Death on the menu

Does the name Harry McCloud ring a bell?” Captain John Murphy asked Detective Lorna Callaway.

- Richard Ciciarelli

“Sure. He’s the restaurant critic with a column in the newspaper. Why?”

“He was found shot to death about an hour ago. Apparently, he was writing his latest column when he was killed. Here’s a printout of his writing,” Murphy said as he passed a paper to Callaway.

She read what he’d written out loud: “Sing Lee’s Chinese restaurant is the last place you’ll want to go for Chinese food. The peas in the fried rice were like BBs. I almost chipped a tooth on one. And Sing Lee’s version of sweet and sour 5J3WW05…”

“What’s this last bit?” Callaway asked.

Murphy shrugged. “Beats me. I can’t figure it out. We think someone McCloud wrote about got angry and reacted extremely.”

“It couldn’t be Sing Lee,” Callaway said. “Not if this column hasn’t gone out yet. Who else has McCloud panned recently?”

“Crystal Bay Seafood House and Down Home Rome Pizzeria,” Murphy said. “Go check them out and see what their owners have to say.”