Killer Crust (A Pizza Lovers Mystery)

by Chris Cavender

  When Acre saw that there were no takers, he smiled and said, “We’ve already disposed of your first attempts, so the clock will be restarted and you’ll have the same ninety minutes that you had before. Again, good luck.”

  “We’re going to need it,” I told Maddy as we took the stage. “How on earth are we going to duplicate that last pizza?”

  “We aren’t,” my sister said. “We’re going to make it better. Don’t you always say that practice makes perfect? Well, it’s time to put that to the test. Are you game?”

  “I was born ready, and you know it,” I said.

  “I wasn’t there, remember? That’s on account of you being so much older than me, you know.”

  “Older, wiser, and better looking to boot,” I said with a grin as I got the dough out of the fridge and started helping Maddy replicate what we’d made to perfection earlier. She was right, though. It was time to try hard to top what we’d done before, and if I could, I meant to do it.

  The next attempt was no better, but most likely not much worse than our first try at a deep dish pizza for the contest. If any of the other competitors had been rattled by the bomb scare, they didn’t show it. We all produced pizzas within the allotted time frame, and we waited breathlessly for Jack Acre to announce the results after he’d tasted each of our slices. He kept fiddling with his clipboard, going back and forth between two of the pizzas on the judging table, but we couldn’t see from where we stood who was being scrutinized so carefully. I was beginning to wonder if he was ever going to make up his mind when he finally stood and addressed the crowd.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, let me make one announcement before the results for this round are delivered. Because of our earlier unavoidable delay, we will now hold the last event at five o’clock, with the formal announcement of the overall winners to follow its conclusion.” There were a few murmurs from the crowd, but Jack didn’t acknowledge them. “Now, as to the entries I’ve just sampled. I was amazed that this leg of the competition was so close that it was almost impossible to judge. Tied for second place, we have the teams from Asheville and Charlotte, and tied for the top spot is Raleigh and the local folks from right here in Timber Ridge. The scores are so close that whoever wins the final judging will be our grand prize winner and will leave here twenty-five-thousand-dollars richer.”

  The crowd applauded, but no one on the stage was all that happy with the final results. While I was thrilled that we’d tied with Raleigh for the best deep dish pizza, knowing that the contest was anyone’s to win or lose stole a great deal of the satisfaction from it for me. It was almost as though nothing we’d done so far had meant anything.

  “What’s going on?” Maddy asked me as the crowd started to stand. “Could our pizzas have really been all that close?”

  “I’m wondering if this wasn’t planned all along so that the suspense would build until the grand finale,” I admitted. “Tell me that doesn’t sound like something that Luigi would do.”

  Maddy shook her head. “I wish I could, but I can’t. You know what that means though, don’t you?”

  “The fix might still be in,” I said, having just come to the same conclusion myself ten seconds earlier.

  “So, we might have done all this for naught?”

  “It seems that way to me,” I said, “but we can’t give up now. We still have a shot. I believe that in my heart.”

  The Raleigh twins must have picked up on part of our conversation, but clearly not the gist of what we’d been discussing. “What’s the matter, ladies? Don’t be upset that you didn’t win this stage outright. We saw your pizza. Jack Acre was being charitable giving you a share of our glory.”

  “I guess we’ll all find out this evening who is really the best,” I said.

  “We already know the answer to that one,” one twin said as he and his brother walked off the stage, strutting as though they already knew the outcome. As a matter of fact, they might. If that had really been Jack Acre we’d seen in the parking lot accepting what might be cash from the Raleigh twins, none of the rest of us stood a chance. However, I knew that a lot could happen before the final judging tonight.

  “Come on, Sis,” Maddy said as she tugged on my arm. “Our fans await.”

  I looked down in the audience and saw that both David and Bob were smiling broadly at us. There were other folks from Timber Ridge in the milling crowd as well, but it was particularly nice seeing the two of them there waiting on us.

  We were about to join them when Kevin Hurley walked up on stage. “Eleanor, do you have a minute?”

  “Sure. What’s up?”

  “We need to talk,” he said as he looked around.

  “What’s going on?” Maddy asked me.

  “The chief wants to talk to me,” I reported as I signaled for the men to stay where they were and wait for us.

  “Us, you mean, right?”

  “This doesn’t directly concern you, Maddy,” Kevin said.

  “Does it involve my sister, the competition, or finding the murderer?” she asked.

  Kevin reluctantly nodded.

  “Then I’m involved, no matter how you cut it.”

  I looked at Kevin and said, “You know she’s not going anywhere, and the second you tell me, I’m going to share whatever you tell me with her.”

  “Fine, have it however you want.” He pulled something from his pocket, and I saw that it was a clear plastic evidence bag. There was a slip of paper on it, but I couldn’t make out what it said immediately. As he handed me the bag, I looked closer and saw that the paper had my name on it, and the number to the room I was no longer using. The letters and numbers were printed in block style, something I knew would make the note nearly impossible to identify.

  “What does this mean?” I asked as I handed the evidence bag to Maddy so she could look at it as well.

  “I found it in the hallway outside the contestants’ rooms when we were clearing the area because of the bomb threat.”

  “Was that a part of your search, too?” I asked. I had a sudden suspicion about the threat, and before I could consider whether it was wise or not to say it out loud, I asked Kevin, “There really was a bomb threat today, right?”

  “What are you talking about?” Kevin asked darkly.

  I should have stopped right there, but I didn’t. “It suddenly seems awfully convenient to have a bomb threat so you can search everyone’s rooms without their consent.”

  He looked at me long and hard before he spoke. “Eleanor, I didn’t do it, nor would I even consider it. There are lines that can’t be crossed, and that’s one of them.”

  “I apologize,” I said as quickly and as sincerely as I could muster. “I wasn’t accusing you of anything. I guess the stress I’m under right now is making me see villains around every corner.”

  “It’s understandable,” Kevin said. Fortunately he’d chosen to be gracious about it. I’d better watch my mouth if I wanted him to keep us in the loop about the murder investigation. That crack was something that Maddy would say, but I never should have said a word of it aloud.

  His voice softened for a second as he added, “I’m one of the good guys. That’s something you should remember.”

  “I will,” I said. “I really am sorry.” It was time to change the subject. “What do you think that note really means?”

  “If I had to guess, I’d say that someone came looking for your room while you were in the competition.”

  “Why would they do that?” I asked as Maddy handed the bagged note back to the police chief.

  “To spy on you, or set a trap,” Kevin said. “Either way, they weren’t going to do you any favors tracking you down like that.” He lowered his voice, though the stage was nearly empty and added, “You’re going to stay with Maddy again tonight, right?”

  I hadn’t told him that, at least not outright, but he must have figured it out on his own without any hints from me. “Right,” I said.

  “Good. Well, that’s all I want
ed to talk to you about. For what it’s worth, I hope you win the grand prize this evening.”

  “Thanks; we’re doing our best,” I said.

  “Tell him about what happened in the stairwell earlier,” Maddy prodded me.

  “What’s this about? Did someone attack you?”

  “Not directly,” I explained. “The elevator was stuck on the first floor, so Maddy and I took the stairs. Once we were down there, the door was jammed and we couldn’t get out.”

  “Why didn’t you call me?” he asked, clearly unhappy with our behavior.

  “Hank was nearby, and he let us out. Someone had shoved a chair under the handle. I don’t think it’s because of the murder, though. If I had to guess, I’d say that one of our competitors wanted us to miss the deadline and be disqualified.”

  “The next time anything like that happens, you need to call me, not hotel security.”

  Was he a little hurt that we’d called Hank and not him? “It won’t happen, but if it does, we’ll call you.”

  “Good. Watch your backs, ladies, at all times.”

  After Kevin was gone, I looked around for our two fellas, but they weren’t there.

  “Where do you suppose Bob and David went?” I asked Maddy.

  “I don’t know,” she said as she plucked out her telephone. “I’ll call Bob and see.”

  I could hear her fiancé’s voice on the other end of the phone, and after a brief conversation, Maddy hung up. “They’re already in the restaurant. Gina’s reserved tables for all of us again.”

  “She’s really spoiling us, isn’t she?” I asked as we started off to join them.

  “Hey, I’m not about to complain. Do you think that Kevin was right?” she asked me as we walked off the stage and past the seats.

  “About what?”

  “The note,” Maddy said, a little impatient with me. “Is somebody gunning for you?”

  “Who knows?” I asked lightly.

  “You seem awfully cavalier about it, that’s all,” Maddy said.

  “What can I do, go to your room and hide until the competition is over? We have too many questions to ask too many people yet, and I won’t let someone force me to hide in the corner. In a way, this note is real progress.”

  “How do you figure that?” Maddy asked.

  “Well, we surely must have gotten under somebody’s skin with our questions to make them come looking for me.”

  “Sis, we can’t take this lightly. We both need to keep watching our backs until we catch this murderer—us or Kevin and his squad.”

  “Frankly, I don’t care who nabs him,” I said sincerely, “as long as he’s nabbed.”

  “Or she,” Maddy amended.

  “Or she,” I agreed. “It’s the same to me either way.”

  Chapter 13

  We fought through a crowd of folks waiting to get into the restaurant, and there were a few grumbles as we moved through them. “Excuse us, but we’re meeting people who are already here,” I said.

  “Important people,” Maddy added.

  As we found our way to Bob and David, I asked her, “Why on earth did you say that?”

  “Don’t you think these two are important?” Maddy asked innocently as we joined them at the table.

  How else could I answer that loaded question? “Of course I do.”

  “You do what?” David asked as he stood and grabbed my chair. I appreciated the gesture, unlike some of my contemporaries. If a man wanted to get a door for me or let me go through first, I didn’t feel right robbing him of the gesture. It made me happy that he thought enough of me to be considerate, and he got to feel a little chivalrous, too. What was wrong when both parties got something out of a noble and innocent gesture?

  Bob had followed suit with Maddy, and we ordered quickly. We had a contest to get back to, after all.

  While we were waiting on our food, Bob said, “I’m happy to report that I’ve been able to acquire some information for you two after all.”

  “Don’t keep it to yourself then,” Maddy said. “Spill.”

  “I have to tell you first that while I didn’t break any rules in seeking this out, I’m not at all certain that I want the world to know what I did to get this information. It’s more a matter of timing right now than anything else, but I’d appreciate your discretion.”

  “You didn’t have to do anything risky for us,” Maddy said as she touched her fiancé’s arm warmly.

  “I wanted to help, so I pulled some strings to get some timely information. Would you like to know what I discovered?”

  “We’d love to,” I said.

  Bob nodded. “The papers were just filed, so technically I’m cleared in telling you this. It turns out that Luigi, or George Vincent, to be exact, wasn’t expecting to go quietly into the night when he died. He must have had enough enemies to make him paranoid, based on the way he prepared for this eventuality. We might as well keep calling him Luigi, since that’s how everyone knew him. Anyway, Luigi left strict instructions with his attorney about what to do with his company in case he ever came to an untimely end, and who should run it in his absence.”

  “Does Jack Acre take control of everything?” Maddy asked.

  “That’s the interesting part. Until last week, he would have taken over the helm, but Luigi changed the provisions less than six days ago. His brother, Frank Vincent, is the new CEO.”

  “Where does that leave Jack Acre?” I asked.

  “He will continue on at the company at Frank’s discretion,” Bob replied.

  “Ouch! That’s going to leave a mark,” I said.

  “I wonder why he changed his mind?” David asked.

  “Knowing Luigi, it could have been a real slight on Acre’s part, or even an imagined one,” I said. “I wonder if either one of those men knew about the change Luigi made.”

  “That’s not even the most important question,” Bob replied. “I can’t help but be curious if they know even now. I imagine Luigi’s attorney will be contacting Frank any minute, but is someone going to tell Mr. Acre what’s about to transpire?”

  I saw the man himself sitting at a table alone at one side of the restaurant going over some notes, probably prepping his speech for the last phase of the contest.

  “If he doesn’t know, I want to tell him,” I said as I started to get up.

  David frowned. “You’re not going to kick the man when he’s down, are you?”

  “Of course she’s not, at least not without me,” Maddy said.

  “Nobody’s kicking anyone,” I said. “I just want to see how he reacts when he hears about Luigi’s change.”

  “What are you expecting him to do?” Bob asked me.

  “If he’s surprised, then I’m guessing that he could have killed his boss so he could take over the company, but if it’s no shock to him, I think we might just have to let him off the hook. Why kill the man if he knew that he wasn’t going to get the job he coveted?”

  “It’s sound reasoning, I suppose,” Bob said.

  “Go on, Eleanor,” Maddy added. “We don’t want it to look like we’re ganging up on him. Besides, we can see his reaction from here.”

  I stood, and then walked over to Jack Acre. He looked up as I approached, and I tried to smile for him. It was the least I could do, since his world was about to tumble in on him.

  “Do you have a second, Jack?” I asked.

  “Eleanor, how clear must I be?” he asked with ire in his voice. “I can’t be seen talking to you in public since I’m the sole arbiter of this competition.”

  “Are you sure about that?” I asked.

  He looked puzzled by my response. “What are you talking about?”

  “Just in case no one’s told you, Luigi’s attorney just filed the paperwork. Frank Vincent is taking over your company.”

  Acre didn’t even bat an eye at the news. “That’s nonsense. Just two weeks ago Luigi assured me that I was his successor, not some bumbling fool in Production.”


  “I’m sorry to have to be the one to tell you this, but he changed the amendment last week,” I said. “You honestly didn’t know?”

  Jack frowned for a moment. “If this is a joke, you need to drop it now. It’s not funny at all.”

  “I’m not joking. I’m truly sorry.”

  Jack Acre stood abruptly, gathered his things together, and then said, “We’ll just see about that,” as he stormed out of the restaurant.

  I went back to our table, where I found all three of my companions looking at me.

  Bob said flatly, “He didn’t know.”

  “There’s no way that wasn’t news to him,” Maddy agreed.

  “David?” I asked.

  “I agree with them. Sorry about the earlier crack. I should have known better than think that you just wanted to tell him to be spiteful.”

  I touched his cheek gently. “That’s okay. I’ve been known to have a mean streak every now and then if I’m provoked.”

  “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind,” he said.

  “You should be safe,” I answered. “I wonder where he went, though.”

  “I’m guessing that he took off in search of an attorney of his own, the second he realizes that you were telling the truth.”

  “I honestly can’t see him working for Frank,” Maddy said.

  “Don’t be so sure,” David chimed in. “If he could stand working for Luigi, he’ll probably be able to find a way to work for the man’s brother. You really stirred up the pot there, didn’t you?”

  “It’s what we do,” I admitted. “Half the time Maddy and I are looking for cracks in people’s armor so we can exploit them.” I paused, and then added, “I know that it doesn’t sound all that altruistic when I put it that way, but we’ve gotten results doing it in the past.”

  “Hey, don’t apologize for anything. We both know that we’ve helped the police bring killers to justice in the past,” Maddy said. “Don’t take that too lightly.”

  “I don’t,” I said, “but that doesn’t mean that I enjoy some of the ill feelings we generate in the process.”

  “Collateral damage can’t be helped sometimes,” Maddy said. “It’s just a part of it, whether we like it or not.”