Read A Chili Death: A Classic Diner Mystery Online
Authors: Jessica Beck
A Chili Death: A Classic Diner Mystery (13 page)
“Do you think folks are just going to stop by and volunteer clues?” I asked him.
“Victoria, you know as well as I do that folks love to talk, and the place most of them come to gab is our diner. I’d be amazed if we didn’t do more good by hanging around there than gallivanting all over seven counties hunting down clues for ourselves.”
“You might be right, but I’m not going to stop trying. The quicker we solve this murder, the better off all of us will be.”
Moose nodded, and then a few miles farther down the road, he asked, “So, do you have any favorites yet on our list of suspects?”
“I don’t know. I guess it all depends on who you believe. I’m having trouble with Josephine and Stacy here. One is acting as though she’s going to miss Howard, and the other is putting on a front that she could care less.”
“Both could be true, though, right?”
“Sure it could, Moose. The only problem is that I’d think that the ex-wife wouldn’t care as much about the man as the woman he was dating up until he was murdered.”
We drove a little more, and then my grandfather asked me, “What about the folks we suspect in Jasper Fork?”
I gave that question a little thought before I said, “I still can’t see any of them as a murderer. Bob and Francie could go either way, Cynthia was even shakier, but then again, she always strikes me that way. As for Margie and Hank, I have no idea what their story is. In a lot of ways, I’m more confused than ever.”
“Give it time, Victoria. I know that you’ll get there.”
“I just wish I had the same kind of faith in me as you do,” I replied.
“Girl, I’ve known you your entire life, and if there’s one thing that I’m sure of, it’s that you’ll stick with this until you come up with the right answer. You’ve always had the stubborn streak of ten bulls.”
“Like grandfather, like granddaughter,” I answered, which was my usual response when Moose said something like that.
“You can bet your last dollar on that,” he said.
MOOSE’S ROASTED CHICKEN
My family loves this meal, and by changing up the veggies every now and then, it can show up more than once on your menu without complaints. Marinating the chicken is optional, and if you’re short on time, feel free to skip it. This one’s also a cleanup favorite, as all the cooking goes on in a Reynolds Oven Bag.
Ingredients
1 large Reynolds Oven Bag
1 Tablespoon flour, bleached or unbleached (to coat the inside of the bag)
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning, dried
1 clove garlic, minced
The juice from one lemon (about 3 tablespoons)
2-3 Tablespoons olive oil (I like extra virgin, but plain is fine)
Chicken, quartered and skinned, or three to four chicken breasts
2 cups carrots, peeled, and cut up into finger sized pieces
1 onion, peeled and cut into wedges (I like sweet onions when they’re available)
Salt and pepper to taste
3 small new potatoes or equivalent, cut into ½ inch slices
Optional veggies could include:
Bell peppers, green or red
Squash
Etc.
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Add the flour and coat the inside of the cooking bag to prevent the bag from exploding.
Add the oil, lemon juice, Italian seasoning, and garlic into the bag and shake it up.
Option 1: Add the chicken pieces now and marinate for 1-4 hours.
Option 2: Add the chicken pieces and toss the bag again, coating the chicken.
Add your vegetables in similar thicknesses to insure even cooking.
Tie the bag, and then make 4-6 horizontal slashes to allow steam to escape.
Place in a baking dish and cook for 1 hour, or until the chicken has reached 175 degrees F.
Let rest 10 minutes (if you can wait that long) and serve.
Rice or mashed potatoes make a nice side dish with this meal, especially if you skip the potatoes in the meal itself.
As soon as we walked back into our diner, Ellen Hightower cornered me. Her shift had been over twenty minutes by my calculation, and she looked intent on talking to me. “I’m so glad you’re here,” she said. “I waited just about as long as I could.”
“What’s going on?” I asked. She got off at two every day to be there when her kids got off the school bus, and finding her at The Charming Moose after hours was nearly unheard of.
“I heard something that might be important,” she said as she lowered her voice, “but I don’t want to talk about it in here.”
I nodded, and then I turned to my grandfather. “Moose, I need you to cover for me for a few minutes.” My grandfather was always willing to lend a hand, whether it was waiting tables and working the register or helping out in back at the grill.
“What can I do?”
I looked around and said, “Take care of the tables, the register, and if you get a chance, clean a few tables.”
He grabbed an apron from behind the counter and put it on. “You’ve got it.”
“Come on,” I told Ellen as I walked out the front door.
Once we were in the parking lot, I asked, “Now, what’s so important?”
“You’re looking for Hank Brewer and Margie Collins, is that right?”
How had she heard about our search for our missing suspects? Greg must have told her, or perhaps she’d overheard Moose and me when we’d been talking about our murder investigation. Either way, it appeared that we might be about to get a break. “We are. Did you hear something about them? Where are they?”
“I don’t know exactly, but I heard that they were together,” Ellen said.
“Where did you pick that up?”
She hesitated, and then looked down at the ground. “I’d really rather not say. I don’t want anyone in town thinking that I’m some kind of gossip.”
“I can respect that,” I said, “and I promise not to reveal my source, but it could be a big help to know.”
She still looked anguished about the prospect of talking. “Victoria, I can’t ask you to keep this from your family. If I tell you, I know that you’ll tell Greg and Moose, and I can’t afford to lose this job. I have a family to take care of.”
I took her hands in mine as I said, “Ellen, unless I catch you with your hand in the till or doing something outrageous to one of our customers, your job is safe here. I’m the one in charge here, remember? You can trust me.”
“So, you won’t tell anybody?”
“If there’s any way to keep from it, I won’t breathe a word to another soul,” I promised. It would be a hard one to keep, especially with Moose, but I was bound and determined to do it. My family was important, but my word, and my honor, were even more significant to me. I’d had it drilled into me from an early age that without trust, nothing else mattered.
“Okay. I heard Karen Morgan telling the Reverend Mercer something about them being together, but when I got closer, Karen clammed up. I know it’s not much, Victoria, but it’s the best I can do.”
“You did great,” I said. “And don’t worry about me. I won’t tell anyone where I got the information.”
“Are you going to go talk to one of them?” she asked.
“Well, it sounds as though the good reverend was just the recipient of the news. Karen’s the one I need to chat with.”
“Thanks for keeping my secret,” she said, the relief clear on her face.
“You’ve got it. Now hurry home. You don’t want to miss your kids.”
“It’s what I live for,” she said with a huge grin, and then softened it. “Not that I don’t love coming here to work every day.”
“Ellen, if your family isn’t more important to you than your job, I’d probably have to fire you. I don’t want anyone working here who doesn’t have a heart, too.”
“Thanks,” she said as she got into her ratty old station wagon and drove toward home.
I thought about popping in and telling Moose what Ellen had just shared with me, but if I did that, I knew that he’d want to tag along, and that would leave us shorthanded at the diner.
Just this once, I decided to go talk to Karen on my own.
She was at her place in the records room when I walked in, digging into one of the dusty volumes there. I glanced at the spine quickly, just to make sure that it wasn’t 1959. It wasn’t, but I’d hoped for it, if only for a flash.
She looked up after putting a finger in the volume, to hold her place most likely, and smiled ruefully at me. “I’m sorry to report that there’s still no sign of the ledger,” she said.
“That’s not why I’m here,” I said.
Karen looked surprised by the statement, but she took a call slip and put it in the volume before closing it. “What can I do for you, then?”
“I want to know where Hank and Margie are, and don’t bother trying to deny that you have a pretty good idea. I know you’ve got more information about this than you’re letting on.”
“What gives you that idea?” she asked, the friendly smile now gone.
“Let’s just say that I have a sound source.”
Karen looked mad enough to spit. “That’s the last time I try to get some advice from that no-good preacher. I don’t care what he told you. I shared something with him in confidence, and if he can’t keep a secret, what good is he? Folks are going to hear about this around town, believe me.”
Oh, no. I couldn’t let that stand. The man had done nothing worth having his reputation shredded. “I didn’t hear anything from him.”
“Why should I believe you?” Karen asked.
“You know how I feel about lying. The reverend is innocent.”
That seemed to mollify her a little. “If he didn’t tell you, then, who did?”
“Karen, it’s no secret the two of you were talking earlier at the diner. How many people were sitting close enough to your table to overhear your conversation? Can you even count them all?”
I was hoping the place had been fairly full, since I needed my customers as a screen for Ellen.
“There were probably close to a dozen,” she said reluctantly.
“There you go, then. It doesn’t matter who told me about it. I want to know the truth. Where are they now?”
“I don’t know,” Karen said, “and that’s the truth.”
“Then, what were you telling him?” Had Ellen been wrong after all? No, I doubted that, else why would Karen have reacted so strongly to my questions?
“I might not know where they are at the moment, but I have a real suspicion that they’re together,” she finally acknowledged.
“What makes you say that?” I asked.
She took a few seconds to think about replying before she finally spoke. “The two of them have been secretly dating for months,” she said. “It started out innocent enough, and I’m sure that Margie was just trying to comfort Hank, but lately it’s been leading to something else.”
“How did you find out, when everyone else around here was in the dark about their relationship?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know if you’re aware of it, but I have insomnia. Most nights I just get four or five hours of sleep, and I feel trapped at the apartment sometimes, so I walk.”
This was indeed news. “Where do you go?”
“I just let my mind wander and see where the nights lead me.”
“Aren’t you afraid?” I asked. I couldn’t imagine doing it myself. Our town was generally safe enough, but that didn’t mean that I was in any hurry to tempt fate.
“I carry a few things with me just in case, but I’ve never felt threatened in the least,” she admitted. “One night last month I was walking down Margie’s street, and I saw a figure in the shadows slip around her house. It all looked fairly sinister, and I was about to report it to Sheriff Croft when I saw that it was Hank. He slunk to his car, and then I saw him wave in the faint light from the streetlight down the block. Margie’s porch light flickered on and then off again quickly, and I knew that she was giving him some sort of signal.”
“And you didn’t tell anybody about it then?” I asked.
“I’m not a gossip, and if the two of them wanted to sneak around like teenagers, I figured they had their reasons.”
“But you know more than that, don’t you?” I asked.
Karen looked a little embarrassed as she admitted, “I happened to mention what I’d seen to Margie, and she broke down and told me all about it. I didn’t think anything more of it, and then I heard about the murder in your freezer. Word around town was that they were both suspects, so I had to tell someone and get another opinion. I still didn’t want to say anything until I was sure that it was important. That’s why I asked the reverend to meet me at the diner. I figured he’d be able to tell me what to do. I never dreamed someone there would repeat to you what I’d said.”
“It’s a small town,” I said, intent on not saying anything that might lead her to suspect Ellen as my informant. “So, what did he say when you asked him about it?”
“He advised me to tell the sheriff, and I asked him to keep the source a secret.”
“That sounds like a solid plan to me,” I said.
“It’s kind of too late for that, though, isn’t it?”
“What do you mean?”
Karen frowned as she explained, “Well, I just told you, didn’t I? How long is it going to be before everyone else in Jasper Fork knows?”
“If they do, they won’t hear it from me,” I said firmly. “This won’t be the first secret I’ve kept from the town.”
“Really? Like what?”
I smiled as I shook a finger at her. “Nice try, but I’m not falling for it. Go tell the sheriff, and forget you said a word about any of it to me.”
“Really?” she asked as she came around the counter and hugged me. “I can’t tell you how relieved I am just telling someone else what I know.”
“Don’t get too comfortable with that feeling yet,” I said. “You need to tell Sheriff Croft, and I mean right now. It might impact how he carries on his investigation.”
Karen looked at me oddly. “Do you really think that one of them might have had something to do with the murder?”
“I don’t know, but it really doesn’t matter what I think. The sheriff needs all of the information he can get if he’s going to have any luck solving this case.”
“How about you?” Karen asked.
“How about me what?”
“Don’t try to duck the question, Victoria. I know that you and Moose have been trying to solve this murder yourselves.”
I wasn’t all that thrilled that folks knew what we were up to, but honestly, it hadn’t been that hard to figure out. I’d wanted to approach things subtly, but my grandfather didn’t have that particular trick in his bag. “We’re doing a little digging on the side,” I admitted. “But who wouldn’t? Our family’s good name is at risk here.”
“I understand completely, you don’t have to explain anything to me. Thanks for listening,” she said with honest gratitude.
“You can always talk to me,” I said as I left the records room.
I was nearly out the door when I heard a voice calling me from the opposite hallway. It was Sheriff Croft, and I wasn’t all that keen to talk to him, but what choice did I have? I turned around and offered him my best smile. “Hello, Sheriff. How are you?”
“Overworked and underpaid,” he said, something that was his go-to response most days. “What were you doing in there just now, if I might ask?” he asked as he pointed to the records room.
“I needed to talk to Karen about something,” I said. “Well, I’d love to hang around and chat, but I’ve got a diner to run.”
“Not so fast,” he said. “Was it about the murder?”
That stopped me in my tracks. “What’s not these days? It seems to be all that anybody in Jasper Fork is thinking about these days.”
“Victoria, that’s not really an answer, now, is it?”
I decided it was time to make an executive decision. “Talk to Karen. You’ll be glad that you did.”
He looked troubled by my response. “What do you know that I don’t?”
I bit back a dozen different sarcastic answers that instantly sprang to mind. This obviously wasn’t the time for my wit. “She has something to share with you, and you’re better off hearing it directly from her than second-hand.”
“I hate being the last to know something,” he admitted.
“Don’t feel bad. I stumbled onto this purely by accident, and the second I heard what she had to say, I practically begged her to go to you with it.”
He clearly looked as though he didn’t believe it, and then his cell phone rang. “This is the sheriff. Yes. Fine. I’ll be right there.” After he hung up, he smiled at me softly. “That’s a point for you.”
“Was it Karen?” I hoped that she’d followed my advice, but I wasn’t counting on it.
“It was,” he said. “She needs to talk to me.”
“Then I’d go before she changes her mind,” I said.
“I’ll do just that. And Victoria?”
“Yes,” I answered, hoping that our question and answer session was over, at least for the moment.
“Thank you,” he said.
“Glad to help,” I replied, and then I got out of there while things were still on a good note between us.
Back at the diner, Moose opened the door for me when I walked back in. Four tables were filled, each in varying stages of dining, along with a few folks at the counter, and all of the tables were clean. Moose could be a real machine when he put his mind to it.
“Where have you been?” he asked, clearly exasperated by my absence.
“I was talking to Ellen outside, remember?”
“After she left, I saw you set off on foot toward the courthouse. What did you do, decide to take a little stroll?”
“Are you spying on me, Moose?” I asked, trying to make light of it.
“When there’s a murderer loose in our town, you’d better believe that I am,” he said. “Victoria, you can’t take any chances, especially not now.”
“Do I need to remind you yet again that I’m a grown woman? I appreciate your concern, but I can take care of myself.”
“In a debate, there’s no doubt in my mind, but in a knife fight, I’d have to put my money on the bad guy.”
“Then you’d lose,” I said. It was time to confess, at least part of what I knew. “I just went to the records room.”
“What did you have to say to Karen? Did she find that missing ledger, or the logbook?”
“Neither one, as far as I know,” I said, wondering how I was going to keep my real motivation for visiting the clerk from my grandfather. I loved my family without reservation, but my word was my word.
“Then why were you there?”
I should have known that he wasn’t about to let it go. “Because I heard a rumor that I wanted to check out.”
“What did you hear that I didn’t? Did something happen at the BBQ Pit that you didn’t share with me?”
“Moose, I told you everything.”
He looked at me cagily. “Then, or now?”
“Then,” I admitted. “Listen, I gave my word to keep what I heard, and where I heard it, to myself. Do me a favor and don’t start guessing, or pushing me about any of it. You had a hand in putting this honor code into my DNA, so I’d appreciate it if you didn’t try to make me break it, okay?”
“I understand completely,” he said, and then he hugged me gently.
“What was that for?”
“Being my granddaughter isn’t enough?” he asked.
“I guess it will have to do,” I said with a grin. “Anyway, I have a hunch that you’ll hear about it soon enough.”
“Just one question, then,” he asked. “Does it play any part in our investigation?”
“It does,” I admitted, though not without some angst about acknowledging even that much.
“Was giving your word of honor the only way you were able to acquire the new information?” he asked me sternly.
“It was,” I said. I’d learned long ago that with Moose, sometimes it was best to supply as little as I could in the form of answers to his direct questions.
“Then I trust you completely,” he said, and handed me his apron. “Unless you have any new leads to follow, it might be a good time for you to take over.”
“What are you going to be doing?” I asked.
“Truthfully, all of this running around has worn me out a little. I thought I might go home and grab a little nap while I could.”
“Are you feeling okay?” I asked him. Sometimes I forgot just how old my grandfather really was, and I knew that while he hadn’t missed a beat with most things since he’d gotten older, he didn’t seem to be able to draw on the necessary reserves when he needed it like he used to. I reminded myself yet again that I was lucky to have him still with me, and I made a promise not to take my time with him for granted, no matter how much he projected the idea that he was going to live forever.
“Don’t worry about me, child. I’m as strong as my namesake,” he said as he patted his chest.
“Well, even a moose needs a nap every now and then,” I said. “I’ll let you know if anything comes up in the meantime. Moose, thanks for understanding.”
“I didn’t really have much choice, now, did I?” he asked. “You made a good point, and probably the only one that would have shut me up. Honor is extremely important to this family, and I’m glad to see that you’re keeping it strong for another generation. You know, it might not be a bad idea to add another branch to the family tree. Victoria, we could all really use a baby around here. Somebody’s going to need to keep this joint open after we’re all gone.”
I grinned at him, having grown quite adept at dodging that particular question. “That’s a worry for another day.”
“Just don’t wait too long,” he said.
“Have a good nap, Moose.”
“I get it,” he said with a wink. “But don’t think this discussion is over.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” I said.
Greg came out a few seconds later and asked me, “What was that all about?”
“Moose was fishing around for a grandchild again,” I said.
Greg surprised me by wrapping me up in his arms, though customers were all around us. He normally wasn’t all that big on public displays of affection, and it always pleasantly surprised me when he indulged in a little. “What did you tell him?”
“That we weren’t in any hurry,” I replied. “Do you still feel that way, too?”
“I’m happy just enjoying the chance to be with you,” Greg said.
“That is the perfect answer,” I answered, and then grabbed a quick kiss.
“Maybe someday, though,” Greg said, smiling as his words trailed off.
“Ma
ybe someday,” I repeated, answering him with a grin of my very own.