Delicious and Suspicious (10 page)

“Bye-bye! Bye-bye!” whistled a parrot. It was an oddly mournful sound.

 

 

“Sounds like she’s behaving even odder than usual,” said Sara to Lulu. “Why do you think the news hit her so hard?”

Lulu shook her head. “I guess she thought she’d be the major suspect. She had that big scene with Rebecca in front of everybody. And then she waffled back and forth about whether she had an alibi or not for yesterday afternoon.”

“Well, if we go by the big-scene standard, I should be suspect number one. I had a huge falling out with her. And I definitely had time to put something in her food. I was in and out of the kitchen, and passed right by her plate about fifteen times. Add that to the fact that I hated her guts, and I’ve got motive and opportunity.”

“You didn’t do it, did you?”

For a second, Lulu thought she caught a fleeting shadow cross Sara’s face. Then Sara said stoutly, “No indeed. I’d have strung her up by her skinny neck. Poisoning was too good for her.”

Lulu gave the smile that Sara was looking for, but inside Lulu was worried. Was Sara hiding something, too? Sara had a very hot temper. And Lulu didn’t think for a minute that Sara was sorry that Rebecca had puked all over her designer duds, no matter what Sara said about poisoning being too good for her.

“But,” Sara continued, “I really doubt Mildred murdered Rebecca. Somehow I just don’t see her going to Rebecca’s hotel room and forcing arsenic down her throat. Did she threaten her with her overwhelming strength?” Sara snorted. “The only thing I hate is that the paper this morning even mentioned Aunt Pat’s in the same article with a suspicious death.”

Lulu nodded sadly. “Well, I don’t think we’ll lose any regulars over it. We’ve been around so long that I think folks know we don’t serve poisoned barbeque most days. And anybody who knew Rebecca Adrian couldn’t be too surprised by her sudden death. That was one mean woman.”

“You’d think,” said Lulu to Seb, “that people would be a little more concerned about eating here. Aren’t they worried they could end up with food poisoning or something?”

There was a damper on the usual lighthearted chatter at the restaurant that afternoon but lots more unfamiliar faces. Lulu figured that some people were curious about the newspaper article that morning. It hadn’t said anything too atrocious, but it definitely mentioned the connection between the dead television scout and Aunt Pat’s.

Seb gave his cigarette-induced gravelly laugh. “When I looked over the paper this morning, there wasn’t any kind of mention of salmonella, Mom. People want some dirt, that’s all. They’re not worried about their personal health.”

The mention of personal health reminded Lulu of Ben’s suspicions about Seb. She wracked her brain to remember what you were supposed to watch out for with drug use. It had been a while since she’d had teenagers. She peered closely at him. Wasn’t she supposed to look for sweatiness and dilated pupils?

“Something wrong, Mom?” drawled Seb. “Should I wipe my nose or something?”

He certainly sounded surly. Wasn’t irritability supposed to be an early sign of drug use? Could he have killed Rebecca Adrian in a drug-fueled rage? “Why weren’t you here yesterday afternoon for the barbeque tasting, Seb?” He rolled his eyes at Lulu. “No, I mean it. You’re part of the family . . . although sometimes you try not to be. You couldn’t have spared a few minutes to watch the tasting?”

“Mom, if I’d been here, I’d be a suspect now just like all of you, wouldn’t I? Besides, I did come in yesterday—but not during the tasting. I worked in the office yesterday morning.”

Lulu frowned. “What time was that? I don’t remember you being here yesterday morning.”

“Before the big ‘Jesus Saves’ bus brought you in. I just had some paperwork to take care of. Nobody was here.”

“You were
up
before anyone got to Aunt Pat’s?”

“You don’t have to act so shocked, Mom.” Seb sounded affronted.

“Well, I believe you’re the same baby I birthed, and I never do remember you being an early bird. You even slept through your first feeding of the day.”

“Things do change as we get older,” said Seb.

“Hmm.” Maybe Seb
was
on drugs. Lulu wondered if insomnia was a symptom of drug use. “And what were you doing yesterday afternoon?”

“Taking a nap. I was sleepy after getting up so early to come in. I’d done my paperwork after all, right? What’s wrong, Mom? You don’t think I had anything to do with that food scout’s death, do you? Why would I have killed the woman? Remember—I
like
women.” He grinned. “I’m not running around poisoning them to death.”

“So you
slept
all yesterday afternoon?” Lulu guessed that explanation would have to do, but she wasn’t happy about it.

Lulu surely couldn’t think of any reason at all why Seb would kill someone he hadn’t even met. But she was convinced he was hiding something. In fact, she was starting to wonder if everybody she knew was hiding something. First Mildred, then Sara, now Seb. The whole idea gave her a sickening feeling down in the pit of her stomach. The sooner she figured out who killed Rebecca Adrian, the better for all of them.

 

 

Lulu was never more delighted to see Pink Rogers in her life. She patted herself on the back for her inspired idea some years ago to offer half-priced food to police officers and firefighters. Despite the large amount of barbeque Pink consumed, he stayed fit and trim. And he always had a warm smile and kind word for everyone at the restaurant. Lulu loved having a guardian angel in the guise of a Memphis police officer. When he was off duty, Pink favored wearing pastel button-downs, although a more masculine man you’d never meet. Of course, being six feet seven and two hundred and fifty pounds meant you could afford to be secure in your masculinity.

Pink headed over to his usual seat on the barstool, where the lunchtime patrons sat shoulder to shoulder, but Lulu quickly herded him to a booth to sit with her. She wanted a little bit more privacy than the barstools afforded. “Oh no, come sit over here with me. I want to talk to you, and I can’t hitch myself up on those stools anymore. My hitcher is broken.”

Pink raised his eyebrows but followed Lulu to a booth. One of the waitresses came over quickly, and Lulu said, “Pick whatever you want, honey. It’s on the house today.”

Now Pink looked suspicious. His usual fifty percent off wasn’t a bad deal at all, but free food was unheard of. He placed his order, then said, “Spill it Lulu. This must have something to do with the shenanigans over here yesterday. The scout?”

Lulu had the grace to blush. “It was a
trying
day, let’s say. But, yes,” she said in a lower voice, “I wanted to press you for some information. Nothing that you’d get in trouble for giving me,” she hurried on. “But it’s not like I’m going to go to the paper or anything. I’m just trying to figure out which way is up.”

Pink nodded and took a long gulp of his sweet tea. “Fair enough. What’s on your mind?”

Lulu said, “First of all, is it murder? I mean, it didn’t look natural to me, but I’m not someone who’d know.”

“It was murder.” This was said in the discouraging tone of one who does not want a whole lot of questions asked.

“Right,” said Lulu. “So, I’ll move on to the next question. Was it poison?”

“It was poison.” Same tone but same friendly face.

“Not like an accidental poisoning?”

Now Pink grinned. “Explain to me how you accidentally poison someone? Your red beans and rice doesn’t have mushrooms you found in the woods somewhere, does it?” He appeared unconcerned by the possibility. “I wish I knew how you make those. I’d be making it to go with my dinner every night. When I’m retired, I want to come work for you, Lulu. You can show me all your kitchen tricks, and I can be Ben’s sous chef.”

Lulu beamed at him, then said, “Honey, you’re welcome to work at Aunt Pat’s when you’re done crime fighting.” She frowned, trying to collect her thoughts again. “Oh. Okay, scratch that accidental-poisoning idea. Let’s see. Was it something . . . she ate?” Lulu’s lined face looked anxiously at Pink.

He wanted to relieve her mind but couldn’t. He said gently, “It was something she ate or drank. The forensic team is working on it. And to answer your next question, it wasn’t some sort of slow-acting poison that’s been eating at her since she left the Big Apple. She was either poisoned here or soon after she arrived at the Peabody.”

Lulu leaned forward. “And so the suspects for this murder are . . .” She trailed off, hoping Pink would just fill in the blank. When he didn’t, she said, “Mildred Cameron wanted me to ask you if she was a suspect.”

Pink said, “Now, Lulu, you know I can’t go into details about the case. I’m not even assigned to this one, anyway.”

“I guess there’s no mad stalker who followed her down from New York City? No rabid ex who decided to do away with her while she was in Memphis? No serial killer around here who has this MO?” asked Lulu.

The plates of ribs, red beans and rice, and spicy corn muffins arrived at the table. Pink thanked the waitress and waited a minute until she’d left. “No, there’s nobody like that around, Lulu. I’m sorry. The most likely suspects are going to be people she interacted with or had any type of conflict with over the last couple of days. We’ll retrace her steps, question different people, and check out her cell phone for incoming and outgoing calls.” He took a big bite from his ribs. “You didn’t, of course, hear any of this from me. We’ve been chatting about our mutual love of blues music, right?”

Lulu mustered a smile. “That’s right.” The smile faltered. “Restaurants don’t like being linked to poisonings.”

Pink didn’t immediately answer since he had a huge mouthful of coleslaw. He swallowed it up and then gave Lulu a reassuring smile. “I’m obviously not too worried about the food here. I think you’ll find that most other people won’t be, either.”

The lunchtime rush ended and Lulu moved out to the screen porch, sat in one of the big wooden rocking chairs, and petted B.B., who smiled his happy Labrador smile. The roomy porch was one of Lulu’s favorite parts of the restaurant. It held several picnic tables and three rocking chairs with high backs and checkered cushions. Sometimes, when the weather wasn’t hot and the band wasn’t too big, they’d stack up the tables in the corner, and the band would play right there on the porch. The music would mingle with the barbeque’s smoky scent, pulling people right off the street. Lulu watched people walking up and down Beale Street until the afternoon heat made her doze off in her chair.

The screen door slamming abruptly startled her awake. In came Cherry, helmet still in place from her motorcycle ride, spitting mad.

“That cow, Lurleen! You won’t believe what Hog Heaven has done this time!”

Lulu struggled to transition into consciousness. “Lurleen? Why? What happened?”

“They have a fuchsia pig dancing on Beale Street, outside Hog Heaven. It’s carrying a sign that says ‘Eat Hog Heaven’s delectable,
safe
BBQ! God Bless America.’”

“Well, for heaven’s sake. Although I can’t say I’m surprised. That Lurleen is never up to any good. I don’t think people will really think our barbeque is bad, though. Or that we’re somehow un-American here.” Lulu didn’t sound completely convinced.

“I was thinking,” said Cherry, “that Lurleen wasn’t up to any good yesterday. After all, she was here when Miss Adrian got poisoned.” Lulu made a face, and Cherry said quickly, “Sorry, Lulu. I mean, right before Miss Adrian got sick.”

“So were a lot of people, Cherry. The dining room was jam-packed.”

Cherry shook her helmeted head impatiently. “But she might really have done something to it. She was right here, after all.”

“Well.” Lulu considered this. “It doesn’t make any sense, Cherry. We can’t accuse Lurleen Ashton of murder just because we don’t like her advertising techniques. I just don’t see it happening. She wasn’t anywhere near Rebecca’s food. And what good would a dead television scout be to her? She planned for Hog Heaven to be Rebecca Adrian’s very next stop. Miss Adrian was supposed to be blown away by their food and crown Hog Heaven the king of Memphis barbeque. Why kill her before she even got there?”

“I don’t know, Lulu. But I’m sure in my heart of hearts that Lurleen had something to do with it all.” Cherry looked huffy. “Weren’t you upset about her and Seb being an item when he moved back down here? Maybe she had a jealous fit.”

“Cherry, that was like a two-day fling before Seb came to his senses. After I gave him a little talking to, he realized the error of his ways in courting Lurleen Ashton. I really doubt Lurleen would still be jealous when their relationship ended months ago.”

“Still, though. I had to go over there for my cousin’s birthday dinner last month, and when I asked for a water, they brought me
bottled
, not tap! Who do they think they are? Stuffy snobs. Like I wanted to pay three dollars and fifty cents for something I can get from the spigot. She’s greedy.”