Assault and Batter(20)

“Is there anyone else who can confirm that?” Grace asked.

“I didn’t exactly tell anyone when it started, so why would I tell them when I ended it?” Lisa said. “And keep your voice down, would you? My husband’s in the living room taking a nap.”

“We’ll do our best,” I said. “Lisa, did Frank have any idea about what you were up to?” I asked softly.

She looked shocked by the very idea of it. “Are you crazy? If he even suspected, things would have gone horribly wrong for Jude and me both.” The realization that something had indeed happened to Jude hit her at that moment. “No. No. I don’t believe it. Frank would never do it.”

“Never do what?” a sleepy gruff man’s voice asked from the house.

Lisa was at a loss for an explanation, but Grace stepped right up. “We thought you ordered three dozen donuts. They’re back in Suzanne’s Jeep. Should we go on and bring them in?”

I hoped he didn’t say yes, since we didn’t even have a donut hole on us at the time.

“I never ordered any donuts,” he said roughly. “What are you trying to pull here?”

“Nothing at all,” I said. “My mistake.” How were we going to get out of this in one piece?

Grace tapped my shoulder, and as I turned toward her, she pulled a small pad from her purse as she said, “Look, these are for an address in union   Square. It was just a mix-up all along.”

I pretended to study her grocery list for a moment before I said, “You’re right. Sorry to bother you both.”

“Hang on a second,” Frank said ominously, and I waited for one of his meaty paws to descend on my shoulder.

“Yes?” I asked.

“What kind of donuts are we talking about here?”

This one I could answer myself. “They’re special order, so I’m afraid they aren’t for sale. Sorry again to trouble you both.”

“Whatever,” he said as he went back into the house.

“Thank you,” Lisa said softly.

“Frank’s going to find out sooner or later,” I said. “You really should tell us everything you can about who might have wanted to kill Jude.”

“Do you mean besides his crazy old aunt, Gabby Williams?”

“Besides her,” I said. I doubted that Gabby had done it, but even if she had, I wasn’t going to leave it at that. “Who else might have wanted to harm him, Lisa?”

“You really should talk to Reggie Nance. He’s been gunning for Jude since I’ve known him.”

That was the second time I’d heard Reggie’s name mentioned that day linked to Jude. “You mean about his daughter?” I asked.

“You’d better believe it. That man was crazy. He even threatened to kill Jude right in front of me,” she said.

“I already had his name on my list,” I said. “Surely there has to be someone else.”

Lisa seemed to think about it for a moment. “The only other person I can think of is Peter Hickman.”

Hearing her say the name of Max’s best man really threw me. He’d been the last name I’d expected to hear from Lisa as a possible suspect. “What does Peter have to do with it?” I asked.

“He’s the one who beat Jude up yesterday. He wasn’t the only one to score a few punches, though. Peter got messed up himself. You know what? You should really talk to—”

From the other room, we all heard Frank call out, “Lisa? What are you still doing out there?”

“I’ve got to go,” she said breathlessly, but before she left, she hesitated for a moment. “Poor Jude. What a sad waste. How big was the bar that killed him?”

That was an unusual question, one I didn’t have the answer to. “I’m not sure, but I doubt that it was light. Why do you ask?”

“No reason,” she said quickly, and then Lisa darted back inside, closing the door hard behind her.

“That was interesting,” Grace said.

“What made you lie about his cellphone?” I asked her as we walked back to my Jeep. “Saying we had a donut delivery was really clever of you, but talking about pictures that we couldn’t have seen was something else entirely.”

“I’m sorry, Suzanne. I could tell that she was holding something back, and that she was afraid of something. It seemed like the next logical step to me.”

“I don’t know about that,” I said. “I wouldn’t have thought about bluffing like that in a million years.”

“I can’t tell,” Grace said with a slight smile. “Are you congratulating me on using initiative, or are you scolding me for stepping over the line?”