Love Can Be Murder

and Penny sighed. "I'm sorry—that was a terrible thing to say. I'm tired."
    "Right." He stuffed his hands into his coat pockets. "Look, I know it's late, but do you want to talk, maybe grab a cup of coffee at the diner?"
    She looked down to the far left corner of the square. Sure enough, Ted's was still open. Penny wavered and looked down at her baggy sweats and flip-flops. "I'm not exactly dressed for it."
    "It's a diner. There's mashed potatoes on the floor."
    She smiled for the first time in what seemed like days.
    "Come on—just a cup of coffee. Decaf."
    Why did she gravitate toward this stranger? He looked dark and potentially dangerous, yet there was no denying the fact that he exuded a vibe of strength that she needed...and wanted. She caved to curiosity and walked toward him. "That's the only thing on Ted's menu that's passable, and just barely."
    They walked in silence, past the erected shelter and the vendor booths that had been closed up for the night, past bundles of people sitting on tarps around portable Coleman lanterns with blankets wrapped around them. Without being obvious, B.J. glanced at every face.
    "Does the voodoo festival always bring out such a big crowd?" he asked.
    "Never quite this big. The weather has helped."
    He held open the diner door, and she walked under his arm. "What kind of business do you own?"
    She frowned at the deadly desserts rotating in the refrigerator case as they passed. "A health food store."
    He chortled. "That explains the tofu remark at the bar."
    "Have you tried it?" she asked as she slid into a sticky red-and-white booth.
    He shrugged out of his leather bomber jacket and tossed it on the seat before sitting opposite her. "No, I can honestly say I've never tried tofu."
    "Well, don't knock it until you've tried it." She glanced around to see if she knew anyone in the diner and spotted the two friends of Marie's who worked at the Hair Affair, who had come to her party. One of the girls saw her and put her hand to her mouth, then whispered to the other one, who looked up, her eyes wide.
    Penny turned away, wondering what she'd been thinking to come here—in standard issue Mojo jail garb, no less.
    "Friends of yours?" B.J. asked.
    "Not really. But I guess word has gotten around about Deke."
    "That was your ex's name—Deke?"
    "Deke Black. I went back to my maiden name, Francisco."
    "Penny Francisco," he said, as if testing it on his tongue. "Nice." Then he frowned. "His name sounds familiar—would I know him?"
    "He's an attorney—" She stopped. "I mean, he was an attorney here in Mojo. Maybe your paths crossed at some point."
    "Maybe."
    Ted walked by and tossed two menus on the table.
    "So," B.J. said, opening a menu. "What happened?"
    She fingered the menu and told him about running into Sheena before she left the bar and the messages Deke had left for her at her apartment. "After I called you, I kept getting a busy signal at Deke's." She lifted her hands. "Don't ask me why, but I decided to walk to the house to see what he wanted and get it over with. When I got there, I found his...body." A shudder overtook her, but she was determined not to break down. "And then Sheena came home and found me."
    He was quiet, but from his eyes, she could tell his mind was racing.
    "Made up yer mind yet?" Ted asked. His apron was stained every color in the rainbow and smeared with some chunky stuff that Penny didn't want to identify.
    "Decaf coffee for me," she said, pushing away the menu.
    B.J. looked up. "Do you mind if I get some food? I'll eat fast."
    "No, go ahead." While he ordered, she studied his features, placing him in his late thirties. His square jaw had a day's growth, and his hair was long on top and windblown. His black Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band T-shirt had seen a few washings. She'd never met a PI, but she decided the occupation suited him and idly wondered about his background.
    "Comin' right up," Ted said, then he looked at Penny. "Weren't you married to that Deke Black who was murdered tonight?"
    She swallowed. "We were divorced."
    "Word is that you stabbed a voodoo doll and did him in."
    Penny tried her best to look outraged. "That's ridiculous."
    B.J. looked at Ted. "How about that coffee?" When the man shuffled away, B.J. said, "What's all this about a voodoo doll?"
    She sighed. "It's silly. I got a voodoo doll dressed like Deke as a gag gift at my party. I got carried away and...stabbed it."
    He nodded thoughtfully. "And how was Deke killed?"
    "Um...he was