Grilled for Murder by Maddie Day

marking the half hour into the now quiet air.
    â€œYou can say that again.”
    â€œAre you doing all right?” she asked.
    â€œI guess I am. I was shaky and kind of numb for a while.” I pushed a stray curl off my forehead, then started wiping down the tables. “I wish none of it’d happened, especially not seeing Erica dead. And then having to close the store.” I’d seen plenty of folks stop by while the teams were at work. They peered at my sign out front and then walked away, shaking their heads.
    â€œAny idea who killed her?” Adele glanced at me.
    I shook my head. “She seemed to rub everybody the wrong way last night except her parents and maybe her sister. She was heavy into flirting with both Jim and Max. She made Jim uncomfortable and Max mad. Although he was already pretty mad.”
    â€œHe’s a veteran, you know. Could be he has PTSD issues.”
    â€œInteresting. He seemed to really want to control Paula,” I said. “What does he do for a living?”
    â€œHe’s a locksmith, I believe.”
    â€œAnd Tiffany who owns the jewelry shop—”
    â€œTiffany Porter?” Adele asked. “She’s very talented.”
    â€œThat’s her. She accused Erica of stealing from her. And then Erica delivered some kind of racist insult to Phil. To Phil!” I shook my head. “The sweetest guy in the universe. She claimed she’d only been joking. He wouldn’t tell me exactly what she said, it was that bad.”
    â€œBut none of that is exactly cause to take and kill someone.”
    â€œOf course not.” I rubbed my chin. That take and phrasing was common around here, and to my ears was completely superfluous, since take and bring simply meant bring , just like take and kill really only meant kill .
    â€œLast night Paula, Erica’s sister, went home with her,” I went on. “Erica said they were going to have a sister slumber party. But she must have gone out again, or been abducted from her own house. I wonder if Paula heard her leave.” I picked up a feather duster and swiped at the powder that was everywhere. Dark powder on light surfaces and light powder on dark. Had they gotten any useful fingerprints? Mine would be on nearly every surface, of course. Plus, hundreds of customers had come through here in the last month and a half, picking up a vintage chopper here, examining an antique whisk there, checking out cookware from sifters to salt boxes, checkered crocks to cast-steel cleavers. The feather duster barely dented the powder, so I grabbed a rag instead and headed over to the shelves of cookware, which were always in need of dusting, anyway.
    Wait a minute. On the wall where I hung my collection of not-for-sale favorite kitchen implements, I saw a blank spot. I racked my brain, trying to remember what had hung there. The wall where the empty spot was showed a lighter circle, maybe six inches across. I peered at it. Was there also a long narrow light stripe? I snapped my fingers. The vintage sandwich press was missing.
    But why? Had some light-fingered partygoer made off with the press when I wasn’t looking? Tiffany had been interested in it last night, but I knew she hadn’t walked out with it. It wasn’t exactly the easiest tool to steal, anyway, with those two-foot long handles. Or . . . a tremor rippled through me. Had the murderer whacked Erica on the head with it?

Chapter 6
    â€œIt’s just that I noticed it was missing off the wall,” I said to Octavia after I’d reached her by phone.
    â€œHow big is it again?”
    I described the press. “So it’s long, and it’s kind of heavy because of the cast-iron disks. With the right leverage, I guess. Wait a minute.” I looked at Adele, who waved at me.
    â€œShe can look at mine if she wants,” Adele said.
    I raised my eyebrows. “Octavia, my aunt Adele has one exactly like it at home. She says