Dying for Danish by Leighann Dobbs

produced a set of keys from her purse than disappeared from view, presumably making her way to the front door of one of the condos.
    “She must live here...” Lexy said staring at the back of the condo unit which Candice had just entered. She noticed a big black cat skulking around in the grass between the two buildings. Unfortunately, Sprinkles must have noticed it too. In a blur of white fur, the little dog launched herself out Cassie’s open window, charging full speed after the cat. Lexy jumped out of the car in pursuit.
    “Sprinkles, come back!” Lexy felt a jolt of panic when she saw the dog disappear around a corner. She tried to run even faster, her stilettos sinking into the soft ground slowed her down and it took a few seconds before she made it around the corner. Her heart sank - the dog was nowhere to be seen!
    Then she heard Sprinkles give a playful bark. She turned towards the sound and saw Sprinkles inside one of the condos. The sliding glass door was opened and Sprinkles must have run in. A woman sat on the couch, her head bent down as she petted the dog.
    Lexy stepped partway into the condo. “Sprinkles, you almost gave me a heart attack.” She gasped between breaths. Sprinkles saw her and ran over, Lexy bent down scooping the dog up into her arms, her cheeks growing warm with embarrassment for the dogs behavior.
    “I’m so sorry...” She started to say, then her breath caught in her throat as the woman looked up and she saw who it was. Candice.
     
    ***
    The two women stared at each other for a few seconds.
    “Hey, you’re that nosy baker. What are you doing here?”
    Nosy baker?
    “Umm...my dog got away.” Lexy pointed to Sprinkles.
    “Yeah but what were you doing here in the first place?  Were you spying on me?” Candice stood, taking a step forward, her eyes narrowed to slits. Lexy felt her heart clutch in fear.
    “No, we were taking Sprinkles,” she said, pointing to the dog again, “for a walk and then went for a drive and ended up here.”  That was mostly true, Lexy thought, mentally crossing her fingers. Candice did not look convinced.
    Lexy glanced around the living room of the small condo. It was full of boxes and clutter. “Are you moving?”
    Candice snorted, crossing her arms over her chest. “Of course I am, my employer was murdered so now I have no job. So, if you don’t mind leaving, I’ll get back to packing.” 
    She spat the words out with such hatred that Lexy, backed up a step and stumbled against one of the boxes. It teetered over, the shoes inside threatening to spill out. Lexy put her hand out to stop the box from falling and couldn’t help but take a peek at the shoes. She noticed one pair on the top, a gorgeous purple suede with pointy toes. Too bad one of the toes was ruined with a brownish stain. The stain was just on the tip of the toe and extended underneath on the bottom of the shoe where the tan sole showed the true color - red. Red like blood.
    Lexy felt a chill trickle up her spine. She clutched Sprinkles closer, putting her finger on her eye to keep it from twitching.
    “Why are you still here?” Candice asked, waving her hands at Lexy to shoo her out the door.
    Something on Candice’s hand caught Lexy’s eye. It was a large shiny ring, a ring with a canary yellow cushion cut diamond -  just like the one in Chastine’s brooch. Lexy backed out the door without a word and bolted for the car.
     
    ***
    “I...think...Candice is...the killer!”  Lexy could barely get the words out between gasps.
    Cassie’s eyebrows shot up. “What happened out there?”
    Lexy took a few deep breaths. “I ran into Candice - Sprinkles was in her condo! She’s packing to move.” 
    “That hardly makes her a killer.”
    “That’s not it.” Lexy took another deep breath. “While I was there, I noticed some shoes with blood on the tip and she had a ring on which had the same stones as the brooch that was missing from Chastine’s blouse!
    “Wow, that does