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slide over, Lucy. Let me get in there. My hearing aids are buzzing with the racket.”
    Edie set the coffeepot and menus on the table as Lucy slid toward the window to make room. The diner owner squeezed most of her puffy body under the table, her legs angled out into the aisle.
    â€œOkay, go on, dear. I’m all ears.” Edie cocked her beehive hairdo in Dana’s direction.
    â€œJack didn’t say too much. But there was no sign of a struggle. And no sign of forced entry. The police are assuming that Jimmy opened the door to someone he knew, or had no reason to fear. And there was just one other thing they found out right away that might be important: Jimmy had a record of arrests and spent several years in prison. Serious time.”
    Lucy was the most surprised to hear that. “Really? He seemed like such a nice guy. No weird tattoos, or anything like that. It’s hard to believe he was a hardened criminal. Maybe he’d made some mistake and paid his debt to society. It doesn’t mean he was an awful person.”
    â€œWhatever it was, he seemed to have reformed. The police couldn’t find anything else amiss since his release. Not even a parking ticket,” Dana said.
    â€œLucy’s right. People make mistakes. Though most of us don’t screw up that badly,” Suzanne conceded.
    â€œSo, what was he in for?” Edie asked. “Must have been something big to get locked up a long time.”
    Dana shrugged. “Jack wasn’t sure. But it’s possible Jimmy’s death is somehow connected to his past. It’s one lead for the investigation.”
    â€œJust goes to show, you never know about people, do you?” Edie sat back and shook her head. “Maybe he was messing around with the wrong types again. It’s not ours to judge the man. We all have some dirty laundry in the back of the closet we wouldn’t want to show the world. You can bet on that, girls.”
    â€œEveryone has secrets. That’s certainly true,” Dana agreed.
    â€œSpeaking of—here comes the Queen of the Secret Guessers. Right on cue,” Edie whispered. “I just have to introduce you. I want to know what you think.”
    Before Lucy or her friends could reply, Edie had pushed herself to her feet, effectively blocking the path of her niece, Nora and Cassandra Waters, who were headed toward the register, check in hand.
    Edie waved to them. “Nora, come on over. Say hello to Lucy and her friends.”
    Lucy leaned close to her friends and whispered, “Do you think the psychic heard us taking about her? We were pretty discreet and she was sitting far away.”
    â€œBut maybe she read our thoughts?” Suzanne teased her.
    â€œMore likely, our lips. I bet she knows a lot about that, too,” Dana whispered back.
    Good point, Lucy thought. But there was no chance to reply. Nora and Cassandra Waters were suddenly smiling down at Lucy and her friends as Edie made some quick introductions.
    â€œYou know Lucy and her pals, don’t you, Nora? They all hang around the knitting shop with Maggie.”
    â€œSure I do.” Nora cast a small but friendly smile at the group. “Nice to see you.”
    â€œI love your store,” Suzanne said. “I don’t go in enough. I could buy everything in there. But my husband won’t let me.”
    Nora’s smile grew wider. “Stop by anytime. I’ll give you the friends-and-family discount.”
    Edie slung her arm around Nora’s shoulder. “She’d give the store away if Richard didn’t watch her. Doesn’t take after me that way,” she insisted, though Lucy did see Edie pluck the table check from Nora’s hand and stick it in her apron pocket.
    â€œThis is my friend Cassandra.” Nora stepped aside so that Cassandra could come closer. So far the psychic had stood by quietly, her slim white hands clasped loosely in front of her, almost in a pose of