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flyers printed up, which she had given away at the previous summer’s Cloverdale fair. Piper had reached for her cell phone to pull up Tammy’s website when Aunt Judy walked in, holding Jack, her black-and-white mixed-breed, on a leash. Months ago she and Uncle Frank had taken in Jack as a skinny, fur-matted stray and gradually rehabilitated him into the healthy and lovable dog he now was.
    â€œYou don’t mind my bringing Jack into the shop, do you?” Aunt Judy asked, unnecessarily.
    â€œOf course not!” Piper bent down to ruffle Jack’s fur as he yipped happily at the sight of her, his tail wagging furiously. “How’s my most favorite dog in the world?” she asked, more of Jack than her aunt, though it was Aunt Judy who answered.
    â€œHe’s fine but he needs his booster shots. I’ll walk him over to Dr. Rhodes in a minute but we wanted to stop in and say hello.”
    Jack yipped at that, as though agreeing, then calmed and sat obediently at Aunt Judy’s bidding.
    Aunt Judy’s face sobered. “You’ve heard, perhaps, about that man who worked for Jeremy Porter?”
    â€œDirk Unger? Yes. Awful news.”
    â€œIt is, and I’m very sorry for him, despite the kind of person he seemed to be. But I’m most concerned at the moment for Sugar Heywood.”
    Piper nodded. “She was my first thought when I heard about it, too.”
    â€œSurely—”
    â€œNo, I don’t think for a moment that Sugar could have done anything so terrible. But the connection is unavoidable after what Dirk Unger did to hurt her the other night.”
    â€œBut since poison is usually taken in food,” Aunt Judy said, “would that eliminate Sugar? She would hardly be fixing a meal for that man.”
    â€œPretty unlikely, yes, but there are other methods. At this point, though, not knowing what the poison was and how it acts means we can only make guesses, which is next to useless.”
    â€œYou’re right.” Aunt Judy reached down to pat Jack, who’d started squirming. “Oh, how I wish Sugar had come to your party last night. I completely understand why she couldn’t bring herself to do so but it might turn out to have been a bad mistake.”
    Piper hoped they were unnecessarily worried, and Aunt Judy took Jack off to the vet’s, leaving Piper to wonder how long it would take to pinpoint the cause and circumstances of Dirk Unger’s death—and how many theories and accusations she would hear before the truth was finally uncovered.

8

    P iper began to lose count of the number of people who stopped in to discuss Dirk Unger’s death. She looked forward longingly to Amy’s arrival, which would allow Piper to escape to her back room for a while to make pickles—always a stress-easing as well as productive activity for her. When Amy walked in, however, her first words kept Piper rooted to the spot.
    â€œI’ve heard from Kendra, one of our kitchen staff. Daddy’s been questioning all the A La Carte people.”
    â€œReally!”
    Amy stowed her purse under the counter. “It was my day off so I didn’t know that awful man, Dirk Unger, had lunch at A La Carte yesterday.” She wrinkled her nose. “Despite his obviously low opinion of everything we fixed.”
    â€œDoes that mean your father thinks that’s where Unger was poisoned?” Piper’s hopes for Sugar escaping suspicion rose. On the other hand, this was the restaurant where Amy worked part time, and she needed the job.
    â€œAs usual, Daddy didn’t let me in on his official business, but it doesn’t sound that way. Kendra said he was most interested in knowing if Unger had taken food home with him.”
    â€œAnd had he?”
    â€œNo. He never does, and he didn’t yesterday. Thank goodness! I mean, can you imagine if the poison could be traced to food from A La Carte’s