A Food and Wine Club Mystery Boxset Books 1 through 5

by Cat Chandler

  Alex laughed. “If he was, I’ll bet Matt was smiling from ear to ear.”

  “You two are impossible. Rob’s a nice guy. Tricia would be lucky to have him.”

  Jenna shrugged. “Well good. Because she can. Have him, I mean.” She drank the last of her wine. “Okay. What’s the plan?”

  The three friends had a short debate about what Nicki should do next, finally settling on waiting for Rob to call.

  “And if he doesn’t,” Nicki concluded, “then I’ll call him next week. We really should talk.”

  “Closure is a good thing,” Alex agreed.

  “As long as it ends in a ‘goodbye’, I’ll go with that.” Jenna put her hands on her lower back and stretched upward. “What’s the next step with Matt?”

  “He, Maxie and Mason will be by first thing in the morning. We’re going into the police station for myMason’s interview with the chief.” She smiled at Jenna. “I know that’s not what you meant, but it’s the next thing I’m doing with Matt, and that’s as far as I’m going to think about it.”

  “I can’t believe he might have sold those stamps.” Maxie kept her voice low as she looked around.

  The four of them, Maxie, Mason, Nicki and Matt were standing on the sidewalk, just outside of the Soldoff Police Department. Since it wasn’t yet ten in the morning, the square was fairly deserted. The only places showing any signs of activity were Sandy’s restaurant and the Starbucks Coffee directly across from it.

  “The fact Eddie had them appraised doesn’t mean he sold them,” her husband said in his usual calm and reasonable voice.

  “But if he did, we don’t have a motive for his murder,” Maxie complained.

  “And if he wanted to sell them, our stamp collectors just became our best suspects. Ryan called me this morning and said none of his contacts knew about a sheet of those stamps being for sale. So that leaves Ben and Sam.” Other than “good morning”, it was the first thing Matt had said since he’d knocked on Nicki’s door.

  “Why is that, dear?” Maxie’s frown showed that she clearly didn’t like that idea.

  Mason put an arm around his wife’s shoulders. “Why don’t we go in and hear what the chief has to say? We all have our opinions on the case, but in the end, only his matters.” He winked at Nicki. “Isn’t that right?”

  She smiled at the former head of the Soldoff Police Department. “That’s what Chief Turnlow keeps telling me.”

  Matt didn’t say anything as he stepped aside to let Nicki precede him into the station. She wondered if she should have a talk with him, as well as with Rob. An entirely different talk, of course, but a talk nevertheless.

  She wanted to be sure he knew there were no expectations that he would be stepping into Rob’s “boyfriend” shoes. She really wasn’t looking for the next one in line, and was worried Matt might believe she was. After thinking it over the night before, she concluded that the reason Matt was so protective was simply his negative reaction to the fact that Rob wasn’t.

  Matt was definitely old-fashioned in some of his notions, like who should pay for a meal, or opening doors, and Rob had never met her editor’s expectations for how a boyfriend should act. That was all there was to it. No matter what her friends thought.

  Satisfied that she was right, Nicki glanced over at Matt who quickly dropped his eyes to the ground. Yep. They definitely needed to have that talk.

  “Nice everyone could make it.” Chief Turnlow sounded more amused than annoyed as he looked over the crowd standing on the other side of the counter. “Since my office is too small to fit everyone comfortably, why don’t we have our little chat out here.”

  “Suits us.” Mason looked back at the chief. “What do you need to know, Paul?”

  The chief walked over and leaned against the counter right across from Mason. “Your wife said you went on a last-minute fishing trip with Charlie Freeman.”

  “That’s right.” Mason nodded. “And the night before I ran a couple of errands. The last one was at that Stop2Shop right outside of town.” He reached into his pocket. “Here’s the receipt. I went home after that.”

  Chief Turnlow didn’t even glance at the receipt in Mason’s hand. “Yeah. I know. I dropped in there to see what cars their security cameras had picked up driving along the highway a couple of hours before and after the time of death. Saw yours pull in, and then out again ten minutes later. You turned toward home.” He smiled at the other three faces lined up along the counter. “The opposite direction from the diner.”

  “Why didn’t you call and tell me that?” Maxie demanded. “I’ve been worried sick over this whole interrogation thing.”

  “And now you don’t have to worry,” Mason told his wife with a smile before turning back to the chief. “See any other interesting cars driving along the road that night?”

  “Jake Garces. He said he had dinner at his mother’s place, and she lives out that way.”

  Mason frowned. “That’s his alibi? He was having dinner at his mother’s house?”

  The chief nodded. “He was at his mother’s. He could have sneaked out, or she could be lying to cover for her son. Roberta had dinner with Gordon Twill, who was thirty minutes late because of car trouble, or so he says. But that’s not enough time to kill Eddie, trash the office and get over to the apartment and trash it as well. Roberta was at the restaurant waiting for Gordon. Sam Moore left his shop at six and went home, so no alibi there, and Ben Caulkin was in the city with friends. But he left about four, and even with rush hour traffic, he could have made it back in time to meet Eddie and kill him. That leaves Dr. Weston. He claims he was in Maryland at the time, but he’s on a sabbatical this semester so he wasn’t teaching. He could have flown back out here without anyone knowing it.”

  He paused and looked at the countertop. “Or it could be someone else who simply came upon the diner and was looking for an easy mark. If Eddie was going to sell those stamps, it could be he was meeting with the buyer that night and things just went wrong.”

  “I feel like we aren’t any closer than when we started.” Maxie sighed and leaned her head against her husband’s shoulder.

  “Well whoever it was, took the cell phone so we couldn’t see who Eddie had been talking to.” Matt glanced at the chief. “Can we get the cell phone records?”

  “Already asked for them,” the chief said. “But it will take time. I’ve also asked for bank records and balances. None of the persons of interest here have anything unusual in their balances. Neither did Eddie. None are over two thousand, but I haven’t received the full records yet.”

  Nicki frowned. Something about that didn’t seem right.

  The former police chief nodded at the current one. “It’s looking like a business deal that went south is the best bet. Maybe those stamps will turn up somewhere.”

  “That would be helpful,” Chief Turnlow agreed. “In the meantime, I’m not sure there’s much else we can do folks but wait for the bank and cell phone records. It might take another week.”

  He turned his gaze on Nicki, interrupting the elusive thought about the bank information. “I’ve checked out the vehicles registered to all five of the persons of interest, shall we say, who live here. None of them owns a white truck. But Danny is still searching.”

  “Thank you, Chief. I appreciate it. And please thank Danny for me too.” Nicki glanced at an unhappy Matt and smiled. “Maybe I’ll get a pickup truck.”

  The big man standing across the counter laughed. “Maybe you should.” He looked at Matt. “Not sure what’s going on, but fish or cut bait, son.”

  Matt snorted. “Thanks, but I’m not the only one with the hook in the water.” He stuck his hands in his pockets. “I guess we can get going.”

  Nicki looked over at Maxie who rolled her eyes. Once the four of them were out on the sidewalk again, Nicki latched onto Matt’s arm and started pulling him toward the path leading to the bronze statue of a grapevine. “We’ll be right back,” she called over her shoulder to
Maxie.

  She’d barely set foot on the walkway that cut through the center of the square when her phone rang. As the ringtone she’d set for Rob floated out into the air, Matt stopped dead in his tracks.

  “I’ll catch up with you later.”

  Nicki adjusted her grip on the sleeve of his shirt. “Oh no you don’t, Matt Dillon.” She grabbed her phone with her free hand and pressed the connect button with her thumb. “Hi, Rob. I can’t talk long. Yes. I think that’s a good idea.” Nicki continued to listen while her gaze stayed fixed on Matt. He stared back at her, his eyes narrowed and a stubborn set to his chin. “All right. I’ll see you then.”

  She slid her phone into her back pocket, letting go of Matt’s sleeve as she turned to face him, her hands on her hips. “Before you ask, and with the complete understanding it really isn’t any of your business, I’m not going to break up with a boyfriend over the phone, or by sending a text message. It takes a discussion. Between two adults.”

  She continued to stare at him as Matt blinked rapidly and then adjusted his glasses on his nose. “Um... Okay. I can understand that.”

  When he started to grin, she held up one finger. “And if you’re thinking that now you’ve suddenly become stuck with me, I am not expecting you to step in and take his place. So if that’s what’s put you in such a bad mood, you can stop worrying about it.”

  Matt’s grin faded. “Okay.”

  “Okay.” Nicki gave a firm nod. “Do you have anything else to say that does not include my personal life?”

  Matt shook his head. “Nope. Not a thing.”

  “Good. Then maybe we can get back to solving this murder, so you can go home to your regular job.” She glared up at him. “Unless you’d rather go back to Kansas City right now? I can call you if anything new comes up.”

  Matt’s easy grin was back. “No. I’ll just hang here for a few more days.”

  “Fine.” Nicki whirled around and marched back along the path.

  Matt caught up with her before she reached the sidewalk and fell into step beside her.

  “Any ideas about how we’re going to solve this?”

  “Not yet.” She kept walking with her eyes straight-ahead. “But there’s something in all these dots that we just aren’t connecting. Once I’ve had time to clear out my mind, it might come to me.” She finally glanced up at him. “MyMason called it the missing piece of the puzzle.”

  “Well. Dumping one hundred and seventy pounds of dead weight should help clear your mind.”

  “Matt.” Nicki stopped and crossed her arms, glaring up at him. “Enough.”

  He took a quick step to the side and held his hands up. “Changing the subject.” He stuck his hands in his jean pockets and looked up at the sky. “Nice weather we’re having.”

  Nicki managed to tamp down the urge to pull her hair out and kept on walking.

  Chapter Seventy-Three

  Nicki marched into her townhouse and shut the door. She’d firmly told Matt to go home with Maxie and her husband. She’d ignored his protest, and Maxie’s frown. Nicki had not been happy to see a quiet upset Matt, but she didn’t want to put up with a smug, I-told-you-so one either. Jenna had used up all her patience the night before with her gloating about the demise of poor Rob. Despite what her longtime friend thought, Rob did have a number of good qualities.

  She threw her purse onto the hallway table and walked back to the kitchen, heading straight for the wine refrigerator. At this point, she didn’t care that it was completely out of character for her to have a glass of wine before noon.

  The cork was still in her hand when her front door opened and slammed shut. Nicki sighed and poured a healthy amount of wine into a glass. First she’d apparently made Matt’s day for all the wrong reasons, and now she was going to have to tell Jenna that unless something else turned up, or she suddenly had an unexpected and brilliant insight, Eddie Parker’s case might go cold.

  “Hey. I saw you get dropped off. How did the interview with Chief Turnlow go?” Jenna walked over to the kitchen island, her gaze landing on the full glass of wine in Nicki’s hand. “Um. I guess it didn’t go too well?”

  “The chief says we have to wait.”

  Jenna frowned. “Wait? Wait for what?”

  “The detailed bank statements to arrive, the cell company to release Eddie’s phone records, for the sheet of stamps to turn up somewhere, or whoever Eddie met with that night to raise his hand and say, ‘it was me, it was me’.” When Jenna raised her eyebrows, Nicki sighed. “Both the present and the former chief feel it’s a good possibility that Eddie was going to sell his stamps that night, and whoever was going to buy them ended up killing him.” Nicki swirled the wine around in the glass. “Which of course makes no sense.”

  “Why not?”

  Nicki set the glass aside, deciding she didn’t want wine at this hour of the morning after all, and headed for the pantry. She emerged a minute later with a bag of chips in one hand, and a jar of chocolate-covered peanuts in the other. She set them on the counter just as her phone rang. Retrieving it from her back pocket, she looked at the caller ID and handed the phone to Jenna.

  “It’s Alex. You talk to her while I get some bowls.”

  Jenna took the phone and held it up to her ear. “Hi. No, she’s right here.”

  Nicki waved as she dumped the entire jar into a metal bowl.

  “Oh, that was the sound of chocolate-covered peanuts hitting the sides of a metal bowl. Nope, the whole jar. She’s putting it on the counter. Next to her very full glass of wine.” Jenna listened for a long moment, not saying a word. “Okay. I’ll tell her.”

  Nicki looked over at her friend while she pulled open the bag of chips. “Well?”

  “Alex said to tell you she has three days off and was planning on wedding dress shopping with her mom, but now she’s going to call and tell her she has to make an emergency trip here. So no wedding dress shopping. Again.”

  “Great.” Nicki closed her eyes. “The wedding date has already been put off once. If it’s delayed again, Alex’s mom will blow a gasket.”

  “The first time wasn’t your fault. Ty wanted to save up more money so they could honeymoon in his latest choice of exotic places. I think it was Bali this time.”

  “I know that. And you know that. Even Alex knows that. But her mom thinks it was my fault because Alex was busy helping solve what she called ‘Nicki’s murders’.” Thinking some wine sounded pretty good after all, Nicki picked up her glass and took a sip.

  “That’s true.” Jenna nodded. “Alex’s mom does think it was all your fault.”

  Nicki sighed and took a second sip. “She’s going to hate me.”

  Jenna shrugged. “Also true. But not for long because you know she adores us both. Now that we’ve settled that, why do you believe this mysterious stamp-buyer didn’t kill Eddie?”

  “Because if he was there to buy the stamps, then either Eddie already had them out of their hiding place, so there was no need for the killer to search the office or his apartment, or if Eddie was waiting to get them out until he was paid, then the stamps would have still been in their hiding place.” Nicki popped a chocolate peanut into her mouth.

  “Which leaves us where?” Jenna asked. “If it wasn’t the mysterious buyer, and everyone else either didn’t know enough to steal the stamps or had an alibi, then who was it? Someone we’ve completely overlooked, and so has the chief?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t had time to think it through.” Nicki winced when Jenna deflated right in front of her.

  “Well, like you said, maybe you’ll get a brilliant insight.” Jenna looked at the floor. “And if you do, I want you to tell it to the chief and then back away from this.” She looked up at Nicki with troubled eyes. “Someone ran you off the road and almost killed you. Getting justice for a client who happened to make great burgers is not worth risking your life for, and I can’t live with that. I want us to just forget the whole thing.”

  Maybe she
could walk away and leave Eddie’s murder behind her, but Nicki doubted if Jenna could. She knew her friend. The computer whiz always helped anyone, even her clients, whether they could pay her or not. And not being able to help Eddie, either the night he was killed or getting answers for him now, would bother Jenna forever.

  As Nicki struggled to find something to say to reassure her friend, Jenna turned and headed for the door.

  “Jenna,” Nicki called out. She came around the island and chased after her. “Jenna, wait.”

  “I’ll talk to you later.” The tall brunette pulled open the front door and almost ran over a startled Suzanne.

  “Oh, hello, Jenna. I’m glad you’re here. I wanted to talk to you about Eddie’s memorial service. It’s next….” Suzanne bumped against the door as Jenna walked right past her. The older woman turned her head and looked at Nicki. “What has her so upset?”

  “Eddie’s murder investigation has hit a wall.” Nicki heard Jenna’s front door slam shut. Well, if she was still slamming doors, then maybe all Jenna needed was time alone to sort through things. Nicki hoped so. And despite the wrath of Alex’s mom, she was very glad Alex was on her way here.

  Knowing that waiting for Alex to arrive so they could talk things over with Jenna together was the best idea, Nicki headed back to the kitchen with Suzanne following after her.

  “That’s too bad. But Maxie asked me to arrange a memorial service for Eddie since he doesn’t have any family in the area.”

  “That we’re aware of,” Nicki said as she reached for her wine glass.

  “Yes, well. Anyway, I’ve managed to squeeze in time to make the arrangements, but I need to know if Jenna was intending to speak at the service. I mean since she knew Eddie, worked with him, and found the body and all.” When Nicki took a sip of her wine, Suzanne stared at her. “It’s a little early for that, isn’t it?”

  “Not today it isn’t. And I doubt that Jenna wants to get up and speak at the memorial service.”