The Missing Dough (A Pizza Lovers Mystery)

by Chris Cavender

  I laughed. “What did you do? Fall asleep in fifth grade North Carolina geography class? Don’t you remember? That’s when they taught us all kinds of things about the origins of different city and county names in the state.”

  “Ms. Harpold didn’t cover any of that,” Maddy said. “The ink was still wet on her diploma when she took over my class, so it’s hard to say what all I missed out on. She’d had her heart set on teaching high school girls’ phys ed, and at the last second, they stuck her with us. You had Mrs. Ingersoll, didn’t you?”

  “Oh, yes,” I said, remembering the oldest teacher I’d ever had. “She had to be a hundred and five by the time she finally retired, but the woman was as sharp as she could be up until the last day of class.”

  “Then enlighten me, Eleanor.”

  “Well, there’s nothing all that special about it, as far as I can remember it. According to Mrs. Ingersoll, the surveyor got lost in the middle of laying out the town limits and ended up making a mess of it. It looked sort of like a Holstein’s spots, without a straight line anywhere in it. I heard later that he wasn’t lost at all. He was just falling-down drunk. The place was named Cowton at the time, but the surveyor looked at the mess he’d made and registered it as Cow Spots to explain the lousy job he’d done, and somehow it stuck. From what I’ve heard, a few folks tried to change it officially back to Cowton when it first happened, but they never made much headway, so Cow Spots it has been ever since.”

  “It’s not really a great story, is it?” Maddy asked.

  “Hey, it is what it is. Do you think we’ll be able to track Bernie Maine down once we get to town?”

  “It’s hard to say. I don’t know much about the place. I wonder if Kevin Hurley has managed to speak with him yet.”

  “I’m not even sure he knows that Bernie should be on his suspect list yet,” I admitted. “Sometimes I wish we both shared what we discovered with each other, instead of playing cat and mouse with the facts, you know?”

  “Sis, you and I both know that it’s never going to happen,” Maddy said.

  “Hey, we’ve compared notes a few times in the past,” I protested.

  “Okay, not never. How about rarely? The police chief ordinarily doesn’t like us butting into his active investigations. You know what? If I were in his shoes, I wouldn’t want us digging around, either. When I think about it, I’m amazed that he’s been as understanding with us as he has in the past.”

  “Kevin knows deep down that we’re just trying to help,” I said.

  Maddy laughed. “Maybe a little too much at times, right?”

  “Hey, we are what we are. No excuses, no explanations.”

  We pulled alongside the Cow Spots town limit sign and were greeted by a twelve-foot fiberglass Holstein cow. It had become the official mascot of the place, and you could even buy hats and T-shirts with the cow’s picture on them.

  Initially, I decided not to stop in at the visitors’ center to make any purchases, but at the last second, I pulled off in front of the trailer that acted as a welcome to outsiders visiting the place for the first time.

  “This is an odd time to stop and get a magnet in the shape of a cow for your refrigerator,” Maddy said. “Why are we pulling over here?”

  “As far as I can figure, I believe that it’s as good a place as any to start tracking down Bernie Maine. If anybody knows where we can find him, it might just be in there,” I said as I put the car in park and shut off the engine. “Are you coming?” I asked her.

  “Oh, I wouldn’t miss seeing it for the world. I’m right behind you.”

  We walked into the small building and were instantly assaulted by all things cow related. As I suspected, there were T-shirts, sweatshirts, bandannas, hats of all kinds, and other merchandise emblazoned with black spots on white backgrounds. That was just the start of it, though. There were also magnets, key chains, shot glasses, and every other kind of knickknack imaginable, all with the same bovine theme.

  “Excuse me, but do you happen to have anything with a cow on it?” Maddy asked the older woman sitting behind the counter, who was reading a magazine, one on dairy farming, of all things.

  She grinned. “To tell you the truth, I’d be hard-pressed to come up with something that didn’t bear the markings of our mascot,” she said. “What can I do for you ladies?”

  “We’re looking for a man named Bernie Maine,” I said.

  Her smile suddenly disappeared as her gaze went back to the magazine. “Sorry. I can’t help you.”

  “We’re not here to give him a bouquet of flowers,” Maddy said. “He might have had something to do with my ex-husband’s recent murder, and we want to talk to him before he tucks his tail between his legs and runs.”

  “You were married to Grant Whitmore?” she asked, studying my sister with a critical glance as she put her magazine down.

  “I’m not proud of the fact, but I was indeed. I finally have a good man in my life now, but he’s under suspicion for Grant’s murder, and if I can help him, I will.”

  She smiled and nodded when she heard my sister’s answer. “Then you’d better hurry. I heard through the grapevine that he was packing up his office and getting ready to head out of town for good.”

  “Where can we find him?” I asked.

  “Leave your car here. His place is four doors down that way. It’s called BEM Enterprises.”

  “Thanks,” I said.

  “No time for pleasantries. Go!”

  We did as she suggested, and as we neared the building in question, we found a man loading the back of his BMW with boxes.

  When he turned to go back for more, I wasn’t all that surprised to find that it was the same man we’d seen arguing with Grant in the shadows of the fair the night before.

  Apparently, Bernie Maine had the opportunity, the means, and the motive to get rid of Maddy’s ex-husband. And now he was trying to escape.

  Maddy was starting after him when I put a hand on her arm.

  “What are you doing, Eleanor? We can’t just stand here and let him get away.”

  “How are we going to stop him? I have to call Kevin and see if he has any connections in town. The only way Bernie’s not going to run is if we have the police stop him.”

  “Dial fast, then,” she said.

  I called Kevin Hurley, and after his gruff response, I said, “You can chew me out later for digging into something that’s none of my business, but do you know that Bernie Maine, Grant’s former business partner, is getting ready to leave town?”

  “Where is he?” Kevin said. “What’s he doing in Timber Ridge?”

  “He’s not. He’s packing up his office in Cow Spots, and it looks like it’s for good. Do you know anybody here that could slow him down until you can get here yourself to question him? If we have to, Maddy and I will stand in front of his car so he can’t pull out, if you think that would help.”

  “Don’t do anything stupid,” Kevin said “I’m on it.” And then he hung up.

  “What did he say?” Maddy asked after I put my phone back in my pocket.

  “He told us not to do anything stupid,” I answered, relaying the message.

  “Well, he’s going to have to be a lot more specific than that,” she said just as the business’s door opened again. Bernie Maine was coming out with a briefcase under his arm and an overnight bag in his free hand. He locked his office and was heading for his car when Maddy said, “I’m sorry, Eleanor, but we can’t wait another minute.”

  Before I could stop her, she rushed toward Maine, somehow managing to get between him and his car.

  The man was clearly startled by her behavior, and with good reason, in my opinion. My sister could be a real force to reckon with when she put her mind to it. “Who are you, and what do you want?” he asked. It was clear from his voice that she’d really shaken him up with her abrupt and sudden appearance. The man was jumpy. There was no doubt about that.

  “I want to talk to you about Grant Whitmore,�
�� she said as I joined her. If it was possible, he was even less pleased to see that now there were two of us blocking his way.

  “I don’t have anything to say to you, or anyone else, about my former partner,” Maine said harshly.

  “Yeah, well, I’m his former wife, so that trumps your position to keep quiet,” Maddy said. “Talk, buster.”

  He looked taken aback by that bit of information, so I decided to turn up the heat even more. “We saw you arguing with him last night in Timber Ridge, at the fair,” I added, “so we know that you had contact with him, and recently.”

  “That’s impossible. You’re clearly mistaken. I wasn’t anywhere near there.”

  “There’s no use lying. We both saw you there,” I said.

  “You might have thought you did, but you are wrong. I’m going now, so I’d advise you both to stay out of my way.” Bernie Maine looked as though he would push us both to get to his car, so I tugged on Maddy’s arm and pulled her out of the way.

  “We can’t just let him go,” she protested.

  “We don’t have any choice.” Despite what I’d told Chief Hurley, I wasn’t about to do anything as drastic as trying to stop him by force. Where were our reinforcements? Was Bernie Maine going to just drive away? I had a hunch that he’d be impossible to find once he left town.

  The BMW started and was beginning to pull away when a police car suddenly appeared, neatly cutting off the luxury car’s escape.

  Maine got out at the same time that the officer did, and from the redness of his face, he was about to start screaming.

  The cop cut him off, though. “Mr. Maine, the chief asked me to hold you here until he gets a chance to come by, and I’d consider it a personal favor if you did it voluntarily.”

  “And if I don’t?”

  “Well, if you really want to play it that way, then I’ll just have to find a way to persuade you,” the deputy said, a hint of steel in his voice now. It was clear there was no love lost between the two men, and I wondered how far the cop was willing to push it.

  We didn’t have to find out.

  Ten seconds later another police car came around the corner, and this one had markings that indicated this was the chief of police of Cow Spots himself.

  It appeared that the law had come to the rescue, after all.

  I just hoped that all this effort was worth the tongue-lashing I knew that I was going to get from our chief of police.

  “I didn’t do anything!” I heard Bernie Maine say in protest the moment the chief of police got out of his cruiser. He was a handsome and fit man, with dark hair cropped short and his eyes covered by sunglasses.

  “Now, hold on, Mr. Maine. Nobody’s accusing you of anything, at least not just yet. I’d like to ask you a few questions, and as a matter of fact, so would a colleague of mine from Timber Ridge. Now, it’s probably only fair to tell you that I can’t make you hang around, but I guarantee you one thing. If you don’t cooperate, I’ll be an unhappy man, and believe me, you don’t want that. Now, are you going to pull your car back all the way into that driveway and wait with us, or do we have to do this in a more official manner? The choice is yours, but if you decide to make things difficult, I’ll make sure that Officer Petty handles you personally.”

  We all glanced at the deputy, whose grin was unmistakable. “That’s the choice I’m hoping you make.” It was clear that Maine got the not-so-subtle warning.

  Maine threw his hands up into the air. “Have it your way. I’ll be in my car, but I won’t wait long, and in the meantime, I’m calling my attorney.”

  “Call anybody you’d like to,” the chief said. “Just don’t try to leave.”

  As Maine did as he was told, the chief turned to Petty and said, “Watch him.”

  “Yes, sir,” the deputy said as he started walking toward the BMW.

  “Nicely,” the chief called out loudly.

  “Yes, sir,” his officer acknowledged, though this time there was quite a bit less enthusiasm in his voice as he said it.

  The chief of police shrugged as he explained, “Officer Petty’s mother lost money as a minor investor in one of Maine’s companies. I don’t think the man wants to take any chances with my deputy, not if he knows what’s good for him.” The chief smiled at us both, removing his sunglasses as he did. His dark brown eyes had the same flecks of gold in them that my late husband had, and that made me feel warmly toward the lawman, no matter how crazy that might sound. “Ladies, I’m Chief Hudson, but you may call me Stephen.”

  “Hi, Chief,” I said, despite his offer to be a little less formal. “Thanks for coming to the rescue. I suppose you want to know what this is all about.”

  “Actually, Chief Hurley already filled me in,” he said as he glanced at his watch. “He should be here in ten minutes.” The grin dampened slightly as he added, “I’m afraid he’s not very pleased with the two of you.”

  “I’m not at all surprised,” I said. “I’ve got a feeling we probably deserve it.”

  “Well, as long as you aren’t misbehaving in my jurisdiction, I don’t have a problem with either one of you.” Then he looked over at the BMW and added, “I guess that’s exactly what you’re doing, though, isn’t it?”

  I was about to explain when he held up a hand, demanding immediate silence, which I gave him. The chief continued, “I understand that this might just be justified, though. I’m sorry for your loss.”

  I was afraid my sister would take that opportunity to make a smart reply, but thankfully, all she said was, “Thank you.”

  Chief Hudson pointed to the BMW. “Your chief didn’t exactly have to twist my arm, anyway. I’ve had my eye on this joker for the last year, but I can never seem to nail him on anything. If he leaves town and never comes back, I could live with that, but if he’s killed someone, then we need to get him, and get him good.” As he said the last bit, there was a deeper hint of iron in his voice, and I knew that I didn’t want to cross him, ever. He might live and enforce the laws in a town that had a funny name, but there was nothing clownish about this man.

  A minute later a familiar squad car hurried up toward us, and I didn’t need to see who was driving to know that it was our own Timber Ridge chief of police.

  He got out of the car and walked straight toward us, but Maddy and I got none of his attention. Instead, he headed for his counterpart and stuck out his hand. “Chief, it’s good to see you again. Thanks for the backup.”

  “Always glad to lend a hand, Chief,” Chief Hudson answered. “I’d be happy for you to talk to Maine here, or you can use my office in town. It’s just a few blocks away, and it might make a bigger impression on the man if you do that, though I doubt it.”

  “No, I think this will be fine,” Chief Hurley said. He turned and walked toward the black BMW without a word, a gesture, or even a glance in our direction.

  “Good luck, ladies,” Chief Hudson said to us as he offered us an imaginary tip of the hat and then walked after our chief of police.

  “Too many chiefs, not enough Indians,” Maddy said as soon as he was out of hearing range. “I’ve been dying to say that since Kevin Hurley first drove up.”

  “I’m glad you managed to restrain yourself as long as you did,” I said, glancing over at the car. Kevin Hurley was now in the car’s passenger seat, and Chief Hudson was sitting in the back, behind Bernie Maine. I would have felt sorry for the man except for the fact that he might have killed Maddy’s ex-husband. As it was, he was a crook who most likely deserved everything he got, if even half the stories we had heard about him were true.

  After three minutes the doors to the car opened, and the two chiefs got out. Chief Hudson said something to his deputy, who reluctantly moved his car out of the way so Bernie Maine could drive off.

  “You’re just letting him go after all the trouble we went to, to find him?” Maddy asked loudly.

  Chief Hurley held a warning finger up to her, and she backed off immediately. Maddy knew as well as I did that there
were times when we could push him and times when we could not. This was clearly one of those latter times.

  Bernie Maine drove away, and so did Chief Hudson and his deputy.

  At least Chief Hurley waited until they were gone before he finally approached us.

  “Of all the harebrained, risky, senseless, and stupid things you two have ever done, this is the topper of them all. What were you thinking?”

  “We’re trying to catch a killer. What are you thinking?” Maddy asked, the outrage full in her voice.

  “Maddy, take a deep breath and think about it. What if your suspicions are right and that man is a killer? Does it make any sense at all to confront him alone? What would keep him from coming after the two of you if he really is the killer?”

  I did what he suggested and considered it for a moment, and then I realized that perhaps we had been a little rash. “We’re sorry,” I said as contritely as I could manage.

  “We are?” Maddy asked, her tone of voice showing that she was still ready for a fight.

  I shook my head slightly, and she folded in a little on herself.

  “What she said,” Maddy said as she pointed to me. “We’re sorry.”

  “Good. I accept your apologies,” Chief Hurley said with a nod. “And it’s never going to happen again, right?” When we didn’t answer, he asked the question again. “Right?”

  “That we won’t promise, and you know it,” I said. “We don’t want to lie to you. But our intentions were good here.”

  “Don’t get me started on where good intentions lead,” he answered.

  “Okay, we get it. Consider us scolded,” I said. “Did Bernie Maine tell you anything important?”

  I wasn’t sure what reaction I was expecting from my question, but the laughter I got in reply wasn’t even on the list. “You two take the cake. You know that, don’t you?”

  “Hey, he’d have been long gone if it wasn’t for us. Come to think of it, he is long gone, so I guess we didn’t do any good at all,” Maddy said.

  “I wouldn’t go that far,” Chief Hurley said. “We have a meeting scheduled for tomorrow morning in my office.”