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here. Not even David.”
    Hodges looked at me a long time before he spoke. “Just because you say it, that doesn’t make it so.”
    “Nor should you take the word of some coward with a telephone over mine. We’ve known each other a long time, John. Do you honestly think I’m capable of murder?”
    He took much too long to answer to suit my tastes. “You’ve always had a sharp tongue, Carolyn, and Betty managed to bring out the worst in folks. I can’t rule anything out yet.”
    “Well, until you do, perhaps you should start looking for the real killer instead of wasting your time with me. Now if you’re not going to lock me up, I suggest you leave so I can go about my shop’s business.”
    He nodded and headed toward the door, but before he left, the sheriff turned to me and said, “You’re not planning any trips out of Maple Ridge anytime soon, are you?”
    “Why do you ask?” Did he honestly think I was capable of murder? Or that even if I was, I’d actually flee the area? Honestly, where would I go? I’d lived here all my life.
    “I’d just rather have you around in case I come up with any more questions for you.”
    “I’ll be here,” I said. I couldn’t believe the sheriff actually thought I’d had something to do with Betty’s death. He’d known me forever. But if he could believe it, other people might, too. I was going to have to do something to clear my name. There was no way I’d be able to live in Maple Ridge with the whispers and the speculation. If Sheriff Hodges wasn’t going to help me, I was going to have to do it myself.

Chapter 3
    I was so rattled after the sheriff left that it took a good half hour for me to settle back down. I’d pick something up, then forget why I had it in my hands. It would have been nice to have David back, but after my conversation with Hannah, I wasn’t sure if I’d ever see my assistant again. I could manage to run Fire at Will by myself, but it wouldn’t be nearly as much fun, and I could kiss lunches out goodbye forever. My friend Shelly ran her own diner, appropriately named Shelly’s Café, but I knew our relationship didn’t extend to her bringing me my lunch every day.
    I remembered to check the hand-built coiled pottery pots the Firing Squad had made the night before, and suddenly realized that I had forgotten all about the kilns’ earlier erratic behavior. What would I find when I opened them? Everything appeared to be fine as I took out each of the pieces and examined them in turn. Maybe the night Betty had died had been a single glitch and not the start of something worse. At least something appeared to be going right for me.
    Customers were pretty sparse the rest of the morning. Okay, that’s not entirely true. There would have to have been at least one customer for me to be able to call it sparse, and I hadn’t had anyone else come in after the school kids. When the door chimed later in the day, I nearly leapt forward, eager to have some company, any company at all.
    It was Butch. He took in the deserted shop. “Kind of empty, isn’t it?”
    “You’re here between lulls,” I said.
    “How long has the last lull been?” he asked.
    I thought about lying to him, but Butch had been a crook long enough to spot my weak attempts at deception. “Pretty much since Betty died,” I admitted reluctantly.
    “Don’t worry, Carolyn, we’ll fix this. I’ve got some stuff on the woman that might help.”
    “Like what?” I asked. Sheriff Hodges had shaken me more than I was willing to admit. I needed to find the killer myself if he was going to focus solely on me.
    “Her ex wasn’t too keen on her, that’s for sure. That guy was paying alimony out the wazoo.”
    “You didn’t rough him up, did you?” The last thing I wanted was to get one of my favorite customers and a member of the Firing Squad in trouble.
    He laughed at my suggestion. “Naw, not Larry. He wouldn’t be worth the effort. I tracked him down at Twilly’s Bar last