As quickly as she slipped out of the room, Anna returned largely unnoticed to anyone but Pauline. The older woman approached Anna with a stern look on her face. Anna could feel her heart pound. She isn’t your father. She isn’t going to send you to the hospital.
“Where did you go?” Pauline hissed. “If they caught you leaving, you’d be screwed. The cops aren’t letting anyone leave.”
“I watched the video, Pauline.” Anna replied nervously. “Mr. Puccio told me if I don’t figure this out, I am getting fired for this. The food is my responsibility. I stole the wedding reception videos and quickly watched them.”
“Do you know who the killer is?” Pauline asked. “You’re a real Jessica Fletcher. Alright, tell me who the killer is. Then we can be heroes and we can get out of here.”
“That’s the thing.” Anna whispered. “The only thing suspicious is how pissed off Frank Graves, the bride’s father was. His face was in a permanent scowl the entire time. I don’t think he liked the marriage at all.”
“But would it be enough to kill?” Pauline asked. “He seems more like the kind of man to forbid his daughter from getting married if he hated the groom enough. I don’t think he would kill though.”
“Right now, the only people I know I can trust is you and I.” Anna replied cautiously. “You are a terrible liar, so I’d know if it was you.”
“I never lie.” Pauline protested.
“Last weekend. The mysterious 12-hour flu.” Anna suggested.
“We have more important things to discuss right now.” Pauline replied. “But the room is full of hundreds of people. How are we ever going to figure out who the killer is?”
“You are going to get the staff to serve the duck.” Anna replied. “Let’s have the duck meal they wanted to put off until after the cake ceremony.”
“Okay.” Pauline replied.
Walking to the front of the room, Pauline pressed her hand to her mouth and cleared her throat. The people in the room turned their attention to her.
“We are unable to serve the cake to our cherished patrons. However, we still have a delicious pan of seared duck with cherry rosemary sauce. The vegetarian option for those who asked for it is the Pasta al la Norma. Please take your original seats and we’ll be more than happy to serve you. You’ll need to maintain your energy while you are waiting to speak to the police.”
Anna approached her friend and gave her a hug. “Thank you for doing that. Make sure you keep a close eye on everyone, I really don’t want to have any more surprises with the food.”
“No problem, my friend.” Pauline replied. “I’ll see if I can’t hunt down Cassandra and get her to help me out some.”
“She was acting strange. I think the death bothered her. Make sure you give her a smile or something.”
“Can it be a black eye? There is something about that woman I don’t like.” Pauline grumbled.
“Be nice to her!” Anna said and shooed away the older woman.
Looking around the room, she watched as the bride, with tears in her eyes, looked at the table she was supposed to sit at. Rushing up to the bride, she handed her a peach napkin and gave Meadow a warm hug.
“You’ll ruin your makeup.” Anna warned.
“There’s no one to be beautiful for now.” Meadow replied through the tears.
Taking her hand, Anna walked past an officer. He was a young man in his 30s, wearing a uniform that was quickly becoming too small for his frame, likely from too many trips to the doughnut shop for a refill of coffee and some sweet treats.
“We’re going to feed her in the kitchen. If you need the bride, that’s where she will be.” Anna replied.
The cop nodded half-heartedly, but didn’t seem like he was all that interested in what Anna had to say. Pulling the woman into the kitchen, the two were blasted with a sudden warmth that had built up from the pots and pans in use. Anna flinched slightly and turned her head. Guiding Meadow along the white tile walkway, past the counters and heating pads, they ducked into the office in the corner of the kitchen.
“Have a seat here.” Anna said, pulling out the office chair. Meadow took a seat and forced a smile. “You’re very kind to me.” Meadow spoke cautiously. “I told Tony we made the right choice in hiring you.”
“Thank you.” Anna replied with a smile. “What would you like to drink? Soda, water, whiskey?”
“I’d love some whiskey right now.” Meadow half sobbed. “But just water, please.”
“You got it.” Anna replied.
Walking over to the chef, she had him plate up some of the duck, trimmings, and the sides for
Meadow. Then grabbing the most expensive bottle of water the kitchen served and some silverware, Anna placed the meal in front of the bride.
“This looks wonderful.” Meadow replied. “I am not sure I can eat it, but I will try.”
“It will help you keep up your strength. You’ve lost the man you love today. It has been a hard day for you.” Anna said as warmly as she could.
Meadow cut the duck and took a small bite. She savored the meat. A smile crossed her face and after dabbing her lips with the napkin, she smiled at Anna. “Oh, this is perfection. Tony would have loved it.”
“Thank you, Meadow.” Anna replied with a smile. “You loved him more than anything in this world.” “I did.” Meadow agreed. “Tony was a wonderful man. Very kind and giving. I met him in a club in Manhattan four years ago. I would have done anything for him. Of course, he had everything he could ever want. Salt of the earth, just a really genuine person. My father didn’t like him. Said he didn’t understand the differences in class and needed to get rid of the people who weren’t on the same rung of the social ladder we were.”
“Your father did seem like he wasn’t very happy about the wedding.” Anna offered. “Was it obvious?” Meadow sighed. “He was mad because Roger was here.”
“Yes, the gentleman who you made eye contact with.” Anna replied matter-of-factly. “Why was your father upset about him being here?”
“Roger and I dated before I met Tony.” Anna sighed. “Tony liked him, too. Of course, Tony didn’t have any enemies and viewed everyone as a friend. If you needed the shirt off his back, he’d give it to you along with a $100 bill. But Father naturally didn’t like him as he thought he wasn’t good enough for me.”
“What were Roger’s feelings about Tony?”
“You can ask me yourself.” a man growled from behind her.
“Roger!” Meadow began to sob and jumped up and fell into the man’s arms. He was your run of the mill ex-con. Built like an ox, he was muscular, had a shaved head, a bright red goatee, and the tattoos covering his arms could clearly be seen along the edge of his white dress shirt.
“Why are you interrogating her?” Roger growled.
“We were only having a friendly conversation.” Meadow replied, looking at him, her brown eyes meeting his green eyes.
“It sounded like you were a suspect when everyone should be looking at Nancy Henderson, his ex- girlfriend and almost fiancé before you. She had no business being here. Probably got jealous he was marrying Meadow and decided to kill her.” Roger snapped.
“By that logic, you’d have motive to kill.” Anna replied calmly. “Did you kill Tony, Roger?”
Roger’s face grew a deep apple red. He slammed his fist into the wall next to Anna. Images of her father throwing punches at her flew through her mind and she fell to the floor and gasped in anxiety. Reaching into her pocket, she took a prescription bottle out, downed a pill, closed her eyes, and focused on her breathing. When she opened her eyes, Roger was in front of her with a look of concern on his face.
“My temper gets the best of me sometimes. I’m really sorry.” He offered her a hand. Reluctantly, she took hold of it and allowed him to bring her to her feet.
“I should leave you two alone. If you are still hungry, you can talk to the chef.” Anna smiled, then turned to rush off.
There was something very suspicious about
Roger Fox. His burst of anger and the way he didn’t want Meadow talking about what was going on led her to believe that he had more to share than what he let on. The fact that he embraced the woman was very strange, too. There was something there and based on his history and the couple’s history, Anna felt she was on the right path. After all, they stood the most to gain from her inheritance of Tony’s millions and money is often the reason behind murder.
Walking through the kitchen, she noticed Pierre in the corner. There was look of concern on his face. She smiled and waved. He waved back at her but no smile crossed his face, just a mixture of guilt and fear.
She approached him as an officer came up and put handcuffs on him. The color faded from his cheeks as he shook his head. Anna stopped where she stood in disbelief. She couldn’t figure out what was going on, what Pierre had done to end up in handcuffs. Rushing toward him, the officer gave him a hefty push out the door and closed it behind them. Anna approached the door and resisted the urge to push it open. Not knowing what was going on, besides the fact that the man she wanted to fall in love with was now under arrest, a man had been murdered at an event that she was hosting and before long, it seemed like she was destined for the unemployment line.
Pressing her body against the wall, she slid down it as the tears streamed heavily down her cheeks. The crying felt good and needed at this time. Some of the wait staff looked at her, but she ignored them. Nothing else mattered to her right now. How could it have come to this. This was supposed to be a great little trip for Pauline, Cassandra, Pierre and herself. They were to leave their London base and do a tour of exotic tropical locations to oversee the Grand Palatial Premium Wedding Service. They were supposed to be having the time of their lives and not have to deal with murders.
The side door from the kitchen opened and Pierre came back through with the cop, who removed the handcuffs. He looked at Anna, shook his head, and gave her a goofy grin.
“Can you believe the only way they’d let me have a cigarette was to do it in handcuffs? That’s some crazy stuff.” He laughed.
Rushing to him, Anna gave Pierre a hug. “I almost thought you did it.”
Pulling her back, he looked into her eyes. “I’d never hurt anyone. Never forget that. I’ll never hurt you.” He then pulled her close. His arms felt warm, kind, and loving.
“I believe you.” Anna whispered. “Mr. Puccio is going to fire me if I don’t figure out who the killer is.”
“Why you?” Pierre asked cautiously. “Why should it be up to you?”
“He said the food was my responsibility. Because of that, it was up to me to make sure everything was taken care of. If the image of the hotel is tarnished, if it turns out to be staff or anything else, I’m gone.”
“Tell me how I can help you.” Pierre pleaded.
Anna looked at him and just shook her head. “I wish I knew. I don’t have anything to go on with this. I think Roger Fox is a dangerous man but I am not sure I could even blame him for all of this. There are no clues, anywhere. I’ve watched the video. I’m not sure I even stand a chance.”
“You can do this. You’re one of the smartest women I know.” Pierre replied and kissed her head tenderly. “Snoop around. Use the ears of your staff. You’ve got this.
Hugging Pierre, Anna took off and turned to smile at him before going back into the banquet room.
Chapter 3
Murder in Bermuda: Book 1 in the Murder in Paradise Series Page 2