The Big Chili by Julia Buckley

stood up on my arms. “Oh my gosh, she’s the one! Will I like her? She’s not bitchy, is she? You tend to find bitchy women, Cam.”
    He laughed. “No, she’s not bitchy. You’ll love her.”
    â€œGreat. I can’t wait to meet her.”
    â€œSo, what else is new?”
    â€œI have sort of a crush on someone. But he really doesn’t know I’m alive, so it’s a pretty safe thing.”
    â€œOh? Who is this?”
    I sighed. “Did Mom tell you that a lady at our church got murdered at bingo on Saturday?”
    â€œ
What?!
No, Mom did not mention that!”
    â€œWell, anyway, she dropped dead right in front of us—poisoned. And I think—”
    â€œI’m still trying to absorb this. Someone died in front of you? At a church event?”
    â€œYes. I think it was cyanide, but they haven’t confirmed that.”
    â€œOh, you do? And what makes you the great detective?”
    â€œThe cop who came out seemed to suspect that the chilihad been poisoned, and I went up and smelled it, and it smelled like almonds. That’s what cyanide smells like, according to my Web sources.”
    Silence for a while. Then Cam said, “And how does this woman’s cyanide murder, which happened before your eyes, relate to the person you have a crush on?”
    â€œIn that he’s the investigating detective.”
    â€œHoly cannoli! Your stories are always better than mine.”
    â€œThere’s actually a lot more to it, but I’m not going to get into it over the phone.”
    I could hear him crunching something into the receiver—probably chips. Cam tended to eat during phone calls, which annoyed everyone. “My God, I really do need to visit more often.”
    â€œYes, you do. And sometimes you should just come to my humble home for dinner. I miss you, you jerk.”
    â€œI know. I’ll be better about it now that summer’s over and I’m not traveling as much.”
    â€œGreat. And I don’t recall getting a souvenir from your trip to Italy.”
    â€œI still have it, greedy. It’s a necklace that I got at a museum gift shop. Beautiful.”
    â€œThen all is forgiven. I guess I’ll see you Friday?”
    â€œYes, you will. Bye, Lilo.”
    â€œBye.”
    I hung up, smiling, and in that instant the phone rang again.
    â€œHello?”
    â€œHi. Um—Lilah?”
    I recognized the voice, and the
um
, instantly. It was Shelby Jansen, a girl from Pine Haven High who was also a sort of protégée of mine. She’d been there on bingo night, as well.Before I’d started my secret food business, I’d done all sorts of odd jobs for money, one of which had been tutoring Shelby in English. Even after that gig ended, Shelby and I had kept in touch, sporadically messaging each other on Facebook or occasionally calling each other to say hi.
    â€œHey, Shelby! Long time no see.”
    â€œYou saw me on Saturday night.”
    â€œTrue—but I never even had a chance to say hello.”
    â€œI know.” Her voice sounded a little bit quavery.
    â€œAre you okay?”
    â€œYeah, I’m okay. I mean, I’m not freaked out about Saturday or anything, but there is something bugging me.”
    â€œOkay. What’s that?”
    â€œDo you have time for me to come over? I have fresh cookies. I was going to bring you some anyway. They’re Halloween cookies that me and my mom made.”
    â€œMy mom and I,” I said, slipping back into tutor mode.
    â€œWhatever,” said Shelby.
    â€œSure, come on over. Mick misses you.”
    â€œOkay. And can I bring Jake?”
    Jake was Shelby’s boyfriend—he was big and sort of dumb, but nice enough. “Sure—the more, the merrier.”
    â€œThanks, Lilah. We’ll be right over,” Shelby said.
    I rooted around in my refrigerator to see if I had beverages to offer to the cookie-wielding teens. I