The Missing Dough(11)

“Just give me a time and a place and I’ll be there,” Maddy said. “I still don’t understand why Grant would forge my signature in the first place. The second I found out that he’d done it, I would tell everyone that it wasn’t mine.”

The chief shook his head. “Don’t ask me to explain why the man did what he did. I’m just trying to catch his killer.”

“Well, I can assure you that none of us did it,” Bob said stiffly.

“We’ll see,” the chief said. “Counselor, you’re not planning any trips out of Timber Ridge in the near future, are you?”

“I have a thriving law practice here,” Bob answered. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Good,” the chief said and then he turned to David. “How about you?”

“I’m supposed to visit a few branches of my company out of town in the next few weeks,” he answered.

“Could you put that on hold for now?” Kevin asked him.

“I’ll do what I can,” David said.

“What about us?” I asked. “Should Maddy and I stick around, too?”

“With you both working at the Slice day and night, I kind of took it for granted that you’d be around if I needed you.”

“You don’t honestly suspect that Maddy and I could have stabbed Grant together, do you?” I asked.

“I’m not ready to say one way or the other about anything just yet,” he said as he moved back to his patrol car. “Have a nice evening, or what’s left of it.” He paused and then turned to Maddy. “I’m sorry I had to just spring Mrs. Whitmore’s death on you like that. It’s pretty clear that you cared about her.”

“She was a fine woman, and she deserved a better son than she got,” Maddy said. “I know I shouldn’t speak ill of the dead like that, but Grant wasn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, and I won’t pretend that he was just because he’s gone.”



After Chief Hurley left, we all stood around in the front yard, the party mood now broken completely.

Maddy finally asked, “Bob, what should we do?”

“For now? Nothing would be the best course of action. None of us killed your ex-husband, and I have faith the police chief will determine that soon enough.”

“Then you’ve got more faith in him than I do,” Maddy said.

“Maddy,” I said, scolding her softly.

“Let’s face it, Eleanor. He can handle bicycle thefts and petty larceny just fine, but when he’s investigating murder, it’s not too tough for him to get in over his head. We need to figure out who killed Grant ourselves,” Maddy said.

“Would it mean anything if I told you that was the worst thing that you could do?” Bob asked. “It will just make me look even guiltier than I do now.”

“I’m sorry about that, but we can’t just stand by and watch the police chief try to hang this on you,” Maddy said. “Don’t worry. Eleanor and I will be subtle about it.”

Bob just shrugged. “I know that you believe you will be.”

“That’s not exactly a ringing endorsement, is it?” David asked.

I put a hand on his arm. “Bob knows what we’ve done in the past. He has every right to voice his opinion, since it involves him so directly.”

“He told me to hang around town, too, remember? All I’m saying is that if I can help your investigation, all you have to do is ask,” David answered.

“As will I,” Bob said, and David nodded his approval. “I wasn’t doubting your abilities.”

“If we need anything, you can believe that we’ll ask for it,” I said. “In the meantime, there’s nothing that any of us can do tonight. Let’s just call it a night and tackle everything fresh first thing tomorrow. Maddy, would you like to stay here with me this evening?”

She looked questioningly at Bob, who nodded. He said, “That’s most likely for the best. I’m not going to be good company tonight, anyway. You really should stay here with Eleanor.”

“That’s just a suggestion, though, right?” she asked him with a gentle voice.

“My dear, I’m not foolish enough to try to make it an order,” Bob said and then kissed my sister. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.” He turned to David and then asked, “Shall we get out of here and leave the ladies in peace?”

“That’s fine by me,” David said and then kissed me good night, a short peck hardly worth the name.

It wasn’t until after they were both gone that I realized that Maddy and I were going to have to clean up the mess we’d all made, after all. I almost said something to that effect, trying to get a smile out of her, but I doubted there was much humor that could be salvaged this evening, so I kept it to myself as we cleaned up.