He rang us up, casting worried glances at Neely Kate. She gave me a wink when he was counting the change, which was when I realized what she’d done. She’d just bought me more time to question him.

She was right. We really did make a great team.

I leaned my hip into the counter as the kid started to make my sundae. “Say … I haven’t seen Eric in ages. Where’s he been?”

His eyes flew open. “Oh. You mean Eric Davidson?”

I shrugged. “I guess. I didn’t know his last name. Just that he was an assistant manager. I love a man with power and authority, you know?” I gave him a knowing grin. “It doesn’t hurt that he’s also cute … mmm. Do you know if he has a girlfriend?” I tried not to flinch as I posed the question. It felt all kinds of wrong lying about a dead man.

“I bet he ain’t lookin’ so cute now,” the guy said with a scowl.

“Why the heck not?” Neely Kate asked.

“He’s six feet under.”

I pressed my hand to my chest in feigned surprise. “What? What happened?”

“He killed himself.” He shook his head. “Went into his garage and smoked his last reefer, if you know what I mean.”

Neely Kate gave me a smug grin.

“That doesn’t seem like the guy I knew,” I said thoughtfully. “He told me he had some big plan in the works. It was gonna make him a ton of money.”

He laughed, but it was short. “Yeah, he always had some big plan in the works. Right before Thanksgiving, he said he was about to hit it big. He thought it was gonna be his last week to work. He was so certain he wouldn’t be comin’ back, he put in his notice, but he was beggin’ for his job on Monday morning, sure as shoot.”

That backed up my theory that Eric hadn’t been all that bright. “Did he say what he was countin’ on?”

He set my ice cream on the counter, then grabbed a cup for Neely Kate’s. “Nope, but he had a new plan a few weeks later. He told me the last guys were losers. He was sure these new guys were gonna help him make it big.”

I tried to contain my confusion over his statement. Mick Gentry had been the ringleader of the group responsible for the robberies, and their aim had been to win the Fenton County underworld out from under Skeeter. I’d assumed Eric had stayed in allegiance with Mick, but now I wasn’t so sure. Did this mean someone else was involved in the plan against Mason and Skeeter?

“So what happened?” Neely Kate asked after I’d been silent for a beat too long.

“It must have all fallen through. He didn’t want to look like a loser, so he killed himself.”

I jumped in with a question. “Do you have any idea what the second thing was about? He told me he was working for some really powerful guy.”

He laughed again and turned his back to us as he started to fill the cup with ice cream. “Yeah, he told me the same thing.”

“Only fill it halfway,” Neely Kate told him in a bossy tone. “Then put in the crushed cookies … they are crushed, aren’t they?”

He gave her a look that told us his true thoughts regarding her request, but said in a polite tone, “Yes, ma’am.”

“Ma’am?” Neely Kate screeched. “Did you just call me ma’am? Do I look like an old woman to you?”

“No, ma’am.” Panic filled his eyes, and his hands began to shake. “I mean miss.”

“How old do you think I am?”

His panic increased, and it was obvious he was in fight or flight mode—leaning heavily toward flight. There was no right answer to that question. “Uh … twenty?”

“That’s pretty doggone close, so does that sound like a ma’am to you?” She spat out ma’am as though it was synonymous with slug.

He shook his head violently. “No, miss.”

She pointed her finger at him. “That’s right. I’m a miss, and don’t you forget it.”

“Yes, ma’am … I mean miss,” he added hastily as he turned his attention to the cookies he was adding to her ice cream.

Neely Kate turned to me, her eyebrows high and her eyes darting toward her victim.

Crappy doodles, she was good.

“Do you remember anyone talking to him here at the restaurant?” I asked in a breezy tone, as though nothing had just happened.

“Uh … yeah.” He sounded flustered. “Not when he was workin’ on the first plan, but someone was here a few days before he died.”

“Do you remember what he looked like? Since Eric isn’t available, maybe I’ll look him up. I do love me a powerful man.”

“I don’t remember.”

The kid added more ice cream, then glanced at Neely Kate. She nodded her head. “Now you be sure to mix that up real good, you hear?” Her tone had more bite than I was used to hearing from her, and I had to admit I’d be nervous in our server’s shoes.

“Yes, ma’am.” He cringed and turned red. “Miss! I mean miss!”

She scowled, looking like she was about to give him another tongue-lashing, but he turned on the mixer, which made it too loud for me to ask him more questions. Neely Kate leaned into my ear. “I think he knows more. I’ll keep shaking him up, and you keep peppering him with questions.”

“You are truly evil,” I said with a grin.

Her eyes twinkled. “And you love me that way.”