Love Can Be Murder

toes at the police department."
    With a pledge to talk soon, Penny hung up the phone and dialed the police station. "Chief Davis, please. This is Penny Francisco."
    After a minute or two of silence, Chief Davis came on the line. "Hello, Penny. Is your conscience bothering you?"
    Penny pursed her mouth. "No. I called to report something strange that happened this morning while I was running."
    "What?" Allyson asked in a bored voice.
    "I was shot at."
    Allyson gave a disbelieving little laugh. "Shot at?"
    Penny closed her eyes briefly. "That's right. On Hairpin Hill. Two shots were fired, and one came very close to hitting me."
    "You must have been mistaken," Allyson said. "Maybe you heard a car backfire, or someone was playing with fireworks."
    "I don't think so. A bullet hit a tree next to me."
    "Then maybe someone was shooting at an animal and the bullet went astray."
    Penny bit her lip. "I suppose that's possible, but don't you think you should look into it?"
    Tension crackled across the line. "Don't tell me what I should look into, Penny, else I might think you're trying to send me on a wild-goose chase to distract me from Deke's murder case."
    Penny ground her teeth. "I'm telling you, someone was shooting at me."
    "Why would someone be shooting at you, Penny? Is there something you're not telling me?"
    "No," Penny said through clenched teeth. "I was just on my normal morning run."
    "And have you ever been shot at before while you were on your morning run?" Allyson's voice dripped with sarcasm.
    "No. But considering the timing, it might have something to do with Deke's murder."
    Allyson sighed. "Okay, I'll send an officer out there to sniff around. What time did it happen?"
    "Around 7:15 a.m."
    "And you're just now getting around to telling me?"
    "My home phone isn't working. I'm calling you from the shop."
    "I saw the crowd at your shop this morning when I drove by. I have half a mind to book you for inciting a riot for suggesting that what happened to Deke has something to do with voodoo."
    "But I didn't."
    "Right. The paper is full of reports of hexes and voodoo rituals. It's bad publicity for Mojo, especially since Deke's mother is the mayor. Every half-baked witch in the tristate will be here causing trouble."
    "I want this to be over more than you do," Penny said evenly. "Maybe if you were less intent on pinning Deke's murder on me, you'd find the real killer." She slammed down the phone, realizing she'd probably nixed any investigation into the shooting.
    Penny inhaled and exhaled several times to quiet her racing pulse, then she picked up the phone to make another difficult call. She dialed slowly, almost hoping that Liz wouldn't answer, but she did.
    "Hello?"
    "Liz, hi, it's Penny."
    "Hi, sweetheart. I'm taking Wendy to the airport—her flight was delayed a couple of hours. Are you hung over this morning, or did you manage to hook up with that hottie from the bar?"
    Penny pursed her mouth. "I guess you haven't watched the news."
    "No," Liz said suspiciously. "Why?"
    "Liz, Deke is... dead."
    "What?" Liz screeched, then moved her mouth away from the phone. "Wendy, Penny says that Deke is dead." She put her mouth back to the phone. "What on earth happened?"
    Penny recounted the details for what seemed like the hundredth time.
    Liz gasped. "Stabbed? But that's just like the voodoo doll."
    Penny frowned. "I know... and people are drawing comparisons, including the police."
    "Oh, my God, honey, how awful for you. What can we do—do you want us to come and stay with you?"
    "Thanks, but that's not a good idea right now. Television reporters are following me, not to mention the crazies who seem to think I have some kind of magic voodoo powers."
    "That's downright spooky."
    Penny cleared her throat. "Liz, the police are going to question you and Wendy because you were at the party. I have to ask again—did either one of you bring the voodoo doll as a gag gift?"
    "No," Liz said. "We brought the blow-up guy. Wait a minute—are you saying that the police think you killed Deke because of sticking that stupid voodoo doll?"
    "That's about the gist of it."
    Liz made an exasperated noise, then stopped suddenly. "You didn't kill him, did you, Penny?"
    "No! How could you even ask?"
    "Because...well, I wouldn't blame you if you did. After all, he was a lying, cheating bastard who deserved to die a slow, painful death."
    Penny stuck her tongue into her cheek. "Still, I didn't kill him."
    Liz made fretting noises. "Why