"I'm your man," he said.
I started laughing-I couldn't help myself-and then Greg began to laugh, too.
"What's so funny?" Maddy asked when she walked back out front with the requested napkins.
"I'd tell you, but you probably wouldn't get it. It's an inside joke," Greg said.
"I thought I was on the inside of everything," Maddy said, the dismay clear in her expression.
I couldn't let her think we were excluding her. "Greg just offered to pound someone for us if they need to be taught a lesson in manners. I think that's gallant of him, don't you?"
She shook her head. "Not unless he's going to use a baseball bat."
Greg said, "Hey, I'm a big guy."
"I know you are, but are you tough?"
He tensed his stomach and said, "Go on, take your best shot."
She just shook her head. "Save it, champ. You're right, and I was wrong. You're a real tough guy."
He nodded. "Believe me, I am, if either of you need me to be," Greg said.
"Need him to be what?" Josh asked as he came in.
"A tough guy," I said.
Josh looked at me and flexed an arm muscle. "You think he's something? You should see me in action. I may not be as big as he is, but I'm wiry."
"Somehow, I feel better just knowing you two are out here," I said with a smile as I retreated to my kitchen.
Greg came back a little while after we opened. "She's here."
"Thanks," I said. "I'll be right out."
I went into the dining room and asked Maddy, "Could you cover for me in the kitchen for ten minutes?"
She looked alarmed by my request. "Why? Where are you going? Are you sure you won't be any longer than that?"
"Relax, you aren't being punished," I said. "That special little helper I told you about is here, and the two of us need to talk."
Maddy looked around the pizzeria, and I watched as her gaze barely touched on Karen Green before going to another customer. "I don't get it. I don't see anyone here who might be able to help us."
"Karen took a class in genealogy at the college," I said.
"So you're going to ask her to help find Nathan Sizemore's long-lost relative," Maddy said, finishing the thought for me. "Do you think she can do it?"
"I don't know, but it's worth a shot, isn't it? Do you have any better ideas?"
"Not really." She handed me her order pad. "If you want to take her order while you're asking her for a favor, you'll need this."
"Thanks," I said. "I won't be long."
Maddy nodded and faded into the back while I drew a Mountain Dew from the soda station. It was Karen's favorite, so I wasn't exactly taking a risk by bringing her one.
"Here you go, compliments of the house," I said as I slid the drink in front of her. She'd been frowning about something, but at the sight of the free soda, a smile bloomed on her face.
"That's so sweet of you," Karen said.
"Actually, I've got ulterior motives. May I join you for a minute?"
Karen appeared to be surprised by my request, but she nodded vigorously and pointed to one of the chairs at her table. "Please, I'd be honored."
"Don't be, I'm not all that special," I said with a laugh as I sat close to her.
Karen took a sip of her soft drink, and then asked me, "What can I do for you, Eleanor?"
"You told me that you took a genealogy class in the adult education program at the college, right?"
"Sure, I take lots of things there. Are you interested in tracing your family roots? We've got Swifts and Spencers all through the county society where I do most of my searches."
"Neither," I said. "There's someone else's family history I'd like you to trace, though, and I'd like you to keep it our little secret."
Karen nodded as she dug into her purse for a small notebook and a pencil. "All I need is a name and a birth date, and you'd be amazed by what I can turn up. The Internet has been a real savior for amateur genealogists like me."
"It's Nathan Sizemore," I said. "I'm looking for anyone living in town who might be related to him."
Karen started to write his name down, stopped and stared at her pad, and then finally looked at me without writing a thing. "Are you talking about crazy old Nathan, the man who lives on the edge of Timber Ridge? Do you mind if I ask why you're so interested in him?"
I had no desire to get into the reasons for my request then and there. "It's tough to explain. Would you mind doing it for me? I'd be happy to pay you for your time."
"That's not really an issue. How soon would you need it?" she asked as I watched her finally write Nathan's name in her book.
"Tonight, if that's at all possible."
Karen frowned. "Could I do the research, and then come by sometime tomorrow afternoon?"
"We'll be prepping for the Halloween Blowout," I said, "but if you don't mind a little chaos, that would be great."
"I'll see what I can do," she said.
"Wonderful. I really appreciate that. Now, what can I get you? Anything you want tonight is on the house."
"Anything?"
"Just name it," I said.
"I'd love one of those deep dish pizzas, with the works. Is that too much to ask?"
"Not at all. I'll go start on it myself. And Karen?"
"Yes?"
"Thank you," I said.
As she nodded, I went back to Maddy, where I found her struggling with a ball of the deep dish dough. "Thanks, I'll take over for you now."
She smiled, the relief spreading across her face. "It's about time. I don't know how you work with this stuff."
"Practice makes perfect."
I took the dough from her, and after a quick reshaping, I worked it into the pan, making sure that the sides of the crust peeked over the top of the rim.
"How did you do that?" Maddy asked.
"I'd love to tell you, but I can't. It's a trade secret."
"You know what? I don't really care." She started laughing as she said, "Now I don't have to ever make them when you're not here." Changing her line of questioning, Maddy asked, "Was Karen able to help you?"
"She's going to check something out online and get back to me tomorrow," I said.
"Good. That just leaves the rest of our suspect list to go through. Not one of them has given us an alibi for the night of the murder. Do you ever get the feeling that we're just spinning our wheels here?"
"All the time," I admitted as I began layering sauce, toppings, and parmesan cheese into the pan. "We just have to keep stirring until something boils."
"Just as long as it's not us," Maddy said.
She went back up front to reclaim her spot there, and I began working on the rest of the pending orders. We were making headway on the case, I knew that much, but I wished we could see more progress.
Things had a habit of working out that way. We'd go days and even weeks without a real break, and then all at once we'd reach the tipping point and everything would start to make sense. I just had to believe that moment was in sight. If I didn't, it would drive me totally nuts.
We were an hour from closing for the night when Bob Lemon came into the kitchen. "Before you say anything, Maddy sent me back here to talk to you. Either she's worried about you being lonely, or she's beginning to tire of me."
"Did she make plans with you for later tonight when we close?" I asked as I put a thin crust pizza onto the conveyor.
"Yes, we've got a date to watch a movie at her place."
"Then you're good. When she starts breaking dates for no good reason, it's time to move into action, because your walking papers won't be too far behind."
"That's good to know," he said. "I need to speak with you, so I'm glad we've got this opportunity to chat."
"Why? Are you thinking of proposing?" I'd been kidding him, but from the look on his face, I saw that I'd hit home with an errant shot. "You're not, are you?"
"Would that be such a bad thing to have me as a brother-in-law?" he asked, fighting to hide his disappointment at my reaction.
"Are you kidding? I'm fine with it. It's my sister that you might have a hard time convincing," I said as I added a pizza-melt sandwich onto the conveyor. I had a gap in my oven schedule, and I'd been trying to come up with new sandwiches to match the deep dish pizzas we were going to start offering. If I had to revamp my entire menu to stay in business, I'd do it.
"You don't think she loves me, do you?" Bob asked. It was as though I'd just told him he was going to die before sunrise tomorrow.
"Are you kidding me? She cares more about you than she did for at least two of her ex-husbands, and that's really saying something."
"Then what's the problem?"
I frowned at the oven, willing it to finish a pizza I could cut and bring out, anything to spare me from having the conversation I was currently embroiled in. "You don't want to know."
"Trust me when I tell you that I do." There was no denying the plea in his voice as he said it.
"Bob, I think you two are wonderful together, and if you asked my sister under a lie detector test, she would have to agree. But that doesn't mean that she's ready to get married again, no matter what she might say under oath."
"I just assumed that she is joking when she makes all those cracks about wedded unbliss," he answered.
"Maybe she is, and maybe she isn't. I can't speak for her, but if you are determined to ask her to marry you, be prepared for either answer, because I'm not even certain she knows what she'd say if you asked her."
Finally a pizza came out, and I pounced on it as though I was starving and it was all for me.
"So, what do you recommend?" Bob asked.
"Folks seem to really like the deep dish I just started serving," I said.
"That's not what I'm asking, and you know it."
"I do, but it's the only answer you're going to get from me."
He pulled a small felt box out of his pocket, weighed it in his hand, and then asked me, "What am I supposed to do with this?"
The door opened, and I saw Maddy coming.
"I'd put it away quickly, for now," I said as I handed the pizza to my sister, providing a distraction at the same time as it required a delivery.
Maddy looked at me, then at Bob, and finally back to me. "What are you two talking about back here?"
"My menu," I said.
Maddy raised an eyebrow as she looked at me. "Really?"
"Among other things," I amended. "Now, would you mind delivering that pizza to its rightful owners while it still has some semblance of being hot and fresh?"
"You got it, boss."
As she left, she winked at Bob, who didn't react one way or the other, an odd reaction coming from him. Maddy glanced at me and gave me her best quizzical look. I just shook my head, and she walked out looking bewildered.
"I'm sorry I couldn't be more help," I said.
"It's not your problem. It's mine," Bob replied.
As he headed for the door, I asked him, "Is that why you came back here, to ask for permission to marry my sister?"
Bob looked startled by the very idea of doing anything like that. "No, not at all. I learned something you might find interesting today. Funny, I nearly forgot all about it after our little conversation."