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possibility. At least not if he was sober. “Don’t keep me in suspense. Who is it?”
    “Someone killed Peter Morgan between ten o’clock last night and five this morning,” he said, and I felt my knees weaken, not because of my attachment to Grace’s ex-boyfriend, but because I knew that if there was foul play involved, the chief would have to consider Grace first. The relief that it wasn’t Max was tempered by the fact that it was still someone I knew, and that was hard to take, no matter how I felt about him. The chief went on to explain, “It looks like they hit him from behind with an old wooden post they found behind the Boxcar.”
    “Are you telling me that he was killed right over there?” I asked, looking out the front door toward Trish’s diner. Sure enough, I could see that there was police tape strung up in the trees behind the Boxcar. The activity had been impossible to see from the kitchen, but once I knew what was going on, I couldn’t miss it. It looked bad for my best friend, and I knew it. She’d been angry with Peter last night, and there was no telling what some folks thought she might be capable of if their relationship was torn apart.
    I had to nip this in the bud right now.
    “Grace didn’t do it,” I said defensively.
    “Hang on a second. No one said that she did,” the chief replied, holding his hands up as though he were trying to keep me at bay.
    “That’s good to know,” I answered, mollified, if only for a moment.
    “Don’t read too much into that,” Chief Martin said sternly. “She’s a suspect, there’s no way around that, but I’m not ready to say she’s guilty until I have more information.”
    “Is that why you’re here?” I asked. “Are you expecting me to help you hang my best friend for something she didn’t do?” I was trying to keep my voice calm, but it was getting harder and harder to do.
    “Nobody’s getting hanged around here, at least not just yet,” he answered, his voice indicating that his patience clearly was wearing thin.
    “Then why are you here, Chief?”
    “I thought you might want to come with me when I tell her the news,” he admitted. “I wouldn’t do it under ordinary circumstances, but I know how close you two are, and I’m sure she could use a friend when I tell her what happened. There’s one condition, though.”
    “What’s that?” I asked, immediately suspicious of the string Chief Martin was attaching to his offer. I knew that it had been too good to be true.
    “You have to stay in the squad car while I tell her. After that, you can console her all you want to, but I need the first few minutes alone with her.”
    That was a reasonable request, but I wasn’t certain that I could honor it. “How about if I stand on the porch with you, but I promise not to say anything?”
    “Suzanne, this isn’t a swap meet, and we’re not bargaining. I need to speak with her alone, and if you’re with me when I ring her doorbell, it’s not going to help any of us, including Grace. So, what’s it going to be? Will you stay in the car and wait until I’m finished with her, or do I go by myself?” He hesitated, and then added, “Don’t think you can turn me down and then go to Grace’s anyway. I’ll have a man stop you before you get within a hundred yards of her place if I have to. This is just a courtesy.”
    I realized that was true enough. I liked a good fight as much as the next gal, but there really wasn’t any reason for me to push him on this.
    “You’ve got a deal. Give me a minute. I have to lock up the shop.”
    “What about Nan?” Chief Martin asked. “Can’t she run things?”
    “It’s her first day,” I answered as Nan herself came out of the kitchen.
    “Did I hear someone mention my name?” She looked at the chief, and then said, “Hello, Phillip. How are you?”
    “I’m fine, Nan. Suzanne, make up your mind. This won’t wait. What’s it going to be?”
    I shrugged. How bad could it be?