Pepperoni Pizza Can Be Murder (7 page)

“I don’t know much that can’t be repaired in this world,” I said, my voice softening. The girl was obviously in some serious pain.

“This is too much. Greg caught me with Wade,” she simpered.

“Are you talking about his
brother
? Are you kidding me?”

“We were just kissing,” Katy said as she dabbed at her tears. “It was all pretty innocent. Honestly.”

“I’m sure Greg didn’t think so,” I said. “Katy, what were you thinking?”

“Greg was getting tired of me,” she said, nearly wailing the words. “I had to show him he couldn’t just throw me away like an old pair of shoes.”

I lost a lot of my sympathy for her then. I hated relationship games, and always had. “How did Greg find out?” Not that he needed much of a clue. Small-town living was notorious for gossip, and Timber Ridge was no exception.

“Wade set me up!” she screamed.

Josh came into the kitchen and looked straight at me. “Eleanor, is everything all right?”

“It’s fine,” I said, more out of habit than actuality. Katy was anything but fine, but she’d brought it all on herself.

Josh nodded, glanced sideways at Katy, then took the wisest course of action he could; he left.

“Katy, how did Wade set you up?”

“I was at his place, you know, to talk,” Katy said. “He excused himself, made a phone call, and then he came back in with drinks. The next thing I knew, we were on the couch making out. I would have stopped it—I suddenly lost my taste for revenge—when Greg crashed in. He was furious, and Wade admitted that he wanted his little brother to see that he could have me whenever he wanted. Greg’s face just died. He wouldn’t listen to me, no matter how much I begged him to give me another chance. Now I can’t find him, and I have to make it right between us.”

“Good luck with that,” I said.

“That’s it? You’re just going to stand there? Don’t you care?”

I stared at her for a few seconds, and then said, “I care about Greg, and you hurt him. Don’t expect any sympathy from me.”

“Wade did this,” she said petulantly. “Why can’t you see that?”

“You were the one on the couch with him, Katy.”

“I wish he were dead,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Be careful what you wish for,” I said.

“You’re useless to me—you know that, don’t you?”

Before I could reply, she slammed the kitchen door open and stalked off. I grabbed my cell phone and called Greg the second she was gone. It sounded as though he needed a friend right now.

He didn’t pick up, which was no real surprise. When the voice mail came on, I said, “Greg, Katy was just here. I know what happened. If you need to talk to somebody, I’m here for you. Call me. I don’t care what time of night you get this. It’s going to be all right,” I added, then ran out of things to say. It was in his hands now. If he needed me, Greg knew where to reach me.

Maddy came in as I hung up. “What was that about?”

“I’m surprised you didn’t come back for the fireworks,” I said as I started cleaning up my station.

“I would have, but I had a table of customers that wouldn’t let me go. What did you say to her, Eleanor? She shot out of here looking like you’d smacked her in the face with a pizza pan. You didn’t, did you?”

“No, though it was probably what she deserved. She and Greg had a fight.” Wow, that was the understatement of the year.

“There’s more to it than that, though, isn’t there?”

My sister had some kind of radar when it came to conflict. I nodded. “She went to Wade’s house to make Greg jealous, and Wade called him. When Greg got there, Wade and Katy were kissing on the couch, and Greg left before Katy could say anything.”

Maddy shook her head. “Boy, I can’t even imagine how she could have killed the chance of them ever getting back together better than that. Greg hates his brother.”

“Katy knows it, too, so it’s not like she’s innocent in all of this.”

Maddy said, “That’s true, but Wade has reached a new low, even for him. I can’t imagine what Greg must be feeling. We should call him.”

“I already did, but he didn’t answer. I left him a message to call me if he needed me, but there’s not much else I can do.”

“Young love. Who needs it?” Maddy asked.

“Hearts seem to break easier then, don’t they?”

Maddy nodded, and then started to leave. She stopped at the door, looked back at me, and said, “I nearly forgot. I need two large specials with extra anchovies, capers, hot peppers, and pineapple.”

“You’re kidding, right?” I’ve been known to throw almost anything on a pizza, but even
I
had my limits.

“That’s what took me so long. I tried to talk them out of it, but they insisted.”

“To each his own,” I answered as I made the pizzas. As they went through the oven on the conveyor, I couldn’t help worrying about Greg. Seeing Katy with anyone else would be bad, but finding her with his brother had to kill him. I just hoped he didn’t do anything stupid because of it.

We finally got our last customer out of the pizzeria, and I still hadn’t heard from Greg. Knowing him, I figured he was out driving around, trying to figure out how his love life had managed to fall apart so quickly. I wouldn’t trade places with him for anything in the world.

Maddy came back and was pleasantly surprised that the kitchen was clean. “You started without me,” she said.

“We had a lull, so I thought I’d take care of the dishes while I had the chance.”

“Good. I’m beat,” she said.

“Go on home,” I said. I’d already sent Josh home, since he had a test the next day that he’d admitted he’d failed to study for.

“No, I’m good,” Maddy said. “I’ll hang around a little longer.”

I started to say something, when I finally got it. “You’re not going to leave here until I do, are you?”

“What’s wrong with that? I work here, too.”

“There’s more to it than that,” I said. “Don’t even try to lie to me. You’re going to hover over me until I go home.” I was kind of psychic when it came to my sister. She could fool a great many people if she put her mind to it, but Maddy had never been able to lie to me.

“It’s my fault you got robbed last night,” Maddy said, her voice breaking with the confession.

“Were you the one holding a gun on me? The thief wasn’t as tall as you, and don’t try to tell me you slouched down. Besides, I would have recognized your voice, no matter how hard you tried to disguise it.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Then if you weren’t holding the gun, how was it your fault?”

Maddy was fighting the tears, and I gave her time to compose herself. After a minute, she said, “If I’d been with you, he wouldn’t have risked taking on two of us.”

I hugged my sister, and then I said, “Maddy, I know in my heart that it wouldn’t have stopped him. He had a gun, and neither one of us did. The only thing it would have accomplished is that both of us would have been terrified.”

“Even so, you shouldn’t have had to face it alone,” Maddy said sternly. “I left you.”

“I’m the one who told you to go home, remember? Listen, we can debate this all night, but nothing’s going to change the facts. There wasn’t anything either one of us could have done to stop him.”

“I’m still staying,” she said as she leaned against the wall and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Fine. But I’m not ready to go yet. I have to balance the register receipts, make out the deposit, and sweep up the front.”

“At least that part’s done,” she said. “Josh and I cleaned up the dining room after the last customer left.”

“Good enough. I suppose if I can’t talk you out of staying, you can watch me work. I always did like having an audience.”

“Liar,” she said, finally releasing some of the tension that had been between us.

I laughed. “Okay, I hate attention, but I’ll make an exception for you.”

As I ran the report on the cash register, I counted the money we had. It balanced on the first try—miracle of all miracles—and I filled out the deposit slip and slid it into the bag, along with the money we were banking.

“Now what do I do with it?” I asked, more to myself than to my sister.

“One thing we’re not doing,” she said as she took the pouch from me, “we’re not walking out the front door with it.”

“Agreed,” I said. “So, where does that leave us until the safe arrives?”

My sister looked around the kitchen for a minute, nodded, and then slid the pouch on the conveyor into the heart of the pizza oven. Unless a crook knew where to look, it was doubtful he’d be able to spot the bag there.

“What if somebody breaks in because they’re craving a pizza?” I asked jokingly.

“Then they get a bonus for their trouble, but do you honestly think that’s going to happen?”

“No, but then again, I never thought anyone in Timber Ridge would rob me.”

“We can put it someplace else, if you’d feel more comfortable,” Maddy said.

“That’s as good a spot as any,” I said. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

“I agree.”

As we walked outside, Maddy said loudly, “There’s no money on us tonight. Just two poor gals going home after a hard day’s work.”

I looked around to see who she was talking to, but there was no one in sight. “What’s that about?”

Maddy smiled. “If the robber came back to steal again, I wanted to give him fair warning that we weren’t carrying any cash on us.”

Just then, someone stepped out of the shadows, and I felt my heart drop to my knees.

Maddy’s hand dove into her purse, but I stopped her before she could pull out her stun gun.

“It’s okay,” I told her. Turning to the uniformed officer I’d met the night before, I said, “Good evening, Officer Garvin. Thanks for coming by to check on us.”

He nodded. “I’m supposed to make sure you get to your car safely.”

“We’re fine,” Maddy said.

“I can see that, but it’s the chief’s orders, and I’m not about to ignore them.”

As the three of us walked toward the back parking lot together, I said to him, “I’m sorry if you got in trouble last night. It’s not fair, the chief putting you on the graveyard shift just for standing up for me.” As I said the last part, a shiver ran down my back. “Graveyard” probably wasn’t the best choice of words.

“It’s absolutely not a problem,” he said. “To be honest with you, I kind of like working this time of night. Everything’s quiet, you know?” He paused, then added, “Well, at least it usually is.”

We were finally at our cars, and after I thanked him for the escort, the officer nodded his head toward us and walked away.

“He’s nice,” Maddy said. She’d been oddly quiet during our walk.

“He seems to be.”

Maddy added thoughtfully, “I wonder if he’s single?”

“He’s not exactly your type, is he?”

Maddy said, “He’s not too young for me, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“No, but I can’t imagine that he’s rich enough.”

“That’s not fair,” Maddy said. “My first husband didn’t have much money.”

“And less by the time you were finished with him,” I said.

“You’ve got a point.” She yawned, and then said, “I’m going home. It was a long day, wasn’t it?”

“They get that way sometimes. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

We got into our cars and drove away in different directions. I’d half-expected her to follow me home, and I was gratified to see her drive toward her apartment, instead. I was a grown woman, perfectly able to take care of myself.

But I had to admit that I’d felt better walking to my car with a police escort. I had to give Kevin Hurley credit for that. He took his job seriously, no matter how he was feeling about me at the moment.

I’d been in my house that morning just long enough to shower and change clothes after staying all night with Maddy, so it was good to be home for the night. Whenever I was away from it, I missed it, and not just because of the comfort I felt being around my own things.

No, there was more to it than that. I could sense Joe’s presence there more than anywhere else in the world, including the pizzeria. He’d poured his heart and soul into our house renovation, and I could swear there was still a part of him there in it. I was glad I had that. There was no gravestone marking my husband’s passing, no monument or memorial. Per his wishes, I’d had him cremated, and his ashes were spread in the Appalachian Mountains, tenderly poured into a stream, where they’d be among some of the places he loved best. It was a fitting end, and one I’d arranged to share with him someday.

But for now, I had him all around me.

I took a quick shower, then headed off for bed. Usually, I needed to read at least a little every night before going to sleep, but Maddy had been right. For some reason, the day had been particularly trying, and I felt as though my energy had been drained from me by more than just work.

At two minutes after three, I was jolted awake by the telephone. The only thing I could think of was that Greg had finally decided to take me up on my offer to talk.

How I wish that was what the phone call had been about.

“G
reg?” I asked as I rubbed my eyes with my free hand after grabbing my telephone. “Is that you?”

“Now why would you say that?” Chief Hurley asked.

“Sorry, Kevin, I thought it was Greg Hatcher. I told him to give me a call, no matter how late he got in. What’s going on?” I stared blearily at the clock, trying to make out the numbers. As the fog started to clear, I could see that it was two minutes past three in the morning. That helped wake me more than a cup of coffee. “What’s going on? Did something happen to Maddy?” She was the only real family I had left, so it was pretty natural that my thoughts would go straight to her.

“No, as far as I know, your sister’s fine. I’m not sure I can say the same about your deliveryman, though.”

“Oh, no. Something happened to Greg, didn’t it?”

“Besides the fact that I can’t find him, I wouldn’t care to speculate on that. Do you have any idea where he might be?”

None of this was making any sense. “Hang on a second. Why are you looking for Greg? What happened?”

“You’re going to find out soon enough, so I might as well tell you now. Somebody took a rolling pin to the back of his brother’s head, and the way they’ve been fighting lately, it just makes sense that I want to talk to him.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Do you honestly think Greg had something to do with the attack on his brother?”

“It’s more than assault, Eleanor. It’s murder. He died on the scene.”

“And you think Greg is the murderer.”

“I didn’t say that I thought he did it, just that I needed to interview him.” He paused a second, then added, “I’m not ready to say he’s not a killer, either. That’s why we need to have a conversation as quickly as possible. The only problem is, I can’t find him.”

“So you thought I might know where he was,” I said, finally clearing out some of the cobwebs left over from being suddenly awakened.

“That’s not the only reason for this call,” he said. “I need you to come down to your restaurant.”

“What’s wrong? Are you hungry?”

“No, and even if I were, it wouldn’t do me any good. You can’t exactly make me something to eat. It’s a crime scene right now.”

“Please don’t tell me you’re at the Slice,” I said as I rubbed my eyes again.

“I wish I didn’t have to. Wade was murdered in your kitchen. I need you to get down here as soon as you can.”

“You don’t need me to identify the body, do you? Honestly, I didn’t really know Wade all that well.” The gears in my mind were spinning at an alarming rate, and mostly I was thinking about Greg, and the different ways his brother had pushed him in the last twenty-four hours. Could it have been hard enough to make him commit murder?

The police chief said, “Don’t worry, I know Wade by sight, so there’s no doubt about that. What I need to know is if the murder weapon belongs to you.”

“A murderer isn’t likely to carry a rolling pin around with him waiting for an opportunity to use it, is he?”

“Are you coming down on your own, or do I need to send a car after you?” It was easy to hear the weariness in his voice.

“I’ll be there in ten minutes,” I said.

I hung up the phone and called Maddy. I’d expected to wake her up, but I was surprised to hear music playing in the background when she answered.

“You’re not even asleep yet?” I asked.

“I tried, but it wasn’t working out, so I decided to make myself a pitcher of margaritas, instead. Come on over, we’ll make it a party.”

“Not tonight,” I said. “Somebody killed Greg Hatcher’s brother, and the police can’t find Greg.”

“Hang on a second,” she said. I heard the telephone clatter to the floor, and the music died abruptly. “That’s better. Why did the chief call you?”

“He wants me to identify the murder weapon. Someone used a rolling pin on Wade.”

“And he thinks you know who owns all the rolling pins in town?”

“Did I forget to tell you? It happened in the pizzeria’s kitchen, and Kevin thinks the pin belongs to me.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Maddy said, “Swing by and get me on your way. I’m going with you.”

“I’d hate to interrupt your party,” I said, though I’d been hoping that would be my sister’s reaction to the news.

“I can’t drive myself, I’ve had a bit too much to drink, but if you don’t pick me up, I’m going to risk it anyway.”

“I’ll be there in six minutes,” I said, hanging up as I reached for a pair of blue jeans and a T-shirt.

I made it in five, and Maddy was out front waiting for me.

“What took you so long?” she asked as she got into the Subaru.

“I had to get dressed first, unlike some people,” I said.

As I drove to the pizzeria, Maddy said, “It’s just awful about what happened, isn’t it? I can’t believe Greg’s brother is dead.”

“From what I’ve been hearing about the guy lately, I’m a little surprised that it took someone this long to get rid of him.” I immediately regretted my flip choice of words. I didn’t even know the young man, and here I was slamming his memory. “Strike that,” I said. “My only excuse is that I’m still half-asleep and completely exhausted. I hated the way Wade jerked Greg around, but that’s no excuse for being so callous about his death.”

“It’s okay if you talk that way to me, goodness knows I’ve said plenty of worse things about our fellow citizens, but I wouldn’t say anything like that to the police chief.”

“I’m not that crazy,” I said. “I just wish I knew where Greg was.”

“It doesn’t look good for him, does it?”

I glanced over at Maddy, who was watching the road as intently as I had just been. Somehow she had managed to sober up from her party night. Finding out about a murder had probably done the trick, and if that hadn’t been enough, having Greg as the number one suspect was probably enough to manage it. “Maddy, you don’t actually think Greg had anything to do with this, do you?”

“Come on, Eleanor, we both like him, but we have to face facts. First there’s the dispute over his grandparents’ estate, and then Katy gets caught with Wade on the couch, and that all just happened this evening. Who knows what any of us would do when we’re pushed that hard?”

“I don’t believe it,” I said. “Greg wouldn’t kill anybody.”

Maddy stroked my arm. “In my heart I don’t believe it either, but we have to tell Kevin what we know.”

I slowed the car so I could look at her. “Why should we tell him anything? He prides himself on his great detecting skills. Let him figure it out for himself.”

“If we’re the ones who tell him, we can try to give it a little positive spin. If he finds out on his own, it could be much worse.”

“I don’t see how,” I said as I resumed driving.

“Really? Tell me you can’t see Katy Johnson blubbering all over Kevin about how this whole thing is her fault. She’ll make this all about her, that Greg killed Wade out of his love for her. Is that a notion we want the police entertaining for one second?”

“No, I guess you’re right. It just feels like I’m being disloyal to Greg,” I said.

“When in fact, it’s just the opposite.”

I parked in front of the shop, despite my ingrained routine of parking in back, and saw that three police cruisers had ignored the parking lot completely and were on the brick promenade itself. There was plenty of room there, since the space had originally been a road before the city fathers had covered it with pavers and converted it into a parklike atmosphere.

“This isn’t going to be pretty,” I said as Maddy and I approached the rest of the way on foot.

“At least we’ve got each other,” she said.

Officer Garvin was out front, evidently waiting for us. “The chief wants to see you inside,” he said.

“Thanks,” I said as Maddy and I walked into the pizzeria.

Kevin was standing by the door, examining the wooden frame. “Did you lock up tonight?”

“I’m sure I did,” I said. “Why?”

“There’s no sign of forced entry,” he said flatly.

Maddy said, “You were distracted tonight, Eleanor, remember? I’m not at all sure you locked the door when we left.”

I looked at her quizzically as Kevin said, “Nice try, but it’s too late to cover for your boy. Greg has a key to the place, doesn’t he?”

“Not that I know of,” I said.

“Are you trying to tell me that a store employee doesn’t have a key to your pizzeria? Think hard before you answer. This is an official police inquiry.”

“Not specifically,” I said. “There’s a key on a hook by the kitchen door, in case someone besides Maddy or me has to open.”

“What about locking the door when you left here tonight? Do you remember doing it?”

I tried to think back to that evening. “You’re not going to like my answer, but I honestly don’t know. Maddy might be right. I remember getting my key out, but then we were interrupted, and I can’t be sure I locked it.” I saw thunderclouds roll across his brow, so I added, “It’s the truth, Kevin. I’m not covering for anyone.”

“Who interrupted you?” Kevin asked.

“Officer Garvin,” I admitted.

“Stay right here.” Kevin walked outside, and I glanced back toward my kitchen. Someone had propped the door open, and I could see the body still lying there, a rolling pin—
my rolling pin
—on the floor beside it, along with a thin-crust pizza. I could tell that pin from thirty paces, since it had a stain on it from an earlier disastrous attempt to roll out a dessert crust with blueberries embedded in it.

Kevin came back in. “He doesn’t remember seeing you lock the door, but that doesn’t mean you didn’t do it.”

“Even if we had,” Maddy said, “someone could have snagged that key, made a copy, and put it back without either one of us noticing it.”

“Anything’s possible,” he said, then softened his next words. “I hate to ask you this, but I need you to identify—”

I cut him off. “The rolling pin’s mine. I can see the blueberry stains on it from here.”

He nodded, at least satisfied with that part of our conversation. “We’ll need it for evidence, but you’ll get it back eventually.”

“Forget it. I’m going to go out and buy another one. Have you had any luck finding Greg?”

The chief shook his head. “I’ve checked his apartment, his folks’ house, and his girlfriend’s place, but he’s officially a missing person of interest right now.”

“You didn’t actually talk to Katy, did you?” I blurted out.

“No, she wasn’t there. Why? Should I?”

“There’s something you should know,” I said. “It doesn’t mean anything, but if you hear it first from her, it’s going to sound a lot worse than it is.”

“I’m listening,” he said.

I took a deep breath, then said, “Katy was at Wade’s this evening, and Greg caught them together.”

“Were they in bed?”

“Of course not,” I said, though I wouldn’t have put it past Katy. “They were on the couch, kissing. Greg broke up with her earlier, and she was trying to get back at him.”

“How’d he know she’d be there?” Kevin asked, his gaze piercing mine.

I reluctantly admitted, “Wade called him. Greg was upset, but not enough to hurt his brother.”

Kevin rubbed his chin. “I don’t know. That added to the fight over the grandparents’ will are both pretty good reasons.”

“But he didn’t do it,” I said.

“If he didn’t, why can’t we find him, then?” Kevin asked softly.

Maddy butted in. “He probably doesn’t even know you’re looking for him. It’s not against the law to go off by yourself without telling anyone where you’re headed, is it?”

Kevin took a few deep breaths; then he said, “Come on, ladies, even you two have to admit that it looks bad for the kid. I like him too, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to wear blinders on this case. If he did it, I need to catch him, and the sooner I do that, the better off he’ll be.”

“I’m not sure of the logic of that,” I said, “but think about it. If I knew where he was, would I have mistaken your telephone call for his?”

“Why did you think he was calling you at three in the morning?” Kevin asked. “There’s not something going on there I should know about, is there?”

“Kevin Hurley, you should wash your mind out with soap. He’s young enough to be my nephew. When Katy came by and told us what she’d done, I thought Greg might need someone to talk to, so I called and left him a message that he could phone me, any time of day or night.”

He seemed to take that in, and then finally said, “If you hear from him, find out where he is. Better yet, urge him to turn himself in.”

“I’ll think about it,” I said.

“Eleanor, that wasn’t a request—it was an order.”

It was all I could do not to salute him, but I managed to keep still. “Understood.” I looked back toward the kitchen, not able to make myself stare at the body again. “When can I have my restaurant back? I know it sounds cold, but I can’t afford to just shut down.”

“I should be able to let you have it tomorrow,” he said. “I’d suggest that you take a day off and enjoy it.”

“I can’t see that happening. Are you certain I can’t have it back any sooner?”

“It might even be later if you keep talking to me while I should be working. I’ll call you when I’ve got a better idea of where we stand on the investigation.”

I was about to lash out at him when Maddy grabbed my arm hard enough to hurt. “Thanks, Chief.”

She was practically shoving me back to my car.

“Why exactly did we just give up so easily?” I asked.

“Have you ever won an argument like that with him in your life?”

“No, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t at least try,” I said.

“Agreed, but let’s save our battles for another day. Right now, we both need some sleep. In the morning, we’ll be able to think about this with clearer heads.”

“I’m too wired up to rest,” I said.

“Then come in when we get to my place. I’ve got half a pitcher of margaritas left, and I can’t think of a better late-night drink than that. It surely beats the daylights out of warm milk for a bedtime toddy. Come on, what do you say?”

“Why not?”

“That’s the spirit.”

I didn’t think I’d ever get to sleep once we got back to her apartment, but by four
A.M
., I was curled up in Maddy’s spare pajamas, and drifting slowly off to sleep in her guest bedroom.