Toasting Up Trouble (A Dinner Club Mystery)

by Linda Wiken

“You’re right. If Ashley had applied for a job here, I might have considered taking her on. We are getting busier, after all.”

  “We are.”

  “And we could then take on more clients with someone else in the office.”

  “We could. But we won’t, will we?”

  “No.” Skye shut down her computer. “I’m bummed out. I think I’ll head on over to Nick’s and prepare him an after-work cocktail, with one for me, also.”

  J.J. reached for the phone. “I’d better update the assistant and also make an appointment to see Olivia Barker tomorrow. I think I won’t mention what’s happened here, just wait for Ashley to withdraw. I’ve finished the final specs on the event, so I’ll go over those and hope she doesn’t ask any Ashley questions.”

  “Good luck. I’ll have a drink for you, in that case.”

  J.J. grinned. “So thoughtful.”

  J.J. was nursing her own glass of wine after a dinner of leftovers when someone knocked on her apartment door. She looked through the peephole and was surprised to see Alison.

  “Welcome,” she said, as she opened the door.

  “Thank you. I see we’re on the same wavelength,” Alison said, nodding at the wineglass in J.J.’s hand.

  “I take it you’re off duty tonight.”

  “Technically, although I am on call, but Tuesday’s are always slow, and since I don’t have a hot date, I thought I’d visit with you—if you don’t have a hot date, that is.” She gave the living room a quick scan.

  “Nothing hot going on here. I’ll fetch you some wine.”

  Alison chose the slipper chair and tucked her feet up. “I take it you haven’t heard anything lately from Detective Hashtag?”

  “No. He’s been leaving me alone. Thankfully. But I’d love to hear where he’s at with the murder case.”

  Alison took a sip before continuing. “Well, I can’t tell you that because I don’t know. But I do know something, and it seems okay to tell you this because you, after all, were involved in the capture of Hank Ransom.”

  “The capture? What is he, a dangerous escaped felon?” J.J. grinned.

  Alison did not return the grin. “Not exactly. But there was an arrest warrant out on him.”

  “OMG, you’ve gotta be kidding. What did he do?” J.J. flopped down in a chair.

  “It seems he was out on bail while awaiting a manslaughter trial in Rutland. While he was chef at a local restaurant, a customer died of food poisoning.”

  “Yikes. Someone died?”

  Alison nodded. “Hence the manslaughter charge. Ransom swears it was an accident. He says he didn’t know the mushrooms he picked and used were poisonous.”

  “That’s pretty lame. Why was he picking them if he didn’t know anything about them?”

  “I have no idea. That’s someone else’s problem. Anyway, he’s been trying to keep a low profile here in the village, and then you started asking questions about him, so he got nervous.”

  J.J. thought a moment. “He should have just left town.”

  “That’s why we usually end up catching the bad guys. They’re not always the brightest lights when it comes to escaping.”

  “But he still could be Marcotti’s killer. Maybe Marcotti found out and was about to tell the police. After all, he did try to run me down—twice.”

  “He has a solid alibi, and I mean solid. So, no, he’s not our murderer. And he swears, apparently, that all he did was follow you the night he was arrested. He never tried to run you down.”

  “But that first time. It was the same white van.”

  Alison shook her head. “He claims not, and besides, there are a lot of white vans in town. So if I were you, I’d just tone down all the snooping you’re doing until they find out who that driver is and also lock up the killer. They’re probably one and the same.”

  “Hm. Too bad about Ransom. I mean, I’d like to think it was someone I didn’t really know all that well.”

  “It still could be.”

  “You do know something.” J.J. leaned forward, feeling a frisson of excitement rush through her body.

  Alison held up her free hand. “I really don’t, and I’ve told you everything I can. You should be grateful for that.”

  J.J. smiled and sat back. “I am, and I’m happy you stopped by. We don’t often get a chance to just sit and gab.”

  Alison’s phone buzzed. She glanced at it and winced. “The text message I’m always dreading when I’m on call. But it’s a fricking Tuesday night! I guess I shouldn’t have had that drink.” She looked regretfully at the still half-full glass. “Gotta go. Sorry, but thanks for the wine.”

  J.J. saw her to the door. “Thanks for the info. We’ll try again another time.”

  Alison hesitated. “I can tell you that it’s getting down to the crunch in the investigation. I’ve heard rumors about you popping up throughout it. I really suggest you just back off at this point. It could get dangerous. And not just from Hashtag.” She gave J.J. a quick hug and left.

  J.J. watched her walk down the hall and then grabbed what remained of the bottle of wine and headed down the hall to Ness’s door. He answered her knock almost immediately.

  “What have you got there? The end of a hard day?” he asked.

  “You could say that.”

  He opened the door wider and she entered, leaving the bottle on his counter as she passed by on her way to the couch. “I’ve just run out of suspects. Again.”

  “It happens.” He poured them each a glass and then sat across from her. She thought he looked more tired than usual, and she regretted bothering him with her worries. He needed to book an appointment with his barber sooner than later, and his plaid shirt seemed even more rumpled than usual. Maybe he’d been napping. Uh-oh.

  “Tell me.” It sounded like a command.

  J.J. tucked her concerns away and recounted her list of suspects. “To date, the suspects are Candy Fleetwood, Gina Marcotti, Kevin Lonsdale, Hank Ransom, and Don Kelland.” Then she went through her list of reasons for crossing each of them off that list.

  “You see? Not one of them holds up to scrutiny.” She stifled a sigh. No need to get melodramatic.

  “Well, I might start by pointing out that it’s not your problem. What’s more important is who the police have on their list.”

  “Probably Rocco Gates.”

  “I notice you still haven’t added him to your list. Is that based on anything more than emotion?”

  J.J. looked closely at Ness. She was hoping to read his mind. No such luck. She realized as she thought about it that Rocco also had good reasons to be struck off any suspect list.

  “Yes, it is. First of all, that feud that seemed so important when the investigation started: they’d each moved on with their lives and were well past the woman they’d fought over. In fact, I’ve been told by more than one person that the feud was more a habit than anything serious. Secondly, Rocco’s affair with Gina— Oops!”

  She realized too late she’d let the cat out of the bag.

  “Now that sounds promising.” Ness leaned forward.

  “No, no, it isn’t. It’s been going on a long time, so there was no need to dispose of the husband. Marcotti had his flings after all, and both Rocco and Gina were happy with the ways things were going. And you did not hear any of that from me.”

  Ness grinned.

  “Okay. And then there’s the murder weapon, the knife from Rocco’s kitchen,” J.J. continued. “How obvious is that? Why would he use his own knife, and worse yet, leave it there? He’s not a dumb man. He does run a successful business and that requires him to be smart and clever. Anyone could have taken the knife. The back door is left open for deliveries most of the morning. Anyone who knew that routine—which is probably the same in most restaurants, I might point out, so loads of people might have known—coul
d have snuck in.”

  She felt a fleeting tickle at the back of her brain but it was just that. Fleeting. Another thought took root, though. “And it just occurred to me: if the murderer did just that, could he have been trying to deliberately frame Rocco? It would make sense, wouldn’t it, knowing about their history and all? That’s it,” she said with a little shriek. “Rather than who would want to kill Marcotti, the question should be: who would want to frame Rocco?”

  “That’s a very desperate action, killing someone just to get someone else in trouble. That needs rethinking. Of course, it could be a double motive—killing one and framing the other. But you may be onto something.”

  “Do you think the police might be seeing it that way?”

  He shrugged. “I have no idea, but maybe I’ll mosey on down to the station tomorrow and have coffee with an old buddy.”

  “That would be great, Ness.”

  “No promises, and just remember, you might not like what you hear.”

  CHAPTER 36

  Find out who was trying to frame Rocco. That was the key to the puzzle. J.J. couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of that sooner. Why else would someone steal one of his knives? It had to be someone who knew about restaurant routines, the time the staff started arriving, and the fact that the back door would be open for deliveries all morning. Did all restaurants operate that way? Question number one.

  J.J. pulled the leopard-print cotton nightgown on over her head and continued her train of thought while she brushed her teeth and finished getting ready for bed.

  Who knew specifically about Rocco G’s? Hank, of course, but he was off the hook, for the Marcotti murder anyway. What about Zoe? She was there every weekday for a few hours. Could she have a motive? J.J. hoped not because she liked Zoe; that’s why she’d never considered her before. Same reason she didn’t believe it was Rocco. She’d never make it as a real detective. But she needed to have a chat with Zoe. Maybe she had some ideas.

  What about Kevin Lonsdale? He’d been rumored to be leaving Bella Luna, but J.J. had gone along with Gina Marcotti’s notion that it wouldn’t be a strong enough motive for murder. But what if Marcotti actually found proof that Lonsdale was stealing recipes? They fought and later that night, or rather early the next morning, Lonsdale killed him to keep him from ruining his reputation. That would work. The only problem was how would he have one of Rocco’s knives unless it was premeditated? Maybe there was no connection after all.

  One thing she did know: it had to be someone who was aware of the ongoing feud between the two. The police had to have a reason to look at Rocco in the first place. And she had to visit Lonsdale again.

  She could check in on both Zoe and Lonsdale tomorrow, right after meeting with Olivia Barker to explain a few things while not getting into others and walk away with a signed contract.

  Olivia Barker sat back in her chair reading the material J.J. had just handed her. The morning sun shone through the huge window, giving a sparkling sheen to her desktop. The parts not covered with paper, that is.

  When she finished, she shoved her purple-framed reading glasses up on her forehead, a move that J.J. was certain she did without thinking many times during the day. With her hair pushed back, her face looked thinner, her coloring an even paler shade of pale. Of course, it could have been the color of her fuchsia blouse that framed her chin. Whatever the reason, J.J. thought Olivia Barker looked poised and every bit the successful businesswoman.

  Olivia looked down at the papers again and then focused on J.J. “I like what I’m reading here, J.J. This new idea will work in perfectly, and the costing certainly fits the budget.” She sat forward and folded her hands on her desk. “Now, I’d like to know what’s going on.”

  J.J. felt cornered. She had hoped Barker wouldn’t want any other details.

  “Listen, I got an e-mail from Ms. Rose this morning stating she was pulling out, and I saw your reaction when you heard about the almost-duplicate proposals,” Barker continued. “Do you want to fill me in?”

  J.J. shook her head. “I’d rather not. It’s all been straightened out and I’d like to leave it at that, if you don’t mind.”

  Barker watched her a few moments, then spoke. “In that case, we will. I admire your discretion and I’m very happy with what you’ve shown me. So I’ll sign the contract and have it couriered to your office this afternoon. Right now, I have a board meeting to attend. So if you’ll excuse me?”

  They shook hands and J.J. left, relieved at the outcome. The assistant looked up at her as she left, right hand hovering above the box of Godiva chocolates that J.J. had brought for her. She smiled and licked her lips. J.J. gave her a quick wave. She couldn’t wait to tell Skye.

  After she’d finished explaining and they’d both done a little jig of joy, J.J. asked Skye, “Do you need me for the next little while? I have to go check on something.”

  “Not that I know of. But Nick gave me a couple of names of webmasters, and I think we should take a look at their work when you get back. Or even tonight, if you’re not busy. Maybe we can make some decisions. What do you think?” Skye sat down again at her desk and took a sip from her coffee mug.

  “Good idea. The sooner the better.” J.J. grabbed her jacket but paused before putting it on. “You know, I feel a bit sorry for Brittany, now that it’s all worked out.”

  “I do, too. I’ve been thinking about her all morning, but I don’t believe that giving her another chance is to any of our benefits. She has to learn that once trust is broken, it may not be that easy to rebuild. I know I would not feel comfortable having her work here again.”

  J.J. shrugged. “Okay. We’ll check out those names as soon as I get back, sometime this afternoon.”

  Skye gave her a salute and then went back to focusing on her computer screen.

  J.J. debated about whom to visit first as she made her way to her car parked in the back lot. She could walk to Rocco G’s, but maybe she’d drive and start at Bella Luna, and then finish with a light lunch while talking to Zoe. She pulled into the restaurant parking lot and hoped one of the two cars sitting there belonged to Kevin Lonsdale.

  The front door to the restaurant was unlocked, even though they wouldn’t be serving for another hour. She called out as she went inside and waited at the hostess desk. After a few moments, Lucy came out of the kitchen.

  “Ah, Ms. Tanner. Again. You’re too early for lunch, you know.”

  “I know. I was just hoping I might have a quick talk with the chef. I realize he’s probably really busy with preparations, but it won’t take long.”

  “I’ll ask him.” She disappeared back the way she’d come but came back quickly.

  “He’s far too busy. I’m sorry. He asked instead that you come back when things ease up after the lunch crowd. Mrs. Marcotti has asked that we give you our full cooperation, so he’s trying.”

  “All right. Thanks.” J.J. turned to leave but looked back. Something was nagging at her. It was like walking into a room and forgetting what you’d gone in for. Except she’d had no idea of looking for something when she’d gone to the restaurant. Only of questions to ask.

  J.J. went out to her car, her mind racing. What was bothering her? She hoped it would come to her eventually. She started the car and pulled out of the lot, stopping at the four-way stop at the corner. She had a suspicion.

  She had to get into Marcotti’s office one more time. She knew she couldn’t just do it on her own. Or could she? Maybe she’d better give Devine a call. She punched in his number, but the call went to voice mail. She hesitated. What would she tell him? What if her suspicions were wrong? Okay, she’d already been wrong plenty of times. But she couldn’t go accusing someone of murder without more than a vague memory. She compromised and left him a message. She told him what she wanted to do and asked him to call.

  So, a plan. She already knew the office wasn’t loc
ked, and when the restaurant was open, most of the staff were occupied and not likely to walk into the hallway that led to the office. But how to get into the restaurant without being noticed? She didn’t have a clue. Maybe she should call Gina Marcotti and, without revealing her suspicions, ask if they could go to the office again.

  That would have to do. She turned the corner and pulled over. She’d didn’t have the number handy, but she used her smartphone to find it, and called. She sat with fingers crossed while it rang. Finally, when she was just about ready to give up, a breathless Gina answered.

  “Yes? This is Gina Marcotti. Who is this?”

  After explaining as best she could, J.J. waited for an answer.

  “All right. It will have to wait until this evening, though. I’m just on my way to an afternoon appointment that will take several hours. I will be at the restaurant tonight for the evening service. Come when you are ready.”

  That gave J.J. time to drive over to Rocco G’s and talk to Zoe, but she was pretty certain it would be a waste. Even more so when, upon arriving, she found out that Zoe had stayed home to care for a sick child. Rocco asked if he could do anything for her.

  “Not really. I was sorry about Hank Ransom, though. What are you going to do for a cook?”

  “I already have one. There are a lot of people looking for jobs these days, many of them with excellent credentials. In fact, I hired my first female chef on the weekend. Now, I am not a sexist, so don’t look like that. The need for a cook and someone of that persuasion with the right qualifications had never before occurred at the same time.” He chuckled. “Come back by the end of the week for lunch on the house. She is creating an entire new menu for me.”

  He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “It came as quite a shock, though. The police told me what he’d done.” He shook his head. “I had no idea. But when I think, what if it had happened here? Then I really start to shake. What if I had hired a killer?”

  J.J. reached out and touched his arm. “Fortunately, that didn’t happen. And now that he’s in custody, it won’t. You can’t let yourself dwell on it.”