Tragic Toppings

by Jessica Beck

  “I didn’t have anything to do with killing Tim, and that’s the honest truth,” Stu said, his words rushing out at us. “You can’t pin it on me, so don’t even try.”

  “Who are you talking about, Stu?” Jake’s voice had gotten soft, and it might have been interpreted as friendly if you didn’t know him. He seemed to be onto something, and it gave him a calm presence that I admired.

  “It’s Tim Leander you’re here to talk to me about, and we all know it.” He gestured at me. “Who’s that?”

  “An acquaintance of mine,” Jake said.

  I wasn’t sure I cared for that description coming from my boyfriend, but then again, I knew that he had to be careful of exactly what he said.

  “I didn’t do it,” Stu repeated. “You can gang up on me all you want; my story isn’t going to change.”

  Jake shook his head, as though he was disappointed with a small child. “Stu, there’s a very easy way to make me go away for good.”

  “What’s that?” Stu asked, his reddened eyes squinting at Jake carefully.

  “Where were you the night Tim was murdered?” Jake asked.

  “I was entertaining a lady friend all evening,” Stu said.

  “Really?” I asked.

  “I have lady friends,” Stu said defensively.

  “I’m sure you do,” Jake said. “What was this one’s name?”

  He looked around as he scratched his chin, and it was clear Stu was debating whether to tell us or not. All it took to convince him was for Jake to pull back his jacket slightly so Stu could see his gun. It wasn’t a threatening move, but it made a statement nonetheless.

  “Okay, fine, it wasn’t a lady.” He looked around, though there wasn’t a soul nearby, and finally admitted, “If you’ve got to know, I was at the plasma center donating some blood. I was a little hard up, and I needed the cash.”

  “And you’re trying to tell me that you were there all night?” Jake asked. It was clear that he didn’t believe him. “Come on, Stu, we both know that it doesn’t take that long.”

  “I had some problems afterward,” Stu said. “They kept me for hours. Go on, ask the nurse who volunteered there. She stayed with me the whole time.”

  “Do you happen to remember her name?” Jake asked.

  “Yeah, sure I do. It was Nickel. No, hang on a second, that doesn’t make any sense. It was Penny. That was it, I’m positive.”

  “Nice try,” I said, “but Penny Parsons was at the hospital all night.”

  Jake looked surprised when I volunteered the information. He turned back to Stu and said, “Are you lying to me? I don’t like it when people lie to me.”

  “It’s the truth,” Stu said, the anger clear in his voice. “Ask her.”

  Jake seemed to take that in, and then he nodded. “Trust me, I’m going to. Don’t go far, Stu. I may need to talk to you again.”

  “I’ve got nothing to hide,” he said, his anger fading away and his tone becoming more defensive.

  “Let’s hope that’s true, for your sake.”

  Stu walked past us and headed for the bus stop. I wasn’t exactly sure where he lived, but I didn’t envy him the wait. Our bus system wasn’t exactly known for its promptness. In fact, some folks built in a buffer of half an hour or more, and they got upset when the bus actually ran on time.

  “How do you know Penny was working?” Jake asked me as we walked back to his car.

  “Gina told me when I spoke with her today.”

  Jake nodded. “We still need to confirm that it’s true.”

  As Jake got into his car, I followed suit. “Let me guess. We’re going to the hospital right now, aren’t we?”

  “The sooner we can take his name off our list, the better. You don’t have a problem with that, do you?”

  I shook my head, thinking about how my friend might react to the fact that I’d been a little hard on her mother. “I’m just hoping Penny hasn’t spoken to her mother since I did.”

  CHAPTER 15

  “Suzanne Hart, how could you? I thought we were friends.”

  It wasn’t the greeting I’d been hoping for when I first saw Penny. So much for the chance that she hadn’t spoken to her mother yet. We were in a crowded ER with victims from a car crash and an accidental stabbing, and Penny’s voice still managed to get us more attention than any of them had garnered.

  “We are,” I said, trying to keep my voice calm. “Penny, I had to talk to your mother to see if I could somehow clear her with the police. There was no other choice, and I was trying to help her out, not do her any harm.”

  “She said you accused her of murder,” Penny said. Wow, was she angry.

  “Penny,” I said, snapping her name out like a whip. “She seemed happy enough to talk to me, especially at first. I didn’t accuse her of anything, and that’s the truth.”

  “You asked her for an alibi,” Penny said, her tone of voice leveling out somewhat as she glanced over at Jake. He’d decided to let me handle this myself, and he didn’t say a word as Penny and I talked.

  “I told you, I’m trying to help her clear her name,” I said. “Trust me, you don’t want folks around this county thinking your mother might be a murderer. I’ve been painted with that particular brush before, and it’s no fun.”

  Penny seemed to take that in. “Let me get this straight. You wrecked her day, but you were really just trying to help her, is that what you’re saying?”

  “I’m sorry if I upset her. I had the best of intentions,” I replied. I really didn’t want to make Penny angry again.

  Jake finally decided to step up. “There’s something we need you to clear up, and then we’ll get out of your hair.”

  “If it’s about my mother, I’m not at all sure I care to talk to you.”

  “It’s not that,” I said. “I’m really sorry about interrupting. We know you’re busy.”

  Penny shook her head. “Not particularly. We’re overstaffed at the moment, so I just punched out.”

  “Then you have a second,” Jake said.

  “Just that, but I’ve got plans.”

  “Of course you do,” he said. “I understand you worked a double shift here the night Tim Leander was murdered.”

  She frowned before answering. “No, that’s not right.”

  “Penny, your mother told me you did,” I said, also supplying the information for Jake’s save.

  The nurse shook her head. “She was mistaken. I worked my regular shift here in the ER, and then I pulled one at the plasma bank. It’s a way to bring in a little extra income from time to time, so I do it when I’m not busy. Why, am I a suspect now?”

  “We’re just trying to clarify things,” I said.

  Jake asked, “Did you treat a man named Stewart Mitchell?”

  “Oh, yes, Stu was there most of the night. He started hitting his flask the second we were through, and he fainted before he got to the door. We had to keep him here to make sure he was all right.”

  “He didn’t slip out anywhere when you weren’t looking?” Jake asked.

  “No chance, and I’ll swear to that in court.”

  Jake nodded, and as he turned to go, I realized that I wasn’t going to get a better opportunity to talk to Penny about her mom than right now.

  I took a deep breath, and then asked her, “As far as you know, did your mother have a date with Tim that night?”

  “No, of course she didn’t,” Penny answered a little too quickly. “She was home all alone watching a movie.”

  Okay, that was exactly what her mother had told me. That didn’t mean that it was the truth, though. “Is there any way she can prove it?”

  Penny scowled openly now. “I’m still not sure she should have to, but she left me half a dozen messages that night on my cell phone. She does that when she’s feeling lonely and I can’t answer my telephone. Can’t you check that out?”

  “She could have called you from anywhere with a cell phone,” Jake said.

  Penny laughed
. “You don’t know my mother. She won’t go near one, no matter how much I beg and plead. All of her calls were made from her home. Check the records. It should clear her.”

  I thought of half a dozen ways that could have been faked, but I didn’t say anything. “It’s clear that you love your mother. We’re just trying to get to the truth.”

  “Well, you won’t find it by digging into my mother’s life, or mine, either.”

  “I understand,” I said.

  “I hope so.”

  I couldn’t just leave it at that. Her friendship meant too much to me. “Penny, can we put this behind us? I didn’t mean any harm by it.” I didn’t want to lose a good friend, especially if her mother was really innocent. I knew if she wasn’t innocent, and Jake and I found out, I’d lose Penny forever, but we hadn’t come to that yet, and I hoped we never would.

  Penny shrugged. “I just don’t like seeing her ambushed like that.”

  I took her hands in mine. “Penny, I’ll make you a deal. If I speak with her again, I’ll call you first and you can go with me. How does that sound?”

  She started to smile, then bit it back down again. “Okay, I guess that would work. Now if you two will excuse me, I’ve got to go. My shift at the plasma bank starts in an hour, and I want time to grab a quick bite first.”

  After she was gone, Jake and I went out to his car. On the way, he asked, “Why did you tell her you’d let her go with you next time?”

  “Because it probably won’t be me, anyway,” I said. “I have a feeling if Gina Parsons merits a return visit, you’ll be doing it alone, or with George. It was an easy promise to make, and if her mother’s innocent, I don’t want our friendship to be dead by collateral damage. Do you understand?”

  “Perfectly,” he said as he reached out and squeezed my hand for a moment before releasing it again. “You wouldn’t be you without doing something like that.”

  “I’m not sure I’d want to be,” I said. I glanced at my watch, and then added, “It looks like our bartender should be starting her shift any minute.”

  “Then let me buy you a Coke,” Jake said.

  * * *

  The bar was nearly empty again when we walked in, and I wondered what kind of crowd they must have at night to justify staying open at all. There were a few stragglers at the bar, but Orson Blaine wasn’t one of them.

  A tall brunette with piercing blue eyes and a full figure was working behind the bar, though.

  “You must be Laney,” Jake said as we approached.

  “If you say so, handsome, then I must be. What can I do for you?” At that moment, she seemed to recognize him somehow, and after she hesitated a second, the bartender reached for a baseball bat behind the counter. “Go on. Get out. You’re not welcome here.”

  “Slow down,” Jake said as he held his hands up in the air. “What’s the problem?”

  “I heard you were following me around all day. I’ve had a stalker before, so believe me, I know how to deal with you creeps.” She glanced at me and added, “That’s a nice touch, bringing another girl along as window dressing. Now, are you going to walk out of my bar on your own, or am I going to have to make you crawl out on your hands and knees? It’s your choice, sport. I honestly don’t care.”

  Jake pulled back his jacket slowly and showed his badge. “I’m working on a case.”

  The bat lowered when she saw his shield. “So, tell me. What’s so urgent that it couldn’t wait until now?”

  Jake shrugged. “I didn’t know you’d be here until I got to the last stop this morning. I’m not shadowing you, trust me.”

  “I will, for now,” she conceded as she put the bat back under the bar. From the way she’d held it, I was pretty sure no one ever bothered her more than once. “A girl can’t be too careful. What can I do for you after I serve you both drinks?”

  “We’ll take two Cokes,” Jake said, and after she poured them, he paid, leaving her a tip worth more than the sodas had cost.

  “You know what? Suddenly I feel like talking,” Laney said as she pocketed the change.

  “It’s about Orson Blaine,” Jake said.

  “Him,” Laney responded as she rolled her eyes. “That man’s clearly in love.”

  “With you?” I asked. If it was true, it ran counter to everything we’d learned about the man so far.

  Laney laughed at the suggestion. “Hardly. It’s with whoever’s pouring him his next drink.”

  So much for that angle of our investigation.

  “Do you happen to know if he was here the night Tim Leander was murdered?” Jake asked. “You were working that shift, I already checked.”

  “I was here, and so was he. Orson kept drinking, and by the time he left, he was too broke to order another, which was just as well, since I was getting ready to cut him off, anyway.”

  “How can you be so sure he was here all night?” I asked.

  Laney frowned. “It wasn’t all that tough. In fact, it was a pretty memorable night. I don’t know where he got it, but Orson paid me with a hundred-dollar bill, and when I told him I didn’t have enough change, he bought a dozen friends a drink.”

  “Was that unusual for him?” Jake asked.

  “About like a lunar eclipse on a Tuesday,” Laney replied.

  “Do you happen to know any of his drinking buddies?” I asked.

  “I’ve never seen them before, or since, but they sure were a rowdy bunch. I had to run one of them out of the women’s bathroom, and when I finally got him out, another one was behind the bar helping himself to our Scotch,” she answered, as she poured a beer and served it to a man at the end of the bar without missing a beat.

  “This part is important,” Jake said. “Did he ever leave the bar for anything that night?”

  Laney frowned, and then pointed to a booth in back by the door. “He moved his little party over there, and I couldn’t swear he never slipped out when I wasn’t watching him. Things were nuts that night, and I barely had time to look up. I can’t swear to it, but my gut tells me he never left. Is that it? It’s insulting to the bartender not to take at least one drink of your sodas,” she added as she pointed to our glasses.

  I hadn’t touched my Coke, and neither had Jake. We both took small sips, and then Jake said, “If you think of anything else, I’d appreciate it if you’d give me a call,” he said as he slid a card across the bar.

  “How about if I don’t, and I just want to chat?” she asked with a full smile, giving him every ounce of her charm. A quick look of irritation must have crossed my face, because she instantly pulled back and addressed me directly. “I’m sorry, I assumed you two were partners, not partners, you know what I mean?”

  “No harm, no foul,” I said.

  Jake laughed softly under his breath, and we walked out of the bar.

  “What was that all about?” I asked.

  “It’s funny, but I’ve never had two women fighting over me before.”

  “You still haven’t,” I said, and gave him a light kiss on the cheek.

  “Are you kidding? Wait until you hear the way I tell it.”

  “Dream on, my friend,” I said. “Do we believe her?”

  Jake shrugged. “What do you think?”

  “She wasn’t exactly unequivocal about her answer, but I think she’s telling the truth, at least as much as she knows it. What about you? Do you have an opinion?”

  Jake shook his head. “I’m troubled by what she said, I’ll admit it. Laney told us how she saw it, but I still think that it left time for Orson to slip out, kill Tim and string him up, then get back before anyone noticed he was gone. What if he wasn’t really drunk at all that night? He could have paid those guys to cause a distraction so he could get away.”

  “Tell me, do you trust anyone?”

  Jake surprised me and took me in his arms, and after a rather nice kiss, he pulled away and said, “I trust you.”

  “That’s all you need then,” I said.

  “You can say that
again.” After we got back to his car, I asked, “Do we go looking for Orson now so we can ask him more questions?”

  Jake glanced at his watch. “Not tonight. I’m afraid that we’re going to be late as it is.”

  “Where are we going?” I asked.

  “We have leftovers planned at your house, remember?”

  I smiled. “Maybe I should give Momma a heads-up that we’re on our way.”

  “You can do it in the car as we drive. I’m starving.”

  * * *

  Momma greeted us at the door with a smile. “Jacob, so nice you could join us.”

  “Happy to be here, Dorothy,” he said. Jake inhaled deeply, and added, “You made garlic bread. I love it.”

  “Then I’d better have some, too,” I said with a smile.

  Momma clicked her tongue. “You know, I never even thought about that.”

  “It’s fine,” I said. As we walked into the dining room, I saw that she’d already set the table. It was a pretty elegant way to eat leftovers. “I’m suddenly starving.”

  “I am, too,” Jake said. “Can I give you a hand with anything?”

  “Thank you, but it’s taken care of. Suzanne, if you’ll serve the salad, I’ll get the main courses ready.”

  “I’d love to,” I said as Momma and I walked into the kitchen together. “You really pulled out all the stops, didn’t you?”

  “Jacob isn’t here that often. I want to make him feel at home,” she said.

  “That’s just one of the reasons I love you,” I said as I gave her a quick hug.

  She looked surprised, as well as pleased, by the compliment.

  I wasn’t sure which was better, the first time Jake and I had that meal, or this one. It was delicious, that much I knew.

  We were just starting to clear the table when there was a knock at the door. I saw Jake instinctively put a hand on his gun. I looked out the side window and saw Chief Martin’s squad car out there. “It’s okay, it’s the chief.”

  Jake nodded, and Momma asked, “Would you mind getting the door? He’s probably here for you anyway.”

  “I’d be happy to,” Jake said.

  I followed, and he grinned at me as he opened the door.