Murdered by Country Music: A High Desert Cozy Mystery

by Dianne Harman

  CHAPTER 9

  After the sheriff arrived at the crime scene he personally interviewed John and Max for two hours. Jeff stayed with them, but since neither of them knew anything about the murder, the conversation was more of the sheriff trying to get John and Max to change their story or admit to something about which they had no knowledge. Finally, he said, “All right, you can go back to work at your food truck. Obviously there will be an investigation, and I’m sure we’ll be talking again. I’m expecting my crime scene investigators to be here momentarily to dust Jacques’ motor home for fingerprints. Oh, one other thing. Don’t go out of town.” With that warning he stood up and walked out the door.

  “I can’t believe it,” John said. “I have the feeling he thinks one of us or both of us did it. You’re the lawman, Jeff. Sound right?”

  “John, think about it. You were accused of murder by Jacques’ assistant. Of course he had to interrogate both of you, and I’m sure he’ll do it again. I do think it’s kind of strange that Jacques and his assistant had separate motor homes. That’s a big expense. Wonder why they didn’t want to share one. What do you know about the assistant, this guy named Ned Billings?”

  “Not much. I understand he and Jacques go way back and at one time both of them were pretty heavy into drugs. Ned went into rehab because his wife threatened to leave him if he didn’t clean up his act. Evidently he got pretty involved in Narcotics Anonymous and goes to group meetings almost daily. Of course that’s just hearsay. We worked in the same restaurant for a while, but since then I’ve only talked to the guy a couple of times.”

  “You mentioned there were rumors that Jacques had been in rehab but now was probably back on drugs. It seems strange to me that Ned would work with Jacques if he was back on drugs.”

  “I don’t know,” John said. “I’m just telling you what I’ve heard over the years. They have a history, and Jacques was a pretty well-known chef several years ago when he had his television show. Maybe Ned felt it was better for his career to stay with Jacques, no matter what he was doing.”

  “Well, back to the sheriff. I just wish you hadn’t been quite so vocal about your dislike for Jacques, and you too, Max. This isn’t helping your situation, and it will probably put you at the top of the sheriff’s list of suspects.”

  “It may not help the situation, but neither Max nor I killed Jacques. Come on, Jeff, you saw how tired I was last night, and you were with me until we all went to bed.”

  “What I’m going to say isn’t going to make you happy, but keep in mind this is what I do for a living – solve cases like this. The bottom line is that we were with you, we went to bed, but none of the four of us know what you did after we left your motor home. Do I think either one of you is responsible for Jacques’ murder? Absolutely not. I’m simply thinking like the sheriff is probably thinking, and you need to be aware of it so you can protect yourself. What we need to do is find out who murdered Jacques so both of your names can be cleared. Do you understand what I’m saying? This is pretty serious, guys.”

  “Yes, Jeff, I understand exactly what you’re saying, but right now I need to get ready for a hungry crowd that will probably be even bigger than yesterday given the fact that a murder took place in our general area. Come on Max. We’ll deal with this later.”

  “Okay. Time to get to work,” Jeff said. “The others have been doing prep work. Give us our marching orders, and we’ll get through today.”

  *****

  A few minutes later the three of them walked over to The Red Pony and were greeted by Marty. “John, I’m so glad you’re here. Laura and I’ve done about as much as we can do without you telling us what you need. I told her yesterday I’d handle the counter for at least half the day. Les took care of the outside set-up, and it’s ready to go.”

  John looked in the refrigerator, cupboard, and drawers and said, “Les, Jeff, let me make a list of what I’m going to want you to get from the motor homes. I stashed a lot of food in them, and I’m going to need it. After you’ve cleaned out the motor homes I need you to go over to the little house next to the ranch house. The owner told us we could use it to store extra food. Take the food that’s got my name on it. I wrote it on the packages with a black marking pen when we got here, and put the packages in the little house so we could easily get them when they were needed. Please get over there as quickly as you can. We really don’t have much time.”

  The remaining hours of the morning flew by, and promptly at noon the line in front of The Red Pony began to form. Around three in the afternoon the crowds thinned a little, and Marty asked Laura if she’d fill in for her while she took a break. She sat down at one of the outdoor tables and was joined a few moments later by Jeff who looked perplexed.

  “Why the frown?” Marty asked.

  “I can’t put my finger on it, but there is definitely something off at the French Food Obsession. When they opened the line was longer than yesterday, but now it’s dwindled to a trickle. The blond that’s Jeb’s daughter, Brianna, was one of the first ones in line. I saw her leave without any food, and she didn’t look happy. As a matter of fact, a lot of the people who were some of the first to stand in line left without getting anything. That strikes me as really odd.”

  “Tell you what,” Marty said. “We never did get the breakfast I promised to make, and I’m hungry. Since I was the one who stood in line over there yesterday, maybe I can find out something. The line is pretty short right now, so I should be back in a few minutes.”

  Marty walked over to the French Food Obsession food truck and stood in line. The woman at the head of the line gave her order to Ned. Marty couldn’t hear what she ordered, but evidently they were either out of it or she decided she didn’t want it, because she turned around and walked away with no food. As she was leaving Marty overheard her say to someone standing in line behind Marty, “Forget it, Stacie, no more specials. The chef was murdered last night, and that’s the end of that. We’ll have to go somewhere else.” Marty noticed three other people who were standing in line walk away when they overheard what she said.

  When it was Marty’s turn, she said, “I’d like a piece of the quiche Lorraine.” Ned peered at her and said, “Aren’t you with The Red Pony?”

  “Yes, I’m helping John. I decided to take a break.”

  “I’m surprised he’s still here. Thought he’d be in the local jail by now charged with the murder of Jacques,” he said as he handed her a plate with the quiche on it. Several of the customers standing in line behind Marty were intently following the conversation. “Yeah, I sure wouldn’t want to eat at The Red Pony, since the guy who runs it is the person who killed Jacques,” Ned said in a raised voice, clearly wanting as many people as possible to hear him.

  “John had nothing to do with his murder, and you’ll regret you ever accused him of it,” Marty said angrily as she turned away from the food truck window.

  “Well, you can tell him for me that I know he killed Jacques, because Jacques was a far better chef than that little pipsqueak will ever be. It was a pure and simple case of jealousy, only Jacques was murdered because of it.”

  Marty ignored him and carried her plate back to the table where Jeff was waiting for her. “Marty, I couldn’t help but overhear Ned. If it turns out that John didn’t kill Jacques, John can sue Ned for slander. I think that was pretty stupid on his part to say what he just said to you.”

  “Jeff, I won’t even acknowledge you said ‘if it turns out John didn’t kill him’. There is no way John killed him. For Pete’s sake, he carries spiders he finds in his bathtub outside and turns them loose, because he doesn’t believe in killing any living thing, even a spider. We need to find out who did this. My purse is in the Pony, and I have a pen and writing pad in it. Let’s start thinking what we can do to help John by making a list of possible suspects. I’ll be back in a minute.”

  “I had a bite of that quiche while you were inside,” he said a few minutes later. “It’s really pretty good.”<
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  “Guess I ordered the right thing,” she said as she sat down. “Okay, we have Jeb Rhodes and his daughter Brianna...” She was interrupted by the ringing of Jeff’s cell phone. He made a motion to her indicating he was going behind the truck to take the call because of the noise coming from the nearby sound stages. He returned a few moments later and said, “I’m going to have to call the sheriff. I just got some information he needs to know about.”

  CHAPTER 10

  As Jeff reached for his phone and started to call the sheriff, Marty put her hand on the phone and asked, “What was that call about?”

  “I didn’t want to alarm any of you, but yesterday when all of you were busy I stood in line at the French Food Obsession and ordered the French shepherd’s pie, because I kept hearing people order it and at the same time use the word special, so I decided to do the same. Neither Ned or Jacques was working the counter. If they had been, they might have recognized me, but the woman who was working the counter was so busy filling orders she never really looked at me. Anyway, I received a plate with the shepherd’s pie on it. The woman told me it would be $25.00 for the special. I said it was listed for $7.95 on the board. She replied that I’d asked for the special. I thought it was very strange, but I was curious, so I paid the $25.00. When I looked down at the plate I saw something on it that was barely visible. I almost missed it because the thing was wrapped in tin foil, and the tin color of the pie plate almost matched it perfectly. Naturally, I wondered what was in it. I unwrapped it, and I was pretty sure I recognized what it was.”

  “You certainly have my curiosity aroused. What was it?” Marty asked.

  “It was a capsule, kind of like a vitamin pill. I thought it was a drug that is referred to on the street as a molly, so I called one of my men at the Palm Springs station and asked him to drive out here, get the capsule from me, and have the department test it. The results just came in, and I was right, it is a molly.”

  Marty sat back in her chair and stared at Jeff for a moment. “This is unbelievable. I guess the operative word was when the customer used the word ‘special.’ It must mean that when you used that word you got the drug, and because I didn’t ask for the special yesterday, I didn’t get the drug served to me. Now let me tell you what happened just a couple of minutes ago while I was standing in line waiting to order.” She told Jeff about the young woman standing at the head of the line and what she said to several other people who were in line.

  “Jeff, do you think Jacques was selling mollies?”

  “Given the fact there was such a price difference between the special and the regular and that difference is about the cost to buy a molly on the street, I would say it’s a definite possibility.”

  “Go ahead and call the sheriff, then let’s talk about this some more.”

  Jeff walked over and stood next to the fence while he called the sheriff. A few minutes later he returned. “The sheriff is sending one of his deputies to my office to pick up the capsule as evidence. He said this complicates the murder case even further, because now there’s a drug angle.”

  “I don’t know if having illegal drugs involved is relevant to helping us catch the killer, but the evidence sure is pointing that way,” Marty said. “What I can’t figure out is how Jacques made any money. He had to spend a lot of money to buy the mollies.”

  “Marty, like I said, the difference in the regular price of the meal and the price of the special is just about what a molly goes for on the street. Yes, if he was selling them, and it sure looks that way, he was making money.”

  “Okay, I agree, but he had to buy them from someone. There must have been a dealer involved.”

  “Yes, that’s true,” Jeff said, “but remember last night when Laura overheard raised voices behind the French Food Obsession talking about money? I wonder if it was the drug dealer either coming for money or giving Jacques the drugs.”

  “I don’t know, but here’s another angle,” Marty said. “You saw Brianna standing in line this morning as soon as the French Food Obsession opened, and then you said she walked away without getting anything. Maybe she was getting mollies yesterday from Jacques. It certainly fits with you seeing her at the food truck a couple of times and what I heard her father saying to her. I wonder how long people feel the effects from a molly.”

  “Depends on the strength, but usually about three to four hours. I probably saw her over at the truck three times. She also might have been buying for a friend as well as herself. I wasn’t paying attention to how many times other people were there. She’s just such a beauty, that I couldn’t help but notice her.”

  “Jeff, I told you before she’s young enough to be your daughter.”

  “Marty, I was simply doing what nearly every red-blooded American man does. I was admiring a beautiful woman.”

  “Like I said, she’s young enough to be your daughter. Okay back to the murder. Here’s a stretch, but there’s another possible suspect we might want to think about, Brianna’s father, Jeb Rhodes. Certainly he hated the fact that his daughter was dropping mollies. I think that’s the term I heard him use, anyway, did he hate it enough to kill Jacques or hire someone to kill him? And don’t forget I overheard him make a phone call to someone called Sid and tell him ‘I’ve got a job for you to do tonight.’”

  “Aren’t you making a big leap by assuming that Brianna told her father she was getting the drugs from Jacques? It’s pretty unusual for a drug user to voluntarily tell someone who their supplier is, particularly if that someone just happens to be your father.”

  “I don’t know. Another thing I’m curious about is why someone like Ned, who supposedly is so active in Narcotics Anonymous, would continue to work in a place where the owner was selling drugs. That doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.”

  “Sweetheart, there are a lot of things in this world that don’t make sense.”

  “There’s one more person, Jeff. Don’t forget about Jacques’ ex-wife. I wonder if she knew he was selling drugs. If she did, maybe she thought he was making a lot of money from it, but at the same time he was still stiffing her on the child support.”

  “Another conundrum. Let’s wind this up. We need to get back and help John and Max.”

  “I agree. Give me a minute to recap. We have the following possible suspects,” she said as she looked at her list. “Jeb Rhodes, Jacques’ ex-wife, and the dealer who supplied Jacques with the drugs, plus I’m still not certain about Ned. Maybe he secretly hated Jacques for selling drugs. Maybe he should be a suspect.”

  “Maybe, and don’t forget about John and Max. Just because you know them and like them doesn’t necessarily mean they should be left off of your list.”

  Marty glared at Jeff. “They are definitely not on my list of suspects.”

  “May not be on yours, Marty, but I can guarantee you they’re on the sheriff’s.”

  CHAPTER 11

  Marty felt like she was two people for the rest of the afternoon and evening. One Marty was busy taking orders, collecting the money due for the orders, and serving people their food. It was twice as busy as the day before, because the French Food Obsession had lost a lot of their business and customers were going to The Red Pony instead. It was pretty evident that the young music festival attendees weren’t all that interested in pricey French food. The other Marty was trying to make sense of everything she’d learned in the last twenty-four hours. Finally, at nine that night she told John that since she hadn’t been able to talk to Jeb Rhodes last night, she’d like to try again tonight. Laura agreed to fill in for her.

  She walked over to the restroom and repaired as best she could the damage from working in the heat all afternoon. It was very quiet at the ranch house when she walked up to the porch. She rang the doorbell, and it was opened a few moments later by a younger version of Brianna who Marty estimated to be about twelve years old.

  “Hi,” Marty said. “I’m wondering if Jeb Rhodes is here. My name’s Marty Morgan, and he called me a few days
ago and left a message about having me appraise his California Impressionist art collection.”

  “Sure. I’ll go get him. Why don’t you come in out of the heat? I’ll be back in a minute.”

  Marty looked around at the paintings displayed in the large western style living room. Her immediate thought was that whoever had decorated the room had done a superb job. The paintings hanging on the walls blended perfectly with the western and Native American artifacts displayed in glass cases. She felt her pulse quicken as it always did when she was in the presence of really good art and antiques, and there was no question in her mind that these were really good.

  The large man she’d seen the night before walked into the room. Last night she’d only observed him from a distance, and she realized she’d missed the easy grin and laugh lines around his eyes. He may have problems with his daughter, she thought, but he’s obviously been able to enjoy life as well.

  “Mrs. Morgan, I must say I’m very surprised to see you here at this time of night. What brings you to my neck of the woods?” he said as he put out his hand and shook hers. “Please, come over here and let’s sit down. I’m sipping on an iced tea. May I get you some or perhaps something stronger?”

  “No, thank you, I can only stay a few minutes. I wanted to apologize for not returning your call, but I was finishing up an appraisal and then a good friend of mine asked me to help him with his food truck here at the festival, so that’s why I’m here at such an unusual hour. I hope it’s all right that I came here this late.”

  “Yes, I’m glad you did. I understand there was a little excitement this morning at the food truck court. As a matter of fact, I was there. It seems that one of the owners of a food truck was murdered. This is not the kind of thing the producer of a festival such as this one wants to hear. We get enough bad publicity from kids who either drink too much or avail themselves of illegal substances.”