Mysterical-E

He Said, She Says

Some Like It Raw

by Sybil A. Johnson

In her office at Lockhart Recovery Services, Maddison Lockhart checked the clock on her cell phone for the tenth time. Forty minutes late. She should never have trusted Diamonds with the errand. Her twin sister was a day late when she was born, Maddison didn’t know why she expected her to be on time now.

She dialed her sister’s cell phone number for what seemed like the millionth time. When it (once again) went straight to voicemail, she tucked her phone in her waist pack, grabbed the clipboard off her desk, and stepped outside to wait. As soon as the door closed behind her, a panel truck careened around the corner and headed straight for her. Maddison flattened herself against the side of the building, closed her eyes, and prayed the end would be swift. But, instead of the bone-crunching collision she expected, there was only the screech of brakes followed by the chug-chug of an idling engine. Cautiously, she opened her eyes.

Diamonds poked her head out the cab window. “What are you waiting for? Let’s get this show on the road.”

Maddison peeled herself off the wall and retrieved the clipboard from the pavement where it had fallen. Once her breathing returned to normal, she said, “You’re late. You should have called.”

Diamonds widened her sapphire blue eyes into what Maddison was sure was meant to be an innocent expression. “Forgot my headset. You wouldn’t want me to break the law, would you?”

She’d already broken half the laws in the motor vehicle code, what was one more? It was a wonder Diamonds still had a license. Of course, even if she lost hers, she’d probably just swipe Maddison’s. No police officer would be able to tell the difference. Even their own grandfather found it difficult at times, especially when her sister covered up her diamond belly button ring.

Maddison mentally rearranged the day’s schedule. Something told her this job wasn’t going to be as easy as she’d originally thought. Nothing ever seemed to go according to plan when Diamonds was around.

Maddison swung herself into the passenger seat. “Let’s go. We’ve got work to do.”

“Don’t know why we took this job. Doesn’t seem worth it.”

“Tell that to the company who hired us. Commercial-quality ranges aren’t exactly cheap. This one retails for almost $9000.”

“That may be, but repossessing cars is way more fun.” Diamonds held out a bag of red crackers, part of the new food regimen she’d started a month ago. “Want some? They’re made from tomatoes.”

Maddison waved aside the snack and gave directions to an address in Santa Monica. Twenty minutes later, the truck screeched to a halt in a mini-mall parking lot off Wilshire. They walked down the sidewalk until they reached their destination, which turned out to be a deserted storefront.

“This can’t be it.” Maddison double-checked the address on the paperwork with the number painted on the door frame. “This is the place, all right. Even the suite number matches, 105.”

Diamonds peered through the window into the dim interior. “Might have been a restaurant at one time. Hard to tell. I think there’s some mail on the floor. The stove was delivered here?”

“It was a pickup, but this was the address the bills were sent to and where the stove is supposed to be.”

Diamonds eyed the surrounding businesses. “Maybe one of the mini-mallites knows something useful.”

Maddison spotted a “For Lease” sign on a window a few doors down. “You work your magic on the neighbors. I’ll call the property manager and see what I can find out.”

Posing as a prospective tenant, Maddison charmed a few tidbits out of the taciturn property manager, including the name on suite 105’s lease. After she finished her phone call, she went in search of her sister who she found fiddling with the lock on the back door of the former restaurant.

“Dammit, Di!” Maddison said in a fierce whisper. “We could lose our license.”

“Who’s going to know? Anyway, I thought you talked to the property manager.”

“Not about breaking and entering.”

Before Maddison could protest any further, the lock clicked and the door swung open.

“I’m not bailing you out this time,” Maddison said as Diamonds slipped inside. Moments later, she reluctantly followed, unwilling to let her freewheeling sister loose inside the store without supervision.

Maddison inspected the kitchen, now stripped of all appliances, then entered the front room where she found her sister flipping through a stack of mail. Sun filtered in through the dirt-streaked window onto a few battered tables and broken-down chairs. The stove they’d been tasked to find was no longer in the deserted restaurant, if it ever had been.

“We’ve got a coupon book from local businesses, a menu for the Pakistani place across the street, and an ‘important message about your Internet and TV service’.” Diamonds dropped the mail on the floor near the front door where she’d apparently found it. “I wonder why the landlord hasn’t cleared this stuff out. The place closed eight months ago.”

“That was three months before the stove was bought.” Maddison checked out the abandoned cash register, but found nothing of interest. “He’ll probably clean it out when he finds a new tenant. With the rent he’s charging, that won’t be any time soon. What else did the neighbors have to say?”

“All they could talk about was what a lovely couple they were and how sad it was they couldn’t make the place work.”

Maddison’s gaze swept the room one last time. “Nothing else to learn here. Let’s go.”

They left the way they came in, careful to wipe off any fingerprints and lock the door behind them.

“Where to now? Did you get anything useful from your phone call?” Diamonds asked as they walked back to the truck.

“Just the name on the lease, which matches the one on the stove paperwork. At least it’s unusual. Only a handful of Fiacres in the entire county.”

Diamonds stopped and stared at Maddison. “Did you say Fiacre? Not Maya Fiacre?”

“Yes. Do you know her?”

“Can’t be. Doesn’t make sense.” Diamonds frowned at the ground, talking to herself more than Maddison.

“What doesn’t?”

“That’s the name of the woman who owns Naturally Raw, that raw food restaurant in El Segundo I told you about. Very strange.”

“What’s so strange about that? Restaurants use stoves.”

“But that’s just it. Raw food restaurants don’t cook food, so why would Maya buy a stove?”
#

On the drive over to Maya’s restaurant, Maddison quizzed her sister on her latest food craze. A diet of fruits, vegetables, seeds, and nuts sounded healthy enough, but eating only “living foods” would mean giving up her regular visits to El Pollo Loco. Just the thought of their flame-grilled chicken made Maddison’s mouth water.

Diamonds pulled into the parking lot behind the restaurant. As soon as the truck stopped, Maddison hopped out and headed toward the back entrance of Naturally Raw. She was just about to go inside when she realized her sister wasn’t behind her. Diamonds was still sitting in the truck, hands on the steering wheel, eyes staring straight ahead.

Maddison retraced her steps. “Aren’t you coming?”

“I don’t like this. We’re not talking about the usual deadbeats we deal with here. Maya’s a friend of mine.”

“Do you want to stay here? I can take care of this by myself.”

“No, I’d better come in. But let me handle it, okay?”

As they walked through the passageway from the parking lot to the front room, Maddison peeked inside the kitchen--the tiniest one she’d ever seen. The chef prepared dishes with no stove, oven, broiler or cooktop in sight.

When they reached the dining area, Maddison took a quick survey of the busy restaurant. The customers appeared normal enough with the possible exception of the bewigged senior citizen channeling his inner flower child. The last time she’d seen an outfit like that she was twelve and had been rummaging around in the back of her grandfather’s closet.

Maddison grabbed her sister’s arm. “What’s Gus doing here?”

“Grandfather? Where?”

Maddison pointed toward the elderly hippie who flashed a peace sign in their direction.

“It is lunchtime,” Diamonds said as she returned the greeting with a nod and a wave.

“So?”

“He’s here several times a week now. Says the change in diet has helped him with his arthritis.”

“How’d you get him to try this place?”

“I told him Tyrone Power was a raw foods addict.”

“Was he?”

“Heck if I know, but you know how much Gus loves those old movie stars, especially Tyrone.”

For as long as Maddison could remember, their grandfather had professed his adoration for the matinee idol. His favorite story involved the time he spent as a bit player on one of Tyrone’s swashbucklers. Maddison had lost count of how many times she’d heard the tale.

“Uh-oh,” Diamonds said.

“What’s wrong?”

“Maya’s ex, Hunter, is here.” Diamonds pointed to a table in the corner where a gorilla with a ponytail and a wisp of a woman sat deep in conversation.

All that chin thrusting, table pounding, and hand waving couldn’t be good, Maddison thought. “Looks like he has some anger management issues.”

“Wouldn’t want to be alone in a room with him, that’s for sure. Let’s talk to Gus until Maya’s free.”

When they joined their grandfather at his table, Gus gave them both a quick hug before flagging down a waiter. “Two more lasagna specials for my girls.”

A short time later, Maya’s ex stomped out the front door, almost mowing down the waiter who had just delivered their orders.

Maddison stared at the plate in front of her. Strangest looking lasagna she’d ever seen. She poked at it with her fork. Strips of zucchini separated layers of a creamy white substance that looked like ricotta but, when she tasted it, had a nutty flavor. She knew the food was healthy, but hadn’t expected to actually like it.

Maddison glanced over at her sister. For someone who’d been raving about the place, Diamonds didn’t seem to be enjoying the food much.

Maya moved around the restaurant, chatting for a few minutes with each customer. When she reached their table, she stared at the untouched plate in front of Diamonds, then held out her hand to the wrong twin. “You must be Maddison. Di has told me a lot about you.”

After correcting the error and listening to the usual apologies and comments on how hard it was to tell the two of them apart, Maddison waited for her sister to bring up the reason for their visit. When all Diamonds seemed interested in talking about was the Chinese astrology symbol tattooed on Maya’s wrist, Maddison took over the questioning. “Maya, we need to talk to you.”

“Sounds serious.” The restaurant owner pulled up a chair and sat down.

“Did you buy a stove several months ago?”

“A stove? What makes you think I bought a stove?”

Maddison consulted her notes. “A Southbend range, 400 series?”

“I’ve no idea what you’re talking about. As I’m sure your sister told you, we don’t serve dead food here.” Maya retrieved several pamphlets from the display shelves near the cash register and placed them in front of Maddison: Living the Raw Life: An Introduction to the Raw Food Lifestyle, Achieving Perfect Health the Raw Food Way, and Save the Planet: How Changing Your Diet Can Save the World. “Read these and you’ll understand why we have no use for a stove.”

Maddison set the pamphlets Maya had written aside, then shoved a copy of the purchase agreement across the table and pointed to a line near the bottom of the page. “Is that your signature?”

“Maddie, what’s gotten into you? I raised you better than this.” Gus crossed his arms in front of him and stared at her the same way he had when she was eight and he’d caught her trying to steal a 3 Musketeers bar from the 7-Eleven.

Maddison did her best to ignore her grandfather’s disapproval.

Maya inspected the document. “Looks a lot like my signature.” She shoved the paperwork back across the table. “But I didn’t sign it.”

Maddison rattled off a string of digits.

“Where did you get my social security number? Is this a joke?” Maya looked questioningly at Diamonds who seemed to have discovered a sudden fascination for the food on her plate.

“I’m afraid not. A woman using your name and social purchased a stove from Beach Cities Restaurant Supply five months ago,” Maddison replied.

“Wasn’t me, I swear. You’re welcome to look around, but you won’t find the stove here.”

“That’s not necessary.” Maddison prided herself on being able to tell when someone was lying. No alarm bells were going off in her head right now, but that only meant their job had just gotten a lot harder.

“We’re talking identity theft, aren’t we? You hear about it all the time, but you never think it’ll happen to you,” Maya said.

Gus patted her arm. “You’ve been through worse than this, you’ll be all right. You survived the Big C, didn’t you?”

“Thanks to my conversion to raw foodism. But a change in diet isn’t going to help this time. I don’t know how to fight against professional thieves.”

“Unless the woman isn’t a professional and was inexperienced enough to leave a trail.” Maddison excused herself to go outside and make a phone call to their client. She returned a short while later armed with the photo from the fake driver’s license the woman had used to buy the stove. She held out her cell phone to the restaurant owner. “Do you know her?”

Maya studied the picture on the display. “The bitch.”

“So that’s a yes?”

“That’s Alexa Peregrine. She owns the slacker restaurant down the street.”

Maddison glanced over at her sister who mouthed the word “vegetarian.”

“Any idea how she got your social security number?”

“We owned a restaurant together at one time. She had access to all kinds of personal information.”

Maddison looked at the concerned faces around the table. “Don’t look so worried. We’ve got a good lead. Now, how do we find this restaurant?”

#

Alexa’s Veggie Café wasn’t as busy as the place the twins had just left, but a respectable number of tables were filled. Almost as soon as they walked in the door, a waitress with the saddest eyes Maddison had ever seen greeted them. “Table for two?”

As the young woman reached for a menu, the gold charm bracelet she wore on her wrist caught on her skirt, causing the long sleeve of her peasant blouse to ride up. She disentangled the bracelet from the filmy material and pushed the sleeve back down, but not before Maddison had seen the scar on her wrist.

“Is Alexa around?” Maddison asked.

“I’m sorry, you just missed her.”

“Do you know when she’ll be back?”

“I think she’s gone for the day. Had an emergency, I guess. She got a phone call and left.” The young woman pointed to the raw food pamphlet attached to the clipboard Diamonds now carried. “It’s full of lies, you know. Here--” She held out a brochure titled The Dangers of a Raw Food Diet. “Read this one, instead.”

“Can I use your rest room?” Maddison asked.

The waitress pointed to a sign on the wall. “Sorry. Rest rooms are for customer use only. Restaurant policy.”

Diamonds grabbed a menu off the hostess stand. “We’d like to place a to-go order. What do you recommend?”

While Diamonds kept the sad-eyed waitress busy, Maddison headed down the hallway toward the kitchen to look for the stove. Unable to resist the lure of the empty office she passed, she decided to take a short detour.

The café office looked as if someone had left in a hurry: papers were strewn across the desk, an accounting program was open on the computer, and a half-eaten salad lay on a side table. Curious about why Alexa had left so hastily, Maddison dialed *69 on the telephone and was surprised to hear “Naturally Raw, how may I help you?” on the other end of the line. She replaced the receiver without saying a word.

She was on her way out the door when a framed picture on the desk caught her eye. She turned around to examine the photo. Three women stood in front of a building that looked suspiciously like the deserted restaurant they’d checked out in Santa Monica: the waitress in happier times, an abnormally thin woman who looked enough like the waitress to be a relative, and a gray-haired woman with a granny bun who, judging by the other pictures in the room, was the absent Alexa.

When Maddison looked closer, she noticed a stray hand perched on top of the gray-haired woman’s shoulder. She took the photo out of the frame and discovered one edge had been torn off, leaving only the hint of another figure. “Tessa Jude, Connie Jude, Alexa Peregrine, Maya Fiacre” was written on the back of the altered photo.

Maddison had just put the reassembled frame back where she found it when she heard a sound behind her. She grabbed a Kleenex from a tissue box on the desk and, as she turned around, blew her nose as hard as she could.

A gorilla of a man filled the doorway. From the way he was clenching and unclenching his fists, she could tell Maya’s ex wasn’t pleased to see her. In a voice full of repressed anger, Hunter said, “What are you doing in here?”

Maddison waved the tissue and sniffled. “Allergies. They’re a bitch this time of year.” She smiled and pretended not to notice she was alone in a tiny room with a gigantic beast.

She watched Hunter’s every move, prepared to rip the gold hoop from his ear, gouge out an eye or knee his manly parts should he decide to attack. She was almost disappointed when he stepped to one side and said, “I think you’d better leave now.”

All the way down the hall, Maddison was aware of the angry presence behind her. When she reached the dining area, she shouted thanks to the sad-eyed waitress she now knew was Tessa and practically dragged Diamonds out the front door.

“What about my food?” Diamonds asked as they hurried down the street toward their truck.

“You actually ordered something? What happened to your commitment to raw foodism?”

“I’m hungry. Anyway, it’s more of a suggestion than a commitment.” Diamonds looked behind them. “Slow down, no one’s following us. Was the stove in the kitchen?”

“Hunter kicked me out before I got a chance to check. I figure we’ll go back later when we know Alexa is there.”

They covered the rest of the distance at a normal pace and, before long, were climbing into the truck.

Maddison consulted her clipboard. “Now, which one do you want to do first? The Ferrari or the Tundra?”

#

That evening, after successfully repossessing the two vehicles, the twins hung out in the office at Lockhart Recovery Services. Maddison searched the web looking for background information on Alexa and the other players in the stove repossession case while Diamonds sat across the desk and flipped through the various pamphlets that had been thrust upon them earlier in the day.

“According to this one. . .” Diamonds held up Achieving Perfect Health the Raw Food Way “. . .all disease and aging is the result of man eating an unnatural diet of cooked food.” She threw the pamphlet on the desk. “But this one. . .” she held up the brochure the sad-eyed waitress had given them “. . .says adhering to a strict raw food regimen causes all kinds of medical problems and can lead to premature death.”

Maddison looked up from the computer display. “They can’t both be right.”

“After reading these it’s hard to know what to believe.” Diamonds walked around the desk to look over Maddison’s shoulder. “Who’s that?” She pointed to a picture that accompanied a newspaper article about a fatal accident on Sepulveda Boulevard.

“Meet the sister of our sad-eyed waitress. She died in a single-car accident not long before Maya closed her restaurant in Santa Monica. Apparently, Connie (that’s the sister) passed out and wrapped her car around a telephone pole.”

“No wonder Tessa looks so sad.”

When the phone rang a few minutes later, Diamonds reached over to answer it. She mouthed “Alexa” at Maddison, talked for a few minutes, then hung up.

“What did our identity thief want?” Maddison asked.

“She said we can pick up the stove tonight at her restaurant after it closes.”

“I wonder how she got our number.”

“Called Maya, I suppose.”

“That must have been some conversation. Wait. Did you say tonight? How late are we talking?”

Maddison disliked doing repossessions too late at night when people were more likely to shoot first and ask questions later.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be fine. It’s not like we’re surprising her. Besides, if you’d looked in the kitchen instead of pawing through the office, we could have had the stove earlier today.”

Thank God after tonight this job would be over, Maddison thought. She couldn’t wait to put it behind them.

#

The twins pulled into the parking lot behind Alexa’s Veggie Café ten minutes early for their appointment. Light streamed out the back door of the restaurant.

“Looks like she’s one of those early-bird types,” Diamonds said. “You two should get along.”

Maddison ignored her sister’s comment and headed toward the restaurant while Diamonds retrieved the dolly from the back of the truck.

When she entered the kitchen, Maddison felt as if she’d stepped into a scene from a television crime drama. The gray-haired woman from the photo Maddison had seen earlier that day knelt beside a body lying face-down in front of the stove they’d hoped to repossess. A large cast-iron skillet rested against a nearby cabinet. Judging by the dent in the dead woman’s head, the reddish stains on the skillet had nothing to do with cooking.

Maddison pulled her gaze away from the ugly wound, searching the rest of the body for clues to the woman’s identity. She’d just spotted the tattoo on the victim’s wrist when Diamonds wheeled the dolly into the kitchen.

Maddison stepped in front of her sister to block her view.

“What’s going on?” Diamonds poked her head over Maddison’s shoulder. “Who’s that on the floor? She’s not dead, is she?”

Before Maddison could reply, Alexa stood up and turned around to face them. “Am I glad to see the two of you! I don’t know what to do.”

Maddison gestured toward the body. “What happened? Did you and Maya get in a fight?”

“That’s Maya?” Diamonds shoved Maddison aside and looked down in horror at the bashed-in head. “What did you do to her?”

“I didn’t do anything. I found her like this. I closed up a couple hours ago. When I came back the door was open and the lights were on.”

Maddison inspected the lock on the back door. “Doesn’t look like anybody broke in. Are you sure you locked both doors?”

“Absolutely certain.”

“And no one else was here?”

“Tessa wasn’t feeling well so I sent her home early and locked up by myself.”

“Who else has keys?”

“Just me and Hun-- Oh.” Alexa’s hand flew to her mouth.

“Maya’s ex? Why would you give him keys?”

“He owns a share of the restaurant and closes for me sometimes.”

Maddison glanced over at her sister who was being unusually quiet. All she seemed capable of doing was staring at her friend’s battered body. Diamonds came out of her stupor long enough to say, “What’s that near the hem of her dress?”

The skirt of Maya’s dress was bunched up around her knees. At first Maddison saw nothing then, in the folds of the cotton material, she caught a glint of gold. She was leaning forward to get a closer look when Alexa reached for the object. Maddison grabbed the woman’s arm before she could touch anything.

“Wait! Leave it for the police. We should disturb the scene as little as possible,” Maddison said.

She had just gotten everyone to step away from the corpse when a wild-eyed Hunter, earring missing and ponytail askew, appeared in the doorway. Before she could stop him (or even realize what he intended to do), he charged across the room and flung himself over his ex-wife’s body. His sobs filled the kitchen. Either he was a superb actor or Maya’s death had hit him hard, Maddison thought.

Once they’d pried Hunter off the body, she herded them all into the dining area of the restaurant. After extracting a promise from her sister not to maim anyone unnecessarily, Maddison made a beeline for the office to phone for help.

She explained the situation to the 9-1-1 operator then went back into the kitchen to wait for the police. Careful not to touch anything, she examined the crime scene in more detail. The position of the body indicated Maya was on her way out the door when she was struck from behind. Next to the skillet Maddison assumed was the murder weapon were several of the raw food proponent’s Achieving Perfect Health pamphlets, all torn in half. Using a small flashlight she kept in her waist pack, Maddison searched for the glint of gold she’d seen earlier, but it seemed to have vanished.

The police arrived before she could examine anything else. After explaining how they’d found the body, she joined the others in the dining room to await further questioning.

Diamonds prowled the room like a caged animal, occasionally shooting hostile glances at Alexa and Hunter who sat silently at one of the tables. Maddison pulled out a chair and sat down.

On one of her circuits of the room, Diamonds held up a raw food pamphlet she’d picked out of the display near the hostess stand. “What’s this doing here?”

Alexa smoothed out her granny bun and shoved a gold hairpin back in place. “One of Maya’s minions must have put it there. She was always sending someone over to sneak the gospel according to Maya into our display. Never had the guts to do it herself.”

“She shouldn’t have done that. She shouldn’t have done a lot of things,” Hunter said as he fiddled with his earring.

“Is that why you bought the stove using Maya’s name?” Maddison asked Alexa.

“She owed me” was all the restaurant owner would say.

The three of them lapsed into silence while Diamonds continued to prowl the room. Maya’s ex was the first to be ushered into the café office for a private interview.

“Poor Hunter,” Alexa said as soon as he’d left the dining area. “He was so sure Maya would eventually forget about all this raw food nonsense, as he called it, and get back together with him. He must have been devastated when he realized she never would.”

“How do you know she wouldn’t have?”

“I’m afraid that was my fault.” Alexa looked down at the table and blurted out, “I never meant to be a homewrecker.”

“You mean, you and Maya. . .?” Maddison asked.

Alexa nodded. “After we got together, we opened a raw restaurant in Santa Monica.”

“And Hunter knew nothing about your relationship?”

“Until today he thought we were just friends. I accidentally let it slip the real reason she left him. He thought it was because he refused to convert their SAD restaurant into a raw one.”

Diamonds sat down in the chair Hunter had recently vacated. “Standard American Diet,” she explained before Maddison could ask for a translation.

“And he never suspected?” Maddison said.

“Maya knew he’d consider it an affront to his masculinity so she never told him. I called to warn her he’d found out, but I guess she didn’t take it seriously.”

“She obviously should have,” Diamonds said. “So why’d you two split up?”

“Raw foodism wasn’t everything I’d hoped for.”

“Maya credited it with her cancer going into remission,” Maddison pointed out.

“It’s not the cure-all she seemed to think it was. For some people, it’s downright dangerous.”

Before the twins could probe further, the police called Alexa into the office. When they were alone, Maddison turned to her sister and said, “What do you think?”

“Isn’t it obvious? All that boo-hooing doesn’t fool me. Hunter did it.”

“Why do you say that?”

“You heard everything Alexa said and didn’t you notice his earring? He wasn’t wearing it when he walked in the door, but he has it on now. How much do you want to bet he lost it when he killed Maya and retrieved it during that little show he put on?”

That would explain the missing bit of gold, Maddison thought. “I don’t know. I think we need more evidence. There might be another explanation.”

“If it walks like a duck. . .”

Diamonds could be right. Hunter’s performance had conveniently tainted the crime scene, undermining the value of anything found on the body that pointed to his guilt. Unless new evidence came to light, they might never know what really happened. Maya’s death would be just another unsolved homicide, gathering dust in a police department file drawer. For her sister’s sake, Maddison hoped that didn’t happen.

#

As soon as the crime scene was released a few days later, the twins headed back to Alexa’s restaurant to repossess the stove. The police appeared no closer to solving the case than they had the night of the murder. A cloud of suspicion hung over Hunter but, according to Maddison’s sources in the department, no arrest was imminent.

Looking even sadder than the last time they saw her, Tessa opened the back door and ushered them into a spotless kitchen. Someone had been busy, Maddison thought. Even the blood spatter on the appliances was gone.

“Where’s Alexa?” Maddison asked the waitress while Diamonds worked on disconnecting the stove.

“Out buying a new range.”

“She’s reopening? Isn’t she worried people will refuse to eat here after what happened?”

“No one would do that, would they? That’s so unfair. None of it is Alexa’s fault.” Tessa’s face turned as pale as the puka shell necklace she was wearing.

Afraid the young woman was going to faint, Maddison pulled out a chair and urged her to sit down. Before long, the color began to seep back into Tessa’s face.

“Alexa’s important to you, isn’t she?” Maddison said as she handed the waitress a glass of water.

Tessa took a sip before answering. “You’re not going to tell on her, are you?”

“We’re just here for the stove.” Maddison checked on her sister’s progress and decided she had time to ask a few more questions. “Do you know what Maya was doing here? I got the impression she and Alexa were no longer on speaking terms.”

“She wasn’t here when I closed up. Hunter must have let her in later.”

“But Alexa said you’d gone home and she locked up by herself.”

“Did she? I must be thinking about a different day. I get so confused sometimes.” Tessa rubbed her temples as if trying to massage away a headache.

Once everything was disconnected, the twins wrestled the stove onto the dolly. While they were strapping it down, Maddison spotted something metallic on the newly exposed floor. She leaned down, pretending to inspect the stove, and slipped the object into her pants pocket for later examination. They were double-checking the straps when Alexa entered the kitchen through the hallway door.

“Tessa, I picked up your br-- Oh, you’re here. I didn’t expect you until later.” Alexa placed the package she was carrying on the table then took one look at Tessa and turned on the twins like a mother cat protecting her kitten. “What did you do to her?”

“I’m fine, really.” Tessa wiped a tear from the corner of her eye.

Alexa grabbed the repossession paperwork Maddison held out to her. “You’ve got what you came for, now get out.”

The twins hightailed it out the door with the recovered property.

“Thank goodness we no longer have a reason to go there,” Diamonds said as they loaded the stove onto the truck. “The place gives me the creeps.”

Once they were settled in the cab, Maddison pulled the object she’d found out of her pocket. She took one look at it and knew who it belonged to.

“What’s that?” Diamonds asked.

Maddison handed the item to her sister. “I found it under the stove.”

Diamonds turned the metallic object around in her hand then handed it back. “What do you think it means?”

“I think it belongs to the murderer.”

“You think it was lost when Maya was killed? There’s no proof of that. Could’ve been under the stove for ages. Could’ve been planted by anyone who had access to the restaurant.”

“I know I’m right.”

“Knowing is one thing, proving is another. What we need is a confession.” Diamonds turned the ignition key and put the truck into gear.

“No one knows I found this, right?”

“What’s on your mind?”

“I think I know a way we can get that confession.”

After describing her plan to Diamonds, Maddison called Gus and told him what they wanted him to do.

#

A few minutes after midnight, Maddison sat slumped down behind the wheel of her car in the darkest corner of the parking lot behind Alexa’s Veggie Café, waiting for her sister to arrive. Diamonds was late. . .again.

If they didn’t go inside soon, their plan would be ruined. Gus had phoned each of their three suspects to tell them he had proof of their guilt. Now it was time for the twins to do their part and confront whoever showed up for the midnight assignation. Maddison thought she knew who that would be, but she couldn’t be sure until she went inside.

Movement at the far end of the lot captured her attention. A squat figure wearing a trench coat and fedora sidled along the wall and stepped into the light streaming from the back door of the café.

Maddison swore under her breath. She should have known Gus would be unable to resist playing detective. He probably didn’t even realize the danger he was in. She got out of the car to signal to him with a flashlight, but he’d already slipped inside the restaurant.

She raced across the parking lot as quietly as possible and crept through the door. She barely had time to notice Gus lying motionless on the tile when she felt a sharp pain in her head. Before long, she was joining her grandfather on the kitchen floor.

Maddison regained consciousness to find herself bound to a chair, arms pinned to her side, duct tape wrapped around her chest and ankles. Her head ached and, for a moment, she couldn’t remember what had happened. Then it all came flooding back to her. Frantic with worry, she looked around the kitchen for her grandfather. A figure she didn’t expect to see was bending over an unconscious Gus, searching the pockets of his trench coat.

Maddison struggled against her bonds and shouted at Alexa. “Leave him alone!”

Alexa stood up and turned her back on Gus who was beginning to stir. The restaurant owner seemed unaware of the movement. “So you know him. Where is it, then? The evidence he claimed to have.”

“Let him go and I’ll tell you.”

Brandishing the scariest knife Maddison had ever seen, Alexa took a step forward.

Maddison’s heart beat faster. She gave up trying to free herself and decided to focus on keeping their assailant occupied until help arrived or Gus had recovered enough to act. “Where’s Tessa? I expected to see her here.”

“Safely away from all this.” Alexa gently ran the tip of the knife down Maddison’s cheek. “Now, where’s that evidence?”

Maddison felt blood trickle down her face, but remained stubbornly silent.

Alexa was starting on the other cheek when Tessa ran in the door, shouting “Stop!”

“I told you to stay home.” Alexa’s tone was as sharp as the knife she held in her hand. She took a step toward the newcomer, blocking Tessa’s view of Gus who had stopped moving when she entered the room.

“I can’t let you hurt anyone because of what I did,” Tessa said.

No one besides Maddison seemed to notice Gus begin to inch his way across the floor toward a nearby shelf. “You blame Maya for your sister’s death, don’t you? Is that why you killed her?” Maddison asked.

“I told you--” Alexa started to say, but Tessa held up her hand, cutting off the well-rehearsed denial.

“Stop! I won’t be like Maya and refuse to take responsibility for my actions.” The waitress turned her sad eyes on Maddison. “How did you know?”

“I found one of your charms under the stove. You must have broken your bracelet when you bashed Maya over the head.”

“I didn’t mean to do it. She came over that night, waving her stupid pamphlets and crowing about how she intended to report Alexa to the police. I lost Connie because of Maya. I wasn’t about to lose Alexa, too.”

“I still don’t understand what Maya had to do with your sister’s death.”

“Connie had a problem with food. Anorexia is what the doctor called it. Maya insisted that switching to a raw food diet would cure her. Only it proved to be a perfect cover for her. . .condition. When Connie passed out and died, Maya refused to acknowledge her part in my sister’s death.”

Maddison thought about the scar she’d seen on Tessa’s wrist. “But you felt responsible, didn’t you?”

“I should have realized what was happening. I should have done something.”

Maddison had been so focused on the conversation, she’d forgotten about her grandfather. Now, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Gus grab a marble rolling pin from the shelf. He got to his feet faster than she’d ever seen him move and swung the pin at Alexa’s knee.

Too late, Tessa shouted a warning. The force of the blow caused Alexa to pitch forward and lose her grip on the knife, which flew through the air straight at Maddison.

With a strength born of desperation, Maddison rocked the chair she was tied to and leaned to her right as hard as she could. As the chair toppled over, the knife sailed past her ear and clattered to the floor behind her.

Alexa writhed on the floor, clutching her injured knee. Tessa scooped up the knife and, uttering a bloodcurdling scream worthy of the fiercest warrior, rushed at Gus. He fended off the blow with the rolling pin, but Maddison didn’t know how much more his 84-year-old body could take. All she could do was watch helplessly as Tessa raised the knife once again.

Behind her Maddison heard a familiar voice say “I’ve got to stop being late. I miss all the fun.” Tessa whirled around to confront Diamonds who grabbed a frying pan, which she slammed down on Tessa’s weapon arm.

The waitress yelped in pain and dropped the knife. All the fight seemed to go out of her and she collapsed, crying, onto the floor next to the injured Alexa.

Gus guarded the two women while Diamonds released Maddison from her bonds and called the police. Several hours later, after all the questions had been answered and their wounds had been tended to, the three of them headed home.

While Diamonds drove, Maddison glanced over her shoulder at Gus who was dozing in the back seat. “I think we could all use something to eat.”

“Steak and eggs would be nice,” Diamonds replied.

“I didn’t think that was on your diet.”

“I’ve moved on.”

Oh God, here we go again, Maddison thought.

“I was reading the other day about this new diet. . .”