Death by Chocolate

uniform
looked almost cute on the younger ones, but ridiculous on the woman serving
behind the bar—a middle-aged, heavy-set woman who was a dead ringer for Eleanor
Maxwell.
    Savannah walked over to the
bar, which served nothing but nonalcoholic smoothies, and waited for Elizabeth
to come over. When she did, Savannah was greeted with a less than cordial,
‘Yeah.... what can I get you?”
    Hm-m-m, she thought, grumpy
runs in the family. “A pineapple-strawberry flip,” she said.
    Elizabeth trudged down to
the other end of the bar, threw some fruit and ice into a blender, and pushed
the button. The concoction was quickly whipped into a froth, which she poured
into a tall soda-fountain glass.
    Poking a straw into it, she
shoved the drink under Savannah’s nose. ‘That’ll be five-fifty,” she announced,
drumming her fingers impatiently on the bar.
    “Five-fifty? Wow! ” Savannah
said. ‘That’s pricey for a milk shake with no milk in it.”
    Elizabeth reached out and
seized the drink. “Do you want the smoothie or not, lady? I got work to do
here.” Savannah made a point of looking deliberately up and down the empty bar.
Then she said, “I’ll take it,” and handed the woman a ten-dollar bill.
    When Elizabeth brought her
the change, Savannah decided to dive in.... although she had a distinct feeling
that the water would be deep and cold.
    “I realize that you’re...
busy,” she said with all the Dixie charm she could muster, “but could we talk
for a couple of minutes? I’m—”
    “No.”
    She went ahead and produced
her investigator’s license, flipping it open in Elizabeth’s face. “My name is
Savannah Reid and I’m a private investigator. I’m working on—”
    “Oh, I know who you are. I
heard about you on the news, and Louise told me about you when she called me
about Eleanor. Some bodyguard you turned out to be. Not exactly
Johnny-on-the-Spot, were you?”
    Savannah’s blue eyes went
cold, and her recently summoned charm evaporated. In a voice that wasn’t
exactly oozing with sympathy, she said, “I’m very sorry for your loss. I
attended your sister’s funeral this afternoon and—”
    “And you were wondering why
I wasn’t there.” Savannah took a deep breath. “I figured you had your reasons.”
    “You’re damned right I did!
Do you have any idea what it’s like to have a famous sister.... a rich
sister.... a famous, rich, twin sister.... when you work in a frig-gin’
restaurant, slinging hash for lousy tips?”
    Savannah thought about
suggesting that if she weren’t such a vile person, she might get better tips,
but she decided to say nothing except, “Nope. I guess I don’t.”
    “Well, it’s the pits.”
    “I’ll bet it is.”
    “Do you know how many times
a day somebody walks into this place and says, ‘Hey, you know who you look
like? No, really... you look just like....’ It sucks. Especially when they say
stupid things like, ‘If your sister’s so rich, what are you doing waiting
tables?’ Boy, that’s the one that really irks my butt big time.”
    “Yeah. I imagine that’s
pretty irritating.”
    “You don’t know the half of
it.”
    “Sounds like you weren’t
very fond of your sister,” Savannah observed.
    Elizabeth’s eyes narrowed.
“No, I wasn’t. But I didn’t kill her, if that’s what you’re getting at.”
    “Me? Getting at? Naw, I’m
just sitting here shooting the breeze with you.”
    “If you want to investigate
anybody, take a good, hard look at that lousy niece of mine, Louise. Now
there’s one who’d do about anything to get her hands on her mother’s money.
Eleanor spoiled her rotten, and look what she got: a daughter that wouldn’t
even talk to her. Did she come to the funeral?”
    “Yes, she was there with
her little girl.”
    Elizabeth’s hard face
softened. “Gilly’s a little sweetheart. I miss her since I stopped going over there
a few months ago.”
    “If you don’t mind me
asking, why did you estrange yourself from your sister?”
    “You spent time with
Eleanor and you ask me a question like that?”
    “I just meant... was there
some reason in particular a few months ago?”
    “My sister and I had a
blowout, okay? I offered her my opinion about... somebody.... and she told me
to leave. I did. And I didn’t bother to go back.”
    Savannah leaned forward,
her eyes locked with Elizabeth’s. She could tell the woman wanted to say more. If
she could just nudge her over the edge...
    “Did it have