Cast Iron Cover-Up (The Cast Iron Cooking Mysteries Book 3) by Jessica Beck Page A

her jurisdiction,” I said. “What are you all going to do now?”
    “I guess we’re hanging around Maple Crest a little longer, since we can’t leave town just yet,” Marty said, “not that I was shocked when the sheriff told us.”
    “Don’t misunderstand us. We want to cooperate,” Gretchen added. “After all, Bones was with us. Julian, I should say.”
    “Did Kathleen find out his real name?” I asked her.
    “The news came in this morning. He’d been fingerprinted for something somewhere along the line, and it popped up in her database. His real name was Julian Valentine Bonetti.”
    That explained why the student had gone by Bones. It had less to do with his pre-med line of studies than it did a trifecta of unusual names. “Did she happen to mention if they’d notified his next of kin yet?”
    “From what we heard, all that’s left is his father, and he’s on some kind of expedition right now where he can’t be contacted. They’re expecting him back next week, so until then, we’re all supposed to keep it under our hats.”
    “I’m kind of surprised your sister didn’t tell you this already,” Marty said snidely.
    “You’d be amazed by what she decides not to share with Annie and me,” I answered.
    “Pat, I’d love to chat, but I’m so hungry right now that I could eat the bark off of a tree,” Peggy said. “Do you mind if we have lunch?”
    “No, of course not,” I said. I had more questions to ask them, but at least my twin sister was going to get a crack at them herself. I knew that Annie wouldn’t let an opportunity to interview so many of our suspects at one time pass her by. I just hoped she’d be able to get more out of them than I’d been able to.
    Peggy walked back to the grill, with Gretchen and Marty close on her heels. Henry stayed back, and once the group was out of earshot, he said, “I’d appreciate it if you’d take it easy on Peggy, Pat. I understand that you want to find out what happened, but you need to remember that she’s been through a lot over the past twenty-four hours.”
    “I get that,” I said. “How did you happen to find out that she was being discharged?”
    Henry smiled. “Actually, your sister told us when she handed me the keys to the van. She’s not really a bad sort, is she?”
    “Not if you didn’t do anything,” I said. “If you’re innocent, you won’t find a better advocate to deal with in law enforcement.”
    “Yeah, I totally get that,” Henry replied. “Well, I’d better get back to the group.”
    “When you’re finished with your lunch, would you mind if we chatted a little more?” I asked him.
    “I’m not sure what I could tell you that I haven’t already said,” Henry replied. “You still think one of us did it, don’t you?”
    “I don’t know yet,” I answered him honestly. “That’s one of the reasons that I’d like to continue our conversation.”
    Henry took a step back. “With me? Do you think I killed Bones?”
    “I didn’t say that.”
    “But you believe it’s a possibility, don’t you?” Henry was clearly troubled by the prospect of being one of our suspects.
    “If it makes you feel any better, you four aren’t the only people we’re looking at,” I said.
    “So you are investigating the murder,” Henry said with a frown. “Does your sister know what you’re doing?”
    “You’d better believe it. I tell Annie everything,” I said.
    “I’m not talking about that sister,” he said.
    “Yes, Kathleen is well aware of the fact that we’re doing a little investigating on our own.”
    “If you don’t mind me asking, why are you so interested in what happened to Bones?” Henry asked, clearly genuinely curious about our motivation. “He was a stranger to you until we came to town.”
    “Maybe so, but it happened on land that belongs to a friend of ours, not to mention the fact that it also abuts Annie’s, and then someone had the audacity to dump the body in her pond. Are you