A Bad Egg: The Classic Diner Mystery Part 11

Her father pointed to the booth, and apparently Sophie realized that she'd pushed him just about all that she could for now.

"I have a favor to ask," he said to me.

"What would the princesses like?"

The man grinned. "Ever since their mom got sick, I've been taking care of them."

"I'm so sorry," I replied. "How awful."

"I guess I shouldn't say that she's sick. That's not really the case at all. My wife has been ordered by her doctor to stay in bed until the new baby is born. It's another girl," he added with a grin.

"How do you feel about having another princess in the family?"

"Just as long as she's healthy, I couldn't be any happier. The thing is, these two rascals talked me into having a tea party. The problem is, I told them we could have it wherever they wanted, and the scamps picked this place." He handed me the bag. "I know that it's a lot of trouble, and if it's too much, they'll probably understand, but I was wondering if we could get lemonade instead of tea in those, and a few cookies, too. You might not believe it, but those two are a tough crowd to please."

"Don't worry about a thing. We'll make it work," I said.

He nodded. "Thanks. I wouldn't ask if it weren't important."

"There's no need to explain. I was a little girl once, too," I said.

I hurried back to the kitchen and pulled out the most charming little tea set I'd ever seen from the battered old bag.

"What's going on?" Greg asked.

"We're serving tea to a pair of princesses and their squire," I said as I got lemonade from the fridge. "Do we have any cookies on hand?"

"Sure, your mom made some yesterday. Is sugar okay?"

"Did she top them with anything?"

Greg grinned. "No, but I can whip up some icing in a heartbeat, and we've got those sprinkles left over in the drawer."

"Perfect," I said. I rinsed the cups and the teapot, filled the pot with lemonade, and then arranged it all on a tray. Greg was as good as his word, and as I started to walk out front with the lemonade and now brightly decorated cookies, he looked over my shoulder.

"That's the squire?" he asked.

"He might not be dressed like one, but he's one of the best fathers I've ever seen."

"And even if he's not, I'm not going to be the one to tell him."

I delivered the tray with a flourish, and as I placed an empty cup in front of each one of them, I addressed them formally by name.

"Shall I pour?" I asked.

"Please," Sophie said with a bright smile.

I added lemonade to each cup, and then put the tray of cookies in the middle of the table. "If there's anything else you need, please don't hesitate to ask."

I stepped away, and Jenny joined me off to one side. She was grinning almost as much as I was. "What is that all about?"

"It's a tea party," I said. "Only they're using lemonade."

"Of course they are," she said.

The father raised one pinky as he took a sip of tea from the tiny cup. The entire thing was nearly swallowed up in his hand, but he didn't even flinch.

I waited on a few other customers over the next ten minutes, and when I glanced over at the three of them, the father motioned to me by writing in the air, a clear sign that he was ready for the check.

"I'll be right back," I said as I collected the cups, saucers, and the teapot. There were a few cookies left, so I wrapped them up after I rinsed out the tea service and put everything back into the bag.

As I handed it all to the father, he frowned as he looked around for the check. "I must have missed it. Where's the bill?"

"I'm pleased to say that the archduke has already taken care of it," I said as I winked at him.

The girls looked wildly around the room for their benefactor. "Is he here? Where's the archduke? We'd love to meet him."

"I'm afraid that he was called away on the queen's business, but he sends you his regards."

"The archduke is a fine gentleman," Sophie said with a deep air of seriousness.

"Let's go, Ladies. The queen is expecting us," their father said.

Sophie grabbed her sister's arm on their way out, chattering excitedly. "I can't wait to tell Mommy that the archduke was here."

"She'll be amazed," Elizabeth said.

"Thanks," the father said as he held the door open for his daughters.

"I should be the one thanking you. It was the most fun that I've had all day," I said, and it was the complete and utter truth.

"You get all of the fun ones," Jenny said after they were gone.

"It's always the luck of the draw," I said. I glanced at my watch, and then I added, "Would you like to take a little time off before Moose and Martha get here?"

"I'm fine. It feels as though I'm getting my second wind," she said. "I might take you up on it later, though."

"We shouldn't be long," I said. "Just let me know."

"Who are you going to interrogate first?" Jenny asked.

"I'll have to discuss it with Moose before I can give you a good answer," I said. "Sometimes we have different ideas about that."

"Knowing the two of you, I'm amazed that you ever agree on anything." Jenny seemed to reconsider saying that, because she quickly added, "Sorry, Victoria. I just crossed that imaginary line again, didn't I?"

"I won't hold it against you this time," I said. "Just don't let Moose hear you say anything like that."

"I'm not worried about him in the least," Jenny said. "He's a charming old guy, isn't he?"

"He thinks you're pretty beguiling yourself," I said, "and we both know it." Moose had an obvious soft spot in his heart for Jenny, and it was clear to anyone who was ever around the two of them at the same time.

"What can I say? We're kindred spirits," Jenny said. "You don't think Martha minds, do you?"

"As long as you aren't Judge Dixon, you should be fine." Judge Holly Dixon and Moose were close, and closer in age, and my grandmother wasn't the least bit pleased about their friendship, though Moose swore that she had no reason to be jealous.

Jenny was about to reply when Moose walked in with Martha right on his heels.

"Are we late?" Moose asked in that booming voice of his.

"No, you're right on time," I said. "Thanks for covering for me again, Martha."

"It's always my pleasure," she said. I knew that my grandmother enjoyed coming in and working the front occasionally for me so that Moose and I could investigate, but she'd gotten a little rusty over the years, and balancing out the register was always a challenge when Martha was working the front very long. "I hope you find whoever killed that man. He might not have been an angel, but he deserved better than he got."

"Moose and I will do our best," I said. "Do you need anything before we go?"

She hugged Jenny, and then my grandmother said, "No, I'm sure that between the two of us, we'll manage just fine, won't we, Jenny?"

"Well, it won't be boring," Jenny said with a smile.

"I would hope not," Moose said. "Are you finished standing around gabbing, Victoria? We've got work to do."

"I've been ready since six a.m.," I said with a smile. "What's your excuse?"

"I may not have been here most of the morning, but that doesn't mean that I haven't been busy. I have a solid lead about where we might find Sam Jackson."

"We're not going back to the bar again, are we?" The place depressed me, and I'd just as soon skip it today on our search for suspects and clues.

"No, not unless this other lead is a dead end. But there's only way we're going to know that, isn't there? Let's go."

I kissed Martha's cheek, and then touched Jenny's shoulder lightly. "If you two get overwhelmed, don't hesitate to call me," I said.

"We'll be fine," Jenny said. "Happy hunting."

"Okay, then." I turned to Moose as I said, "You heard the woman. Let's get cracking."

"So, where are we going?" I asked Moose as we walked out to his truck.

"No place that you'd ever expect."

As my grandfather drove, I asked him, "Well, are you going to tell me what our destination is, or do I have to guess?"

"It turns out that Sam Jackson's a big baseball fan. The high school is playing a game today, and I heard that Jackson doesn't miss a home stand."

"We're really going to a baseball game?" I asked.

"We have to go wherever our suspects are," Moose said.

"Fine."

"What's wrong, Victoria? You used to love baseball."

"I still do. I just hate to mix our criminal cases with my pleasure."

"I understand that," Moose said, "but it's the only place I could confirm where he would be, so we can't really afford to pa.s.s it up, can we?"

"You're right. I'm just being silly."

"Don't worry. It won't be that bad."

I looked at my grandfather and smiled. "Will you still buy me a bag of peanuts like you used to?" It had been our tradition when I'd been a little girl that Moose had always treated me to a bag of nuts when we went to a game, something I still remembered fondly.

"You can have two, if you behave yourself," he replied with a grin.

"Then we'd better stick to one if you're going to place those kinds of restrictions on me. Do you think Jackson could have killed Gordon?"

"As far as I'm concerned, he's one of our likeliest candidates. Think about it. Who would you rather it be, a man who's known to live on the dark side of the law, or Ellen? If not our waitress, though, then one of the folks closely connected to her."

"We can't choose our suspects based on how much we like them," I said.

"True, but think about how nice it will be if it turns out that Sam Jackson is the one who hit Gordon with that pipe."

"It won't be that nice for him," I said.

"That's his problem." My grandfather parked the truck in the baseball field parking lot, and after buying us box seats, we went in search of Sam.

"He's right there, behind home plate," Moose said as he pointed.

"Who's that with him?" I asked. There was a familiar face there, but not one that I expected to see a.s.sociating with Sam Jackson again. "Is that Mitch.e.l.l Cobb?"

"It is indeed," Moose said. He turned to a vendor and said, "Two bags of peanuts, please."

I offered to pay, but my grandfather said, "Put your wallet away. This is my treat."

"Thanks." I took the offered bag, opened it, and cracked a few peanut sh.e.l.ls. The nuts inside were warm and salty, and a flood of memories poured in with that first bite. I hated tainting those images with this investigation, but Moose was right.

I just needed to get over it.

"Are they as good as you remember?" Moose asked me.

I smiled brightly at him. "Even better. I could use a soda, though. I forgot how salty these things were."

"You can buy those," he said with a smile.

"It's a deal."

After I got us drinks, Moose asked, "Now, are we going to talk to our suspects, or are we going to order hot dogs, too?"

"Hot dogs? I could go for some hot dogs," I said.