Deadly Chocolate Addiction (Death by Chocolate Book 6)

by Sally Berneathy

  “Maybe you should have a little more evidence before you say anything to Trent.”

  “He’s the cop. It’s up to him to find the evidence.”

  “I’m glad you have that attitude. I was afraid you’d feel compelled to prove to Trent that his ex-wife is a murderer.”

  I shrugged. “The facts speak for themselves. Ransom was going to divorce her and leave her with nothing. He had two million in life insurance. He was worth more to her dead than alive.” I tapped my cup with my fingernail and frowned. “She said he abused her. I don’t believe that. Did she ever call the cops on him?”

  “There’s no record of any domestic violence.”

  “I knew she was lying. Ransom had kind eyes. You should have seen her eyes. That woman’s cold. She’d be more upset about breaking a fingernail than about killing somebody.” I lifted a hand to stop any further argument from him. “I know what you’re going to say. Why did he follow her to Kansas City if he wanted to be rid of her? I haven’t figured that one out yet, but I know he had a good reason.”

  “Actually, the question is, who followed who? Jeff arrived two days ago. You indicated Kathleen came to Trent’s house yesterday evening.”

  “Oh.”

  “He didn’t tell you why he was visiting Kansas City?”

  “No. He didn’t say, and I didn’t ask. I didn’t want to be nosy.”

  Fred laughed. Actually, he pretty much guffawed. I’ve never seen him laugh so hard.

  I lifted my chin indignantly. “Hey! I bet I know something you don’t.”

  He wiped his eyes and resumed his usual haughty demeanor. “Go on.”

  “He didn’t tell his parents he was in town.”

  “You’re correct. I did not know that. You must have done a good job of being nosy.”

  “I did not. Trent told me that voluntarily.”

  “So he came to town and didn’t tell his parents, but he did call his wife’s ex-husband.”

  I waited. He said nothing more. “What does that tell us?” I finally asked.

  “I have no idea.”

  “He came to town to hide from Kathleen,” I speculated. “He called Trent because he knew Kathleen was planning to kill him and he wanted to find out how Trent survived being married to her.”

  “Kathleen didn’t kill him. She has an alibi…your boyfriend.”

  I sat straighter, more resolute. “You seem to be forgetting about the hit man. All we have to do is figure out who she hired.”

  “What happened to letting the cops find the evidence?”

  I finished my hot chocolate, set the cup back on the coaster, and glared at Fred. “I changed my mind.”

  “You do realize you may prove your arch enemy’s innocence.”

  “No. We’re going to prove her guilt. She won’t be able to sleep with Trent when she’s in prison.”

  Chapter Six

  The next morning as Paula and I prepared for the breakfast crowd, I told her about my conversations with Trent and Fred.

  Paula smacked her yeast dough especially hard. “I could have told you that woman has never been abused.”

  Paula knows whereof she speaks. Her three-year old son Zach is the only good thing that came out of her relationship with Zach’s father. When I first met Paula, she had just run away from that relationship and was terrified of the world and everybody in it. Kathleen showed none of that fear.

  I poured raspberry liqueur into my batter then took a drink just to be sure it was okay. “The way I’ve got it figured, now that she’s going to get all this money from Ransom’s life insurance, she can be rich and have her first love, Trent.”

  Paula spread the dough and picked up her rolling pin. “Even if she isn’t arrested for murder, she’ll soon be going back to St. Louis to take care of all the estate stuff. Besides, Trent’s not going to get mixed up with that skank again.”

  Skank was not a word I’d ever heard Paula use before. I used it often in referring to Rick’s women. She probably learned it from me. I gave myself a mental pat on the back for increasing her vocabulary. “Thank you,” I said. “Calling my boyfriend’s ex-wife a skank is a sign of true friendship.”

  

  The breakfast crowd had cleared out and the lunch crowd had not yet started to arrive. Paula and I were in the kitchen slicing roast and baking cookies when the front door bell jingled.

  “I’ll get it.” I shoved a pan of cookies into the oven, set the timer, and pulled off my apron. “It may be Trent coming by to get Ransom’s key.” I pushed through the kitchen door and into the main room of the restaurant.

  Kathleen did her runway model thing across the floor to the counter. “I was hoping to get to talk to you alone.”

  I moved behind the counter. “Funny how that works. I was hoping I wouldn’t get to talk to you alone or with somebody.”

  She eased onto a stool and set her designer handbag on the counter then fixed her cold marble gaze on me. “Your friend came to see me last night.”

  First I was hanging out with her husband, now my friend was hanging out with her. “Are you talking about Henry?”

  Her smile tilted into an arrogant smirk. “He didn’t leave a name.”

  “If you spent the night under a bridge in my neighborhood, it was probably Henry. About eighteen inches tall, white hair with gold markings, big blue eyes? I hope you didn’t let him get too close. He has rabies.”

  Her entire face twisted into an ugly scowl. She leaned forward and tapped the counter with one long, red fingernail. “You need to back off. You’re way out of your league. Let me explain it to you. This can go one of two ways. You can stay out of my way and when the investigation into my husband’s murder is over, I’ll give Adam back to you and leave town.” She pointed the fingernail at me. “If you keep messing with me, I’ll take him back. You need to tell your creepy friend to stay away from me. I told him I don’t have the key anymore, that I gave it to you. But of course I lied. I’ve still got it.” She patted her designer bag and smiled smugly.

  “The key?” I slid a hand into my pocket. The object in question was still there. “You don’t have the key.”

  “Did Adam tell you I gave it back to him?” She laughed. Cackled, actually. “I’m sure that’s not the first time he’s lied to you, and it won’t be the last. I’ve known Adam a lot longer than you have. You’ll never know him the way I do. Yes, I still have his key, and I was back in his bed last night after your friend’s visit to my hotel room. It gave me the perfect excuse, thank you very much.”

  Icy fingers gripped my chest, two of them. Fingers, not chests. One cold digit for her comment that she’d gone back to Trent’s bed, the second because I suddenly realized we were not talking about the same key. I was talking about the key in my pocket. She was talking about the key to Trent’s apartment.

  He told me she gave back his key. And I believed him. Still believed him. Kathleen was lying.

  I was certain of it.

  I was.

  Certain.

  No doubt in my mind.

  But what was the business about a friend of mine coming to her room and asking her about the key? Fred had the ability to break into her room, but he had no reason to do it.

  She made up the entire thing so Trent would think she needed protection.

  So she would be able to get back in his apartment.

  Well, she wasn’t the only one who could make up stories.

  “I’m surprised you saw my friend. He can usually sneak in and out without waking anybody. He got what he came for, a sample of your DNA. What do you think Adam’s going to say when he finds out your DNA matches the skin cells on that earring the police found in your murdered husband’s hotel room?”

  She lifted her hands to the diamonds dangling from her ears and went pale at that accusation. Well, she started to go pale. Maybe.

  Okay, before I could assess her reaction, the bell over the door jingled and Trent walked in, stopped, and looked from one of us to the othe
r. I studied him closely for any sign of guilt. Nothing. He had on his cop face. Didn’t mean he wasn’t guilty. Just meant nothing showed.

  “Lindsay, Kathleen.” Cop voice. No emotion. “What are you doing here?”

  “I own this place!” I protested.

  He frowned. “Not you.”

  Kathleen slid off her stool and started toward him. “I called the station and they said you were coming over here.” Her voice had become kittenish and cloying. “I needed to see a friendly face. Last night was so awful.”

  If last night was awful, at least I knew they didn’t have sex last night.

  She flung herself at him, wrapped her arms around him, and made sobbing noises.

  Trent patted her on the back then pushed her away and held her at arm’s length. “I know this is hard for you, losing your husband in such a terrible way and then an intruder in your room. You should get some rest.”

  Kathleen gave a huge sniff. “Yes, I need to rest. But I can’t go back to that hotel room after what happened there.” She gave him the full force of her pitiful gaze. “Your apartment feels so safe. I know I could rest there.”

  “Trent,” I said before he could cave, “I need to talk to you.” I tilted my head toward the kitchen.

  He nodded and started my way…with that woman attached to his arm. “Kathleen, I need to talk to Lindsay in private. Can you give us a couple of minutes?”

  She released his arm. “Please hurry back. I think somebody followed me here.” She bit her lip. “I’m sorry to be such a bother.”

  “You’re not a bother,” Trent assured her. “This will only take a minute.”

  Maybe she wasn’t a bother to him but she was certainly getting on my nerves.

  Trent followed me into the kitchen.

  Paula assessed the situation with a glance, picked up a tray of cookies, and moved past us. “Excuse me. I’ll just take these out front.”

  “Hang on a minute, Paula. Trent, is your ex-wife allergic to nuts?”

  “Not that I know of.”

  “Then I guess there’s no point in giving her a cookie with nuts. Never mind.”

  Paula disappeared through the door.

  Trent scowled then grinned. “That was rude, but it was funny. Kathleen can try anybody’s patience.”

  “Agreed.” I took the key from my pocket and handed it to him. “Could this be the key her intruder was asking her about?” If there really was an intruder.

  He accepted it, balanced it in the palm of his hand, and studied it for a long moment. “This is the key Jeff left for you?”

  I nodded.

  “And you’re sure he didn’t say anything about this while you were talking?”

  “Oh, you mean some mysterious but meaningful message like, this is the key to the universe and the secret to happiness? No. Anyway, I already know chocolate is the key to the universe and the secret to happiness.”

  Trent nodded, took a small brown envelope from his jacket pocket and put the key inside. “I think you’re probably right that Jeff was trying to get this key to me. I wish I’d returned his call. Maybe he’d have told me what it unlocks.”

  “Guess he thought since you’re a detective, you could figure it out.”

  “Kathleen told the police she thinks the intruder is a friend of yours who believed she still had the key to my apartment.”

  “You didn’t tell her about this key?”

  “No. Is it possible Fred was trying to help you and went over there to scare her?”

  I looked around the sink for a knife. All I saw was a butter knife. “That’s not how Fred operates.”

  “We don’t always know how Fred operates.”

  I moved closer to him, invading his space, and jabbed a finger at his chest. “You certainly know how I operate, and that does not include sending someone to that bimbo’s hotel room in the middle of the night! Maybe she made up the whole thing. Maybe she killed Ransom to get that key. He didn’t have it, so now she’s trying to find out where it is.” My theory had a few holes in it, but it had a nice ring.

  “The intruder was real. Someone getting off the elevator saw a man dressed in black, wearing a ski mask come out of her room and run down the stairs.”

  I fisted my hands on my hips. “Was she also telling the truth when she said she still has the key to your apartment?”

  “I told you last night she gave back my key. Kathleen doesn’t always tell the truth. That little quirk of hers was one of the problems in our marriage.”

  “Little quirk? Seems like a pretty big quirk to me. Was she also lying about being back in your bed?”

  He raked a hand through his hair and looked uncomfortable. That made me feel uncomfortable. “She was terrified after what happened. The officers who answered her 911 call stayed with her until I got there. I let her come home with me for the rest of the night.” He looked me in the eye and stood straight, assuming his cop persona.

  I stood straighter, assuming my red-head persona. “Terrified, was she? You just told me she’s a pathological liar.” Okay, that wasn’t exactly what he said, but it was close enough.

  “She’s not a pathological liar.”

  “I can’t believe you’re defending her!”

  His lips thinned. “You know there’s nothing going on between me and her. When she’s in my bed, I’m on the sofa. I shouldn’t have to tell you that. I’d trust you if Rick was staying at your house.”

  I gave a snort of laughter. “You’d trust me not to kill Rick if he was staying at my house? Your trust would be misplaced. Is mine?”

  Paula pushed through the door. “You need to come out here, Lindsay. Rick’s here, and he and Kathleen are having a very friendly conversation.”

  Chapter Seven

  And I thought the notion of Trent and me going to dinner with Rick and Robin was weird.

  Rick and Kathleen together took weirdness to an all new level.

  The two of them sat at the counter next to each other, smiling and talking, cups of Paula’s coffee on the counter in front of them.

  “Hi, Lindsay.” Rick sparkled. He was on. “Kathleen and I were just talking about all the things we have in common. Being married to you two, of course, and I got to meet her husband yesterday.” He patted her hand. “I’m sorry. Your deceased husband.”

  Kathleen lowered her gaze and nodded.

  Yes, they had a lot in common, and being married to Trent and me wasn’t even close to the top of the list. Being con artists topped that list.

  Trent moved closer. “Mr. Kramer. I’ve been trying to get hold of you. We need to talk about your encounter with Jeff Gabler.”

  Rick chuckled. “Jeff Gabler. Your old friend and Kathleen’s husband. Yes, that would be the man our Lindsay introduced as a convicted felon named Ransom. Such a sense of humor.” He didn’t look amused.

  “If you have a few minutes, this would be the perfect time for you to come down to the station.”

  “Come down to the station?” Rick maintained his amiable expression but shook his head. “I’m not going down to your station. Kathleen and I are going to finish our conversation, and then I’m going to talk to Lindsay about a mutual business deal.”

  Trent’s expression was also amiable. “No problem. If you can’t come to my office, I’ll go to yours.”

  Rick chuckled again. “That won’t help you much since I’m not there.”

  “I’ll wait. It’ll give me a chance to talk to your co-workers.”

  Rick’s amiable expression changed to one of horror. “You can’t do that.”

  “Sure I can.” Trent turned to me. “I’ll call you later, Lindsay.”

  “Sounds good. I’ve got to get back to work.” I headed for the kitchen door.

  “Lindsay! I need to talk to you!” From the corner of my eye, I saw Rick slide off his stool. “It’s important.”

  “Not as important as getting ready for the lunch crowd. I told you I’d call you when I got a chance, and I haven’t had a chance
yet. Go away!”

  Rick grabbed my shoulder.

  I spun around, trying to pull away from his grasp and incinerate him with fire from my eyes. Neither effort worked, but Trent jerked him backward, twisting Rick’s arm behind his back.

  “Did you just assault this woman in front of a police officer?” he demanded. “Lindsay, do you want to press charges?”

  Trent was messing with Rick. I was pretty sure I couldn’t really press charges for something so minor. But for a delicious moment I allowed myself to savor the thought. “No, I wouldn’t want his son to suffer the stigma of having an ex-con for a father. Kid’s already got enough to deal with.”

  Trent released Rick’s arm with a flourish and stepped back.

  Rick brushed his sleeve as if Trent might have left cop germs. “Lindsay and I have a business deal to discuss, if you don’t mind, officer. A business deal involving chocolate. Right, Lindsay?”

  I shuddered. How could I have considered even for an instant getting into business with Rick? Chocolate that passed anywhere near him would be tainted. “No, we don’t. I’m quite happy with my chocolate sources.”

  I pushed through the swinging doors into the kitchen then stopped, far enough not to be seen but not so far I couldn’t hear what was going on.

  Paula looked up from chopping celery for chicken salad.

  I put a finger to my lips.

  “Kathleen, are you ready to go?” Trent asked.

  Good, he was getting that woman out of my place.

  Bad, he was taking that woman with him.

  “Rick,” that woman said, “please come with us to the station. I’d really like to hear about my husband’s final hours.”

  Was she sucking up to Trent by getting Rick to give his statement or sucking up to Rick so they could get to know each other better?

  Probably both.

  I felt a twinge of jealousy at the thought of Trent and Kathleen together.

  And I felt more than a twinge of fear at the thought of Rick and Kathleen together. They were sneaky and conniving without a shadow of a moral between the two of them. They could be dangerous.