Murder at the Grill (Cold Creek Book 3)

by Christa Nardi

  “What about Jebediah? Were you working the day he died?”

  He shook his head. “No. The ambulance and police were already there when I arrived for my shift. I gotta go. I hope you can help Zoe. She’s a good soul.” With that he walked away yelling to the players to gather around him.

  I looked to Kim and she shrugged as she stood up. Neither of us said a word as we walked toward her car. I replayed the conversation in my head.

  “Dr. Hendley?”

  Lost in my own thoughts, I’d forgotten to be vigilant. I jumped and turned to face a man coming toward us. He looked a bit dorky, with a crewcut and black rimmed glasses. His jeans didn’t quite reach his ankles, and his t-shirt was half in and half out of his pants.

  He put up his hands. “I didn’t mean to startle you. I came to watch Jason and saw him talking to you.”

  “Harrison?”

  “Yes. I just wanted to thank you for helping Zoe.” His voice was monotone with little emotion. Before I could respond, he turned and walked away. While I stood there with my mouth open and stared, he disappeared into the woods.

  Kim and I got in the car and I heard the doors lock before Kim said a word. “Sher, this family is very odd.”

  Kim took me to T&J’s. After all the paperwork on my car was signed, I told them about the rental car. The manager snickered, but said he’d take care of it. All I needed to do was get them the specifics of the tires. I didn’t mention the snake. Glad to be in my own car with fewer gadgets, I drove myself to campus and my office. I put off calling the rental company for more information.

  In the meantime, Marty called. I filled him in on the meeting with young Jason and Harrison. Unfortunately, Zoe still had as much motive and opportunity as any of the other suspects, if not more.

  “Did you find out anything else? Any information on the snake from Hirsch?”

  Exhaling, Marty responded, “Nothing on the snake. I’m beginning to think whoever is targeting you thinks you’ve uncovered something. We need to sit down and go over all the information you’ve gathered. When can you meet?”

  If I had the answer, it certainly eluded me, but his suggestion echoed what I already thought. We agreed to meet later that afternoon. I worked for a while until the phone interrupted me. Instead of “Private”, it was T&J’s again.

  “Ms. Hendley? This is T&J’s and we have the rental here. Do you want us to contact the rental company about the tires? We can check back with you if it looks like they’re asking for top line tires instead of similar quality.”

  I sighed with relief. “Yes. That would be great. Can you also check in with my insurance agent? I’ll need a copy of all the paperwork for them.”

  From the tone of his voice I could tell he was smiling as he agreed.

  I decided to call Hirsch. He wasn’t available but he called right back.

  “Your car all taken care of Sheridan?”

  “Yes, thank you. Did you find out anything about the snake?”

  “Only that it was a beauty. Unfortunately, the sack didn’t have any prints but we are trying to trace where it came from.”

  “Did you find out how Ryder Colbert knew Jebediah?”

  Hirsch chuckled. “You don’t give up do you? Mr. Colbert recognized Jebediah’s name, yes. He related several comments by other businessmen to stay far away from him. In effect, for some reason Jebediah was blacklisted. Mr. Colbert either didn’t know the reason or wasn’t comfortable sharing. Said he didn’t want to speak ill of the dead.”

  “So no personal connection there. Thanks for sharing that.” I was well aware he didn’t have to tell me. If the information had been more conclusive or important to the investigation, I suspected he would have deferred to Marty. I wasn’t fooling myself. On the other hand, sometimes the small town atmosphere worked well.

  Marty and I sat at the conference table and rehashed all the information we had collected. First we went over what we knew about Jebediah. The income tax records verified Jebediah’s jobs in various places where he had families and had used different names, including Southridge. Marty had talked to Hirsch already and he speculated that just as with the Grill, Jebediah may have given himself a raise more than once without telling the boss.

  Closer to home, it was obvious that Jebediah and Dawn continued to be involved after his marriage to Zoe and he’d fathered Cathryn. If he left before they found out he had stolen money, his relationship with Dawn was likely the reason he was banished. It wasn’t clear whether taking the money was an afterthought or an additional insult. The pattern of unexplained withdrawals suggested it was occurring before he was told to leave.

  Marty called his admin for some more coffee. Refueled with caffeine, we shifted to the more recent past.

  “Okay, so let’s start with Jeb’s return to Cold Creek. He was here at least 12 hours before he showed up at the Grill. Why? Why didn’t he go straight to the Grill? It would have made more sense if he went to Zoe’s house. If his goal was money then why didn’t he go to old Jason Baxter’s? He’d told Dawn he was coming so why not contact her?”

  I had no clue and said as much. “Did you ever go to the Hole in the Wall and find out who he talked to? When he got there? Who called Dawn?”

  Marty chuckled, his eyes twinkled, and his face turned a little red. “Yeah, Hirsch and I both went in fact. Not together, but we both got the same information. The bartender and waitress had a few choice words for Jebediah. The ones I can repeat are along the lines of belligerent, obnoxious, and full of himself. They had no idea who called Dawn. Jebediah made negative remarks about the Baxters in general and especially Dawn.”

  “What about Mrs. Peabody’s? Did anyone there have anything to add?”

  “Only the heated argument between Kent and Jebediah. Mrs. Peabody made a point of telling me it was because of her loyalty to the Baxters she alerted Louisa to begin with. It was her manager who called the senior Jason Baxter later.”

  “Okay, so he checked into Mrs. Peabody’s early afternoon and that was the first anyone heard he was back? That doesn’t make sense. Just coincidence that someone bought all this shrimp on sale and called a family conference?”

  Marty leaned forward, his forehead puckered, and asked, “A family conference?”

  “Well, dinner. Zoe mentioned it and so did Rebekah and Dawn. It sounded more like a conference to plan their reaction to Jebediah.”

  He shook his head and waited for me to refresh his memory. I related the conversation with Rebekah and how they had this family dinner that night with shrimp dishes. I explained how she and her cousin Harrison were then sent out to go pick up dessert while the others made a plan. All of which must have been arranged before the second call from Mrs. Peabody’s and the one from the Hole in the Wall. Possibly even before the first call from Mrs. Peabody’s.

  “Could it be coincidence?” Marty’s tone reflected his skepticism even as he asked the question.

  “Not likely, but coincidental to the extent that a family dinner would only include seafood while Cathryn was visiting relatives. Marty, did you ever find out for sure how he was poisoned? I still don’t get how he wouldn’t have seen or tasted shrimp in his chicken salad.”

  “The tests on the chicken salad showed evidence of the protein in seafood. That’s the culprit for those with the allergy. There was no indication of pieces of shrimp in the food he ingested. One way or the other the chicken salad was contaminated. The most obvious means was Zoe’s shrimp salad sandwich. But no, there was no shrimp in his sandwich.”

  “I wonder who prepared that shrimp meal at the Baxters? Did they check all the chicken salad for that substance or just his dish? Could they have somehow tainted the chicken salad without leaving an obvious trail for the police to find?”

  Marty shook his head and glanced at his watch. “I doubt it, Sheridan. It’s doubtful they checked the rest of the chicken salad as long as no one else got sick. What I do know, however, is that I’m tired and it’s time to call it a day. Maybe if
we sleep on all this information, something will jump out.” He smiled, but the smile didn’t reach his tired eyes.

  CHAPTER 20

  The last meeting of the search committee occurred first thing in the morning. Ryder Colbert received the nomination. Cramer commented that even his name exuded the kind of class Cold Creek College wanted. Misty rolled her eyes and I suppressed laughter. I settled for a sigh of relief that it was over. So far I hadn’t had any interaction with Presidents or Chancellors in the everyday execution of my job. I hoped it stayed that way.

  Back in my office, I checked mail intending to go home and relax once I was done. The summer was almost over and the fall semester was coming fast. True to form, within the hour, the word was out about Colbert. Terra and Ali wanted my opinion. Max was beside himself, bouncing off the walls.

  “Sheridan, why didn’t you stop this? He isn’t a researcher. He’s a businessman. What does he even know about education? The search committee didn’t do their job. When the college goes downhill, it will be your fault.”

  After screeching this, he turned and marched off. I didn’t have a good response. Only time would tell if Colbert was a good choice or not. Hopefully, Joe’s background investigation hadn’t turned up anything to stop the hire. I didn’t want to go through this process again.

  I escaped by lunch and looked forward to an afternoon with nothing scheduled. T&J’s released the rental to the company and I collected all the paperwork. At the insurance office, I left the papers with the receptionist glad not to talk to the agent. I didn’t want to give him the opportunity to cancel the insurance or ask any questions. At home, much needed cleaning and straightening filled the rest of the afternoon. I rehashed the details of the murder while I worked but nothing jumped out at me, no major revelations.

  I called Marty late in the afternoon with more questions, rather than answers. He had no answers either.

  “Is it possible to get a record of Jebediah’s calls for the week before he died or of Dawn’s for that matter?”

  “I’ll see what I can do. Getting his phone records should be easy. Although I’m not sure it’s going to matter.” He still sounded defeated.

  “Do you have the schedule of who worked that day? Those would be the ones with easiest access to the food.”

  “I don’t. After we talked I did review my notes and have some notion from the notes I took when we interviewed Dawn Baxter. That might be helpful or at least eliminate some people. I’m more curious about whose idea it was for a family shrimp dinner and who found the great deal on shrimp. Unfortunately, it will be harder to get access to credit card information or phone information on people in the Baxter family. Bergner probably has Zoe’s phone, bank, and credit records. She still says there won’t be any surprises.”

  “Who planned the meal and when would answer the convenient or coincidental question.”

  “Yes, it would. I’m meeting with Zoe in about an hour. The questions I’m going to ask her include who proposed the dinner and menu and when. I’ll keep you posted, Sheridan. In the meantime, try to stay out of trouble.”

  I spent the rest of the afternoon on the normal every day chores around the house I was inclined to let slip. This was the weekend Brett had Madison, so I was surprised when he arrived with steaks, salad in a bag, corn on the cob, and potato salad. “Hungry?”

  I smiled and raised my eyebrows by way of questioning his not being in Appomattox.

  “Madison asked to switch weekends. There’s a cross-country and track camp this weekend and the early part of the week. What with all the running and bicycling we’ve been doing, she wants to try it out. I couldn’t very well say no under the circumstances.”

  He shrugged and I asked, as innocently as I could muster, “Did she mention other friends going?”

  He shook his head as it suddenly dawned on him. “Yes, as a matter of fact, she mentioned that some of her friends were going as well. I guess I need to get used to this?”

  I nodded and smiled. “But there is a bright side – you grill and I’ll take care of the salad and such.”

  He gave me a kiss and all the groceries except the steaks. I certainly wasn’t going to complain, at least not until next weekend when he wouldn’t be around.

  We pulled dinner together in no time. As we finished, Brett leaned back and gave me his “cop” look – the steady gaze.

  “What?”

  “Anything new? I see you got your car back.”

  “Yes, looks good don’t you think?”

  “I hear there’s a lot of copperheads around this year. Know anything about that?”

  So like Pfeiffe, either Hirsch or Marty had Brett on speed-dial, just for different reasons. “You obviously already know I do.” I shuddered at the thought of that snake again. At least I didn’t have to drive that car again. “Is it easy to find one? I can’t wrap my head around capturing a poisonous snake and then planting it like that.”

  “Best guess? The person somehow tranquilized or stunned the snake to get it into the bag, planted the bag, and waited.”

  “But who would do that? Or who would even have the skills and tools to do that?”

  Brett pulled his hands through his curly hair. “Sher, I’m worried. No, I’m afraid that you are putting yourself in danger. Self-defense isn’t going to help against a copperhead or a bullet.”

  Even though I knew it was irrational, I snapped, “You put yourself in danger every day.”

  His eyes got big, his nostrils flared, and he took a deep breath before he responded. “That’s my job.”

  Left unsaid was the obvious – it wasn’t my job. I hadn’t set out to get involved in murders or put myself at risk. The silence was tense and thick.

  Brett cleared the table while I tried to come up with a response. Charlie must have sensed something was amiss. She came and put her head in my lap. Then Brett put his hands on my shoulders.

  “Let’s take Charlie for a walk. Get some fresh air.”

  We didn’t talk much on the walk, focusing instead on Charlie, the gardens, even the weather. The walk was good, but the tension was still there.

  “Marty and I spent the afternoon trying to figure out what the murderer thinks I have discovered. That’s the only thing that makes sense to the attacks on me and the warnings, but we didn’t make any progress.” I shook my head and avoided looking at Brett.

  “Whoever is doing this sees you as a threat. It’s not Kent or Zoe. Of course, anyone in the family could be doing these things to cast reasonable doubt, to give the impression someone else killed Jebediah.”

  “I hadn’t considered that. I keep wanting to believe Zoe is innocent.”

  “Okay. If not Kent or Zoe, who?”

  That one was easy. “Senior Jason Baxter or Dawn Baxter. Both have motive. Dawn had opportunity.”

  “You’re the psychologist. Which one is more apt to blow up and let it slip? Jason or Dawn?”

  “No contest! Dawn. She’s like an unstable stick of dynamite. In contrast, Jason Baxter is calculating and cold. If confronted, he’d just stomp off. He wouldn’t give anything up.”

  “Then we need to provoke Dawn when she doesn’t expect it and see what happens. Breakfast at the Grill? What do you think?”

  I wasn’t really sure how good an idea it was. Still, I doubted it would be good to tell him that. “Okay. That’s a plan.”

  “I’ll let Hirsch know so he can have someone there in case anything important is said or happens.”

  “You mean, like a confession? We can only hope.”

  It seemed like having a plan diffused some of the tension, but I felt it in the background. Sooner or later we’d have to talk about it if our relationship was going to move forward. In the meantime, maybe we could solve this murder.

  We avoided the charged conversation and chatted about the upcoming party. Brett talked a good game when it came to his parents not being there. His downturned mouth and shrug told a different story.

  CHAPTER 21


  This was one breakfast at the Grill I dreaded. Somehow the idea to instigate a blow up by Dawn had seemed more reasonable the night before. In the morning light, it gave me chills. Brett teased me about my nerves and that made me mad.

  As we walked in, Rebekah smiled and then looked down as she greeted us. I asked to be in Dawn’s section and Rebekah’s eyes opened wide. She recovered and seated us without asking any questions. The usual breakfast bunch was in the corner and a few other people I didn’t recognize.

  “Wasn’t Hirsch going to have Officer Matthews or somebody here eating donuts or something?”

  Brett’s dimples popped even as he tried not to smile. “I’m sure they’ll be here. Cold Creek’s crime rate is fairly low except when you’re involved.”

  I swatted at him. He caught my hand, his eyes twinkling. I shook my head and noticed tension replace the twinkle. I looked up as Dawn marched toward our table, a scowl on her face.

  “You ready?”

  I looked at Brett and he nodded to me. “I’ll have the garden omelet and coffee please.”

  “You can double that.”

  Returning with two cups and coffee, she sloshed the coffee as she poured and didn’t bother to clean up her mess. She didn’t say a word, but huffed off toward the kitchen.

  I hoped she was a better cook than a waitress as this was definitely not her calling. Paranoia snuck in as it occurred to me that if she was the killer, and she thought I knew something, she could easily poison my omelet.

  Brett nodded toward the door and I glanced in that direction. Reinforcements had arrived in the form of Officer Matthews and a young woman. I raised my eyebrows. I didn’t realize there were any women on the Cold Creek police force. Brett shrugged.

  “So Sheridan, have you found anyone who’s sad that Jebediah’s dead?”

  “Not really. No.” As Dawn slammed our plates down, I asked, “Dawn, did anyone go to the funeral, you know, to pay last respects?’