Free A Chili Death: A Classic Diner Mystery by Jessica Beck Page A

halfway there and turned around.  I had burritos from Carmelita’s on the way, and something I ate didn’t agree with me, so I turned around and came back home.”
    “Then your receipt should prove that you weren’t in town,” I said.
    “It might if I’d bought them fresh, but these had been leftover in the fridge for a few days, so I didn’t buy them fresh yesterday.  I’m sad to say that no one saw me between five and five thirty, coming or going.”
    I was about to ask him another question when one of his mechanics came in.  “Bob, your car’s transmission is shot.  Why don’t you just shoot that thing and put it out of its misery?”  He waved to Moose, and nodded in my direction.
    “It’s got a few good miles left on it,” Bob said.  “Just fix it.”
    “If you’re having trouble with your transportation,” Moose said, “I might sell you my truck.  It’s good to go right now, just as it is.”
    “Thanks, but you’ll understand if I pass.”
    His mechanic said, “One more thing.  Mrs. Beatty is back by my station.  She swears that we changed the seats of her car the last time she was here, and they haven’t been right since.  You might want to have a chat with her.”
    Bob shook his head, and then turned to us.  “Sorry, but duty calls.  Good luck in your witch-hunt.”
    “We’re not on some kind of rampage.  We’re just trying to find the truth,” I said.
    “Call it whatever you want,” Bob said, and then he followed his mechanic back out to the work area.
    “What do you think about that?” I asked as soon as we were back in Moose’s truck.
    “It sounds like a pretty elaborate story, if it’s all just a lie,” he said.
    “Or it could actually be the truth,” I answered.
    “Maybe, but I’m not buying Bob’s story that this didn’t upset him, no matter how hard he’s trying to downplay it.  If he went to a movie in Hickory after finding out that he might be losing his garage, I’m a baboon’s first cousin.”
    “He never made it though, remember?”
    “So he says,” Moose said.
    “How long have you known the man?” I asked, more out of curiosity than anything else. 
    “Longer than I’ve known you,” he admitted with a smile.
    “And you really think that he’s capable of doing this?”
    “I sure do, and there’s no doubt in my mind that he thinks the same thing of me.  We need to keep digging into this, Victoria.  There’s going to be a lot of bad blood before this thing is over.”
    “I agree,” I said as my cell phone rang.  I glanced at the caller ID and saw that Greg was calling me.  “Drive us to Cynthia’s or Hank’s.  I need to talk to my husband in the meantime.”
    As I answered the call, my grandfather said, “You know that I hate those things.”
    “I know,” I said as I grinned at him and answered my phone.  “Hey there, Greg.  Did you miss me already?”
    “Always,” my husband said, “but that’s not why I’m calling.  The sheriff’s looking for you two.  He wants you both to stop whatever you’re doing and meet him at the diner.”
    I didn’t like the sound of that.  “Did he say what it was about?”  I was afraid that he’d already heard about our digging this morning, and was going to shut us down before we got the chance to do any good with our investigation.
    “No, but from his tone, I wouldn’t put it off any longer than you have to.”
    “We’ll head over there right now.  Thanks for calling.”
    “Let me know when you find out what this is all about,” he said.
    “I promise,” I said, and then hung up.
    “What was that all about?” Moose asked.
    “Drive to the diner.  Sheriff Croft is looking for us.”
    “Did he say why?” Moose asked.
    “No, but I’ve got a feeling that we’re about to find out.”
    Moose’s face clouded up.  “If he thinks we’re going to stop looking into this murder, he’s got another think coming.”
    “Let me handle him, okay?”
    Moose shot a quick