A Food and Wine Club Mystery Boxset Books 1 through 5

by Cat Chandler

  The self-proclaimed geek laughed. “Promise me some of that leftover veal parmigiana from your cooking class last night, and I’ll be showing up on Maxie’s doorstep with bells on.”

  Nicki lifted an eyebrow but held out a hand. “You have a deal, Ms. Lindstrom.”

  Chapter One Hundred Fourteen

  Nicki pulled into the same parking space next to the central square that she had occupied the day before. The two marked-off spots directly in front of the police station were empty, and there weren’t any police cruisers parked anywhere close by.

  Taking that as a sign that maybe Fran was by herself at the station that afternoon, Nicki climbed out of the car and met Jane on the sidewalk. The admin had the box of scones in her hands as the two women started up the short path leading to the lobby of the station.

  Opening the door, the first person Nicki spotted was Danny, perched with one hip on the side of Fran’s desk. Both the deputy and the clerk looked up when the front door opened. Danny gave Nicki a friendly grin that looked more like the younger brother he could easily be mistaken for, than a puppy dog with a crush. There was a time not so long ago that the young deputy would have leaped up and rushed to escort her in the door.

  Nicki grinned back at him. Guess things are going well with Lisa. It was sheer genius on Maxie’s part to maneuver Danny and the young hostess at Mario’s into getting to know each other. But then again, no one was better at that than Maxie.

  Hadn’t her soon-to-be landlady started singing Matt’s praises almost from the first hour that Nicki had moved to Soldoff? And considering Nicki’s quiet editor who had an engineering degree lived in Kansas City, a relationship with him didn’t seem to be in the cards. But the unstoppable Maxie had kept at it until Nicki had finally given in. Of course, Matt did quite a bit of persuading of his own.

  Fran peeked around the man sitting on the edge of her desk and waved a skinny arm. “Hi there. Good to see you both again.” She peered over the top rim of her glasses at Nicki’s constant companion, at least for the short term. “Jane, isn’t it?”

  The admin nodded as she set the pastry box on the counter. “Yes, it is.”

  Fran tapped a bony finger against her head. “Thought so. There might be snow on the roof, but I still remember names just fine.” Her watery gaze fell on the pastry box. Reaching up, she gave Danny a good push. “Get off my desk, Deputy Findley. This isn’t a bar.”

  When Danny stood up, Fran pointed at the door. “It’s past time you went out and caught a few speeders. Revenue is down this month, so you need to get to work.”

  “Caught a couple yesterday,” Danny said, but he picked up his hat and moved toward the front counter. “Is there something I can help you ladies with?”

  “They called ahead, Danny.” Fran waved him on. “They’re here to set a follow-up appointment with the chief, and talk about those cooking classes of theirs.”

  The young deputy grinned back over his shoulder at her. “Are you thinking of taking those classes?”

  Much to Nicki’s admiration, Fran kept a perfectly straight face when she nodded at Danny. “Why not? Now you go on and do some police work before the good citizens of this town wonder why you spend all day at the station instead of patrolling around to keep them safe.”

  Danny snorted but settled his hat on his head and stepped around the counter. “Yes, ma’am. You never can tell when a bank robber might be lurking in the shadows.” He winked at Nicki as Fran’s glare followed him out the door.

  “Those young ones get cheekier every day.” Fran lifted a file from a tray on her desk and pushed herself up to a standing position before walking slowly to the front counter. She pointed at the box in front of Jane. “If you brought that, then there must be something you want in return?” She held up a hand. “But before you say yes or no, I should tell you, the chief gave me strict orders about anything he’s got in the Richards’ case file.”

  Nicki ignored Jane’s soft “oh dear” and sighed. She’d expected as much. “He did?”

  “Yep. He said I can’t let you see the file. And he made it an order.” Fran held up a hand and started counting off fingers. “He also said I can’t tell you what’s in it, leave any of it on the counter, post any of it on a bulletin board, or make a copy. And then he said all that was an order too.” She looked over at the frowning admin. “And the same goes for your friend here, or Jenna, or Maxie, or anyone else you know. That’s what the chief said. And he made sure that Danny was a witness.”

  Jane looked over at Nicki. “What do we do now?”

  “I have no idea.” Nicki smiled at Fran. “What do you suggest?”

  “Since I was expecting you, I’ve given it some hard thought.” Fran looked down at the file she’d set on the counter and ran a hand over its cover. “Have I ever told you how fond I am of Maxie? She’s kind of famous and has lots of money, so she’s a big shot in this town. But she’s always treated me like a friend, and never forgotten to include me in her fancy lunches and doings. She did that even before she took up with Mason Edwards.”

  The clerk snorted out a laugh. “The old chief, he was still a bachelor when Maxie came along twenty years ago, and he wasn’t the best at picking up signs when a woman was interested. Had to give him a couple of hard nudges to get him going in that direction.” She paused for a long moment, staring down at the file. “I worked for Chief Edwards for almost thirty years, right from the first day he stepped into this department.” She looked up at Nicki and smiled. “Did I ever tell you that?”

  “No. You must be very fond of him.” Nicki leaned against the counter. “I haven’t known him as long as you have, but I think the world of him too. If Maxie weren’t married to the man, I might have set my sights on him.”

  Fran let loose with that cackling laugh of hers, and from the corner of her eye Nicki saw Jane roll her eyes.

  “From what I hear and can see for myself, you and that Matt are made for each other, and he sure is crazy about you.” Fran turned to Jane. “Isn’t he?”

  “Yes, he is,” Jane agreed quietly, surprising Nicki.

  Fran slapped a palm on top of the file. “But that isn’t the point. I know what Chief Turnlow said, and he’s a good chief too. Still, I owe it to my friends to help when I can.” She fixed her gaze somewhere over Nicki’s shoulder. “Did I ever tell you I can’t hardly read unless I do it out loud? It’s an odd habit of mine. Even the chief’s commented on it a time or two.”

  Nicki grinned. “Is that so?” She looked around the counter and grabbed a form from the stack on one end. “We don’t want to keep you from your work. But I need to fill out this, umm…” She glanced down at the form. “This missing pet report. Don’t let us disturb you.”

  “All right.” Fran nodded. “Do you need a pen? No? Then I’ll just sit down here and get to reading so I know how to keep this file properly neat and tidy.” She retreated to her desk and opened the file. “Now. Wonder where would be a good place to start?”

  Nicki clicked open her pen and began to fill in her name on the form. “Maybe the crime scene report?”

  The clerk nodded. “Sounds good. Let’s see here.” She flipped through a few pages. “Not much to tell. Nothing out of place. Oh. This is interesting. I’ll just read through this little section. ‘No fingerprints on bottle found at bottom of the pool.’ And then I’m reading, ‘No fingerprints found on handle of sliding glass door.’ Looks like I’m reading there were no fingerprints found on the desk either. I’m reading a bit further down that there were the victim’s prints found all over the rest of the house.”

  She stopped and was quiet a moment. “I’m reading here in the additional notes now. This sentence is a little strange. ‘Alarm checked on bedroom clock at Chief Turnlow’s request. Alarm was set for eight thirty a.m.’. Wonder why the chief asked that to be checked?” Fran looked up and turned her head toward Nicki.

  Not if you were wondering if it was murder right from the start, Nicki thought. Seems the current ch
ief of police had reacted to the crime scene the same way she had.

  “Did you read that the time of death was set between seven and eight in the morning?” Nicki asked, not looking up from her form.

  “That’s right. I did.” Fran nodded and then frowned. “She wasn’t even supposed to get up by then, if you look at that alarm.”

  “I wonder if you’ve read anything about the team searching the grounds for footprints or tracks?” Nicki asked.

  Fran flipped another two pages. “There’s a section for that. I’m reading it now. ‘Grounds searched. No other evidence found. No footprints or other marks or tracks found on the lawn, porch, patio, driveway, or rest of the grounds.’” Fran looked up again. “Not much else here besides the autopsy report and a printout of that calendar you found. Any of the chief’s personal notes would still be in a file on his computer. That’s how he does things.”

  Nodding, Nicki took the partially finished form and folded it in half before sticking it into her purse. “I think I’ll finish this at home and drop it by later, if that’s okay with you, Fran?”

  “That’s fine. That’s fine. No rush. The pet you’re looking for might be back by now.” She jerked her head at the box on the counter. “Don’t forget your box.”

  Nicki glanced at Jane. “What box? Did you bring a box, Jane?”

  The admin shrugged. “I don’t recall.”

  “Not much of a liar, are you, Jane?” Fran chuckled. “Well thank you.” Her smile faded when her gaze returned to Nicki. “Now you remember to keep your snooping on the safe side.” She looked over at Jane. “And you make sure that she does.”

  Jane adjusted the tote on her shoulder. “That’s why I’m here.”

  Back out on the sidewalk, Nicki was feeling a sudden case of the guilts. “I’m sorry that this is completely disrupting your life, Jane.”

  The neatly dressed and well-groomed admin smiled when she shook her head. “It isn’t. I’m keeping up with my work, and this is all certainly different. It’s good to step out of my comfort zone on occasion.”

  Sure that trying to figure out who murdered Viola Richards was so far out of Jane’s comfort zone the poor woman probably thought she was on another planet, Nicki managed a weak nod before heading over to the local Starbucks. She could use a bottle of water before sending Jane to look at the Historical Society’s tiny space while she tackled the owner of the local bakery shop.

  “What was so important about the alarm?” Jane asked, keeping her eyes straight ahead.

  “It was set for a time after Viola was killed, so clearly she wasn’t expecting company that morning, or she would have set the alarm for an earlier time,” Nicki explained.

  Jane stopped moving, so Nicki did too. “Then it was a stranger who broke in and killed her?”

  “Or just someone she wasn’t expecting,” Nicki pointed out. “I’m not sure a stranger would have gone to the trouble to try to make it look like an accident from too much drinking.”

  “Oh.” Jane started walking again. “Then you think it was someone associated with the appointments on her calendar?”

  Understanding the highly organized admin’s need to have some kind of answer to explain something as unthinkable and untidy as murder, Nicki slipped her arm through Jane’s. “I don’t know. But it’s something to look at. And a good place for you to start. After we get something to drink, why don’t you pay Madge and the Historical Society a visit? Maybe you can pry out of Madge what Viola was doing there?”

  “Why would this Madge person know that?”

  Nicki grinned. “Small town.”

  Jane looked up with a rueful smile. “I keep forgetting that. What are you going to do?”

  “Talk to someone not on the calendar.” At Jane’s questioning look, Nicki pointed to a small shop a few doors down from Starbucks. It had a scalloped pink awning directly over a solid white door with a window taking up the entire top half. “A Bounty of Sweets. It’s the local bakery and Roe, the owner, is always there.”

  “Why do you need to talk to her?”

  “Viola told Maxie she wanted to give a tea party. She didn’t ask me to bake her anything, and Maxie had no intention of supplying the food, so I would bet she ordered something from Roe.” Nicki shrugged. “It’s worth a visit, anyway.”

  Fifteen minutes later, Nicki walked into the quaint little bakery with its glass display cases filled with cookies, cakes, and pies. Since it was the middle of the day and not a weekend, the shop was empty except for Roe who was sitting behind the front register, reading a paper. When the bell over the front door let out a soft tinkle, she glanced up before setting her paper down.

  “Well now, this is a surprise. The best baker in town paying my shop a visit.” Roe smiled as she pushed her stool aside and stepped up to the counter.

  “I think the honor of best baker in town goes to you, Roe,” Nicki laughed. A sudden, truly inspired thought struck her. “Have you seen the flyers that Suzanne has put-up all-over town for the cooking classes?”

  Roe nodded, her short dark hair jumping up and down with the movement. Roe had the sturdy build and friendly smile you’d expect from a home-trained baker, especially one running a shop in a small town. “Hard to miss.”

  “Suzanne has an idea to open up a section on baking, and I’m hoping I can entice you into teaching it with me. Or rather, you teach it and I’ll be your assistant.”

  Roe’s eyes bugged out of her head. “Are you serious? Every cook in town would love to be associated with you. Even that snooty cook over at Mario’s.”

  Positive that Mario wouldn’t mind at all hearing his executive chef being called “snooty”, but would take great offense at the word “cook”, Nicki laughed. “I don’t know about that, but how do you feel at being associated with the classes?”

  “I’d love it, simply love it! When would we start?”

  As soon as I talk Suzanne into it, Nicki thought, but held her smile. It really was a great idea, and she’d have to heavily hint around to Suzanne and Jake, the cook and new owner of Eddie’s Burger Diner, that it would be smarter to cut a good deal with Roe to buy her pastries, rather than make them at a diner not at all set up for that type of baking.

  “Is that all you came in for? Because it’s worth a free cupcake.” Roe opened the case. “What kind would you like?”

  “I’d love a cupcake,” Nicki said. “But I was also hoping to talk to you about one of your recent customers?”

  The middle-aged woman looked around as if she was checking to be sure there wasn’t anyone else in the shop, before reaching into the case and taking out a chocolate cupcake piled high with vanilla frosting. “These are my best seller.” She walked over to the cash register and took a small box out from underneath the counter. “You’re talking about Viola Richards. I heard she was killed.”

  Trying not to look surprised that even Roe knew that the genealogist’s death hadn’t been an accident, Nicki smiled. “Yes. She placed an order with you?”

  “She meant to, but we never got that far.” Roe tied a string around the small box, then bent her head and sighed. “I guess you heard about the argument.” She looked up and frowned. “It was just my luck that Beatrice was in the shop at the time. She’s the biggest gossip in town.”

  Even though she hadn’t heard a thing about any argument, Nicki carefully nodded. And knowing how good-natured Roe usually was, Nicki had no doubt who was doing the arguing. “What was Viola so annoyed about that she’d start an argument over it?”

  “She said she was planning a tea party, so I suggested macarons, and she just about had a fit.”

  Over macarons? Nicki frowned. “Why? Did she say she didn’t like them?”

  Roe shrugged. Her fingers played with the loose ends of the string tying up the cupcake box. “She didn’t say one way or the other. She just kept insisting they weren’t appropriate for the tea party, and I should come up with a biscuit that was as good as any she could buy in England.” The baker stu
ck her chin out. “I told her I don’t bake biscuits, and then she got all huffy about it. Told me I was ignorant and a small-town bumpkin, although not that politely.”

  Feeling bad about the way Viola had treated Roe, Nicki made a sympathetic sound. “I’m sorry. I know it isn’t nice to speak ill of the dead, but Viola wasn’t always the kindest person.”

  “No, she wasn’t.” Roe squared her shoulders. “She left before she placed an order, and I never saw or spoke to her again after that. The only good thing I can say is that after she left, I heard she’d had an argument with Charlie too.”

  From the ever-helpful Beatrice, no doubt, but Nicki didn’t bother to ask. “Charlie? I’ve never known anyone to argue with Charlie. He’s a complete sweetheart.”

  “Well, that woman did,” Roe confirmed. “And I have it on the best authority that Charlie told her not to come back to his winery.”

  Chapter One Hundred Fifteen

  Nicki caught up with Jane in the middle of the square, right next to the bronze statue of a bunch of grapes. Jane was standing alone, her tote over her shoulder and her notebook out which she was busily scribbling away in.

  “Learn something interesting at the Historical Society?” Nicki smiled when Jane looked up and pushed her glasses further up her nose.

  “I’m not sure how useful you’ll find it.” She looked around. “This really is a lovely little park. Didn’t you say all these flowers are maintained by Maxie’s husband?”

  “Yes, they are.” Nicki gestured to a healthy-looking bush with mulch piled around its base. “I think that’s the one he recently replaced. He takes any of his plants dying very personally.”

  “Of course.” Jane took another long look around before returning her gaze to her open notebook. “I did have to make a small commitment on your part, so we will need to add it to the schedule.”