A Food and Wine Club Mystery Boxset Books 1 through 5

by Cat Chandler

  Nicki spotted a dark-green SUV and pointed it out to Jenna. “Looks like Clay’s here.”

  Jenna glanced over at the car. “Nice car. Bad color.”

  “It would certainly blend in with the scenery if it needed to.”

  “There is that,” Jenna agreed. She locked the car then walked with Nicki into the station house, letting out a low whistle at the size of the interior space. “It certainly is bigger than Soldoff’s police station. I thought he only had one deputy and one file clerk.”

  “They share the space with police for the National Park Service.” Nicki grinned. “Since there’s a big national park here and all.”

  “Funny,” Jenna muttered.

  Nicki approached the desk. The same officer was sitting behind it that had been there when she’d come with Matt. When the officer looked up and smiled at her, she smiled back.

  “Here to see Chief Thomas again?”

  “We are, but he isn’t expecting us this time.”

  “He seemed pretty busy this morning, but I’ll give him a call. You’re Nicki Connors, right?”

  Nodding, Nicki inclined her head toward Jenna. “And this is Jenna Lindstrom.”

  The officer nodded at Jenna and picked up the receiver on his desk phone. “Right. Let me give him a call. Why don’t you have a seat?”

  Clay strode out the door that led into the back in less than a minute. He came around the counter and walked over to where Nicki and Jenna were standing, next to a couple of folding chairs.

  “Wasn’t expecting to see you two this morning.”

  “I’m sorry for dropping in like this, but we’re on our way to the catering company and I wanted to let you know that I talked to Mink.”

  The police chief nodded and stuck his hands into the back pockets of his jeans. “That’s good. Hear anything useful?”

  Nicki smiled. “I think so. She said that there was a hidden camera in the display cabinet.”

  “A hidden camera?” Clay frowned. “We went over that cabinet and didn’t find anything like that.”

  Now Nicki’s mouth turned down at the corners. “You searched the cabinet?”

  He did a quick eye roll. “We searched the outside of the cabinet since it’s locked and we haven’t found the victim’s keys yet. We also went over every inch of that room. We can’t always depend on our amateur detectives to find things.”

  Feeling the blush creep over her cheeks, she pushed a lock of hair away from her forehead. “Yes, well. Mink also said that Robin had several cabinets in his home, but kept all his valuable wines in the one at work.”

  “That’s interesting,” the chief said. “Did she have any idea what that missing wine was?”

  “Not really. She said it was red.”

  “Which we already knew,” the chief pointed out.

  “And that the missing pin had something to do with Robin’s dad being in the military.”

  “Like a medal?”

  Nicki shook her head. “It was too small to be a medal.”

  Clay looked over his shoulder toward the front desk. Nicki got the distinct impression that they were keeping him from something.

  “Anything else?”

  “Not really,” Nicki said. “If I remember anything else, I’ll give you a call.”

  “That sounds like a good idea,” Clay quickly agreed. “And let me know if you find that camera in the cabinet.”

  Chapter Ninety-Seven

  “Did Clay’s behavior seem a bit odd to you?”

  Jenna kept her eyes on the winding road in front of the car. “What do you mean? I mean, he acted like he wanted us out of there, but the officer at the desk said the police chief was pretty busy.”

  “I don’t know.” Nicki settled more comfortably into the luxurious leather seat of Maxie’s Mercedes. “It’s like he was trying too hard to seem normal, and it came off as anything but. He almost acted as if he was guilty about something.” She shook her head. “I’m not sure how to describe it.”

  “Another one of your vibes?” Jenna smiled. “Don’t get me wrong, most of the time they are awesome. But maybe not so much when it comes to men. Although your taste in that department has come up considerably with Matt.”

  “Hmm…” Nicki’s mind wandered back to Clay Thomas. Whatever had the chief so busy, it certainly didn’t involve a lot of people. The parking lot was practically empty. “I think he’s up to something.”

  “What? Who?” Jenna’s eyes narrowed. “Are you still talking about the police chief?”

  “He always calls Ricki every night. She told me that. But he didn’t call last night. Then this morning he comes out front instead of taking us back to his office, and we get told he’s really busy. But there weren’t any other cars in the parking lot. So who was he busy with?”

  Jenna’s frown rapidly turned into a scowl. “You don’t think he’s cheating on Ricki, do you? Because I like her, and I don’t like that idea.”

  “No, of course not.” Nicki was positive that was not the case at all. The man was head over heels crazy about Ricki. You’d have to be blind not to see that.

  “No, I think he’s up to something about Robin Boral’s murder, and he isn’t sharing.”

  Busy maneuvering the car to make the sharp turn onto the main street of Brewer where the catering company was located, Jenna only shrugged. Once she’d parked the car in one of the many empty spots in front of Robin’s Catering, she turned in her seat to face her friend.

  “He’s a police chief, Nicki. He’s entitled to know a few things he can’t share with the rest of us. And didn’t you tell me that Matt was worried about you meddling in a murder that involved a gun? Because he’s right to be worried about that. If Robin Boral’s killer would shoot him, he wouldn’t hesitate to shoot you if you got too close.”

  Nicki reached across the seat and grabbed Jenna’s hand. “I love you both for worrying about me, but I don’t have a clue who the killer is. So he or she has nothing to worry about from me, and neither do you.” She ran a hand through her hair in a perfect imitation of one of Matt’s habits. “I just don’t like the chief saying we would share information, and then he doesn’t. I shared what I had with him.”

  “Which wasn’t much.” Jenna pointed out. “I don’t only write on our murder board, I also read it. So far we have a missing wine bottle and a missing pin of some kind. But we have no idea if the wine was actually valuable enough to be worth stealing, or what the pin was for, other than it might have something to do with being a veteran. And the victim was shot, probably by someone who had access to the building. Which is the exact place we are going now, to mingle with all the people that have access to the place.”

  “Well if you’re going to put it that way,” Nicki complained.

  “I am,” Jenna cut in. “I vote we take a quick look at this cabinet, and then stay in the kitchen with Kylie. Get our business done that’s required by the bridesmaid code, then hightail it back to the hotel.”

  Nicki opened the car door and stepped out. Jenna was probably right. They didn’t have much, and if the chief did, then he should do his job and they should do theirs. Which was to help Alex with the wedding.

  When Jenna joined her on the sidewalk, Nicki linked an arm through hers. “Okay. Let’s talk cupcakes.”

  Karen greeted Nicki as soon as she came through the door. “Hi! Are you here to see Kylie? I hope so, because Gin and Brad aren’t here yet.”

  “We came to see Kylie,” Nicki confirmed. “But we need to take a quick look in Robin’s office first. We just left police station, and Chief Thomas said it would be okay.”

  “If the chief said it was okay, then it’s fine with me.” Grabbing the set of keys lying by her phone, Karen scooted her chair back from the desk. Less than a minute later she was unlocking the office door and waving them inside. “Let me know when you’re through and I’ll come back and lock up.”

  Once the click-clack of the receptionist’s heels had faded down the hallway, Jenna put
her hands on her hips and shook her head at Nicki.

  “I was there the whole time you were talking to the chief, and I don’t remember him saying it was fine to be let into this office.”

  Nicki walked backward toward the cabinet, her hands held away from her sides. “Of course you did. He said I was supposed to call him if we found the camera, didn’t he? How are we supposed to do that if we can’t get into this office?”

  “Huh.” Jenna dropped her arms. “That’s good enough, I guess.”

  She joined Nicki at the cabinet and they both stared at it for several long moments.

  “It is kind of obvious that something should be in that spot.” Jenna pointed to the empty place in the center of the middle shelf. She leaned down and squinted at the rest of the bottles. “More than I would pay for a bottle of wine, but not sure it’s enough to kill for, which does leave the one in the center as the likely culprit.”

  “Provided Robin was killed for the wine,” Nicki said.

  Jenna grinned. “Which is what you’ve thought from the very beginning, but haven’t been able to figure out the who or the why, and it’s driving you crazy.”

  “I know.” Nicki scanned the cabinet, not seeing any place where a camera could be hidden. “How small of a camera are we talking about?”

  Jenna stepped to the side of the display case and leaned closer to the glass. “You can get a spy camera less than the size of your thumb on Amazon.”

  “Uh huh.” Nicki opened the cabinet door and started running her hand along the inside. “Do you see anything?”

  “Nope. How about you?”

  “Afraid not.” Nicki sighed and stepped aside. “Here, you give it a try.”

  Jenna took Nicki’s place in front of the cabinet and started feeling along the edges while Nicki dropped to the floor and looked along the bottom.

  “If it’s down there, all Robin would get is a picture of someone’s shoes,” Jenna laughed.

  “Which might be enough to identify a person,” Nicki countered. But even after crawling around the cabinet, she didn’t see anything attached to the piece of furniture. She sat back on her heels and looked up at Jenna.

  “So. What do you think?”

  “I don’t think there’s a camera.”

  “Neither do I.” Nicki got to her feet. “Mink must not have understood what Robin told her.”

  “Or he lied to her to make it sound like there’s more security than he actually had.”

  “Well, whatever the reason, there isn’t any camera, which is exactly what Clay said.” Nicki brushed a few flecks of dust off her pants. “I guess that leaves us with cupcake duty.”

  Jenna threw an arm around Nicki’s shoulders. “Let’s hit the ovens so you can do your chef-y thing, then spend the afternoon admiring the view from the lobby of the hotel. You can get your laptop and work on your blog, I’ll work on a couple of websites, and we can do it all with a glass of wine. Or we can stop by the Sunny Side Up and get a burger and fries for a linner.” At Nicki’s questioning look, Jenna grinned. “You know, a combination of lunch and dinner?”

  “Not a bad idea.” Nicki considered it as they walked along the hallway toward the kitchen where all the baking took place. “We’ll probably be pretty full from tasting the cupcakes.”

  Jenna’s expression brightened up even more. “That certainly works for me.”

  Kylie looked up when they walked into the kitchen, but she didn’t have that usual startled look in her eyes. Nicki had to smile at that. She sincerely hoped the assistant baker’s confidence in her abilities was growing with every cupcake she made.

  “Hey, Kylie. We’ve come to help.” Nicki walked over to the wall and took two aprons off their hooks, handing one of them to Jenna. “What can we do?”

  “That is really, really simple.” Jenna looked over at the pile of dishes on the counter next to the sink. “I’m an excellent dishwasher.”

  The fairy-like woman beamed at the tall computer geek. “That would be wonderful, and a big help.” She looked over at Nicki. “I’m glad you’re here. I’ve just started on the last one hundred cupcakes, but I don’t think the batter is quite right.”

  Nicki frowned. “Which recipe are you having trouble with?”

  Kylie leaned over a large mixing bowl and took a deep sniff. “The lemon and passion fruit one.”

  “The what?” Nicki did a double take. “Are you sure those are for Alex?”

  The assistant baker nodded, a huge smile on her face. “She called yesterday and asked for fifty extra for the rehearsal dinner as a surprise for her fiancé.”

  “She did?” Nicki leaned against the counter and crossed her arms. “And what did you say our suddenly demanding client wants? Lemon and what?”

  “Passion fruit.” Kylie took a small spoon and dipped it into the batter before handing it to Nicki. “But they aren’t coming out quite right.”

  Nicki tasted the batter. It wasn’t bad. But she knew what could make it better. “I’d increase the passion fruit coulis in the batter, and balance it with a good shot of lemon in the icing.” She smiled at Kylie. “Did you use caster sugar?”

  Kylie’s smile fell as she shook her head. “We had some, but we ran out.”

  “No problem,” Nicki assured her. “Can you get hold of a coffee grinder?”

  “There’re three or four in the other kitchen.”

  “Let's get one and clean it out really, really well. Then we just have to grind down the regular sugar into smaller granules, and ta-da!” Nicki put her fingers to her lips and made a kissing noise. “We’ve made our own caster sugar.”

  Fifteen minutes later, Kylie was happily unwrapping a brand-new coffee grinder that one of the sous chefs from the main kitchen had brought over. Jenna had made an impressive dent in the dish pile, and Nicki was making small batches of icing to try out so they could all decide which to use on the cupcakes the day their four male assistants would be by bright and early to help. She glanced over at the counter and saw small pieces of fondant worked into miniature scuba tanks.

  “Those are adorable, Kylie. Did you make them?”

  “Uh huh. Alex wanted that for the cupcake topper. I thought I’d make a few and then you could show me how to do them better.”

  Nicki took a step to the side and carefully studied the decorations. “Oh I doubt that. They look perfect to me.”

  “Yep, perfect.” Nicki smiled at the beaming assistant. “And a chef never lies in the kitchen or when it comes to food. It’s part of the code.”

  “Nicki knows a lot of codes,” Jenna called out from her position in front of the sink.

  “So do I.”

  All three women gave a start as Andrew Benson strode into the kitchen as if he owned it. “And part of the chef’s code is not to steal another chef’s equipment.”

  Nicki straightened up and turned to face him, her back stiff and her voice tinged with frost. “We didn’t steal anything, Chef.”

  “Is that so? Because that looks like my coffee grinder there on the counter. The brand-new one I ordered for the wedding tomorrow. That would be your friend’s wedding, wouldn’t it?”

  The sneer in the tall man’s voice had Nicki’s back going even more rigid and her eyes narrowing in anger. How dare he accuse any of them of theft when he must know that one of his very own sous chefs brought the coffee grinder to Kylie’s kitchen. She was about to snap that out when a small body moved between herself and Andrew.

  “We didn’t take the coffee grinder, Chef. We asked for one and this is the one we were given. If you have an issue with that, then you should take it up in your own kitchen.” Kylie’s chin was high and her voice quiet but firm.

  Andrew took a step forward. He stopped when Kylie held her ground. “I’m the executive chef here, Kylie, so this is my kitchen.”

  Kylie kept her stare on him as she shook her head. “No. This is the baking kitchen, and you said yourself that you don’t bake. You even said you had it put in your contract.” She
tilted her head to one side. “Robin was also an executive chef, and a partner in the company, and this was his kitchen. Whenever he isn’t here, then the assistant runs the kitchen. That is also a chef’s rule, and I’m the assistant.”

  When Jenna stepped up behind Kylie, Andrew’s scathing look took in all three women. “We’ll see about that.”

  Kylie shrugged. “That’s fine, but I’d appreciate it if you’d do that on the other side of the door.”

  Andrew’s mouth dropped open but not a sound came out. He snapped it shut, and with one last angry look at the small woman who was blocking his path, he spun around and stalked out the door, slamming it shut behind him.

  “That was amazing,” Jenna said, raising her hand for a “high five”. Kylie hesitated before slapping her palm against Jenna’s.

  “I second that,” Nicki said, going in for the hug. “You stood up to a bully and got the better of him.”

  “He is a bully, isn’t he?” Kylie’s voice sounded amazed.

  Both Jenna and Nicki laughed. “Yes, he is,” they said in unison.

  Kylie suddenly began to chew on her lower lip. “What if he goes to Gin or Brad and gets me fired?”

  “Gin won’t do that,” Nicki assured her. But made a mental note to call the catering manager and tell her what had happened.

  “And so what if she does? You’ll just open your own cupcake shop and take all the wedding business away from Robin’s Catering,” Jenna declared. “It would serve them right if you did.”

  The assistant gave Nicki another hug. “I owe it to you. You’re making me believe in me, and I’ve never done that before.” She smiled. “I kind of like it. I wish there was something I could do to pay you back.”

  “Make excellent cupcakes for Alex’s wedding and we’ll be even.”

  “If you want to add a bonus to keep the rest of us sane, tell us how we can find out about Robin’s wine bottle and that pin,” Jenna called out as she walked back to the sink.

  “Wine bottle?” Kylie blinked. “You mean the wine he kept in his office. It’s all very expensive.”

  Nicki’s hopes rose. She’d never thought to ask Kylie about the wine, and she should have. Now she suddenly remembered Clay mentioning that Kylie might know something about it when he’d given her the list of catering employees. “You’ve seen it?”