Morning Cup of Murder by Vanessa Gray Bartal

is she now?”
    “ New York ,” Lacy said. The words left a bitter, acrid taste on the back of her tongue.
    “That suits her,” Travis said. “Riley was a year ahead of me, but she was one of those girls you knew was destined for greater things.”
    “Hmm,” Lacy repeated. Blessedly, they arrived at the taco place and placed an order. As they waited for their food to be handed through the window, Lacy screwed up her courage. “Travis, what do they have on my grandmother?”
    “Oh, I’m not, I mean, it’s not really…Didn’t Jason tell you?”
    “Jason said he’s a peon who doesn’t handle investigations,” she hedged.
    “Jason lied. He’s next in line for a promotion. Everyone knows when Brenner retires Jason’s going to be the next detective.”
    “Are you going to get out of the jail and go on patrol?” she asked.
    He shrugged. “That doesn’t appeal to me so much. I think I’m a lifer in the jail.” He sagged in his chair, staring dejectedly out of the window. It must be hard for a man to realize he wasn’t cut out for a dangerous lifestyle, she thought.
    “Doesn’t the jail have a sergeant?” she asked.
    “Yes,” he said.
    “You could be the jail sergeant. You would be good at it.”
    He perked up. “You think so?”
    “I do. You’re efficient and compassionate; that’s a rare combination.”
    He turned to stare out the side window, a thoughtful expression on his face. “It was the pie.”
    “Excuse me?” she said.
    “The pie. They found your grandmother’s prints on a banana cream pie, and a witness placed her at the scene.”
    Lacy felt like all the air had been sucked from the car. Yesterday morning before she left, her grandmother had been baking a banana cream pie. Since she was always baking something, Lacy assumed it was for a funeral. “Why would the presence of a pie be enough for an arrest?”
    Travis turned toward her again. “There were two pie plates and a knife. The woman was stabbed, and there were pieces of banana and whipped cream around the wound. A couple of witnesses saw your grandma deliver the pie and go inside. A few hours later, the woman was found dead.”
    “But dropping off a pie is a friendly gesture. Why would anyone drop off a pie, stay to eat, and then kill the person? That doesn’t make any sense.” She faced forward, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel.
    “I’m going to tell you something about Detective Brenner,” Travis said. “Something off the record: he’s a lazy jerk. He jumps to the most obvious conclusion and then does as little work as possible to make the evidence fit his foregone conclusion. The situation is bad for your grandma, Lacy. The best advice I can give you is to hire a good lawyer. Maybe that Ed McNeil guy. He’s smarmy, but he gets the job done.”
    Lacy’s nose wrinkled in distaste at the dreaded name. “I’ll think about it.” Their order came up. She grabbed the bag and handed it to Travis. They were silent on the short drive back to the jail, but when they pulled into the lot he made no move to get out.
    “Thanks, Travis. It was really nice of you to give me that information. I’m going to do my best to clear my grandma, and every little bit helps.”
    He smiled sheepishly, blushing faintly at the compliment. She blinked at him in surprise. He was no Jason, but he was cute. How was it possible that she, ordinary Lacy Steele, had made a guy blush?
    “Lacy, I know you’re sort of swamped right now, but maybe when this blows over we could go out sometime?”
    “Thanks for the offer, Travis, but I just got out of a really serious relationship. I’m not ready to date again. And, to be honest, you’re a little young for me.”
    “Four years isn’t so much,” he said.
    “It is when I feel like I’m ninety. The last few years haven’t been the best of my life. But I’m always looking for a friend.” She smiled to gentle her rejection.
    He smiled in return. “Maybe you’d better tell Jason