-bought pie. There's no question, that is not homemade."

Dinah's brow crinkled in confusion. "Are you sure?"

"Positive," said Myrtle crisply.

Miles added, "Myrtle sometimes buys store bought pies to bring to book club." He managed to keep a completely straight face.

"Baking can be challenging," said Myrtle. "It's sort of like a science experiment. Sometimes I don't have time to be a scientist."

Dinah was still trying to figure out the implications of the pie being store-bought. "The store is selling poisoned pies?"

"I think the more-likely explanation is that someone purchased the pie at the store and then proceeded to insert something poisonous," said Myrtle.

Dinah looked somber. "Who could have hated him that much?"

"Not Vivian?" asked Myrtle.

"I can believe she was angry with Luther and probably rightfully so. But I just can't imagine her putting poison in a pie for him to eat."

Myrtle asked, "Did Vivian know that you're not fond of sweets?"

Dinah looked rueful. "Anyone who knows me well does. It's such an unusual thing, not having a sweet tooth. Vivian certainly did, yes." She glanced over at the house and said, "I think they're motioning me over to ask me a question."

Myrtle said, "We'll check on you later, Dinah. We're very sorry about Luther."

Dinah walked quickly out of earshot and Miles said, "Are we very sorry about Luther?"

"Not really," said Myrtle coolly. "I always thought he was something of a bully. I can't abide bullies. But I would like to find out what happened to him. I'm sure Dinah is falling under suspicion and she's really a lovely person. We must clear this up so everyone in Bradley isn't looking at Dinah as if she killed her husband."

Dinah was speaking with one of the state police officers who seemed to be taking a lot of notes. Red, who was nearby, glowered again at Myrtle when he saw her. She gave him a cheery wave.

Miles said dryly, "If you're so concerned about Red's health, we should probably get out of here. He looks distinctly unamused by our presence."

"Not quite yet. I'd like to ask him some questions about the pie." Myrtle leaned against Miles's car, with every appearance of being there for the long-haul. She glanced at Miles. "At least you're looking a little perkier. Although you should probably have a little more of your coffee."

Miles gave the travel mug a leery look. "That was very strong coffee, Myrtle."

"It was meant to be curative. The type of coffee that serves a function. You definitely needed to wake up."

Miles said dryly, "Well, I'm awake now. In fact, I think my heart is racing."

Myrtle squinted across the road and said, "Red is coming over. Excellent."

Miles wasn't at all sure it was excellent. Red looked decidedly unhappy at their being on the scene. "Maybe we should hop back into the car and tell him we were just driving by on our way to breakfast."

"Don't be silly, Miles. I need to ask him some questions."

Miles lifted an eyebrow. "Do you really think he'll give us any information? If you're too nosy, Red might leap on the excuse to cart you off to Greener Pastures."

Myrtle said darkly, "I'd like to see him try."

Red hurried up and said, "Mama, this is the very last place in Bradley you should be right now."

She gave him a sweet smile. "Now, you know I couldn't resist coming over. You got the call when you were at my house. I'm not sure how you thought I was simply going to ignore that."

"This is a crime scene." Red glowered at her.

"Is it? Well, it's good to get that part verified by an official. Although it certainly sounded that way from what Jasper and Dinah were saying. A pie, wasn't it? A rather clever idea. It sounds as if it was doctored up by whomever wanted to kill Luther. I understand the pie was poisoned."

Red glared at her. "Nothing has been tested yet."

"Naturally. But I'm imagining you and your team were making inferences from what you saw in the house. You've already labeled this a crime scene, so it's clear that Luther didn't die from natural causes. Considering the fact that he was eating a pie at the time of his unexpected demise, it does seem to boil down to poison."

Red rubbed his hands over his eyes, looking very much as if he wanted to get back to bed and start the day over again. "I can't discuss this with you." He turned to Miles and said, "How about if you take my mother for a nice breakfast?" He fumbled in his pockets until he found his battered wallet. "Here's some cash for her meal. Since her financial situation is . . . complex." He gave Myrtle a dour look.

She gave a triumphant smile. "At least you're getting the full picture now."

Miles pocketed the money and said, "Thanks, Red."

"No, thank you. For putting up with my mother's craziness and taking her out for breakfast." One of the state police officers called out to Red and he held up a finger to indicate he'd be there in a minute. "Before y'all go, tell me what you heard from Jasper and Dinah."

Myrtle gave him an arch look. "Haven't you spoken to them already?"

"Yes. But I have the feeling that someone who isn't wearing a police uniform might have gotten completely different responses."

Miles shifted uncomfortably. He was certain that Myrtle wouldn't want to disclose anything from their conversations with Jasper or Dinah. She preferred to solve the cases herself and viewed Red as competition. Or, perhaps, an obstacle to her goals.

Indeed, Myrtle was giving her son a crafty look. "Red, I don't know what you're talking about. Jasper came over to make a little small talk while he was waiting for the police to dismiss him."

Red snorted. "Small talk. At a crime scene."

"Precisely. Sometimes you need to have a little time to extrapolate and decompress after having discovered a body in the middle of what had been a normal morning."

Red nodded. "That's exactly what I'm looking for—what was extrapolated from your conversation with Jasper. Dinah, too."

Myrtle pretended to mull this over. "I'd said that Jasper was feeling . . . sad. And reflective over the fact that our grasp on life is tenuous at best." She turned to Miles. "It seemed to me that Jasper was heading back out with a new lease on life. Didn't it seem that way to you?"

Miles gave a quick, unhappy nod of agreement.

Red was back to rubbing his face again. "So you were talking about philosophical issues surrounding death. I didn't realize Jasper had that kind of depth. He's always been sort of a jock."

"You're sounding very sarcastic, Red. The man was shaken up and naturally was trying to sort out his feelings about the entire episode."

"And Luther's wife, Dinah? Did you also discuss life and death with her?"

Myrtle said, "Only in the broadest sense. She has quite a bit of adjusting to do, you know. Dinah has labeled herself as 'Luther's wife' for decades and now she's having to rethink exactly who she is now. It's quite a change, isn't it?"

Red gave her a suspicious look and Myrtle smiled pleasantly in return. He said, "The only reason I'm not pursuing this further right now is because someone needs to speak with me. But I have the sinking suspicion that you likely asked Jasper and Dinah a bunch of questions. I don't want you to be pretending to be Miss Marple again."

He gave Miles a weary look and then stomped off toward the other police officers.