Cozy Mystery Boxed Set: Rare Catch Cozy Mystery

by Liz Turner

  “You’ll have to,” Max resumed. “I’ve already put in a request for a judge to give me a search warrant. That includes a DNA sample. My forensic techs will match it to the blood in no time.”

  “You won’t match me to anything,” Louis protested. “You can’t even come up with a reason why I would want to kill Leo. I mean, really? What have you got?”

  “Does the mention of a restraining order sound familiar?” Veronica asked. Louis’ face went dark. “You didn’t like Leo hanging around Naomi so much, so you planned to get a restraining order against him. Whether you ever got one or not, I don’t know, but your intention was there.”

  “A restraining order?” Amy asked her husband. “You were serious about that?”

  “Of course, I was!” Louis declared.

  “Well a restraining order wasn’t necessary,” Naomi interrupted the conversation. “Leo only wanted to see his daughter. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

  Louis froze at her words, his dark eyes widening to envelop the rest of his face. He spun on his heel to address Amy.

  “You told her?!” he screamed. “We swore we’d never tell her!”

  “I didn’t!” Amy insisted. “I don’t know how she found out!”

  “She didn’t tell me,” Naomi declared. “Leo did!”

  “He did?” her mother asked. “But…he said he would keep it a secret…”

  “It’s not much of a secret, honestly,” Veronica informed her. “I was able to figure it out. I just had to put a few clues together.”

  “It doesn’t matter now!” Louis shouted again. “I was just looking out for Naomi. I’m still her father even if we aren’t biologically related. I raised her.”

  “I would agree if you ever acted like a father,” Naomi argued. “You’ve always been more like a jailor.”

  Louis snorted. “Now you're just dramatic. Typical teenager.”

  “I'm not dramatic!” she protested. Liam gently took her hand, and that small gesture was enough to calm her. “And even if I was and you were a typical father, that doesn’t give you the right to kill someone!”

  “I didn’t kill anyone!” Louis continued to object. “Leo was the one forcing you out of your own home!”

  “What are you talking about?” Pietro inquired.

  “Naomi’s been leaving her room in the middle of the night!” Louis announced. “She’s been sneaking out, and I’ve no doubt it was to see Leo!”

  “Do you have any proof of that?” Lorenzo asked, still a little shocked by the conversation occurring.

  “That’s not why I was sneaking out!” Naomi denied. “I was…”

  She trailed off, biting her bottom lip to the point of nearly bleeding. She looked down at her feet, not meeting anyone’s eyes, especially not Louis’ or Amy’s. Veronica walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

  “I think the time for secrets is over,” she suggested. “So many are coming to light now. Yours should too.”

  Naomi shuffled her sneakers a little before glancing over her shoulder at Liam, still standing with his family by the living room entrance. He took a deep breath but nodded to her nonetheless. Naomi gave one jerk of her head before turning back to her parents.

  “I’ve been sneaking out to hang with Liam,” she informed them. “We’ve been doing it for years.”

  “What?” Amy and Aileen both yelled at the same time. “You were doing what?”

  “We’ve been hanging out for years,” Naomi admitted. “We’re good friends.”

  “Son?” Sully asked Liam. “Is this true? You’ve been sneaking out?”

  “It’s not his fault!” Naomi insisted before Liam could answer. “I made him promise to not tell anyone…He’s good at that, you know.”

  The two teens smiled at each other. “Sorry, I cause you trouble, Naomi.”

  “Forget it. I...”

  “So you’re telling me you were out meeting this boy when I thought you were with Leo?” Louis asked, and Naomi nodded. “So he was telling the truth that night…”

  “That night?” Amy echoed.

  “The night you killed him, right?” Veronica stated.

  Louis gave out a big sigh. “I didn’t mean to kill him. I just wanted him to stay away from my daughter. I confronted him last night, but I didn’t mean for him to die.”

  “I find that hard to believe,” Veronica announced. “Sully, when last night did you say the cameras changed positions?”

  “Around 9:00 p.m,” Sully reminded her.

  “That’s before the range our medical examiner gave as Leo’s time of death,” Max informed everyone.

  “So the cameras were moved before Leo was killed?” Veronica asked. “Right before?”

  “No more than an hour before,” Max confirmed.

  Veronica turned her attention back to Louis. “Which means you planned to kill him ahead of time, or else you wouldn’t have thought to move the cameras.”

  Louis stared at her before looking at his wife, but Amy glared at him. Naomi’s expression was no friendlier, and as he glanced around the room, he could see that no one believed his story about the murder being an accident. He waited to see if someone, anyone, would come to his defense, but no one volunteered.

  “Louis Edwards, you’re under arrest,” Detective Bernard declared.

  “Please Detective,” one of the silent officers said. “Allow me.”

  As Louis was dragged away, the mood in the room was beginning to relax. However, there was still a feeling of apprehension in the air. In contrast to earlier that very evening, everyone was quiet. It took a while, but finally, someone moved. Amy walked up to Lorenzo and Pietro, her hands clasped in front of her.

  “I’m sorry. This is all my fault,” she said. “I know there’s nothing I can say to make up for Leo’s death.”

  “You should have said something,” Pietro answered. “For that matter, so should have Leo.”

  “No use keeping it a secret now, Mom,” Naomi stated. “Besides, it’s because of me that...”

  “I think everyone has enough guilt to last a lifetime,” Veronica suggested. “Enough with who’s fault it is now.”

  “She’s right,” Lorenzo concurred. “We can’t keep blaming ourselves, or each other.”

  Rupert detached himself from his father’s legs and walked over to Naomi, who was now holding hands with Liam. She glanced down at the younger boy with a small smile.

  “So Leo was your dad, huh?” he asked.

  “I didn’t realize you were paying that much attention,” Pietro commented.

  “Yeah, he was,” Naomi answered.

  “That’s great!” Rupert jumped forward and put his arms around her waist. Naomi stood in absolute shock, keeping her arms up and away from him. “I’ve got a cousin!”

  Naomi chuckled and finally returned the hug. “I guess so.”

  “I guess…” Amy began. “You can have a big family now. Get to know your father’s side…you’re real father’s side.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous, Amy,” Lorenzo interrupted. “You both can be part of the family.”

  Amy paused, trying and failing to suppress her smile. “Really?”

  “Really,” he repeated. “It’s partially our fault for not realizing what was going on in Leo’s life. Let’s start over, yes?”

  “Looks like every secret is out, huh?” Liam said to Naomi.

  “Looks like it,” Aileen agreed.

  “I’m glad you’ve been a good friend for my daughter, Liam,” Amy added. “Thank you.”

  “Yes, I agree,” Aileen said.

  There was another moment of silence before Sully, Aileen, and Amy all spoke at once.

  “But the two of you are still grounded!”

  Veronica and Max decided that was their cue to leave, and they walked out through the broken doorway. Max laughed as he assessed the damage.

  “Remind me to not get close enough to Louis Edwards during his trial that he can punch me,” he joked. “I don’t
want my face to end up like this door.”

  “Sure thing.” Veronica walked off the porch and down the driveway. A few cars down she spotted Louis being forced into one of the police cars, protesting and yelling the whole time. “Your cops have their work cut out for them.”

  “You’ve got that right,” Max agreed. “I’m just glad we figured this out so quickly. Many murder cases go unsolved for weeks at a time, sometimes years.”

  “Yikes. Thank goodness everyone learned a valuable lesson about keeping secrets around here.”

  “Yeah. Good lesson.” Max paused before running in front of Veronica and standing in her way. “Speaking of secrets, how do you feel about Greek food?”

  “I’ve cooked it a few times. It’s pretty good. Why?”

  “Since we're so honest, how would you feel about having dinner with me tomorrow night?” he offered. “I know this really good Greek place, and they serve food until eleven, so it wouldn’t be until after you’ve closed your restaurant. My treat?”

  Veronica’s eye widened as she stared at him. Looks like Sakura was right.Eventually, she smiled.“You know it’s practically sacrilege for me to eat at a restaurant other than my own?” Max’s eyes fell, and Veronica chuckled. “But I think I can make an exception.”

  Veronica kept down a chuckle at the sight of the joy on Max’s face.

  *** The End ***

  Murder At The Renaissance Fair

  A Rare Catch Cozy Mystery

  Liz Turner

  Chapter 1

  The rain from the previous evening had given way to a cool but not quite cold autumn day. Veronica had been worried that her current catering job would be canceled due to the weather, but thankfully the skies had cleared to allow the sun to dry up any puddles that remained. The sun’s heat gave way to a slightly warmer day than the one before, but Veronica still had to wear a sweater to stave off the chill.

  Of course with all the activity going on at the Annual Meloda Renaissance Fair, Veronica certainly had her hands full. The committee in charge of the Fair contacted her just a few days before it was to take place, so Veronica needed to quickly throw together some dishes for a massive amount of people. She really had no idea who would want to order her food, or if there were any others providing meals, so she had gone out of her way to make sure she prepared an excess of beverages, meats, and pastries. Not to mention the committee requested the Rare Catch provide some “authentic medieval cuisine” in addition to dishes from her current menu. Despite Veronica’s vast knowledge of cooking and food, she knew nothing about Renaissance fare.

  Thank goodness for the Internet, she had thought! And for the people who have nothing better to do than upload this kind of info on said Internet!

  As she passed a serving of roast pork to a customer, Veronica had to admit the booth where The Rare Catch had been assigned couldn’t be in a more convenient location. It was placed right off the center of the grounds, right next to the pretend swordsmith and the Renaissance dress shop. Veronica was a little concerned about the actual working forge! Events ranging from concerts to comedy performances to face painting spread in every direction. Plenty of people passed by on their way to all the activities. More often than not they decided to stop for a bite to eat, and Veronica was more than happy to provide.

  She looked around the compact tent that acted as their food booth. It was small, but it was enough to meet her needs and those of her one other chef. There were a couple of ovens and stoves on one end, and a preparation table at the other side. The table had various cutting boards and several bowls of chopped vegetables, fruits, and meats ready for cooking at a moment's notice. On the front counter were paper plates, napkins, plastic cups, and various plastic cutleries.

  As per routine, Veronica made sure that most of the food had been prepared at her restaurant and then transported to the Fairgrounds for final roasting and baking…and thankfully the committee had nothing against using modern methods to finish making the dishes.

  The ding of a timer went off, and Veronica rushed to one of the ovens she brought with her for this job, grabbed a pair of oven mitts on her way, and turned the timer off. Opening the oven, she saw that the dish she was baking wasn’t burned and let out a sigh of relief.

  “What are you making?” Sakura, Veronica’s Executive Sous Chef, and long-time friend inquired. “I thought we were done with orders for now?”

  “We are,” Veronica replied, taking the sheet from the oven. “This is an experiment.”

  “Experiment, huh?” Sakura put down her knife on her cutting board where she was chopping vegetables and walked over to take a look.

  “Looks like a pie.”

  “It’s a sort of meat pie pastry…thing,” she informed her. Veronica placed the cookie sheet on a trivet, carefully scooped the pie off with a spatula, and slid it on a cutting board. “It has aged cheese, sausage, herbs and cream, all in a pastry dough. Supposedly it was a favorite of King Henry the Eighth.”

  “Are you thinking of putting it in your cookbook?” Sakura asked.

  “Maybe. It depends on how good it is.” Veronica cut the pastry into a few slices and picked one up, stopping right in front of her mouth. “It callsoing for bone marrow, but I didn’t have any, so I substituted sausage.”

  “Bone marrow?” Sakura’s eyebrows rose. “There aren’t a lot of recipes that call for that. Maybe you shouldn’t put it in the book. I don’t think many people would use it.”

  “Not the general masses, no, but I guess I could use sausage for the recipe instead.” Veronica agreed. She took a deep breath. “If it’s any good at least. Well, here goes nothing.”

  She took a small bite of the pastry, chewed it slowly and swallowed. Sakura watched as her friend smacked her lips a few time before taking another, but smaller, bite. She wasn’t sure what to make of the strange frown on Veronica’s face.

  “So? How is it?”

  “Very meaty, even with just sausage,” she replied. She put the pastry piece down and thought for a second. “I’ve had worse stuff.”

  “Like my fajita-style steaks with béarnaise sauce?” Sakura suggested with a laugh.

  “That wasn’t nearly as bad as the other judges thought,” Veronica reminded her, recalling how the two of them met. “

  It had been at this very Renaissance Fair, but many years ago, that Veronica Koche first met Sakura Yamouchi, a competitor in the cooking contest. Sakura had graduated from culinary school only months before and was trying to get established. Sakura thought the best way to make a name for herself was to compete. She didn’t know anyone else in town at the time, so she really had nothing to lose.

  Her instincts hadn’t been wrong. Veronica, one of the judges for the competition that year, had been working as a cook at another restaurant. Already making a name for herself as a line cook, her employer at the time, Joseph, recommended Veronica to take his place as a judge. He had to deal with some personal issues so he couldn't be there.

  That had been Sakura’s lucky day.

  “The other judges thought my dish was too weird, and you know it,” Sakura protested. “Who eats fajita-style steaks together with béarnaise sauce anyway?”

  “Apparently Joseph does,” Veronica debated back. “He liked it when you made it for him, didn’t he?”

  Sakura nodded with a small blush. “He said it was an interesting choice of fusion food.”

  “And it was delicious,” Veronica insisted. “Why else would I recommend that Joe hires you as a starting cook?”

  “Because he had the hots for you?”

  “Oh hush, you! That never went anywhere!”

  “Sure it didn’t,” Sakura teased, and Veronica nearly threw the meat pastry at her. “Anyway, part of me is glad I didn’t win that contest.”

  “In a way you did,” Veronica said. “You got the job.”

  “And I got you as a friend,” Sakura concurred.

  “I haven’t been able to get rid of you since.”

  “Hey!�
�

  “Excuse me,” a voice from the front of the booth called out.

  Veronica immediately put the meat pie down and walked over. Her long hair was curled tightly in a perm, giving it plenty of volume and bounciness as she tapped her foot impatiently. Her pale blue blouse gave way to a black pencil-thin skirt that didn’t quite fit properly. Her black heels also seemed a bit out of place, and Veronica couldn’t help but wonder if she was having any trouble in the soft grass. She held a brown clipboard against her chest and checked her watch as she waited for Veronica to reach her.

  “Hello,” Veronica greeted. “How can I help you?”

  The woman clicked her tongue. “I’m Julia Palmer, Chairwoman of the Meloda Renaissance Fair Committee. I’d like to speak with Veronica Koche.”

  “Speaking.” Veronica gave a little bow. “We spoke on the phone, didn’t we?”

  “We did. I placed the initial order a few days ago.” Julia glanced at her clipboard. “I wanted to check in with you about your assignment.”

  “Everything’s going great!” she declared. “We’ve had plenty of satisfied customers. Quite a few have enjoyed the authentic recipes. Thanks for the suggestion, by the way. We’ve started to run low on prepared meals, so I have a van coming with more shortly.”

  Julia wrote all this down on her clipboard but paused when she heard about these extra supplies. “What do you mean, more meals?”

  “Just that we’re getting more supplies,” Veronica repeated with a calm tone.

  “And how much extra is that going to cost?” Julia’s tone went darker. “We hadn’t figured that into our admission price.”

  “It won’t,” the Head Chef reassured her. “It’s all been taken into account with the budget your assistant provided over the phone.”

  The woman visibly relaxed. “Great. We’ve had to be very careful with the finances for the Fair this year. Please excuse me.”

  “It’s okay. I understand,” Veronica answered with a smile. “Don’t worry. I keep to my contracts as they are written. If I have to go over budget, I’ll be the one to cover it.”

  “I like your policies, Chef Koche,” Julia complimented. “Is there anything I can help you with?”