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I nodded, absorbing that particular piece of information. To be perfectly honest, I’d never understood the mindset of someone who felt as though she needed a husband and family to complete her, but then again, I’d been raised by a very independent woman. I had absolutely no idea what Susan’s family was like, or what expectations they had of her.
Would having those hopes dashed when Danny dumped her have been enough for her to casually pour some kind of toxic brew into his drink at Josie’s party?
Chuck must have seen the question in my eyes, because he shook his head. “I got the impression their breakup was mutual,” he told me. “It’s not like he broke her heart or something. And even though Susan has kind of a temper, I still don’t think she would do something like that, if for no other reason than I doubt she has the nerve to casually walk up to someone’s drink and pour poison in it.”
Although his comment didn’t sound like a ringing endorsement of Susan Laughlin’s character, it did sound realistic. I had to admit that it would take nerves of steel to attempt such a stunt when the chances of being discovered were so high.
“Sounds like that puts me back to square one,” I said with a sigh, and sipped some more wine.
“And that’s all right,” Calvin remarked. “You know, sometimes it’s okay to sit these things out and let the police handle it.”
I didn’t quite make a face, although I did raise an eyebrow. Calvin knew just as well as I did that I wasn’t doing this for my own amusement, but because of a promise I’d made to Danny. If I sat back and allowed Chief Lewis to take the lead on the investigation, I had absolutely no idea how long this might take. Maybe Danny wasn’t feeling any real sense of urgency, but I knew I didn’t want to spend the next six months with his ghost haunting me everywhere I went.
Luckily, the doorbell rang then, breaking up the tension. Hazel went to answer it, revealing not a group of trick-or-treaters, but the pizza we’d ordered.
“That was fast,” she said as she counted out the bills, and Chuck got up from the couch so he could take the oversized boxes from the delivery guy.
“Extra staff tonight,” the pizza guy replied. He looked like he was probably a senior in high school, but big and broad-shouldered, maybe a member of the school’s football team. “The boss knew no one would want to cook.”
Well, that was fair. There didn’t seem to be much point in slaving over a dinner that was going to be interrupted every five minutes by kids in search of candy.
Calvin and I moved the glasses and the bottle of wine out of the way so there would be room on the coffee table for the pizza boxes. Luckily, since the table was glass-topped, we didn’t need to worry too much about hot, damp cardboard on a wood surface.
Hazel hurried into the kitchen to get plates and napkins. While she was gone, the doorbell rang again, so I went ahead and answered it.
“Trick or treat!”
The group this time was older, probably middle-school age, and included a ninja, a square boxy thing that I thought was supposed to be some kind ofMinecraftcharacter, a punk rocker, and a zombie. I handed out fun-size Snickers and Three Musketeers and Baby Ruths, then wished the kids a happy Halloween before I closed the door again.
When I turned around, Hazel was already placing pizza slices on plates and handing napkins to Chuck and Calvin. I came back over to the table and sat down on one of the occasional chairs, practically salivating at the rich aromas drifting upward from the open pizza boxes.
“I’ll get the door next time,” Calvin offered as I took a bite of pepperoni and extra-thick, gooey cheese. “That way, maybe you’ll be able to finish a slice.”
“Thanks,” I mumbled through a mouthful of pizza.
He grinned and helped himself to some of the “everything” pizza. Sure enough, he barely got a mouthful down before the doorbell rang again.
“You weren’t joking about it being busy this year,” I said, and Hazel grinned.
“I always get a lot of kids, but yeah, this is kind of crazy.”
Chuck swallowed some wine and then remarked, “Makes me appreciate the peace and quiet on my ranch that much more.”
I could see that. His property was located on the western edge of Globe and spread out over almost two hundred acres, and definitely wasn’t the sort of place where trick-or-treaters would bother to go.
“Well, maybe we can hole up there next year if we don’t feel like sharing our candy,” Hazel quipped, and Chuck nodded.
“That might be a good plan.”
Obviously, neither one of them had any intention of leaving. Hazel hadn’t mentioned to me that they’d discussed making their relationship permanent, but I had a feeling it was only a matter of time. They’d started dating at almost the same time that Calvin and I had, and so they were probably waiting for a few more months to pass before they made such a momentous decision.
Still, I thought everything seemed to be heading in a good direction, and I could only be glad about that.
Well, almost everything. There was still the little matter of discovering Danny’s killer that needed to be worked out.
And since Chuck had made it sound as though Susan Laughlin wasn’t really a viable suspect, that meant I was basically back to square one…or maybe not. People could change a lot after high school, and it didn’t sound as though the two of them had been particularly close in the years since graduation.
So okay, I’d slide Susan into the “maybe” column and do my best to keep an eye on her. Maybe not the easiest of resolutions, since there was no logical reason for our paths to cross much, but I’d do what I could.
