by Dana Moss
“I’ll get Officer Peck to bring him in for questions about last night. But in terms of Blake, everything points back to Lorne, I’m afraid.”
“It’s too easy to blame a dead man.”
As they chatted on the sidewalk, a car pulled up, parked, and Alice got out. Taffy said hello, and Alice asked how Macy and Cher were doing. Taffy told her they were staying at the resort for the next few of days and she might get another couple of bookings there.
Driving back to the station, Maria asked, “So you asked them to leave after all?”
“They left on their own actually. I think they’re happier with room service and a spa close at hand.”
“I’m sorry I was so hard on the two of them. And you. Think they’ll forgive me?”
“You could always invite them to the wedding. They’re suckers for weddings.” Taffy checked her watch. “Speaking of which… We’re supposed to meet Chef Albert and Pierre at six for the tastings.”
“Right. I’ll finish up at work and see if Finn can make it.”
“There are still so many wedding decisions to make, Maria. We’ve both been so distracted, but we need to spend more time on that. Your mom’s counting on a lavish affair.”
Maria’s lips quirked up into a smile. “If only people would stop dying… Sorry. Bad joke. Honestly, I think my mom just wants a beautiful cake.”
Taffy said, “So do I. One with no kitschy sprinkles.”
Maria pulled into her parking spot. The chief’s SUV was parked out front.
“Uh-oh,” Taffy said. “Do you think he knows I was there?”
“Well, your car’s parked across the street, so…”
Taffy bit her lip. “I hope you don’t get into trouble. And I’m sorry about the wild goose chase with Einer.”
“You certainly liven things up, Sweet Taffy.” Maria winked. And then she sighed heavily. “Unless something new emerges soon, it looks like Lorne will take the blame for Blake’s death, and his own.”
“When do you think Eve will get back to you about the autopsy?”
“By the end of the day. I only asked her to look for two things.”
“Let me know when you hear.”
“And you let me know what Mitch comes back with.”
Taffy got out of the car. She crossed the street as inconspicuously as she could. She’d feel terrible if Maria got into more trouble because of her.
CHAPTER FORTY
While they’d been at Mimi’s, Taffy had received a text from Cher about leaving a sweater behind at the house. Can you bring it to the resort with you tonight? They were meeting for dinner and drinks after the tasting appointment. Cher had also mentioned that the resort kitchen was closed for dinner that night and suggested they go to Moe’s diner or Ted’s restaurant instead. Taffy wondered if a closed kitchen meant the tasting would be rescheduled, but when she called the front desk, Greg said that he’d been told Chef Albert and his pastry chef, Pierre, were still planning to have the meeting.
So Taffy drove home to find Cher’s sweater and pick up the wedding planner book. She’d bring the tiara, too, since it might serve as design inspiration for the cake decoration. She was disappointed that the case wasn’t yet wrapped up, but she was determined to put Maria’s wedding front and center from now on. Maria deserved a focused and attentive maid of honor.
Midnight was waiting for Taffy on the top step when she pulled into the driveway. He meowed as she got out of the car. Then he followed her in through the front door and zipped up the steps, as if on a mission. Taffy remembered hers. She followed Midnight upstairs and into the guest room, which was still a mess since Macy’s and Cher’s hasty departure. She wasn’t too surprised to find Midnight pacing about the room. He’d been enamored with Cher’s things from the first day, and sure enough, he pawed his way over to a soft, navy clump of material that he’d kneaded into a makeshift cat bed. Cher’s sweater, no doubt. Taffy would have to get it dry-cleaned if she didn’t want Macy to die of allergies. Midnight was not happy when Taffy took the sweater. He slunk under the bed. Then he quickly reemerged. He had something in his mouth, just like the other night.
“What is that?”
He glanced back at her and then dashed downstairs.
“It better not be a mouse,” Taffy groaned, following him.
Before Taffy made it to the bottom of the stairs, she heard her phone ringing. She left Midnight to his antics and answered her phone. It was Mitch.
“I’ve got some numbers for you.”
“I don’t have a pen handy. Can you text them to me?”
He agreed to. “The first few numbers at the top are the ones that correspond to the time you were in the bathroom with Veronica.”
She thanked him and hung up, noticing then the alert indicating her unheard messages from the last day or so. She’d forgotten to check them. She played back the messages while she went in search of Midnight, but the first message she heard shocked her to a standstill.
It was a dead man’s voice. Lorne’s.
Her knees felt weak. She had to sit down. She checked the date of the call… Yesterday? The day she arrived home from New York. The night Maria found her… drunk and teary and in a heap on her floor. The night he’d died.
Taffy’s heart started racing. The message itself sounded nonsensical. Lorne sounded at least as drunk as she’d been that night, and he was going on about old TV shows again—garbled talking about Gilligan’s Island and Ginger and Mary Ann… and Lassie—and then he’d been interrupted and said he’d call her back. Which he’d never done.
Had his last call on this earth been to her? Taffy felt faint. She called Maria right away.
“Lorne called me last night, before he died…” Complicated emotions choked up her throat. “It probably means nothing but—”
“I want to listen to the message,” Maria said.
“I’ll bring my phone to you. And Mitch is sending those phone numbers over. I’ll stop by the station on the way to the resort.”
“Don’t come here now. The chief he… Well, let’s just say it’s better if you don’t show your face here for a while.”
“I got you into trouble?”
“No. I created the trouble, Taff. He found out about the autopsy, and Mimi called him apparently. The chief threatened to suspend me.”
That was bad. “I’ll give you my phone when we meet at the tasting tonight.”
“About that.” Maria sighed. “The chief set a mandatory staff meeting tonight. I have to be there now. With the threat of suspension and all.”
“But all the food… I can try to reschedule but—”
“No. You go. I trust you. Isn’t the maid of honor supposed to stand in the bride’s stead when she’s busy?”
“I guess so. Okay, I’ll take notes and lots of pictures.”
“Good. I want to hear all about the delicious flavors you’ll sample tonight. We can debrief after my staff meeting.”
“I’m meeting Macy and Cher for dinner after. You can join us if you want.”
“I’ll try. And, Taffy, I’m sorry about Lorne’s message. The timing and all. That must have felt strange.”
More than strange. Dizzying.
They said goodbye, and Taffy listened to Lorne’s message one more time.
“Hey Lassie, woof woof, let’s talk.” His words were slurred. She listened closely. “It’s funny, in a sad kind of way,” he mumbled. “You know Gilligan’s Island?” Then he broke into the TV theme song replacing the word “Minnow” with “Moonbeam.” He made himself laugh, and he definitely sounded very drunk. Certainly drunk enough to have fallen asleep in a bathtub. “You know how Mary Ann was always so innocent and Ginger so seductive? Well, it just occurred to me—” Then he stopped talking, as if distracted by something. “Just a minute. Knock at the door. I’ll call you right back.” But he never did.
She saved the message so Maria could listen to it later.
Then a low growling meow pulled her from her thoughts
. Oh, no. Midnight and the mouse. They were in the living room.
Midnight was at the edge of the couch. He stuck his paw under it, and then started pacing, and then came back and stretched out his paw again, meowing at the narrow crack that he couldn’t slink under.
“Is it hiding under there?”
Taffy moved the couch back for him. He gobbled up something small before Taffy could see exactly what it was. “Hey give that here.” But he ran off again.
With the couch out of position, a corner of paper caught Taffy’s eye. Before going after Midnight again, she reached down and retrieved a small sketch. It was the tattoo Alice had drawn a few days ago. Taffy stared at the symbol for a long time, and then she tucked the sketch into her pocket. She found Midnight sitting by his food dish and washing his face. Something sparkled in the bottom of his water bowl. Taffy peered closer. What was that? Not a mouse at all.
She fished around in the water and pulled out a ring. A boat-rocking kind of ring.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
It was almost six o’clock, so Taffy drove down to the resort, her mind racing as fast as her wheels on the road. She tried calling Maria on the way, but she wasn’t answering her phone now. Maybe the staff meeting had started already. Taffy then tried Alice. The sketched image sat on the passenger seat beside her purse. When Alice didn’t answer either, Taffy left a message asking her where, exactly, she’d first seen that sketched image.
Then Mitch’s text came through. Those numbers he’d promised to send. She couldn’t look at that while driving, but she could call Ronald to ask him that question that had been niggling at the back of her mind since she’d flown home. He kept her on hold while he looked up the information she wanted.
Taffy’s brain was whirring wildly by the time she pulled up in front of the Castle Rock Resort and Country Club. She hoped Maria’s meeting would be over soon so they could talk. Far-fetched theories were still forming in Taffy’s mind, but the puzzle pieces were starting to click together now.
* * *
When Taffy entered the resort kitchen, an aroma of roasted mushroom caps and mini quiches filled her nostrils. And then she saw the most beautiful towering confection of a cake. Pierre had outdone himself. He’d made an entire cake— five tiers, studded with cream flowers, and topped with two embracing figures. All they needed was an arch over them. Maybe that could be the element that matched the tiara.
Taffy called, “Hello?”
The kitchen seemed empty, and then Anya appeared from the other side of the cake. She held an icing bag in her hands. “I didn’t hear you come in. I’m just finishing up some piping here.” She bent down and out of sight again.
Taffy set her purse on the counter. “I was expecting just a tiny sample.”
“Pierre suggested this because there’s another function going on tomorrow in Blancheville, a retirement party, I think. They’re over there setting up now.”
“They’re not here?”
“They’ll probably be back within the hour. They left me in charge in the meantime,” Anya said as she made her way around the base of the cake with a wavy row of icing. It looked like hard work. Midway through she switched hands. “So this cake is to look at, but I do have a mini version for you to taste.”
Taffy gestured to the top of the cake. “Is it a couple retiring?”
Anya laughed. “No, that was for Maria’s benefit. I have to replace it with a fondant sculpture of a desk after.”
Taffy pulled the tiara from her purse to show Anya. At the same time, she was thinking it odd that Pierre and Albert weren’t here, since they’d confirmed the meeting earlier. “Maybe we should have rescheduled.”
“Isn’t Maria coming?”
“She had to cancel at the last minute too.”
Anya glanced up. “So it’s just us?”
Taffy nodded, watching Anya work and thinking her own thoughts, until she said, “Anya, do you know Blake’s ex, Veronica, very well?”
She looked surprised. “Why are you asking about her?”
“I assume you heard about Lorne?”
She nodded, her face assuming a sad frown. “Just awful. A terrible tragedy.”
Taffy fiddled with the tiara. “I’ve got a theory. I think Veronica may have had something to do with it.” Anya paused in her work but didn’t look up. Taffy continued, “And I think she was here in Abandon the night Blake died.”
“No,” Anya said firmly. “She was in Monterey.”
“What if she wasn’t?”
Anya moved the piping bag from one hand to the other. “I think it’s like she said. He partied himself to death. And he made all those awful videos. And Macy found out and attacked Blake. All that blood…”
She looked down at the icing on her hands.
Taffy played with the tiara.
“I have a theory that she had Blake killed for the insurance money. Einer helped her.” Taffy kept a close eye on Anya. “At first I thought it was Lorne who helped her. He had access to drugs. He must have given Blake something that night. Made it look like cocaine, but it wasn’t.”
“Lorne’s dead now, and he can’t—”
“I think Lorne and Veronica were secret lovers.”
“No.” Anya’s jaw clenched slightly.
“They had history, you know. Sexual history. Back in college. Didn’t you know it was Lorne who introduced her to Blake?”
Anya paled. She broke eye contact with Taffy and focused on the last of the piping.
“But now that he’s dead…”
“They weren’t lovers,” Anya said with finality. “Maybe Lorne was right about you. You’re like a dog barking up the wrong tree.”
Taffy stood up and started walking around the cake, examining it.
“I’ve been thinking about that. That maybe I was wrong about Lorne. That’s why I thought it might have been Einer who helped her. But something about that doesn’t quite fit…” Taffy reached out to touch the cake, saw Anya’s face, and pulled her finger back. “You see, Lorne said when Blake found out about his heart condition it made him want to change his life, to settle down, get married, maybe have a kid, something he couldn’t do with Veronica.”
Anya made a disgusted face as she finished off the icing.
“That’s why he wanted to propose to Macy, I think. He wanted to start over. Kind of like you, right? Like how you want to open a catering company in Carmel?”
“I have no idea why you’re talking about this.” She set down the piping bag and wiped her hands.
“He couldn’t start over without divorcing Veronica, and that would have left her with a paltry prenup. So if you were her and needed money, it would be better for your ex to die and leave you everything, including insurance money, right?”
Anya’s cheeks looked flushed. From the icing work maybe, or…
Taffy added, “A nicely timed and tidy heart attack would have been so convenient, given her situation, don’t you think?”
“I think you’re making a lot of assumptions.”
Taffy nodded in agreement. “And they don’t account for—”
Taffy’s phone rang, startling her. She set down the tiara to check the call display.
“I have to take this,” she said to Anya.
Anya shrugged and withdrew a bunch of parsley from an herb vase. “I’ll finish the garnish for the quiches.”
Taffy stepped through the swinging kitchen doors and into the hall beyond the kitchen to answer the call from Alice, who confirmed what Taffy had suspected about the tattoo. She hesitated before returning to the kitchen.
She looked at Mitch’s text with the phone numbers. She had hoped to find a match with Lorne’s, but the call from the ladies’ room had gone to a different number.
On a whim, she dialed it. She heard ringing nearby.
The call connected.
“Ronnie, is that you?”
Taffy stiffened. The woman’s voice echoed through the phone in her ear and the kitchen doors.
Taffy hung up quickly.
“Ronnie, are you there? Ronnie?”
Taffy stared at the phone in her hand. The last puzzle piece locked into place.
Just then another text came through. This one from Maria.
ME’s early findings on Lorne: similar needle prick, similar dose of tetrodotoxin. And found resto in Monterey. 3 vials purchased from chef there. You were right.
Taffy was about to text back, to tell Maria to get down here on the double, but the kitchen door swung open.
Anya stood there with a knife in her hand, its blade speckled with parsley. She smiled coldly and pointed the knife at Taffy.
“Shall we start with the mushroom caps?”
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Anya guided Taffy back into the kitchen at knifepoint.
“Tell me more about this theory of yours.”
Taffy watched Anya warily as she fumbled through her words. “Uh. With the insurance money and inheritance, Veronica could afford a house in Carmel, adopt a child if she wanted, and still have funds left over to finance a start-up catering company.” Taffy licked her lips nervously. “But you knew that already, didn’t you?”
Anya laughed. “And she planned all this with Lorne? Who decided to kill himself instead?“
“Unless he…”
“Had a little help?” Anya lifted her knife with one hand and scooped up a mushroom with the other.
Taffy took a few steps to the side, trying slip past the counter to the back door.
The beautiful cake towered between them.
“Aren’t you just dying to taste this?” Anya held out the mushroom cap.
“Uh, actually, I’m not a fan of mushrooms. I hear some can be poisonous.”
Taffy sidestepped again, but for every measured step, Anya matched hers.
“You seem to know a lot about Veronica. But there’s something you don’t know.”
“She’s a killer?”
