Spoiled Rotten

by Mary Jackman

  “Have you been to sleep yet, David?” It was my turn to say how awful he looked, but uncharacteristically I held it back.

  “Too busy to sleep. After Mrs. Vieira made the complaint about Mrs. Kozinski attacking her, I decided to bring both of them in for questioning. Especially since Kosinzski claimed it was the other way around. She charged that Cecilia Vieira came to her apartment, threatened, and then attacked her there. I needed time to interview them separately in order to validate their stories.”

  “I was more concerned for Cecilia’s safety than anything. Boy was I wrong.”

  “Listen Liz, it was a toss-up right from the beginning. Don’t feel too bad, you led us to Louise. When we brought her in, she bawled liked a baby. Not Cecilia Vieira, though. She didn’t shed a tear, in fact she was defiant with an unmistakable air of superiority hard at work. Most criminals are egoists and she was no exception.”

  “What time was this?”

  “After our phone conversation last night, you said you saw Louise in the crowd of spectators outside Toscano’s. I radioed down with a description to pick her up and they found her wandering around in a daze. In the meantime, I found Mrs. Vieira at home. She wasn’t too happy about being interrupted. It looked like she was celebrating with a magnum of champagne in her hand when she came to the door. The one question that constantly nagged me was why she never got very sick after ingesting the rat poison.”

  “I know what you mean. I thought it was very lucky she didn’t like red meat. It saved her from a fatal overdose.”

  “Luck or a calculated mistake to make her look innocent. After the hospital pumped out her stomach, they found no trace of the poison the contents. We knew she vomited before the ambulance arrived, but it was cleaned up by the convention staff immediately along with the councillor’s vomit. Forensics went through the stomach contents, but at the time no one thought it was murder. It was just assumed to be a lethal case of food poisoning. Her bite of meat may have had only a little in it, but it didn’t make sense.

  “I shuffled through my desk for a picture of the sit-down dinner taken by a newspaper reporter. The picture showed a close-up of Mrs. Vieira with Albright sitting close beside her. She was holding up her fork with a piece of steak on the end of it, supposedly from his plate. It didn’t show her actually eating it,” Winn said, thoughtfully.

  “Could someone have doctored the food after she was photographed sharing the councillor’s breakfast — a waiter or another guest?” I asked.

  “Could have, but we questioned everyone and found no connections whatsoever. I wondered about the recent changes to Tony’s will. The notarized date on the new will showed that it had been changed a week ago. Right before Tony was murdered. Louise claimed that she didn’t have any knowledge of the bequest until two days ago. Cecilia says that Louise knew all along. There was one other person I needed to question concerning the will.”

  “Who?” How many more players were going to star in this twisted production?

  “Vieira’s estate lawyer. He just got back from Portugal. I spoke with him this morning. Mr. Vieira apparently came to his office last week in a total frenzy and asked that his will be changed. In the event that anything happen to him all his properties would be left to Louise Kozinski.”

  “Could he do that?”

  “Not according to the lawyer. That is to say, not on the properties he purchased with his wife’s name on the deeds, but the cheese shop was his alone.”

  “He knew the deal on the condos would go south without Louise’s place. Was it just out of spite he changed the will or a safety rope in case he suspected his wife of double dealing? He would want to sell the properties as soon as possible if that were the case. Maybe he thought she was going to divorce him and hook up with Albright. She’d still need that property and she couldn’t get her hands on it without him. She’d have to stay married to him.”

  “In other words, he never intended for Louise to inherit her father’s store back. So much for their romantic involvement. She actually liked the guy.”

  “Too bad she trusted him. Sounds like a case of Stockholm syndrome — she fell in love with her captor.”

  “I’m glad you said that and not me,” Winn remarked. “In reality, he was unwittingly setting the stage for his own death, and supplying Louise with motive for murder. Cecilia must have believed he was serious about the will and she was angry about the double-cross. It’s even possible he threatened her with divorce when he found out about her affair, and knowing it might take years of probate to iron it all out, Cecilia took a short-cut. She would still inherit the other properties.”

  “And she would still make a lot of money even with separate townhouses built on the site.”

  “What your son said last night sunk in after about twenty coffees,” said Winn. “After Cecilia disappeared this morning, I ran a background on her to get the address where she was born. I was hoping I could track down family or old friends. Lo and behold, the security card she used for ID belonged to a ‘Cecilia Santos,’ who has been dead for twenty years.”

  “She was building her own empire. Where did she get the money to buy the other real estate?”

  “Now this is a big leap, but we think Cecilia ran the operation on her own and Tony, well, either he didn’t care, or he didn’t know. Probably didn’t know, he really was just the butcher man after all.”

  “Last question, why kill Albright?”

  “Possibly the same reason she killed her husband. She didn’t want to share. The councillor probably assumed that with Tony gone, he would become heir to his throne.”

  “There’s still Maria’s murder,” I pointed out.

  “That’s easy,” said Winn. Boy, he could be cocky when he wanted to be. “She killed Maria to shut her up about the card scam. Without Maria’s testimony, IMO can’t confirm the source of origin. And perhaps Maria didn’t even know. We thought Anthony and Cecilia Vieira ran the operation at ground level, now we think it was all Cecilia’s doing. As to how high up the conspiracy goes, we’ll have to investigate further to find out. I’m afraid our agent ‘Inez’ won’t want to be involved this time.”

  “Inez is lovely,” I said looking out the passenger window.

  I felt Winn’s eyes on me. “What’s that got to do with anything?”

  I shrugged my shoulders and continued to stare out the window.

  Winn continued, “Between conscious and unconscious states, Arthur Tilson provided us with enough of a statement to issue a warrant to search the Vieira house. We discovered concentrated rat poison in a perfume bottle in Cecilia’s medicine cabinet and when we jacked open the wall safe, we found a gold plastic bag containing a knife wrapped in a torn safety apron and a protective chain-mail vest. The DNA lab will have the evidence back tomorrow, but I didn’t need it to arrest her.”

  “Maria carried her costume in a gold bag. A trophy for Cecilia, perhaps?”

  “Until we find her, we’ll have to wait to ask. She was gone from the house by the time we did the search.

  “Is Louise still locked up?”

  “We let her go after she gave us her personal history on Mrs. Vieira’s background. Apparently when Cecilia first arrived in Toronto, she applied for a job at the Cheese Emporium. She had a certificate in Deli Management from Lisbon, which qualified her to be a skilled butcher of smoked meats and fish. Louise wanted to hire her, but she couldn’t afford to, despite the fact that she would have been good for a faltering business. She was quite beautiful and young and despite the gravelly timbre to her voice, quite charming. Louise sent her along to Quality Meats, knowing that Tony would hire her. He did, and a year later wedding bells rang.”

  “What about Tilson? If he lives, what are you going to charge him with?”

  “I think that accessory to murder, conspiracy to murder, and attempted murder should cover it.”

  “You said you talked to him, what did he tell you?”

  “He said to tell you he was sorry. His conscien
ce made him save you once, but he couldn’t do it again or else the love of his life would leave him.”

  “He was the one who called the police about me in the Dumpster?

  “Yup, poor dupe.”

  “Hey, he tried to kill me.”

  “Love is blind. I didn’t have the heart to tell him she disappeared.”

  “Cecilia probably initiated the affair with Arthur Tilson. Unlikely too many women like her would give him the time of day.”

  “He had no idea who he was dealing with. He was way out of his league. By the time Mrs. Vieira convinced him to help her; she had already administered a fatal dose of poison to Albright and chopped up her husband. And that was just for starters.”

  “If you weren’t such a buttinski, she wouldn’t have bothered with you. She planned all along to frame Tilson for the poisoning and Louise for Mr. Tony’s and Maria’s murders. She would be a very rich lady if it weren’t for you.”

  “Do you think she’ll come after me?”

  “We’ll find her before that happens. She has nowhere to go. I’ve got men placed outside Superior Meats and her home. We found a great deal of cash in the store safe. I surprised her at her home, so I doubt she has much money. We’re waiting for her to show.” He looked over at me. “Don’t worry, she’ll be lucky to get out of prison before she’s ninety.”

  I was thinking the prospect over when Winn’s cell rang and he answered quickly, “Winn here. Yes, yes, all right, don’t do anything. I’m five minutes away, thanks.”

  He reached under his seat and pulled out a plastic portable emergency light. Arm through the window, he placed it on the roof and a second later, the rotating red flash lit up the car.

  “Remember Nathan, the homeless guy? He just spotted Cecilia in the alley. He followed her to Superior Meats, but when she saw the police she bolted. He lost track of her, but she’s around, I’m sure.”

  We were on University, speeding along side streets and reached the market in under five. Winn turned into the alley behind the meat store. He turned off the flashing light and coasted along quietly. He passed the uniforms standing outside the back door and motioned to them. They shook their heads.

  “She’s hiding here somewhere and needs money. She can’t get into the store, where could she be?” I looked along the alley. The rear doors to all the stores were shut tight. Most of them had security alarm doors that didn’t even have handles on the outside, only locks for specifically made keys.

  Then I remembered that there was one place that left the back door open. Air conditioning was out of the question with the large ovens going all the time. Even in winter, a door or window was always left open to allow a draft.

  “Try the bakery,” I said. “It’s near the end of the alley.”

  Sure enough, the door was open. Winn silently pulled the cruiser in behind the store.

  “Wait here.”

  “No, I’m coming with you.”

  “Shit.”

  I stopped at the doorway, allowing Winn to get ahead of me. A dark man, arms speckled with flour and lost, deep in private thought, was slowly rolling around a clump of dough on a heavy wooden table. He barely looked up when Winn showed him his badge. At this time of day, he was the only baker in the kitchen. The other areas, nearer the ovens, cleaned and ready to go, would be filled later with bustling activity throughout the wee hours of the night.

  The air was close, scented with cinnamon and chocolate, and the rhythmic kneading motion of his hands, over and under, tuck, over, and under, tuck, were lulling me to sleep. Winn had disappeared into the front of the store and was showing the clerk a photo. I watched the man with the quiet face until I thought I was going to faint. I couldn’t really sit down without getting flour all over my clothes and decided to go back outside. The fresh air revived me, and, standing by a small barred window set into the back wall, I watched for Winn to come back.

  I looked at the large bags of flour standing loosely about the room and noticed a large mound of flour spilled in one corner. I wondered how they dealt with the health department. It would be impossible to keep the floors clean. I looked again. There were handprints on the floor outlined in the spilt flour. One of the bags moved.

  Frozen, I watched Winn walk into the room. The bag fell over with a heavy thud and flour showered the air. Cecilia Vieira shoved it out of the way and, jumping from behind it, dove at Winn’s legs. He was thrown off balance and teetered. Then he slipped in the flour and slammed to the ground onto his back. Cecilia bent over, lifting a knife high in the air, ready to plunge. I ran through the door, the baker whistled shrilly, and tossed me a rolling pin the size of a baseball bat. I caught it and yelled, “Hey, Cecilia, want a chocolate?”

  She twisted around and screamed, “You stupid, interfering bitch!” Then she lunged.

  I swung the bat and landed it squarely on the top of her head. Cecilia folded onto her knees and collapsed. The baker threw his hands in the air and hollered,

  “She’s out!”

  THE END

  (Well, not quite.)

  epilogue

  * * *

  The good news is that my son Jon and Susan, the police rookie, are engaged. I have their assurances they will both finish their degrees and live together for a year before planning a wedding.

  The bad news is that I’ve been stood up. Winn was supposed to pick me up at Walker’s Way twenty minutes ago, except he called and said he wasn’t coming. His wife got wind of the fact he was interested in another woman and has apparently reconsidered her position. If nothing else, he said he had to talk it over with her and he owed it to her. I understood didn’t I? Of course I understood. There’s a picture of me in the dictionary beside the word.

  In the meantime, it wasn’t all bad. The restaurant was packed, the customers were swooning over Daniel’s food, and Rick, one arm in a cast, was dazzling a bevy of teachers and looking as if he just won the lottery. I had a bowl of cognac in front of me soon to be consumed and was contentedly watching the happy customers while jazz murmured softly in the background and the cat was playing with a …

  CHEQUE, PLEASE!

  glossary

  * * *

  Bag of Bones

  A bag of fresh bones from the butcher used to make a concentrated stock base

  Bag of white

  A ten-pound quantity of chicken breast with the bone out

  Bar Back

  Open bottles of house wines or liquor. Can also refer to second bartender in command

  BOLO

  A police alert meaning “Be on the Lookout”

  Bucket of Death

  A pail of water with a miniature tilting gang plank

  Comp

  A free drink or food bought by the house. (establishment)

  Covers

  Number of meals served to customers in a given period

  Deck

  On deck, referring to food orders waiting in sequence to be filled by the chef

  Demi glace

  A base made from veal bones

  El dente

  Translated literally means “to the tooth,” (not cooked to mush!)

  Expediter

  Person who controls pick-up and delivery of plated foods

  Garland

  A common brand of commercial oven used primarily in restaurants

  Hobart

  Large upright floor model dough mixer

  “In the weeds”

  When the chef has more orders than he can handle

  Plated

  Prepared meal waiting to be served

  Prima vera

  Pasta mixed with vegetables. A vegetarian alternative on most menus

  Rail

  A trough containing easy access bottles of the most common house-brand liquor

  Reach-in

  Refrigerator you reach into with your hands. Side by side, with two full length doors that open out in the middle

  Salamander

  A broiler attached to the top of a stov
e range used to heat flash foods, a separate unit

  Spaghetti Carbonara

  Pasta with ham or bacon, eggs, and cream finished with parmesan cheese. Should only be eaten by those unconcerned with weight or cholesterol

  Stiff

  Person who doesn’t tip or is dead (same thing, really)

  Supremes

  Chicken breast and upper wing, bone out in the breast

  Two fingers

  Two ounces

  Walk-in

  A refrigerated room you can walk into

  Whites

  Kitchen uniforms, chef coats, pants, shirts, and aprons

  Wood flour

  Ground sawdust used to smoke meats

  Copyright © Mary Jackman, 2012

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise (except for brief passages for purposes of review) without the prior permission of Dundurn Press. Permission to photocopy should be requested from Access Copyright.

  Editor: Shannon Whibbs

  Design: Courtney Horner

  Epub Design: Carmen Giraudy

  Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

  Jackman, Mary (Mary Elizabeth)

  Spoiled rotten [electronic resource] : a Liz Walker mystery / Mary Jackman.

  Type of computer file: Electronic monograph.

  Issued also in print format.

  ISBN 978-1-4597-0142-7

  I. Title.

  PS8619.A227S66 2012 C813'.6 C2011-906003-5

  We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund and Livres Canada Books, and the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Book Publishing Tax Credit and the Ontario Media Development Corporation.