"What? How did it happen?" I asked as I nearly dropped the pizza I'd just made onto the floor. I hadn't been a big fan of Judson Sizemore or the arrogant way he'd treated me, but that didn't mean I wanted to see him dead.
"I'm the one asking the questions, if you don't mind," Kevin said.
"Not until you tell me how he died," I said. "Otherwise, you're just wasting your breath."
He seemed to chew that over, and then he admitted, "This isn't for public knowledge, but he was hit from behind with a piece of firewood he used in that pizza oven of his."
What a horrible way to go. No matter how I felt about him, I hoped it had at least been quick. "Thank you for trusting me with that. Now, what do you want to know?"
"Let's cut to the chase. I understand the two of you had some very public arguments over the past few days."
I couldn't believe he'd actually put any credence in them. "You don't believe for one second that I would do anything to him, do you?"
Chief Hurley shrugged. "I'm not in the believing business. I'm just gathering facts right now, Eleanor." He looked around, and then said calmly, "You've got plenty of motive, even you can't deny that."
"Just because I wasn't thrilled about him opening his pizzeria doesn't mean I'm the one who killed him."
"You didn't get along, either."
I paused long enough to stare at him a moment before I trusted myself to speak again. "If I murdered everyone I ever had an argument with, the body count would be too high to measure."
The police chief was clearly not buying my argument. "This is different. It could have easily buried this place forever, and we both know it. You had a great deal to lose if Italia's did well. In fact, some might say your entire life."
"I don't agree with that for one second."
It was his turn to look hard at me. "That's your right." Kevin took a deep breath, and then asked, "Eleanor, where were you between the hours of midnight and six A.M. this morning?"
I shook my head in disbelief. Was this really happening, or was I in some kind of nightmare and couldn't wake up? I took a deep breath to calm myself before I replied, but it didn't do any good. This wasn't the first time the chief of police had implied that I was involved in a murder, and I was getting tired of it. "I was home in bed, and before you even think about asking me if anyone can confirm it, we both know that I was there alone."
"I figured as much," he said as he jotted the information into his little notebook. "I wasn't even going to ask." There had been times that I would have loved to shred that notebook into confetti, but there was nothing I could do about it at the moment. "I'm surprised you and your sister didn't have one of your famous movie nights and sleepovers."
"Even that would have been too convenient for you," I said. "I doubt you would have believed either one of us if we'd been playing Monopoly with the mayor."
"There you go, talking about belief again. Eleanor, since you haven't denied your public disagreement with the deceased, would you care to help me out here and speculate on anyone else who might have wished him harm?"
I could think of three other people, all members of my wait-staff now serving customers in the other room, but I wasn't about to name any of them. "Sorry, I'm at a loss who might want him dead. I really didn't know the man at all."
"It doesn't matter," he said as he flipped his notebook shut. "We'll find them ourselves."
"Good. When you do, I'll be waiting right here for an apology."
With a grin that reminded me so much of the boy I'd dated in high school, Kevin Hurley said, "Then you might be in for a long wait. We'll talk again later, Eleanor."
"Believe me when I tell you that I'm not looking forward to it."
He turned and looked at me one last time and then said, "Now that I believe completely, regardless of what I said before."
"Can you imagine the nerve of that man?" Maddy asked the second Kevin left the kitchen. "He was back here grilling you, wasn't he?"
"Of course he was, but we'll have to talk about it later," I said as I pulled another pizza off the line, cut it, and shoved it toward her. "We have too many customers in the Slice right now to drop everything and worry about what Kevin Hurley is doing."
"I know that," she said, "but there's no way that we can afford to let him accuse us all of murder."
"I'm guessing he said something to you, too," I said as I prepped another dough round. Knuckling the dough into place onto the pan wasn't as fancy as tossing it in the air, and I doubted anyone would ever classify it as a "show," but it had to be a faster and more efficient way to make pizzas in a hurry.
"Oh, yes," she said. As Maddy picked up the waiting pizza, along with its twin, she headed out the door. "This makes things worse than they were before, Eleanor. We're going to have to come up with a plan."
I knew what that meant. Maddy and I had meddled into murder investigations in the past, and while it was never my choice, trouble seemed to continue finding me. Still, I wasn't about to back down from a fight, and I wouldn't stop digging into Judson's murder.
Josh came in a minute later for the next load of pizzas.
As he grabbed two and headed back out, I asked, "Is it slowing down any out there?"
"Are you kidding? We're being overrun."
"Make an announcement," I said, making an executive decision. "Tell anyone coming in that we've run out of dough, but if they'd like sandwiches, we'd be more than happy to make them."
"They aren't going to like that," Josh said.
"The dough in the refrigerator is gone with this pizza," I said. "We really don't have much choice."
"Use the fresh you made this morning."
"That was gone quite awhile ago," I replied. "Tell Maddy to do it if you don't want to. She's never been afraid to speak in public."
"I've got it covered, Eleanor. I'll tell them," he said.
I slid the last pizza onto the conveyor and started to clean up my prep stations while I waited for sandwich orders. The sauce I made every week was getting low, and if we ran out of that, I wasn't sure what we'd be serving, since that went on just about everything we made.
Maddy came back to the kitchen for another pickup minutes later. "Smart move. That will clear some of them out."
"It wasn't a ploy," I said. "It happens to be true."
"Wow, we had a bigger run than I thought."
"Has the announcement had any effect on the folks waiting?" I hated the idea of losing customers, not that there was anything I could do about it.
"A few of them drifted out," she said, "but it's not exactly like we had any tables for them anyway. I think the worst of it is over."
"Thank goodness. We're closing in an hour, regardless of who's still waiting to eat," I said as I glanced at the clock and I knew some of our dinner patrons would be unhappy with it. I could always make more quick dough given enough time, but I was exhausted, and I was sure the other three were, too.
Maddy looked relieved by the news. "If you weren't going to pull the plug, Greg and Josh wanted me to come back here to urge you to close soon. We're beat."
"Trust me, I'm worn out, too," I said with a slight smile. "I think we deserve a little break this evening. Do you want to make a sign for the door, or should I?"
"I'll handle it," she said as she looked around the kitchen, which was messier than I ever liked to see it. "You've got your hands full back here."
"I was told you were back here," Bob Lemon said as he walked into the kitchen to join us.
"Sorry, Bob, I can't talk," I said.
He ignored me completely. "Madeline, you are not to investigate this man's murder, and that's final."
Maddy hated her given name, and I could see her bristling at its use, not to mention the direct order her boyfriend had just given her. I looked around for something I could use as a shield when she exploded, but my sister surprised me by smiling at him.
It was clear that Bob was puzzled by her reaction as well.
"Did you hear me?" he asked in a halting voice.
Her smile never wavered as she said, "I must not have. It sounded as though you were telling me what to do, and I know you're more intelligent than that."
His voice had a deeper pleading quality to it as he said, "The police chief is going to make this case his number one priority. If he finds you interfering with his investigation, you might get into a mess that even I can't get you out of."
I was watching his face, and it was clear that he realized he'd made a mistake as the words left his mouth. "What I mean to say is . . ."
One look at my sister's stare was enough to silence him.
After a brief pause, Maddy said to him softly, "You may leave," her tone calm and even.
"Maddy, I . . ."
"Now," she said, with just the slightest hint of force behind it.
He started to say something else-I could almost see the words forming on his lips-when he decided he'd buried himself deep enough, turned, and left.
"Wow, you've got to teach me how to do that sometime," I said.
"What?"
"Intimidate someone like that," I replied. "I had chills and a fever from seeing it, and it wasn't even directed at me."
"Not now, Eleanor."
I could tell from her voice that she was in no mood to be jollied out of her anger.
"Got it," I said.
As Maddy left the kitchen, I started cleaning up between pulling pizzas out of the oven and preparing them for delivery. Bob should have known better, but I could relate to his sentiment. He cared for my sister, maybe he even loved her, but if he wanted to be with her, he was going to have to learn how to deal with her better than he'd been managing lately. It was his problem, though, not mine. I had enough of my own grief and concern without taking anyone else's on.
Greg came into the kitchen forty-five minutes later and announced, "The last customer just left and the front door's locked."
"I thought we were staying open for another fifteen minutes," I said as I glanced at the wall clock.
"We had a hunch that no one else would want to come in, given the fact that we had already locked the door and put up the CLOSED sign," he said with a smile. "Would you like some help with the dishes?"
I'd been steadily working on them as the orders had decreased, and I'd been through four sinks of suds so far. "Thanks, but I think I've got it under control. How's the front look?"
"Like a herd of angry llamas stormed through it," he said. "But we're getting it in good shape."
Maddy came back, followed by Josh. "We're here to help you tackle the back," she said. My sister looked around the kitchen and whistled. "Wow, I've got to hand it to you, Eleanor. You work fast."
"It pays to keep on it all the time," I said. "That way, it's usually not as bad at the end."
"I can see that. We've got the front in pretty good shape."
"What about the llamas?" I asked.
"What?"
Greg said, "Maybe I exaggerated a little."
"Maybe. Why don't you all go on home? Everyone deserves to have an early evening, and I can handle the rest of this myself."
Greg and Josh were headed for the front door when Maddy said, "I'll let them out, and then I'm coming back."
"It's okay. You can go, too," I said.
"Why?"
"Don't you have a date tonight?"
She frowned. "The key word is 'had,' not 'have,' " she said.
"Are you sure?"
Maddy bit her lip and then asked, "Eleanor, do I look like I'm kidding?"
I could see that she was in pain, but for the moment, there was nothing I could do about it. "Okay, I'll gladly take the help, if you're sure."
She came back a minute later, smiling. "Man, I didn't know how fast those two could move when they had incentive."
"Were they in that big a hurry to get out of here?"
She laughed, a sound I always liked hearing. There was something about a laugh that infected me with a touch of joy myself, and I just couldn't get enough of it. "They were both afraid you'd change your mind."
"I'm not that bad to work for, am I?"
"You have your moments," she said as she took up the drying towel, "but most of the time you're a wonderful boss."
As we worked our way through the rest of the dishes, I said, "I still can't believe Judson is dead."
"Are you kidding me? After the way he treated us? I can't believe he lasted as long as he did, if that was his standard of behavior toward people."
"Nonetheless, it looks bad for us, doesn't it?" I asked as I handed her another glass to dry.
She nodded. "That's exactly why we have to ignore what Bob said and dig into this ourselves."