A Sneeze to Die For

by Teresa Trent

  Tuck shook his head at her. He picked up the menu. “Wonder if Wiley has updated the menu?”

  “I have to know the story behind that guy.” Nora grabbed Tuck’s hand and dragged him to Evangeline’s table. “Hello there, are you enjoying your dinner?”

  “Yes, we are,” Evangeline answered as she dabbed at the corner of her mouth with a napkin.

  “I was wondering if I could take your picture for our wall of fame?”

  The gentleman sitting next to Evangeline stood up. “Wonderful idea. I’ll just move out of the way, so you can capture our honored author. As Nora snapped the picture with her phone, Evangeline’s dinner date said, “I haven’t been to the hotel since it’s been remodeled. It’s wonderful you brought the restaurant back. This is a treat.”

  Tuck pointed a finger at Evangeline’s dinner guest. “You look so familiar. I’ve seen you around town.”

  “Probably so. I get in quite often. I’m Doug Lindstrom. I own the dog kennel out on Barnes Road. I am also housing your celebrity show cat for the convention, Catpurnicus. They’ll be bringing him in tomorrow.” He extended an arm to shake Tuck’s hand and flicked off a little piece of white fuzz that was resting on the arm of his navy-blue sweater. “Sorry about that. We also offer dog grooming, and lately we’ve had a run on white poodles.”

  Nora leaned a little closer as Doug Lindstrom shook Tuck’s hand. “Are you sure you want to be hanging out with all these cat people this weekend?”

  “Not a problem. Especially if I get to be in the company of the lovely Evangeline.”

  “How do you two know each other?” Tuck asked.

  “Doug is a fan of my books. He’s been writing to me for years and with the opportunity of being this close, I decided we should finally meet.”

  “That’s so romantic,” Nora put her hands together to the side of her face imitating an old-fashioned swoon.

  “Miss Cartwright?” said a voice from behind them. Izzy Franklin held her hands in front almost in prayer as she surveyed her writing hero. “Is it really you?”

  “Yes,” Evangeline answered somewhere between friendly and cautious.

  “I’m a writer too,” she said stepping forward. “Did you get my manuscript?”

  Evangeline looked puzzled, but before Nora could try to explain, Alan Shaw, the pushy reporter, pushed his bulk past Izzy causing her to knock over a chair.

  “Isn’t this interesting? Who do we have here? Evangeline Cartwright and obviously an old friend. Could this be someone we should all get to know better?”

  Doug stood up, tossing his napkin on the table. “Can I help you sir? Miss Cartwright and I are having dinner and would appreciate some privacy.”

  “Yes, I bet you would,” the reporter laughed. “Privacy is so important to people like you. I have a few questions I don’t think you’re going to like.” Evangeline gasped.

  “Excuse me sir, I must ask you to leave,” Doug said, his voice in a low but businesslike tone.

  “I’m sure you’d like that now wouldn’t you. You would just hate to cause a scene. You would hate to have everybody from the restaurant look over. If there were only more people here. Of course, what would you expect in a place like Piney Woods, Texas? I think I know who you are, sweetie.” Shaw shouted.

  Wiley stepped out of the kitchen when the reporter’s voice was loud enough to be heard throughout the restaurant.

  “What’s the problem here?” Tuck asked.

  “There’s no problem. It’s a free country and if I want to sit, say at this table, you can’t stop me.” Alan Shaw pulled out a chair at the table right next to Evangeline’s.

  “Mr. Shaw, I will not have you harassing my guests,” Nora said.

  Wiley crossed his arms and spoke in a forcefully quiet tone. “You’d better move, fella. Her boyfriend’s the fuzz. She can sic him on you with the crook of her finger.” Wiley walked over and placed his hand under Shaw’s elbow. Tuck did the same to the other side, and they escorted the interloper out.

  “You haven’t heard the last of me. I already took down this hotel today and now I’m shooting for you. I’m almost sure who you are. If I only had a DNA test handy. Then I could prove it,” Alan Shaw shouted as he was dragged from the restaurant.

  “Thank you,” Doug said, returning to his seat.

  “Man, he must love his work, getting this excited about writing about an author of cat mysteries,” Nora said. “After that little outburst, I think we can deduce who our internet troll is. I’ll bet we can trace every single one of those bad reviews back to him.”

  Izzy, who had regained standing had been quiet watching the whole scene. “He should never have been so rude, Miss Cartwright. I’m glad they threw him out. You are so much more than an author of cat mysteries. You’re my inspiration. My life’s blood.” Izzy Franklin adjusted her glasses and then placed her hands over her heart. Nora worried she was about to swoon.

  “That’s very kind of you. I don’t know if I’m all that.”

  Tuck returned from the lobby.

  Doug patted her hand. “Of course, you are, my dear.” He glanced toward the doorway. “Does this type of thing happen often? I had no idea the world of cat mysteries was so dangerous.”

  “It’s not. This fellow just seemed to think he was hot on the trail of something. What that was, I have no idea,” Evangeline said with a ready smile.

  “He was way out of line and should never have been allowed into the hotel.” Doug cast an angry glance Nora’s way.

  “Stop now,” Evangeline said, laying a hand on Doug’s arm. She glanced up at Izzy. “I would love to hear about your book.”

  “You would?”

  “Of course, I would, and I promise not to steal the plot.”

  Izzy clumsily pulled a chair over causing Doug to scoot away from her. “You see, it starts on a dark and stormy night …”

  Izzy was in heaven retelling her story and her eyes grew bright as she soaked in Evangeline’s attention. Nora and Tuck quietly returned to their corner table. Evangeline Cartwright was a real class act. As Evangeline’s eyes were focused on Izzy, brightening at plot points giving the rookie writer encouragement, Doug’s eyes were focused on her. He seemed like so much more than a fan. This is the place to set up the Doug and Evangeline relationship with some sort of hint of something more.

  Chapter 5

  W

  The next morning Nora ate a bowl of cereal at the breakfast table of the Piney Woods B&B. Nora watched Tatty at the stove frying eggs. Ed was immersed in his newspaper. They both could have easily slipped into retirement, but buying the house they now lived in and turning it into a bed and breakfast had been Tatty’s dream. With the Tunie Hotel becoming run down and then going through a lengthy renovation process and the only other place in town owned by Bert Hickelby, the little B&B did well. Even with the Tunie reopening, they still operated a brisk business.

  “You’re going to need your protein today, Chica. Those people at the hotel will run you ragged.” Tatty slid two fried eggs onto a plate, added a piece of buttered toast and placed it all at the table in front of Nora.

  “I know. Thanks for making me breakfast. This is so much better than my cereal.”

  “Cereal. Phew.” Ed folded down his newspaper. “You can’t tell it from the cardboard box it comes in.” He pointed to his plate. “This right here is real food. I just hope those goofy cat people upstairs don’t smell it and think they’re getting it.” Ed said the term real food as if he was letting Nora in on some sort of a rare treasure.

  Tatty had laid out a buffet of waffles, fresh fruit and gooey pecan muffins in the dining room for the two guests they had gained from the Meow Meetup convention. It was delicious food and the kind of stuff people from the city expected when they were roughing it in Texas.

  Nora had been living at the bed and breakfast for almost
a year now. She loved her sunny yellow room that looked out onto the street. When she first came to town, she was practically penniless after the death of her mother. Now, Nora had a family she had never known about and money she had never expected to inherit. Eventually, she planned to find a house, but until then, Ed and Tatty had become her unofficial family. Their home had become hers, even with the motley assortment of weekend bed and breakfast boarders. All the other visitors ate in the dining room while she ate in the kitchen.

  “When will most of the convention goers be checking in?” Tatty asked.

  “Around eleven or so. The first function is the cocktail party at four, so once they check in, they’ll have the afternoon to get comfortable. With the elevator being out of order, I dread carrying those bags up the stairs.”

  Ed gingerly touched his back. “You’d know I’d help you if I could …”

  “I just hope everything is still standing when we have the anniversary party.” Tatty and Ed had scheduled their party in the banquet last year. That was before the Meow Meetup was even on the books. Nora had been so excited when they chose the Tunie for their anniversary party thinking it might be the biggest function they had their all year. That was before she achieved the goal of getting an official convention to use the facilities at the Tunie hotel.

  “Wear comfortable shoes. You’re going to get a workout,” Tatty turned toward her husband, “and Ed, don’t think you’re getting out of chores today because you can put your hand on your back and wince a little,” Tatty said giving him assurances that he had not fooled her at all.

  As Nora drove the two blocks to work, a large delivery truck was slowing down in front of Jumbo Gumbos, the Tunie restaurant’s main competition. Jumbo Gumbo specialized in gumbo but also all kinds of Cajun food including crawfish etouffe and Po boy sandwiches. Being this close to the Louisiana border the Cajun dishes with French names were very popular with the citizens of Piney Woods.

  There was no love lost between the two businesses, especially since Nora had taken Jumbo Gumbo’s head cook and hired him to work at the Tunie. It was her uncle’s talent that made Jumbo Gumbo financially solvent in the last few years. Now that Wiley was gone, the owner, Jumbo Jim had returned to running the restaurant and was desperate to bring in customers.

  The white truck with the name Moore Foods painted in green on the side pulled into the alley behind the restaurant. Nora knew that this would be a good time to make sure that truck was on its way to the hotel after his present delivery. She parked across the street at the hotel and then walked around the back of the delivery truck. The driver, a burly man in his thirties with a scruffy beard, was dressed in a standard gray shirt and pair of shorts. He was handing boxes from the back of the refrigerated truck to Jumbo Jim. Jim was a heavyset man with the majority of his weight in the front. He stood with his hands placed on his hips as he watched the delivery driver hoist each box onto the dolly.

  “Excuse me?” The two men didn’t respond, but seemed to be wrapped up in the process of unloading the boxes. “Excuse me?” Nora repeated and walked around until she was in full view of the driver, who then stopped. The driver tipped his ball cap at Nora. His eyes went from friendly to leering.

  “Well, good morning, beautiful.” He smacked his lips at her.

  “Good morning. I’m one of the owners of the Tunie Hotel, and was just checking to make sure you have a delivery for us this morning.” Nora said ignoring his tone.

  “Little Missy, I heard something about that. My truck’s almost empty, though. Let me check with my dispatcher to see when you will be getting your food.” The driver hitched a leg up in the cab of the truck and got on a handheld radio, the yellow cord swirling down onto the seat.

  “Hey, Beth, I was wondering if you could look up the order for the Tunie? When will that be delivered?” He listened and then began to nod. Her voice was garbled on the other end and he leaned forward into the cab of the truck to hear her. Once she finished speaking he hopped down to Nora.

  “The soonest we’ll be able to get anything over there would be around noon. That do you?”

  Nora searched her memory to make sure she had the time right. “Noon? I thought you were delivering our food this morning?”

  “You people think you can put in a last-minute order, but it just don’t work that way. Don’t worry, sweetheart, we’ll sure try to get it to you,” the driver reassured her. “Thanks, Beth.” He said back into the handheld radio.

  Jumbo Jim glanced at the delivery driver, and the two of them exchanged a look Nora couldn’t quite make out. Whatever it was it didn’t make her feel comfortable.

  “You even have that place up and running?” Jim asked, his heavy eyebrows slanting into his eyes. He didn’t even try to hide his cynicism.

  “For quite a while, thank you. But of course, you already know that, from the smaller crowds you’ve been seeing.” Wiley’s cooking had been taking customers away from Jumbo Gumbos for months. Jumbo Jim could play it down all he wanted, but there was no denying, they were kicking his appetizers.

  “I wouldn’t say that. Right now, little girl, you are a novelty, but people will get used to you and your substandard food and then they will forget all about you. Enjoy it while you can. If you would excuse us, we’re trying to do some business here. Expecting a big crowd today. Some fool invited some sort of cat club to town.” Jim said, his smile revealing some stray pieces of brown greasy chewing tobacco.

  Nora stormed back to her car while the men shared a laugh. She was in a bad mood when she arrived at the hotel and when she informed Wiley of the expected arrival time of the food he looked like he wanted to cry.

  “They’re messing with us. You know that, don’t you? Jumbo Jim is in cahoots with Moore Foods. I’ll bet he paid them a little extra under the table to make our food deliveries late,” Wiley said.

  “Can we find some chicken elsewhere?” Nora asked.

  Caesar held his white cook’s hat in his hand. “Miss Nora, I’d be willing to drive to every supermarket in the county to get you some.” She was ready to send him on the road, but the only problem was the price they would have to pay for supermarket chicken and there was no guarantee they could find the right amount for a large crowd. Nora was getting so desperate for chicken she’d be paying the Colonel himself soon.

  “Let me clear it with Marty. Get a figure on how many pounds you’re going to need.” She turned to Wiley. “How much time do you need to prepare for tomorrow?”

  “It needs to be marinated overnight.”

  “Can you shorten the time any?”

  “Yes, but it won’t taste as good.”

  “Fine. I have faith in you. You can make anything taste good.” Nora didn’t miss the slight shake in her uncle’s shoulders.

  Chapter 6

  W

  Deciding to retrieve Izzy’s manuscript next, Nora climbed the stairs to the fourth floor, where Jolene was supposed to be putting on the new sheets.

  Holding her hand on her chest and feeling her heart beating from the impromptu cardio workout of climbing steps, Nora leaned against the door frame of the fourth floor. She hadn’t realized how out of shape she was getting. Just as soon as this convention was over she vowed to herself that she would start some sort of an exercise routine every day. This was ridiculous. She wasn’t even thirty yet. To her surprise the door to the elevator was open, revealing the empty shaft and next to it the small table that was on its side resting in the remains of a broken vase, water and fresh flowers. Pages of Izzy’s manuscript were everywhere. A key attached to a keychain from Hickelby’s Motor Lodge lay on the carpet. Nora walked through the scattered debris to the edge of the opening in the elevator. The wood molding around the elevator had a broken edge. Even though the thought of revisiting the elevator shaft frightened her, Nora couldn’t help herself and looked down. It was almost too dark to see anything, but her curiosity
got the better of her. She walked to the hall supply closet and grabbed one of the flashlights they kept for power outages. Trying to judge the distance down the shaft she leaned over with one hand balanced on the edge of the doorway opening, Nora aimed her beam of light down the elevator shaft. The elevator car rested four floors down, so the flashlight beam had a long way to travel. She identified the now familiar square outline of the car and shivered as she recalled how scary it had been to climb up the elevator shaft. To her surprise, nestled among the cables was a figure. Nora drew in a breath and upon recognizing the jumbled heap was a person, let out a scream.

  Sprawled on top of the Tunie Hotel elevator was Alan Shaw.

  “So, when was the last time you saw Mr. Shaw?” Tuck asked as they wheeled the unfortunate reporter out of the lobby. Because he had been on top of the elevator car and was in rigamortis, they had to lift him with a basket to the second floor and then carry the dead reporter to the gurney. The strange position of Mr. Shaw’s body as it landed in the elevator shaft couldn’t be hidden by the body bag. The bulges hung over the side of the rolling cart.

  The Meow Meetup convention guests had started trickling in and were lined up at the check-in counter. Thank goodness Marty called in Dominic, a new hire, and Max to cover the check-ins. The crowd was mostly women, and most of them sporting rolling luggage, a sure sign that climbing the stairs might be a problem. They stole glances as the gurney procession went out the door. Even though the day had only just begun and overwhelming exhaustion ran through Nora as she searched for the answer to Tuck’s question.

  “Probably the last time you saw him. When he accosted Evangeline Cartwright in the dining room. After that, if he was around the hotel, I didn’t see him.”

  “Just what exactly happened when he checked in? He said you lost his reservation? Right?”

  “Mr. Shaw thought he had a room here, but he didn’t. You heard him. He way out of bounds with the kinds of things he was saying about Evangeline. I thought he was just trying to get an interview with an old lady who writes mysteries,” Nora said.