Mac went upstairs and knocked on Rocky’s door and asked him to join the others downstairs. Rocky appeared to be stifling annoyance as he quickly obeyed the detective’s request.
Scott Wilson emerged from his room, too. His eyes were red, and appearance rumpled. When he was told everyone was to gather downstairs, he went back and combed his hair and put on a fresh shirt. Carol Morgan sat on a settee at the end of the hall, gazing out the window in silence. Mac requested she join the rest. She rose and dabbed at her tears with a tissue before descending the stairs, still in silence.
In the kitchen, Chef Morgan stirred a chicken and noodle dish on the stove. Tim Sheffield sat on a stool at the baker’s table nearby.
“I hope they’ve found out whoever committed the murder,” Morgan said. “I don’t know how many will be around here for a light supper so I’m adding to the stew.”
“I think Mac and Brenda have a good idea who did it. They just have to have proof and then they can arrest whoever the killer is. Once everyone is released, you’ll be feeding the usual crowd.” His eyes teased Morgan. “I mean it will be us and any employees still working around here. I’m sure the Pendletons will join Brenda and Mac. There’s no doubt Jenny and Bryce will be over here, too. That’s when we’ll hear all the details.”
Morgan was anxious to find out and agreed with Tim that was what would happen. “I have one problem, though. I can’t figure out what evidence shows them who did it.”
“They may possibly have a witness. That would speed things along.”
In the main hallway, Mac stood waiting by the doors to the sitting room to make certain none of the guests attempted to wander off. Just then, his phone rang. Mac answered his cell phone and his clerk told him Kelly Reed’s father had arrived from Europe. The detective said he would see him as soon as possible. Then he heard a deep voice in the background. The clerk told Mac that Jackson Reed wished to talk with him briefly on the phone.
“Detective, I’m heartbroken over the news of the death of my beloved daughter. I would like to join you wherever you are right now. Please, can I at least see where she died?”
“Mr. Reed, I am so sorry for your loss. I’m sure we can take you down to show you, as long as the scene is not disturbed. We are ready to make an arrest. I just ask for your patience, sir, and I’ll give you a call back.” Jackson murmured in assent, his voice sounding truly broken with grief. “Sir, please give the clerk contact information for where you are staying in town, if you would.” The phone was handed back to the clerk.
Right now, Mac had an important task ahead. Some of the guests appeared restless, waiting for the next move in the sordid affair. Phyllis set trays of finger food down and fresh carafes of tea and coffee. Several guests nibbled while waiting for Mac.
Brenda and Bryce followed him into the room.
“I hope you’ve caught whoever did this to Kelly,” Jeffrey said. “Detective, I need to be frank…Tiana and I must be on our way soon. She isn’t well.”
All eyes were riveted on the psychic who paled considerably. Rocky sat alone in the corner of the room and scowled. Mac looked at the guests and began to speak.
“The following guests are allowed to check out with Allie and leave for home or wherever your next destination is.” He pulled a half sheet of paper from his shirt pocket and read off names. “I ask that all of those leaving to give the officer in the foyer a contact number where you can be reached if necessary. Dr. Walker, you are free to go, as are Scott Wilson, Carol Morgan and Keith Moore.”
There was a shocked silence as the remaining guests stayed frozen in their seats. Noises of steps in the hallway could be heard as the freed guests retrieved their belongings, but for a short time, no one spoke a word.
“Surely you don’t suspect those of us still sitting here, Detective,” Rocky said finally. Kathryn paled.
Jeffrey stood as if to confront the detective. “Tiana is not well. We must leave. Neither she, nor I, have done anything criminal. We’ve had nothing at all to do with it.”
“I doubt you have, Jeffrey, but Tiana isn’t as innocent as she would like to have you believe.” Mac turned to the psychic. “I don’t know exactly who you are, but I believe you are using your psychic business as a cover for your true identity.”
Jeffrey sputtered in protest. “This lovely woman is kind-hearted and wouldn’t hurt a flea. You have no right to make such accusations, sir. What kind of evidence do you have? What right do you have to confront her like this when she is plainly ill? I find it hard to believe she is a killer. I’ve known her for years.”
“You have been acquainted with her for years, Jeffrey, but you have not known her.”
Mac turned in Rocky’s direction, surprised at the man’s interjection. He was ready to speak when a commotion ensued in the foyer. An officer attempted to block a man from the sitting room, but Jackson Reed burst free and stalked toward Rocky Masters.
“You killed my daughter, Rocky. It had to be you. You are evil. I knew it from the start. That’s why I severed our business partnership. I never should have let her travel with you.”
Rocky stood up and loomed an inch over the distraught man. “You didn’t sever our business, old man. You stole the business from me. It was everything I worked hard for all my life and you knew how much it meant to me.” Although Rocky was the one who stood and spoke with fire in his eyes, it was Tiana’s face that shone with tears and true heartbreak in that moment, curiously. Rocky continued staring down into the face of Mr. Reed. “I cherished that business. I bled for it. And then you ripped it away from me, like the privileged rich snob you truly are. You’re exactly the same as your daughter. You deserved to lose something the way I lost something. She deserved to die.”
Mac and the officer caught Rocky’s arm just as it swung forward toward the intended target. Handcuffs were snapped onto both men as the father snarled and attempted to claw forward to reach the chef.
“There you have it, Detective. Rocky has all but admitted he is the killer. Tiana had nothing to do with any of it.” Jeffrey started to take Tiana’s hand. She pulled back.
“Oh, Jeffrey, you don’t see anything right before your eyes, do you?” Her voice rang with distress, but a new note of disdain crept into her tone as she looked over at Jeffrey, a coldness in her eyes. “I’ve enjoyed our…companionship over the years. It’s served its purpose more than once for me. What you’re plainly too blind to see is that Rocky and I have been involved for a long, long time. We’ve known one another for years. I was one of his first apprentices in his restaurant in New York. We have been lovers ever since that time. He worked hard and climbed the ladder to the top. Which is more than you have done, Jeffrey,” she spat viciously.
Tiana ignored the shocked look on his face. She stood up and faced Jackson Reed.
“You deserved to lose your daughter! You cheated Rocky and me out of an early retirement from a thriving business. We were going to move somewhere safe and warm and quiet, like a nice life on the Mediterranean. He’s right. You did steal all that from him, and more. If you had ‘severed ties’ as you put it, he would have gotten his rightful profits.”
Mac directed another officer to handcuff Tiana. “You’re an accessory to murder, miss. Take both of them to the police station and book them. I’ll be down later.”
Mac watched Kathryn, who stood by the window, facing the whole episode in quiet stillness. He approached her and told her she was free to leave for now but must be available for further police interviews. The young woman nodded but did not speak, gazing around at the people she thought she knew. Kathryn slowly walked from the room and left the chaos of the confrontation behind.
Mac released Jackson Reed from his handcuffs as the man had apologized for his outburst of violence and began to sag as tears came over his face again. Mac asked him if he wanted something to eat from the tray. He refused, and Mac told him to meet him at the police station in half an hour. The man sat heavily on the sofa and leaned his head d
own into his hands.
Kathryn Parker stood in the foyer and watched the fraudulent psychic and disgruntled, murderous chef be escorted to the two patrol cars. For the first time since she received the document that stated she would have the next lead role, Kathryn wondered who exactly put the deal together. She decided to wait for the phone call once she returned back home. Surely then she would get details of the play she landed a lead role in, and then she could decide if she would choose to accept it. She wondered, why not accept the role? But then, nothing seemed quite predictable anymore.
Keith Moore drove his rental car to the airport and purchased a ticket to the Bahamas. There he planned to write a letter stating he was leaving the troupe and all other acting opportunities. He had enough money saved to live comfortably for a year. By that time, he would settle under the sun and perhaps open a tiki bar or something similar. He needed a complete change in his lifestyle, and no better lure existed than deep blue waters and sandy beaches.
Dr. Arthur Walker decided to stick with the remnants of the cast. Demands were less on him and there were plenty of actors looking for jobs. The troupe would once again build up and life would go forward. He waited by his car in the parking lot for Carol Morgan. He hugged her and assisted her into the car before they drove off together.
Jeffrey Johnson sat alone in the sitting room, distraught and abandoned by the woman who he thought he knew and who he thought loved him. Phyllis attempted small talk, but he didn’t respond. She removed the dishes and leftover food and loaded the cart. She was ready to push it to the kitchen when he finally spoke.
“Tiana had nothing to do with any of it. She doesn’t have an evil streak in her.”
Phyllis kept her hands on the cart and turned to him. The man was in deep denial. “She admitted she was in on it with Rocky. The two of them were seen by a witness during the crime.”
Jeffrey jerked to reality. “She was under duress admitting something like that. Rocky was sitting right there, and he can be intimidating. Tiana didn’t feel well and that’s why we were leaving earlier than planned.” He wrung his hands. “If she had been in love with Rocky, I would have known it…we’ve been through so much over the years we’ve traveled together.”
Phyllis decided Jeffrey’s assessment of Tiana wasn’t going to waver. Even an admission of guilt didn’t do anything to change his devotion to the woman. She looked at him with sympathy and simply rolled the cart into the kitchen and began loading the dishwasher.
“That simmering stew smells delicious, Morgan.” Phyllis watched Tim scoop a spoonful from the bowl in front of him. He winked at Phyllis and told her how good it tasted. Morgan handed her a bowl and Phyllis realized how hungry she was.
“I don’t hear much coming from the other room,” Morgan said. “I presume they’ve arrested someone.”
Phyllis told them what had happened. “There is still a lot to hear when it comes to details and explanations. Kelly’s father arrived, and that sure added to the turmoil going on.” She told them what little she’d picked up from the scuffle between Rocky and Jackson Reed.
Tim shook his head. “Are you saying Mr. Reed stole from his partner Rocky, who then killed his daughter in revenge?”
“It sounds that way,” Phyllis said.
Brenda went into the kitchen to tell Morgan there would be no extra guests for the light supper. “We should all be back around six-thirty or so. If you need to leave, please feel free to do so. We can finish up here.”
“No one is leaving,” Tim said. “We want to hear everything. Just don’t make us wait too long for that stew.” Brenda eyed her father’s empty bowl.
“It looks like you’ve gotten a head start, Dad, but we won’t be late.”
Brenda laughed and met William on his way in, heading into the kitchen looking for Phyllis. She hoped there would be enough of the stew left by the time she got back. When Brenda passed the sitting room, she stopped when she saw Jeffrey Johnson sitting alone. She asked if he needed help with his luggage. He realized where he was and told her he was ready to check out.
“Our luggage is in the car already. I’ll wait at the police station for Tiana to be released and then we’ll be on our way.”
Brenda didn’t comment and waited until he walked slowly down the front steps and then drove off the premises. His demeanor told her that it would be a long time before he was ready to accept what had truly been revealed that day.
Brenda was startled to realize that Allie sat quietly behind the desk, her eyes wide. She appeared to be trying to make herself as small as possible. As usual, the girl proved capable in an emergency. “Allie, you did great. I’m sorry you had to witness all this. You’ve had quite a day. Go on home and I’ll finish up later after I get back from the station.”
“I’m finished now that Jeffrey finally left.” She declined the invitation to eat later and left for home. Her wide eyes looked around at the sitting room door before she left, as if gazing at the place where the amazing psychic had been revealed to be nothing more than a simple con woman.
Chapter 9
The Guilty
Once the bed and breakfast was secured, Brenda joined Mac in his office. She was told no interrogations had begun. She formally introduced herself to Jackson Reed and Mac asked him if he minded if Brenda sat with them while he told the story of his connection with Rocky Masters. He didn’t object.
“Grace Baker will be in soon to identify suspects in the lineup,” Mac said to Brenda. “Mr. Reed, we’re ready whenever you are. Please tell us everything you can.”
Jackson began. “Please, call me Jack. I met Rocky Masters at a culinary convention in Los Angeles a number of years back. I believe…approximately fifteen years ago when we met for the first time. He was not well known at that point. The thing that stood out when we got into a conversation was his ambition. He aimed to reach the top tier as a chef, and he had the ambition and drive and talent to make it happen. We partnered up—I secured the funding and he was the culinary talent, you see. I attended the opening of his first upscale restaurant in New York. Within a few years, he owned three of them and was recognized by many critics as one of the best.”
“I understand you ended up in a partnership with him. Are you a chef, too?” Brenda watched the slow smile.
“I graduated from culinary school and became quite good, but never like Rocky. I was more a businessman, and my goals were to invest my money carefully, bring investors together, that kind of thing. Culinary venture capitalism, if you will. But I also wanted to one day establish a highly respected and admired culinary school. Several times I discussed the idea with Rocky, never dreaming he was caught up with the idea too. The stress of his restaurants and notoriety too, I believe, caught up with him. He came up with the idea he would head the kitchen and teach students skills he learned running the restaurants—almost like business school, I suppose, but it was very poorly thought-out, and it was too ambitious. The whole thing started to fall apart eventually because there just wasn’t enough planning. He tried to cross over into teaching when his true talents lay in the kitchen.”
“Was teaching something that lowered him in the eyes of the culinary field?” Mac asked.
“Let’s just say I don’t think he had enough time to do what he wanted to do. I was surprised at his interest in teaching, but I think he felt secure that he was well known and would draw students right away. He was right. I tried to manage the business part of running it all and he reveled in the kitchen side...it all just got so big so fast. My investment partners started to make noises about how he needed to delegate his work or pick one thing. Rocky promised he would hire someone to cover all the work that needed to be done. He claimed that he had everything under control, and for a while, it seemed like that was true.”
Brenda asked what caused everything to crumble. Jack told her it started when Rocky began to attack him for flying around the country to watch Kelly in plays. “She rose to the top fast and was good at acting. She remi
nded me of the same way Rocky arose, using his talents, but there were times I felt Rocky was jealous of my attachment to my daughter.” Jackson laughed softly. “He wanted attention, I thought. But mostly, he wanted me around so I could pick up the slack. Because you see, it turns out he wasn’t so good at juggling everything as he claimed. Behind the scenes, things were falling apart, but meanwhile, every time I saw my little girl up on the stage…I was so proud of Kelly. She worked hard and everyone who met her liked her.”
He fought tears and his voice wavered.
“We can take a break if you want, Jack,” Mac said.
“I don’t know how I will get along without her. We were very close, and she knew how proud I was of her accomplishments.”
Mac resumed when Jackson composed himself. “What caused the final rift between you and Rocky?”
“My comptroller noticed unauthorized withdrawals from the accounts. The monetary amounts were more than usual for general purchases. The sums increased over a couple months. It was discovered that Rocky had been paying a friend of his under the table to take over chef duties on nights when Rocky was busy with his teaching duties. Well, the friend discovered this was a good way to fleece the company, because Rocky would pay her to keep quiet about the whole thing, no matter whether she showed up for work or not. The restaurant suffered, and then the cash payments were discovered too when our CPA looked over the books that quarter. We followed the money, as they say.”
He heaved a heavy sigh before continuing. “I told Rocky I was onto his scheme. It was only because of me he didn’t go to jail. We agreed if he signed the business over to me alone, I wouldn’t press charges further. He was ready to do that. All papers signed were done so legally. He didn’t want his name out there in a negative way. He had misappropriated enough funds that I was due his share of the business, not to mention how much damage he had done to the restaurants by missing work and generally taking on more than he could handle.”
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