A Slice of Murder Read Online Free PDF

in the background. It was autumn, and the leaves had just begun to burst into dazzling arrays of red and gold. I could feel my gut wrench as I remembered that day, and how happy we’d been, not knowing that we had less than two weeks left to be together. I’d forgotten all about the photograph, but Maddy had found it in my camera months later, and had used a picture frame Joe had made out of some oak that had been in too bad shape to use for anything else.
    My cell phone rang, dragging me back to the present, and my new set of troubles.
    “You were supposed to call me, Sis.”
    “I’m sorry; I guess I just lost track of time.”
    Maddy asked, “What happened?”
    “Nothing much,” I said. “Bob took over, and there wasn’t anything left for me to do. I probably didn’t answer half the questions Kevin asked me, and before I knew what was going on, we were leaving.”
    She couldn’t keep the crowing out of her voice. “Bob is good. I knew he’d be able to get you off.”
    “Don’t kid yourself,” I said. “I’m nowhere near in the clear. It feels like Kevin’s determined to pin this on me, and I’m not sure I’m going to be able to stop him. As much as I hate to admit it, he’s got a point. There’s an awful lot of evidence that leads right to me.”
    “But we know something he doesn’t, don’t we?”
    “What’s that?”
    She paused, then said, “We both know you didn’t do it.”
    “There’s that,” I said.
    Maddy took a deep breath, then asked softly, “You’re not going to just give up, are you?”
    “Of course not,” I said. “I’m just feeling a little overwhelmed today. Why don’t we close the pizzeria today? I’m not really in the mood to face anybody.”
    Maddy paused, then said, “That’s exactly the wrong thing to do. We need to be open for business today with smiles plastered on our faces.”
    “I don’t think I could smile if I had a gun pointed to my head.”
    She laughed, and I felt a little of my energy coming back. As much grief as Maddy gave me at times, she could pick me up when no one else on earth could. “I could arrange that, but I didn’t say the smile had to be sincere. Be like Andy: fake it till you make it.”
    I laughed despite the dire shape I was in. We’d gone to school with a boy named Andy Grant, who’d been mediocre at just about everything but kissing up to the teachers. The funny thing was, though, he believed he could bluster his way through any situation, which led to some comical results. The time he’d borrowed Kyle Monroe’s stick-shift Mustang without a clue how to drive it was a legend around Timber Ridge. Andy had worked most of one summer to earn enough money to replace the wrecked clutch.
    “Got it,” I said. “Do you want to pick me up, or meet me over there?”
    “What are you talking about? I got to the pizzeria about the time you were visiting the police chief. I’ve done all the prep work, even the dough.” She paused, then added, “If you get your tail down here, you can be the one to unlock the door for our first customer of the day.”
    “I’m on my way,” I said. “And, Maddy? Thanks.”
    “Hey, it’s what I do,” she said.
    I felt better as I drove to A Slice of Delight. Working there had gotten me through some tough times in the past. Maybe it would help again. But could I face the folks who lived in Timber Ridge? Would they support me, or accuse me of killing Richard Olsen? What would I say to them? If Bob had his way, I’d meet the questions with silence, but even he realized I couldn’t do that. Still, I had to do the best I could not to say anything that could be misinterpreted.
    I drove the Subaru behind the pizzeria and pulled into my spot, beside Maddy’s car. We took deliveries in the back, and it was usually how we came and went, choosing a much shabbier facade than our fancy front entrance. I tried my key in the lock to the back door, but the huge, red metal door wouldn’t budge. What was going