The Chef at the Water's Edge

by Kee Patterbee

  The next morning, Hannah heard someone stirring downstairs and rose to find out who. Leaving her room, she saw Critic waiting outside her door. He rose to enjoy a few head pats before padding his way down the stairs ahead of Hannah. Entering the kitchen, she saw Cate, who greeted the mongrel. “Well hello, sweet boy.” Next came what Hannah could just describe as kissy face gestures and noises, which made her smile. Cate then gave her friend her usual morning smile. “Morning, sunshine. Sleep well?”

  Hannah rubbed her eyes. “Did I ever tell you how much I hate you in the morning?”

  “No.”

  Repeating herself, she teased, “I hate you so much in the morning.”

  In truth, Hannah admired Cate’s ‘morningness’. She always woke up ‘bright eyed and bushy tailed’, recalling the words of her friend’s mother. She also looked as if she stepped right out of the salon. “How does anyone look like that before coffee?” she often had complained. “It’s not natural.”

  “Someone needs some coffee,” Cate said, placing a large, steaming cup before Hannah.

  After a few minutes and a cup later, Hannah was waking. Cate explained to Hannah that she had appeared so tired, everyone decided to let her sleep in a bit. Louie and Buster went ahead to the studio where the women were to join them later. Finishing their coffee, each readied for the day. They took the rental car, with Cate driving.

  “So. Where to, boss?” asked Cate.

  “I want to talk to the pathologist. I found the address on the net.” Punching the coordinates into the GPS system, Hannah clued Cate in on the pathologists name. “Dr. Lin Niu lives at…” Hannah paused when the name of the housing division came up on-screen. She shot Cate a quizzical look. “Interesting, no?”

  “Interesting, yes.” Cate adjusted the mirrors before backing out into the street. “And we are off.”

  When they got to the upscale housing division, Cate turned and stopped before a guard station. A large brick wall entry lined both sides. Above all, in bold, French script was ‘Karas Chateau Plantation.’ A handsome guard approached. Hannah assessed him to be in his thirties. Both women put on their best smile and air of charm.

  “Hello. We are here to see Dr. Niu.” Cate said, tilting her head to one side.

  At first, the man had a blank, uninterested look on his face. But after a second of Cate’s smile, and a look at Hannah, who did the same but added a slow nod for emphasis, he relaxed. He cleared his throat and pulled his pencil down the clipboard. “I’m sorry. I don’t seem to see any visitors on the list,” he stammered.

  “Oh. It wouldn’t be. We were in town visiting a friend and thought we’d stop by. Dr. Niu oversaw our internship years ago. It was a spur of the moment kind of thing.”

  “Oh. I see. Would you like me to give her a call?”

  “We were kind of hoping to surprise her. Is that possible.”

  The man straightened a little. The uncertainty on his face was plain.

  Cate drew her eyes ever so subtly down the young man’s body, and then turned away when his eyes caught her.

  Smiling the man said, “Up to Vines, left onto Kennedy. Second house gate on the left.

  “Thank you ever so much. You’re a doll.”

  The guard motioned back to his station. “I’ll be here if you need me. Just, uh, call. Or something. All day. I’ll be in there.” Cate gave him a small wave as they pulled off. From the review mirror, she could see the man drag his hand through his thick black hair before heading back inside the small station.

  “You little minx,” Hannah teased. “That was so smooth.”

  “Hey. This girl’s got it going on. Don’t you forget it.”

  They laughed all the way to Niu’s gate. Stopping just before the entry, the size of the home was astounding. It was two stories in general, saffron exterior, with large, ornate white shutters. Four large columns stood at the front entry. There were at least two chimneys. A large garage that could house at least four vehicles stood at an angle to the side. Part of a tennis court showed to the rear of that. The grounds were immaculate, with large, sculpted hedges and a fountain. Red brick laid across the entire drive.

  “If this is a county medical examiner’s house,” she said, “sister, I’m taking up with the dead.”

  “Maybe she comes from money.”

  “I wonder if she has any single brothers.”

  “If she is willing to meet us, I’ll ask.”

  Cate hit the buzzer to the gate, and to her surprise, it opened without question. “Trusting.”

  Hannah disagreed. “They just figured if the guard let us through, everything is good.”

  After parking the car and approaching the door, Hannah knocked. Shortly, they stood before a smallish man in his sixties wearing a suit and tie.

  Again, in her most charming voice, Cate announced, “We are here to see Dr. Lin Niu.”

  “May I ask who is calling?”

  “Two former students on a surprise visit.”

  “Wait here, please.” The man encouraged them to step inside before heading down the hall and turning into a room.

  Looking over to Cate, Hannah smiled. “My, my. Quite the little undercover investigator’s we’ve become.”

  “Gotta do something with all the trouble you’re going to get us into.”

  A short while later, the man appeared again in the hall. He motioned them down and into a large open room with lots of light. Hannah and Cate stood before a small woman with short, dark hair. She sat in a large, overstuffed chair. When she looked up, she had Asian features and wore thick, dark-rimmed glasses. Her face was taut and she rose upon seeing the two women. The man announced, “Dr. Niu. Two former students.” He then turned and exited. Niu walked over to the women, her eyes darting between the two. She stared at them with suspicion and said, “I don’t know you.”

  Hannah chose not to carry on with any pretense. “No. I am here on behalf of the family of Julia Karas. Questions have arisen in the circumstance of her death. About the autopsy and toxicology report, in particular.”

  The small woman lifted her glasses to peer at the two through the bi-focal bottom part of the lenses. Then she growled, “Who sent you?”

  Hannah noticed an immediate tremor in the physician that began with the mention of the Karas name and the incident in question.

  “A witness has come forward that will reopen the case and we are looking for signs of a homicide. We need to find out more about your report so that we can--”

  Niu cut Hannah off midstream and glared at them both. “I closed that case a year ago. There’s no reason to bring it back up again. The family--”

  “Want’s answers now,” Hannah returned in a forceful tone.

  “They’re in the report.”

  “Not all.”

  “What are you suggesting? Are you accusing me of something?”

  Hannah shot Cate a look of confidence. She had hinted and the woman before them had fallen for it. Her reaction told Hannah that there was more to the examiner’s report than she reported. Otherwise, she would have denied it rather than question what her adversaries knew.

  She reached up and snatched the glasses from her face. “Get out!” she demanded. “GET OUT!”

  By this time, the woman was thrusting her arm toward the door as she shook. Hannah had upset her on an unexpected level, which suited her purposes. “Fine. We’ll go. But before we do, consider this. I’m not an officer of the law. I represent a third party. Now, you can work with me. Maybe we can help each other out. I’m not opposed to working something out. But once I leave these grounds, if we haven’t come to some type of understanding, my first stop will be the police. It’s up to you.” Hannah produced a business card and placed it on a sideboard table.

  The woman continued to glare with rage. Her body twitched, and her breathing was audible. “Damn it. Damn it,” she echoed, mumbling.

  Hannah motioned to Cate for the two to leave but stopped one last time. She looked around the room and said
, “You know what I find interesting? You. Living here. In this mansion in Karas Chateau Plantations. I’ll be sure and mention that to the police. They’ll want to follow up, no doubt. Questions will arise. About the finances and your salary as a county medical examiner. What does that pay? Sixty, maybe seventy thousand a year?”

  As Hannah watched, Niu’s face was changing from one of anger to one of concern. Her mouth fell agape, and Hannah could sense she was on the right line of questions. So she continued. “You’ve been on the backside of an investigation. You know what it’s like. People crawling through your life. Uncovering every little secret. Scrutinizing. Judging. And given that this was THE Julia Karas, beloved by all, it might even warrant a federal investigation. You remember when she was the White House guest chef for the Queen’s visit, Cate?”

  “Sure do. That was something. Bet she made some friends.”

  “Oh, she did. The president came to her funeral. I’m willing to bet that if the word gets out that this wasn’t an accident, but murder, there will be an investigation. A huge, invasive one. So you think of that doctor. You can talk to me or air everything out in the court of public opinion. It’s up to you.” Looking to Cate, she then said, “You have my number. Don’t wait too long. The police station is just three miles down the way.”

  Before the two had made it out the door, Niu called out. “Wait.” The two turned to look at her as she took a breath. “Did Mr. Miller send you?”

  Neither answered.

  Niu glance down at the floor. She fidgeted in a noticeable agitation. She looked up at the women standing before her and sized them up. She was looking for a way out. Thinking over her situation, it was obvious when she gave up. Her only choice was to cooperate. “I should have known this would come back on me. I had an honest career right up until that time.”

  “What happened?” Cate asked.

  “A hasty agreement a year ago to withhold certain information.”

  Hannah nodded, thinking This is huge. “Go on.”

  Niu stared at Hannah. “I never meant for this to happen. The police felt it was an open and shut case. I did it to preserve her dignity, so I changed ... changed my report. The toxicology,” she said as tears welled in her eyes.

  Neither Hannah nor Cate moved or said a word. They just listened.

  “There were barbiturates in her blood stream in a high dose. I was going to report it as an accident while attempting suicide. All the signs were there. Stress. Rumors. A public life. Every day her private self was exposed in all the papers and magazines. The press humiliated her almost every day. It is a normal reaction sometimes.”

  “So you covered it up?”

  “Yes. He convinced me that she was gone, and there was no reason to dirty her reputation now. So I removed the part about the suicide.”

  “And that’s how you got all this,” Hannah indicated with a point of a finger around the room.

  Niu’s face flushed with shame. “This came after. His ‘assurance’, I suppose. I didn’t ask for it, but I took it all the same.” She looked up to the ceiling, as if a thousand pound weight lifted from her shoulders. “I did the deed for good reasons. It never occurred to me that it was murder. Not after the tox screen results came in. It seemed so cut and dry.” Pausing, she looked between Hannah and Cate. “What makes you think she was murdered?”

  “A witness has come forward and new evidence uncovered that will force an investigation. They’ll have to exhume the body.”

  Niu moved back to her chair and sat. “I told myself I did it for the good of her family. For those that loved her. For her fans. You know. She was more than just a chef. She was a beautiful hero to so many hungry people through her nonprofit food programs. She donated her time. Her good will.” Niu trailed off as she shook her head in disbelief. “And I gave her misguided justice.” She then looked around the room in disgust. “This. This is my reminder. My shame. Hard as that may be to imagine. I hate every bit of it.” She produced a meek smile. “I suppose I should thank you. No matter what comes. Whatever happens to me, I’m glad it’s out there.”

  “I believe you. But I’ll need you to confirm with the police that it was Asa Karas that bribed you to alter your report.”

  Niu sat up with a look of surprise on her face. “No.”

  Hannah and Cate looked at the doctor with quizzical expressions.

  “It was Jack Miller.”

  Chapter 11

  After finishing with Niu, both Hannah and Cate returned to the car in silence. Once inside, they sat for a moment to reflect on what had just occurred inside.

  “Okay,” Cate expressed. “That was interesting. Where does it leave us?”

  Hannah rubbed her temples. “With more questions than answers. So many pieces to this puzzle. My head hurts.”

  Cate rummaged around and produced aspirin for her friend.

  “Thanks.” She uncapped her bottled water and swallowed the pills before continuing. “Well, first things first. We need a motive.”

  “It could be the same as Niu’s reason for changing the report. To maintain her dignity. Or, it’s more probable that he thought he would lose money, maybe millions, if it came out she committed suicide.”

  Hannah disagreed. “I don’t see that. I think he would stand to make more. I’m sure he owned a piece of everything associated with her name. If she died by suicide, he’d be up for books, movies, talk show circuits, re-runs, and rehashes.”

  “Maybe. But given how controlling Asa is, how much say would he allow Miller to have? Not much, I’m guessing.”

  “True. But there had to be a reason he wanted the drugs hidden.”

  “Could he have killed her?”

  Hannah had not considered the possibility. “For what reasons? The altering of the report suggests that for whatever reason, he had more to lose by her death by drugs than to gain. She was, as Mr. Borg said, his bread and butter.”

  Both women paused to contemplate before Cate started the car, rolled down the driveway and onto the street. “So what do we do? Confront him?

  “I don’t think so. Not yet. Even if we released the information to the police or the press, he’d just claim the same as Dr. Niu. That he was protecting her memory. No. We’re still missing pieces.”

  “And let me guess. You have an idea where to find them.”

  “Not per se. But I know where we may find some,” Hannah respond

  There was a long pause before Cate said, “Well, are you just going to leave me hanging here?”

  “We’re going after that safe.”

  “The safe. On the old set. With the security cameras. That’s bolted to the bottom of a drawer in a hidden compartment. That’s locked. With no key that we know of. That safe?”

  “Yup.”

  Cate rolled her eyes. “Well. This is going to be an interesting day. I hope you are a safecracker.”

  “Not on my resume. But I’m sure we need to find a way into that box.”

  “I’m sure you’ve thought of that key on Julia’s necklace. The one she had on the night she died. “

  “I did. And I’m sure that’s it. But Asa has the necklace. Thus, the key. I bet he doesn’t even know what he has. ”

  “So, ideas?”

  “Well, the way I see it, we can either break into Asa’s place and face possible jail time…”

  “Next.”

  “We find Vera and see if she knows what is in it. Julia didn’t trust Jazlyn. I bet Asa is unaware of what the key went to. But she trusted Vera. Maybe she confided in her.”

  After a short drive back to the studio from Dr. Niu’s estate, the women found that getting to the media area where the RV was to be challenging. There was a huge line of cars and vans, and Cate determined that security was already closing off the area. “See if you can get Louie on the phone. Maybe he can work some magic and make sure we can get in.”

  Hannah made the call and Louie said he would do what he could. He needed to make a few phone calls. Waiting for him t
o call back, Cate turned to Hannah and asked, “So. What is your honest take on him?”

  Although the question threw Hannah a bit, it was not unexpected. Cate was her best friend and she could never hide anything from her. Cate always could read her, “Like a book,” she would often quip.

  Hannah let out a sigh. “I like him. I do. But I can’t trust him. Not as far as this case goes. He’s too close to it. He was in love with Julia. That compromises him. I know he’s your friend. I hope I can think of him that way, too. But I can’t. Just not yet. I hope you understand.”

  Cate nodded. “Honey, I do. In fact, I count on you to see things like this. Buster and I, we love that man. He’s always been kind to us. He and Pop served together before he went off to school in Paris. Same as Julia. They were close. When Mom got sick, he came and watched after us. Cooked for us every day until she came home. Stayed around as she drifted away. I will always love him for that. But the truth is the truth. When it comes to Julia, he’s not stable. And when it comes to Louie, Buster and I wear rose-colored glasses. You do what you have to do. That’s what you are here for.”

  Cate’s words relieved her. Cate’s mom was ill for some time. She remembered Louie came while Hannah was away with her parents during the winter. Although she had heard of him, she had never met him until they arrived the few days earlier.

  In a short time, Louie buzzed back and said he had arranged everything. Although the area was now closed, the guard would allow them in. All they needed to do was give him a call when they got close. Reaching the secured area, Cate gave the guard their names. He pointed out the area where the Food Critic RV was, and passed them through. Hannah called Louie and he met them as they arrived.

  “Welcome to the madhouse,” he exclaimed, throwing his arms into the air and bearing a big smile. “And just think. The main event isn’t even underway.”

  “Still think we can get into the show?” Cate asked.

  “Can’t say for sure.” He handed them two passes with thin neck cords. “But these will help.”

  Hannah looked around as she slipped the cord around her neck. “So where is Buster?”