5 A Bad Egg (9 page)

“So that’s
all you want; pancakes.”

“That’s it,”
he said.

“Then have a
seat, and I’ll be right with you.”

“Does that mean
that you’re not even going to let Ellen wait on me?” he asked.

“She can do
whatever she wants, but I have a hunch you’re going to end up in my section, no
matter where you decide to sit.”

“Understood,”
he said. “If it’s all the same to you, I’ll have a seat at the bar, then.”

“Sounds
good,” I said as I followed him. When he sat down, I asked, “Would you like a
menu?”

“Thanks, but
I don’t need one. I’ll have a half stack of your mother’s pancakes, and a side
of bacon.”

“Wow, you
really
are
indulging,” I said. “Would
you like some coffee to go with that?”

“Sure, why
not?”

I flipped a
cup over on its saucer and filled it for him. As I walked into the kitchen, I
found Ellen chatting with my mother. “Do I have a customer?”

“The sheriff
is here,” I said.

Ellen
stiffened instantly. “Did he come here for me?”

“Relax. He
says he just wants a half stack of Mom’s pancakes.”

“And why
wouldn’t he?” my mother asked as she poured some batter onto the grill. “He
used to eat them all of the time back when he first became sheriff.”

“I keep
forgetting that you’ve been running this grill for a long time,” I said. “Does
it ever get old for you?”

“I don’t
imagine how it could. Every order’s different, isn’t it?” Mom said as she
deftly flipped three pancakes with her spatula, each one making a perfect
landing on the hot griddle. I’d tried to make pancakes once, and they’d been an
unmitigated disaster. There was a great deal more art to flipping than I’d
realized, and I’d decided to leave them to the experts after that.

“I don’t know.
There are at least a dozen diners who order the exact same thing every time
they walk through the door. I personally couldn’t eat the same thing every day
of my life.”

“I don’t
know. There’s comfort in finding something you like,” she said as she removed
the finished pancakes, glanced at the order I’d put in line, and added three
pieces of bacon to the plate fresh from the grill. “There you go.”

“Thanks,” I
said.

“Would you
like me to deliver that order?” Ellen asked, though it was clear that she had no
interest whatsoever in dropping off this particular order.

“I’ve got it.
Why don’t you extend your break a little until he’s gone?”

Ellen shook
her head. “No thanks. No one’s going to keep me back here, not even the
police.” With a firm step, she walked to the counter and grabbed the pancakes
before I could get to them. “On second thought, I’ll deliver these myself.”

“You don’t
have to do that,” I said.

“As a matter
of fact, I do.” She put on a brave face, and then Ellen walked through the
kitchen door into the dining room.

“I’m going to
follow her,” I said.

“Victoria,
don’t interfere. She has to do this herself.”

“Maybe so,
but that doesn’t mean that I can’t keep an eye on her.”

I walked
through the kitchen, and I saw that though Ellen had dropped off the sheriff’s
order, she stayed close by him. They were talking about something, and I didn’t
like the fact that the sheriff had apparently disobeyed Rebecca’s request.

“Is there
something I can help you with?” I asked.

“No, it’s
fine,” Ellen said. “We were just talking about the weather.”

“Was that
all
you were discussing?”

“Honest, that
was it,” the sheriff said as he held his knife and fork up in the air.

“Okay, but
I’ve got my eye on you,” I said.

He actually laughed
as he responded, “Victoria, I’d be disappointed in you if you didn’t. Tell your
mother the pancakes are spectacular, as usual.”

“I will,” I
said. “Ellen, it looks like Karen is ready for her bill.” Karen Morgan was our
local clerk of court, and she had started eating regularly at the diner lately.
Some folks were like that, turning from infrequent customers to steady ones for
a while, and then tapering off again. I never knew if it was because of our
cooking or something going on in their lives, and it wasn’t exactly a question
that I could come right out and ask them. For now, at least, she was getting to
be something of a regular, and I knew that her time was limited during lunch
hour, so it was important that we be prompt.

“I’m on it,”
Ellen said.

As she
delivered the bill, I waved at her to ring Karen up so I could talk to the
sheriff in somewhat kind of private. “Are you behaving yourself?”

“Mostly,” the
sheriff said. “You know that I pride myself on being a man of my word. I won’t
ever do anything I’ve agreed not to. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“I’m not
questioning your ethics,” I said. “I’m just looking out for Ellen.”

“Don’t you
think I know that?” The sheriff took another bite, and then he pushed his plate
away, though there was still a fair amount of pancakes there. “That’s it for
me. I’d better quit while I can.”

“Would you
like me to wrap what’s left up for later?” I asked.

“Don’t tempt
me,” he said as he slid a ten under his plate. “I’ve got to be going. Thank
your mother for me.”

“I will,” I
said. “Sheriff, thank you for taking it easy on Ellen.”

“Don’t
mistake my actions for leniency,” Sheriff Croft said as he stood. “Ellen
doesn’t have an alibi for the murder of her ex-husband, and everyone knows that
she had reason enough to wish him harm. She’s by no means off my list.”

“You’re not
going to arrest her, are you?” I asked. I couldn’t imagine Ellen ever getting
over being handcuffed and led away from The Charming Moose Diner by the police.

“Not until I
have a lot more evidence than I do at the moment. How’s
your
investigation going?”

“What makes
you think that
I’m
doing anything?” I
asked.

“You and
Moose would have to be locked up in one of my cells not to dig into Gordon’s
murder. Just be careful. We don’t know who did it, but one thing is certain.
The man didn’t kill himself with that pipe. There’s someone dangerous on the
loose, and I mean to find them and lock them up, no matter who it turns out to
be.”

“I
understand,” I said. “Just don’t be surprised when we give you someone else’s
name as the killer, and not Ellen’s.”

“Don’t get
yourself killed,” the sheriff said with a smile. “I don’t want to deal with the
paperwork that would bring.”

“We’ll do our
best,” I said.

Ten minutes
later, Mitchell Cobb came into the diner. We were getting quite a crowd for a
time that was nearly too late for breakfast, but still too early for lunch. I
wasn’t about to turn anyone away, though. Our bottom line could use every
customer who came through the door.

“Sit where
you’d like,” I told him.

Mitchell
nodded in my direction, but instead of finding a table, he walked straight over
to Ellen. I wanted to follow him so I could eavesdrop, but unfortunately, at
that instant, half a dozen customers all decided at the same moment that it
would be a good time to settle up their bills.

By the time I
finished ringing everyone up and making change, Mitchell was on his way out the
door, too, a scowl plastered to his face.

“Is something
wrong?” I asked him as he brushed past me.

“Nothing you
can do anything about,” he lashed out at me just before he escaped.

I glanced
over at Ellen, who was visibly shaken by something.

“What just
happened?”

“Mitchell
told me that he loved me,” Ellen said, her voice shaking a little as she
relayed the information to me.

“That can’t really
come as a big surprise,” I said. “He’s had a crush on you forever.”

“It’s not
just that. He said that after what happened, I owed him.”

“What did he
mean by that?”

“I’m not
sure, but I don’t like it. I told him that I was with Wayne now, and that he
was too late saying things like that. A few years ago I might have gone out
with him, but I’ve got someone important in my life now.”

“How did he
take it?”

“You saw him.
He nearly ran you over trying to get out of here,” Ellen said. “You know what?
Maybe coming in wasn’t such a good idea after all. I hate to do it to you, but
is there any way that you can cover for me for the rest of my shift?”

It wasn’t
even eleven yet, and Ellen was due to work three more hours. We’d handled
things the day before, but I hated to put that kind of burden squarely on
Martha’s shoulders. “Let me call Jenny and see if she can come in early.”

“I hate to
ask her to do that,” Ellen said.

“That’s okay,
you’re not asking her anything; I am. What’s the worst that can happen? All she
can say is no.”

“I appreciate
you asking her,” Ellen said. “If she can’t make it in, don’t worry about it.
I’ll find a way to deal with it. I won’t let you down, Victoria.”

“Let’s just
see what she says first,” I said.

Jenny usually
worked from four to seven every evening. I knew that she had classes in the
morning before work and an active social life afterwards, but if we got lucky,
maybe she’d have some time to lend us a hand. “Hey, Jenny, it’s Victoria.”

“I was just
going to call you,” Jenny said, and I felt my heart sink. Was she going to call
in sick? I didn’t know what we’d do without both of our servers.

“Is something
wrong?”

“No, but I’ve
got an offer for you. I know that Ellen’s going through a rough patch right
now, and I doubt she’s all that crazy about coming in and working her shifts.
My class schedule is fairly slow right now, and I can get some notes from my
friends on what I miss, so if you’d like me to work double shifts for the rest
of the week, I can make that happen.”

“You are a
lifesaver,” I said. “Are you sure?”

“To be honest
with you, I could use the extra money. Tuition keeps going up, and I could
always stand a few more dollars in my checking account. Can Ellen afford to
give up her shifts?”

“I have a
hunch that right now money is the least of her problems,” I said. “If you’re
sure you don’t mind, that would be fantastic.”

“Hey, it’s a
win/win. I can be there in ten minutes, if you need the help today.”

“That would
be tremendous. I’ll let her know.”

“Go on and
send her home. I’m on my way.”

I hung up and
told Ellen what Jenny had said. “She’s worried that she’s taking money out of
your pocket,” I said. “Can you
afford
to take some time off?”

“Mom and Dad
have already offered to help me with my bills this month,” Ellen said. “The
only silver lining in this whole thing is that it’s clear that they’re both
really on my side. I think they blamed me a little when I married Gordon on
such short notice, and then the kids came along so fast, there was a rift
between us that’s just now starting to go away.”

“Well, it’s
good to be able to count on them,” I said. “You can go ahead and take off.
Jenny will be here soon.”

“I have to
wait on Mom, anyway. Her car is in Wayne’s shop, so she’s got mine. I’ll give
her a call to come pick me up.”

“You can wait
in back until she gets here, if you’d like.”

“Thanks, but
I might as well work while I’m here,” she said.

I was
relieved that Jenny was coming in to lend a hand. I hated the idea of leaving
Martha at the diner to handle things on her own while Moose and I were off
investigating murder, but with a full complement of servers, it wasn’t an
issue. I didn’t know whether Jenny really needed the money or not, since I knew
that her parents were helping her finance her education. She had a good heart, though,
so her offer didn’t surprise me in the least. We had been lucky with our hires
at The Charming Moose, and I couldn’t imagine running the place without either
one of our current servers. Moose claimed that the diner always attracted the
right people precisely when the place needed them, and I didn’t have any
evidence to the contrary to prove him wrong. I didn’t want to have to deal with
replacing either one of my friends, though if our luck held, I wouldn’t have to
anytime soon. I knew that someday Ellen would probably get married, and Jenny
would graduate from college. That would mean finding a new crew, but at least I
didn’t have to do it today, or even think about it.

Our family at
The Charming Moose was intact, and I meant to keep it that way if it was in my
power. Now all I needed was my grandfather to get there with his wife so we
could start investigating Gordon Murphy’s murder again.

Chapter 9

“Where’s my
daughter?” Opal asked a few minutes later as she rushed into the diner. “Has
she already left?”

“It’s okay,
Opal. She’s in back with my mother,” I said.

“What’s Jenny
doing here?” Opal asked as she pointed toward our other waitress with a look of
concern. “You didn’t fire my daughter, did you?
None
of this was her fault. It’s not fair, I tell you.”

“Hang on a
second. First of all, would you please lower your voice?” I asked. “Ellen is in
back taking a break. Nobody’s getting fired. Why would you even think that I’d
do something like that?”

“I don’t
know. I’m beside myself with what’s happened,” Opal said, her voice near its
breaking point. “I need to see Ellen.”

“Opal, would
you like some free advice, worth every penny that it’s going to cost you?
You’re not going to do Ellen any good right now with the way you’re behaving.
You need to take a deep breath, have a cup of coffee, and compose yourself
before you speak with her. Can I pour you a cup?”