by Cindy Bell
“That’s impossible,” Vicky gasped. “We never arranged any fruit baskets for the guests.”
“Maybe Sarah…”
“No,” Vicky cut him off. “The basket was delivered to the inn. It had a room number and the address of the inn on the delivery slip.”
“Where’s the delivery slip?” Mitchell asked.
“We would have thrown it out already.”
“I’ll get the officers to see if they can find it in the trash.”
“I’ll double check the trash can, but I’m sure it’s been emptied, the trash was collected this morning.” Vicky cringed.
“So, you have no idea who the basket of fruit came from?”
“No,” Vicky said slowly. “I’ll try to find out, though.” Her heart began to pound harder.
“You need to leave this to the police! You can expect that there is going to be a thorough investigation. Someone put those berries in the fruit basket. I’m sure it was an accident. But it’s led to someone’s death so we are going to have to find out what happened.”
“I understand,” Vicky murmured. She could barely catch enough of a breath to speak at a normal level. Finding Freida dead was shocking enough, but to find out that she was poisoned by fruit apparently given to her as a gift from the inn was very upsetting, not to mention confusing.
“I’ll update you as much as I can, Vicky. Just be careful what you say and to whom, until all of this is settled. Okay?” She could tell by the tone of his voice that he expected an actual answer.
“Of course,” Vicky stated without conviction.
“Vicky, we’re sending out some officers to look into the situation more. I will be there as soon as I can. But whatever they ask you to do, you need to do. Showing cooperation will make things easier on the inn.” His voice hardened slightly. Vicky didn’t appreciate the commanding tone.
“I have to do what I have to do to protect my staff and the reputation of the inn, Mitchell. You and I both know that cooperation can sometimes lead to a false arrest, and statements being used against people.” Vicky sighed. She knew that she was taking her frustration and fear out on Mitchell, and that wasn’t fair. “I’m sure all of this will turn out to be some terrible mistake.”
“I’m sure it will, too. I’ll be there as soon as I can. All right?” His voice was warm with sympathy.
“All right. Thanks, Mitchell.” When Vicky hung up the phone she felt her heart sink. She knew that Mitchell had asked her to stay out of the investigation, but she needed to know the truth. She thought she would start by seeing if she could find out where the fruit was from.
When she reached the door to the kitchen, Sarah was there.
“How is everything going?” Sarah asked. Then she noticed Vicky’s grim expression. “What’s wrong?”
“Did you arrange for a fruit basket to be delivered to Freida from the inn?”
“No,” Sarah replied with a puzzled expression. “Why?”
“I just spoke to Mitchell,” Vicky explained gently. “The news isn’t good.”
“What is it?” Sarah asked with urgency.
“The coroner found the cause of Freida’s death. Poisonous berries, which were found in the fruit basket delivered to her room. Apparently, they were delivered with the compliments of the management of the Heavenly Highland Inn.”
“What?” Sarah’s eyes flew wide open. “That can’t be! How is that possible?”
“I don’t know, but the police found the note and the berries with the fruit that were in the basket,” Vicky explained. “Mitchell said that some officers will be here soon to start an investigation.”
“Unbelievable,” Sarah groaned. “This is terrible. That poor woman lost her life, and the inn is going to lose its good reputation.”
“Mitchell said to cooperate with the police, but it seems as if someone might be trying to frame us and I think we need to be very careful what we say.”
“You’re right.” Sarah nodded. She rubbed her cheeks in slow circles with her palms. Vicky could tell that she was close to exploding. She couldn’t even reassure her, because she was feeling the same way.
“I’d better call our lawyer.” Sarah frowned. “We need to know how to protect ourselves in this situation.”
“I’ll talk to Chef Henry and Aunt Ida to make sure they didn’t arrange the basket. Let me know what the lawyer says.” Vicky started to turn away, then paused. “Sarah, we’re going to figure this out. Everything is going to be fine.”
Sarah raised an eyebrow. “That’s what you said about the banquet hall.”
“I know, I know.” Vicky sighed and headed for the kitchen.
Chapter 10
When Vicky walked into the kitchen, she noticed right away that Henry was doing his inventory. He had several boxes pulled out of the pantry and a clipboard in his hand. Sarah had offered several times to arrange for another staff member to do that for him so he could focus on cooking, but he was very picky about his food and preferred to keep track of it himself.
“Chef Henry.” Vicky’s voice trembled slightly as she spoke. Henry glanced over at her swiftly and then back at his clipboard.
“Please, give me just a moment, Vicky, or I will lose track of my count.” He turned back to the crate of tomatoes he was sorting through. Vicky waited patiently. It was not as if waiting a few more minutes was going to change what had already happened.
“I’m sorry to make you wait, Vicky. The inventory should have been done yesterday, but with everything that happened I didn’t have the chance to complete it. The delivery driver put the food away for me yesterday because I had to leave suddenly to turn off the water when the sprinkler broke. He had the best intentions, but he put it away in the wrong places of course.” He sighed. “Now, everything is taking longer than usual and I’m running behind and I would hate to have to start all over again.” He looked at her with a flustered expression.
“I understand.” Vicky nodded. “Henry, I have to tell you something. I want you to understand that I am in no way accusing you, but we need to prepare for an investigation.”
Henry narrowed his eyes as he tried to figure out what she meant. “What are you talking about, Vicky?”
“Did you organize a fruit basket for Freida’s room by any chance?” Vicky asked gently.
“No,” Henry said as he shook his head. “Why?”
“It looks like Freida didn’t die of natural causes. She had fruit delivered to her room with a card saying it was from the inn. There were poisonous berries in the fruit basket.” Vicky frowned.
“Well, they didn’t come from this kitchen, we don’t have any berries here,” Henry said defensively. “They aren’t in season at the moment.”
“Okay,” Vicky said. “Where would someone get a fruit basket around here?”
“The first place that comes to mind in Highland is the grocers, but they could have come from anywhere.”
“I know.” Vicky sighed. “But it’s the best place to start. No one organized the basket at the inn so…”
“Well, that’s good to know.” A police officer walked into the kitchen just as Vicky was finishing her statement. Vicky presumed he must be one of the new officers in Highland because she hadn’t met him before. “I would like to ask some questions about…”
“We don’t have any statements to make at this time,” Vicky blurted out before thinking. She didn’t want to give a statement when it looked like the inn could have been negligent by sending the poisonous berries to the room.
The officer looked at Vicky with disdain. “I’m assuming that your tune will change when your husband gets here.”
Vicky narrowed her eyes. “Not necessarily.”
“Right, well we need to investigate this thoroughly,” he said. “If that means I need to shut down the inn to do that, I will,” he threatened.
Vicky was stunned by his rude demeanor. She read his name tag.
“Officer Barlett, is it?” She raised an eyebrow. “I wonder if y
our supervisor is aware of the way you treat people?”
“He’s very aware of the way I treat people who refuse to cooperate with an investigation.” Officer Barlett straightened his shoulders. “Now, would you like to give me a statement about those berries?”
“Excuse me, Sir, but that is no way to talk…” Henry began to say. Vicky interrupted him.
“No, Henry, let him be.” She gestured to the officer. “Are we done here?”
Officer Barlett glowered at her but nodded. “For the moment.” He turned and walked away.
“Thank you for your support, Henry,” Vicky said.
“Let’s just hope this is sorted out soon.”
“I hope so,” Vicky replied as she turned and walked out of the kitchen.
Vicky was troubled as she went to find Sarah. She knew that she should have been a little kinder to the officer, especially since Mitchell would likely hear about it, but she was on the defensive, and she was very worried about the future of the inn.
Sarah was just hanging up her phone behind the front desk. She turned to face Vicky with a stricken look.
“Our lawyer says not to say a word.” Sarah blinked back tears. “Vicky, I don’t think that we’re going to get out of this one. We’re going to have to start thinking about what we’re going to do.”
“Sarah, try not to stress too much,” Vicky urged. She hated to see her sister so worried, though she understood why she was. “I’m going to figure out what happened. Chef Henry says the berries could not have come from his kitchen.”
“Good, that’s a start,” Sarah said. “But who sent the basket.”
“I don’t know, but I’m going to try to find out,” she said with determination. “I’m first going to check that Aunt Ida didn’t organize the basket, then I’m going to start with the grocers to see if they know who could have ordered it.”
Sarah nodded vaguely. “I better make a few more calls.”
As she disappeared inside the office, Vicky felt her stomach flip. Things were about to go from bad to worse, and if she didn’t find out the truth fast, her family might just lose everything.
“Vicky?” Ida walked up to her. “What’s going on?”
“Aunt Ida,” Vicky said. “Where have you been?”
“I just went for a walk.”
“Did you organize a basket of fruit to be delivered to Freida?” Vicky asked before explaining anything.
“No, of course not,” Ida said with confusion. “Why?”
“I’ll explain on the way. We need to take a trip, Aunt Ida.” Vicky looked at her aunt. “There’s no time to waste.”
Chapter 11
On the drive to the grocery store Vicky filled Ida in on the poisonous berries. Ida’s expression grew more and more grave with everything that Vicky said. By the time they parked, Ida was just as determined as Vicky.
“We have to find out who did this.” Ida stepped out of the car. Vicky did as well.
“I know!” Vicky held the door of the store open for Ida and then followed her inside. The small grocery store was one of the locally owned businesses that the inn used. It might have been a little cheaper for them to use a larger grocery store from a neighboring town for their supplies, but they felt the investment in the community was worth the extra cost, especially seeing as the store sourced its fresh ingredients locally wherever possible. A man stood behind the counter near the deli. He wore a white apron. His short, black hair was receding in a half moon from his forehead. His cheeks were round and full.
“Excuse me?” Vicky walked towards the counter. The moon looked up at her. Vicky recognized him as John, the owner of the grocery store.
“Hi, Vicky, Ida.” He greeted them with a smile. “How are you today?” He turned fully to face them. Vicky noticed that there were several bins of fresh fruit nearby.
“Not the best, John,” Vicky replied.
“We have had an incident with someone at the inn.” Ida sprang forward with an explanation before Vicky could continue. Vicky knew that it was because Ida was more of the charmer.
“Oh? It’s not Henry I hope?” He stepped around the counter towards them.
“No, one of the guests was delivered a fruit basket yesterday,” Ida explained. “Did anyone order a fruit basket from you yesterday?”
“I don’t think so,” he said thoughtfully. “But I didn’t work all day yesterday.”
“Is there any way you can check, please?” Ida asked.
“Sure.” He walked over to the computer and tapped a few keys. “Yes, there were a couple of fruit baskets ordered yesterday.” Vicky tried not to show any reaction as she didn’t want him to stop giving them information. And she had a feeling he would stop if he knew the severity of what had occurred.
“Can you tell who ordered them please?” Ida asked hopefully.
John tapped a few more keys and then shook his head. “No, I can’t. They both paid cash and took them with them. I wasn’t working, but I can call Lukey and see if he remembers.”
“Thank you,” Ida said. Vicky and Ida exchanged a nervous glance as John picked up the phone. He dialed the number and then waited.
“He’s not picking up.” He shook his head and hung up. “He’s going on vacation today, but I can try get hold of him later.”
“Can you call us when you get hold of him, please?” Ida asked with a smile.
“Of course,” John replied.
“Thank you,” Ida said.
“What’s all of this about, anyway?”
Ida hesitated and then began explaining “There were poisonous berries in the basket.” Ida met his eyes directly. “The recipient passed away.”
“Poisonous berries?” he gasped. “But how?”
“We presume they must have been put in the basket by mistake,” Vicky explained.
The man stared at her with a mixture of shock and concern. “Are you trying to say that you think I provided the poisonous berries?” He looked from Vicky to Ida, who he seemed to think was more reasonable. “That’s not possible!”
“How isn’t it possible?” Vicky asked. “If the berries were in the basket and the basket came from your store.”
“No!” the grocer said with conviction. “They did not come from my store. Why would I deal in poisonous berries?” He shook his head. “I don’t stock berries at the moment at all. The varieties grown locally aren’t in season and I only stock what’s in season. Have a look for yourself,” he said as he gestured to the crates of fruit.
“Okay.” All of the vigor had left Vicky’s voice as she ran her eyes over all the fruit. There were no berries in sight. She felt even more confused than she had been when she first arrived.
“Thanks for your time.” Ida smiled. “Please let us know if you get hold of Lukey.”
“I will.” John nodded, but he wasn’t smiling.
“We should go,” Ida whispered to Vicky.
“All right.” Vicky didn’t really want to leave. She didn’t want to walk out of the grocery store with no idea of what had happened to Freida. She didn’t want to have to go back to Sarah with even more confusion. Where did the berries come from?
As her aunt stepped out the door, Vicky followed after her. She had convinced herself the berries had come from the grocer. Now there was no proof of that. Still, Vicky questioned whether the grocer was telling the truth. Had he slipped some berries into the order and then found out that they were poisonous and thrown them away? Had he put them in there by mistake? Or worse, had he added them on purpose?
Ida started the car, but before she backed out of the parking space she turned to look at Vicky.
“You look so upset, sweetheart.” She frowned. “What’s going on in your head?”
Vicky exhaled and felt as if she was ready to explode. “If the berries didn’t come from the grocery store then where did they come from? If they weren’t in the fruit basket when it was prepared then how did they get in?”
“That’s presuming that the basket that
was delivered was from the grocers,” Ida reminded her.
“I know,” Vicky admitted. “But how will we ever find out where the fruit basket came from if it wasn’t from the grocers. It is very annoying.”
“Oh, I see.” Ida nodded. “You’re right, that is frustrating. Maybe we need to stop chasing the fruit for a bit, and focus instead on who might have wanted Freida dead.”
“I have a feeling it is not going to be a very short list.”
Chapter 12
As soon as Ida and Vicky returned to the inn, Vicky headed straight for her apartment. Ida was right on her heels.
“What’s the plan?” Ida asked.
“The plan is to hunt down the truth about what Freida was up to, and who her enemies were.” Vicky opened the door to the apartment and rushed inside. She moved so fast that she nearly collided with Mitchell who was turning to face her. “Oops. Sorry, Mitchell.” She took a slight step back. When she saw Mitchell’s expression she was glad she did. He did not look very pleased to see her.
“I was looking for you.” His voice was even as he settled his gaze upon her.
“I’ll just be out here.” Ida avoided entering the apartment. Vicky slowly closed the door behind her.
“Well, here I am.” She smiled at him.
“Can I ask you why it is that you told my officer that he couldn’t question you?” Mitchell frowned.
“Your officer?” Vicky stared at him for a moment. “Mitchell, are you the investigating detective on this case?”
“Not exactly.” He cleared his throat. “There is quite a conflict of interest, so another detective was assigned the case, but I have asked him to keep me in the loop. I did that to make sure that you and Sarah would be treated fairly. However, I didn’t expect you not to offer the same courtesy to me.”
“First of all your officer was rude to me.” Vicky crossed her arms. “Secondly, we have to cover ourselves legally, Mitchell. If we give interviews, that could be used against us later.”