Page 32 of Death of a Grill Master

Hayley glanced at her watch. “Getting close to noon … I think I’ll go full lunch. That fried green tomato BLT I saw on the specials board when I came in sounds criminal.”

“Breakfast for me,” Bruce said, scanning the menu again. “You know I can’t resist a stack of pancakes.”

A crash from the kitchen made the counter guy flinch. Nancy Larkin stormed out a moment later, apron streaked with flour and gravy, and sized Hayley up with a look that could curdle cream.

“You here to eat or interrogate?” Nancy growled with a voice that sounded as if she’d been smoking since kindergarten.

“Can’t it be both?”

Nancy squinted. “Your reputation precedes you.”

“That’s what they keep telling me.”

Roger chuckled awkwardly and poured their water. “You want pie with that? Coconut cream just came out of the fridge.”

“Let’s see how lunch goes first,” Hayley said.

Nancy crossed her arms. “We didn’t kill Hank Desmond.”

Bruce choked slightly on his coffee.

Hayley raised an eyebrow. “Funny. I didn’t ask.”

“Yet,” Nancy said.

“We were on our boat, radio blaring, didn’t hear a thing,” Roger offered. “The Daily Catch.”

“You didn’t hear a gunshot?”

“I didn’t hear my own husband when he said we were out of beer.”

Roger nodded. “Fireworks were pretty loud.”

Hayley sat back in the booth. “You were anchored pretty close to the Slaughterhouse.”

“Half the harbor was,” Nancy shot back. “You know how busy Frenchman’s Bay gets on fireworks night.”

“You had reason to be mad,” Hayley said gently. “Hank’s plans for a second Slaughterhouse …”

Roger and Nancy exchanged a quick glance, both caught off guard by how much Hayley already knew about their feud with Hank.

“He was going to run us into the ground,” Nancy muttered. “Said it wasn’t personal. That’s always what people say when they’re being personal.”

“But you didn’t act on it,” Hayley prompted.

“If I’d killed Hank Desmond,” Nancy said flatly, “I’d have done it with a spatula.”

Roger laughed and gave Hayley a wink. “We’re too tired to commit murder. Pie-making’s enough of a killer.”

Hayley smiled, but her mind ticked forward.

“See anything odd that night?”

Nancy paused. “Saw a kayak. Blue and white. Real sleek. The kind people like us can’t afford.”

Hayley’s heart skipped. “Are you sure?”

“Positive.”