Free To Brew or Not to Brew by Joyce Tremel Page B

getting vandalized. You didn’t say anything about murder. Spill it, girl.”
    â€œIt’s true someone has been vandalizing the brewery. I didn’t believe Kurt at first, but now . . .” I swallowed the lump forming in my throat. I should have been used to telling the story by now, but I wasn’t. “There were a few minor things that were more annoying than anything.”
    â€œLike what?” Kristie asked.
    â€œOne morning, the mirror behind the bar was cracked when I arrived. Another time, some of the lights wouldn’t turn on and Kurt found a problem with one of the breakers. Just the other day, a water line had been cut. Things like that.”
    â€œThey don’t sound minor to me,” Pearl said. “Couldn’t that breaker have started a fire?”
    â€œThat would depend,” Elmer said. “But, yeah, it could.”
    I continued my story. “On Monday night, Kurt stayed late to work on a cake recipe that he didn’t think was perfect yet. He called me and said he knew who had been causing the problems. He’d found something but wouldn’t tell me what it was. He thought it was better to show me.” My voice shook and I paused.
    Candy patted my arm. “You’re doing fine.”
    â€œWhen I got there, I didn’t see Kurt anywhere. I thought he’d left for some reason. I should have known something was wrong when I found cherries and whipped cream sitting out on the counter. Kurt would have put them in the refrigerator if he’d gone anywhere. I finally called his cell phone and heard it ringing in the brewery. I followed the sound and found him.”
    The room was quiet when I finished. Elmer was the first to speak up. “Yep. Sounds like murder to me. If you need a bodyguard, young lady, I’m available.”
    It was the nicest thing I’d ever heard him say. “Thank you, Elmer. I appreciate the offer. I’ll keep it in mind.”
    â€œWhat about suspects?” Elmer asked. “Do you have anyone in mind?”
    â€œThere’s a bar owner who thinks I’ll run him out ofbusiness.” I was surprised that Candy only made a face at this and didn’t jump to his defense. “Other than that, I’m at a loss. Everyone else in the neighborhood seems to like the idea of the pub. It’ll bring more traffic to their stores.”
    Kristie agreed. “The busier the street is, the more business I get.”
    â€œSame here,” Candy said. “It could be someone who doesn’t want the extra traffic, or someone who plain just doesn’t want a pub in there.”
    Pearl drummed her fingers on the table. “The killer doesn’t necessarily have to be someone from the neighborhood. Your father is a police officer, isn’t he?”
    â€œYes, he is.”
    â€œPerhaps someone has a grudge against him and is taking it out on you,” Pearl said.
    â€œI don’t buy it,” Elmer said. “If someone had a grudge against her pop, he’d come after Max. He wouldn’t waste his time messing with the pub.”
    We went through a few more options but didn’t come up with a thing.
    One of the librarians opened the door and motioned for Amanda. She excused herself and said she’d be right back.
    â€œI’m sorry we weren’t more help,” Pearl said. “Is there anything else we can do?”
    I was out of ideas. “Just keep your eyes and ears open, I guess.”
    â€œI still think we should stake out your place,” Kristie said.
    â€œOoh,” Candy said. “That’s a great idea. We’d be just like Charlie’s Angels.”
    â€œThe Three Stooges would be more like it,” Elmer said.
    I had to agree with him. The last thing I wanted was help to stake out my own pub. If I came right out and told them no, they’d try to talk me into it, so I just said, “Let me think about it.”
    â€œWhat’s