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his gear from the backseat and walked over to us.
    â€œHey, what’s going on?” he asked.
    â€œIt’s Lily Carter,” Michelle said.
    He swore, almost under his breath. Then he looked at me. “Sarah, what are you doing here?”
    â€œI was picking up rolls for the hot lunch at the school,” I said, rubbing my gloved hands together. “I, uh, found her.”
    â€œHey, I’m sorry.” His free hand moved as though he was going to touch my arm, and then he stuffed it in his jacket pocket like he’d suddenly thought better of it.
    â€œSarah, where’s Avery?” Michelle asked, looking around.
    I pointed toward the SUV. “She didn’t see anything,” I said. “We both came back outside as soon as I realized Lily was dead.”
    â€œI’m just going to talk to her for a second,” she said.
    I realized she probably wanted Avery to corroborate my story. Friends or not, she had to do her job.
    She looked at Nick. “I’ll see you inside.”
    He nodded.
    I watched Michelle walk down the sidewalk to my car. Avery was already getting out. I turned back to Nick.
    â€œWhat happened?” he said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
    I pulled my scarf a little tighter around my neck. It was so cold our breath hung in the early-morning air like little smoke signals. “I don’t know. When we got here, there was no sign of Lily. The door was unlocked—which was wrong. Lily never unlocks that door before seven thirty. We went in and . . . she was at the bottom of the basement stairs.”
    Nick swiped a hand over his chin. “If they’re like the stairs going down to most of the basements along here, they’re an accident waiting to happen—skinny steps, high risers. I don’t know why we haven’t had more accidents like this.”
    I looked down at the sidewalk and scraped at a chunk of ice with the toe of my boot.
    â€œWhat is it?” he asked.
    I looked up at him. His head was tipped to one side, and there was concern in his brown eyes.
    â€œNick, maybe this sounds crazy, but I know Lily’s morning routine. I’m in here early at least a couple times a week, getting rolls for the school or coffee and a muffin for myself. She wouldn’t have left that front door unlocked, and she wouldn’t have been on those stairs, not in the morning. She always got everything ready for the next day before she left at night.”
    Nick shifted the silver case he was carrying from one hand to the other. “She could have forgotten about the door, and people don’t always stick to their routines.”
    I shook my head. “You didn’t know Lily. She did things the same way all the time. All the time. Shetold me once she thought maybe she was a little OCD.” I stamped my feet on the brick sidewalk. The cold was beginning to seep through my heavy boots. “If it were anyone else, I’d agree with you, but not Lily. And you have to have heard how much upset there’s been over her refusing to sell for the North Landing project.”
    â€œWait a minute. You think someone killed Lily?” he said, a frown forming between his eyebrows.
    I remembered what Jess had said about desperate people doing stupid things. Killing Lily went way beyond stupid. “I don’t know,” I said finally. “I just can’t shake the feeling that there’s something off about this.”
    Nick did put a hand on my arm then. “Sarah, I promise, if there’s anything even a little suspicious about Lily’s death, we’ll look in to it.”
    â€œThank you,” I said. I glanced over my shoulder. “I should check with Michelle and see if Avery and I can go.”
    â€œI’ll call you later,” he said. “I might have some questions.”
    â€œI’ll be at the shop all day,” I said, managing a small smile.
    We walked back to Michelle