“When I was a kid, my grandfather used to tell me stories about the Tin Man. He told me the Tin Man helped people who couldn’t help themselves. That he ran a barbecue restaurant called the Pork Pit and that all you had to do was go in and ask for him, and he’d make all your problems disappear. I thought it was the most wonderful story, a sort of Southern fairy tale.”

Warren Fox might have been estranged from Fletcher, but he’d still thought about his childhood friend, enough to tell his granddaughter about the old man and what he did, in a roundabout way. Although I wouldn’t call assassinating folks a real help—

“Oh, yes. Fletcher helped lots of people over the years,” Jo-Jo said, cutting into my musings. “He was a wonderful man that way.”

I stared at the dwarf, then at Sophia, who grunted her agreement. Even Finn nodded his head in a knowing way. Over the years, I’d done a few pro bono jobs. So had Fletcher. But helping people on the sly? As a regular gig? When had the old man done that? And more importantly, why?

“So he’s real then?” Violet asked. “The Tin Man?”

“Sure, he’s real, darling,” Jo-Jo said. “His name was Fletcher Lane. He was Finn’s father.”

Violet’s face fell. “Was?”

Finn nodded. “He died a few months ago. But don’t worry about that right now. Tell us the rest of your story.”

Violet drew in another breath. “Anyway, I hadn’t really thought about the Tin Man in years—until this morning.”

“What happened this morning?” Finn gave Violet another encouraging smile.

Violet ducked her head and smiled back, as though she wasn’t used to so much male attention. Probably not.

Girls with glasses, and all that. “I’m a business major at Ashland Community College. Eva Grayson’s my best friend. She was at the Pork Pit last night. All she could talk about today was the robbery and how the woman behind the cash register stopped it.”

Sophia snorted.

“Well, I did have some help,” I said to appease the Goth dwarf. “So you talked to Eva, and you remembered this story your grandfather had told you about the Tin Man. Okay, I’ll buy that. But why do you even need the Tin Man’s help in the first place?”

Violet chewed on one of her fingernails. “It’s a long story.”

“Good thing we’ve got nothing but time then.”

I didn’t mention to the girl that she wasn’t going anywhere until I’d determined she wasn’t a threat to me, Finn, the Deveraux sisters, or the restaurant. Jake McAllister was going to make enough problems for me. I didn’t need any more.