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with two plates heaped high with salads.  He blanched in such a way that I knew he’d overheard the dead body mention.
      “I didn’t kill him,” I assured our host.
      “I didn’t imagine you did.”  He shot me a toothy smile that showed off his immaculate white teeth.  I wondered if, in addition to owning a restaurant, Tony acted, or wanted to act.  That’s the thing about Hollywood, everyone’s in the business, or wants to be.
      “Thanks for that.  I’m his,” I jerked my finger in Cal’s direction, “primary suspect.”
      “She’s not,” Cal protested.
      “Sure I am.  You just said you don’t shine lights in suspects’ eyes, and why would you start with me.  That means I’m a suspect, too, just because I’m good at my job and accidently cleaned the murder scene.”  I sniffed and turned to Big G.  “He,” I jerked my finger at Cal again, “seems to think I had something to do with Mr. Banning’s murder.”
      “Cal,” the Big G said with disgust in his voice.
      “I don’t think she did it, but I still have to clear her.”
      “Yeah, I’m a suspect, when all I was doing was trying to make a living to support myself and my three boys.  An honest living.  My uncle spent two years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.  Now, I’m going to follow in his footsteps.  And my boys won’t have their mom.  They’ll have my ex’s new wife, Peri, but they think of her as more of a sister than a mother.  Peri doesn’t know how to raise kids.  And my ex?  Well, other than marrying women who are practically children, he doesn’t know much.  He loves the boys, but he’s a weekend father at best.”
      “Cal.”  The Big G’s tone was even more disgusted.
      “I don’t think she did it,” Cal protested loudly.  “But she cleaned the damn murder scene and I have to deal with that.”
      The Big G smiled at me.  “If he sends you to jail, I’ll bring you pasta with a file in it.”
      “Aw, thanks.”  I like this man.  I tossed him my equally dazzling smile, flashing him my pearly white teeth.  It was that smile and those teeth that got me the gig as Dazzling Smile’s spokeswoman.  I thought it might be a long-term gig.  One of those ad campaigns that brings in residuals for a long time.
      Three days before the first airing, they found arsenic in the toothpaste.  My shot at toothpaste fame and fortune was spit down the sink.  So, I was pretty sure the Big G didn’t recognize my dazzling smile.
      He dazzled a bit as he smiled back, then left the room.
      I took a bite of the salad.
      “Wow,” I managed as I chewed.  This wasn’t head lettuce cut up in a bowl and slathered with ranch dressing.  This had greens, nuts and dried fruit, with some light dressing on it.
      Cal forked up his salad and didn’t seem overly appreciative as he chewed it, then asked, “What I want you to do is try to remember everything you cleaned, touched or moved at Banning’s house.”
      So, I tried to remember every step.  It was easier because I’d started going over all this for myself and my file.  I thought about telling him that.  After all, he’d made it clear he didn’t consider me a serious suspect.  But I still wasn’t positive I could trust him, so I simply worked at recreating the list, from picking panties off the ceiling fan, to steam cleaning footprints off the carpet.  When I mentioned the Mortie, Cal perked up.  “What was on it?”
      I shrugged as I swallowed another bite of the salad.  “No idea.  It was sticky and a sort of rusty brown color.  It was all over the base of it.”
      “Blood?”
      “I don’t think so, though I’ve never seen dried blood on a Mortie before, much less cleaned it off.  I polished the award, then I put it on the mantle.  It was on the couch when I came in,” I added.
      Cal made a groaning sound and made a call on his cell.  “Test the Mortie for trace evidence of blood.”