Thin Crust Killers

by Chris Cavender

  “Maddy and I are running a charity auction to raise money for a town plaque, but it’s on very short notice. Since you’re a computer whiz, we were wondering if you’d make up a flyer we can have printed, and then design a poster for the window. You are our resident computer expert, after all.” That was an understatement if ever there was one. While rams and roms were beyond me, Josh could make a computer dance at the slightest touch of the keyboard. “What do you say? Can you help us out?”

  “Absolutely. That’s right up my alley.” He sat at my tiny desk and turned on my computer. “I could give you something really sweet if I used my computer at home.”

  “I don’t mind if you want to take the day off to do this. I’ll still pay you for your work.”

  “Come on, Eleanor, I couldn’t cheat you like that. Give me some of the details, and I’ll see what I can do on this rig.”

  “We haven’t really thought that far ahead,” Maddy said as she joined us.

  Josh looked at us both a second, then he said, “We can’t give details in the flyer if we don’t know what they are.”

  Maddy grabbed the phone. “Then I guess we’d better start making some calls.”

  Unfortunately, most of the spaces large enough in town to hold an auction were already booked. We thought about moving the date, but we needed the immediacy of the deadline so we could push our witnesses with a legitimate sense of urgency.

  “We could always have it here,” Maddy said suddenly.

  “I doubt there’s enough room,” I said.

  Josh chimed in. “Sure there is. If we take the tables somewhere else for the night, we can borrow more chairs and pack them in. My best friend at school is in a band, and he’s got a portable stage and sound system we could use.” Josh hesitated, then added, “We might have to let them play a song or two if we do that, though.”

  “Why not?” Maddy said. “They can warm up the crowd.”

  “Hang on a second. What kind of music do they play, Josh?”

  “They’ve got some wild stuff they wrote themselves,” Josh said, but before I could decline, he said, “But they play at parties at the country club too, so they know a bunch of tame stuff they can do.”

  “What do they charge?” Even though this was a charity event, there were going to be expenses involved, and I was determined to keep them to a minimum.

  “Since it’s for a good cause and all, I’m sure they’d be willing to play for free pizza.”

  “That sounds great,” I said. “Tell them they’re booked. How do you know they don’t already have a job that night?”

  “Trust me, if they did, I would have heard about it. So we’ve got the time, the place, and the entertainment. What else do we need?”

  “We’ll supply the food,” I said.

  Maddy shook her head. “We’re already doing enough. Let someone else pitch in.”

  “We can ask Paul and a few other folks with restaurants around town, but this is our idea, so I think we should contribute as well.”

  “Tell you what. We’ll give the food and drinks away, but we’ll charge for cups and plates,” my sister said with a grin. “If we limit it to one helping per person, we can raise some money in a cool way that will get people’s attention.”

  “What if they try to bring cups and plates from home?” Josh asked.

  “Don’t worry,” Maddy said. “I’ll get some unusual paper plates and cups online, so we’ll know who’s trying to sneak one past us. What do you think?”

  “I like it,” I said, “but the money we raise goes toward that plaque.” Josh didn’t know we’d started the fundraiser as a ruse, and I wasn’t about to let him in on our little secret, not with who his father was.

  “Agreed,” Maddy said.

  “Is that enough information to get started, Josh?”

  “You bet. I’ll let you know as soon as I have something.”

  Maddy and I left him alone. We had five minutes before it was time to open, so we walked outside to take in the beautiful autumn weather. The sky was overcast, something I’d grown to enjoy the older I got, and there was a gentle breeze that made the leaves on the trees in the promenade flutter in perfect unison. I could smell wood smoke in the air. Someone was having their first fire early, but I couldn’t blame them. It was a perfect time for it, and I envied them the leisure time to do it. Joe and I had dreamed about owning a place in the mountains away from civilization and close to nature, a place we could retire to and savor our golden years. Sadly, it was not to be. I comforted myself with the realization that I’d had more love in my life already than most folks got in a lifetime.

  “Thinking about your husband?” Maddy asked.

  “How in the world did you know that?”

  “I’m not exactly sure. You just get this wistful look in your eyes, and I can see a smile creeping onto your lips that seems to be just for him.”

  “He loved days like today,” I said.

  I was still wrapped up in the warmth of thoughts of him when I could swear I heard him calling me. It took me a second to realize that it wasn’t actually Joe calling my name.

  Unfortunately, it was just a pale imitation: his brother Steve.

  Maddy said, “That’s my cue to take off. I’ll leave you two alone.”

  “You don’t have to go, you know.”

  “Oh, but I want to,” she said with a wicked grin as he neared us.

  Maddy ducked back inside the Slice with a wave, leaving the two of us alone.

  “It’s getting chilly, isn’t it?” Steve said as he rubbed his hands together. “Can we go inside the pizza place and talk?”

  “Sorry, but the second I walk back in, I have to go to work, so there won’t be any time to talk. Aren’t you on your way to talk to Art Young?”

  He looked at me sideways. “I’ve already seen Art and cleared up that little misunderstanding,” he said. “We’re all good now.”

  “It didn’t look like that was possible at breakfast.”

  “Believe me, it’s already forgotten.” He glanced around the promenade, and I had to wonder if he was looking for someone. After a second, he asked, “What’s this I hear about a charity auction? Why didn’t you say anything to me about it at breakfast?”

  “It was still in the planning stages then,” I lied, then I thought of a way I could tell him the truth. “There was nothing to really say before.”

  “Well, I love auctions, and I love good causes. I’ve decided to stick around until next weekend and see how it all turns out.”

  That was the last thing I wanted to happen. Having Steve around served only as a reminder of what I was missing in my life, and I didn’t need the prompt, or want it. “Don’t you have to get back to California?”

  He shrugged. “There’s nothing there that won’t wait. I was wondering something, though.”

  “What’s that?”

  He couldn’t even make eye contact with me as he said, “I’ve been staying with an old friend in town, but I’m not sure I can press my luck all the way until next week. Is there any chance I could try out that guest room of yours?”

  “Sorry, but I don’t think so.” It was hard enough seeing him around Timber Ridge. I had no desire to run into Steve in my own house.

  He tried to laugh my refusal off. “Come on, you won’t even know I’m here.”

  “Steve, I shouldn’t have to tell you that this is a small town, and people talk. I run a pretty public business, and I can’t afford rumors swirling all over the place about what I’m doing in my spare time.”

  “Are you seriously talking about the two of us? You’re kidding, right? Who would even think that we were involved in any kind of relationship?”

  His ego was huge, and I was offended by his quick denial, but I kept it to myself. “As ridiculous as we both know it is, people talk. I’m sorry I can’t help you.”

  “Man, it’s like living in the Dark Ages around here. When are you people going to get out of the past and join the rest of us
?”

  “Compared to your part of California, maybe that’s where we are, but do you know what? We like things just fine the way they are.”

  He held up his hands as though he was giving up. “Okay, I get it. I just thought I’d ask.”

  I glanced at my watch, willing it to hurry forward, when there was a tap on the door. Josh was standing inside looking at me expectantly, and when he caught my attention, he waved me in.

  “Sorry Steve, but I’ve got to go. I’m sure I’ll see you later.”

  “You can count on it. Good-bye, Eleanor.”

  I walked back inside the Slice, then I told Josh, “No matter what you need, thanks for saving me just now. Is there something else we need to discuss, or were you just coming to my rescue again?”

  “I was wondering if you had time to come back to the computer for a second.”

  I walked back with him as Maddy met me near the drink machine. “What did he want?”

  “He asked me if he could move into my guest room.”

  Maddy’s face reddened. “The nerve of that man. If he thinks for one second that he’s going to—”

  “I told him no.”

  That stopped her sputtering. “You did? You didn’t. Really?”

  “I told him that people would talk,” I said.

  Maddy laughed. “Well, you didn’t lie there. Good for you, Eleanor. I’m proud of you.”

  “Don’t be too happy. It wouldn’t surprise me if he asked you next,” I said.

  “I hope he does. I’m going to have a zinger ready for him if he dares to get up the nerve.”

  We were in my office, crowded as it was with three people, and I asked Josh, “What’s the problem?”

  “There’s no problem. I finished them, and I thought you’d like to see what I came up with before I did anything else.”

  I looked at the screen and saw the flyer, but it was too small to make out many of the details. “Can you print a copy out? I can’t say until I see it.”

  “Sure thing.” He hit the print button, and I retrieved the copy from the printer. It was unbelievable. Josh had done things with fonts and graphics that I would have sworn were impossible on my antiquated system. “How did you manage to do all of this on my old computer?”

  “It’s not hard,” he said, though it was clear he was pleased with his results, as well he should be.

  “Maybe it isn’t that difficult for you, but Maddy and I could have had a week to work on this, and we still wouldn’t have been able to come up with something a tenth as good as this.”

  “Does that mean you like it?”

  “It’s perfect,” I said as I handed the sheet to Maddy. “What do you say?”

  “We should print a thousand of them today,” she said. “Can we take a look at the poster you did?”

  “You honestly had time to do that, too?”

  “Come on, it’s not nearly as hard as you’re making it out to be,” Josh said. “Hang on, I’ll print a copy of that out for you, too.”

  He was as good as his word, and in a few seconds, I was holding a small version of the poster Maddy and I had requested. “This looks great, too.”

  “No changes? It’s not hard to modify,” Josh said.

  “I love it. Can Darrell take these and make copies for us? I have an account with him.” Darrell Wayne owned and operated our local print shop. Besides copies, he sold greeting cards, magazines, gum, and just about anything else he could think of to turn a profit. He could do passport photos, wedding invitations, and funeral announcements, too.

  “That shouldn’t be a problem. I’ve got it saved on this,” he said as he held up a flat, thin plastic stick no bigger than a pack of gum.

  “How’s that possible?”

  “It’s called a flash drive, Eleanor. Do you really want to know how it works?”

  “No, just as long as it does what you want it to do, I’m happy,” I said. “I don’t know how television works either, but that doesn’t stop me from watching the news. Do you mind running this over to Darrell’s?”

  “I’m on my way,” Josh said.

  After he was gone, I looked at the clock and saw that it was two minutes past time for us to open. “Maddy, do you understand computers?”

  “Probably a little more than you, but that’s not saying a lot, is it? You don’t have to worry about it, though. You make the best pizza I’ve ever tasted, and if that’s not a skill, I don’t know what is.”

  “I suppose,” I said. “Sometimes I feel like the information age is passing me by, though.”

  “I try not to think about it,” she said.

  As we moved into the dining room, I looked out the front door and asked her, “Can you handle the crowd until Josh gets back?”

  She looked out at the customers waiting to get in. There were more than I’d expected, not to mention Josh’s promised high school crowd. If the menu note the robber had made was hurting us, I couldn’t tell. Then again, it had become a matter of pride for me to try to find out who had done it, regardless of its impact on my business. It was a matter of honor for me now, and that was something I took very seriously.

  Maddy grinned at me and said, “You make the food, and I’ll serve it. They won’t know what hit them.”

  Josh came back half an hour later, and things were still hopping at the Slice. Maddy and I had managed to keep it under control, but just barely.

  “Sorry it took so long.” He had a box full of flyers in one hand, and a handful of placards tucked under the other arm.

  “These turned out great,” he said as he showed me one of the posters. In differing scripts and accompanying graphics, the end product was better than the auction was going to be.

  “I couldn’t agree with you more. I’ll put one in the front window as soon as I finish this order,” I said. I finished the thin crust sausage pizza I’d been working on, then I grabbed a poster from him. As we walked into the dining room, I took a few flyers and put them by the cash register, and after I tucked the poster in the front window right by the door, I said, “I don’t even want to know what this all cost.”

  Still holding the other posters, Josh grinned at me. “How does ‘free of charge’ sound to you?”

  I couldn’t believe that. “You got Darrell to donate his time and the supplies for the auction?”

  “I didn’t ask him, but when he saw what I needed to be printed, he volunteered to do it himself. He even took a poster and some flyers for his business. This thing is going to be huge, Eleanor, just wait and see.”

  “I’m not sure how huge I want it to be,” I said as I looked around. “Can we hold enough people here?”

  “That’s the thing. We can use the city hall basement after all. The Bingo Ladies have decided to bump up their meeting to the morning, so we can have the room at five. Mrs. Killabrew was at the print shop when I got there getting wedding announcements for her granddaughter, and when she heard about the auction, she was all for it. I expect she’ll be coming by sometime this afternoon. You’ll have to keep an eye on her. She’ll probably want to take the whole thing over and run it herself.”

  “There are worse things that could happen,” I said softly.

  “Pardon me?”

  “I said we could use all the help we can get.”

  Josh shrugged, then he asked, “Do you want me to start hitting up the other businesses on the promenade, or should I grab an apron and help out front?”

  I looked outside and saw several high school students were heading in our direction. “Maddy and I will do it on our break this afternoon. Thanks for handling all of this, Josh. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.”

  “It was fun, Eleanor. Anytime you need me, you know all you have to do is ask.”

  Maddy joined us, and I took a poster from Josh and held it up for her to see. “Cool, isn’t it?”

  “First class,” she said as she examined one of the flyers. “We really started something here, didn’t we?”

  I wai
ted until Josh left to get his apron, then I said to Maddy, “I feel kind of bad about the whole thing.”

  “Why on earth would you feel bad? We’re having the auction, aren’t we? And we’re going to finance a plaque for folks who’ve served our community. How can that possibly be a bad thing?”

  I lowered my voice. “I just made it up on the spur of the moment.”

  “I know that and you know that, but let’s make sure no one else finds out,” she whispered. “Now, you need to get into the kitchen and start making pizzas. In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re getting hammered with customers again.”

  “It’s hard not to,” I said as I retreated to the back. Maybe my sister was right. We were doing a good thing, no matter how the concept had originated, and I knew Joe would have loved it. One of the things he adored about small-town living was how folks pitched in and got together whenever they perceived a need for something. There was no hemming and hawing about who was responsible for what. When the community saw a need for something, things just had a way of getting done.

  Maddy came back into the kitchen as I got the pizza dough out of the refrigerator. As she handed me the latest batch of orders, she said, “It’s going to be a banner day, Eleanor.”

  “I just hope I made enough dough.”

  She grinned at me. “I don’t see that as a problem, myself. If you didn’t, we can always close up early this evening.”

  “In your dreams.”

  I started making pizzas, sandwiches, and salads as fast as I could, and I somehow managed to keep up with my two servers. I thought about calling Greg in early, but he had classes today, so I couldn’t bring myself to do it, though I knew if I called, he would come in a heartbeat. Somehow we managed to get through it, and by the time we were ready to close for our afternoon break, I was all set to sit down and enjoy my hour off.

  Unfortunately, Maddy and I had other plans. It was time to start tackling our suspects, and we both had to be on our toes when we did that. If our theory of the bank robbery was true, there was a good chance we’d be talking to a murderer today.

  Chapter 5