by Cindy Bell
“I understand, that must be hard for you.”
“Hopefully, they will find the murderer and all of this will be over soon.” Sophia’s voice raised some. “I need things to get back to normal as soon as possible. I have so much on my plate right now.”
“Maybe after the memorial things will be calm enough for you to get back to normal.”
“I hope so. I’ll see you there, Lucy.” The line disconnected. Lucy hung up her phone. She sensed that Sophia was very unsettled. Was it because Hugo was dead or because she had something to do with the murder? She pushed the thought out of her mind and dialed Chantelle to fill her in on the memorial. After they chatted she picked up the orange cat and carried her towards the laundry room.
“I’m sorry, sweetie, I know you don’t want to be stuck in here, but I don’t want to have to buy all new furniture. Maybe we could try getting you a scratching post.” She nuzzled the cat and scratched behind her ears. The cat purred and rubbed her cheek along Lucy’s hand. “Oh no, I just can’t do it.” She sighed. “I guess I can get slip covers for the furniture if I have to.” She let the cat loose in the living room. Mia stood up on the back of the couch and hissed. “Now that’s enough, Mia. I need your help to teach this little kitty the rules of the house. She’s not going anywhere, so you might as well learn to get along with her.” She reached down and petted Mia for a few minutes. “Be good, okay?” She scratched under her chin. As she left the house she wondered if it would still be standing when she returned.
When Lucy arrived at the patisserie, Chantelle was already there. Lucy usually managed to be earlier than her.
“Morning Chantelle.”
“Morning. Coffee?”
“Yes, please.”
“Interesting call you had already this morning.”
“I know, I’m not sure what to make of it.”
“Well, I guess we’ll have a chance to see everyone again, that might bring some things into perspective.”
“Yes, it might.” Lucy accepted the cup of coffee from her and leaned her back against the counter. “How are things going this morning?”
“I have a batch in the oven already, but we still have about fifteen minutes before we open.”
“Good, maybe you can tell me what’s going on in your life?”
“Uh, well.” She shrugged. “There’s never much going on, is there?”
“Are you kidding me? You have a partner, and a teenage son, I can’t imagine it’s ever calm where you are.”
“No, calm is not the word. Messy, yes. They both leave everything everywhere. Especially their dirty clothes. How can they take off their clothes, and just not notice them on the floor as they go about their day? I come home to mess everywhere. The worst is Greg, but Noah can be pretty bad, too. “
“Ugh, I guess I can be grateful I don’t have that problem.”
“Yes, oh yes, you can.” Chantelle laughed. A knock on the door drew their attention to the front of the store.
“Is that?” Lucy peered through the window.
“Georgina. What is she doing here?”
“I’m not sure. Should we open early for her?”
“Why not? We’re ready to go, and I’m done complaining about mess.”
“Good, because I don’t even want to think about it.” Lucy grinned and walked up to the front door. She turned the lock and opened the door for Georgina.
“Hi Lucy, I know it’s early, but I’ve been dying to get another taste of those macarons. I have a meeting to get to, so I only have a few minutes.”
“It’s fine, come on in. Would you like some coffee to go with it?”
“Yes please. Absolutely.” She walked past her to the small bar. “Good morning, Chantelle. How are you doing this morning?”
“Pretty good thanks. What kind of macaron would you like?”
“Anything but those lemon cheesecake ones. I just don’t feel like lemon today.”
“Oh sure. Raspberry?”
“Perfect.” She clapped her hands, then accepted the cup of coffee from Lucy. “Thanks, this is just what I needed. I hate dealing with lawyers.”
“Lawyers? Sounds like a tough meeting.” Chantelle set a small plate with three macarons down on the counter in front of her.
“It is. I’m up for a television contract.” She winked at them. “You’re both the first to know.”
“Oh? For your own cooking show?”
“Sort of.” Georgina crossed her legs and picked up a macaron. “It’s a dating show where they cook dinner for their dates. I’ll be hosting it. Apparently, Hugo was going to host it, but since he obviously can’t, I am probably going to get it if everything is okay with the contract. They called me yesterday, completely out of the blue, I didn’t even know about the show before then. What luck.”
“Oh.” Lucy froze behind the counter. “Well, that’s good news.”
“Sure, I know, it’s not the best way to get a role by having someone croak, but what can you do? You have to take your opportunities where you can get them.”
“I guess so.” Chantelle raised an eyebrow.
“Anyway, like I said, I don’t have a lot of time. Oh, but did you two hear about the memorial Sophia is having? I’m going to make sure I’m around town for it. I think it would be good to make an appearance. Don’t you?”
“Yes, that would be nice.” Lucy took away her empty coffee cup. “We’ll be there, too.”
“Okay, see you then.” Georgina tossed the last bite of macaron into her mouth and walked out of the shop.
“Did you notice something about her?” Lucy scrunched up her nose.
“You mean, that she didn’t pay?” Chantelle rolled her eyes.
“Oops, no I didn’t even notice that.”
“What did you notice then?”
“She seemed to be very, I don’t know, excited.”
“Well, a television role can do that.”
“I know, but Hugo just died. It just seems strange to not be more, reserved about things.”
“Georgina doesn’t strike me as a person who is ever reserved.” Chantelle shrugged. “She’s taking every crumb she can get from Hugo’s career. I’m sure she’s not the only one. Celebrities can be like that.”
“Maybe I’m being hypersensitive. It seems to me that just about everyone had something to gain from Hugo’s death. How am I supposed to narrow down the suspects?”
“Maybe it’s time to rely on those good old instincts.” Chantelle winked at her.
“Hush. You know better, you don’t even believe in my instincts completely.”
“Hmm, customers.” Chantelle smiled as a couple walked in.
Lucy spent the day in the back baking. She wanted to think through what she’d discovered so far. However, by the end of her shift she wasn’t closer to any conclusions. Lauren might have wanted revenge, Sophia might have wanted the competition out of the way, and Georgina might have wanted Hugo’s life. But did that really make any of them killers? She wondered how the police investigation was progressing.
When Lucy returned to the house and opened the door, all of those thoughts were knocked from her mind. They were replaced by the sight of the couch cushions scattered across the floor. “How?” She gasped as she looked around. The flowers she’d put in a vase a few days before had been knocked off the coffee table and were strewn across the floor. “Mia!” She growled. Mia poked her head out from under the couch. She could have won an award for the sweet expression on her face.
“No, that’s not going to work. Where’s the other one?” Lucy walked through the house and found the orange kitten in the bathtub. She looked quite comfortable curled up in a ball. Neither of the cats appeared to have any injuries, the house, however had sustained quite a few. She sighed and began to clean up the cushions and the flowers. Once she was done, she fed the cats. Both gobbled up their food.
“I bet you’re worn out from all of that exercise today. You bad little cats.” She clucked her tongue.
Chapter 7
That night as Lucy slept she dreamed about the orange kitten swinging from the curtains, and Mia ripping down all of the wallpaper. She woke with a start, to find both cats curled up in her bed, one on either side. She forced herself out of bed, despite the fact that she was still tired. Both she and Chantelle worked the morning shift at the patisserie. Then Jacqueline came in and prepared macarons for the memorial. Once she had delivered them, she took over the patisserie so the sisters could attend the memorial.
“Good luck tonight.” Jaqueline hugged them both just before they left. Instead of taking two cars, Lucy dropped her car off at the house, and Chantelle waited for her in the driveway while Lucy fed the cats. Luckily, the house was not a disaster. But the orange kitten was back in the bathtub, while Mia had her favorite spot on the back of the couch. When she returned to the driveway Chantelle smiled at her through the window.
“I thought about coming in to see your new kitten.”
“Maybe when you drop me home later.” Lucy smiled as she got in the passenger side.
“You don’t mind do you?”
“Not at all. I’m not sure how Mia is going to get along with her though. She is still really jealous.”
“She’ll get used to it. It will take some time I’m sure.” Chantelle backed out of the driveway and headed towards the cooking school. “Are you ready for this?”
“I doubt too many people will be there. Hopefully it will just be quick candle lighting with a few speeches.”
“Are you going to speak?”
“I didn’t really know him. That would be strange. Don’t you think?”
“I guess. I am having a hard time figuring out what our role is going to be there.”
“I think Sophia is just looking for support. She wants to feel as if she’s not alone in all of this.”
“And how do you feel about that? After everything that you found out about her?” Chantelle asked.
“I don’t know. Sophia seems like a good person. But now that I know she had her own line of dessert sauces, I can’t help but wonder how it must have felt to have Hugo advertise his at her own school. Maybe it was enough to enrage her.”
“It seems a bit extreme.” There were already several cars in the parking lot when Chantelle eased to a stop. “Not sure where we’re going to park.”
“It looks like people are lining up over there.” Lucy pointed to the far side of the parking lot where several cars had parked.
“I think I can squeeze in there.” Chantelle found an open spot and masterfully swung the car into it. Lucy cringed at the thought of her own parallel parking, which she tried to avoid doing as much as possible. “Nice turn out. I’m a little surprised. I thought Sophia was a bit off her rocker to do this.”
“I think her plan is to get closure as fast as possible so that she can reopen the school without looking too callous. With the school closed she’s not making any money.”
“Another reason why I wouldn’t suspect her as the murderer. Why would she put herself and her business at risk? She has far too much to lose,” Chantelle said.
“True, but you’re thinking rationally. A person who commits murder is not usually thinking that way. If it was anger motivated then perhaps she just snapped and didn’t even consider the consequences of her actions.”
“That’s possible.” Chantelle nodded.
Lucy led the way into the school. As soon as they opened the door they were surrounded by people. Some of them, Lucy recognized from the cooking school, others she had no idea who they were. It occurred to her that Sophia must have invited more people than just the students at the school. There appeared to be some reporters there as well. It looked as if Sophia was trying to make sure that her crystal clean image got blasted across the media. Maybe she was trying to cover something up, or maybe she was just trying to salvage what was left of her reputation.
“Lucy! Chantelle!” Sophia waved her hand in the air above the crowd. Lucy immediately felt a wave of guilt for thinking bad things about Sophia when she was so eager to greet them. Lucy and Chantelle made their way to the middle of the crowd and took turns embracing Sophia.
“I’m so glad you were able to make it. Your mother dropped off the macarons earlier and she was so kind to me. She’s a very wise woman.”
“Oh?” Lucy raised an eyebrow. “What did she say?”
“No time to talk now. I have to get things ready for the speeches. There are candles over there.” She pointed to one of the tables at the edge of the room. Chantelle led the way through the tightly packed space.
“Wow, this is incredible. I knew Hugo was popular, but who knew an impromptu memorial would draw this many people.” Lucy picked up one of the candles and handed one to her sister.
“He must have had some people that liked him.”
“Or maybe they just didn’t know him very well.” Lucy covered her mouth. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
“Relax Lucy.”
“Maybe Hugo was just having a bad day. I mean, it certainly did turn out that he had the worst day.”
“That’s true.”
“I wonder what Mom said to Sophia?”
“You know Mom. She always has some kernel of wisdom to share.”
Before Lucy could say more, Sophia spoke into a microphone at the front of the room.
“Hello and welcome everyone. I want to thank you for being here, on this sad occasion. It is sad, of course, Hugo is gone. But what I’d like to do is celebrate the time he spent here. So if anyone would like to say anything about their memories of Hugo or thoughts about him, please feel free to take the microphone.” She held out the microphone. Two very long minutes slid by with no one approaching Sophia. Lucy felt compelled to take the microphone and say something, anything, just to fill the silence. As she took a step forward, someone else took the microphone.
“Hi, I’m Georgina.” She smiled at the crowd. “Perhaps some of you have heard of me. Hugo and I worked together on a few projects. He was always very supportive of my talents in the kitchen.” She paused, then shrugged. “Okay let’s be honest, Hugo was not supportive of anyone. He was very competitive.”
A few people in the crowd nodded their agreement. Encouraged, Georgina continued, “There are so many times that Hugo got under my skin. He had a way of speaking to me that could make me feel about as big as a mouse. But there were many other times that he challenged me to be better. He never accepted failure and always demanded perfection. For some, I know, this was overwhelming and frustrating. For me it was as well, at first, then I began to rise to his demands. All of a sudden I was better at everything. I was more confident, a stronger chef, and I could create recipes that once intimidated me. Of course, they were never up to his standards. But I do have to give Hugo some credit for shaping me into the chef I am today.”
A round of applause filled the room. Lucy clapped hesitantly. It wasn’t exactly a shining example of Hugo’s life, it sounded more like a tribute to Georgina’s abilities as a chef. She glanced over at Chantelle, who nodded as if she understood. After a few more people spoke about learning from Hugo despite how difficult his personality was, Sophia lit the first candle. Soft music played as everyone in the room raised a candle. Only, there were quite a few people. So many in fact that the candles created a very strong heat source. After just a few minutes of the candles being raised close to the sprinklers in the ceiling, the fire alarm began to blare and the sprinklers shot out streams of water that extinguished the candles. In the chaos, Lucy grabbed on to her sister and steered her out of the way of the crowd that pressed towards the front doors. Sophia was beside herself as she shouted into the microphone for everyone to stay calm and leave the building in an orderly fashion. Once everyone else made their way out the door, Lucy and Chantelle followed after.
“Oh, this is just a disaster, an absolute disaster.” Sophia paced back and forth in front of the building as fire engines screamed into the parking lot. “How did thi
s happen?”
“It’s all right, Sophia, no one was hurt. There was no actual fire, it’s going to be fine,” Lucy said.
“Is it?” Sophia shuddered. “All I wanted was to honor Hugo’s life, and look how it turned out.”
“You did honor him. Many people had good things to say. It was a nice gesture.”
“Maybe.” Sophia shook her head as she hurried over to speak to the firefighters.
“You’re so nice, Lucy.” Chantelle wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
“She planned everything very well, aside from the candles.”
“We should probably get out of here.” Chantelle glanced back at the firefighters. “Unless you want to stick around to get some phone numbers?”
“Stop it!” Lucy elbowed her in the side.
“I’m guessing the macarons are ruined, but we should probably get the trays.”
“It looks like the sprinklers are off.”
They ducked back inside and collected the trays and other supplies their mother had dropped off. On their way out to the car, Sophia stopped them in the doorway.
“Could the two of you do me a favor please?”
“Sure. What is it, Sophia?” Lucy met her eyes.
“Would you check on the classroom that Hugo was using. It’s classroom five. Just make sure that there’s nothing left behind in there. The police have already been through it, but I planned to double-check and I still get too upset to go in there. Now I have to deal with all of this, and it would just be great if you could take a quick look. The builders are coming tomorrow to give me a quote on having some shelves installed and things moved around so I can turn it into a storage room once all of this is over.”
“No problem. We’ll just drop these things in the car and do a sweep of the classroom.”
“You’re a real lifesaver, Lucy. I can’t wait to work with you again.”
“Yes, a real lifesaver.” Chantelle popped the trunk as they walked towards the car. “Why do you keep agreeing to help?”
“Because she needs it. She’s obviously having a hard time.”
“She could also be a murderer.”
“All the more reason to help. If she is the murderer, she’s bound to slip up eventually.”