Read 2 A Deadly Beef for Free Online

Brewer
earlier, and he was just getting back to me."
    "But
how could you possibly know that she was ever fighting with Wally out in front
of Hank's shop yesterday?"  My grandfather had remarkable
connections in town, and he also had some pretty good hunches, but this went
beyond rational explanation.
    "I
didn’t have a clue about it," he said with a grin.  "I
was hitting Hank up to buy tickets for the Thanksgiving turkey giveaway for the
Old Soldiers Club, and he happened to mention in passing that he’d seen
them out there squabbling.  You know how that man loves to gossip."
    How
could Moose even say that with a straight face?  He was a bigger gossip
than any ten men or women I knew, and that was combined, but if he wanted to
operate under that kind of massive delusion, I had no desire to set him
straight.
    "Did
he say how bad it got?" I asked.
    "Well,
evidently she slapped him hard enough to leave a mark," Moose said. 
"When Hank went outside to see what was going on, they both took off in
different directions.  He was going to chase Penny down to see what it was
all about, but he didn’t feel comfortable leaving Margie at the shop all
by herself."  Hank and Margie were still technically newlyweds, and
Hank was slowly getting her to work some hours at the clothing shop he’d opened
with his late first wife, but from the talk around town, she was reluctant to
step into her predecessor’s shoes.
    "Well,
well.  Penny’s clearly not sharing everything with us, is
she?"
    "That
just means that we’ll have to push her a little harder the next time we
talk to her," Moose said.
    "Why
don’t we just go back in right now and get the ball rolling again?"
I asked him as I started back for The Suds Center’s front door.
    Moose
put a hand on my shoulder.  "I’ve got a better idea. 
Let’s give her a little time to stew over things first.  Our
questioning might be a little more effective if we let her imagination run a
little wild first."
    "I
can see that working with her," I admitted.  "So, should we go
tackle Dave Evans?"
    Moose
glanced at his watch, and then said, "We can try, but I have a hunch
he’s starting to get busy at Trudy’s about now." 
Dave’s independent grocery store had been named for his first wife at her
father’s insistence, and since he’d provided the funds to buy the
place, Dave hadn’t had much choice.  Three years later after the
divorce was final, the only way Dave could keep the store was to retain its
name, and it would be Trudy’s now and forever, unless he somehow managed
to repay the loan from his former father-in-law.
    I
glanced at my watch, and then I said, "If we’re not going to
question any more suspects at the moment, let’s go back to the diner,
then.  I want to relieve Martha."
    "There’s
no need to rush on her account," Moose said.  "She’s
been a little bored around the house lately."
    "With
you?" I asked my grandfather with a wicked grin.
    He
pretended to look shocked by the question. "How could any woman alive be
bored with me ?"
    I
started to make a list, but the expression on his face was priceless, and I
ended up laughing instead.  "Who indeed?"
     
    Back
at The Charming Moose, Martha looked relieved to see us walk back in. 
"I’m so glad to see you both."
    "Is
something wrong?" Moose asked as he put an arm around his wife.
    "No,
everything’s fine here.  I just worry about you so when you’re
digging into murder."
    He
swung her around and wrapped my grandmother up in his arms.  "Woman,
you’re not going to be able to get rid of me that easily."
    "Moose,
if I wanted you gone, you’d be gone.  You realize that, don’t
you?"
    He
grinned down at her.  "That’s what has kept me on my toes all
of these years.  Why else would I behave with such stellar conduct?"
    Martha
shook her head, but I could still see her grinning.  "Moose, do you
honestly call that good behavior?"
    "I
do what I can.  Now let me take you home.  Victoria’s taking
over the