Murder and Food Porn: A Northwest Cozy Mystery (Northwest Cozy Mystery Series Book 8)

by Dianne Harman

  The line went dead.

  Ethan lifted his glass of scotch off the table and hurled it against a nearby wall, where it smashed into jagged shards which sprayed the room. A trickle of brown liquid stained the pristine wall.

  He was done. There was nothing left to lose. Toni Adams would regret the conversation they had just had, he’d make sure of it. He couldn’t wait to make her squirm. She would be seeing him again, and it would be sooner rather than later.

  CHAPTER 3

  Al drove at breakneck speed to Toni’s house, Cassie making no attempt to urge him to slow down. They didn’t pass many cars along the route to their destination, which was on the road to the Country Club of Seattle, towards the south end of the island. Al screeched the car to a halt just inches from where Hillary was standing out front, wringing her hands. The car stopped so close to Hillary she had to jump out of the way, afraid she’d be run over.

  Cassie hurried out of the car and ran to Hillary with open arms, soothing the young woman she’d only met for the first time that evening. Al pulled a gun from his waistband and whispered a command to Red, who immediately disappeared into the bushes that lined the driveway, while Al waited alongside Hillary and Cassie, where he scrutinized the house.

  Toni’s was an old gate lodge that had been transported to the shores of Blakely Harbor. The timeless brick exterior looked as though it had been recently lovingly restored, and an array of beveled glass French doors were visible along one side, leading into the house from the waterfront patio. Up two steps and through the open front door into the hallway he could make out hardwood floors, silk-paneled walls, and a narrow staircase leading up to what he supposed was a converted loft. The original building would not have had an upstairs.

  Al caught Cassie’s eye, and made a hand signal gesture towards the door. Cassie pulled away from Hillary, who was still clinging to her, and Al approached the two women.

  “Hillary, Ima gonna’ go inside, okay?”

  The young woman nodded, sniffing, and Al produced a clean handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to her. Her eyes were red and puffy, her cheeks marred by angry pink blotches.

  “Can you tell me where Ima gonna’ find Toni?” Al’s voice was gentle.

  Hillary involuntary shuddered. “In the great room. It’s through the hallway and to the right of the kitchen.” She looked from Al to Cassie and then back to Al. “I can’t go back in there. Please, don’t make me.”

  “You don’t have to do anything,” Cassie said, placing an arm around her shoulder. She looked for somewhere to sit. Hillary was shivering. “Why don’t we wait on the front steps over there,” Cassie said, “or we could sit in the car if you’re cold?”

  Hillary moved towards the steps, where she huddled next to Cassie while blowing her nose into the handkerchief.

  Al whistled for Red, who had made his way through the bushes into the garden and now reappeared from the opposite side of the house. Red entered the house first, followed by Al, who had his gun at the ready in his hand. They walked along the hallway where family photos adorned the walls. A laughing Toni beamed out from a beach shot where she was standing with Hillary and a smiling older woman who Al assumed was their mother.

  Red growled as they neared the back of the house.

  “Stay,” Al commanded Red, and he walked past the kitchen to the doorway of the great room. Red growled louder. “On guard.” The big dog was obviously disturbed about something in the great room.

  The door was ajar, and Al pushed it open with his shirt-sleeved elbow. The room was luxurious, decorated in a traditional style that complemented the historical period of the house. Several food magazines were strewn across a coffee table, and on the wall was a framed YumYum magazine cover with a colorful picture of a fruit salad platter. Al had seen it before, when Cassie bought the magazine and brought it home after Toni’s firm had won an award for the cover. Cassie had explained to him the fruit was, in fact, laid out on a naked woman’s torso.

  “Eww. Don’t be gettin’ any ideas,” Al had said when she showed it to him. “I like eatin’ my strawberries from a dessert bowl, not yer’ belly button, if that’s alright with you.” Cassie had assured him it was.

  He swept around the room with the muzzle of his gun, but he didn’t see any signs of danger. A recessed bar area in the corner was fully stocked with liquor bottles and glasses for entertaining in style, but Al’s eyes were drawn to the lifeless body sprawled on the carpet between the coffee table and the hearth. The auburn ponytail identified it as Toni, and Al inched forward, avoiding stepping on the blood and fragments of broken glass that were on the carpet. Checking for a pulse was a rudimentary exercise which served to confirm what he already knew. Toni was dead, He estimated she’d been that way for a couple of hours at least. Being careful not to touch anything, he and Red made their way back outside where Cassie and Hillary were waiting for them.

  Cassie’s gaze met his, and Al gave her a sad shake of his head. He cleared his throat. “Hillary, Ima gonna contact the police, unless you already did?”

  “No, I just grabbed Toni’s phone to call you when I found her and then I came outside, like Cassie suggested,” Hillary said. “I must have dropped the phone after that. It wasn’t in my hand when I came out, and I was too afraid to go back inside.” She began to sob again.

  “That’s okay. I’ll deal with it,” Al said. He walked to the car where he dialed 911 out of earshot, so as not to cause Hillary further distress. When he was done, he placed his gun in the glove compartment, locked it, and then opened the trunk, pulling out a couple of blankets. Returning to the house where the two women were sitting on the front steps, he handed one to Cassie and draped the other one loosely around Hillary. “Try to stay warm,” he said. “It might be a long wait.”

  Al was surprised when several police cars arrived at the property within a matter of minutes. He knew the Bainbridge Island Police Department was a small one, and the scale of the police response struck him as unusual, and that they had arrived so soon after his call. A tall man wearing a tuxedo got out of the first car and approached them.

  “Chief Hewson,” Al said, walking over to meet him. “What are you doing here?”

  Dan Hewson, Chief of the Seattle Police Department, greeted him with a solemn handshake. “This evening is the annual police awards dinner for the Bainbridge Island Police Department, and I was on my way there to serve as the Master of Ceremonies. We work closely with the team here, as you well know.”

  Al nodded.

  “When the dispatcher took your call, we were about to leave the precinct for the dinner, and the local chief asked who called it in. Said it was a man by the name of Al De Duco.” Dan smiled at Al. “I said I knew you and would swing by to help. What happened?”

  Al told him about the events of the evening, culminating with finding Toni’s body at her home. He returned to Cassie while Dan took command. The sirens and the arrival of the swarm of police officers had set Hillary off again, and she was crying hysterically. A paramedic attended to her before a female officer steered her into the back of one of the patrol cars to take a statement from her.

  Al placed his hand in the small of Cassie’s back and she leaned into him, her head not reaching his shoulder. Red stood still beside Al while Cassie and Al were in turn interviewed by the police.

  “Like I tol’ ya’, we ain’t seen nothin’,” Al confirmed to the officer who took his statement. “Jes’ came straight here after Hillary called. I sent my dog sniffin’ around before I went in.” He motioned to the open door. “But whoever bumped Toni off is long gone, I reckon.”

  Chief Hewson came up at that moment and spoke to the officer. “I’ll take over here, thanks, Joe.” Looking around for a quiet spot, the chief took Al aside. “Tell me about the decedent, Al. Did you know her well?”

  Al shook his head. “I met Toni once or twice, but Cassie knew her far better than I did. They move in the same sort of foodie circles. I don’t know much about food,
apart from eatin’ it.”

  A faint smile crossed Dan’s face. “I’m much the same. I’m a big fan of your wife’s food columns in The Seattle Times. Mrs. Hewson and I have discovered several new restaurants through her Food Spy recommendations. In fact, Cassie was just telling me she’d been working with Toni Adams to publish a recipe book. I’m sorry that won’t be happening. It would have made a lovely present for my wife.”

  “That’s right. Cassie had chosen some of her top-rated dishes from her reviews and various chefs had volunteered the recipes. Toni was in charge of takin’ pics of them. All the proceeds were goin’ to the Seattle Foundation.” Al sighed. “Cassie’s gonna’ be disappointed to let the Foundation down, but there ain’t much she can do about that now, I guess. I jes’ hope you guys find Toni’s killer and get to the bottom of why they did this. Toni was pretty well-liked, from what I heard.”

  The chief frowned. “Al, I have to tell you, the Bainbridge Island Police Department is really understaffed right now. As a matter of fact, their police chief and I were just talking about it earlier. They’ve only got a couple of detectives and a dozen or so patrol officers. They’re already stretched to the limit. Technically, this is outside my jurisdiction, but I’ll see what I can do. I was thinking…” He paused, and Al waited for him to continue.

  When the chief remained silent, Al spoke up. “C’mon, spit it out, Chief. Ima gettin’ the feelin’ there’s somethin’ yer’ not sayin.’”

  “You’d be right. Look, I know Jake is in Connecticut and that you’ve taken over his private investigation firm while he’s gone. And you’ve got Luke Robertson on your team, a well-known ex-cop.”

  Al chuckled. “You should know, you trained him.”

  “Exactly. I was sorry to lose him when he left the force, but I understand his reasons. When his fiancée was murdered at Le Bijou Bistro, the police weren’t able to find her killer due to lack of resources. You and Jake found the murderer, Al, not Seattle PD. Do you see where I’m going with this?”

  Al looked across to where Hillary had rejoined Cassie.

  “You might want to talk to Hillary and see if she’ll hire you,” Dan continued. “Even with the best intentions, it will probably take the force here longer to get to the bottom of this than Hillary would like. Thankfully there aren’t many murders around these parts, but when it happens, they often remain unsolved for a long time. This is off-the-record, but with your, how shall I put this, background, you seem to have a knack for getting around a lot of the red tape that would delay the police in this type of investigation.”

  Darkness was falling, and Al adjusted the sunglasses he wore day and night. The only time he took them off was in bed.

  “No idea what yer’ gettin’ at, but I’ll take that as a compliment, Chief,” he said with a nod. “Leave it with me, and Ima gonna’ see what I can do. I’ll let ya’ know if Hillary wants to take that course of action.”

  Dan checked his watch and looked around. Toni’s covered body was being taken out of the house on a gurney. “Looks like we’re wrapping up here for tonight, but the house will be off-limits until the forensics team is finished. If Hillary wants to collect some things, she’ll need to do it now before they seal the place off.”

  Al shook Dan’s hand. “Sure. Hope ya’ enjoy yer’ dinner, y’all.”

  He watched Dan make his way over to the waiting police car and then turned to Cassie who was walking towards him.

  “Hillary’s still very emotional, as you can imagine,” she said. “She wanted to stay at a hotel, but I told her we wouldn’t hear of it. I’ve invited her to stay with us for a few days, if that’s all right with you.”

  Al leaned down and kissed her. “Of course. There’s plenty of room at our place. She can stay as long as she likes. Ima gonna’ go inside with her, so she can pack a bag. You get in the car with Red. We’ll be back in a couple of minutes.”

  He took a deep breath and headed for the house.

  CHAPTER 4

  Barrie Jones watched her boss, Toni Adams, spread a handful of Polaroid photographs across the conference room table. Toni’s freckled hands were nimble, switching and moving the white-bordered squares around until they were placed just how she wanted.

  “What do you think?” Toni asked, standing on a chair to get an aerial view of the tabletop, and nearly falling over in the process. “I know they want a time-lapse photo series of decomposing food to show how long it takes for processed food to rot, but that’s way too boring. I thought if we add a small child to the photos you can see the child’s development and growth in contrast to how long it takes for a processed hamburger to biodegrade.”

  Barrie frowned. “It’s a good idea in theory, but it will be tricky to pull it off, especially when children are involved. We’re talking months, right? The hamburger’s not going to cause any trouble, but the kid might.”

  Toni laughed, as she climbed down. “You’re probably right. What do you think we should do to add interest to the presentation? The client’s waiting in the reception area right now, and I’d like to pitch them a couple of options. These Polaroids show the client’s organic burgers alongside some equally delicious-looking but evil enemy burgers. So far, so blah.” She made a face.

  “I think,” Barrie said, “We should give them what they want. Why make it complicated? We’re getting paid to deliver photos, not come up with clever marketing concepts. You and I both know we can make the images tell whatever story the client wants.” She scowled. Why did Toni always have to overthink things? She thought.

  “Leave it to their marketing team to come up with the ideas. If they don’t like your suggestions, you risk alienating them if they think you’re criticizing their concept.”

  “Hmm.” Toni thought for a moment. “I’ll take that risk. I like adding creative input. Clients appreciate service providers going the extra mile, Barrie. We’re all on the same side. You’ll learn that as you gain more experience. It’s possible to make suggestions in a way that doesn’t compromise the relationship. Sometimes a client thinks they know what they want, but they really don’t. If we can improve their campaign in a way that makes them think they thought of it in the first place, all the better.”

  Barrie nodded, getting up. “Thanks, Toni. I’ll bear that in mind. I’ve still got so much to learn. I appreciate your patience helping me. I know I’ve made a few mistakes lately, and I promise it won’t happen again. You can count on me.”

  Toni nodded, her smile fading. “I hope so, Barrie. You’re a great food stylist and photographer, but if you ever send a client the wrong photos again, there will be consequences. We’re lucky The Seattle Times was very understanding about it. I can’t afford to lose a client of that caliber.”

  “I understand completely,” Barrie said, dropping her head. Not because she was embarrassed by her ineptitude, but because she didn’t want Toni to see the look of hatred in her eyes. “I’ll go greet the clients now and bring them in,” she mumbled. “Do you need anything else?”

  Toni looked around the room, her eyes settling on the credenza where fresh coffee should be, but it was empty. She raised her eyebrows and stared at Barrie, who shrugged. “I didn’t have time,” her assistant muttered, before leaving the room.

  How dare she, Barrie thought as she hurried down the hall to the reception area. That woman’s passive aggressive way of threatening me is pathetic. If she wants to fire me, she should come right out and say it. Who does she think she is, anyway? She expects me to do everything around here, including making the coffee. Ungrateful witch.

  Barrie managed to turn on a smile as she made small talk with the clients she met in the reception area and then she escorted them to the conference room where Toni was waiting.

  “Thanks Barrie, that will be all for now,” Toni said, making it clear her presence was not required at the meeting. “Just the coffee, when you have a minute.”

  When Barrie returned with the coffee, she made quite a bit of noise setting out
the cups. She knew it would bug Toni, who liked quiet at all times. Pettiness was one of Barrie’s strong points, and she never let go of a grudge. There were plenty of reasons why she disliked Toni, and she was done with trying to hide her feelings. Something had to change, and soon.

  After excusing herself, she went outside. She stood in front of the building, taking a deep drag on her cigarette, and hoped Toni could see her from the window of the conference room upstairs. Smoking was one of Toni’s pet hates, and a notice in the staff room stated smoking was to take place outside and around the side of the building, where the stinky trash dumpsters were located. Since Barrie was the only smoker on Toni’s payroll, she’d taken the notice as a personal slight.

  Hector, the building’s janitor, approached her holding an empty bucket in one hand and a wrench in the other and said, “You’d better hope Toni doesn’t see you standing there. You know she doesn’t like anyone smoking out here. Not even clients, although there’s not much she can say about that.”

  “Exactly. Why else do you think I’m doing it?” Barrie blew out a puff of smoke. “I’m sick of all of her stupid rules.”

  Hector raised an eyebrow. “What’s got you so snarky today? I thought you two were getting along okay.”

  “Not so much.” Toni Adams may have topped Barrie’s list of least favorite people, but she wasn’t about to explain herself to Hector. “Just because you’re her number one fan, doesn’t mean we all share your sentiments. She’s never going to go out with someone like you, anyway. Beats me why you keep asking her.”

  Hector’s face clouded over.

  “What’s wrong, Hector, did I touch a nerve?” Barrie let out a hollow laugh and stamped her cigarette butt into the ground with a twisting motion of her shoe.