Hot, Spicy Murder

by Patti Benning

  Ellie made a face, not bothering to point out to her grandmother that she was in her forties, so not exactly young. Although, she couldn't deny the love part.

  She had mentioned calling Russell mainly to convince her grandmother to stay in the motel and rest, but now that she had mentioned it, it sounded like a good idea. Even though she didn’t have any more news about either the case or the car, it would be nice to say good night to her husband. She missed him more than she had imagined. He had become such an important part of her life, and it was strange to be going through something like this without him by her side. It wasn’t until she left the hotel room that she realized it was fully dark outside. She felt a chill of apprehension, remembering too late that Richard’s killer was still out there. For a moment, she considered going back into the motel room and telling her grandmother that she had changed her mind, but then shook herself out of it.

  There were lights on in the parking lot, and the diner really wasn’t that far away. The interior of the restaurant was glowing, and she could see the shapes of people moving around as waitresses took orders and customers ate and talked.

  Still feeling tense, Ellie hurried across the parking lot. She was half expecting someone to jump out of the shadows and attack her, but she made it to the diner without anything happening. Feeling a little bit foolish – she really shouldn’t let herself spook like this – she let herself in and took a seat, surprised to see the same waiters from the day before there.

  After seeing Sarah’s reaction to the news of Richard’s death, she had expected the other woman to take at least a couple of days off from work. Immediately, she felt guilty. She knew that many people weren’t as lucky as her, and often needed to work as many hours as they could simply to make enough money to pay the bills. She resolved to leave Sarah a large tip. The woman deserved it for coming in to work the day after she found out that her boyfriend had been killed.

  “I heard you got your car taken in,” the waitress said as she came up to Ellie’s table. “I hope the two of you manage to get back home all right. It must be terrible, being stuck out here with nothing.”

  “It’s been an adventure, that’s for sure,” Ellie said with a chuckle.

  “So, what can I get you?”

  “Do you serve tea?”

  “We sure do. We have green tea, black tea, and chamomile.”

  “Can I get two chamomile teas to go?” She remembered the delicious key lime pie that they had eaten the evening before, and as an afterthought, added, “What is your dessert special tonight?”

  “We’ve got strawberry rhubarb pie,” the other woman said. “If you’re heading back to the motel, I could even pack you up some ice cream on the side to go, so it doesn’t melt.”

  “That sounds amazing,” Ellie said. “I’ll take the two teas, and two slices of pie with ice cream.”

  “Coming right up.” The waitress flashed her a quick smile, then went into the kitchen, pausing for a moment to grab an empty soda glass off of one of the tables.

  Ellie leaned back, looking around the diner, which was busier now than it had been when they had stopped in the day before. She realized that most of the people here must be regulars. This place must be as much of a focal point as Papa Pacelli’s is in Kittiport, she thought. The thought made her feel very much like an outsider, which just added to her homesickness.

  Even when she was in Florida, she had never felt so utterly far away from home. The Papa Pacelli’s in Miami was a slice of familiarity, and Linda had become a close friend. Even her grandmother’s condo, while not as familiar as the Pacelli house in Kittiport, felt more like home than their motel room. She hoped the car would be fixed soon. Being able to head home would be worth it, even if it meant that she would never know what had happened to Richard.

  As if summoned by her thoughts of the car, Rob from the auto shop came through the diner’s doors. She looked at him, surprised at the coincidence as he made a beeline toward the kitchen. He seemed to be familiar with the place, and she figured that he must be one of the diner’s many regulars.

  She was surprised when, a few moments later, he came out of the kitchen and walked straight over to her table. He greeted her with a grin, then took a seat across from her. “My wife told me you were waiting on some tea and pie. I thought I’d drop by to talk about your car. We actually managed to get most of the work done today. It’s drivable, but it doesn’t look pretty, and we are going to have to reattach the muffler before you can take it anywhere. It should be ready by tomorrow evening at the latest.”

  “Thanks,” Ellie said automatically. It took her a moment to realize what he had said. His wife? Did he mean the waitress who had recommended it to her? She was surprised. Sarah had mentioned dating the health inspector; Ellie had never even considered that she might be married.

  She stared at Rob, who looked just as friendly and open as he had before. Had he known about the affair? With a chill, she realized that if he had, then there was a very real possibility that he was Richard’s killer. What better motive for murder could there be?

  Rob was giving her an odd look, and she realized that he had asked her a question, but she had missed it. “Sorry, what was that?”

  “I said, do you want us to send a line on the vehicle’s information to a repair shop near where you live? If they can get a head start on ordering the parts, it will get fixed up a lot sooner.”

  “Oh, sure, thanks,” she said. Almost immediately, she regretted it. Was it smart to tell this man who might be a killer what town she lived in? But it was too late to back out now. He was already promising to get the information from her tomorrow, and was standing up.

  “I’ll leave you in peace,” Rob said. “I’d better go make sure Sarah is doing all right. I know that she knew the health inspector who died pretty well. She’s never really lost anyone before, and it’s tough for her.” He frowned, a guarded look coming over his face. “Anyway, I’ll see you tomorrow when you come to pick up the car.”

  With that, he walked away, heading back toward the kitchen. Ellie was left to watch him, feeling confused and concerned. She had so many questions, but had no one to talk to about it. This wasn’t like Kittiport, where she knew everyone, and they all knew each other. She was the stranger here, and no one would take kindly to her gossiping about the locals.

  As she gazed toward the kitchen, considering her options, a new concern occurred to her. If Rob had killed Richard in a fit of jealousy, did that mean that his wife might also possibly be in danger? As soon as she got her pie and tea, she resolved to go back to the hotel and see if she could use the landline again. She really needed to talk to her husband, but she didn’t want to risk having a conversation with him about the case here, where anyone could overhear.

  Chapter Eleven

  Ellie stopped by the motel room to drop off the pie and chamomile tea. She grinned when she saw her grandmother’s eyes twinkle at the sight of the delicious dessert and ice cream.

  “I’d better put mine in the mini fridge,” Ellie said. “I don’t want it to melt before I get back.”

  “Where are you going?” her grandmother asked, looking up from the food with a puzzled expression on her face.

  “I need to make a call,” Ellie said. “I just realized that the person who is fixing our car is married to Sarah, that waitress from yesterday… And I saw her kissing Richard not even an hour before he died. I remember seeing the tow truck parked at the gas station across the street from the motel the day of the murder. I just want to talk to Russell to see what he thinks my next move should be.”

  “I should come with you,” her grandmother said. “If you think I’m going to let you walk to the motel lobby alone in the dark after telling me all of this…”

  “All I’m going to do is call Russell. The lobby is closer than the diner was, and there are lights all over. Besides, I’d rather you stay here. My cell phone doesn’t work out here, so if something does happen, you will have to use the motel pho
ne to call the police. It will be safer if you stay here and keep an eye out for me.”

  She waited while her grandmother frowned over this. After a moment, the older woman sighed. “I suppose you’re right. But I’ll be watching you through the window the whole time. If I see anything suspicious, anything at all, I’m going to make the call.”

  “I wouldn’t expect anything less,” Ellie said, giving the older woman a quick grin.

  “And you really should stay and eat your pie first,” Nonna said. “Because I’m not going to wait for you, and I don’t want to eat alone.”

  Ellie chuckled. “That’s a sacrifice that I’m willing to make. I’m still going, but I’ll eat the pie first.”

  Somehow, her trip to the hotel lobby kept getting delayed. She spilled some pie filling on her shirt while eating, so she went to go change it, and realized that she had almost no clean shirts left. That led to her and her grandmother gathering all of their dirty clothes into a pile to be washed before they continued on their trip the next day.

  “I’ll need to stop and do laundry before we go,” Ellie said. “I might as well do it tonight, I suppose. There are washers and dryers in the laundry room in the lobby, and I’m pretty sure they sell laundry soap up front. We might as well at least wear clean clothes.”

  “If you’re going to do laundry right now, let me change into my other pair of pajamas. We might not get another chance to do laundry for a couple of days.”

  At long last, Ellie had a bundle of laundry in her arms and her motel room key in her pocket along with some change.

  “Be careful,” her grandmother said. “I’ll be watching.”

  “I’m counting on it,” Ellie said, smiling back at her.

  She really didn’t think that she was in any danger. Rob certainly hadn’t acted as if he had any hard feelings toward her. In fact, she was beginning to be less certain that Rob had anything to do with the murder. It was all guesswork on her part. She still wanted to talk to Russell. If he thought that there was any merit and her concern that Sarah might be in danger from her husband, she would call the local police. If Russell told her that she was being silly, she would trust his judgment. She knew that no matter how protective he was of her, neither of them could stand by while an innocent person got hurt.

  Still, even though she didn’t think that she was in any real danger, it was nice to know that her grandmother was looking out for her. Even though it was well lit, the parking lot was a bit eerie at night. The lights were orange and flickered, making a strange buzzing sound that unsettled her. There were enough cars parked in the lot to create plenty of misshapen shadows. She wasn’t a superstitious person, but she couldn’t ignore the fact that someone had been violently murdered there just a few days beforehand. She couldn’t help it if she jumped when one of the shadows moved.

  The motel lobby was empty as usual when Ellie got there. She looked around, knowing that she needed laundry soap, and saw some small individual packets of soap sitting on the front desk. They were fifty cents each, so she left her quarters on the counter and grabbed the packet. She wanted to use the landline, but she knew that the washer’s cycle would take a good half hour, so she might as well get the clothes in as quickly as possible.

  She made her way to the laundry room, shoving the door open with her shoulder and stepping inside, depositing the clothing in the open washing machine. The dryer was already running, and she hoped that whoever had a load of laundry in would come and empty it by the time she needed it.

  She frowned at the jumble of clothing inside the washer; usually, she separated the whites from the colors, and the dark colors from the bright ones, but tonight she just couldn’t be bothered. She would wash everything together in cold water and hoped for the best.

  She poured in the detergent and stuck the quarters into their slots to start the cycle. She had just shut the top of the washing machine when the dryer behind her buzzed loudly. She jumped, letting out a yelp. Once she realized what had happened, she was immediately embarrassed. She really was on edge tonight.

  She finished preparing the load of laundry and hit the button to start the cycle, then turned to leave the room just as the door opened. It was Mr. Maple, and he looked irritated to see her there.

  “I’m just doing laundry,” she said unnecessarily. “But since you’re here, I was hoping to use the landline again before I go back to my motel room. I really need to call my husband.”

  An annoyed expression flashed across his face. “I’ll have to add a surcharge to your bill.”

  “That’s fine,” she said. “It will be a quick call, I promise.”

  “Well, if you’re paying the fee, I suppose it doesn’t hurt anything,” he said. “You know where it is. Make it quick, though. I think my wife is expecting a call from her sister.”

  “I’ll be as quick as I can,” she promised. She hurried by him, going to the phone behind the desk and dialing the familiar number. As the phone rang, it occurred to her that Charles and Annie Maple must live somewhere in the motel. They always seemed to be around, and the fact that Mr. Maple was doing his own laundry in the communal laundry room, made her think that they probably spent all of their time here. She wondered what it was like to own a motel. It must be neat to meet so many different types of people, but she thought that she preferred being able to get to know her customers like she did at the pizzeria.

  Russell answered the call, interrupting her thoughts. “Ellie?”

  “It’s me,” she confirmed.

  “I thought I recognized the area code,” he said. “How is everything going?”

  “Well, we should be ready to go home by tomorrow evening,” she said. “So, that’s good news. I did want to talk about something else, though.”

  “Go ahead,” he said. “I’m just about finished up with dinner, but the dishes can wait. I’m all yours.”

  She hesitated, looking around just to be sure that she was alone. She knew that gossip would spread like wildfire in such a small town, and if she was wrong about the whole thing, she didn’t want to start any rumors about Rob or his wife. When she was certain that she was alone, she lowered her voice and told her husband about her suspicions about the waitress’s affair and her husband’s involvement in the murder. When she was done, Russell was quiet for a moment before responding.

  “Are you sure you saw Rob on the day of the murder?”

  “Well, I didn’t see him exactly, but I saw a tow truck from his company. It was sitting in the gas station parking lot right across from the motel when I got here, but if I remember right, it was gone by the time the police arrived. I don’t remember exactly when it left.”

  “Did you tell the police about it?”

  “No. It barely even registered with me at the time.”

  “I think it’s something that you should bring up with them before you leave. Just give the detective working on the case a quick call in the morning. Tell them what you told me. It does sound like there might be something there, but I wouldn’t jump to conclusions just yet. I know it’s difficult, but circumstantial evidence can be misleading.”

  “I know,” she said, smiling slightly to think of all the times that she had nearly gotten in trouble just because she had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. “You don’t think I should call him tonight?”

  “It’s late enough that you would probably be getting the detective out of bed, or interrupting time with his family. It’s not an emergency, so it’s probably fine if you wait until morning. You know how it is with you and me. If someone calls me about work while I’m supposed to be off duty, we both get unhappy.”

  She chuckled. “You have a good point about that.”

  “Will you email me once you’ve spoken to them? I’m just curious to hear what they have to say.”

  “I will,” she promised. “And I’ll give you a call right before we leave, as well. I can’t wait to see you. I miss you.”

  “I miss you too,” he said.

&nb
sp; Smiling, she said her goodbyes and they hung up. Talking to Russell always made her feel better. He was logical, stable, and not prone to the same imaginative flights of fancy as she was. They were similar in many ways, but complemented each other in other ways. Once again, she was simply amazed at how lucky she was to have found him.

  She was walking out from behind the desk when the door to the laundry room opened and she saw Mr. Maple come out with a laundry basket full of dried clothes. She smiled politely as she passed him, then froze and turned around, her eyes widening slightly. On the very top of the pile was a white shirt with dark, washed out rust colored stains.

  Was it blood?

  Chapter Twelve

  Ellie’s eyes went wide, and she opened her mouth to say something, but her foot got caught on the rug in front of the counter and she went sprawling across the floor. Mr. Maple dropped the laundry basket in surprise.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” Ellie said quickly, struggling to her feet and wincing. Her knees ached where they had hit the floor. She was really getting too old to take falls like this.

  “No, no, you should sit down,” he said quickly, panic in his eyes. “I’ll get you an ice pack and coffee or tea… please, just sit down.”

  “I’m fine,” she repeated, more strongly this time. She couldn’t figure out why he was reacting so strangely. Her eyes darted to the laundry that was laying across the floor, trying to find the bloodstained shirt. Had she imagined it? She knew that even if it did have blood on it, there were plenty of reasonable explanations. Maybe he was prone to bloody noses.

  This is ridiculous, she thought. Not two minutes ago I was convinced that Rob is the killer. Now, I think Mr. Maple is? It’s not like his wife is the one having an affair with Richard. What could his motive possibly be?

  As Mr. Maple continued to go on and on about her sitting down, her eyes narrowed. While it was true that Mr. Maple’s wife didn’t have any sort of connection to Richard as far as she knew, he certainly did have a different sort of connection to the health inspector. If Richard was the motel’s health inspector, then he might have the power to shut the place down, or at least give it heavy fines. The motel certainly looked as though it was running into the ground. What if Richard had found something that might close the motel down for good? That might be enough motive to drive Mr. Maple to murder.