Pepperoni Pizza Can Be Murder (8 page)

At least I didn’t have to get up early, since I clearly wasn’t going to be making any pizzas that day.

I had a hard time sleeping in past nine, no matter how late Maddy and I had stayed up. On the other hand, she’d probably sleep until four this afternoon, since she didn’t have to go into work.

I got dressed quietly, left her a note, and headed back to my place. I was glad I’d been the designated driver the night before. A hot shower helped perk me up, though I still felt a little groggy from not enough sleep. It was funny, but in college I’d been able to stay up all night without any discernable ill effects the next day. Now, if I didn’t get at least seven hours of rest a night, I’d feel it for days afterward. The coffee I always set the timer for the night before was waiting patiently for me in the kitchen, and by the time I finished my first cup, I was as good as I was going to get.

As I sat at the counter trying to figure out what to do next, there was a tapping on my kitchen window.

It was Greg Hatcher, and from the look of him, he’d gotten even less sleep than I had.

I opened the window and looked down at him. “Greg, what are you doing here? Chief Hurley is looking all over town for you.”

“That’s why I cut through your backyard to get here. I need to talk to you, Eleanor.”

I looked around outside to see if any of my neighbors were watching us. Mrs. Huffline, on one side would be fine, but Mr. Harpold, on the other, was born to gossip. Since he’d retired from teaching school, he’d become a one-man Neighborhood Watch program.

Fortunately, no one was looking at the moment.

“Come on, you might as well come in,” I said.

He started to climb in through the window when I stopped him.

“Through the back door,” I said.

“Somebody might see me,” he said. “Move over.”

I did as he asked, and Greg surprised me by leaping up and catching the windowsill, then hoisting himself into my kitchen.

“Is that coffee?” he asked as he spotted my mug on the countertop. I noticed that he’d stepped in the dark soil under the window and was tracking up my kitchen floor, but I couldn’t very well ask him to clean up after himself.

“It is,” I said. “Would you like some?”

“More than anything else I can think of at the moment.”

I poured him a cup, which he thankfully downed in quick gulps.

While he started on his refill, I said, “Greg, I don’t know how to break it to you, but you’re in more trouble than you can even imagine.”

“I know,” he said as he took another swallow. “I’m trying not to think about it.”

“I’m guessing you heard what happened to your brother, then,” I said.

“It’s all over the radio,” he admitted. “Thanks for that.”

“The coffee?”

“No, for believing in me. You didn’t ask the question that’s been hanging in the air since I got here, but I’m going to answer it, anyway. Eleanor, I didn’t kill my brother. I wasn’t all that fond of him, and he’s been driving me crazy the past few days, but I wouldn’t hurt him.”

“I never thought you would,” I said. Maddy’s musings didn’t need to be voiced during this particular conversation.

“You’re going to be in the lone minority, then,” he said.

I could see that Greg was a wreck, nearly falling over from his tough night, but I couldn’t let him stay there with me.

“I believe you,” I said. “Have you thought about turning yourself in? It’s too dangerous with everyone out looking for you.”

“They can just keep looking,” he said. “There’s no way I’m going in willingly. If Hurley wants me, he’s going to have to find me.”

“It might not be that bad, Greg. Kevin might just want to question you so he can eliminate you as a suspect.”

“Yeah, and I’m going to win the lottery, too. On second thought, I quit believing in fairy tales a long time ago. I’m going to find out who killed Wade on my own. He was a skunk of a brother, but I owe him that much. At least that much.”

“I spoke with Katy last night,” I said, trying to be as delicate as I could. “I’m sure the police know what happened with her by now as well.”

Greg frowned. “She did something stupid, but she just wasn’t thinking. Wade took advantage of that. I wonder if Sandi had any idea what he was doing.”

“Sandi?” I asked.

“Sandi Meadows. Wade’s been dating her for six months, and, let me tell you, she’s one girl I wouldn’t dream of getting mad at me. She has the disposition of a hungry grizzly bear, and I don’t care how pretty she is, she isn’t worth it.”

“Oh, I know her. Do you think she might have killed him?”

“That depends,” Greg asked. “Do you know how Wade died? They didn’t say on the radio, and I couldn’t exactly call up the chief of police and ask him.”

I searched his eyes, and it was clear to me that he was telling the truth. “Someone hit him over the head with my maple rolling pin,” I said.

Greg’s face fell. “I hope he didn’t suffer. He was a rat, but even he deserved better than that.”

“It looked like all it took was one blow,” I said. “He didn’t even get to taste the pizza on the floor beside him.”

“You saw him?”

I nodded. “Kevin asked me to come down to the pizzeria to identify the murder weapon this morning. You don’t have a key to the Slice, do you?”

“You know I don’t,” Greg said. “Why? Did someone say I did?”

“No, but Kevin asked me, and that’s what I told him, so we’re good there.”

He drained his coffee, but he wouldn’t take another refill.

I stared at him a few seconds, then asked, “Greg, who would want to see your brother dead?”

“Do you mean besides me?” he asked.

“Let’s just assume for the moment that you didn’t do it.”

“It’s the truth, so we don’t have to assume anything,” Greg snapped at me.

“Hey, I’m on your side, remember?”

“Sorry,” he said, his expression immediately softening. “I know you’re one of the good guys.”

“So, who makes the ‘bad guy’ list?”

Greg thought about it, then after thirty seconds, he said, “I’d have to say Sandi’s right up there, and if I’m being honest about it, you have to include Katy, too.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “You actually think your ex-girlfriend could have done it?”

He shrugged. “I don’t want to, believe me, but I keep coming back to the way she acted last night. The second she figured out that Wade had set her up, she had blood in her eyes.”

“Who else makes the list?”

“The only other person I can think of is Art Young.”

“Why is that name familiar?” I asked.

“He’s the one who loaned Wade money. From what I hear, he’s all kinds of trouble. What was my brother thinking? Why did he go to a thug like that to get cash?” Greg hung his head low. “Don’t answer that. I already know why. He wanted money from our grandparents’ estate, and I wouldn’t give it to him.”

I took his face in my hands for a few seconds so that he couldn’t avoid looking at me. “Greg Hatcher, you’re not going to blame yourself for what happened, do you hear me? You didn’t kill your brother, not by trying to obey your grandparents’ wishes, or anything else.”

“I just wish I believed that,” he said, hanging his head down.

“I can’t do anything about that,” I said, my mind racing, trying to figure out how I could help him. A sudden question occurred to me.

“Greg, where were you last night? Is there any chance you have an alibi?”

He shook his head quickly. “No, nobody would believe me, and I don’t have any way of proving it.”

“Why? Where were you?”

“I was asleep in Josh Hurley’s basement. He let me in after his folks went to bed, and I crashed there. I do that sometimes, since he’s a friend of mine.”

“Why didn’t you just go back to your apartment?” As I asked him the question, I realized that if he had, he would most likely be sitting in a jail cell right now.

Greg hesitated, then looked down at his hands as he explained, “I didn’t want to be alone. Josh is one of my best friends, and I didn’t know who else to ask. I know, it’s pretty crappy as alibis go.”

“Josh didn’t bunk down there with you, did he?”

Greg shook his head. “No, as soon as I got settled in on the couch, he headed up to his room.” Greg smiled, but there was no mirth in it. “Funny to think that the police chief was looking for me all over Timber Ridge, and I was sound asleep in his basement. Luckily, I got out of there before he found me. I was getting dressed to go back to my place when I heard it on the radio.” He bit his lip, and it looked as though he was fighting back tears. After a few seconds, Greg said, “I can’t believe he’s gone.”

“I’m so sorry,” I said as I patted his cheek. “Is there anything else you can think of that might help find his killer?”

Greg looked at me with a wide open expression. “Are you going to try to find the murderer yourself? It’s too dangerous, Eleanor, I can’t let you do it.”

I wasn’t sure how he thought he could stop me, but it was a noble thought. “Don’t worry, I won’t be alone. I’m sure Maddy will want to help out, too.”

“Why doesn’t that make me feel any better? I’m going to find out what happened to him myself.”

“That’s going to be tough, with the police looking everywhere for you. You lift your head up in plain sight—the next thing you know, you’re going to be in jail. Leave it to Maddy and me. We’ve done this before, remember?”

I was about to say something else when I heard a car pull up in my driveway. “Hang on a second.”

I glanced out the window and saw Kevin Hurley getting out of his squad car. Before he could make it to the first step, I rushed back into the kitchen.

“It’s the police,” I said. “Greg, do you know what’s going to happen to me if Kevin Hurley finds you here?”

“I know. You’ll be in the cell next to mine. I shouldn’t have come. I just didn’t know where else to turn.” He looked as though he was going to cry. “I don’t have anything. I’m flat broke, and the cops are looking everywhere for me.”

Rapidly I said, “Greg, I have a rainy-day fund I keep in my Garfield cookie jar.” I figured there was about two hundred dollars there. I knew it wasn’t much, but it was the best I could do on the spur of the moment. I looked out the window into the sunny day as I added, “And from where I’m standing, it’s pouring outside right now for you.”

“I won’t take money from you,” Greg said.

“And I probably can’t give you any without being accused of aiding and abetting a felon. That doesn’t mean you can’t borrow it yourself and pay me back later.” The front doorbell rang, and I added, “I have to go answer the door. I’ll be right back.” I shoved the cookie jar, with Garfield’s prominent ginger belly, toward him.

Before I left, I paused under the archway between the kitchen and the dining room. “Greg, if you’re still here when I get back, I won’t be able to help you,” I said softly. “So unless you’re ready to turn yourself in after all, I’d take off if I were you.”

“I don’t really have much choice, do I?” he said, and I wished I could see even the slightest ray of hope in his eyes.

“If you want to stay in touch, my answering machine might make a good place to leave me a message.” I leaned forward and patted his cheek. “Be safe, Greg.”

The doorbell rang again, and I went out to talk to the chief of police.

I just hoped Greg was gone by the time I got back.

“Good morning,” I said as I finally opened the door and stepped out onto the front porch. I’d made Kevin Hurley ring it three times, and he was about to head for my backyard when I walked outside.

“That took you long enough,” he grumbled.

“I had a late night, remember?”

“At least you’ve been to bed,” the police chief said.

He had a right to be grumpy, but that didn’t mean I had to mollify him. “What can I do for you, Chief?”

“I wouldn’t say no to a cup of coffee,” he said.

“Well, I wouldn’t wave good-bye to a piece of toast,” I replied, still standing between him and my front door.

He looked at me, clearly perplexed, a state I often created in him. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“I thought we were saying what we wouldn’t do to inanimate objects. I wouldn’t wink at a sprinkler, either.”

He shook his head, dropping that particular line of conversation. I wasn’t just being silly. I was trying to buy Greg time to get as far away from my house as he could. Just because I had to tell the police chief he’d been there, I didn’t have to make it any easier for him. Or did I have to tell him after all? It was possible that I could leave Greg out of it entirely. Kevin might think I was lying about harboring Greg for even a moment, but it was nothing he’d ever be able to prove.

“We need to talk,” he said.

“I want to talk to you, too. Can I have my pizzeria back?” I asked, carefully blocking his way inside.

Kevin looked around us, and we both saw Mr. Harpold watching us from his front lawn. He’d been standing at his mailbox the entire time the squad car had been there. When he saw us looking back at him, he didn’t even pretend not to be watching. “Eleanor, do you really want to do this out here?”

“I suppose not,” I said. I’d stalled as long as I could. Greg had to be gone by now. If he wasn’t, it was on his own head. “Come on in. I’ll start a fresh batch of coffee.”

He nodded thankfully, and we walked inside. I looked back at Mr. Harpold, who waved at me like he was a kid watching a parade.

I managed to stay in front of Kevin, but I still couldn’t slow him from getting into my kitchen.

“What happened here?” he said as soon as he saw the open window and the footprints on the floor.

“What are you talking about?” I pretended to see the kitchen in a state of disarray for the first time. “What’s going on?”

“That’s what I want to know.” He approached the footprints, but he was careful not to step in them. As he knelt down beside one, I noticed that there were two mugs of coffee on the counter. If he saw them, Kevin would know that I’d talked with someone—most likely Greg—which would kill the story I was going to try to sell him that this was all news to me. I moved quickly behind him and put one mug in the sink before he could spot it.