Cereal Killer

the next portion to Ryan instead of him. “But I’m working on it,” he said. “If there was any hanky-panky going on, I’ll be sure to find out about it.”
    Tammy giggled. “Yeah, Dirk’s a regular bloodhound when it comes to sniffing out hanky. It’s the closest thing to panky he gets.”
    “Shut up, bubble brain,” Dirk said, swiping the piece of cake that Savannah had given Tammy out from under her nose.
    Savannah rescued the cake and, more importantly, her china from him and handed it back to Tammy. “And then,” she continued, “we’ve got this Jerrod Beekman dude who owns Stellar, the ad agency that’s handling the Slenda account for Wentworth Cereal.”
    “Jerrod Beekman?” Ryan turned to John. “We know him. He was seeing Michael Romano last summer. We met them at the opening of that little gallery down on San Fernando Street. Remember?”
    Dirk perked up. “Oh, so, Beekman’s a... I mean he’s... one of you guys? Uh, no offense.”
    Ryan glanced over at Savannah, then gave Dirk his best “patient” smile. “None taken. Yes, I suppose you could say he’s one of us. He’s certainly not one of you.” His eyes twinkled when he added, “No offense.”
    Dirk scowled. “And what’s that supposed to mean?” Savannah shoved his oversize cake in front of him. “Eat,” she said.
    “I’d keep a sharp eye on Beekman,” John told her. “I’ve heard from more than one source that he’s a wily chap when it comes to business. Not above resorting to mischief to get the upper hand.”
    “Thanks, John,” Savannah said. “That’s good to know.”
    “I can do some checking about, if you like,” he offered. “I know this particular chap, Michael Romano, and I believe there was a bit of animosity when they ceased to keep company this past winter. He might have something to say about your fellow Beekman.”
    “That would be great,” Dirk said with far more enthusiasm than usual for him. Savannah stifled a grin. Frequently, when stumped by a case, Dirk decided that Ryan and John were pretty good to have around.
    Joining them at the table with her own dessert, she said, “And then we have the agent, Leah Freed.”
    “Why would you suspect her?” Tammy asked.
    “I suspect everybody. That way I’m sure to think ill of the bad guy... or girl... at least once,” she said. “Leah hired me to find out what happened to her girls, but she seems more interested in what Dirk has found out than what I’ve uncovered. She called me four times today, leaving messages for me to check in. But when I did, right before you guys came over tonight, all she did was ask me who ‘the police’ think it might be.”
    “Are you saying she hired you just to get information on me?” Dirk asked with a look of arrogance that was only slightly diluted by the whipped cream on his chin.
    “Oh, yeah, Dirko,” Tammy said. “It’s about you. It’s always about you.”
    “And this time it might be more than just a figment of your inflated ego,” Savannah added. “I could swear I was being pumped.”
    “You didn’t give her anything good, did you?” Dirk asked.
    She gave him a dismissive wave with her fork. “Oh, yes, I spilled everything I knew. And what I didn’t know, I made up. Duh.”
    Dirk looked a bit wounded, but he recovered instantly when he filled his face with chocolate cake.
    Tammy cleared her throat. “So... nobody’s asked me what I came up with today.”
    ‘You?” Savannah washed down the bite of cake with a big swig of strong coffee, generously laced with cream. “I didn’t think you’d gotten any time on the computer.” She glanced toward the living room and lowered her voice to a whisper so that her sister wouldn’t hear. “You know,” she added, “with Marietta using it all day to chat with What’s-His-Nuts.”
    “There was that half an hour when she was trying to track him down on the phone. I got online then for a while.”
    “Track him down?”
    ‘Yeah. She called his work, his dad’s house, his brother’s ..
    “How did she get their numbers?”
    Tammy shrugged. “I don’t know for sure. But when she finally got him on the phone, she said something that made me think maybe she wrote them down out of his address book when he was in the shower this morning.”
    Savannah shuddered. “Oooo, scary stuff.”
    “Well, what did you come up with, Nancy Drew?” Dirk asked, prodding Tammy’s elbow with his finger.
    “I found out about the restraining