Of course, I didn’t know what he’d said in his confession and plea deal. Dinah might know from her research. And if she didn’t, she would undoubtedly find a way to learn it.
“Dinner’s served,” said Reed.
He’d stood up when I had, remaining behind me, obviously not wanting to interrupt. But I knew I could count on him to keep all of us safe, even if that just meant calling the cops. He was a good guy. Cared about people as well as animals.
“Time for us to sit down,” I said to Dinah.
That was apparently a cue for Holpurn and his gang to hurry out of the restaurant. Or maybe the fact that Silas wasn’t leaving him alone contributed to or caused it.
The drama had ended, at least for now. I sat down and so did Reed. I looked up at Dinah. At first she stared after those who’d left, but then she, too, sat back down at the head of the table.
To get everyone back in party mode—hopefully—I raised my wine glass again and said, “To Dinah. Happy birthday and many more to come.” Which I meant. I hoped she hadn’t endangered herself. And I didn’t want to say anything else on that subject, even to mention Dinah’s obsession—er, fascination—with research.
Once more, calls of “hear, hear” circulated the table. Servings of chicken Kiev joined our salads and I began eating, looking at Dinah. She seemed to stare at her plate for a long moment before glancing in my direction. The smile she sent me appeared a bit wry, but then she, too, started eating.
Soon I was chatting with Dinah about other birthday parties she’d had over the years, and some of my own celebrations.
She eventually turned and talked for a while with her fellow assistants, and I, too, turned and began talking with Reed.
“Everything okay?” His gorgeous, dark brown eyes seemed to study me, as if he was trying to look into my mind and learn what I was really thinking.
“For now,” I said.
“For now,” he agreed with a nod. Then he glanced across the table toward Neal and Janelle. “Does your brother have any plans for the rest of the night?”
I knew how to interpret that. “I don’t know if he’s coming back to our place or not … but I could pick up Biscuit and join you at your house. Assuming you’re willing to get up tomorrow as early as I do to get to work.”
Reed rested one finger on his strong chin and raised his eyes upward. “Gee—what a novel idea.”
I gently prodded him with my elbow. “Okay, wise guy. One way or the other, yes, I want to spend tonight with you.”
“And I with you.” His tone now was deep and throaty, and as sexy as a voice could be.
Which made me look forward to the end of this party.
But I still enjoyed the rest of my dinner, as well as the conversations I got involved in. Fortunately, Dinah didn’t return to the subject that undoubtedly was weighing on all our shoulders now, thanks to the earlier ugly exchanges. Instead, she talked about the Barkery and Icing and how much she enjoyed working at my shops.
Sure, Dinah could have been trying to flatter me, since I was throwing the party for her. But we’d talked often about how glad I was that she’d stayed when I bought the shops. I’d relied a lot on her to teach me how to operate bakeries, in terms of both the baking aspect and the business aspect. I hadn’t been able to learn about either while working as a vet tech, though I’d wanted to do something like this—to become my own boss—for a long time.
Dinah had helped me achieve that successfully.
Which was part of the reason I’d wanted to do something special for her birthday.
I watched with amusement as Billi chatted with Neal, Janelle, and my other assistants at the opposite side of the table. As a city councilwoman as well as a businesswoman, Billi was never at a loss for things to talk about.
Arvie showed up at the party after things had calmed down. I’d invited Dr. Paul Jensin as well, although I hadn’t been certain if he would join us. But he knew Dinah, partly because she’d used him as a research resource, and he’d said he’d be glad to come.
When Arvie arrived, he hurried to where Dinah sat, bent to hug her, and then gave her a gift—never mind that I’d told everyone not to, since Dinah said she didn’t want gifts. But it was sweet of him.
Then he headed toward me. “Sorry I’m late.” No white medical jacket on him now. He, like Reed, wore a suit. “An emergency at the hospital.”
“What was it?” Reed stood to greet our wonderful boss. People at Reed’s far side moved down so Arvie could sit beside him.
“Two sibling bulldogs decided it was time to show each other who was boss, and neither won.” At my gasp and Reed’s shake of the head, Arvie put his hand up. “Neither lost much, either. They’ll both be fine.”
In a short while, Stu had brought over some wine for Arvie, as well as his salad and entree.
I felt so glad that everyone, particularly Dinah, seemed to be having a great time. She opened Arvie’s present after saying to the group, “Now, I really meant it about not wanting gifts, but I can’t help checking this one out, can I?”
She pulled off the wrapping paper—and pulled out a small notebook with a really pretty, mosaic-like cover.
“Oh, this is wonderful,” she gushed toward Arvie. “Thanks so much.”
“Well, I’m always hearing about how much you like to do research. Now you’ll always have something to jot down your findings in.”
Sweet, but it almost made me want to kick Arvie, since for a while all of us, including Dinah, had put aside what had happened earlier—which was, in a way, a byproduct of Dinah’s research.
But Arvie didn’t know that. And Dinah made an obvious gesture of holding up the notebook, pulling off the attached pen, and jotting something inside. “Just noting that this was a very sweet present on my birthday this year from amazing veterinarian Dr. Arvus Kline. Not that I’d ever forget that anyway.” Then she picked up her large purse from the floor and put the notebook inside.
The rest of the meal also went great. Dinah laughed a lot, accepted another glass of wine, and almost shrieked with joy when maitre d’ Ruth marched into the restaurant with the lovely, ornate birthday cake in her hands as Stu and others on the wait staff marched behind her singing “Happy Birthday.” The candles were already lit, and Ruth placed the cake on the table in front of Dinah, who looked around at everyone, glanced upward as if making her wish, and then blew out the candles.
Although one took an extra try.
Well, I knew what the superstition was about that. It could mean that Dinah’s wish wouldn’t come true—or that she otherwise would have bad luck. I wasn’t going to mention it, and the whole thing was just a fun but silly tradition anyway.
From the still-huge smile on Dinah’s face, she wasn’t concerned at all, which was how it should be.
The cake was covered in vanilla icing and decorated with lots of pastel swirls around Dinah’s name. Inside it was chocolate, which became obvious when Ruth cut it and Stu began serving it. Another server brought coffee to those of us who wanted it.
So fun. Such a great celebration.
But when we’d finished the cake, our meal was over and so was the party. Dinah stood and came around the table to each of us, saving me for last. I stood to join her. She hugged me and thanked me and said she would see me tomorrow—and not to worry about her, although she wasn’t specific about why I might worry. Then she said good night, took the rest of the cake that the servers had packed for her, and walked out with Vicky and Frida. Billi and Arvie, engrossed in conversation, followed them.
The party was definitely breaking up. Reed stood beside me, and Neal and Janelle joined us. “Great party,” Reed said. The look in his eyes appeared admiring … and sexy.
“Hey, sis,” Neal said. “Thanks for the fun, and good night. Janelle and I are continuing the celebration at her place.”
Which answe
red my question. I didn’t want details about their planned celebration, but now Reed and I could continue celebrating at my house instead of his.
“Sounds good,” I said. “Janelle, you’re scheduled to work in the shops tomorrow, aren’t you?” I knew the answer was yes, but I wanted to let her know I knew—and thereby remind her in a roundabout way that she’d need to get up early in the morning.
No matter what the nature of their celebration.
Well, so would I. I said good night to my brother and my assistant, and Reed and I headed to the parking lot, which was a lot less crowded than before.
“I assume you’ll pick up Hugo, then join me at my place?” I asked Reed as he walked me to my car. I made it a question, though I hoped I knew the answer.
“Of course. We’ll be there soon.”
We shared a nice, long kiss after I opened my car door, a harbinger of what was to come. Which made me grin as I got into my car and drove home.
Biscuit was glad to see me, and I was happy to see her. I took her on a short walk beneath the streetlights outside, and then we went inside to wait for Reed and Hugo, his smart Belgian Malinois.
They arrived soon. I’d opened a bottle of wine so we could continue the celebration that way, too. Once more, I was in Reed’s arms. He’d changed into more casual clothes, and I really liked the feel of him against me and the taste of the wine on his lips.
It was getting late, though, for someone like me who had to get up early to start baking. So we went upstairs to my bedroom and got into bed. Together. Still celebrating.
I had no trouble falling asleep after a while. Then, in the early morning, the clock radio awakened me as always and I started getting out of bed.
Reed was used to this and got up with me as he often did, although sometimes I let him sleep in for a few minutes. “Good morning,” he said, and once more I was in his strong arms—but not for long. I didn’t have time.
After we each showered, we took the dogs outside briefly. Dawn was just suggesting its arrival by a hint of lightness in the sky.
When we went inside again, I realized my curiosity was getting the best of me.
“You know,” I told Reed, “I’m curious whether any of Silas’s interviews are on TV this morning, and if so, how he’ll portray Schulzer and Holpurn and anything related to them.”
“So you want to watch a little TV? Do you have time?”
“I won’t watch for long.”
Together we went into my living room, and I used the remote to tune in to the KnobTV channel and its morning news. Although I usually wound up getting a commercial first, this time the screen contained a banner about Breaking News.
I hadn’t expected Silas to be live at this hour, since he’d worked late last night … but there he was.
The background picture was of the Knobcone Height Resort’s main building, where we’d been less than twelve hours ago.
“What’s going on?” I asked Reed, as if he would know. I must have sounded upset, because both Biscuit and Hugo came over and nudged my hand with their noses. Or maybe they were just begging for a treat.
“I guess we’ll see,” Reed said.
On the screen, Silas pointed to the resort building. “We don’t have any information yet,” he said, “other than the fact that resort management called the Knobcone Heights Police Department just a little while ago to report the death of one of its guests.”
“What?” I exclaimed. “Who?”
“I wonder—” Reed responded, and then we knew.
A banner began scrolling at the bottom of the screen as Silas spoke into his microphone. “According to initial reports, Henry Schulzer, the widower of former mayor Flora Morgan Schulzer, was found dead in his hotel room. Apparently his dogs started barking and woke other hotel guests. We have no further information yet, but we’re staying at this location to learn what happened. Stay tuned.”
I looked at Reed, who looked solemnly back at me. “Henry?” I said, my mind racing back to the clashes at Dinah’s birthday party last night. “Oh no.”
Seven
Shivering, even with Reed’s arm around my shoulders, I sat there and watched the end of the report, which didn’t continue much longer. Silas didn’t say how Henry had died. A heart attack?
A homicide?
Sure, the latter was the direction my mind went since I’d dealt with so many murders lately, like it or not. But even if his death was due to natural causes, it still would have made the news considering who the guy was in Knobcone Heights. Either way, I felt sorry for him.
And for his dogs? Where were they now? What was going to happen to them?
“It might just be natural causes.” Reed echoed my thoughts.
“It might,” I agreed.
“But you don’t believe it.”
“Not till I hear what the coroner says. And that’ll show up eventually on the news. But—” I glanced again at the TV, where a commercial for life insurance was running, and shook my head.
“Do you want to watch any more or leave for your shops?” Reed asked gently. His arm tightened, and I briefly put my head on his shoulder.
“What I want is not to have heard this. For it not to have happened, no matter how. But you know I need to go to my shops.”
“I figured. Hugo and I will go back to our place. It’ll be a while till I need to get to the clinic. And before you ask, yes, I’ll watch the news a bit before I leave, and I’ll call you if there’s any more information.”
“Thanks.” I turned off the TV, feeling as if I wanted to punch it instead. But it would do no good to kill the electronic messenger.
I locked the house behind us after Reed, the dogs, and I entered the garage, then opened the garage door. Reed’s car was right there in the driveway. Before he headed toward it, he took me into his arms again. “Just think,” he said, “this could turn out to be another murder for you to solve.”
“I hope not,” I said quickly. “And aren’t you going to tell me not to get involved if it is a murder?”
“How many ways have I tried that, and not been successful at getting you to back off?”
My laugh held no humor. “Well, at least last time my nosiness helped to prove your innocence.”
“Yes, and I’m still grateful.” We shared a hot but quick kiss. “I’m sure we’ll be in touch today,” he said.
“I’m sure,” I acknowledged. “I have a shift at the clinic this afternoon, so we’ll at least see each other then.”
He bent to give me another kiss, then walked off with Hugo toward his car while I fastened Biscuit in the backseat of mine.
I flipped from one radio station to another as I drove the short distance to my shops but didn’t hear any news, maybe because it was only around 5:50 in the morning. Biscuit and I stayed in the car a few extra minutes so I could listen on the half hour—and sure enough, one of the local stations had news on.
The lead story was about the death of the husband of the former mayor. Which was definitely news.
And it was news to me when the low-voiced female announcer said, “Police suspect that Schulzer’s death was a homicide. An investigation has begun.” She then went on to the next story.
Or maybe this wasn’t completely unexpected information. Henry had shown no indication of poor health yesterday. But he had shown a tendency to infuriate a lot of people.
Including me.
Would I be a suspect again this time? Surely the two local police detectives, who had each become an odd sort of buddy to me, wouldn’t go that direction. After all, what motive could I have?
No, the direction they were more likely to go, I hoped, was an investigation into Mike Holpurn or the men who’d been with him. The fact that Holpurn had been paroled didn’t mean he was innocent, as he claimed, in the mayor’s murder years ago—let alone in the apparent murder last
night of the mayor’s husband. And Holpurn’s friends—supporters—brothers? They could be guilty instead. Or as well.
And … uh-oh. My mind was now heading in the direction I’d been avoiding. There could be plenty of people who also hated Henry.
But I’d just reached the shops, so I quickly parked my car. I got Biscuit out of the backseat and, after locking the vehicle, walked my dog on her leash to the front of the building. I used my key to unlock the Barkery’s front door and we went inside. I relocked the door behind us and let Biscuit off her leash.
As I turned to go into the kitchen, my phone rang and I pulled it out of my pocket.
It was Dinah.
She was due to come in today, as she was most days, but not for another hour. I answered as cheerfully as I could. “Good morning, Dinah.”
“Good morning.” She stumbled over the words. “Are you at the shops?”
“Of course,” I said.
“Me too.” There was a sudden knocking on the glass of the Barkery’s front door. Sure enough, there she was.
I unlocked the door again and let her in, then once more relocked it, this time behind her. Her round face was pasty and her blue eyes huge beneath her messy brown hair as she looked at me. Her voice continued to rasp as she said, “Carrie, did you hear … did you hear about Henry Schulzer?”
“I did,” I said. The possibility of Dinah being his killer had of course leaped into my mind, but I’d been thrusting it out—as well as I could. I didn’t want to ask her.
She addressed the topic anyway, saying what I hoped she would. What I hoped was true.
“He and I argued, Carrie,” she said. “You know that. So do a lot of other people who heard us. It wasn’t much of an argument, but the timing, now … And he argued with other people, too. But—” She hung her head, and I hugged her as she finished with a sob. “I didn’t like him, Carrie. But I didn’t kill him. Honest.”
Dinah had cried for a while, and I’d held her, knowing only too well how it felt to be a murder suspect. But so far we didn’t have any details—not just about how Henry had died, but also about who the police were looking into as possible suspects. Dinah might be completely off the hook, depending on whatever evidence the police had found.
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