Dying to Cook

by Patti Benning

  “Well, no,” Autumn admitted.

  “Did they say something about sesame oil?” the other woman asked, her voice a whisper. Surprised, Autumn blinked.

  “How did you know about that?”

  “I was there when the police officers came looking for the restaurant’s sesame oil, remember?” she asked.

  “Oh, right.”

  “I want to talk about all of this, but I don't want to do it here. Can we go get coffee or something?”

  “Why do you want to talk to me?” Autumn asked. “The police just took me in for questioning. How do you know I'm not the killer?”

  “You have no reason to want to hurt Leo,” Beatrice said. “You don't even know who he was, do you?”

  “Who he was?” Autumn said, feeling more out of the loop than ever.

  “Things are starting to make sense to me,” Beatrice said, not answering her question. “I'm not sure who to trust, though. Please, can we go talk somewhere?”

  Autumn sighed, then agreed. She and Beatrice made plans to meet at a small coffee shop in Fox Landing. She got into her car and started the engine, wondering what she was getting herself into. Why didn't Beatrice just talk to the police if she thought she knew something?

  “Sorry for all the secrecy,” Beatrice said it once they were seated at the coffee shop. “I just don't know who might have been the one to kill him, and I don't want to risk the wrong person overhearing us.”

  “I understand,” Autumn said. “What did you mean about me not knowing who Leo was?”

  “Well, I thought he seemed familiar while we were at the interview, so when I got home later I looked the restaurant up online, and I realized that he was one of the long-term chefs there.”

  “That doesn't make any sense,” Autumn said. “If he already worked there, then why was he applying?” Even as she spoke, she realized that that would explain why Audrey hadn't brought him into her office for an interview, and why he had seemed to know his way around the kitchen so well. It would also explain Audrey's extreme reaction to his death.

  “I don't know for sure, but I think that Audrey must have wanted him in there with us to see how we work when we think we’re unsupervised. She wasn't in there watching us, after all. And he would have had to work with whoever got hired, so I'm sure he wanted to have input in it. If we knew he was one of the people deciding whether or not we got hired for the job, then we might act differently around him, but as another applicant, he would have been able to see us as we really are.”

  “That's smart,” Autumn said. “I think you're onto something.”

  “It just makes sense. But that's not why I wanted to meet here. It's about the sesame oil.”

  “What about it?” Autumn asked. “I don't see how it could have anything to do with Leo's death.” Once again, she remembered how Beatrice had bumped against the bowl of mashed cauliflower. Had she made a mistake in meeting the other woman here? If something had been added to the cauliflower dish, then Beatrice must have been the one to do it.

  “Well, you see, I'm deathly allergic to sesame seeds,” Beatrice said. “And the thing is… I told Audrey about that during my interview with her.”

  Autumn blinked. “You're allergic to sesame seeds? But if there was sesame oil in the cauliflower, why didn't you react to it?”

  “I don't like cauliflower,” Beatrice admitted. “I didn't taste any of the mashed cauliflower dish. I knew I wouldn't like it, and I didn't want to look like I was being rude if I had to try to choke them down.”

  “Leo must have been allergic to sesame oil as well,” Autumn said. “But none of us would have known that.”

  “None of us besides Audrey or Kiki,” Beatrice said quietly.

  Autumn fell silent. It was a chilling thought. Had Audrey or Kiki poisoned the food with sesame oil in order to kill Leo, or had Beatrice been the real target? Or maybe the truth was something else, something even more sinister.

  “Did you tell anyone else about your allergy?” she asked.

  “No, I didn't. I just watched the ingredients that everyone was using. I made sure no one added any sesame oil in. Even if I had accidentally ingested some, I have an EpiPen in my purse. I would get hives first, which would alert me to what was happening with enough time to go get the pen before my throat started to swell. But everyone's reaction is different. The way Leo was having difficulty breathing, and his rash… That could have been an allergic reaction.”

  “We really should go to the police with this,” Autumn said. “Someone was trying to kill either you or Leo. The fact that Audrey and Kiki are the only ones who could have known will narrow it down for them.”

  “You don't think that I'm crazy?” Beatrice asked. “I don't want to waste their time.”

  “It won't be a waste of their time,” Autumn said. “I think this could really help them.”

  “If you think it's best, then that's what we'll do,” Beatrice said. “I'm going to run to the restroom. We can make the call when I get back.”

  Autumn waited until the other woman was out of sight before she pulled out her cell phone and dialed the number on the card the detective had given her.

  “This is Autumn Roth,” she said when he answered. “We're at the little coffee shop on the corner of Main Street in Fox Landing. I'm with one of the other people that applied for the job, and I think she might be the killer.”

  The police walked in shortly after Beatrice sat back down. At first the other woman watched them with a puzzled expression, but it quickly turned to shock when the two officers approached their table.

  “Ms. Lange?” one of them said. “You're going to have to come with us.”

  “W-why?” she stuttered.

  “You’re wanted for questioning in relation to the murder of Leonardo Dodd.”

  Autumn flinched and looked away when Beatrice shot her a betrayed look. She didn't know if calling the police was the right thing to do, but it all added up. Beatrice must have known about Leo's allergy somehow. She had been the one to bump into the cauliflower bowl before it had been served. She hadn't eaten any of the mashed cauliflower, and Autumn knew that she desperately wanted the job. Beatrice must have known that she wouldn't be good enough to get the job if there was only one position open, but if Audrey suddenly found herself out of a second chef, then she just might have a chance.

  If I'm wrong, Autumn thought, I'm really going to regret this later.

  CHAPTER TEN

  * * *

  “Welcome back, Ms. Roth,” Emily said cheerfully when she found Autumn in the kitchen at Asheville Meadows on Wednesday morning.

  “I told you, call me Autumn,” Autumn said, smiling. “And it's good to be back.”

  The day before, the news reporter said that an arrest had been made in relation to Leonardo's case, and the news screen had flashed to a mug shot of Beatrice. The woman had been arrested, and the case was closed, which meant that Autumn was free to return to work.

  Breakfast at the nursing home was always the easiest meal. Cereal, oatmeal, eggs, and either sausage or turkey bacon were the normal staples. On the weekends, they often had pancakes or waffles. Today, she and Emily spent half an hour making scrambled eggs and heating up the oatmeal before throwing the bacon on to cook. It was her first day back in a week, and Autumn felt a level of peace that she hadn't in all the days that she had been forced to sit at home. While the look that Beatrice had given her as the police marched her away still haunted her, she knew that she had made the right decision.

  As the residents began to trickle into the dining room, she took orders and marched food out of the kitchen. Once everyone had a bowl or a plate in front of them, she served herself a plate of bacon and eggs and went to join her aunt and uncle.

  Uncle Al and Aunt Lucy were Autumn's greatest source of emotional support. Her mother lived only a couple of hours away, and visited a couple of times each year, but her and Autumn's relationship was strained. In many ways, her aunt and uncle were the caring parental
figures she had never had.

  “I'm glad you're back,” Uncle Al said when she sat down across from him. “It just isn't the same here without you around.”

  Her aunt nudged her uncle with her good arm and gave him a sharp look. He chuckled and patted her wrist.

  “Your aunt is right. I shouldn't be making you feel guilty about being gone. If that job offer is still on the table, I don't want you to think you can't take it because of us. We were just fine before you started working here, and as long as you keep visiting us, we'll be fine if you decide to move onto greener pastures.”

  “Don't worry, I won't be taking the job even if it gets offered to me,” Autumn said. She shook a couple of drops of hot sauce onto her eggs before taking a bite.

  “Why not?” her uncle asked.

  “I'm happy here, and I don't know if I would even like working there. Why should I make a change if I'm already happy where I am?”

  “’Don't fix it if it isn't broken'?” her uncle chuckled. “I've never believed in that saying. If the great minds of the world lived by that idea, we wouldn't have half the things we have today. People were getting by just fine before we invented the light bulb, automobiles, and electricity, but life is certainly better now, isn't it?”

  “What if I go there and I hate it, though?” Autumn asked.

  “Then come back here,” her uncle said. “But I think whatever you do, Autumn, you'll be happy, especially if you're cooking.”

  Left with her uncle’s words to mull over, she helped clean up the breakfast dishes then drove home to let Frankie out and take the dog on a short walk around the block. She inhaled deeply, enjoying the fresh spring air. Maybe her uncle was right. She had never been truly unhappy anywhere that she had worked. While she was more passionate about working at Asheville Meadows, she hadn't disliked the grocery store. She couldn't imagine being unhappy as long as she was able to work toward her dreams.

  Letting herself back in the house, she unclipped Frankie's leash and gave the dog a couple of treats before leaving again. The drive back to Asheville Meadows was short, and she sat in the car for a couple of minutes before going in, flipping through the healthy cookbook that she had brought along with her. It was almost time to get started on the next month’s menu, and she was looking forward to implementing some of the ideas that she had found in the book.

  Her phone buzzed just as she was unbuckling her seatbelt. She picked it up and looked at the number, feeling a thrill of excitement when she recognized it as Audrey's phone number.

  Was this it? Was Audrey calling to tell her that she either had the job, or had been passed over for someone else? Taking a deep breath, she answered it.

  “Hello?”

  “Hi, Autumn. I'm glad I caught you. Do you have a couple of minutes to chat?”

  “I've got a few,” Autumn said. She checked the car’s clock. She didn't have to start making lunch for another fifteen minutes.

  “Well, I just wanted to let you know that we are beginning to pick up the pieces after what happened here. The restaurant is going to reopen soon, and we still need another chef. What do you say, do you want the position?”

  Autumn bit her lip and thought for a second before answering. “Can I give you my answer this evening?” she asked. “I want to talk to my boss here first.”

  “Of course. Just let us know what you decide. You can call me, and if I don't answer, call the restaurant's landline. Just tell whoever answers that you want to speak with Mrs. Blake.”

  “I will.”

  “Let us know either way, okay? You're my first choice, but if you don't want the position, I will offer it to someone else.”

  “I understand. I'll let you know as soon as I decide.”

  Autumn hung up and slipped her phone into her purse. Slowly, a grin spread across her face. She had the job, if she wanted it. Her cooking had been good enough. Audrey had liked her. Even if she didn't end up accepting the position, it felt good to know that she had earned it.

  Realizing that she had to talk to Nick, her smile dimmed a few notches. Nick had been so supportive of her through all of this. What would he say now that she was actually thinking of leaving?

  She was already beginning to doubt herself as she knocked on Nick's office door. When she heard his muted “Come in,” she wondered if she should just stay at Asheville Meadows after all. Her uncle’s advice had always been sound, and it was true that she did want to work in a restaurant someday, but was now really the best time to upheave her life?

  “Are you okay?” Nick asked, glancing up from his desk and frowning. “You look pale. Are you getting sick?”

  Autumn took a deep breath. “I got the job,” she blurted out.

  Multiple emotions flashed across Nick's face too quickly for her to read. Eventually, his expression settled on a look of happiness.

  “I knew you would be able to do it,” he said. “When do they want you to start?”

  “I haven't accepted yet,” she said. She stepped into the office and shut the door behind her. “I wanted to talk to you first.”

  “We've already talked about this,” Nick said. “I think you should do it.”

  “Well, I can't leave here with no notice. And honestly, I love it here and I'm not quite sure I want to go.” She hesitated. “I'm thinking of asking Audrey if it would be okay if I agreed to a trial period at the restaurant. Maybe four weeks or so. I could work both places part-time and see if I'm a good fit for such a fast-paced environment. If it doesn't work out, I could just come back here. What do you think?”

  “If she will agree to it, I'm perfectly happy to do it,” Nick said. “I just want you to make the decision that's best for you.”

  “I know.” She sighed. “I don't know what I want, though. I don't know why this decision is so hard for me to make.”

  “What did you feel when she told you that you had the job?”

  “Happy.” Autumn grinned. “Excited. Proud of myself.”

  “So, what changed? Right now, you look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”

  “I don't know. I guess it was the thought of telling you. I would feel bad giving up my position here after only working for a few months. I'll miss seeing you every day, and I will miss working with the people here.”

  “I don't want you to make this decision based on me or our relationship,” Nick said. “Wherever you work, we will still see each other plenty. You can still visit your aunt and uncle, and you will always be welcome to come back here.”

  “I know. I think that in the long run this could be really good for me, Nick.”

  “So do I,” he said. “So, are you going to do it?”

  Autumn took a deep breath. “If she agrees to the trial period, then yes.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  * * *

  Once the decision was made to accept the job at Blake's Steakhouse, her doubts melted away. This was the job that she had always wanted, and she found herself eager to start.

  Her first day would be on Monday, a relatively calm day for the restaurant. That Friday, however, she was supposed to stop in for a couple of hours to pick up her uniform, go over how things worked in the kitchen with Audrey, and sign her contract.

  She arranged with the other chef at Asheville Meadows to cover for her on Friday evening, and spent Friday afternoon agonizing over what to wear. She wasn't sure how nicely she should dress. If she was expected to work in the kitchen, she didn't want to be hindered by high heels, but if she was going to be meeting guests, she didn't want to look like she had just woken up, either. She settled on a deep blue button-down blouse, black slacks, and her favorite black flats. She pulled her hair back and kept the makeup to a minimum. Before leaving the house, she paused by the door to run the lint roller over her clothes in case any stray fur from Frankie was sticking to her. The last thing that she wanted was for someone to find a dog hair in their dish.

  It was late on Friday evening by the time she got to the restaurant, and the busiest hours
were in full swing. She sidled in the door and wound her way around a crowd of people waiting on their reservations, making her way to the hostess in the front.

  “I'm here to see Audrey Blake,” she said.

  “Name?” the distracted hostess asked.

  “I'm Autumn Roth.”

  The young woman snapped to attention and straightened up, self-consciously smoothing her hair. “You're the new chef. It's nice to meet you. Audrey said to go on back to the kitchen. You know the way.”

  “Thanks.”

  The restaurant certainly looked different when it was filled with lively customers. She made her way through the building slowly, being careful not to run into any of the hurrying waiters or step on any guests’ toes. She was glad that she would be working in the kitchen; she didn't think that she would enjoy spending her hours fighting through the congested dining area to deliver food.