Toasting Up Trouble (A Dinner Club Mystery)

by Linda Wiken

  J.J. raised her eyebrows. “Even though he was planning to leave and with recipes?”

  “I know how to handle him. Money will help, as will freedom in the kitchen now that he is master chef. Kim Schaffer has been working more in the catering side of the business, and I will also continue to rely on her. She really is indispensable. The others seem to fit in well. So, you see, it is easy for me to replace Tonio.” She smiled what J.J. thought was her most genuine smile yet.

  Lucy approached them, saying that there was a phone call for Gina.

  “Please, take your time and enjoy the espresso. We’ll talk later.”

  She left them, but before Lucy could depart, J.J. said, “Mrs. Marcotti was just saying what an integral part of the business you are. Would you happen to know anything about Mr. Marcotti’s dealings with other restaurateurs or even with the local councilor?” It was a wild stab, but who knew.

  “No, I know nothing. I don’t involve myself in anything except for Bella Luna.” She tucked a stray curl back into a plain black barrette. “Maybe Kim Schaffer, our catering person, would know.”

  Devine’s cell phone rang, and he excused himself to take the call over at the bar.

  Lucy started to walk away, but J.J. said quickly, “I just find the Italian community in Half Moon Bay is much larger than I’d imagined. And everybody seems to know each other so well. Is there anyone in it that you think might have had a grudge against Mr. Marcotti?”

  Lucy looked to be giving it some thought. “I’m not really a part of that set. I don’t have the time. Besides, I came here to become an American, not to settle into reminiscing about the past. I do think Mr. Marcotti got along with everyone, though, except for Mr. Gates.”

  “Back to him. I’d heard their feud was more of a habit than anything violent these days.”

  Lucy gave another shrug. “Italians are known for their hot tempers. And their long memories.”

  Sunday turned out to be rainy and foggy, a condition predicted to remain the entire day. For J.J., it was as if her apartment had arranged the weather so that she would have to stay inside and actually give it a thorough going-over.

  By the time she’d finished the vacuuming and dusting, she ran out of ambition. She made herself a hot chocolate, grabbed the phone, and sent her mom a text message asking if she had time for a Skype call. It felt like they hadn’t talked very often these last few weeks, and J.J. wondered if she’d be in for a bit of a reprimand. The answer came back immediately; now was a good time to connect, so J.J. set up her computer on the kitchen table. She, as usual, had to remove Indie from the keypad several times before the connection finally went through.

  “Hi, Mom.”

  “Hi, J.J. And Indie, I see,” she added as the cat took a final stroll across.

  “You’re looking good. All set for a date or is it work?”

  June Tanner showed none of her fifty-three years and, when the two were together, often heard the comment that she didn’t look old enough to have a twenty-nine-year-old daughter. Much to her delight, J.J. suspected. J.J. was used to seeing the change in intensity of her mom’s auburn hair on a frequent basis and knew that, as a Realtor, she tried to look her best at all times.

  June laughed. “Why, thank you. I have a open house in an hour so this will have to be brief. Is everything okay?”

  “Of course it is.”

  “Well, we haven’t talked much in the last little while, so I just wondered but didn’t want to interfere.”

  Uh-oh, here it comes. “No, really, I’m fine. It’s just been a bit hectic here lately. I’m sorry.”

  “Well, you look a bit, what . . . uh, down?”

  “I’m just tired. It’s been a housecleaning day. Also, it’s raining. I must have that seasonal disorder syndrome or something. Maybe I should move to the southwest.”

  “Maybe you should plan on coming home for a weekend. I hope you’re able to make it for Easter weekend. That’s just two weeks away, you know. Time to start planning. Both your brothers will be here, and of course, Quinn and the two babies.”

  J.J. could almost picture the happy holiday scene with Grannie June and her older brother, Rory’s, two children, aged three and one. Of course, daughter-in-law Quinn was a perfect fit with the Tanner family. J.J. really should go home. She loved playing the doting aunt.

  “I’ll be there.” There, one decision made.

  “Good to hear. I’ve written it down in ink and chiseled it in stone.” June laughed.

  J.J. could hear her father, Adam’s, voice in the background. “How is Dad?”

  “He’s just allowed himself a late lunch break but won’t stop to talk. This landscape he’s painting is a commission and it’s due before Easter. How he hates commissions, but they do help pay the bills. He sends his love. Now, I’ve got to get moving also. Talk about hectic. I have an open house this afternoon and a special client showing tonight. Talk soon. Be good and keep safe.” She blew a kiss to her daughter, and the computer screen went blank.

  Really. “Be good”? Just like she’d never left home.

  CHAPTER 34

  J.J. was primed with two espressos and a handful of chocolate-coated espresso beans by the time she left her apartment on Monday morning. She’d decided to visit Don Kelland one more time at his office before he could escape to any meetings. She needed to confront him with the bribery accusation. Could the fact that Marcotti might have released the information to the council, and the press, be motive for murder? She didn’t even know if Marcotti had even challenged him with the evidence.

  And what if the bribery accusation wasn’t the reason for Kelland to commit murder? He may have had another one, maybe even something as basic as hatred. There had been a lot of antagonism between them over the years.

  She asked the pert young blonde at the reception desk if Kelland was in, and when she nodded, J.J. ran down the hall to his office, leaving the receptionist calling out to stop. She didn’t even knock on his door, just barged in to take him by surprise. That was her planned attack. She hoped he would be so taken off guard, he’d blurt out the answers to her questions.

  She hadn’t counted on his assistant being in the room. They seemed to be going over notes and both looked equally shocked at J.J.’s unannounced arrival. It did register with her momentarily that she might be making a fool of herself, and with a witness present, but she went right on with it anyway.

  “Mr. Kelland, I found something very interesting in Antonio Marcotti’s papers this weekend. I think you have a lot of explaining to do, along with a lot of convincing that you’re not his murderer.”

  “This is outrageous, Ms. Tanner. I thought I’d seen the last of you. However, I guess you’ll continue to just barge in and disrupt my life whenever you feel the urge, so I’d better deal with you now, once and forever.” He stood abruptly, dismissing his assistant.

  J.J. took a step back and wondered who would shoot her, Kelland or the assistant. She saw him pulling a gun from the drawer, adding a silencer to it, and shooting her right where she stood, unable to flee, paralyzed by shock. Afterward, the assistant would help to roll her up in the area carpet and stuff her in a closet until later at night, when everyone was gone. That would be the right time to cart her body away and dispose of it. She shuddered to think how that might happen. Or where that might be.

  “Ms. Tanner,” Kelland said in a loud voice. “Take a seat. Please. Now, tell me what you’ve got that makes you so certain about all this.”

  “We found an affidavit signed by a high-ranking city official that you and your nephew, Warren Young, offered him ten thousand dollars to grant a variance so that Young could add a second story to his restaurant.”

  She could see in her peripheral vision that the assistant hadn’t left the room, but only moved to her right, and was shaking his head.

  Kelland sat down at his desk and sighed. “
That’s not going to do you any good, nor would it have done Marcotti any good. That official has already been questioned by the police and criminal charges have been filed against me and my nephew. It’s being done in quiet right now because of delicate negotiations the city is immersed in. So you see, that is non-news, and therefore, not worth murdering somebody over. Now, will you please leave while I explain this whole mess to my assistant?”

  J.J. felt her mouth hanging open. Not at all the answer she’d expected. She’d make one more stab at it.

  “So you didn’t attack Mr. Marcotti in a fit of rage?” she stood as she asked.

  “No, I did not!” He was almost yelling now.

  “What about your nephew?” She was now edging toward the door.

  “He did not. Do I have to call security again?” He looked pointedly at his assistant, who hurried back to the desk and reached for the phone.

  She shook her head and had her hand on the doorknob when Kelland spoke again. “And believe me, Ms. Tanner, if I read a word about this in the media, I will know who it came from, and I do know where to find you.”

  J.J. swallowed hard as she left.

  She had just exited the building when she spotted Devine walking toward her.

  “I had a feeling you’d follow up anyway. So, what did he tell you?” Devine fell in beside her, and they walked toward the parking lot at the side.

  “He told me he’s under investigation and criminal charges have been laid. So, he didn’t have a motive. He wasn’t trying to silence Marcotti.”

  “Don’t sound so disappointed.”

  “I even asked if his nephew was the murderer, and that nearly got me thrown out by security.” She sighed. “I was really hoping it was someone I didn’t like, and he certainly fit the bill.”

  “Seems like I did at one time, too.”

  J.J. felt her cheeks growing hot. Don’t go there. “Yes, well. I do admit I can sometimes be wrong. At this stage, I just want this to end. I hate thinking my friends, and possibly still me, are under suspicion.”

  He squeezed her arm and turned back toward the building. “It will end and soon. Just try to keep out of danger.”

  What does that mean?

  J.J. had a phone message waiting when she got to the office. Olivia Barker’s assistant wanted her to call. She dialed immediately and held her breath after identifying herself.

  “How freaking crazy is this? You were right,” the receptionist said in a hushed voice. “That new proposal you mentioned was sent in by Ms. Rose on Friday night. I found it this morning when I went through Ms. Barker’s e-mail.”

  “You’re certain it’s the same one?”

  “It’s almost word for word what you sent me earlier. What should I do now?” Her voice was hushed, and J.J. couldn’t tell if she sounded excited or scared.

  “Can you just sit on them both for a few hours? I know it’s asking a lot of you, but I’d never meant for mine to get past your desk anyway. It’s a bogus proposal. I’ll have to figure out how to handle this, and I will get back to you later today. I promise.”

  “I guess I can do that as long as you’re sure Ms. Barker won’t get angry at me, or worse yet, fire me.” There it was. She was scared.

  “I will take full responsibility should she find out. You can count on that.”

  J.J. heard a sigh at the other end of the line. “Well, all right, then. I’ll hide them in another folder and wait for your call. It is sort of exciting.” Her voice had changed. “Agent Carter over and out.”

  J.J. chuckled as she hung up.

  “I take it that was Olivia Barker’s office and Brittany took the bait?” Skye asked.

  “She did, and now we have to figure out what to do next. The receptionist is a bit worried about how this will play out.”

  “Hm. It would be good to keep her out of it. Since we have only a cell phone number for Ashley Rose and no address, it’ll be hard to track her down and confront her. I think Brittany is our only solution.”

  “What if she is adamant and denies it?” J.J. could just picture Brittany digging in her heels and putting up a good front.

  “What if we trick them into meeting and confront them both?” Skye had a sly look on her face.

  “What are you suggesting?”

  “Well, we could ask Brittany to come in later tomorrow to do something urgently needed on the web page. And then we leave a voice message on Ashley’s cell pretending to be Brittany and ask her to meet at this office. Can you fake Brittany’s voice?”

  J.J. shook her head. “No, but I’ll try. I do like your plan. So when Ashley walks in and Brittany has a bird, we confront them both?”

  “Exactly.”

  “I’m trying to think if there’s a flaw to this plan. What if Ashley calls Brittany back beforehand trying to change the time or something?”

  “That’s a good one. I’m not sure how to plan for that. Maybe we just take our chances. If it doesn’t work out, we go after Brittany alone.”

  J.J. shrugged. “I guess that will have to do. So, tomorrow afternoon. I’ll be relieved to have this finally settled. I’ll call Olivia Barker’s assistant and ask for another day’s grace.”

  “I’ll be happy when it’s finished, too, but I guess I’ll then have to start searching for a new employee.”

  “Maybe we don’t need someone. I like your earlier idea. We can surely take care of our own binders and all that other stuff she does. And we can find a computer guru who’s off-site and just funnel our requests to him or her. After all, the bookkeeper doesn’t have a desk here.”

  “Agreed. Now, I’m off to discuss some possibilities with the Flynn Center for Performing Arts. I’ll probably just head over to Nick’s after that, so see you tomorrow, Agent Ninety-nine.”

  “Oh no, not you, too.”

  CHAPTER 35

  J.J. wasn’t sure it would work, but she had her fingers and toes crossed the next afternoon. Brittany sat unaware at the spare computer, her fingers busily inputting the information J.J. had given her. Skye kept looking up at the clock, appearing less than her usual calm, cool persona, which oddly enough made J.J. feel more confident as the minutes ticked by.

  Finally, at four o’clock on the nose, the door opened and the person J.J. presumed to be Ashley Rose walked into the office. She looked enough like Brittany to be her twin—the same long wavy blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail, a model’s high cheekbones, and a slim build. But Ashley looked to be the shorter of the two.

  J.J. heard both girls gasp at the same time, and she moved quickly to shut the door and escort Ashley to a chair. “Ashley Rose, I presume. You may be wondering why we asked you here.”

  She looked over at Skye, who jumped in. “First of all, I’d like to know why you, Brittany, would jeopardize your job with us by feeding J.J.’s Kirking Manufacturing proposals to Ashley.”

  Both girls looked to be in shock. Finally, Brittany stammered, “How—how did you find out?”

  “It’s all my fault,” Ashley said, looking like she wanted to sink into the floor.

  Brittany stood and looked defiant. “No, it was my idea. Ashley is my sister and she’s trying hard to get her business started. You guys are successful. I know you don’t need the work, so you could lose out on this one client. You’ve guessed what happened next?”

  “All those plagiarized proposals. That’s rather extreme, don’t you think?” J.J. asked.

  “I guess I’m not too confident about my skills,” Ashley jumped in. “I want the job, but I could never have come up with such awesome ideas. You’re amazing, you know.”

  J.J. lost her train of thought. She hadn’t expected the flattery. Nice, but not going to happen. “And you even changed your last name so we wouldn’t guess.”

  “No, that’s my real name. Ashley Rose Stewart. I just dropped my last name.”


  Ashley had a sheepish look on her face. “I just wish I could have gotten my proposals in first—I mean your proposals. You know, my name in first. First come, first served.”

  “And what, she’d think that I was using your ideas?”

  Ashley shrugged. “I planned to change some of what you’d suggested, but I didn’t have time on that last one. You know, I didn’t think that one was very upbeat.”

  J.J. sucked in her breath, and Skye quickly came out from behind her desk. “The bottom line here is you deceived the client and you are now going to withdraw your proposals or we will have to inform Olivia Barker of what you’ve done.”

  “No way,” Brittany mumbled, glaring at Ashley.

  “Yes way,” J.J. said. “It won’t help Ashley’s career to start out with this on her résumé.”

  J.J. thought she could actually see Brittany’s brain changing gears. It was all in the eyes. And then the mouth. A slow smile that was probably meant to be placating but instead seemed sly. “I guess you’re right. You could really screw things up for her, couldn’t you? Is it okay with you, Ash?”

  Ashley nodded and stood. “I guess I wasn’t thinking straight. All I really wanted was a break. I didn’t mean to do any harm, and I sure didn’t want Brittany to get in trouble, too.”

  Skye shook her head. “You didn’t think, period. And I think that Brittany will be a great boost in working with you as you try to build your business. Without any ties to Make It Happen. I’ll put your final paycheck in the mail, Brittany.”

  After a few moments Brittany shrugged then gathered up her things and both girls quickly left without saying anything.

  Skye stared at the closed door. “She’s either totally naïve or totally deceitful.”

  “Which one? No need to answer that.” J.J. sat down. “It’s too bad, but I don’t think either will get too far in this or any business with ethics like that.”