“Don’t touch your food,” Marisa said sharply.
Nancy stopped her fork on the way to her mouth. She gasped as she looked closely at the food. Her meal had been garnished with broken glass.
6
A Bark in the Dark
Nancy let her fork clatter to her plate. “Thank you, Marisa.”
“What’s the matter?” Bess asked.
“My meal is full of tiny pieces of broken glass,” Nancy said.
Bess squinted at her food. “Mine seems fine.”
“So does mine,” George said.
Marisa sifted through her food with her fork. “I could feel there was something here that didn’t belong. I didn’t realize it was broken glass.” She shuddered.
Nancy motioned for Devon and quietly explained to him what had happened. Before she finished three sentences, he hurried into the kitchen and got the manager.
Within minutes, the manager was announcing to the diners that the restaurant had been closed for the night. He offered full refunds to all the diners, and rain checks to come again on other nights.
As the other patrons filed out, Devon pulled up a chair and sat next to Marisa.
“Did any of the other customers find glass in their meals?” Nancy asked him.
“No,” Devon said. “But the manager’s not sure how this happened, and we’d rather be safe than sorry. I’m sure it had something to do with this counterfeiting business,” he added. “Somebody’s trying to scare you two off the case again.”
“That’s certainly possible,” Nancy said. “If this was done deliberately, the glass was added to our meals after you brought them to our table.”
“Why do you say that?” Bess asked.
“Because we all ordered the same thing,” Nancy explained. “There was no way to tell the difference between our meals until they were served.”
“You and Bess and I went to the ladies’ room,” George said.
“I heard several people pass by our table while you were gone,” Marisa said. “I didn’t notice anything unusual, but it was noisy in here. Somebody certainly could have slipped the glass into the food then.”
“Almost all the kitchen workers and waiters here are Westmoor students,” Devon said. “Not to mention the people who eat here. And don’t the police think the person responsible for circulating the counterfeit money is a Westmoor student?”
“Probably,” Nancy said. “I also understand that a lot of counterfeit money has shown up at Café Olé. But I don’t suppose any of the waiters has been a Westmoor student for, say, twenty-five years?”
Devon chuckled. “I don’t think so. We’re all more or less the same age.”
“Any more ideas?” Nancy asked Devon.
“No.” Devon took Marisa’s hand. “Marisa, please tell me you’ll give up this investigation. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
Marisa squeezed his hand. “Nothing will happen to me.”
Devon shook his head. “I can’t believe you’d put yourself in this much danger for Eric. I know he’s your friend, but I don’t like him, I don’t trust him, and—”
“Devon,” Marisa said gently, “Eric is my friend, and I do want to clear his name. But even more important, I want to protect my grandmother’s reputation and the future of Candlelight Inn. Until we learn who hid the old counterfeit money there, people will always wonder.”
The manager beckoned to Devon. “I’d better go back to work,” Devon told the group.
“When will you be home?” Marisa asked.
“I’m scheduled to close,” Devon explained. “We’re going to do a safety check, then I have to mop my station. I think it’ll be a few more hours, at least.”
“Okay,” Marisa said. She leaned over to kiss his cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Is that your stomach growling, or Casey?” George asked Bess as they exited the restaurant.
Bess pressed her hand against her stomach. “Sorry. I’m starving.”
“There’s a hot dog and burger place across the street,” Marisa said. “Top Dog. It’s pretty good. Do you want to stop there?”
“Great idea,” Nancy said, and Bess and George agreed.
“Top Dog. We like the name, don’t we, Casey?” Bess patted Casey’s head.
Inside the restaurant, Bess quietly read the menu to Marisa, then everyone placed their orders.
At the register, the cashier handed Marisa several bills in change. Marisa pulled a small, rectangular device from her pocket and inserted the bills into it one at a time. “Five dollars,” a computerized voice pronounced as Marisa inserted the first bill. Marisa folded it in half and inserted the next bill. “One dollar.” Marisa folded down the opposite corners of the one-dollar bill.
“That’s a great way to keep track of your money,” Nancy said.
