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waiter came with more coffee. Liz added cream to hers and stirred before she answered. “I’m no structural engineer, but as I understand it, it has to do with the integrity of the common outside stone walls. Basically, if the other basement walls are taken down, Lily’s will collapse as well, like a row of dominoes. Without her property, Jon West can’t get a building permit to tear down the buildings around the bakery.”
    She picked up her cup. “There was some talk about just working around the bakery anyway, but since the engineer’s report details the possible damage to the building if they go ahead, Lily would be able to sue, well, practically everyone if her basement collapsed. She could keep the whole project tied up in court for years.”
    â€œNo wonder there’s so much animosity toward her,” I said, skewering a chunk of turkey and swirling it through a puddle of gravy on my plate.
    â€œYou heard about the—I don’t know whether to call them ‘pranks’ or ‘vandalism,’” Liz said.
    I nodded. “I didn’t just hear. I saw.”
    Liz frowned at me. “What do you mean ‘saw’?”
    â€œI stopped in for coffee. It looked as though someone had hurled about a dozen eggs at the front window.”
    â€œWhat’s the world coming to?” Liz asked,shaking her head. She tried the apple carrot salad and gave a murmur of approval. “That kind of childish behavior isn’t going to fix anything.”
    I couldn’t help playing devil’s advocate. “I know,” I said, nodding my agreement, “but when some people get frustrated, they also get stupid.”
    â€œStupid is as stupid does,” Liz retorted, pushing up her glasses with one finger. “I’m frustrated with the whole situation, but you don’t see me sneaking around in the middle of the night toilet papering the bakery.”
    â€œSomeone toilet papered the bakery?” I said, my fork paused in midair.
    Liz made a dismissive gesture with one hand. “No, no, no. I was just trying to make a point about how ill-advised some people’s behavior can be. The Emmerson Foundation holds the mortgages on two of the buildings that would be coming down for the development. Both of them are in default, and I don’t see the owners coming up with the money anytime soon. If the North Landing project falls through, the foundation will be out more than a million dollars. That’s money that was earmarked for upgrades to the Sunshine Camp.”
    I leaned against the back of the booth. “Oh, Liz, I had no idea that much money was involved.”
    â€œWell, it isn’t exactly something I’ve been trumpeting all over town.” She twisted her gold wristwatch around her arm. “I did do something that in retrospect was ill-advised, though.”
    â€œWhat was it?” I asked, crossing my fingersfiguratively if not literally that I wasn’t going to have to call on Josh Evans’s legal skills once I heard her confession.
    Liz sighed. “When I said a couple of people talked to Caroline, well, I was one of them.”
    â€œOh, Liz,” I said softly.
    She waved a hand at me. “I know. It was a stupid idea, trying to get to Lily through her mother. Caroline was nice about it, nicer than I probably would have been in the same position.”
    I pulled my hands through my hair, gathered it all at the nape of my neck and let it fall on my shoulders again. It had been a long day and I was getting tired.
    â€œWhat time were you at the store this morning?” Liz asked, clearly trying to change the subject away from Lily and the waterfront development.
    â€œOh-dark-thirty,” I said.
    One well-groomed eyebrow went up, but Liz didn’t say anything.
    â€œI’m still sanding paint off that old dresser, and I wanted to put the last coat of clear wax on the chair I’ve been working on so Mac