Page 40 of The Hard Way

“Um…he’s ten years older than her, and they’re both married.”

“That’s why you didn’t see it, goddess,” Odin said.

“We have a new suspect—her husband,” Zeus said.

“Back up—I’m still on Rhonda being in love with Tim Zietlow.”

“Couldn’t you see how she’d been crying? And she hated Nancy,” Odin said.

“She was nice about Nancy,” I said.

“She doesn’t want people knowing how she felt,” Odin said. “She probably didn’t even want Tim to notice.”

“But maybe her husband noticed,” Zeus added. “Who’s her husband?”

“Wouldn’t I like to know,” I said. “And how would her husband force Tim Zietlow to eat the cheese that Nancy bought?”

“Why would a woman buy a food that could kill her husband in the first place?” Zeus asked. “That’s what confuses me.”

“Wow,” I said. “Nancy Zietlow.”

“Yup.”

Suddenly we had two suspects.

We stopped next at Nancy’s home. She came to the door dressed in black velour sweats and a turtleneck so slim-fitting you could see the entire outline of her bra strap. Her short blonde hair was sticking up all over, as if she’d been rubbing it a lot. She apologized for how she looked. She wasn’t expecting visitors today. Hibernation mode, she called it.

Zeus explained our mission to her while Thor was all sparkly and friendly and apologetic, and that got us invited into her kitchen. “Sorry about the mess. I’m trying to sort things out.” Her voice went down a notch, and I thought she might cry. “It’s just a mess.” She shook her head as if to shake out all the mess. “I don’t know what new I can tell you.”

“We’re following the trail of the cheese, so to speak,” Thor said. “Just following it. Protocol.”

She sunk into a chair, looking almost trance-like. “He was sick, but we didn’t expect…” She paused there, because of course that wasn’t our question.

“In your own words, how did it happen?” Zeus asked.

“Well, he got violently ill. He was suddenly going downhill fast after seeming better. I thought it was the chemo drugs. The hospital had me do a food diary for him because he wasn’t that with it—he was really in and out. I filled it out best I could. He was on a limited diet. He barely ate anything. He definitely wasn’t supposed to eat soft cheeses. They asked me about it specifically, and at first I thought he hadn’t eaten any such thing, but then I checked the refrigerator and saw the brie had been unwrapped, and I guess he must’ve nibbled on it. He loved that brie. He knew better, though. I don’t know…”

“So you kept brie in the house?” Thor asked innocently. “Kind of a guilty pleasure?”

“God, no. I didn’t buy it once the doctor sent him home with that list of forbidden foods.” She pulled a sheet of paper off the refrigerator door. I thought it was actually the list until she handed it to Odin and I peered over his shoulder:Fundraiser for St. Guadalupe’s.

“Every year I make the baked brie balls for this fundraiser. It’s an exotic appetizer party for our sister church in Central America. It’s what I always bring, and I was on the list to bring them this year. I deep-fry them, actually, but…” She waved her hand mysteriously at the list.

“Did you buy the cheese yourself?”

She fixed Thor with a haunted look. “I’ve been all over this with the FDA.”

“We have to go over the same ground,” Thor said sympathetically. He looked innocent, very nearly cherubic. Thor and my guys were like Venus flytraps. So pretty and deadly. “I know it’s a pain.”

“I bought it myself along with the other ingredients for the brie balls.”

“Do you have the receipt?” Odin asked.

“No. But I paid cash. And the FDA took the package. I gave them the package and what cheese was left.”

“What else was he not supposed to eat?” Thor asked.

She looked interested. “Do you think it mightnothave been the cheese?”

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