“What are we going to do about Christmas dinner?”
“Well, with any luck, they will be able to finish up their investigation soon and we can get back to cooking. I’ll help you out; now that Natalie is injured, I wouldn’t want to ask anyone else to do it.”
It took the police a while to get through the kitchen and make sure everything else was safe. Natalie left for the hospital to get her burns treated, and everyone in the assisted living home wished her well. Brandon insisted on staying, and Autumn did her best to ignore him. She wished that he would just listen to her and leave; he was choosing the wrong time to act chivalrous.
At last, the police determined that the kitchen was safe. They had been unable to find any evidence of foul play. They suggested to Nick that he implement some basic safety training for anyone who was working in the kitchen, then left.
“Are you willing to help me with dinner?” Nick asked her. “I don’t want you to stay if you feel unsafe. No one will blame you if you don’t want to cook anymore.”
“I’ll stay,” she said with a sigh. “I wouldn’t feel right leaving, not with my aunt and uncle here, and not with you here. I would feel terrible if someone else got hurt.”
“All right, let’s get to work. Dinner might be a bit late, but I think we still have time. Do you want to ask your boyfriend to help?”
“Brandon? We aren’t dating. We broke up a while back. I don’t know what he’s doing here, but I already told him I’m not interested.”
His face seemed to relax a bit. He gave her a small smile. “Do you want me to ask him to leave?”
She glanced through the kitchen door, where she saw Brandon talking with her uncle and helping her aunt drink a glass of water.
“No,” she said. “They like him, and he’s a good guy. Let him stay if he wants to. I don’t think he has anywhere else to go, anyway. His family all lives out of town.”
Nick nodded, and the two of them began work on Christmas dinner. Even though she was jumpy, nothing else happened. It seemed that the police had been right; there were no further booby-traps in the kitchen.
A couple of hours later, Autumn pulled the freshly baked bread out of the oven with a feeling of deep satisfaction. Despite everything that had happened, she and Nick had managed to pull together a wonderful Christmas dinner.
After the bread had had a few minutes to cool, she began to cut it into slices. Eager to try a bite of her creation, she cut a small slice for herself. She buttered it, then raised the warm bread to her lips.
A moment later, she spit the bite out in disgust.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
* * *
“What’s wrong?” Nick asked, turning to her with concern on his face. His sleeves were rolled up, and he had an apron tied around his waist.
“It’s salty,” she said. “Way too salty.”
Frowning, he tasted a piece of the bread himself, and spit it out immediately. “How did this happen?”
She had no answers. Worried, they tasted everything. The pot roast and fruit salad were both fine, but the gravy and the pie crusts were all way too salty.
“There must be something wrong with the flour,” he said.
She pulled the bag of flour out of the pantry and tasted a tiny bit. She could tell immediately what was wrong. Granules of salt had been mixed in with the flour.
“Okay,” she said, “this cannot be an accident. Nick, you have to admit that something is going on here.”
He gazed at the flour, and she saw sadness on his face. “You’re right. But who? Who would do this? Why would someone want you out of the kitchen so badly? Why kill Benson?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “Whatever’s going on, it has to have something to do with the job position, doesn’t it? Whoever is doing this doesn’t seem to be targeting anyone in particular. We should start looking through the applications.”
“All right. We’ve got about half an hour before everyone will be ready. Let’s leave the food on warmers, and go to my office. We can look at the applications together. I don’t want to involve the police in this until after dinner, though. Everyone’s looking forward to this dinner so much. We will just have to put some frozen rolls in the oven and use one of the gravy mixes.”
“Agreed. Let’s go look now, though. I won’t feel safe until we know who it is.”
They returned to his office, shutting the door behind them. He pulled the blinds shut, then took a stack of papers out of the drawer, handing her half.
“You start with these, I’ll take the other half. Look for people that live locally, or have relatives in the home. Whoever did this would’ve had to have been here all three days that something happened.”
They began pouring through the applications. Autumn cross-referenced the names with the names of the residents, and looked for any possible connection between them. There weren’t too many applications, and it didn’t take long until one of them found something promising.
“Look at this,” he said. “Jimmy Zimmer. He applied before Cook Benson died. That’s a bit suspicious, isn’t it?”
“That’s very suspicious,” she said.
“We were looking for a temporary cook, since our other cook is out on maternity leave, so it may not mean anything, but look at this… He applied again a few days after Cook Benson died. We should talk to his grandmother and see if she can tell us anything. She might remember where he was on those days.”
Taking the application, Nick left the room. Autumn followed him, wondering if this could really be it. Had this Jimmy person tried to kill her? Just how badly could he want the job?
Nick stopped outside of Mrs. Zimmer’s room. He knocked on the door, and said, “Mrs. Zimmer? It’s Mr. Holt. I’d like to speak to you for a second.”
“Come on in,” she called faintly. He pushed open the door and Autumn followed him. Ms. Zimmer was sitting on her chair, reading a book.
“Can we sit down?” Nick asked her. She nodded, and the two of them sat on the couch.
“We just want to ask you some questions about your grandson. He sent a couple applications in for the job as the new cook. He seems pretty interested in the job. Could you tell me anything about him?”
“Oh, yes. He’s always wanted to cook. He is so skilled in the kitchen. He always made the best meals for us. I practically raised him, you know. He lost his job a couple of months ago, poor thing, and has been searching so hard ever since.”
Nick exchanged a look with Autumn. That could be motive, right there.
“Mrs. Zimmer, do you know if your grandson was here earlier today?”
“Why yes, he stopped in to give me my gift, and he told me he would be back later for dinner.”
“Do you remember if he visited the Sunday that Benson passed away?”
“He was there for dinner…” She trailed off. “Now, Mr. Holt, I’m sure I’m wrong about this, but it sure sounds to me like you are accusing him of something.”
Nick opened his mouth, but at that moment the door to the room opened. In walked a man about Autumn’s age. He looked between his grandmother and Nick.
“Is everything all right?” he asked.
“Oh, Jimmy, I’m glad you’re here. This man is making a horrible accusation.”
“You’re accusing my grandmother of something?” Jimmy asked, his face reddening. “How dare you? You are just like all of the other homes out there, trying to take advantage of the elderly.”
“Now, Mr. Zimmer – can I call you Jimmy? I…”
“No, I don’t want to hear it. As soon as I get a job, I’m taking my grandmother out of here.”
“Jimmy, they aren’t accusing me,” the older woman said. “They were accusing you.”
Jimmy froze. “What?”
“It’s just, a few things have come to our attention. We know that you were here earlier today, and that you were there when Benson passed away. I don’t want to upset you, but I am going to insist that you talk to the police. I’m sure this
is all a big misunderstanding, but I have to do my best to protect the people here, and whoever has been sabotaging the kitchen is putting everyone in danger.”
“You think I hurt those people?” he asked, looking stunned. “I would never hurt anyone, not for a stupid job like this. I don’t even want to work here anymore, not after this.”
“I’m sorry, Jimmy, but you are going to need to calm down. I am going to call the police.”
“Nick, wait,” Autumn said. She had spotted something on Mrs. Zimmer’s messy desk. Two syringes with the word epinephrine on them. Nick followed her gaze, then they both turned to look at Mrs. Zimmer.
“What is this? This is insane.” Jimmy made a fist and took a step closer. He hadn’t seen their look. Nick rose, tensing.
“Enough,” the older woman said. “Jimmy didn’t do anything.”
“I know he didn’t, Mrs. Zimmer,” he said. “I got this all wrong, didn’t I?”
“What’s going on?” Jimmy said, looking between them.
“I did it, Jimmy. I did it for you and your family, so you would have a nice job to take care of them.”
“W-what? Gramma, don’t say things like that. You don’t have to protect me. I’m innocent.”
“I did it, Jimmy. I knew Benson was allergic to peanut butter, so I sprinkled a little bit of the powder in his drink. I took away those syringes, and hid the keys. I thought if he left, it would give you the opening you needed to get this job. You’ve always dreamed of having your own kitchen, Jimmy. You could have cooked for me every day.”
“Did you do the burners on the stove, too? That almost killed me,” Autumn said.
“I would have been sorry if you died, dear, but Jimmy is my family. I’m not going to be around much longer, and spending the rest of my life in prison wouldn’t be the end of the world if it meant my grandson would be able to support his wife and child. I’m sorry poor Natalie got hurt, but it sounds like she will be just fine.”
“And the salt in the flour?” Nick said.
“I figured if everything else failed, you might be asked to leave if you wrecked Christmas dinner.”
Jimmy stared at his grandmother. “I can’t believe this,” he said. “You did this? You hurt those people? You killed someone?”
“It was for you, dear. You need the work so badly, and I knew that if this man just gave you a chance, you would impress him.”
Nick was shaking his head. “Mrs. Zimmer, please stay in your seat. Autumn, would you call the police? I need to keep an eye on her.”
“I will.” Autumn rose, and edged around Jimmy, who was staring at his grandmother in horror. She hurried to the office and got her phone out of her coat pocket. She dialed 911, and waited anxiously for someone to answer. The kitchen saboteur had been discovered, but she found herself wishing that Nick had been right and it had all been a string of coincidences. Her heart was broken for Jimmy. Maybe his grandmother’s mind wasn’t as clear as it once had been, but there was no getting around the fact that in trying to help him, she had killed one person, and had nearly killed others.
EPILOGUE
* * *
Autumn sat down at the table with her aunt and uncle. They each had plates of pot roast in front of them, with bowls of fruit salad, and piping hot dinner rolls. In the kitchen, two pans of chocolate cake were cooling; she would have to go and frost them in a few minutes. With chocolate icing, warm caramel sauce, and vanilla ice cream, it might not be as traditional as pumpkin pie, but it would still make for a delicious dessert. She thought they had done well, considering what they had been forced to deal with.
They were the only ones who knew what had happened. The other residents hadn’t been told yet. She and Nick had discussed it, and had decided to let them enjoy Christmas with their families. They would address the issue the next day. As some of the surprise over who the culprit was wore off, Autumn realized that she should have made the connection sooner. Mrs. Zimmer had been there each time that something had happened. If only she had been a little quicker on the uptake, Natalie might not have been injured.
Nick wasn’t completely without blame either. He had been in denial that the incidents were linked. If he had simply looked a little harder, he might have discovered Mrs. Zimmer before she got the chance to hurt anyone else.
In the end, Autumn knew that both of them could have done better, but it wasn’t either of their faults. She would drive herself crazy if she blamed herself for this. The important thing was, Mrs. Zimmer had been caught, and wouldn’t be hurting anyone else.
On the upside, Brandon had finally left. She had the feeling that her Uncle Albert had something to do with it, but she didn’t bring it up at the table. She felt bad for Brandon, but she didn’t want to get back together with him. He wasn’t right for her, and she wasn’t right for him. It was time that they both found their own ways without each other.
She hadn’t seen Nick since the police had taken the older woman away. She thought that he might have retreated to his office. She knew that the incident with Mrs. Zimmer had saddened him deeply. He cared about everyone he was responsible for, and had tried extremely hard to convince himself that none of his residents or staff were to blame. She hoped that he would come to terms with things soon, and not blame himself for too long.
“Don’t look so gloomy, dear,” her Uncle Albert said. “This is Christmas, it’s a time to be happy. Your aunt and I are thrilled that you’re having Christmas dinner with us. You did a marvelous job. The pot roast is great. I’m sorry that there was a mishap with the bread, but no one will complain about the dinner rolls once they learn what happened.”
“Thanks, Uncle Albert,” she said. “Merry Christmas. I’m glad I get to spend it with the two of you too.”
“Merry Christmas,” he replied, smiling at her. Her aunt, unable to speak, patted her arm instead and gave her a lopsided smile. Unable to imagine how frustrating it must be to be unable to speak, she gave her aunt’s hand an extra squeeze.
“I love both of you, you know that, right? There’s nowhere I would rather be.”
“You know the funny thing?” her Uncle Albert said. “There’s nowhere I would rather be either. If you would have asked me five years ago if I wanted to spend Christmas in an assisted living facility, I would’ve probably had a heart attack from laughing so hard, but right now I just feel lucky that I get to spend it with my wonderful wife and my niece. The people here are good people, and it has really started to feel like home to us. Part of that is thanks to you, Autumn.”
“I know what you mean,” Autumn said. “This town has really become home to me, too. I’m going to do everything I can to stay here, even though the store will be shutting down.”
She knew that she was going to take Nick’s offer. Her uncle was right. This assisted living home was a good place, and the people here were like family to her. She would keep working at Green River Grocery until it closed, and then she would come here to start her new job, and her new life. Just a few weeks ago, she had thought that her life was falling apart before her eyes, but now she felt the beginnings of hope. She had a chance to start a new career, one that she was excited about, and she hadn’t made what might have been the mistake of her life in getting engaged to Brandon. She only had one life, and she didn’t want to just live it, she wanted to enjoy it, and make the world a better place while she did.
Small Town Murder Page 7