by Sherri Bryan
“You think only one was poisoned?”
“Well, I’d have thought so,” said Ava. “Otherwise - unless there’s a very delayed reaction - we’d all be toes up by now. We all tried some of each other’s bread at the end of the class, you see. So did Gavin and Larissa, because they had to check everything was up to standard before they gave anything to Roman.”
Charlotte frowned. “So, everyone ate the raisin loaves, but only Roman was poisoned? How could that have happened?”
“Don’t ask me,” said Ava, cutting another generous slice of cake. “I just thank God no one else was harmed. We all took home what was left over; Harriett and I shared ours with Bet and none of us have had any ill-effects at all.”
“What about Roy and Izzy?” said Charlotte. “Have you heard from them since you last saw them? Are you sure they’re okay?”
“Actually, we haven’t heard from them,” said Harriet, “but Roy mentioned that someone told them about a concert in St. Matlock this week that they’d managed to get tickets for—I can’t remember when. I suppose we should check at The St. Eves’ Tavern, just to make sure they’re alright, but I’m sure we’d have found out by now if they’d been taken ill, or worse. That blabbermouth landlady, Beverly Brady, can’t stop talking for longer than it takes to breathe in.”
“Hmm, you’re probably right.” Charlotte doodled in the margin of her notepad. “So, as I see it, the only way Roman could have been poisoned would have been if someone switched one of the raisin loaves a student had baked for a poisoned one? It sounds to me like there’s no other way it could have happened.”
Ava nodded. “I suppose so. And the only people who could have done that without anyone noticing are Gavin or Larissa,” she said, with her mouth full. “You know, when I think that we could have been in the presence of a murderer, it makes me feel quite weak.”
“But, if it was Gavin or Larissa, when would they have made the switch?” asked Charlotte, her pen flying across the page.
Ava shrugged. “Either just before Roman arrived, or when we went for lunch. We left our dough in the kitchen to prove, you see. Either one of them would have had ample opportunity to stick some poisoned raisins into one of the loaves. All they had to do was make sure they’d be able to identify it after it was cooked, and make sure it was given to Roman.”
She popped what was left of her fruit cake into her mouth and brushed the crumbs from her fingers. “Mind you, although I’m sure Gavin has the potential to poison someone in cold blood, I really don’t think Larissa could have had anything to do with it. There’s just no way she could be involved in something so terrible. She’s such a lovely girl.”
“For heaven’s sake, we’ve only know her for a few days,” said Harriett. “How can you possibly know what she’s capable of? She’s hardly going to broadcast the fact that she’s the murderer, is she? If it was her, she’d keep it to herself, wouldn’t she?”
Ava washed her cake down with a gulp of tea. “Hmm, I suppose you’re right. So, do you think we should tell the police that Gavin and Larissa were left alone with the dough for a while?”
Charlotte nodded. “Absolutely, I do. Even if someone else has already mentioned it to them, you should let them know so they can make a record of it. Can you think of anything else you haven’t already told them that might be of help?”
“Actually,” said Harriett, a frown clouding her face, “we didn’t tell them about Gavin and Monique sniping at each other, did we, Ava? D’you remember how he called her ‘Monique the Sneak’, and she told him Roman knew he and Larissa were seeing each other? And she said his days were numbered and he wasn’t being considered for the Manager’s position any more?”
Ava nodded. “And did you tell them you overheard Gavin and Larissa talking in the kitchen about him being a shareholder in the school? And that Gavin said he wouldn’t be responsible for his actions if Roman fired him because he couldn’t afford to lose the salary? Did you tell the police any of that?”
Harriett’s cheeks turned pink. “Oh dear. No, I didn’t tell them about any of it. I really only told them about the first time Roman and Monique came into the class, and then what happened when they came back again with Olivia.” A frown settled in between her brows. “That’s quite a lot of things we didn’t tell them, isn’t it? I hope they won’t be cross.”
“And you’d better tell them that Larissa asked you not to tell Roman about finding her and Gavin in that compromising position,” said Ava, wagging a finger in Harriett’s direction.
“What compromising position?”
“They were on the reception desk at the school, and they weren’t checking the bookings diary, if you know what I mean,” said Harriett.
Charlotte chuckled. “Yes, I think I can guess.”
Ava’s eyes widened. “You don’t think we’ll be arrested for withholding information, do you? It’s an offence in a murder investigation, you know.”
“Of course you won’t!” said Charlotte. “Just tell them you’d like to add something to your statement that you’ve just remembered. I’m sure they’ll be fine about it. They’ll probably be over the moon that you’re giving them such a lot of new information.” She flicked off the TV and picked up her handbag. “And I’m sure they won’t be in the slightest bit cross. We can go to the station now and you can both tell them what you forgot to tell them before.”
“What? Now?” said Ava, looking flustered. “We can’t. We can’t go now. Harriett’s got a kamikaze class in half an hour.”
Harriett raised her eyebrows and exchanged an amused glance with Charlotte. “Well, the Ju-Jitsu class can wait for today, Ava. I think this is more important. Now, just let me call Leo again to let him know he’ll have to go on his own, and I’ll be ready to leave.”
Ava dabbed her mouth to make sure there were no rogue cake crumbs sticking to her lipstick and forced a smile.
“I suppose I should be relieved. Just think, we could be on the brink of solving Roman Haley’s murder!”
Chapter 10
Fiona pulled up a chair next to Nathan in the incident room.
“Chief, Ava Whittington and Harriett Reeves have just been in to add to their statements. They’ve raised a theory on how the poisoned raisins got into the bread without anyone else being affected by them. And from what they told us, it seems that both Gavin Doyle and Larissa Reece could have had motive enough to want Roman out of the way.”
She handed the file to Nathan.
“What did Gavin and Larissa have to say when we first spoke to them?”
“Pretty much the same as each other; that the class went smoothly; Roman arrived with his assistant, Monique, at around quarter-to ten; they broke for lunch at one until two, then carried on with the lesson until Roman, Olivia, and Monique arrived at half-past four. Olivia didn’t hang around for longer than a couple of minutes, Roman stuffed his face with bread and cheese, and then the class ended just before five, after Mr. Haley left. Gavin and Larissa stayed behind to clean the kitchen, then they locked up and went home.”
“Did they tell us they’re in a relationship?” asked Nathan.
Fiona nodded. “Although we didn’t know they’d had to keep it a secret from Roman until Harriett told us. Not that it was a secret in the end, mind you, because he saw them together, but only Gavin knew that initially; he didn’t tell Larissa about it until the day before Roman’s death. Have you got to the part in Harriett’s statement about the conversation she overheard between Gavin and Larissa?”
Nathan looked up. “Seems to me that both their lives have been made a lot easier by Roman not being around any more.”
Fiona nodded. “Do you think his shares will pass to Gavin? It makes me wonder exactly how much he stands to benefit from Roman’s death.”
“I’m guessing the share value would have dropped considerably as soon as the news broke,” said Nathan, “and there’s no guarantee that Roman’s shares would have passed automatically to other shareholders.” H
e sat back in his chair, deep in thought. “But, for now, it seems that Gavin Doyle has plenty of motives for murder.”
____________
Detective Constable Carl Tibbs blew out a breath of resignation as he peered into one of the boxes containing the tapes from Roman’s dictation machine. Over the past couple of days, he’d listened to eight tapes, and there were still plenty more boxes to go through, containing hundreds more.
He’d started at the most recent, in the hope they’d be the ones that would hold the biggest clues but, so far, he’d heard nothing of any significance, just the random musings of the egotistical restaurant critic turned TV star.
He flicked a tape out of the machine and replaced it with another, wishing he was out and about, in the thick of all the action, rather than stuck behind a desk listening to Roman’s monotonous voice droning on and on. He sighed again and pressed the ‘Play’ button on the dictation machine, sending Roman’s voice through the earphones again.
“Re. Gavin Doyle, to say I’m disappointed in him is putting it mildly. I will not tolerate my staff lying to me, especially after I gave him every opportunity to own up to being in a relationship with Larissa. As he will soon find out, there are no second chances with me. I must say, I’m having fun stringing him along. He obviously thinks I have no intention of replacing him, because I’ve done nothing since I saw the two of them together. What he doesn’t realise is that I won’t be firing either of them until I’ve secured suitable replacements. Then, it’ll be bye-bye to them both.
“Poor Gavin. I don’t know how he’s going to cope without a regular wage coming in—not with the mess his personal life is in. It’s going to be very difficult for him and Larissa, but they should have thought about that before they tried to get one over on me.
"When I think of how devastated he’s going to be when I break the news, I get a warm fuzzy feeling inside. I might even have to ask Monique to stop recording for a moment so she can snap a photo of his poor, anguished face. The day I tell him his career with me is over can’t come quick enough. And then, of course, there’ll be the fun of dealing with Larissa. She's going to crumble when I make the details of her nasty little secrets public and everyone finds out what she did.
“Re. replacements for them both, Olivia Floyd-Martin has some excellent staff in her kitchens. She won’t appreciate me stealing them from under her nose, of course, but she’ll just have to put up with it. I think it’s time I asked Monique to discreetly vet a few of the ones who could take over from Gavin and Larissa with the minimum of training.
“And speaking of Monique, I hope she’s ready for me. After all, she owes me the biggest debt of gratitude of all. If she ever forgets that, I shall take great pleasure in making her suffer so much, her life won’t be worth living. End of notes for today.”
The tape came to an abrupt end. Carl rewound it and listened again.
It seemed that Roman had an axe to grind with all his employees, but had one of them really been so desperate to keep their job, and their secret, that they’d been prepared to cause him harm?
What kind of mess was Gavin’s personal life in?
And what were Larissa’s ‘nasty little secrets’?
Carl scratched his head and made some notes, rewinding the tape and playing it again.
Had Olivia found out that Roman had been intending to pilfer the staff from her very own kitchens? She was already a suspect in Roman’s murder due to their long-standing grudge, but it seemed there could be even more reason for her to have wanted him out of the way.
And why did Monique Hathaway owe Roman such a huge debt of gratitude?
Carl took the tape over to Ben. “Have you got a minute, Sarge?” He played the tape twice. “It sounds like Gavin, Larissa, Olivia and Monique, could all have credible motives for wanting Roman dead.”
Ben nodded. “Most definitely. For a start, we need to know what Gavin and Larissa aren’t telling us; it sounds like they’ve both got something to hide. And we already know what Olivia thought about Roman opening a school in St. Eves. I dread to think what she might have done if she’d found out he was planning on taking her kitchen staff, too.”
Carl nodded. “And Roman says Monique was in his debt for something, but what? As she was probably closest to him, I think we need to do a bit of digging to find out.”
Ben slapped the young detective on the shoulder. “Good work, Carl.”
____________
Monique Hathaway smiled at Nathan across the table in the interview room.
“Before I answer any questions, I’d like to apologise for the other day. I was in a terrible state, and probably babbling without making much sense, but you were very kind to me.”
“No problem. I’m glad you’re feeling better.”
Monique nodded. “I’ve been going to the gym and swimming a few lengths in the pool every morning. Exercise always has a mildly sedatory effect on me, which is helping. Working for Roman is… sorry, was very stressful, and I suffer with anxiety sometimes. Anyway, you were going to ask me about the tape you just played, I presume?”
“Just a few questions,” said Nathan. “I’m interested to know why Mr. Haley thought you should be so indebted to him?”
“Could have been anything,” said Monique, with a shrug of her shoulder. “Maybe just because I worked for him, or because I was his girlfriend. You may have noticed he wasn’t the most modest of people.” She laughed. “He used to tell me all the time that I had the job and the man everyone wanted.”
“I see,” said Nathan. “Although if that’s why he believed you should be in his debt, it’s odd that he’d be so intent on meting out such a severe punishment if you were to forget. Don’t you think? He says on the tape that if you ever forgot what a huge debt of gratitude you owed him, he’d take pleasure in making you suffer so much, your life wouldn’t be worth living. That’s rather extreme, wouldn’t you say?”
Monique shook her head. “You didn’t know Roman. He demanded absolute loyalty from all his employees, even me… especially me, probably.” A smile played on her lips. “And you’re reading too much into his words. When he said he’d make sure my life wasn’t worth living, he most likely meant that if I ever forgot how grateful I should be, there’d be no nookie for a month, or something like that. It’s the kind of thing he’d say—he had a weird sense of humour.”
Nathan nodded. “Mr. Haley also refers to a plan he had to employ some of Olivia Floyd-Martin’s kitchen staff. He says he was going to ask you to vet them. Did you? And was there any chance that Olivia might have known about it?”
Monique shook her head. “If Roman hadn’t died, I would have started checking out some of the staff by now, but I didn’t get that far.”
“So there was no chance that Olivia would have found out about it?” said Nathan.
Monique pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “Definitely not. Although even if I had started the vetting process, she still wouldn’t have found out about it. I’m very good at my job; very thorough, and very discreet. I’ve always been very discreet.”
“I can’t imagine there was much you didn’t know about,” said Nathan. “You were Mr. Haley’s most trusted employee, after all.”
Monique nodded. “No, there wasn’t. And yes, I was.”
“Did he always ask you to vet his staff?”
“Yes. He insisted on it. And wherever possible, he preferred to employ people who had a few skeletons in their past. He used their secrets to manipulate them, you see. He liked to have that hold over them—it made him feel powerful.”
Nathan put his elbows on the table and rested his chin against steepled fingers. “And did you have secrets?”
Monique laughed. “No, I didn’t. I’m pretty boring, really. I don’t have any skeletons in any cupboards but even if I had, Roman would have found out about them. He insisted on getting to know me before he offered me the job, you see, so there wasn’t a thing about me he didn’t know.” She took off her glas
ses to polish them on her shirt.
Nathan watched her. “I’m sure I don’t need to remind you that even the smallest piece of information could lead us to Mr. Haley’s killer. Even if you don’t think it’s important, it could be crucial to the investigation. And I’m sure I don’t need to remind you that it’s an offence to withhold information that might help us to solve his murder.”
Monique smiled. “Yes, I’m aware of that.”
Nathan nodded. “Good. It’s as important that we eliminate the innocent from our enquiries as it is that we find the perpetrator, but it’s much easier for us to do that if people cooperate with us.”
Monique looked at her watch. “Do you think I’ll be here much longer? I dislodged one of my fillings on a piece of toast this morning, so I’d like to get to an emergency dentist as soon as I can.”
“You can go now, but we may need to speak to you again. As you know so much about Mr. Haley and his business, you could be very helpful to the investigation.”
Monique smiled. “Well, if you need me, I’ll be at The President. Roman and I were already booked in for another month, you see.” She blinked repeatedly and twirled a loose lock of hair around her finger. “I’m going to be far too upset to even think about leaving the hotel for a while, let alone St. Eves. Even if I went home, I don’t think I could settle without knowing who killed him, so I’m staying put until you’ve found his murderer. Even if I have to extend my stay, it’ll be a final act of loyalty to Roman.”
Nathan returned the smile. “I’m sure we’ll be in touch.”
____________
“Is it true that you have shares in Roman Haley’s culinary school?” asked Fiona, calmly.
“Who told you about them?” Gavin spluttered.