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

by Dianne Harman

  “Make sure you pick that up,” Hector said sharply. “Anyway, there’s a leak in the kitchen. I’d better get going.”

  Barrie watched him shuffle off, his progress slowed by a limp. She leaned against the wall of the building and sighed. She despised Hector for his adoration of Toni, although Barrie and Hector were similar in many ways. They were both in their thirties, trying to make something of their lives. Like him, she’d grown up poor, however Hector mostly embraced his background and heritage, while Barrie was ashamed of hers.

  She’d been raised in Tukwila, Washington, where over one-fifth of the population lived at poverty level or below. Her family was still part of the number making up that statistic, but not Barrie. Not any longer. Growing up living in Tukwila with her extended family in a mobile home park, she knew she was different from the losers in her family. She often referred to them as ‘trailer trash’ and couldn’t wait to get out of Tukwila. She’d quit high school and moved to downtown Seattle, renting a small studio apartment in a building in a tenement district. Lacking schooling, her first job was as a house cleaner for an agency.

  One of her clients, Jim, was a photographer, and he taught her how to operate a camera. The first time she saw a Canon EOS DSLR, it was love at first sight. She was a natural. Jim had become a mentor to her, and it wasn’t long before he was also her lover. Through Jim’s connections, Barrie secured a job as Toni’s assistant, but she was tired of playing second fiddle to her boss. Barrie had much greater ambitions.

  “We make a good team, don’t we?” she’d whispered to Jim one night as they snuggled up on the sofa. She’d made him his favorite meal and plied him with wine. “I was wondering how you would feel about us going into business together.”

  Jim rubbed her back and chuckled. “I thought you didn’t like being anyone’s assistant. You’re not great at taking orders. I wouldn’t want you to turn against me if you were mine.”

  Barrie shook her head. “No. I don’t want to be a corporate headshot photographer, and you’ve said yourself it’s boring and underpaid. Food is where it’s at. With the rise of all of the food blogs on the internet covering every type of cuisine, the best photographers can name their price. I should know. I’ve seen Toni’s invoices and bank statements.” She leaned over and kissed him.

  Jim looked confused. “You mean, go into competition with Toni? I don’t think so. She’d be a tough cookie to go up against.”

  Barrie topped off his wine glass. She’d already played out the conversation many times in her head. “You’ve got that money you inherited, and you’ve been waiting for the right business opportunity to come along. Why not make her an offer to buy her business? She’d have to agree to a non-compete clause for a certain period of time, but by then we’d be so successful it wouldn’t matter if she started up again under a new name. Don’t you see? With me running the business and both of us taking the photographs, we wouldn’t need any other staff apart from a receptionist, which would increase the profits instantly.” Her eyes shone. “Together, we would be unstoppable!”

  Barrie didn’t mention the part about how the plan would secure her future. Jim had made it clear from the outset of their relationship ten years earlier that he never wanted to get married or have children. The financial security of a business jointly owned by the two of them would be her little insurance policy in case they ever broke up.

  Once Barrie had planted the seeds of the idea in Jim’s head, she was surprised by how fast things moved. He loved the idea, and had consulted lawyers, moved funds, and even looked at business premises in Seattle. Barrie said she didn’t want to have to travel to Bainbridge Island to work, and Jim agreed that a base in the city made a lot more sense.

  The plan fell apart at the last hurdle, when Jim arranged a meeting with Toni to lay out his intentions and make her an offer.

  “I could have saved you the trip, Jim, if you’d told me what this was about before you came all this way,” Toni had said when Jim explained the reason why he’d wanted the meeting. Barrie, who happened to be in Toni’s office when Jim made his ill-fated offer to buy her business, would never forget the withering look on Toni’s face as she continued, “I thought you were here to see your girlfriend,” she said, nodding towards Barrie. “Food Porn Photography is not for sale. Not now, and not ever.”

  That look said a thousand words. Barrie was pretty sure Toni had some idea about the source behind Jim’s plan to buy the business. Ever since then, she’s treated me like scum, Barrie seethed. Toni, with her stupid ponytail and cute freckles. Always pretending to everyone that she’s Miss Sweetness and Light. Why can’t people see what she’s really like?

  A blond head appeared around the front door of the building. Angela, the receptionist, called across to her. “Barrie, Toni’s looking for you. She’s not too happy. Something about the proofs for the Munchies pitch being covered in coffee stains.”

  Of course, it’s my fault as usual, Barrie huffed, as she made her way back inside. I’ll be glad when she goes to Alaska on that stupid boat trip and gives us all a break for a few days. Maybe she’ll fall off the boat and freeze to death and never come back.

  That’s when it hit her. Of course! The only way to make sure Toni would never bother her again was to get rid of her once and for all. If Toni died, the business would be put up for sale, and Jim would be able to buy it as they’d planned. He’d probably even get a better price.

  She smiled. It was so simple. So perfect. And there was no time to waste.

  CHAPTER 5

  Back at home, Cassie did her best to salvage the meal she’d prepared earlier.

  “I don't know about you ladies, but I could do with a drink,” Al announced, opening the refrigerator and taking out a beer. “Anyone care to join me?”

  Cassie nodded. “Wine for me, please, and after you get drinks, would you start the barbecue?

  “Hillary? Ya’ joinin’ us?” She nodded as well.

  Hillary accepted her glass of wine with a grateful smile. “I hope the police can quickly find out who did this to Toni,” Hillary said with a frown. “I'm still processing everything that's happened, but I don’t think I can start to grieve or move on with my life until the killer has been caught and brought to justice. My head is spinning right now with everything I need to do. Toni's business, her house, the funeral arrangements…” Her voice trailed off. “I have no idea where to start.”

  Cassie gave Hillary's hand a reassuring squeeze. “Don't try to think about all of that tonight. Right now, you need to eat and then get some sleep. Al and I will help you tomorrow with whatever else needs to be done.”

  “Al, will you please cook these hamburgers on the barbecue and then bring them in to me when they’re ready? When you’re finished with the burgers, you can cook the peaches on the barbecue while I finish up these patty melts. It’s a little late, but at least the food won’t be stale.”

  A few minutes later Al took a big bite out of his patty melt and said, “This was worth the wait. Very tasty. I've had worse meals in some of them fancy restaurants.”

  Hillary picked at her food and moved it around on her plate with her fork, obviously not in the mood to eat anything. “Al, did the police give you any idea how long it will take to wrap this up?” Do you know if we’re talking days, weeks, or longer? Obviously, I won’t be going to British Columbia as planned…”

  Tears welled up in Hillary’s eyes, and she struggled to compose herself. “What I mean is, my work back home is taken care of until next week. But if I’m not going to be returning to Florida by then, I need to contact some people to let them know.”

  Al chewed slowly, remembering his conversation with Chief Hewson. He looked at Hillary and sensed a strength within her. In spite of everything that had happened, she was thinking rationally and trying to anticipate the practicalities of what lay ahead. He decided honesty was the best policy. “Ima not gonna’ sugarcoat this, Hillary, but the way Chief Hewson was talkin’, it’s lookin’ like
it could be quite a while. He was tellin’ me the police force here on the island is stretched to the limit right now. It ain’t likely they’re gonna find Toni’s killer within days, maybe even weeks.”

  “I see.” Hillary turned her wine glass around in her hands, deep in thought.

  Al noticed Hillary hadn’t eaten any of her food. “If yer’ plannin’ on stickin’ around to see this through, ya’ might have to cancel all of yer’ appointments back home fer the foreseeable future,” he added.

  “There’s no question of me leaving town until Toni’s killer has been found. That’s simply not an option.” Hillary looked at Al, her eyes imploring him. “Al, would you consider taking the case on? Toni told me about your success in solving the recent murder at the Waterfront Palace. Money’s no object, so if you need to employ extra help to cover the rest of your workload, I’ll meet the costs, no problem.”

  “Lemme’ ask the boss here.” Al turned to Cassie. “If ya’ don’t mind me postponin’ our date we had planned for tomorrow night, I think I can get started right away.”

  Cassie smiled at her husband. “Fine, but I’ll hold you to it as soon as you close the case.” To Hillary she added, “Between work and sailing, I hardly ever see Al these days.”

  “Ima keepin’ her on her toes.” Al winked at Hillary before his expression turned serious. “Looks like ya’ hired yerself’ a private investigator. I hate to do this, but there’s no time to waste. Is there anythin’ at all ya’ can tell me about anyone who mighta’ wanted to kill Toni?”

  Hillary looked confused. “Not that I can think of. Her friends loved her. She was the most popular person I know, literally the life and soul of the party.”

  Cassie cleared the dinner plates from the table. Hillary’s patty melt had gone untouched, so Cassie chopped it up into bite-size pieces and scraped it into Red’s dog dish. Then she prepared three bowls of ice-cream from a tub she found in the freezer. “I hope you like Italian ice-cream,” she said to Hillary as she returned to the table. “There’s a fantastic place on the island, Da Vinci’s. It’s homemade, just not by me.”

  Hillary’s eyes lit up, and she began to eat. Wordlessly, Cassie set the tub on the table in case their guest wanted seconds, throwing Al a warning look not to touch it.

  Al had been considering what Hillary had told him and changed his line of questioning. “Okay, let’s take a different angle. Can you think of a motive anyone might have had for murderin’ Toni? Ima thinkin’ money, revenge, things like that, ya’ know whadda mean?”

  Hillary looked over to where Red had gotten up from his dog bed in the corner of the kitchen and wandered over to his dog dish by the patio doors, drawn by the smell of the recently cooked patty melt. He began to eat with gusto, happy to have a little dessert after his regular meal of dry kibble.

  “Yes, I understand,” she said. “Toni was wealthy in her own right, in that she had a successful business. She also inherited money when our father died. As a matter of fact, we both did. Half the proceeds of his life insurance policy was split between me and Toni. The other half went to our mother.”

  She let out a hollow laugh. “Or rather, it went to the gold digger boy toy she married a year later. Money could have been a motive, except as far as I know, I’m Toni’s only beneficiary. And I’ve got plenty of money of my own.”

  Al reached for a notebook and pen and opened the notebook to a clean page. “Yer’ not a suspect yet, don’tcha worry. What’s yer’ mother’s husband’s name?”

  “Ethan Doyle.”

  “Where does he live, this stepfather of yours?” Al asked.

  Hillary shrugged. “I have no idea. After Mom died, I never saw him again. When she was ill, I made it very clear to him exactly what I thought of him. I told him he was a good-for-nothing creep. I had him checked out when Mom seemed short of money, you see. He’d always claimed he was an internet entrepreneur who invested in startups, but I couldn’t find a trace of any of his companies. When I called him on it, he accused me of meddling and trying to turn Mom against him.”

  She paused, staring at Red, before looking back to Al. “Toni disliked Ethan as well, but since she lived so far away, she never confronted him like I did,” she continued. “Toni moved across the country to Bainbridge Island after our mother’s marriage, because she found the situation unbearable. She told me Ethan had contacted her recently and said Mom had asked him to take care of her. In fact, she thought she saw him one time outside her house, but I told her she was probably imagining things.” Smiling, Hillary continued. “Toni could be quite dramatic. She believed in the afterlife and went to several clairvoyants to try and contact Mom after she passed away.”

  “I remember her telling me about that,” Cassie said. “I don’t think they were successful.”

  Hillary snorted. “Of course, they weren’t. What a load of mumbo jumbo. So, when she said she thought she’d seen Ethan, I didn’t think anything of it. For all I know, he’s still in Florida.”

  “I can get that checked out easily enough,” Al said, scribbling in his notebook. “I’ll take care of it. Anythin’ else? Anyone at work botherin’ her, or a romance turned sour—was she seein’ anyone?”

  “Yes, she had a boyfriend,” Hillary said. “As far as I know they were very happy together. I think they were starting to get very serious. His name’s Jace Carson. He works in television.”

  “That’s right, I met him once with Toni,” Cassie said. “He’s the executive producer of several television shows that are all food and home oriented. Toni told me they met when he called her company and had her photograph several food items for an ad. Since that time whenever food photos were needed, he always had her do them.” She watched Al take notes. “Like Hillary said, they were crazy about each other.”

  “In that case, someone better let Jace know,” Al said. “Hillary, do you want me to call him?”

  She shook her head. “I’ll do it in the morning.” Red looked up from his dog dish and took a few steps towards the table. “Hey, handsome fella,” Hillary said, holding out her hand. Red walked the rest of the way over to her, allowing himself to be stroked, before resting his head on her knee.

  Al scratched his head in amazement. “That’s a first, Ima gonna’ tell ya’. Red’s not usually the friendliest of dogs, but he’s taken a shine to ya’.”

  “The feeling’s mutual,” Hillary said with a smile. She stifled a yawn. “Sorry, I think it’s the wine on an empty stomach. There’s something else I should mention. It’s probably nothing, but…”

  “Go ahead,” Al said, pen poised. “Ain’t no such thing as nothin’ when yer’ sister’s been shot at point-blank range.” Ima sorry Hillary had to see what that looks like, he thought. Ain’t a pretty sight.

  “Have you ever heard of a guy called Tyler something?” Hillary directed the question towards Cassie. “I believe he runs a food blog called Nibbles.”

  Cassie rolled her eyes. “Yes, Tyler Alexander? He’s at every food event I go to. He’s a freeloader, likes to complain a lot, and thinks he’s superior to everyone else in the industry.”

  “That sounds about right.” Hillary turned to Al. “Toni was stressed about work and mentioned that this Tyler guy had been bothering her. Apparently, she did a food photo shoot for his blog and he used the photos, but he never paid her for them. When she followed up with him, he said he hated the photos and that his blog had lost followers ever since he’d used them. Not only would he not pay what he owed her, he was threatening to sue Toni for compensation unless she agreed to an out-of-court settlement.”

  Al thought about what Hillary had told him. “Seems like we got a coupla’ good leads already.” He snapped his notebook closed. “Why don’tcha sleep on it. Ya’ can let me know tomorrow if ya’ can think of anythin’ else. In the meantime, I’ll get the rest of my team onto this first thing.”

  Hillary’s eyes shone with gratitude, and her chin wobbled. She began to say something, but Cassie beat her to it. “Ssh, it
’s alright. Let’s go upstairs. I’ll show you to your room.”

  “Goodnight,” Al said, watching Red follow the women into the hallway. Relieved Cassie had intervened before Hillary started crying again, he considered having another beer.

  Women and their waterworks, he thought, could drive a man to drink.

  CHAPTER 6

  “I’m sorry sir, your card’s been declined. Do you have another one you would like to use?”

  Tyler Alexander scowled as the assistant at the Apple store handed him back his gold Amex card. “I’m not sure why you’re called a Genius,” Tyler muttered, thumbing through his wallet, “when clearly you can’t even work that machine hanging around your neck.” He rolled his eyes and handed him a Visa card.

  The Genius did something with the card on the tiny device that looked like a phone dangling around his neck on a white lanyard, before looking up at Tyler with an apologetic smile. “I’m afraid this one’s no good either. If you like, we can hold your purchase until the end of the day.”

  The Apple Store at the Bellevue Square shopping mall was getting busy with the lunchtime crowd, and several people waiting on the stools at the Genius Bar had turned around to stare at them. Tyler debated whether making a fuss was worth it but asking the store to call his credit card company would probably lead to further embarrassment for him.

  He tried to shrug it off, hoping the heat rising on his face didn’t reveal his true feelings. “There must be some kind of mix up,” he chuckled. His throat was dry, and he tried to swallow, but it ended up sounding like a croak. “I just got back from Las Vegas, so I guess I’ve maxed it out. I’ll call the bank to transfer some funds and come back this afternoon. Make sure you keep that I-Baby for me until I get back, okay, dude?”

  “Of course,” the Genius replied, but the store assistant’s attention was already focused elsewhere. He’d turned away to speak to another customer, and Tyler stole one last glance at the special edition iPhone X the Genius was carrying. Copper-plated and encrusted with Swarovski crystals, it was the object of Tyler’s girlfriend’s desire. And if Harper didn’t get what she wanted, she’d make his life miserable.