A Slice of Murder

by Chris Cavender

  As Maddy gathered up the quilting squares, she said, “Don’t worry; this will just take a second.”

  “I don’t want to put you out,” I said.

  “Are you crazy? I love having you here.” She stacked the small squares and put them on the dresser. “There you go.” She looked me over, then said, “Hold on, I’ll be right back.”

  My sister returned a minute later and handed me a checkered flannel nightgown. “No promises, but it might fit.”

  Since it belonged to her, I doubted it. “I’ll try it on.”

  “One of my husbands thought it would be hilarious to get me a nightgown six sizes too big.”

  “And was it funny to you?” I asked as I held it up. It just might fit, and I wasn’t exactly in a position to be overly choosy.

  “I’m not married to him anymore, am I?” she asked me with a smile, then added, “I put a disposable toothbrush and a travel-size toothpaste on the vanity. There are fresh towels in the bathroom, and I changed the sheets yesterday, so you’re all set.”

  Sometimes I forgot how much I loved my sister. It amazed me how truly neat a woman she’d grown up to be.

  I laid the gown on the bed and hugged her.

  “What’s that for?” Maddy asked.

  “For being here for me.”

  She smiled. “What’s family for? Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go hide all my knives, just in case you’re not through with your little rampage tonight.”

  I frowned at her. “That’s not funny, not even a little.”

  Maddy grew serious. “I’m sorry. You know I try to diffuse tense situations with humor. If you need me, all you have to do is shout, and I’ll be here.”

  “Thanks.”

  After I squirmed into the nightgown, prepped for bed, and turned off the light, it took me some time to get to sleep. Maddy had been joking—I was familiar enough with her skewed sense of humor to get that—but would the rest of Timber Ridge think I was capable of murder, no matter what the circumstances? How was I going to deal with whispers behind my back? Would folks stop coming to A Slice of Delight? Would I lose the restaurant my husband and I had worked so hard to establish?

  Eleanor, get hold of yourself. Kevin’s a good cop, and he’s going to find the real killer soon enough, I told myself as I finally drifted off to sleep. There was no sense in borrowing trouble, but I had a feeling that it had found me nonetheless, and if my ex-boyfriend didn’t have any luck discovering who had killed Richard Olsen, I was going to have to step in and do it myself.

  I woke up the next morning at the crack of nine, breathing in the aroma of waffles and bacon, which isn’t a bad way to start the day. After a quick trip to the bathroom, I walked out and found Maddy just pulling a golden, homemade waffle out of the iron.

  “Wow, did you do all this for me?” I asked as I took a seat at her bar.

  “No, I make waffles every morning,” she said with a smile and a raised eyebrow. “Of course it’s for you. I figure you had a rough night. Did you sleep much?”

  I took a sip of orange juice, then said, “As a matter of fact, I did. It’s kind of odd, given what happened, isn’t it?”

  She split a waffle in half, putting one section on my plate and taking the other for herself. Maddy had even gone to the trouble of heating the syrup, just like our mom had done when we’d been growing up. I took a bite and realized that this comfort food was exactly what I needed.

  As we ate, we chatted about this and that, carefully avoiding the subject of Richard Olsen’s murder. I almost forgot what had happened when there was a knock on Maddy’s front door.

  “I’m not dressed for company,” I said as I headed back into the guest bedroom. I didn’t mind if Maddy saw me in one of her old nightgowns, but I wasn’t about to go on parade in one of them for the world.

  I could peek out and see Maddy as she opened the front door.

  It was Kevin Hurley, our esteemed chief of police, decked out in his crisply ironed khaki uniform, and from the frown on his face, it was pretty clear he wasn’t there for waffles.

  Without preamble, he said, “Where is she?”

  “The queen? I believe she’s still in England.”

  He frowned at her as he said, “Don’t mess with me, Maddy. We aren’t in high school anymore. Where’s your sister?”

  My sis shook her head. “Sorry, but I can’t hear you. It’s the oddest thing, but I go deaf when people are rude to me. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a waffle in the iron. I’d offer you one, but there’s not enough.”

  That was an obvious lie, since there was a bowl on the counter still sporting a hefty amount of batter.

  “I ate breakfast hours ago,” Kevin said. “If you don’t tell me where Eleanor is, I’m going to arrest you for obstruction of a police investigation.”

  “I’d love to see you try,” Maddy said with a grin. Even I didn’t know if she was bluffing.

  That was all I could take. Kevin didn’t call me Eleanor often, so I figured I’d better come out. I grabbed my coat and put it on over the nightgown, then stepped out into the living room. “Were you looking for me?”

  “Where have you been?” Kevin asked. He tried to step past Maddy, but she wouldn’t budge.

  “It’s okay,” I said. “Let him in.”

  Maddy shot him a wicked look, then went back to the waffle iron.

  “I asked you a question,” Kevin said as he stared at me. “Are you going someplace? You weren’t trying to get away, were you?”

  I flashed him a bit of my nightgown. “You caught me. I always run away whenever there are waffles in the room. They scare the daylights out of me.”

  “You weren’t at your house last night.” He made it sound more like an accusation than a question.

  “I’ve been here all night. Now, would you mind telling me what this is about?”

  Kevin studied my outfit, then said, “You need to get dressed. I have more questions for you, and I’m not going to ask them while you’re wearing that.”

  Maddy called out from the kitchenette, “She hasn’t had breakfast yet. Come back in an hour.”

  Our chief of police said, “You can nuke them for her later. I need her now.”

  Before Maddy could protest, I said, “I don’t mind. Hold on to the rest of the batter. This won’t take long.”

  “I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” Kevin said.

  Maddy unplugged the waffle iron, then reached for the phone.

  “Who are you calling?” Kevin asked.

  Her only answer was a smile.

  He started to ask me a question despite Maddy’s phone call, but I held up one hand, curious about my sister’s phone call myself.

  After a few seconds, she asked, “Is he in? I just need one second. Tell him it’s Maddy.”

  A moment later, she said, “The chief of police is in my apartment, and he wants to ask my sister some questions about last night. Yeah, that’s right, about Richard Olsen’s murder.” Maddy listened a second, then grinned. “I’ll tell her. Thanks.”

  “Who was that?” I asked as she hung up the phone.

  “I thought we needed some backup, so I called Bob Lemon. He said not to say a word until he gets here, and he can’t make it until at least ten.”

  “Calling a lawyer just makes you look guilty, Ellie,” Kevin said.

  “It’s a good thing I didn’t call one then, isn’t it?” I looked over at my sister and saw her grin, which I tried to ignore. Turning back to Kevin, I said, “I don’t mind talking about what I saw last night. I don’t need to be represented by counsel.”

  Maddy’s smile suddenly disappeared. “If you say one more word to him before Bob gets here, I’m quitting my job at the pizzeria and moving to California. Look at me. I’m serious, Eleanor.”

  Her threat of quitting was one she’d never used before, no matter how bad our arguments got.

  Kevin shot her a look full of acid, then shook his head as he turned to me. “You’re not going along
with this, are you?”

  I shrugged, locked my lips with an invisible key, then threw it over my shoulder. I couldn’t run A Slice of Delight without Maddy, and I wasn’t about to call her bluff, if she was indeed bluffing. With her, even I didn’t know all the time whether she was kidding or not.

  Kevin threw his hands up in the air, then started for the door. “When Lemon gets here, you two can meet me downtown in my office.”

  “I’ve got to get dressed first, and I’m not about to wear what I had on last night again,” I said.

  Maddy added her own protest. “She still has to eat breakfast, too.” That was a bald-faced lie, since I had already stuffed myself with waffles and bacon.

  Kevin glanced at his watch, then said, “Be there by eleven, or I’m sending a squad car after you.”

  After he was gone, Maddy asked, “I wonder what that was about? Is there something we don’t know?”

  “We would have already found out if you hadn’t called your boyfriend.”

  Maddy shook her head. “He’s not my boyfriend, and you know it. We’re just friends; that’s it.”

  “Does he know that?”

  Maddy frowned. “I can’t be held responsible for any delusions that man might have.” She bit her lip, then added, “I just didn’t like the tone Kevin was taking with you.”

  “To be honest with you, I didn’t care for it, either,” I said as I hugged my little sister. “Thanks for looking out for me.”

  “Hey, it’s what I do.” We both knew it was always the other way around ever since we were kids, and our laughter cut the tension of the moment.

  After we quit chuckling, I looked at her and said, “Would you have really quit your job if I had defied you?”

  She shrugged. “Let’s not find out, okay? Now sit down and I’ll plug in the iron for another waffle. I know you’ve got room. I have to call Bob and get him over here.”

  My jaw dropped. “You didn’t just talk to him on the phone?”

  “All I found out was that the temperature is thirty-nine degrees, and the time is nine-nineteen,” she said with a grin. “Like I said, I wasn’t going to let him push you around like that without somebody watching your back.”

  “I think somebody already is,” I said. My sister wasn’t always the best worker, and sometimes her skewed sense of humor was totally inappropriate, but I knew I could count on her when it came right down to it, and that was what really mattered.

  I just wondered what Kevin wanted to talk to me about. I’d already told him all I knew about what I’d seen the night before.

  Was there something else that tied me to the crime, something I didn’t even know about? Suddenly, I was glad Maddy was calling an attorney to keep me from getting into this mess any deeper.

  Chapter 2

  “It doesn’t look good,” Bob Lemon said as he finished another waffle. I’d changed back into the clothes I’d worn the night before, finishing just before he arrived. I didn’t know what kind of hold Maddy had over him to get him out of his office on such short notice, but for once, I was glad she had some pull with the best local attorney we had.

  “But I didn’t do it,” I protested.

  Bob shook his head. “Eleanor, guilt or innocence rarely comes into play in the legal profession.” In his early fifties, Bob’s hair was still dark and thick, though gray was touching each temple. He kept fit by walking, making paths in and around Timber Ridge until he knew every square inch of the place. I often saw him walking past the pizzeria, but he rarely saw me. He had eyes only for my sister, no matter how much she protested the fact. The only evidence I needed to back up my point was that he was sitting in her kitchen eating waffles, allowing himself to be summoned with no more information than my sister asked him to be there.

  “That’s a pretty cynical point of view,” Maddy said to him.

  “You don’t approve?”

  “Honestly?” she said. “I do. I just never realized you felt that way.”

  Bob pushed his plate away. “If you’d agree to go out with me, you might discover there are more facets to me than you realize.”

  “I hate to interrupt,” I said, “but can we get back to me for a second?”

  “Of course,” Bob said, pulling his gaze away from Maddy. “Let’s go to the station so we can satisfy the chief. Then you and I are going to have a long talk.”

  “I need a shower and fresh clothing first,” I said. “I’m not about to face him in the same clothes I was wearing last night.”

  I could see that Bob was ready to protest, and then he caught Maddy’s frown. “That’s fine. I’ll follow you home and stay outside in the car while you get ready. It will give me a chance to make a few telephone calls while I’m waiting,” he said.

  Maddy unplugged the waffle iron, then said, “Good, it’s settled then. Let’s go.”

  “You shouldn’t go,” I said.

  “Just try to keep me away,” Maddy replied.

  To the surprise of both of us, Bob said, “I’m afraid Eleanor is right. You can’t come, Maddy.”

  “That’s not the way to get on my good side,” my sister said, playing her trump card.

  “I’m afraid I’m just going to have to take that chance,” Bob said. “If you’re with us, the attorney-client privilege doesn’t exist.”

  Maddy didn’t like it; that much was clear.

  I put a hand on hers. “I appreciate all you’ve done, but you called Bob for advice. Let’s do what he asks.”

  She nodded, though I could see how grudging it was. “Call me the second you finish with Kevin.”

  “I promise,” I said.

  As Bob followed me outside to my Subaru, I said, “I can’t believe you just risked the wrath of Madeline for me.”

  He laughed. “You’re my client, I have to do what’s best for you.” He held my car door open for me, then said, “Before we go any further, I need a dollar.”

  I dug into my wallet and got him a crumpled single. “Okay, but I don’t think we should be borrowing money from each other, given our new professional relationship.”

  He pulled out a pad and started scribbling in it as he said, “It’s a retainer.” After he finished writing, he tore off the top sheet and handed it to me. “Here’s your receipt.”

  “I’m not going to let you give me any special breaks just because you like my sister,” I said, refusing it.

  “Don’t worry, I won’t. This is just a formality until we can work up a real agreement. We’ll talk to the chief, and then we can discuss my fees.”

  I started to realize that although I had a bit of a cushion in my savings account, it could quickly vanish with his billable hours. “Maybe we’d better discuss it now.”

  He shook his head. “Don’t worry, I’m very reasonable. Hey, I might even take it out in trade. How about a free pizza a week until your bill’s settled?”

  “I don’t know,” I said.

  “Sorry, but I’m pretty firm on getting at least that.”

  “I meant that it wouldn’t be enough,” I said.

  “If I’m satisfied with the payment arrangement, why shouldn’t you be?” He glanced at his watch, then said, “We can stand here and keep arguing about it, but you’re just costing yourself more pizza.”

  “Okay, I’m sold,” I said. “Thanks, Bob.”

  “Don’t thank me yet. I haven’t done anything.”

  “Don’t kid yourself. Just being with me means a lot.”

  “Then you’re welcome.”

  I drove off toward home, with Bob following me in his Mercedes. If I had to make him pizzas for the rest of his natural life, it would be worth it. Given the way things were starting to look, my freedom was more important to me than him having the world’s largest tab at A Slice of Delight.

  I showered and changed, then walked back outside and found Bob in his car on his cell phone in a deep conversation with someone.

  After he hung up, he said, “Sorry about that. A client and I had a disagreement a
s to how much of my time he was entitled to.”

  “I didn’t mean to wreck your schedule today,” I said as I got in his car.

  “Please. Some folks need a reminder that they aren’t my employer, no matter how much they’re giving me on retainer,” he said as he started the car and pulled out.

  “I’m guessing it’s more than a dollar in most cases,” I said as he drove to Kevin’s office, which was in the basement of the courthouse.

  “Just a little,” he said with a smile. I couldn’t understand why Maddy wouldn’t go out with him. Sure, he was a little older than most of the men she dated—or even married—but he was nice looking, had excellent manners, and seemed to really care for her. Maybe I’d give her a little nudge after all of this was over.

  We got to the courthouse too quickly for my taste, and as Bob pulled around to the police department in back, he said, “Let me do the talking, no matter what the chief says. He’s going to try to get you to admit to little things at first, then lure you into a false sense of security. Once he’s got you agreeing with him, you’re a step away from confessing. Trust me, he’s good at his job.”

  “Won’t it make me look guilty if I refuse to answer his questions?”

  He shook his head. “No, it will make you look smart, listening to your attorney. I mean it, Eleanor. If he asks you if the sky is blue, you turn to me and make sure it’s all right that you answer. Do you understand?”

  “Got it,” I said. “But it’s not going to be easy keeping my mouth shut.”

  He smiled. “If it were, you wouldn’t need me, would you?” He looked into my eyes, then asked, “Are you ready?”

  “I guess so. I didn’t do it, so why am I so nervous?”

  He shrugged. “It’s the way things work.”

  We walked into the police station, and I saw four officers—three men and a woman—at their desks doing paperwork or talking on the telephone. Every last one of them had been in my pizza place in the past month, but none made eye contact with me when we walked in. Helen Murphy was at the front desk, where she met with the public and dispatched officers around town wherever they were needed.