The Missing Dough (10 page)

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.”

“What makes you think he’ll show up?” I asked.

“He’s not stupid,” the chief said. “He clearly hadn’t thought it through, getting ready to just take off like that. Maine panicked, and I reminded him that the best thing he could do was stick around and see what happens.”

“The guy’s a con man,” Maddy said loudly. “What makes you think that you can believe a single word he says?”

“He’ll show up, because his attorney had already told him the same thing that we did. There’s no doubt in my mind we can trust him, at least that far.”

I didn’t know if I was as accepting of that as the chief was, but I knew that if I didn’t get Maddy out of there, she was going to get us both into even more trouble. Though she’d echoed my apology, even I had doubted the sincerity of it.

As my sister started to reply, I nudged her gently and the chief said, “I thought you two had a pizza place to run. Josh has a shift this evening, right?”

“He does, and you’re right. We shouldn’t keep him waiting. We’ll see you back in town. Thanks for coming.”

Maddy was clearly not ready to leave, but I put my arm in hers and started walking her back down the street, toward the welcome center.

“Why did you let him off so easily?” Maddy asked me once we were far enough down the block.

“Do you honestly believe that fighting with our chief of police was going to get us anywhere? We have to choose our battles, Maddy. This one was already lost, so there was no need pushing it any harder.”

“But now we’ll never hear Maine’s alibi,” my sister protested.

“I have a feeling we’ll get it sooner than you think,” I said.

“Why would the chief loosen up about that?”

“He knows we gave him a good tip,” I said as we got into the car and started back to Timber Ridge. “There’s a good chance that he’ll reciprocate, but if we’d badgered him anymore, he wouldn’t have told us a thing.”

“How do you know him so well?” Maddy asked.

“Hey, we dated a long, long time ago, remember?”

“And you don’t think he’s changed any since high school?”

“Oh, he’s changed in more ways than I could count, but I still believe that the Kevin Hurley I used to know is still buried somewhere under that uniform.”

“You’re not getting romantic feelings about him again, are you?” Maddy asked with a suspicious expression on her face.

I laughed so hard that I nearly drove off the road. “No way, no thanks. I’ve got a man in my life these days, remember?”

“I just wanted to make sure that you weren’t going soft on me,” Maddy said.

“You don’t have a thing to worry about there.”

“That’s what I like to hear. What are we going to do next?”

I glanced at the clock on the dashboard and saw that it was time to go back to our pizzeria. “We’re doing exactly what the chief of police suggested. We’re heading back to the Slice and opening up for our evening crowd.”

“If I’m going to be honest about it, sometimes I resent that place getting in the way of our investigations,” Maddy said.

“Just remember, without A Slice of Delight, we’d have no way of supporting ourselves. It’s vital that we keep the business going as strong as we can manage.”

“You’ve got a point,” Maddy said. “But we still have more leads to follow. We haven’t even finished going through the things we found in Grant’s room.”

“I know that, and don’t forget, we still need to see exactly what was going on in her life when Sharon left you a third of everything she owned.”

“I don’t even want to think about that,” Maddy said.

“You might not want to at this moment, but sooner rather than later, you’re going to have to do just that.”

“W
e’ve got company,” Maddy said when she came back into the kitchen a few hours after we’d returned from Cow Spots. We were in a bit of a lull at the moment, after a pretty good run of customers, and I’d been using the time to give my workstation a good scrub. Maddy liked to save her cleaning for the end of her shift when she worked the kitchen area, but I was a firm believer in keeping the place as clean as I could at all times.

“It’s not Bernie Maine, is it?” I asked as I put down my rag, washed my hands, and slid a fresh calzone onto a plate for her to deliver. Between our customers and my cleaning, I hadn’t had much of a chance to even think about Grant Whitmore’s murder.

“Not even close,” she said with a grin. She turned around and said, “Gentlemen, you can come on back now.”

I was surprised when Bob and David walked in together. After glancing at the clock, I asked, “What are you two doing here this time of day? Shouldn’t you both be working?”

Bob looked at David and asked, “Is she always this welcoming?”

“Well, to be fair, I don’t usually just show up unannounced, so I couldn’t say for sure,” he replied and then winked at me. “If you want any more information than that, you’re going to have to ask the lady yourself.”

“Coward,” Bob said with a slight smile.

“Nobody’s answered my questions yet,” I said.

“In all seriousness,” Bob said, “we decided to cut out early to see if we could help you and Maddy with your investigation. After all, we both have a stake in this, too, me more than anyone else.”

I thought about it and then looked at Maddy. “I’m not sure what I think about it, so I’m going to leave it up to you. It’s your call, Sis.”

“Why are you shoving the decision on me?”

“Grant was your ex,” I said. “I’ll go along with whatever you decide.”

“Are you telling me that you don’t even have an opinion about it?”

“I suppose that I do, when I think about it. Are you asking for it, Maddy?”

“I am.”

“Then I say let them help, even if it’s just a little bit,” I replied.

“Wow, thanks for the warm words of encouragement and support,” David said with a grin.

“Don’t get me wrong. I know that you’re both good at what you do. David, if you weren’t, they wouldn’t have put you in charge.” Then I turned to Bob. “As for you, if I ever get in a legal jam, you will be the first person I call. But neither one of you has ever done this kind of investigating before.”

“Eleanor, don’t sell me short,” Bob said. “A great deal of what I do is reading people and trying to get information from them that they might not necessarily want to share with me.”

“Maybe so, but because of your status as an attorney, I’m willing to bet that folks aren’t going to speak to you as freely as they do with Maddy and me. Sure, you can handle them on the stand, but my sister and I can get things out of them that they don’t even realize they’re divulging.”

“I don’t deny that about Bob, since he’s got a legal standing around here,” David said, “but nobody’s going to suspect that I’m up to anything.”

I hated to come out and say it, but he hadn’t left me any choice. “David, you just moved here four years ago. Nobody’s going to trust you enough yet to tell you anything.”

“Wow, this place is as tight-knit as a small town in New England,” David replied.

“I’m not saying that it’s fair, but it’s how things are,” I said.

“Surely there are more ways that we can help than just by interviewing suspects,” Bob said.

I thought about it and realized that Bob had a point. It was crazy not to get their input on what we’d found. They might have insights that my sister and I could have missed. “Maddy, do you mind if I share what we found with them?”

“No, go ahead. I’ll be right back. I’ve got to deliver this calzone, and I don’t want to leave Josh out there by himself. Is there any chance you could get Greg to come in so the four of us can do some sleuthing?”

“Sorry, but he’s got a major exam he’s studying for, and I hate to pull him away from his schoolwork. The test is tomorrow, so he’s coming in tomorrow night for the dinner shift, but I can’t get him here any sooner.”

“That’s fine. We’ll just figure something else out as we go through the papers we’ve got,” she said as she left the kitchen to deliver the food.

“What are these papers you’re talking about?” Bob asked.

“Before I can show you anything, there’s something you should know. We were doing a little snooping, and no one exactly gave us permission to look where we were hunting, so I don’t want to hear one word of scolding or disapproval from either one of you. Is that agreed?”

Bob frowned as he shook his head. “Perhaps I didn’t think this through thoroughly enough. It might be better if you didn’t say another word. As an officer of the court, I’m duty bound not to participate in any illegal activity.”

“I was afraid that might be the case,” I said.

“So, are you saying that you
did
come by this information illegally?” Bob asked.

“I refuse to answer that on the grounds that I might incriminate myself and my sister,” I said.

“You’re not under oath, Eleanor.”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m still not answering.” I took a step toward him and said, “Bob, Maddy and I both know the kind of pressure you’re under right now. We’ve both been suspected of murder in the past, and we know that it’s not fun. You’re just going to have to trust that either we or Chief Hurley is going to catch this killer.”

“I believe in you all, but it’s so hard to just not do anything,” he said.

“I’m sure that it is. Tell you what. If we come up with anything you
can
do to help, we’ll ask you. I promise.”

“I suppose it’s going to have to be good enough,” Bob said, clearly deflated.

“How about me?” David asked. “I never took any pledges or made any promises.”

“You can help, if you insist, but to be honest with you, I’d like it better if you weren’t involved, either.”

David looked a little hurt by my statement, but there was nothing I could do about it.

After a moment’s pause, he asked, “Might I ask why?”

“David, you were by yourself last night, just the same as Bob was. You could have had time to kill Grant and get over to my house without being seen, too.”

He looked shocked by my statement. “But why would I do that? Eleanor, surely you don’t think I’m capable of something like that.”

“I didn’t say that I thought that you did it,” I hurried to reply. “I’m just saying that if folks find out that you’re helping us, they might begin to wonder if you’re just trying to cover your own tracks in this investigation.”

“The same thing could be said of you and Maddy,” David said calmly.

“David, honestly, that’s not fair,” Bob said.

“Actually, it’s spot on,” I admitted, “but the people around Timber Ridge are getting so used to Maddy and me digging into murder that I honestly believe it would make them more suspicious of us if we didn’t look into what happened to Grant.”

David frowned at me for a moment, eased up on it a bit, and then turned to Bob. “Come on, my friend. Let’s get out of here and get a bite to eat somewhere else. It appears that our use to these ladies is strictly as ornamental arm candy.”

“I don’t know how I feel about being referred to that way,” Bob said a little reluctantly.

“Relish it,” David said with a grin. “That’s what I’m planning to do.”

“It’s not like that. Honestly, it isn’t,” I protested, but David just winked at me as he led Bob out of the kitchen.

Maddy came back a few minutes later. “What happened, Eleanor? Can’t I leave you alone for two minutes? Did you just throw them out of the Slice?”

“No, it was nothing like that,” I said. I explained to her what had transpired and the reasons behind my actions; it took her a few seconds to consider the implications.

“You’re right,” she finally said, “but I have a feeling that we’re going to have to mend some fences when this is all over.”

“Has there ever been a time when we
haven’t
had to do that?” I asked.

“No, we do seem to cut a wide swath on occasion, don’t we? Anyway, here are two more orders to fill.”

“Why are we suddenly so popular?” I asked as I took the slips from Maddy.

“I have no idea, but I don’t want to question it. We can use the money, right?”

I laughed. “Always. I’m afraid that we’re not going to be able to go over those papers until after work, though. Feel like another sleepover at my place tonight?”

She nodded. “It’s the best we can do. I’ll go by my apartment on the way to your place and pick up a few things.”

“Sounds good,” I said as I pulled out more dough to warm as I started making one of the deep-dish pizzas I’d neglected on my menu for so long. I’d started producing them on special order for one customer from up North, but they had caught on and were now a part of my regular menu. “In the meantime, let’s make some money.”

“You’ve got it,” she said.

 

Thankfully, the night shift at the pizzeria was without incident, and we managed to keep a good crowd there until the time we closed.

After we cleaned up and sent Josh on his way, Maddy and I locked up and started walking down the promenade toward the shortcut to where our cars were parked. As I turned to look at Maddy, I saw that her gaze was drawn to the crime-scene tape draped near the big bushes by the stage from the show the night before.

“I can’t believe that it all just happened yesterday,” she said as we neared the shortcut. “It feels like it was weeks ago.”

“A lot has happened since then,” I said in agreement.

At least we didn’t have to walk past the spot where the murder had occurred. I was still staring at it when I saw a flickering light coming from the dense bushes.

“What was that?” I asked as I grabbed my sister’s arm.

“What was what?”

“I swear I just saw a light on the other side of those bushes,” I said, lowering my voice as I said it.

Maddy looked where I had been staring out for a few seconds before she spoke. “Eleanor, I don’t see anything.”

“It was there. I swear it was.”

“I believe you, Sis,” she said as she started in the direction of the crime scene.

“Hang on a second,” I said. “Let’s think about this. How can this be anything but bad for us if we go back there and find someone involved with Grant’s murder?”

“You’re not losing your nerve, are you, Sis?” she asked me.

“I don’t know. Maybe I am,” I said. I truly didn’t like the idea of confronting someone who might be a killer in the dark with nothing more than Maddy’s bag of defenses, as formidable as the contents of her purse might be.

“Come on,” she said and tugged at my arm. I gave in, more because I was curious myself. I knew that if I analyzed our successes in the past as investigators, most of them were due to the fact that we’d forged on when common sense had shouted at us to stop what we were doing and mind our own business.

“It was over here someplace,” I said, leading her a little bit away from the direction of the actual tape.

As we approached the bushes, I saw the light flicker again.

Maddy saw it, too, this time.

As we got closer, we were almost off the promenade and into the dense shrubbery, both of us ready to pounce on whoever was there.

Suddenly a car horn honked from the parking lot, and we were both blinded by a pair of headlights pointing straight at us. I heard a rustling sound as whoever we’d been stalking ran away, but I couldn’t make out who it was. The figure neared the railroad tracks and then suddenly disappeared into the walking tunnel beneath the rails.

“Blast it! He got away,” Maddy said.

“Are we even sure it was a
he?
” I asked.

“No, I couldn’t swear to anything about it,” she said as she looked toward the car that interrupted our hunt. “Who is that idiot with the headlights and the car horn, anyway?”

As the car crept forward and we got closer, I could see that it was a police cruiser.

That was just great.

Chief Hurley put the car in park, turned off the engine, and got out.

“What were you two doing skulking in the bushes like that?” he asked us. “I didn’t figure you two would be crazy enough to go looking at the crime scene after dark.”

“We saw someone back there as we were leaving the pizzeria,” I said.

“Who was it?” Chief Hurley asked as he reached through his open window and flipped a switch. At once a powerful beam lit up the parking lot, but when he trained it on the bushes, there was no one there. I could have told him that myself, but I doubted that he would have believed me, so it was just as well that he checked for himself.

“I don’t see anything,” he said as he turned the spotlight off.

“Not after that, you wouldn’t,” Maddy said. “What were you doing out here tonight? Were you staking out the crime scene, Chief?”

“No, it was nothing like that,” he replied a little sheepishly.

“Then why were you hanging out on the promenade?” Then I had a thought. “Chief, you weren’t keeping tabs on
us,
were you?” I asked.

He didn’t want to admit it, but after a moment he said, “Okay, I confess. Josh asked me to make sure that you both got safely to your cars. Don’t tell him I told you. It was supposed to be a secret.”

“But he was just here,” I said. “Why didn’t he walk us out to our cars himself if he was so concerned for our safety?”

The chief grinned. “That’s where it gets complicated. He’s got a new girlfriend that nobody’s supposed to know about, and I believe he had a date.”

“Josh is dating someone? Who is she?”

“I’m not saying,” he answered. “I wouldn’t have known anything about it myself if I hadn’t spotted him dropping her off at home one night last week. Do me a favor. Don’t say anything to him about this, okay?”