Page 109 of Conrad

“Maybe Swindle killed Sarah—you had thought that before . . .”

“I did, but I couldn’t figure out a motive. I still don’t have one—unless she knew that Swindle was involved in Edward’s death.” She pressed her hand against her stomach. Maybe she shouldn’t have eaten that muffin, except how was she supposed to turn down one of Mama Em’s baked goods? The woman possessed the skills of a French baker.

As if conjured up, Mama Em came into the kitchen, holding a half-eaten lemon-blueberry cake on a cake stand. She set it on the island. Looked at Conrad, then Penelope. “You okay?”

Conrad raised an eyebrow at Penny.

“Yes,” Penny said.

“I have to run this out to Dad.” Conrad left his gaze on her, a question in his eyes, long enough for her to nod.Sweet.

He picked up the thermos and a muffin wrapped in a napkin and headed outside.

Mama Em—the name that Harper had called Conrad’s mom during the wedding—just felt right. The woman possessed enough mom in her to share with the entire county. No wonder she made such a good hostess.

Now it seemed she activated her inner mom as she walked over to Penelope. She pulled out a stool and patted it.

Penelope didn’t have a bone to resist with.

“What has you so spooked?” She took a stool for herself, and her gaze went to the closed door. “My son hasn’t done anything?—”

“No. Of course not. He’s . . . absolutely fantastic.”

Her blue eyes warmed. “I had a feeling about you two at the wedding. And I’ve been seeing all the posts on social media.”

Oh. Those. Yes.“We’ve been working on the Ice Hawks team together.”

“I’m so glad he’s coaching again. He carried his shame around too terribly long.” She shook her head. “It wasn’t even his idea to fool around with that Zamboni. It was out on the ice, and one of the other players got on it and started it up. He climbed up because the kid lost control. And then, of course, it all went terribly out of control.” Her mouth made a grim line. “I think he sometimes feels like his life is still skidding along the ice.”

And Penelope sure wasn’t helping stop that feeling.

“What’s that face?” She touched Penelope’s hand. Warm, firm.

“I think I’ve gotten us into big trouble.”

Her eyebrows rose.

“It’s not . . . personal. But I’ve been investigating this case for my murder podcast, and I just lost my last lead.”

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll figure it out. I’ve been listening ever since the wedding. It’s quite interesting. I love how you use Agatha Christie quotes.”

“I was a huge AC fan growing up. My callers sometimes use her quotes too. There’s this one caller who always signs off with ‘If the fact will not fit the theory—let the theory go.’”

“That’s a good quote. I was thinking of calling in, but I don’t have anything useful to add.” She gave Penelope a wry smile. “But I did agree with the caller you put up last week who said that it was probably someone close to Sarah. There was no forced entry, so she probably trusted him. Like her friend Kyle.”

“He claimed all the way to the end that he was innocent.” Penelope didn’t want to add that he’d been found murdered too.

“Yes, well, I’ve read enough Agatha Christie novels to know it’s the person you least expect.”

“At this point, I don’t expect anyone.” Penelope folded her arms on the island and put her head down on them. “I just want to go back to the beginning and become a house flipper.”

Conrad’s mother laughed. “Why did you get into murder podcasting?”

“I don’t know. I got sort of obsessed with true-crime novels as a kid, and then in college I thought about being a lawyer, but really, I liked telling stories. And of course, there was my own sense of justice, which probably started when I was a kid.”

“When you were kidnapped by your nanny.”

She looked up at Mama Em. “You know about that?”

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