that.
“Sit down and talk to us, Hazel, and we won’t have to find out,” Livingston said.
She finally sat down on the edge of the seat near Kaitlin. She looked at all of us and then said, “You wanted to talk, so talk.” Most people chat and get themselves in trouble, but apparently, she was going to make us do the talking. I’d have bet money this wasn’t her first police rodeo.
“Carmichael said that he slept over at your place the night of the murder,” Newman said.
“Yeah, he did. Now, I have other customers waiting for their food.” She moved to the edge of the seat like she was going to stand up.
“Don’t he and the Chevets usually check with one another to make sure that someone is at the house just in case?”
“Yeah. The one time they don’t, and the shit hits the fan.” Hazel stood up.
“Why didn’t Carmichael coordinate with the Chevets?” Newman asked.
“How am I supposed to know?”
“I thought you and he were serious about each other,” he said.
“We were. We are.” She said the last part fast, as if hoping we’d miss the grammar change.
Livingston asked, “Did you break up?”
“No,” Hazel said. She glanced behind her, and there were people at another booth trying to flag her down.
“You said you were serious, past tense,” I said.
“I said we are serious. Now, I have people waiting for their food and their tickets. My tips are getting smaller every minute.”
“Okay, Hazel. Thanks for talking to us,” Newman said.
Hazel hurried away to wait on other tables. When she was out of earshot, Kaitlin said, “I thought Hazel lied better than that.”
“She usually does,” Livingston said.
“Does she lie a lot?” I asked.
They both nodded. “She can put on a great act as a waitress. She can pretend to be sweet as honey while she’s trying for a bigger tip,” Kaitlin said.
“She’s a good waitress,” Livingston said, “but she’s lied to Pamela about why she’s late to work. Lied so well that Pamela believed her more than once, only to find out weeks or in one case months later that it wasn’t true.”
“She was hiding something,” Newman said.
“And hiding it badly,” I said.
“You say she is normally a very accomplished liar?” Olaf said.
“She can smile to a customer’s face so that they request her to wait on them next time, but behind the scenes she’s bitching about them the whole time. I’ve seen it. She’s not just a good liar. She’s good at hiding how she feels.”
“So why was she nervous and making mistakes today?” I asked.
“She was pretending,” Olaf said.
“Why pretend to be nervous?” Kaitlin asked.
“Lying to your boss about why you’re late to work is one thing,” Newman said. “Lying about a murder investigation is different.”
“You think she’s in over her head?” I asked.
“When I questioned Carmichael, he seemed genuinely torn up about Ray’s death and Bobby being under a death sentence,” Newman said.
“So what does his girlfriend have to hide?” I asked.
“I’ve seen true remorse in murderers before,” Livingston said.
“I don’t think Carmichael killed Ray,” Newman said.
“Did you get the feeling he was hiding anything?” I asked.
Newman shook his head. “No.”
I looked across the table at Livingston. “Is Carmichael a good liar?”
“I don’t know him as well as I know Hazel, but he’s always seemed pretty straightforward.”
“Honest, you mean?”
“Yes.”
“What is he doing with that woman?” Olaf asked.
“She’s twenty years younger than him,” Livingston said.
“So, he’s sixty-something?” I asked.
“No, fifty-something.”
“Okay, I give—how old is she?”
“Just turned thirty.”
I blinked at him. “I’m older than she is. I wouldn’t have called that.”
“Me either,” Kaitlin said. “I thought you were my age.”
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-five.”
I smiled and shook my head. “I’ve got you by seven years.”
“Wow, you’ve got to tell me your secret sometime. Please tell me it’s not an all-natural diet and virtuous living.”
I laughed. “Hardly. It’s part good genetics, part not smoking or drinking or partying. I burn in the sun and don’t tan worth a damn, so no tanning. And all my friends that are my age or older that hit the gym seriously are aging better than my friends that don’t exercise. I try to eat semihealthy, but I love fast-food burgers and French fries. I’m not giving them up until I have to.”
Kaitlin laughed. “Yay! I love fast food. How about junk food like chips and desserts?”
“I’m not big on snacks and sweets. Sorry.”
“I’ve seen your intended on TV, so I won’t ask about the virtuous living. If you’re abstaining from that gorgeous vampire, I don’t want to