Free Fillet of Murder by Linda Reilly Page A

while.”
    Okay, she might have had a
tiny
crush twenty years ago. Not even worth mentioning.
    Bea drained her mug and plunked it in the commercial dishwasher. Her voice grew hoarse. “Westlake said the state police are handling the case now. The same detective from yesterday, Liam O’Donnell, is in charge. But get this. The coppers got some flippin’ preliminary report in from the lab this morning.” She looked at Talia, her green eyes filling with tears. “Oh, Talia, they think I did it. They think I killed Phil Turnbull!”
    â€¢Â Â Â â€¢Â Â Â â€¢
    The next few hours dragged by in a haze, with Bea alternating between sobs and rants. Whitnee arrived a few minutes before eleven, her thin face drawn. She set to work making the mushy peas—her favorite thing to prepare. Talia tried to engage her in a few pleasantries, but received only a nod or head shake in return.
    At eleven thirty, Bea asked Talia to flip the CLOSED sign to OPEN . Almost instantly, the door swung ajar.
    â€œHey, everyone.” Suzy Sato poked her head inside, her reddish gold curls bouncing around her face. “How are y’all doing?” She stepped inside and gave Talia a quick hug.
    Bea gave Suzy a faint wave with her wooden spoon and went back to stirring batter. Whitnee glanced over at Suzy but didn’t acknowledge her.
    â€œWe’re doing,” Talia said. “By the way, that bath oil wasscrumptious. I dumped a pile of it in the tub last night and soaked for a good half hour.”
    â€œOooh, I’m so glad you liked it. Um, I’ve got to get back to the shop, but do you and Bea have a minute?”
    Bea wiped her hands on her apron and slipped around the side of the counter into the dining area. “Hi, Suzy. Didn’t mean to be standoffish. I’m not having a very good day.”
    â€œOh, Bea, I’m sorry to hear that.” Suzy threw her arms around Bea and gave a hearty squeeze.
    Bea shook her head and dabbed at her eyes with a napkin. “Don’t mind the tears. I’m like a leaky faucet today.”
    â€œWell, listen,” Suzy said. “I got a call from Jill Follansbee this morning, and she came up with a pretty good idea. You all know her, right?”
    Talia bit her lip to keep from laughing out loud. “She owns Time for Tea.”
    â€œExactly, and she got thinking about how slow things were yesterday. I mean, we
all
lost business, right?” Suzy rolled her eyes and ran her fingers through her curls. “I mean, it was so obvious that customers were staying away from the arcade in
droves
, wasn’t it?”
    â€œI guess so.” Bea frowned. “It was frightfully dead in here, that’s for sure.” She slapped a hand over her mouth. “Oops.”
    Talia squeezed her shoulder. “It’s okay to use the word
dead
, Bea.”
    â€œI know, I’m just so . . .” Bea swallowed and then looked at Suzy with misery in her eyes. “The coppers think I had something to do with Turnbull’s murder,” she choked out.
    Suzy’s mouth opened in shock. “Why, that’s preposterous. What could possibly make them think that?”
    Bea shrugged. “I guess I was the last holdout on the comic book store petition. Turnbull said Jepson had agreed to sign the petition. He claimed I was the only one bollocksing things up.” She rearranged the folds in her soggy napkin.
    Suzy’s face turned bubble-gum pink. She looked at her watch.
    â€œPlus, Phil and I had a big blowup that same day. If it hadn’t been for Talia, I’d have nailed him in his smug face with a fish.”
    â€œI have a question,” Talia said, gauging Suzy’s expression. “Even if every proprietor in the arcade signed the petition, who’s to say the landlord was going to take it seriously?”
    â€œThere’s something in the by-laws,” Suzy explained. “If the objection