My Spy 3: Murder Mayhem

Price

On Friday, I stuff the last of the maroon envelopes into the blue post office box that sits right outside Wade's Bakery. It took longer than I had hoped to finish the invites, but it was a painful, hand-cramping activity that Margot, Annabeth and I decided to stretch over the course of the week.

Ryan still hasn't said much of any progress on the case and I decided it was best to stay out of it. Detective Mason hasn't called me in for any more questioning so I'll take the silence as good news for me.

I catch LulaBelle's bright red hair in the bakery window after accomplishing my task and panic. Seconds later, she's pushing the glass door open as she totes a pink box of pastries in her hands. I try and slip around the corner before she spots me.

"Sawyer! Wait up!" LulaBelle shrills. Oh lord, why me? Why did she have to spot me? There are a ton of other gossipers strolling the streets at the moment.

I exhale loudly before spinning around and I adjust the sunglasses on my face as I say, "Howdy, LulaBelle."

"I was about to call you, so funny that I ran into you!" She says with a face-consuming smile and I flatly reply, "I probably wouldn't have used the word funny."

She swats her hand at me and says, "I haven't heard from you in a while and the Herald has been pretty mum as of late."

I shrug.

"I can honestly say they haven't made any progress."

I watch as her bright pink lips frown and she replies, "Now how is that possible if they have a big wig F.B.I agent on the case?"

I roll my eyes behind my dark lenses and answer, "I ain't got nothin' for you LulaBelle. Her parents haven't claimed Poppy's life insurance yet and they've moved on down to Oxford. The winery is now up for sale but other than that, there hasn't been much activity around her case."

She adjusts her sunglasses again and her pink lips are pursed. When her hand falls back down to her waist she says, "Well, what would you call the police sniffin' around the pro-golfers timesheets at the club then?"

I bite the inside of my cheek and I wonder how she knows about that. I shake my head at her.

"How do you know that's linked to Poppy's case?"

"Please. Poppy was found on the golf course, why else would the police be askin' to see who was there after hours."

I pop my shoulder up.

"Well, maybe that's just it. They were just seein' who the last one out that day was so they can take statements. Routine police work."

LulaBelle slowly nods and she shifts her weight so her hip pops out.

"Maybe. But if it was just routine, they sure hit the jackpot."

I'm suddenly confused and she catches my shock. She smiles and replies, "Wow, you really don't know anything do you?"

"I've tried to tell you that Ryan won't feed me information. Now, what don't I know?"

Her wicked grin tells me the information will come at a price. I frown to her and she says, "Funny, and you were supposed to be the one feeding me information."

"What do you know, LulaBelle?" I snap but she continues to smile. Her free hand rubs her baby bump and I can see her wheels spinning. She really does love to be the queen of knowledge and gossip. She's reveling in her power position. She shifts her feet again and says, "Now, what I know is juicy. You see, my father-in-law is the mayor and as the mayor, you get to be privy to certain information. And some of that information is Judges granting search warrants for certain people."

She has me hooked and she knows it. Damn it LulaBelle! Ryan hasn't said a word to me about a search warrant. Is it for Arthur? Did they find something at the club to order a search warrant?

LulaBelle is still smirking as I shake my head in frustration.

"Alright, you've built up the suspense. What do you want?"

She pats her baby belly again and says, "You know, my baby shower is next month at the Mayor's Mansion. Well now, Mrs. Anders was originally hosting it, but now it falls on the same weekend that Ole Miss plays Mississippi State. The Anders were asked to do the coin toss for the big game and we all know football trumps baby showers." She rolls her eyes in disgust and then adds, "It's too late to reschedule so...I'm in need of a host."

My jaw slightly drops as I wonder if I fell into another dimension. One where LulaBelle would ask me such a ridiculous favor.

I quickly reply, "Hold up. You are asking me to host your baby shower?"

"Everything is already planned, I just need someone to run it the day of," she says nonchalantly. Everyone that knows me, knows that I cannot stand LulaBelle Anders. It would be very out of character for me to be hosting her baby shower. One that I am not even sure I was invited to in the first place.

"Don't you have a friend you can ask? Can't you pay a party planner?" I ask and the pull at the corner of her lips tells me she could in fact ask someone else, but she enjoys watching me squirm. She wants me to pay the price and I won't do it.

I shake my head, "Sorry LulaBelle. Nothing pertaining to this case is juicy enough to pay that kind of price for it."

I spin on my heel and stride away from her. I'm curious as to what the look on her face is now that I flat-out denied her. I don't look back and as soon as I make it into my car, I call Ryan. He answers on the first ring and I say, "LulaBelle knows about some search warrant. God knows who all she has told."

"What?" He replies quickly and I reply, "Whatever search warrant you had issued, LulaBelle knows about it and she knows who it is for. So hopefully she didn't blab it to the wrong person."

"We've already searched the premises, so at this point, it doesn't matter. But I think you should come down to the station. We need to talk about what was found- and what wasn't."

"Who was the search warrant for?" I ask and Ryan quickly replies, "Arthur Huxley."