Love Can Be Murder

in their direction. "Detective Maynard, this is hardly the place for this discussion."
    "You're right," he said amiably. "And I suspect we'll be asking Ms. Francisco to come back to talk to us real soon." Then he frowned. "By the way, Ms. Francisco, I can't seem to find any record of you or your family in Kingston, Tennessee."
    "No?" Penny squeaked, trying to remain calm.
    "No," he said, watching her intently.
    Her throat convulsed. "That's because I grew up in Kings ford."
    " Kings ford ?"
    She sighed in relief. "That's right. You must have misunderstood."
    He gave her a tight smile. "My mistake."
    Gloria tugged at her sleeve, pulling her away. Her eyes were clouded with concern. "Are you okay?"
    Penny nodded, although she was far from okay. She walked to Guy's car a bit unsteadily and climbed in, sinking into the seat. "I don't know how this situation could get more crazy."
    But Guy didn't answer—he was staring at Liz's Mercedes as she pulled out of the parking lot. "Is that the car your friend always drives?"
    "Yeah," Penny said. "Why?"
    "Well, for starters, it's the car I'm going to trade this one in for some day."
    "That's nice."
    "And it's the car that was sitting in the parking lot of the store Friday night when I drove by to take Carrie home."
    Penny sat up. "Friday night? After the party?"
    "Yeah. It was maybe...ten o'clock, or a few minutes past."
    "Are you sure?"
    "Positive. That car, or one just like it."
    He pulled onto the street, and Penny unwittingly looked directly into a rolling news camera. She cursed under her breath and frowned, her mind clicking. That would have been right after Liz and Wendy had left the party. Why would they have parked in the parking lot of her store?
    Then she froze—to walk across the road and visit Deke? Her breath started coming faster as the possibilities unwound in her head. Could her friends have stopped by with the idea of telling Deke what they thought of him? Why else would they have wanted to see him, unless...
    Penny closed her eyes briefly. Unless Liz was having an affair with Deke. That would explain her friend's attitude toward Deke—maybe she was trying to pretend she didn't care for him to throw Penny off. Maybe that's what she and Wendy had been arguing about as they'd left—Wendy had known that Liz had wanted to stop to see Deke. Then another memory clicked into place: Ziggy saying he'd seen Liz at his restaurant. Penny opened her purse and dug out her cell phone.
    "What are you doing?" Guy asked.
    Penny ignored his question as she called directory assistance, then called Ziggy's restaurant and asked for him.
    "Chere , Penny! How are you?"
    "Not so good, Ziggy." She pinched the bridge of her nose to stem a headache building there. "When you saw my friend Liz the other night at the party, you said you recognized her from your restaurant."
    "That's right," he said slowly.
    "Who was she with when you saw her?"
    "Penny, I—"
    "Who was she with, Ziggy?"
    He sighed. "Deke. But that was a couple of months ago, and it doesn't mean anything fishy was going on."
    "Right," she said, her heart shattered. "Thanks, Ziggy."
    "Don't jump to conclusions, chere," he begged. "Deke is gone. Forget about it, okay?"
    "Right," she repeated, wondering how many different ways Deke could have betrayed her, how Liz was able to look her in the eye.
    "And don't forget to call me when you have more, um, you know."
    She sighed. "That might be a while—my woodsman said his helper is out of commission."
    Ziggy made a frustrated noise. "They will be out of season before long."
    Penny bit her lip. She had so many things to worry about other than black truffles. "I'll keep you posted, Ziggy"
    "Take care, chere ."
    She disconnected the call and leaned her head back on the seat.
    "What was that all about?" Guy asked.
    "My life just turned on end," she murmured. "Again." She wondered, if it kept turning, might it someday be right side up again?
    "Do you still want that drink?" he said.
    "Want it?" Penny asked. "I might never stop drinking." What had happened when Liz and Wendy had stopped at Deke's? Had they argued? Fought? Was it possible that Liz had murdered him, and was Wendy somehow involved?
    When they arrived at the square, the festival was in high gear. By the time they threaded their way through the crowd to Caskey's, Penny was light-headed and dizzy from the thoughts running through her head and the heady scent of the smoke from the peristil fire.
    "Don't these people ever get