Sweet Taste of Revenge

by Mary Ellis

  ‘Four o’clock.’

  ‘Why don’t I drop you off on my way to work? Then I’ll pick you up after my shift and we can grab something to eat. How does that sound?’

  ‘Sounds like you’re making all my decisions. That’s something I’m not used to.’ Kate stuffed her three types of sunblock, hairbrush, and lip gloss into her bag.

  Eric slipped on his flip-flops and followed her to the elevator. ‘Every now and then we should let other people make our choices.’

  Kate waited until the elevator opened to respond. ‘That could be true, but it won’t be today.’ She stepped in but blocked his path. ‘I’m driving to the police station and you’re driving to the restaurant. I promise not to pick up hitchhikers.’

  ‘You’re a very stubborn woman,’ he muttered under his breath.

  ‘And you’re trying to bully me!’ Suddenly the elevator alarm buzzed.

  ‘Could you let me in so we can discuss this like adults?’

  But she didn’t feel very adult-like. ‘Nope, I’m going to my room. You can go back to the pool and soak your head.’ As the door closed, she caught a glimpse of Eric’s face. He looked more sad than angry, as though she’d just crossed some imaginary line in the sand.

  After a long cool shower, she dressed in her most professional outfit, strapped on her holster, and drove to the station with one eye on traffic and the other on the rearview mirror. But no one had followed her – not any psycho-killer or trained assassin, and certainly not the man she was once in love with. And still was, if she was honest. She just had the hardest time showing it.

  Inside the station, Detective Buckley seemed happy to see her.

  ‘Miss Weller,’ he greeted. ‘Thanks for your patience. I had a few things to take care of this morning on the case. Let’s go to the conference room where we can talk privately. If the other detectives find out I hang out with PIs, I’ll lose my reputation as a hard-nose.’ Buckley led her through a maze of cubicles where everyone seemed to be up to their eyebrows in paperwork.

  ‘I appreciate you seeing me,’ she said after he closed the door. ‘Would you mind giving me an update?’

  ‘After your phone call yesterday, it would be my pleasure. Have a seat.’

  ‘Is Luisa Gonzalez still in custody?’ Kate asked.

  ‘Absolutely. Her bail hearing hasn’t been set because she initially declined counsel. She refused a lawyer because she didn’t want to get stuck with the bill. Once we explained in Spanish that an attorney would be appointed at no cost, she agreed. Now we’re waiting for a bilingual public defender.’

  ‘Do you think she’ll get out on bail?’

  ‘Not a chance. I’m asking the DA to charge her with capital murder. I’ll talk to him later today. I believe we have enough evidence for the judge to set a trial date without presenting the case to a grand jury. This housekeeper is a piece of work. I talked to the cook after you and your partner left. Betty said Luisa always eavesdropped on Mrs Westin whenever her friends were over, and especially when she and Lainey had one of their legendary arguments. Luisa loved knowing Agnes’s secrets. Maybe it made her feel powerful.’ He shrugged.

  ‘Did she say anything to substantiate her motive?’ Kate asked.

  ‘Plenty, and on video. After I explained she could have a free, Spanish-speaking attorney present during questioning, she said, “My English is fine. I don’t need a lawyer – free or not.”’ Buckley leaned back and smiled. ‘When I asked Luisa about her son, Miguel, I thought her head would explode. He’s still stuck in Mexico. The government refuses to renew his work visa. They said he “abused the privilege,” whatever that means, and won’t consider any future requests.’

  ‘Did you mention Mrs Westin had her congressman trying to intervene on Miguel Gonzalez’s behalf?’ Kate hoped it didn’t sound like she was changing sides.

  ‘I did, Miss Weller. I dotted the i’s and crossed my t’s. The last thing I need is an international media circus. I explained that Agnes had never meant for her son to be deported. Not knowing how bureaucracies worked, she only wanted Miguel’s paperwork in order.’ Buckley smiled again as though proud of himself.

  ‘And?’ Kate prompted.

  ‘Luisa said that Agnes hated people “like her” and wouldn’t do anything to help them. Her words, not mine.’

  ‘Have you verified that Miguel is dead?’

  ‘No, but I can’t verify he’s alive either. After landing in Matamoros, he seems to have dropped off the planet. I told her that just because we haven’t located him yet, she shouldn’t assume the worst. Then she said something in Spanish that didn’t sound like “have a nice day.” She also said she hoped the judge would deport her so her sister could visit her. I said it didn’t work like that.’

  Kate shook her head. ‘The woman is truly clueless how the justice system works.’

  ‘Before you go all softhearted, here’s what we know according to the evidence. Number one – Mrs Gonzalez threatened Mrs Westin in front of witnesses, specifically that she would suffer like her son has suffered. Since she hadn’t heard from Miguel in a couple weeks, she believed him to be dead. Number two – she packed the picnic hamper that morning with food the cook prepared the night before and the cook had that day off. Plus the tastiest morsel of all? The toxin found in Mrs Westin’s bloodstream exactly matched the rat poison found in her closet. Since you can buy just about anything online these days, including items not to be sold in the US, I won’t even include where the poison had been manufactured.’ Buckley leaned back in his chair. ‘Before you assume Luisa corresponded with flowery stationery and a fountain pen, she had a laptop and ordered plenty of junk online.’

  ‘Did you log her computer into evidence?’ Kate asked.

  Buckley’s grin was slow in coming. ‘Yes, Miss Weller. I’m not the rookie here. The techs are combing through it right now, looking for anything I can use.’

  Kate’s chin snapped up. ‘Don’t you have enough already?’

  ‘We’ll let the District Attorney make that decision, but I’ve got one small fly in the ointment. The forensic expert in the ME’s office couldn’t find any poison in the remnants of Waldorf salad. We believe that’s where Luisa put it, since she knew Mark Harris wouldn’t touch the stuff. Luisa admitted that she knew Harris was allergic to tree nuts including walnuts, even after her lawyer advised her not to answer the question. Maybe the poison was localized near the top and Agnes ate that part.’ Another shrug.

  ‘Maybe there was another food Harris avoided,’ Kate suggested.

  ‘Nope, I asked him and he said he ate everything else. Admit it, Miss Weller. I’ve got a slam-dunk here.’

  ‘Just about.’ Kate jotted a few notes in her notebook. ‘But if it’s just the same to you, I’m going to have another chat with Mark Harris. Maybe he forgot to mention something.’

  Buckley stood and pulled on his suspenders like an elderly grandpa, instead of an attractive ex-Jamaican. ‘Knock yourself out. You get paid by the hour, along with expenses. Me? The county pays me to collect evidence and then turn it over to the DA to prosecute. I have lots of new cases to keep me busy. I’ll see you out the back door.’

  Kate realized Buckley didn’t want her walking past the other detectives’ cubicles. ‘I’m curious why you made time for me and also divulged pertinent information about the case.’

  ‘Because I’m confident you’ll use professional discretion and keep quiet about what we discussed. And because I’m grateful you made it easy to find the toxin during a legal search of Luisa’s room. Another PI might have taken matters into her own hands and rendered whatever she found useless due to chain of possession.’

  ‘I had a good teacher. My mentor trained me right.’

  ‘Where’s your car? I got a call from your new partner. He was worried, so I told him I would see you safely out of the parking lot.’

  That Eric had called the Homicide Department didn’t surprise Kate as much as the fact she couldn’t remember where she’d left
her car. After shading her eyes with one hand, her gaze fell not on her green Toyota, but a black Ford Expedition, parked on a side street. Eric’s Ford Expedition – she would stake her life on it.

  ‘Thanks, Detective, but that won’t be necessary. I see my bodyguard parked across the street. He must have freed up his afternoon after all.’ She flashed her prettiest smile at Julian Buckley, and for the one-time man-of-her-dreams? Kate curled her hands into fists and marched toward the black SUV with a nasty scowl. If it wasn’t Eric Manfredi in the vehicle, the occupant would have feared for his or her life.

  But, of course, it was.

  Once Eric realized he’d been seen and that escape was impossible, he slouched down in the seat and hid behind today’s edition of the Pensacola News Journal.

  Kate yanked open the driver’s door. ‘You had better hope that restaurant owner doesn’t fire you, because you’re the worst PI in the world.’

  Eric lowered his newspaper. ‘Solo stakeouts haven’t been covered in my training yet. You have only yourself to blame.’

  ‘Eric, what are you doing here?’ Kate asked softly, as though she didn’t know the answer.

  ‘I’m watching your back, partner. Beth bestowed the task on me when she left town. And I honor my commitments.’ He lifted his chin defiantly.

  ‘Seriously? You really think someone will shoot me in a sheriff’s department parking lot? Did you even bother to call the restaurant?’

  ‘Of course I did. I told Henri I had stomach flu. Believe me, he’d rather I not spread viruses to his patrons. He told me to come back when I felt better.’

  ‘I can’t believe you would risk your own career to sit in a hot car all afternoon.’ Beth rubbed the spot between her eyebrows where a headache had begun.

  ‘You were only in there for forty minutes. Besides, my career is head chef back in Charleston. Henri’s is a part-time job to learn which properties are about to go on the market.’

  Kate’s patience was running razor-thin. ‘Have you done that, Eric? Have you learned about a single commercial building about to be put up for sale?’

  He focused his dark eyes on her. ‘Low turnover in the Pensacola area.’

  Kate was in no mood to press the matter, not since she was standing in the hot sun, surrounded by deputies coming and going. But that time was coming … and sooner than Eric would like. ‘Fine,’ she said. ‘Since you’re here, you might as well follow me to Mark Harris’s condo.’

  Eric’s forehead furrowed. ‘Why? Isn’t Luisa Gonzalez in custody? Wasn’t the poison a match to whatever killed Mrs Westin?’

  ‘Actually it was a match, but that doesn’t mean someone didn’t plant it in her closet. Let’s go talk to Harris a second time.’

  He rubbed his chin. ‘Now you have doubts, which you’re not expressing to the homicide department.’

  ‘This isn’t the best time for a PI lesson. Could you just follow me to Harris’s?’ Like a petulant teenager, Kate marched to her car and peeled from the lot.

  By the time they reached Mark’s high-rise, she regretted her behavior. ‘Sorry I yelled at you. It’s nice that you want to learn the ropes, but you already have a job.’

  ‘Later we need to talk, Kate.’ Eric gazed down from his superior height.

  ‘I agree, but right now let’s see if Agnes’s ex-boyfriend still lives here.’

  Indeed, Mark Harris still lived there, but, from the looks of things, it wouldn’t be for much longer. He immediately answered their knock, wearing a scruffy beard and even scruffier clothes.

  ‘Miss Weller, Mr Manfredi, I didn’t think I’d see either of you again.’ Mark motioned them into a pared-down suite. ‘Don’t mind the mess. As you can see, I’m packing to move.’

  ‘I thought Mrs Westin had paid the rent months in advance?’ asked Kate, hoping her comment wasn’t intrusive.

  ‘She did, but I was offered an internship at a major museum in Chicago, part of a work/study program at the university. It includes a dorm room with a small living stipend. I’m jumping on the opportunity.’

  ‘Good choice,’ said Eric. ‘May I carry anything down to your car for you?’

  ‘That’s very nice, but no. I’m staying for another couple days. What can I help you with?’

  Kate didn’t beat around the bush. ‘Police have a suspect in custody for Mrs Westin’s murder, but I’m not at liberty to say who the person is.’

  Harris nodded while loading textbooks into a crate. ‘There’s just one minor detail I want to clarify before I close my case for Miss Westin.’

  ‘Ask whatever you want.’ Harris didn’t look up from his task.

  ‘I learned from the police that you’re allergic to tree nuts and that Luisa Gonzalez was aware of this.’

  ‘That is correct on both counts.’

  ‘Then why, may I ask, did she pack Waldorf salad in the hamper that day? Or why didn’t she at least omit the walnuts?’

  ‘Luisa kept her well-paid position on the payroll by learning every nuance of her employer and those of her guests. She knew I preferred a light lunch but a substantial dinner. Agnes was just the opposite. Lunch was her favorite meal, then she ate like a mouse in the evening. Since I’m content with only a sandwich, Luisa made the salad how Agnes preferred it – loaded with walnuts. Usually Agnes could finish the entire container.’

  ‘She didn’t on the last day of her life.’

  Harris met Kate’s eye. ‘I have no idea why not.’

  ‘There could be a dozen logical reasons. Perhaps she lost her appetite because of the heat. Or she might have already been feeling ill. But I think there’s something you’re not telling me about lunch. Was there some kind of dessert that you didn’t want? Maybe Agnes threw the rest overboard.’

  Harris continued to pack books until Eric yanked the crate out of reach, forcing him to deal with Kate’s question. With a weary sigh he plopped down on a fully packed box. ‘There was something else I neglected to tell you or the police. I don’t drink – never have and never will. My father was an alcoholic, so I vowed never to touch the stuff.’

  ‘Why all the lies?’ Kate asked. ‘And why two wine glasses on the table?’

  ‘Agnes was well on her way to becoming an alcoholic, if she wasn’t one already. I told her several times I’d get her the help she needed discreetly, but she was still in denial. Appearances meant everything to her. So, until she was ready to dry out, I assisted with the subterfuge. Call me an enabler, but until a person is ready, intervention seldom works.’

  ‘Who did Agnes not want to know about her drinking?’ Eric resumed packing Harris’s books.

  ‘Her staff especially. She knew the household help gossiped about her behind her back and made fun of her. Agnes didn’t wish to give them extra fodder.’

  ‘Who else?’ Kate asked.

  ‘Her friends, if you could even call them that. These were her society peers from the garden club and numerous charitable foundations. They were the meanest, back-stabbing pack of jackals I’ve ever seen in my life.’

  Kate and Eric exchanged a glance. ‘You don’t mince words, do you?’

  ‘Actually I am, since I’m keeping my language G-rated. Most of these women were rich because they married powerful men. They resented Agnes because she came from very old money. So she was able to marry for love – as in the case of Robert Westin – or choose not to marry at all, like she pledged to do following their acrimonious divorce. Agnes knew her friends were calling her names behind her back.’

  ‘Any of these women stand out in your mind?’

  ‘No. I didn’t want her dwelling on them when we were together, so I changed the subject whenever she brought them up.’

  ‘Who else knew about the heavy drinking, besides you?’

  ‘Only the people Agnes trusted. Captain Holcomb knew, because he was very fond of Agnes and would never do anything to hurt her. And Lainey knew.’

  ‘Lainey?’ Kate and Eric parroted simultaneously.

  ‘Yes, despite thei
r frequent bickering, Lainey loved her mother and Agnes loved her. They just couldn’t find a way to overcome their differences enough to get along. Lainey had also tried getting her mom into rehab once or twice. You can imagine how Agnes received those attempts.’ Harris’s eyes rolled back in his head.

  ‘Why two wine glasses?’ Kate prodded.

  ‘Whether she and I were dining at her home or on the Arrivederci Sorrento, the table was always set with two wine glasses and two water glasses. I stuck to water and Agnes drank both wines, providing no other guests were present.’

  ‘Makes perfect sense.’ Kate offered her hand. ‘Thank you, Mr Harris. Good luck in Chicago with the internship. You were a good friend to Mrs Westin, and it sounds like she needed all she could get.’

  Harris’s smile was bittersweet. ‘Maybe we weren’t in love with each other, but I loved Agnes Westin. I’ll miss her and I’ll never forget how good she was to me.’

  While Eric stacked the box he filled, Kate wrapped her arms around the young man and hugged. ‘I’m sure she loved you too.’

  ‘Thanks. Please find her killer, Miss Weller. Agnes deserves justice.’

  On the way to the car, Kate’s eyes welled with tears. ‘Wow, I hope one of my friends will feel that way about me.’

  Eric wasted no time formulating a response. ‘Two of them already do. You’re just too thick-headed to realize it.’

  When finally able to swallow her emotions, Kate cleared her throat. ‘I think we should head to Lainey’s. I’ve got a few more questions for our favorite heiress.’

  He looked at his watch. ‘Nope, I’m starving. We’ll call Miss Westin for an appointment for tomorrow morning. And it’s time you and I had that little chat.’

  Eric waited until Kate set up an appointment with Lainey before he asked her to make the first of many choices that evening. ‘Should we go to dinner in your car or go back for mine?’ he asked.

  Kate slipped her phone in her purse. ‘That depends on where we’re going. It’s your choice, Manfredi, and your treat.’

  ‘Let’s drive along the beach highway through the National Seashore. I’d like to eat in Orange Beach or Gulf Shores since I’ve never been to Alabama.’