A Slice of Murder

by Chris Cavender

  “I’m talking to her,” he said as he gestured to Penny. “Eleanor, I’ll deal with you in a minute. Why don’t you wait outside with your sister? I’ll be with you both soon.” Though it was phrased as a question, there was no denying that it was an order. I thought about defying him but then doubted that Penny would finish her story while he was standing there listening. If I was ever going to find out what she’d been about to tell me, it was going to have to wait.

  As I walked outside, Maddy said, “I tried to warn you.”

  “Thanks. I can’t believe he threw me out.”

  “You were certainly in there long enough. I couldn’t believe it when you waved me off like that. I had half a mind to storm in, anyway.”

  “She was holding a gun on me when I walked in,” I explained gently.

  “Then again, maybe it was a good thing I stayed outside,” Maddy said. “Someone had to keep watch, didn’t they?”

  “And a fine job you did,” I said.

  “Hey, it wasn’t like I could blow my car horn or something. He parked down the block and snuck up on me.”

  “I was just kidding,” I said.

  “Did you learn anything while you were inside?”

  I nodded. “Unless Penny was lying to me, she didn’t know about Richard’s murder. She said she just got back into town, and from the look of her, I believed it. Her hair was a mess, and she didn’t have any make-up on.”

  “Spare me the fashion report,” Maddy said. “How did she react?”

  “The instant I told her, I could swear she looked relieved by the news. After that, she got decidedly chatty. I’m not sure if it’s true or not, but Penny said Richard was fooling around with Faith Baron even before she married Steve. Apparently it wasn’t a fling. She must have really loved him, at least more than Penny ever did.”

  “So, when he dumped her, it could have been more than she could handle,” Maddy said.

  “Sounds like it,” I said. “There’s just one thing. I need to get back in there as soon as Kevin leaves. Penny was about to tell me something when Kevin came in. I’m not exactly certain what it was, but she called it Richard’s dirty little secret.”

  “That could mean anything,” Maddy said.

  “I’m thinking she was talking about blackmail, but I didn’t have a chance to let her tell me.”

  Kevin suddenly came back out, with Penny in tow.

  “You’re not arresting her, are you?” I asked.

  “Not that it’s any of your business, but we both decided we’d be more comfortable talking in my office.”

  “Is that true, Penny?” I asked.

  She shrugged as Kevin said, “I’m still not sure how any of this is your business.”

  “Hey, you’re the one who told me to wait outside for you.”

  He shook his head as he walked down the street with Penny right beside him. I followed a few paces back until he whirled around. “Eleanor, I’d advise you to just get into your car and drive away.”

  Maddy answered before I could. “Her car’s still at home. She’s riding with me today. Someone shot out her window, remember?”

  That got Penny’s attention. “Don’t look at me. I was out of town. I couldn’t have done it.”

  “No one accused you of anything,” I said.

  “I just wanted you to know.”

  Kevin walked her to his police cruiser without another word.

  “Where should we go now?” Maddy asked as we got into her car.

  “I’d like to talk to Carl Wilson again.”

  She turned to look at me. “Do you really think he had something to do with Olsen’s murder?”

  “No, but I’d love to strike a few names off the list before we go racing around town interviewing everyone in the telephone book. We never asked him for an alibi the last time, did we?”

  “We didn’t exactly leave on good terms, either. We lied to him about being clients to get information from him, so I doubt he’s going to welcome us back with open arms.”

  “You’re right about that,” I said. “There’s got to be some way to approach him, though.”

  “I have an idea,” Maddy said.

  “Well, don’t hold out on me. Let’s hear it.”

  “I’ve got to warn you, it’s a little radical, something we haven’t tried before.”

  “You’ve got my attention,” I said.

  “How about if we tell him the complete, total, and unvarnished truth? We’re looking for the killer, and unless he did it, he might just cooperate.”

  “I think you’ve lost your mind,” I said.

  “Then you won’t do it?”

  “I never said that. What do we have to lose?”

  “That’s the spirit,” Maddy said. “When we get there, let me do the talking.”

  “I can’t make any promises,” I said.

  When we arrived at the shredding company, I put a hand on Maddy’s arm before we went in. “Are you sure this is the best way to handle this?”

  “No, but I wasn’t able to come up with anything else on the drive over. Were you?”

  “I’m drawing a blank,” I admitted.

  “The truth it is, then.”

  We walked in, and the smile Carl Wilson had plastered on his face quickly faded the moment he saw us.

  “I thought you two weren’t coming back until you had a lawyer.”

  Maddy said, “We lied to you, and we came here to apologize.”

  He looked more quizzical than angry. “Excuse me?”

  “We came back to tell you we were sorry. We were never clients of your firm, so there was never any danger of us suing you for damages,” Maddy explained.

  He stood, and I could see the tension in his posture. “Then why did you both come here in the first place?”

  “My sister,” Maddy said as she put a hand on my shoulder, “has been accused by the police as the main murder suspect, and we’re trying to clear her name.”

  He took a step forward, and it wasn’t to offer his support. “How did you plan to do that, by pinning the murder on me?”

  “Believe me, we realize we were wrong. There’s one easy way to get rid of us, and then we’ll both vanish from your life forever,” Maddy said.

  “I doubt that,” he said, “but go ahead and tell me what it is you want.”

  “Do you have an alibi for the night of the murder?” Maddy asked gently.

  “I’ve already gone over this with the police.”

  “Then it won’t hurt to tell us, too,” I said, ignoring the disapproving look in my sister’s glance.

  He looked at us a few seconds, then said, “What can it hurt? I was having dinner with a potential new business partner in Raleigh that night. It was too late to come back after a little wining and dining, so I stayed over until the next morning. Is that good enough for you?”

  “Raleigh’s not that far away,” Maddy said. “I’m sorry, but you could have gone back and forth after the meal, and no one would be the wiser.”

  “It might even be why you made the appointment in the first place,” I said. “It sounds good at first, doesn’t it?”

  Carl Wilson’s face reddened slightly, and I thought for a second he was going to physically throw us out of his office. All of a sudden, though, he slumped down and leaned against his desk. “I told the police all of it, so I might as well tell you. After dinner, we went back to my room, and things got a little too close, if you know what I mean.”

  “We don’t mean to pry,” I said. “Whatever you do behind closed doors is your business, not ours.”

  “I never thought I’d do anything with Harriet Bambridge, I can tell you that,” Wilson explained. “I can’t hold my liquor—I never could—but that trip was a mistake in more ways than I can count. In the morning, she brusquely told me that we wouldn’t be opening any branches in Raleigh, at least not with her money, and that I was to never contact her again. I’m sure the police will verify the story, since she called me right after she spoke
with Chief Hurley and blessed me out six ways from Sunday. Is that good enough for you?”

  “It is,” I said. “I’m sorry we had to pry.”

  “I’ve just got one more thing to say to you both, and then I expect you to keep your word and leave me alone forever.”

  “What is it?” I asked.

  He looked me dead in the eye and said, “If you did kill him, try not to feel bad about it. You did the world a favor, whether anyone realizes it or not. Now go.”

  Before I could protest my innocence, we were hustled out the door like a couple of vagrants looking for a handout.

  Maddy glanced back at the door. “I don’t know about you, but I believe him.”

  “I don’t see how we can’t,” I said. “It would be too easy to check with Kevin to see if it’s true.”

  “But we’re not going to, are we?”

  I grinned. “If you want to, feel free.”

  “No, thanks. So, we finally have someone we can cross off our list. Who does that leave?”

  “We’ve still got the mayor and his wife, Olsen’s sister, and his next-door neighbor.”

  Maddy added, “And don’t forget whoever he was blackmailing.”

  “How can I? It’s the biggest unknown in the equation.”

  We left the building, and as we got to Maddy’s car, I saw that we should have been at the pizzeria half an hour before. If we could rush our investigation, I still might be able to speed up the dough-making process as I had the day before. But I had to put that out of my mind. If we had time, fine, but if not, we’d go with the frozen dough we had on hand.

  This was too important, and I felt we were finally starting to make some real progress in the case.

  At least more than the chief of police had been able to so far.

  “I’m still waiting,” Maddy said, bringing me out of my musings. “Where do we go next?”

  “Start driving toward Richard Olsen’s place,” I said.

  “Are we going to talk to Sheila again?” Maddy asked as she started the car.

  “Not right off the bat. I’d like to have a conversation with Travis White.”

  “You really think he would kill Richard over a property line?”

  “I hate to break it to you, but I’m sure it happens all the time,” I said. “Travis White isn’t going to like us butting into his business.”

  “We can try the honesty approach again,” Maddy suggested.

  “I’m not sure that’s always the best policy, especially when we’re dealing with a murderer.”

  “What could it hurt?” Maddy asked. “Honestly, I can’t think of any other way of asking him for an alibi, can you?”

  “We never asked Sheila for one either, did we? She just kind of showed up at the pizzeria the next day, and we never thought to ask where she’d been the night before.”

  Maddy frowned, then said, “You know what? You’re right. How has she stayed under the radar the entire time, when she’s the one who profits most from Richard’s death? Have we had a blind spot about her?”

  “Not entirely,” I said. “She did make our list, remember?”

  “But she hasn’t been as high a priority as she should have been.”

  “Then we bump her up the list,” I said. “But I still want to talk to Travis first.”

  When we got to the street in front of the two houses, Maddy stopped in front of the White place, parking just far enough away that Sheila wouldn’t see us out the front window if she happened to be at her brother’s place.

  Travis White was out in the side yard between the two properties with some kind of tool in his hands and a pile of icy dirt at his feet.

  As we got out of the car and cut across the dry, dead grass toward him, he called out, “Use the sidewalk, both of you.”

  “You’re not,” Maddy said, pointing at his shoes, planted firmly on the barren ground.

  “Yeah, but it’s my yard, isn’t it?”

  I grabbed Maddy’s arm and pulled her over onto the sidewalk. We got as close as we could to the man, and I asked, “Could we talk to you a moment, Travis?”

  He stopped working for a second, and I saw a posthole digger in his hands. “What are you planting?” I asked.

  “Posts,” he snapped.

  “You’re putting up a fence in January,” Maddy said.

  “You’re a marvel at observation, aren’t you?” Travis snapped. “Now what is it you want? I’ve got holes to dig, and this ground’s as tough as concrete.”

  “It’s an odd time of year to be digging them then, isn’t it?” I asked.

  I was expecting another outburst, but Travis merely nodded at my question. “It is, but I just got final revocation of rights from the dingbat next door, and as soon as I registered it at the courthouse, I started working on these holes. I’ll have my fence up before the ink’s dry on the deed.”

  “So, you bought the land in question?” I asked.

  “Not all of it,” he said, “just the strip that we were arguing over. Ten feet wide, and the length of our property. It’s what was rightly mine in the first place until that crooked surveyor came to check the land, and Olsen sweet-talked him into moving the stake.”

  “You ended up paying for it twice?” I asked.

  “I’d have done it four times if money was the only issue. Olsen knew I wanted it, so he wouldn’t budge.”

  “But it’s yours now,” I said. “And it wouldn’t have been if he was still alive.”

  He drove the digger deep into the cold, nearly frozen soil, and I could see the strength in the man, despite the white hair and wrinkles. There was no doubt in my mind he was perfectly capable of committing murder.

  “Is there an accusation in there somewhere?” he asked, his gaze directed straight at me.

  “Should there be? You had the motive, the means, and plenty of opportunity. The police have to have talked to you by now.”

  “They did,” he said, “and I sent them on their way. I might have killed him; the man had a way of rubbing me the wrong way that was maddening, but I didn’t, and I can prove it.”

  “How can you do that?” I asked.

  He laughed, with a hollow echo of mirth within it. “I don’t have to tell you that, now do I?” He reached for the diggers again, then said, “I’m no longer amused by this conversation, so I’ll thank you both to get off my land.” As he drove the diggers home again, he added with emphasis, “Now.”

  Maddy and I didn’t tarry.

  “We’re going to have to ask Kevin what his alibi was, aren’t we?” Maddy asked as we hurried back to the sidewalk.

  “He’s not going to tell us,” I said. “For now, we’re just going to have to believe that Travis is in the clear.”

  Maddy nodded. “We don’t have much choice, do we?”

  “No, but we can still ask Sheila for hers.”

  We walked up the steps to the Olsen house, but Maddy put a hand on my shoulder before we got to the door. “She’s not here,” she said.

  I saw her point to the empty driveway. “Maybe her car’s in the garage,” I said.

  “Knock then,” she said.

  I did, and when there was no response, I said, “We ask her later, then.”

  “What do we do in the meantime?”

  I glanced at my watch. “We go to the Slice, speed up some dough, then open for business as usual.”

  Maddy clearly looked disappointed by my suggestion. “What’s wrong? Don’t you like working there anymore?” I asked her.

  “That’s not it. I’m happy being there,” she said. “I was just hoping we’d make more progress than we have so far.”

  “We eliminated one and a half suspects,” I said as we got into her car. “That’s got to count for something.”

  “Where does the half come in?” she asked.

  “We can’t confirm his alibi, but Travis seemed pretty sure of himself. That should count for at least a half, shouldn’t it?”

  “I think we should crank it up to a
whole,” Maddy said. “After all, it wouldn’t take much for the police to prove he was lying, and he’s not locked up, so I’m guessing he’s got a decent alibi, even if we don’t know what it is.”

  “Then that’s even better,” I said. “Two suspects down, four to go.”

  “At least four,” Maddy cautioned. “We still don’t know how many people Richard was blackmailing.”

  “Are you trying to depress me?” I asked as we finally neared our parking spot in back of the building.

  “I’m just trying to be pragmatic,” she said.

  “Well, do it another day, would you? For now, I’m going to focus on the four suspects we’ve got.”

  “I can live with that,” she said.

  We parked, then walked around to the front of the building. I half expected to find the front glass shattered or some other dire circumstance, but instead, the place looked exactly as we’d left it the night before.

  As I unlocked the door, Maddy said, “I’m glad Greg’s coming in today.”

  “He’s always a good worker,” I said.

  Maddy looked at me oddly as she said, “It’s more than that. Today he has the front, and I’m doing all the kitchen work.”

  I was about to ask her what she was talking about when it suddenly dawned on me that I wasn’t going to be at the pizzeria tonight.

  Against my better judgment, I was having dinner with David Quinton, going out on a date that I didn’t want to be on. I didn’t know how I’d get through it without feeling disloyal to Joe, but I had to somehow make it. After tonight, I’d never have to hear David ask me out again.

  And I was pretty sure, though not entirely positive, that was what I wanted.

  Our lunch crowd was a little stronger than it had been lately, and I found myself wondering if it was because folks were starting to realize that I wasn’t a murderer, or if it was due to the fact that people loved our food and were willing to put little things like murder investigations aside for the sake of their growling stomachs.

  Honestly, I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.

  The kitchen door opened a little before two, and I was surprised to find Penny Olsen come through instead of Greg or Maddy.

  “Your sister told me it would be all right if I came straight back,” she said. Her hair and make-up were back to their usual standards.