Death to the Highest Bidder: A Jill Andrews Cozy Mystery #2

by Nicole Ellis

  I made a note of the appropriate fees on the form. “Ok, thanks. I’ll give them a call now. Thanks for watching Ella.”

  “No problem.” She smiled at me and returned to her office.

  I dialed the client’s phone number, and someone answered on the first ring.

  “Hello?” a woman said in an excited voice.

  “Hi, is this Lila?”

  “Yes, this is she.”

  “This is Jill Andrews from the Boathouse Event Center. I’m going to be coordinating your wedding.”

  “I thought I recognized the phone number on the caller ID. Thanks again for squeezing us into your schedule.”

  “Of course.” I went over the details with the client and let her know they needed to give us final catering numbers by the next day. “Is there anything else you need?”

  “Well …” She hesitated. “I’ve always wanted to release a pair of doves at our wedding. Do you think that’s possible?”

  Doves? We’d had some clients do that previously, but we usually had to place an order weeks earlier for the birds.

  “I’ll pay extra. Do you think we can do it?”

  “Uh, I’m not sure. I’ll have to check and see if I can get them in time.”

  “Oh, that would be wonderful. Most of my family won’t be able to attend the wedding since it’s so last minute, and it’s not the huge formal wedding I’ve dreamed about since I was a little girl, but I didn’t want to wait any longer to marry Eddie. But I thought maybe I could have a touch of my plans for a fancy wedding by releasing doves to symbolize our bond.” She sighed. “We’ll be separated by distance, but not in our hearts.”

  I closed my eyes. She had it bad. “I’ll see what I can do. We can discuss it tomorrow when you give me the final counts.”

  “I’ll call you tomorrow afternoon. Thank you so much—you have no idea how much this means to me,” she gushed.

  “Of course, that’s what we’re here for—to make your wedding day special.”

  Doves. Of course she wanted doves. The simple weekday wedding had suddenly become more complicated—something I didn’t have time for. I sighed. I had promised her I’d try to make her wedding wish come true, so it was time to call around for a pair of white doves.

  The first place I tried laughed at me when I made the request. I was getting down to the bottom of my short list of bird suppliers in the Seattle area when I finally found one with availability.

  “Sure, we can bring them over Tuesday afternoon.” The man took my details and said goodbye.

  “Thank you so much.”

  I hung up the phone and put the folder for the client’s wedding on the side of my desk before reviewing the details for the weekend’s events. I’d been working on both the Saturday and Sunday events—a wedding and a college graduation party. After a careful review of both events, I concluded everything was set to go. I wasn’t scheduled to be on-site for the weekend, something I was profoundly grateful for. I needed to get some time away from the office.

  I checked the clock on my computer. Almost three. Time to meet Louis Mahoney’s business partner, Dorinda Lang. Perhaps I’d be able to get some information from her about enemies of Louis but, if nothing else, I hoped she would know where I could find the auction basket.

  Beth’s office door was open, and Ella was lying on her back, staring at a cloth sunflower with a shiny mirror that was attached to the side of the Pack ‘n Play.

  “Hey, I was going to head out for an hour or so. I still haven’t located that auction donation from Ericksville Espresso. The co-owner is supposed to be there today after three and, with any luck, she’ll know where it is. Do you mind watching Ella?”

  “She’ll be content to watch herself in that mirror for the next hour. It seems to be her favorite toy.” Beth looked at her granddaughter with adoration. “She’s such a good girl.”

  I smiled, then waved at Ella and said goodbye to Beth.

  7

  The flashy red car I’d seen earlier at Ericksville Espresso was gone, but an older model Jeep had taken its place and the parking near the warehouse side was full. I pulled into a parking spot next to the Jeep and went inside. The lights were off in the reception area, and Terri wasn’t behind her desk. The front door had been unlocked, so I figured someone was there, but it was eerily similar to the day I’d found Louis’s body.

  “Hello?” I called out. No one answered.

  Light leaked from under the door, so I pushed the door to the warehouse open. Today, there were workers bagging coffee and moving pallets against a wall with a forklift. I walked toward Dorinda’s office, carefully averting my eyes from the office where I’d found the body.

  The door was closed, but I could hear someone inside talking on the phone. I knocked, and a female voice said, “Come in.”

  The office was decorated in a less formal fashion than Louis’s private domain. The hardwood floors in here were covered with a soft gray rug, and the lines of the antique wooden desk were much more feminine.

  The familiar-looking woman behind the desk said goodbye to whomever she was talking to on the phone and folded her hands in front of her on the desk, a puzzled expression on her face.

  “Hi,” she said.

  “Hi.” I held out my hand. “I’m Jill Andrews from Busy Bees Preschool.”

  “Is something wrong with Daniel?” Her face blanched, and she straightened in the chair, her eyes wild.

  As soon as she said her son’s name, I realized where I knew her from. She was the biter’s mom, the one who’d apologized to me when her son kicked Mikey in the preschool lobby. From her tone, it was obvious she thought I’d come there because her son had been injured or was in trouble.

  “Oh gosh, no. Sorry to worry you. I’m not here about Daniel.”

  The tension evaporated from her body, and some color returned to her cheeks. “You had me worried. No one from the preschool has ever shown up here before.” She eyed me. “You’re Mikey’s mom, right?”

  “I am. I’m actually here because Louis had promised to donate an Ericksville Espresso basket for the upcoming preschool auction. I stopped in earlier, but Terri didn’t know anything about it. She suggested I come back later and ask you about it.”

  She rolled her eyes when I mentioned Terri. “Terri wouldn’t know where to find something even if it bit her on the rear. I don’t even know where she went today; she hasn’t been around for hours.”

  I smiled at her. “I was hoping you knew where I could find the auction donation?”

  “Of course.” She got up and opened a closet I hadn’t noticed in one corner of the office. She turned and presented me with a plastic-wrapped basket about the height of a king-size pillow. “It’s right here.”

  I reached out for the basket. “Wow, it’s gorgeous.” The dark woven basket was wrapped with opaque purple plastic wrap, and a fancy purple bow had been tied at the top. Inside, there were several bags of coffee beans, two mugs, a small coffee grinder, and a single-serve espresso machine. “This will be very popular.”

  She smiled. “Glad we could help.” She ran her fingers over the curled ends of the bow. “I loved putting it together.”

  “Well, you did a great job.” I admired the basket.

  “Oh, I didn’t wrap it, Louis’s wife did, but I chose the contents. Louis was the one who recommended Busy Bees Preschool to me when Daniel and I moved to Ericksville.”

  “Are you not from around here?”

  “No. We’re originally from up north in Bellton, but after Daniel’s father died last year, I used some of his life insurance money to purchase half of Ericksville Espresso. My husband’s parents live nearby in Everton, and I wanted a fresh start for my son and I.”

  “I’m so sorry for your loss.” I rested the edge of the heavy basket on the top of a chair. “How long have you lived here?”

  “Only a few months.” She pressed her lips together. “It’s been hard for Daniel with moving to a new place and new school. I know he miss
es his old friends and neighbors, and especially his dad. I have to admit, it’s been a hard transition for me too.”

  Poor kid. He was too young to have experienced such a painful loss. No wonder he was having trouble at school. When Adam had been traveling a lot a few months ago, Mikey had been in trouble several times at school. I couldn’t even imagine how horrible it would be for all of us if something happened to Adam. And for Daniel, it was even worse as he had moved to a new town and had to start all over again with friends. Inspiration struck.

  “We should have a playdate sometime. I’m sure Mikey and Daniel would have a great time together once they get to know each other.”

  “Really? You’d be willing to do that?” Her eyes widened. “I know Daniel has had problems with the other kids at school.”

  “Yeah, it will be fine. Are you free on Sunday?”

  She checked her calendar and nodded.

  “Great! How about one o’clock?”

  “That would be wonderful.”

  I gave her my address and crossed my fingers that I could convince Mikey that a playdate would be fun. Daniel needed to have a fair shot at making friends at his new school, and it seemed like Dorinda could use a friend too.

  “So how did you end up here?” I swept my hand across her office.

  “I’ve always wanted to own a business and, after working in the food industry for most of my life, this was a natural fit. I heard through the grapevine that Louis was selling half of the company, so I bought it. Plus, Ericksville looked like a nice place to live.”

  “It is.” I smiled at her. “Well, we’re glad you moved here. How do you like it?”

  “Eh.” She shrugged. “I like the town, but I’m starting to have regrets about purchasing this business.”

  “Because of Louis’s death?”

  “No, it started before that.” She crossed the room to sit down at her desk and gestured for me to have a seat in the chair across from her. “Do you want some coffee?”

  “I’m good, but thanks.” I set the gift basket on the floor and took a seat. “So if not because of Louis, why do you regret the purchase?”

  “Well, it was because of Louis, but not because of his death.” She gazed at me. “I probably shouldn’t be talking about this, but I could really use someone to talk to.” Her eyes teared up. “I really miss my husband sometimes.”

  I touched her hand which rested on the desk and offered her a Kleenex out of my purse. “It’s ok. I’m glad to be able to help you. This has been a tough year for you.”

  She nodded gratefully and took the tissue. “I researched the business before I purchased it. I knew it had some financial issues, but they weren’t insurmountable. They got worse soon after I bought into it.”

  “How so?” I prodded.

  “Louis was always taking money out of the business. His wife, Sandy, is a shopaholic, and it takes a lot to support her. Maybe once upon a time when the business was thriving, that would have been fine, but now, not so much …” She dabbed her eyes and blew her nose. “With my financial knowledge and background in the food industry, I’d hoped to be able to turn the place around. After Louis’s death, I went over our financials again, and things are getting worse. He’s run the business into the ground. We’d agreed on sharing the profits, but I never expected him to take out so much, so soon.” She stared past me at the door to the warehouse before whispering, “I’m going to have to lay off some of the workers soon if we don’t start making more money.”

  I fidgeted in my seat. I didn’t know what to say, so I just sat there, waiting for her to talk again.

  “I hate to say it, but now that Louis is dead and I have the chance to purchase his share of the business, I may be able to make Ericksville Espresso profitable again.” She looked at me. “I sound like a horrible person, don’t I?”

  “No, no. I understand what you mean.” Losing all the money from her husband’s life insurance proceeds in this investment would be devastating for her and Daniel. But was it enough of a motive for her to kill Louis? I didn’t want to think ill of Dorinda as I was starting to really like her, but I needed to prevent that from coloring my objectivity. “I don’t know if you knew this, but my sister-in-law and I were the ones who found Louis when we came for the auction basket earlier in the week.”

  “No, I didn’t.” She stared at me wide-eyed. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that. It must have been awful to find him like that.” She shuddered.

  “It wasn’t something I ever want to go through again. Such a tragedy. Did you know he was allergic to peanuts?”

  “Yes, of course. He told everyone he met and was extremely careful about what he ate. He religiously kept an EpiPen in the very front of his desk, but he must not have been able to access it before he fell unconscious. Last week, I grabbed a pen out of his office, and he freaked out when I told him I’d gone in that drawer. He immediately pulled it out to check that it was still there and easily accessible.” Tears filled her eyes. “I hadn’t known him long, but no one deserved to die like that. I wish I’d been here and could have helped, but I’d already left to pick up Daniel from school.”

  I nodded. Something she said struck me as odd though. When Desi and I found the body, the desk drawers had been open, and the contents strewn across the floor. I didn’t remember seeing an EpiPen anywhere there. It was possible that he’d used it previously or it had expired and he hadn’t bothered to replace the device, but that didn’t seem likely considering Dorinda’s comment about how careful he was about his life-threatening allergy. Had whoever murdered Louis removed the EpiPen from his desk drawer?

  Dorinda leaned toward me. “Do you think Brenda Watkins had anything to do with it? I heard they were asking her questions about Louis. I’ve met her at school, and she seems like someone who wouldn’t hurt a fly. I have to admit I was surprised to hear she was dating Louis.”

  I shook my head. “No, I’ve been friends with her for a while, and there’s no way she would have killed him.”

  “But I heard they were having an affair. Maybe she found out she wasn’t the only woman he was seeing?”

  “Terri mentioned something similar—that this wasn’t the first time Louis had cheated on his wife. Maybe the woman he was with before Brenda had something to do with his murder?”

  She fiddled with a pen on her desk, threading it between her fingers. “Funny that Terri was the one who told you that. When I first moved here, she and Louis were hot and heavy.”

  “Really.” That would explain Terri’s overly concerned attitude about her boss’s death. “Are you sure?”

  “Oh yeah. I found them together in his office one time.” She grimaced. “I learned to always knock after that.”

  “Hmm. And his wife didn’t know?”

  “Not that I knew. I was new here, and I didn’t think it was my place to tell her. I didn’t know he was dating Brenda.” She glanced at the clock. “I should probably finish up the work I need to get done today. Daniel is with a sitter, but I promised I’d be back by five thirty.”

  I stood. “I understand. Thanks for the gift basket. Are you planning on going to the auction next Friday?”

  “I am. I hear it’s an aviation theme?”

  “It is.” I grinned and told her a little about the auction. One of the parents at the preschool loved flying and had donated some of his flying memorabilia. The main room of the Boathouse would be decorated like an airport hangar, and the auction dinner tickets were printed as boarding passes.

  “It sounds fun. I’m looking forward to it. I’ll give Daniel my boarding pass to play with after the auction. He loves anything having to do with airplanes.”

  Before leaving, I said, “I’m looking forward to our playdate on Sunday. Let me know if you need help finding our house.”

  “I will. It was so nice to officially meet you, Jill.” She waved at me. “See you then.”

  I returned the wave and exited her office. Before I left the building, an idea came
to me. I popped my head back into Dorinda’s office.

  “Excuse me, but in all the commotion of finding Louis dead, I somehow lost an earring. Would it be ok if I go in his office to look for it?”

  “Sure, go ahead. The police have already removed anything they needed for their investigation. If you don’t find it there, you might want to ask if they have it.”

  “Thanks. It isn’t a big deal if I don’t find it, but I figured as long as I was here already, I’d take a look.” I left her alone in her office and entered the office next door. The masculine furnishings—so different from those in Dorinda’s office—gave me flashbacks to the evening Desi and I discovered Louis’s body.

  I hadn’t really lost my earring, but when we were there before, things had been chaotic and I hadn’t mentally processed much of the scene of his death. Was it possible there was something there that the police might have missed?

  I scanned the room. Everything seemed to be how it had been the last time I’d been there.

  “Excuse me. What are you doing in here?”

  I turned. A tall man stared down at me. Judging from his attire, he worked in the warehouse.

  “Uh …” Words eluded me. “I’m, uh, looking for an earring I lost in here when I met with Mr. Mahoney earlier in the week. Dorinda said it was ok to be here.” I got down on all fours on the floor and made a show of looking under the desk. I swept my hand across the rug and looked up at the worker.

  He looked at me with suspicion but put his hands in his pocket and pivoted around to go back to the warehouse. I was about to get up when I noticed something odd.

  A thick, pen-like object was stuck in the tracks underneath the middle desk drawer. I grabbed my keys and used the pen-light on the keychain to see better. It was the missing EpiPen. How did it get all the way back there if he kept it at the front of the drawer? It was possible that he’d somehow jammed it to the back, but that didn’t jive with Dorinda’s description of how careful he was with it. If the police hadn’t noticed it earlier, they probably would think I was crazy to think it suspicious.