Hickory Smoked Homicide (26 page)

Pepper was in such a state that Lulu and Cherry excused her from any further cleaning up. It was too bad, thought Lulu. Considering the disaster that Cherry had created in the kitchen, they could have used all the help they could get.

The wine was now making Cherry sleepy. “What’s the next step in the investigation, Lulu?” she asked, yawning.

Lulu stopped scrubbing dishes for a minute. “I’d like to follow up with Pansy and Steffi on the night of the fund-raiser and exactly where they were. Although it sounds like Steffi’s cigarette habit probably explains some of her absence that night. And I do want to talk to Steffi’s boyfriend again and see if he has any information to give us from that night.”

“Sounds good,” said Cherry sleepily. She looked around the kitchen. “This is good enough for tonight, Lulu. We’ve reached a stopping place, right?”

Lulu blinked. The kitchen still had pots and pans lined up on the counters, empty wineglasses, trash to go out . . . “You don’t want to tackle the mess tonight?”

“The dishes will keep,” said Cherry positively. “Cleanup is quicker the next day, anyway. This stuff will . . . soak.” She reached over and turned out the kitchen light, and Lulu had a feeling Cherry would be in bed two minutes after she left.

 

 

An opportunity to talk to Steffi presented itself the very next day when Steffi poked her head around the Aunt Pat’s office door. “Lulu? Is it okay that I’m working the early shift today? I traded shifts with Abby. I know I’ve switched around a lot, but I’ve got to go to the bank with Marlowe this afternoon.”

“Sure, honey, that works out fine,” said Lulu, closing up the desk drawer. “Did you have fun at Bunko last night? Even if you didn’t win the big pot of money?”

Steffi grinned. “It was great to go out and have
fun
. And it was nice of Cherry to invite me. She was so hilarious last night. I kept wondering why she didn’t just leave the cooking to you. . . . You’d have solved her cheese-dip worries in a second.”

Lulu rolled her eyes a little. “Yes, well, she can be really stubborn. I think she thought she should be able to at least pull together a cheese dip.”

Steffi smiled and pulled an apron off a hook on the office wall. “Oh, and is it okay if I take thirty minutes or so for lunch? My friend is coming over for an early lunch—we made it for ten forty-five so it wouldn’t be during the lunch rush.”

“Friend?” asked Lulu innocently. “Anybody special?”

Steffi flushed. “David. You met him—taking care of the yard? He came to the fund-raiser, too.”

“That’s right,” said Lulu. “I’m glad that’s working out so well for you, Steffi.” Lulu couldn’t bring herself to say that he seemed like a nice young man. She
wanted
to, but she simply couldn’t do it. Steffi obviously couldn’t see through him and glimpse the guy he really was underneath the smarmy charm. “By the way, Steffi, someone mentioned to me that they’d seen you smoking recently.”

Steffi said quickly, “I’d never smoke in Aunt Pat’s, Lulu. I haven’t even needed a smoking break—I really don’t smoke all that much.”

Lulu shook her head. “I wasn’t trying to say that, honey. But I thought I’d mention it because Derrick—you know Derrick, don’t you?—quit smoking six months ago, and he could probably give you some tips if you want to try to stop.”

Steffi looked rueful. “Thanks, Lulu. I guess it’s stress that’s made me pick it up. If I see Derrick today, I’ll ask him about it.”

“I just like to look out for my employees’ health!” said Lulu. She hesitated, then asked, “Were you out on smoke breaks during the fund-raiser? There were a couple of times when people couldn’t track you down.”

Steffi gave Lulu a swift look that Lulu couldn’t really read. Was Steffi hurt that she’d suspect her? “Smoking. Guilty as charged,” said Steffi. She shrugged. “It started out as a way to rebel against my mother, who hated smoking—said it gave people leathery skin and yellow teeth.” Steffi gave an unhappy laugh. “That’s the thing—it wasn’t that she didn’t want me to smoke because it might
harm
me. She didn’t like it because of how it made people
look
. That’s all she ever cared about . . . appearances.”

Lulu stood up and gave Steffi a hug. “I’m so sorry I brought up bad memories for you, sweetie. I really meant to say that I
do
care for you, and I hate for you to have a habit that could end up killing you later. That’s all. And that I rode Derrick about it the same way, and he managed to stop the habit.”

“Thanks, Lulu,” said Steffi. “That does mean a lot. And thanks for shifting my hours today and for lunch, too.” And she hurried off to start getting the dining room ready.

Steffi’s friend David actually arrived at Aunt Pat’s around ten thirty, and to look at him, thought Lulu, he came straight from doing yard work. He obviously did a lot of his work first thing in the morning, before it got too hot.

Lulu saw Steffi glimpse him, then hurry over. “David! You got here early. I’m not really ready yet—I’ve still got to roll the silverware into the napkins and stuff—just get ready for the day.”

He shrugged and stood up. “It’s not a big deal. I’ll go outside and have a quick smoke. Take your time—it’s not important.”

As he headed out to the front porch, Lulu said, “Steffi, you can finish up with the napkins after your lunch break if you want to. Or I can do it for you.”

Steffi smiled. “Lulu, you’ve done enough. Really, it’s fine. I think David is probably happy to take a smoke break anyway. And thank you for not telling him about the dangers of smoking while you had it on the brain.”

Lulu said, “Well, I was able to dig up some self-control—for a little while, anyway. If he goes out for another smoke break while he’s here, I might not be able to help myself.”

Steffi disappeared back into the kitchen to finish with the silverware, and Lulu decided to sit on the porch for a bit before the lunch rush started—and try to catch David on his own before he joined Steffi inside.

Beale Street had plenty of tourists walking around it, despite the early hour. The never-ending parade of people kept the porch entertaining. Visitors came from all over the world, and you never knew what you were going to see or hear as they walked down the street.

Another nice thing about the porch was that you could overhear people talking sometimes. And Lulu was overhearing a conversation now—David was apparently talking to a friend on his cell phone in between puffs of his cigarette.

“What? No, I’m at the barbeque joint where she works. Yeah. Who knows? I guess she’s still working here because she doesn’t want to let the old lady who owns the place down—Steffi is that kind of goody-goody. She sure doesn’t need the money.”

The friend talked for a couple of minutes more. “Yeah, there was that fund-raiser thing, too. I guess they wanted to do something for her—she’s planning to go to school, so maybe they were just getting her some extra money for tuition or books or something. How should I know? I tell you who needs a fund-raiser—me! I’m the one who can use some money. And I’m not like Steffi—it won’t bother me a bit to quit my job. I don’t care if I ever cut a blade of grass again in my whole life.”

There was another pause on David’s end of the conversation, and then he said, “Look, I’ve got to go. She’s going to be waiting for me in a minute.” A rough laugh. ”Are you kidding? I wouldn’t date that chick in a million years if she wasn’t loaded. Not pretty like her mom was, is she?

“See? That’s what I’m saying! Oh, shut up—I’m not always hustling a deal. But I do have something starting up now that looks pretty good.” His voice dropped a little, and Lulu strained to hear him. “Yeah. I’m not saying, except that if getting hooked up with Steffi doesn’t work out for the long haul, then maybe this will help me have more
regular
income.”

There was another pause, and then David said quickly, “Got to go.”

Lulu closed her eyes as if she was dozing in the rocker and gave what she hoped was a convincing startle as David pushed through the porch’s screen door. “Sorry,” he mumbled.

Then he paused and looked sharply at her. “I guess you heard some of that,” he said.

Lulu said dryly, “I couldn’t really help it.”

“I’ll make her happy, you know,” David said in a defensive voice. “Who cares
why
I’m going out with her as long as I treat her like a queen and make her happy?”

Lulu decided to let that pass. “I’m curious what you meant when you were talking about the thing that would provide you with regular income. Do you have some sort of information from the night Dee Dee was murdered?”

David shrugged. “I guess it doesn’t hurt to tell you. I’m pretty sure it was that woman, Pepper, who killed Tristan—and Dee Dee, too. I got bored at the fund-raiser—didn’t know anybody there except Steffi, and she was busy talking to everybody. So I went out on the porch to listen to the band and text a couple of friends. I saw Pepper leave the party. She and I had parked on the same level of the parking deck, and I’d followed her into the restaurant that night. When she came back a few minutes later, acting like she was trying not to be noticed? I noticed her. That’s the kind of thing I pay attention to.”

David really was a hustler, then, thought Lulu. It sounded like he wasn’t above blackmail, either. She was starting to think the whole world was into extortion.

“Anyway, I saw her come in, and she was all sweaty and kind of sick looking. She disappeared into the bathroom. I was ready to take off from the party and head home—it was getting pretty boring. So when I got to my car, parked real close to Pepper, I saw this body lying on the floor of the parking deck.” He shrugged again. “It doesn’t take a genius to put two and two together. And I saw that painting beside the woman on the floor—I figure it has something to do with the fact she’s dead.”

Lulu said, “So you’re planning on getting Pepper to pay you to keep quiet. If she murdered two people, do you really think that’s a good idea?”

“I can take care of myself,” said David sullenly. He continued walking into the restaurant. When Lulu turned around to look into the dining hall, she saw David greet Steffi with a kiss. She shook her head. She was going to have to figure out a way to break it to Steffi gently that David didn’t have her best interests at heart. Steffi didn’t deserve to be in another cold relationship after a lifetime of living with her mother.

Chapter 21

Lunch was in full swing when Lulu noticed Pink had come up to the lunch counter. “What’ll it be, Pink?” asked Lulu, taking out an order pad. “Or will it be your usual barbeque plate with a side order of coleslaw and a sweet tea?”

“My usual,” said Pink with a grin. “Gotta love coming to a restaurant where they know your order before
you
do! And what a great honor having the restaurant owner actually taking my order.”

“It’s on the house, too,” said Lulu with a flourish of her hand. “Got to keep our men in blue happy. Aunt Pat’s appreciates her law enforcement officers!” She handed off the order to a passing waitress.

Pink drawled, “And I surely do appreciate the free lunch! But tell me, Lulu, what brought all this on? You’re not still messing around in the case, are you?”

Lulu developed a sudden interest in the menus she was holding. “Oh
no
. Not me. I’m a mild-mannered restaurant owner.”

Pink raised his eyebrows at her.

“Well, maybe I’m just interested in getting an update, Pink. Just some general information, you understand.” She lowered her voice to a hush. “Like whether or not you found Dee Dee’s black notebook.”

Pink scooted his stool a little closer to Lulu. “Funny you should bring that up, Lulu. Because we’ve found neither hide nor hair of that notebook anywhere. Not in Dee Dee’s house or car or shop.”

Lulu frowned. “Pink, I promise you that I’m not making all this up . . .”

Pink raised a hand to stop her. “Oh, I believe you, Lulu. I think that whoever murdered Dee Dee probably swiped the notebook, too. And whatever evidence was pointing in his or her direction.” He paused as the waitress put his barbeque plate in front of him.

He opened up a packet of Aunt Pat’s secret sauce and squeezed it onto the pulled pork. “Lulu, think back. Was there anything that you can remember from that book? Anything that might help us figure out who’s behind all this?”

Lulu thought, then shook her head sadly. “Nothing that really stands out. Well, there were notes about Tristan having an affair.... But I think you already know about that, right?”

“With Loren, yes,” said Pink with a quick nod as he took a big bite from his sandwich.

“She
did
have an affair with Loren—but she also had one with Steffi’s boyfriend.”

“What?” Pink’s eyes opened wide. “That scruffy-looking kid that I saw on my way in? That’s hard to believe.”

“Well, Dee Dee made some notes about it. And I have heard from the boy himself that it was true. Who knows what Tristan was playing at, but the affair did happen.”

“And you can’t remember anything else?”

Lulu said, “No. And what
really
got her killed is probably whatever she wrote in there that she saw the night Tristan was killed. She likely thought she’d hit pay dirt, but instead, she was messing with something that was bigger than she was. And it’s too bad she couldn’t tell the difference.”

 

 

The stress of the last few days finally caught up to Lulu, and she slept like the dead that night. She was shocked to look at the clock and see that it was nine o’clock—Lulu couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept so late. It was probably all that worrying about the case; things like that just wore on a body after a while. Lulu decided it was time to do something completely different for a change—housework. She hadn’t really done much to her house since Steffi had moved her things out, and it was starting to show.

The nice thing about housework, thought Lulu, is that you get that great feeling of accomplishment—and it’s a completely mindless activity. Lulu dusted her tables and her favorite figurines, vacuumed the house, and declut-tered. She remembered that she’d planned on getting rid of one of the tables that was in her living room. She didn’t need it, and she really would rather have something else there instead. She picked up the phone. “Sara, do you want that table in my living room for anything? No, the one that’s by the wall—it has a lamp and pictures on it. I was thinking I’d put a recliner there—seems like I’m falling asleep while watching the news more often than I used to, and I’m thinking about recliners that are good for napping.” Lulu turned the volume up on the phone. Maybe she
was
losing her hearing a little. “Sara? Sorry. You said no? Well, how about on the wall that leads into your kitchen? Oh, I don’t think it would block the pathway too much.”