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find whoever killed Harley,” Grace said.
    Trish had approached, loaded down with a full tray, but I’d somehow missed spotting her approach. “I knew you three were up to something,” she said triumphantly. “There’s no way this much brain power would be gathered together in my simple eatery just to share a meal.”
    “We thought we might do a little investigating,” I admitted, knowing that Trish could be a good source of information, though not as good as Gabby Williams was. “Do you know where Gabby is, by the way?”
    “Maybe she and George ran off together,” Trish said with a grin as she placed full plates of roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, and peas in front of each of us.
    “Don’t even kid about that,” I said.
    “What’s this about Gabby and George together?” Momma asked.
    Trish took it as an invitation to join us, which I was certain none of us really minded. “They’re both missing. Haven’t you heard the news?”
    I’d neglected to share Gabby’s absence with my mother, who looked at me carefully before I got up the nerve to just shrug. “Sorry. I was going to get around to mentioning it.”
    “I’m sure that you were,” Momma said, clearly not certain of that fact at all.
    Trish took the opening to say, “I was just kidding about them being together. Gabby is probably off on one of her mysterious overnight trips. I have no idea where our mayor is, but I’m fairly certain that they are miles apart, wherever they are.”
    “I don’t doubt that for a second,” Grace said.
    Before Momma could ask anything else about Gabby, Trish said, “If you’re looking into Harley’s murder, you should talk to Megan Gray.”
    “Megan?” I asked her. “What does she have to do with what happened to Harley?”
    “Didn’t you know? She’s been in love with him for years,” Trish said. “The poor woman has been following him around town like some kind of lost puppy dog for years. Haven’t you noticed?”
    “I suppose I have, now that you mention it. It doesn’t make sense, though. If she had a crush on him, why would she kill him?”
    Trish smiled as her voice softened. “If she’d left it at a crush, she wouldn’t have, but she marched up to him yesterday at that table over there and told him how she felt. I still don’t know where she got the nerve to do it.”
    “How did he react to the news?” I asked her.
    “In the worst possible way, if you ask me.”
    “He rejected her openly?” I asked.
    “No, it was worse than that. He laughed at her.”
    “Wow, she must have been humiliated,” Grace said.
    “I’d say that was one of her emotions, but there was some fury in her as she left as well,” Trish said.
    “Isn’t she quite a bit younger than Harley?” my mother asked.
    “Twenty-five years, at least,” Trish said. “Megan’s always had daddy issues, so that didn’t surprise me. Her father ran off when she was just a kid, and she’s been interested in older men just about ever since.”
    “She’s kind of…nondescript, isn’t she?” Grace asked.
    “Megan’s downright mousy,” Trish agreed. “But there was nothing submissive about her yesterday.”
    “Trish, any day would be fine,” Jack Jefferson said loudly as he waved his bill at the register up front.
    “Hold your horses, Jack,” Trish said before she turned to us. “Ladies, if there’s any way that I can help, all you have to do is ask. Harley was a bit of a blowhard at times, but he wasn’t all bad, and he was always a great tipper. I’ll miss him.”
    Trish got up leisurely and walked to the front, pushing Jack’s patience as far as she could without having him explode on the spot.
    “Well, what do you think about that?” Grace asked. “Who would have thought that was even possible?”
    “It adds another suspect to our list,” Momma said. “Suzanne, may I go with you when you interview Megan? I know her mother quite well, so that might be of some assistance, and besides, Grace