A/N: Finished watching the 2 seasons of Pushing Daises and came up with this fic. Say that this is BEFORE the last couple of episodes - meaning - Lily and Vivian aren't thinking of being 'The Darling Mermaid Darlings' again, Olive isn't totally in love with the taxidermist, Emerson hasn't found his daughter yet etc. Um...I think that's it.
Edit: Replaced the chapter because I realised that the divider lines didn't show up. Might make sense now XD
Disclaimer: I don't own Pushing Daisies, I only own Jodie Connolly XD
"Ned?" Olive Snook called from behind the counter.
The store was closed, Chuck was upstairs and Olive and the Pie-Maker were cleaning the last of the crumbs. Olive wiped the desk and hung the cloth on a rack, before turning. Ned was deeply engrossed in scrubbing a dried on raspberry on the table, and obviously hadn't heard her. She took her cloth back and a cleaning product, walking over to him with a grin.
"You listening to me?" she asked, pushing his face away from the stain.
Startled, he looked at her and watched as she sprayed the stain, before wiping it over once. Glancing down, to see it was removed, she grinned at Ned. He smiled and leaned back on the oven, sighing.
"Sorry Olive...I was distracted. What were you saying?" he asked
"You okay?" she asked, stepping forward so she was directly in front of him.
He inhaled sharply and looked away, and she raised an eyebrow quizzically at him.
"What were you saying Olive?"
She sighed and chuckled, before hanging her cloth back onto the racks.
"I just wondered what you thought of macaroni and cheese." She said and this time he looked at her quizzically.
"Um...I think it goes well with milk. I wouldn't put it in a pie though," he grinned and she huffed, before heading towards the door.
"Goodnight Ned," she murmured, before leaving the shop and heading for her apartment.
"Jodie Connolly, dead, nineteen years old, rope burns around her neck." Emerson Cod proclaimed as he strode through the closed Pie Hole.
Olive looked up from the oven, where she was spying on a pie that was cooking. Ned was at the counter, just about to open the shop when Emerson walked in.
"And what's the verdict?" Chuck asked from a booth, and Emerson whipped around.
"Cops say suicide, but her boyfriend says otherwise," Emerson replied, and they sat in silence for a second.
"Let's go then," Ned said and turned to Olive "Do you mind staying to look after the store Olive?"
Olive put on a fake smile and nodded.
"No problem," she said and Ned grinned, before grabbing his coat and walking out behind Chuck.
Olive sighed and leaned on the counter, staring at the ceiling. Before she could burst into song, however, a customer walked in, and she got busy taking orders.
Emerson Cod pulled the sheet from the young girl's body. She was blonde, pretty but dead. Angry red burns encased her neck, and it really did look like she had hung herself.
"Ready?" Ned asked, and the two of them nodded.
He clicked his watch and touched the dead girl's cheek, and she immediately sprung to life.
"I'm dead, right?" Jodie asked, and the three of them nodded.
"Hi Jodie, you have roughly forty-five seconds to tell me who killed you," Ned said and she sighed
"It was my boyfriend of course, he was too jealous. He came up behind me, told me he loved me, then wrapped a cord around my neck and strangled me to death. It was quite frightening at the time," Jodie said and Emerson, Ned and Chuck all glanced at each other worriedly.
"Any last wishes?" Chuck managed to ask.
"Yeah, tell my boy friend to go shove his head up his-" Ned touched her cheek before she got out the last word, and Chuck smiled.
"If her boyfriend killed her, why did he come to me to ask about her murder?" Emerson pondered, and they were all silent.
A cough from the back of the room broke the silence.
"Shit," the person murmured, and Ned's eyes widened.
There was a rustle and some movement, but then all was still.
"Oh hell no...get your ass out here," Emerson called, but nothing moved.
Emerson and Chuck started towards where they heard the noise, but Ned was frozen in fear. He took a step forward, and someone brushed past him. Failing to reach out a grab them, the person opened the door and fled, leaving a horror-struck Ned, a worried Chuck and an amused Emerson to watch the open door.
Back at 'The Pie Hole', Ned sunk into a booth, his head in his hands. Olive walked towards them, pouring each of them a coffee.
"You guys okay? Ned looks like he's just had a heart attack," Olive asked, sliding in next to Ned.
"He uh...almost got hit by a car today," Chuck improvised, and Olive shot her a ridiculed look.
"When I said, 'can you at least lie to me', I kind of meant, 'lie well'. I mean...if it's obvious that it's a lie, then what's the point? Anyway, changing the subject, we got a new regular today. She told me she'd be stopping in every afternoon. She's lovely, I can't wait for you to meet her." Olive said, back to her old bubbly self.
She left the booth and continued serving customers, and Ned smacked his head against the counter.
"Why didn't we check first? I mean...obviously, someone had gotta be in here, grieving or something. How could we be so stupid?" Ned murmured, and Chuck leant forward to touch him, but stopped before she got too close.
"It'll be okay. The person may not even tell anyone. They might not even know who you are. It'll be fine," Chuck reassured him, and he sighed.
"I just hope you're right," Ned murmured.
A/N: Anyone like it? It'll go somewhere, I promise XD,