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for another pickup minutes later. “Smart move. That will clear some of them out.”
    “It wasn’t a ploy,” I said. “It happens to be true.”
    “Wow, we had a bigger run than I thought.”
    “Has the announcement had any effect on the folks waiting?” I hated the idea of losing customers, not that there was anything I could do about it.
    “A few of them drifted out,” she said, “but it’s not exactly like we had any tables for them anyway. I think the worst of it is over.”
    “Thank goodness. We’re closing in an hour, regardless of who’s still waiting to eat,” I said as I glanced at the clock and I knew some of our dinner patrons would be unhappy with it. I could always make more quick dough given enough time, but I was exhausted, and I was sure the other three were, too.
    Maddy looked relieved by the news. “If you weren’t going to pull the plug, Greg and Josh wanted me to come back here to urge you to close soon. We’re beat.”
    “Trust me, I’m worn out, too,” I said with a slight smile. “I think we deserve a little break this evening. Do you want to make a sign for the door, or should I?”
    “I’ll handle it,” she said as she looked around the kitchen, which was messier than I ever liked to see it. “You’ve got your hands full back here.”
    “I was told you were back here,” Bob Lemon said as he walked into the kitchen to join us.
    “Sorry, Bob, I can’t talk,” I said.
    He ignored me completely. “Madeline, you are not to investigate this man’s murder, and that’s final.”
    Maddy hated her given name, and I could see her bristling at its use, not to mention the direct order her boyfriend had just given her. I looked around for something I could use as a shield when she exploded, but my sister surprised me by smiling at him.
    It was clear that Bob was puzzled by her reaction as well.
    “Did you hear me?” he asked in a halting voice.
    Her smile never wavered as she said, “I must not have. It sounded as though you were telling me what to do, and I know you’re more intelligent than that.”
    His voice had a deeper pleading quality to it as he said, “The police chief is going to make this case his number one priority. If he finds you interfering with his investigation, you might get into a mess that even I can’t get you out of.”
    I was watching his face, and it was clear that he realized he’d made a mistake as the words left his mouth. “What I mean to say is . . . ”
    One look at my sister’s stare was enough to silence him.
    After a brief pause, Maddy said to him softly, “You may leave,” her tone calm and even.
    “Maddy, I . . . ”
    “Now,” she said, with just the slightest hint of force behind it.
    He started to say something else—I could almost see the words forming on his lips—when he decided he’d buried himself deep enough, turned, and left.
    “Wow, you’ve got to teach me how to do that sometime,” I said.
    “What?”
    “Intimidate someone like that,” I replied. “I had chills and a fever from seeing it, and it wasn’t even directed at me.”
    “Not now, Eleanor.”
    I could tell from her voice that she was in no mood to be jollied out of her anger.
    “Got it,” I said.
    As Maddy left the kitchen, I started cleaning up between pulling pizzas out of the oven and preparing them for delivery. Bob should have known better, but I could relate to his sentiment. He cared for my sister, maybe he even loved her, but if he wanted to be with her, he was going to have to learn how to deal with her better than he’d been managing lately. It was his problem, though, not mine. I had enough of my own grief and concern without taking anyone else’s on.

    Greg came into the kitchen forty-five minutes later and announced, “The last customer just left and the front door’s locked.”
    “I thought we were staying open for another fifteen minutes,” I said as I glanced at the wall clock.
    “We had a hunch that no one else would want to