Chapter Seven Part One
Maggie and Moe arrived on the scene. The scene in question was the kitchen in the back of Lard Barn. There was a dead guy lying dead on the floor deadly. He wore a chef's hat, and the worst-kept shoes either of them had ever seen. He was badly burned around the stomach area and up to the neck to the point of it being impossible to recognize. The owner of the restaurant, the sous chef, and the janitor were all there.
"Are any of the customers violent when they get bad food?" asked Moe.
"Of course they are," replied the owner impatiently. "We would just give them another dish and charge them for both."
"Just asking, sheesh!" said Moe. While he was arguing with the owner, Maggie got a better look at the crime scene. She gently began to move a piece of soaked fabric on the body, and threw her hand back in pain. That's when Moe noticed what she was doing.
"What happened, Mags? Are you okay?" he asked worriedly. Maggie nodded, still wincing. "We'll get you all fixed up when we get home, alright?" Maggie nodded again. "Wow, being worried about you being burned on the fingertips and how to avoid blame with your folks has made me hungry. Hey, sissy, can I have some of this soup?" he asked, addressing the owner.
"Sigh, very well," he replied in an unusual, almost smug tone. Then, Maggie noticed that the sous chef had burns very similar to hers on his fingertips. And then it all made sense. She rushed over to where Moe was approaching the "soup".
"What is it, Magpie? Do you want some soup, too?" Moe asked, and lifted her up to the countertop, next to the "soup". Without another thought, Maggie kicked the pot of "soup" to the floor (away from Moe, of course), and it burned a hole in the floor. "What the-"
"Put your hands up, both of you!" shouted the owner. They turned around to see the owner and the sous chef pointing guns at them and the janitor pointing a broom at them.
"Careful, Magpie, he's got a broom!" whispered Moe. She glared at him.
To be continued…