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“Don’t tell me. You two haven’t had time to make that list for me,” Kevin Hurley said as he came back into the Slice thirty minutes after we’d reopened. Maddy was handling the light load in the kitchen, while I made my presence felt out front. It was a custom we’d started a month ago, and it was still going to take me time to get used to it. Since our customer base was usually light for a few hours when we reopened, Maddy got to keep up her pizza-making skills, and I got out of the kitchen for a little while. By the time we started getting busy again around five, both of us were ready to switch back, and Greg came in to help out before he started making night deliveries. It was more important now than ever that my sister could handle everything on our menu. Once things settled down, I was determined to take the vacation I’d been promising myself for years. It would be a perfect present from my late husband, Joe.
“I’ve got our list right here,” I said, clearly taking the fight right out of him.
As he looked over the names we’d compiled, he nodded a few times, and as I’d expected, he commented on Art Young’s name. “Maybe now you’ll see how bad it is having a known felon in your restaurant all of the time.”
“Has he ever been convicted of anything?” I asked, already knowing the answer. Art and I had developed an odd friendship of late, one that even Maddy had trouble understanding. I didn’t see what the problem was. He loved pizza, and I loved making it. That was normally where it began and ended. I’d done a few inadvertent favors for him over the past several months, and he kept telling me I had favors of my own coming to me in return. They were chits I never planned to cash.
“You know he hasn’t,” Kevin said. “He’s been charged three times, but he keeps managing to squirm off the hook.”
“I don’t know anything about that,” I said, “but if what you’re saying is true, isn’t he a little too polished for the bank robbery? If he were going to do it, I’d expect something more elegant than using a pizza menu for a hold-up note.”
“Maybe he did it on purpose to throw us off track,” Kevin said stubbornly.
“And maybe Nancy Tolbert’s retirement money ran out and she decided to rob a bank herself.”
“Yeah, I’ll keep that in mind,” Kevin said. “Has business fallen off any?”
“So far, it’s been just the opposite. We’re like some kind of curiosity, I think. I don’t know how long it will last, though.”
“Folks around here trust you.” He tapped the list again, then said, “Thanks for doing this.”
“You’re welcome,” I said. “I want to see whoever killed Hank pay for what he did.”
Kevin nodded. “Don’t worry, I’m going to make sure it happens.”
After Kevin was gone, I picked up the phone and dialed Art Young’s number. It was private, a direct line, and no one else had answered the two times I’d called before.
“Art, it’s Eleanor Swift.”
“Good afternoon, Eleanor,” he said.
I wasn’t thrilled about admitting what I’d just done, but I would rather he heard it from me before Kevin Hurley came to talk to him. “Art, the police were here asking about who came into my restaurant yesterday.”
Before I could finish, he said, “And you gave them my name. I appreciate the notice, but you didn’t have any choice, did you? Half a dozen folks saw me there, and I’m sure they would all be delighted to tell the chief the same thing.”
“I just didn’t want you to find out when the police came to your door.”
He chuckled softly. “The concern is noted, but I’ve been waiting for his visit since I heard the details of what happened. Thank you for calling.”
“You’re welcome,” I said, hanging up as Maddy walked out front.
“Who was that on the phone?”
“I was talking to Art Young,” I said.
“Why is he calling here?”
“As a matter of fact, I was the one who called him.”
“Sis, have you lost your mind? The man’s all kinds of trouble, and you know it.”
“You don’t feel that way when we need information from him,” I said. “Why should we act any differently towards him now? He’s never done anything to us except try to help whenever he can.”
“Fine, it’s your place. I’m just trying to look out for you.”
“I appreciate the offer, but I’m a big girl. I can handle it myself. What’s up?”
“We’re running low on cheese,” she said.
“Did you check the back fridge? We got some in last week.”
“If it’s there, I didn’t see it.”
I nodded. “Take the front for a second. I’ll go see if I can find it.”
I went back into my kitchen, and I found the bagged cheese hiding behind a bag of lettuce. Without a word, I retrieved it and brought it back to Maddy.
“Here you go.”
Maddy shook her head as I handed her the cheese.
“What’s that look for?” I asked.
“You know your kitchen too well. I still say it’s time you got away.”
I nodded. “I agree.”
“It’s important that you... what did you say?”
“I just agreed with you,” I said.
Maddy looked shocked. “When are you leaving?”
“I need some time to plan first so I can be impulsive,” I said.
“Only you would say something like that,” Maddy said. “I hope you’ll excuse me, but I’ll believe it when I see you take off.”
“Just wait.”
She retreated back into the kitchen, but before she could go, I asked, “Did you happen to make a copy of that list I gave the chief?”
“No, I didn’t think about it. Why, did you?”
“It completely slipped my mind. We’ll have to do our best to recreate it, if we’re going to look into this ourselves.”
“What happened to your vacation?”
“First we solve the bank robbery, and find out who dragged us into it using one of our menus, and then I’ll think about going away.”
“I’ll get right on it, then.”
A few customers came in, and after taking their orders and supplying them with drinks, I walked back to the kitchen to give Maddy their requests. It was getting close to five, the time we normally switched.
“Do you want me to make these?” I asked as I held the orders in the air.
“That sounds good to me,” she said as she changed aprons. “You know I’m more comfortable out front. Greg should be here any minute to give me a hand if things get crazy.”
“If he’s heard anything about the robbery, I want to hear it too, okay? Greg has more sources of information in town than anybody I know.”
“Trust me, I’ll let you know the second he tells me anything.”
Ten minutes later, Greg Hatcher walked back into the kitchen. “Hey, I heard you wanted to see me. You’re not firing me, are you?”
“Why on earth would you ask me that? Have you done something that would make me want to let you go?”
He grinned. “Not intentionally, but you never know.”
I tried to match his smile. “No, I’m not firing you. What have you heard about the bank robbery?”
“Eleanor, I’m insulted that you just assume I’ve heard something about it. That doesn’t speak very well about my character, does it?”
“I’m not accusing you of snooping,” I said hastily. “I just thought you might have learned something.”
“Of course I’ve been snooping,” he said with a grin. “Not that I’ve had to dig that hard. Everyone in town is talking about it. Whoever robbed the bank wasn’t very good at it, but they managed to get lucky.”
“Why’s that?”
“It’s the fifteenth of the month, and that means that the bank was loading up their tills to cash checks.”
I hadn’t even thought of that. “What makes you think it was luck? This could have been planned for weeks, or even months.”
“Then why use a pizza menu for the note? If the robbery were that well planned, the thief could have at least come up with a sheet of blank paper to use.”
“Unless they wanted to implicate me, or someone else at the pizzeria,” I said.
“Isn’t that being just a little bit paranoid?”
“Hey, even paranoids are right some of the time. How much money are we talking about?”
“I’ve heard it was upwards of five hundred thousand dollars,” he said.
I whistled. “Could it possibly have been that much?”
“Of course not. It’s probably under a hundred thousand, but you know how rumors go. By tonight it will be ten times that.”
“Still, it’s a lot of money.”
“Not enough to make it worth killing someone for,” Greg said. “I can’t imagine being that desperate for money.”
“I hope neither one of us ever is. Have you heard anything about Hank’s family? How are they taking it?”
“From what I’ve heard, they’re all pretty devastated. Knowing Timber Ridge, I’m sure they’ve been flooded with cakes, pies, casseroles, and chickens, and more side dishes than you could believe. You know how folks around here are when there’s a tragedy.”
I did indeed. When Joe had died I hadn’t had to cook for a month, just eating around the edges of all of the food I’d gotten. That’s what we did in the South. When there was a reason to grieve, food appeared soon after the first tears.
“Maybe I’ll take them a few pizzas this evening,” I said.
“I’ll be glad to do it,” Greg volunteered.
“I appreciate the thought, but I should do it myself. He was a good customer, and from what I could tell, a really nice guy.”
Greg nodded. “It’s tough.” He drummed his fingers on the counter. “If that’s it, I’d better get back to work. I don’t want Maddy to fuss about me shirking my duties.”
“My sister wouldn’t do that, would she?”
Greg shook his head. “No, not Maddy,” he said with a laugh.
Ten seconds after going through the door, he was back, and his smile had been replaced by a grim expression.
“What’s wrong? Did something just happen?”
“There’s too many of them,” he said. “See for yourself.”
I walked through the door, wondering what had spooked Greg so badly. The noise started slowly, but built in a heartbeat as I crossed into the dining room. There were thirty kindergartners storming the pizza parlor, with two teachers and another two chaperones trying in vain to make them behave.
“What’s going on?” I asked Maddy as I approached the register.
She was laughing as she said, “Greg freaked out when he saw all of these kids. They’re hilarious, aren’t they?”
Two couples that were starting to come in saw the crowd and immediately left.
“I don’t know how funny it is,” I said. “This is going to cost us money.”
“They don’t plan on getting their food for free,” Maddy said. “We’ll do okay.”
A young woman who wore a badge that said i’m the teacher approached us. “I hate to do this to you, but I’m desperate. I’ve got thirty-four people, but I’ve just got a hundred dollars in my food budget. Our bus keeps breaking down, and we’ve already missed our field trip as it is. This is absolutely the worst day of my life.”
Maddy started to speak when I said, “How about a small Coke and a large slice of cheese pizza for everyone? Will that work for you?”
“But—” Maddy started to say when I cut her off and changed her sentence to, “But we’ll have to make it quick.”
“You’re an angel,” she said.
After she was gone, my sister said, “How are you going to make any money giving our food away?”
“Sometimes there are more important things than money. You get them all drinks, but tell them no refills, and I’ll get started on the pizzas.”
“You’ve lost your mind. You know that, don’t you?”
“If I didn’t, I’d always have you around to remind me,” I said.
“You need to help Maddy,” I told Greg as I came back into the kitchen.
“I knew I should have stayed home today,” he said.
“They’re just little kids,” I said.
“But there are so many of them,” he said as he reluctantly left.
I started kneading pizza dough into our extra-large pans, adding sauce and cheese as I finished each one and slid it onto the conveyor. When the first one was finished, I cut it, bit my lip, and then carried it out into the dining room.
To my surprise, it was as quiet as could be, and as I handed Maddy the pizza and Greg got paper plates, I asked softly, “What happened?”
“I’ve got new respect for this gal,” Maddy said. “She told them there might not be enough pizza to go around, and if anyone was loud, they’d go to the end of the line. I’m a big fan of bribery myself.”
I wasn’t sure how I felt about it, but then again, I didn’t have to deal with the mob of little ones she handled every day. As the pizzas slowly made their way out of the kitchen and into the hungry young tummies, I took a second to clean a little before I rejoined my employees after I was finished cooking. After all, rank had to have some kind of privilege.
By the time I made it back out, the kids were gone, and the teacher was handing Maddy a fistful of sweaty singles. “Sorry, it’s the way they brought money from home.”
“That’ll be fine,” I said.
“But don’t come back, right?” the teacher asked with a smile.
“You’re welcome any time,” I said.
She nodded. “I’m going to take you up on that, but the next time I’ll bring a date and leave the kids.”
Maddy tried to put the singles into the register, but they wouldn’t all fit.
“I’ll cash them in for you,” I said. While I had the safe open, I went ahead and made out a deposit slip and gathered the cash and checks on hand. It was just as well that I hadn’t gone out to the bank yet. I was going to make a deposit at my bank, and then snoop around a little while I was there.
I returned with four twenties and two tens, then told Maddy and Greg, “You two need to cover the pizzeria while I’m gone. I need to go to the bank.”
“Are you going to make a deposit, or snoop around a little?” Maddy asked.
“I was thinking about doing a little bit of both,” I admitted.
“Do you honestly think that you’ll be able to dig around some while you’re there?”
“I don’t see why not. There’s only one thing. Do you think the bank’s even open after what happened?”
Maddy shrugged. “Why don’t you call and find out? You can save yourself a trip if they’re not.”
“But then I wouldn’t get out of the Slice for a few minutes, would I? Don’t worry. I won’t be gone long. See you soon.”
I got in my car and drove to the bank, hoping that they were open, but a part of me dreaded going there so soon after Hank’s murder.
There were three squad cars parked out front, and no foot traffic coming in or out of the building. As I got closer, I saw a sign that said closed until further notice. So much for that line of investigation. I was just about to drive off when I noticed Haley Young standing by her car in the parking lot talking to another woman. Haley was normally the teller at the drive-through window where I did most of my business.
I pulled near them and approached the two women on foot.
Haley saw me before I could say hello first. “Sorry, we’re still closed, Ms. Swift.”
“Any idea how long it will be?”
“Mr. Murphy, the bank manager, called us to come back in this afternoon, but it looks like the police aren’t finished yet. We just found out we’re going to reopen in the morning. I hate you made a trip for nothing.”
“It’s not a problem. I was sorry to hear about Hank.”
Haley frowned and bit her lip, and I noticed that her eyes were red. “It was terrible. I’m the one they robbed.”
Her fellow teller touched her shoulder gently. “It wasn’t your fault, Haley. Even the police said so.”
“If I’d just been quicker handing the money over, Hank might not have gotten killed.”
“Haley, you can’t blame yourself,” I said.
She shrugged. “I can’t help myself.”
“Do you remember much about the person who robbed you?”
“Trust me, I went over it pretty thoroughly with the police. They had me look at the security camera videos a thousand times, but I still couldn’t tell who it was. The robber wore a mask and dark clothing; that’s all I knew.”
“How about the voice?”
She shook her head. “He didn’t say a word, just handed the pizza menu over to me. For a second I thought it might be someone from the Slice.”
That sent a chill down my spine. “Why was that?”
“Not because of how they looked. It was just that a pizza menu was an odd thing to use in a bank robbery.”
“You’re telling me. There are a ton of rumors swirling around town.” I lowered my voice, though no one was close enough to hear us talking. “Do they have any idea how much was taken?”
Haley shrugged. “If they do, they haven’t shared the information with me. Besides, the money’s not important,” she said as she started crying.
Her friend hugged her, but it seemed to have no impact on Haley. Her tears were real, and they were plentiful. She was grieving her lost friend, I was making matters worse with my questioning.
I touched her arm lightly. “I didn’t mean to upset you. Haley, I’m really sorry it happened.”
“So am I,” she managed to say between crying jags.
I nodded to her friend, then got back in my car and headed back to the Slice. Haley was right. The money didn’t matter. It was insured, and all of it would be replaced soon enough. What couldn’t be replaced was Hank Webber’s life.
When I got back to the pizzeria, there was a sparse crowd in the dining room, with just a few tables taken.
Greg looked at the bulging deposit bag. “They were still closed?”
“Until tomorrow. How are things going here?”
“Slow at the moment, but you know how fast that can change.”
I nodded.
Maddy was in the kitchen sweeping the floor. “I got so bored I started cleaning up,” she said. “I’m glad you’re back.”
“Don’t be too glad. I’m making a couple of pizzas, then I’m taking them to the Webber house. Do you mind watching the kitchen a little more while I’m gone?”
“I just wish I could go with you,” Maddy said.
“Somebody needs to stay here and cook,” I said as I put the deposit back in the safe and washed up.
“I could always deliver them for you,” she said.
“Thanks, but this is something I need to do myself.”
“I understand.”
Maddy stepped out of the way as I prepared two pizzas, one just cheese, and the other our specialty combo.
After they were on the conveyor, I asked, “Did anything happen while I was gone?”
“Eleanor, you left fifteen minutes ago. What could have possibly happened?”
“I don’t know. There could have been another parade of kindergartners.”
She shook her head. “I think Greg would quit if that happened again soon.”
Josh Hurley came back into the kitchen to work his shift, and I marveled how much the son looked like the father. It was like staring at a living high school yearbook picture sometimes when the light caught him just so.
“Things are really dead out front,” he said as he grabbed his apron. Some of the young men who worked for me weren’t thrilled about the aprons, but I thought they added a nice touch, and after all, I was the boss.
“I’m sure they’ll pick up soon,” I said. “In the meantime, you can give Greg a hand bussing tables.”
“I’m on it,” he said.
Before he could go, I asked, “Josh, did your dad talk to you about the murder at the bank today yet?”
He frowned, then said, “Are you kidding? He grilled me for twenty minutes. Like I told him, I didn’t hand out any menus yesterday, and I didn’t see anybody suspicious taking one here, either. It’s a shame about Hank. He was a good guy.”
“You knew him?” Maddy asked.
“Just to say hi to, nothing more than that,” Josh said. “Is that it, or do you two have more questions for me?”
“Go to work,” I said as I threw him a clean towel.
He saluted. “Yes, ma’am.”
As soon as the pizzas were done, I cut them, put them in boxes, then I slid the pizzas into an insulated bag that would keep them warm until they were delivered.
Maddy asked, “Are you sure you don’t want me to deliver those for you?”
I had half a mind to take her up on her offer, but instead, I said, “No, this is something I should do myself.” I trusted my sister to ask the right questions, but I wasn’t sure she could be as circumspect as I was, despite evidence to the contrary about how poorly I’d done with Haley.
“Okay. We’ll see you soon.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t be long.”
When I walked out into the dining room, a few more tables were filling up, and I wondered if I should let Maddy make the delivery after all. I knew she didn’t mind working in the kitchen during slow times, but when the orders started rolling in, she tended to omit or add items that weren’t included, sometimes with disastrous results.
It wouldn’t be long, I promised myself, and it would be good practice for her.
At least that’s what I kept telling myself as I headed for my car.
“You brought pizza,” Valerie Marne said as I walked toward Hank’s house. “How creative of you, Eleanor.” Hank had been widowed two years before, and some of the older ladies in town had taken a sudden interest in his welfare soon after, but he hadn’t let himself get tied down to any of them.
“I realize that not everyone thinks of pizza at a time like this, but I thought Hank’s grandkids might enjoy having something they like,” I said.
“How interesting that you’d think that,” Valerie said.
Jenny Usher, another of Hank’s part-time lady friends, said, “Val, are you going to keep her standing there all night, or are you going to let the poor woman in?”
It was pretty clear there was no love lost between the two rivals. “Jenny, don’t be so melodramatic. I’m not keeping her out.”
“Good,” Jenny said. “Then why don’t you come with me into the kitchen, Eleanor. The kids are going to love you for this.”
“How are they holding up?” I asked.
Jenny said softly, “They don’t quite get it yet, but their momma’s taking it pretty hard. I don’t blame Karen one little bit. First there was the separation last year, then she had to file bankruptcy because of that no-good husband of hers, and now this. Her ex is nowhere to be found, of course, but what would you expect?”
“Nothing less, clearly,” a voice said sternly behind me. I recognized it as Karen’s immediately. I hadn’t seen her much lately, and it was hard to believe that the vivacious girl I’d known in high school had become this mousy woman with dull brown hair. She’d been a freshman my senior year, so I hadn’t really been that close to her, but even then she’d managed to shine.
“Now Karen, there’s no reason to get upset. I didn’t mean anything by it,” Jenny said quickly.
“Oh, I’m not disagreeing with you,” Karen said. “But you’ve got it all wrong. Chuck wanted to come as soon as he heard, but I wouldn’t let him. Dad hated him, and he has no business showing up here now.”
“There, there,” Jenny said.
Karen started to pull away, then she focused on me. Her wan look broke into a brief smile. “My kids are going to think you’re a hero,” she said as she took in the pizza boxes. “All of the kids will. They’re back in the den playing video games. I know some people think it’s shameless,” she said as she looked over at Valerie, “but Dad wouldn’t have wanted them to be sad. He loved them so much.”
“He loved you, too, Karen,” Jenny said.
“We had our moments,” she said as she took the pizzas from me. “Thanks, Eleanor. It was really sweet of you to think of us.”
“It’s my pleasure. I was a big fan of your father’s,” I said.
“He loved eating at the Slice,” she said, and I saw fresh tears start to appear. “I’ll get these to the kids before they get cold.”
She was gone before I could say anything else. “She looks rough. How’s she managing with all of this?”
Jenny paused a moment, then said, “She’s dealing with it, and that’s really all anyone can do at a time like this.”
I looked around at the crowd of people milling about. “And this is just the beginning, isn’t it?”
“Her best friend is coming home tonight, and in the meantime, Val and I are acting as surrogate hostesses.”
“How’s that going?” I asked, barely being able to hide a slight smile. “Are you two getting along?”
“She handles the door, and I take care of everything else. For some reason, it was very important that Val get front-door duty.” Jenny shook her head, then said, “Let’s get you some food.”
“I can’t stay,” I said. “We’re busy at the Slice, but I wanted to stop by and offer my condolences.”
“Honestly, you’re the first person Karen was actually happy to see who’s showed up here tonight. She’s feeling abandoned by the world.”
“If she needs anything, tell her to call me,” I said.
“I will.”
I said hello to a few folks there, then decided I’d better get back and help my work crew before they revolted on me. As I walked out, I was surprised to find Bob Lemon—our best local attorney and my sister’s steady companion—coming up the steps of Hank’s home.
“What brings you here, Counselor?” I asked.
“I came to pay my respects, just like you,” Bob said. “I didn’t realize you and Hank were friends, but Timber Ridge is a small town, isn’t it?”
“It’s tough not knowing most of the folks who live here,” I agreed. “Were you two friends?”
“Hank did a few odds and ends for me from time to time,” Bob admitted.
“Like what?”
“That’s what I like about you, Eleanor. You’re subtle to the point of being enigmatic sometimes.”
“It was just a question,” I said.
“Hank was a solid investigator when he was a cop, and I kept telling him he was wasting his talent working as a bank guard. When I needed help digging into a case, I’d use Hank from time to time. He was going to take his private investigator’s test and get a license so he could work with me in the open, but he never got the chance.”
“Hank was going to be a PI?” For some reason, the idea surprised me.
“As a matter of fact,” Bob said softly, “I understand I wasn’t the only person in town he was working for. He hinted that he had a few other clients when I asked him for help last week and he declined.”
“Wow, you just don’t know about some people,” I said.
“Try walking in my shoes,” he said. “Most of the time I know far too much about the ones I deal with. If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, could you tell your sister I’m going to be late this evening?”
“You two have a date after we close at ten o’clock?” I asked.
“We’re going to watch a movie,” Bob said. “I admit, your sister’s internal clock is set to a different time than mine, but I’m getting used to it.”
“I hope you can at least take a nap during the day.”
“Only in court,” he said with a smile. “I’d better get in there. I never relish this, do you?”
“I hate it almost as much as I detest funerals,” I admitted. “But sometimes you don’t have any choice. It has to be done.”
As I drove back to the Slice, I couldn’t help wondering who Hank’s mysterious clients had been. What kind of private investigations were needed in our sleepy little town? What curtains had Hank peeked behind lately, and what had he seen?
And then it hit me, a theory so wild on the face of it that I nearly discounted it immediately.
But it wouldn’t go away.
What if Hank hadn’t been murdered in the middle of a bank robbery?
Instead, what if a bank robbery had happened in the middle of Hank’s murder?