The Diva Spices It Up

by Krista Davis

  Chapter 31

  Dear Natasha,

  I live in a small townhouse with a lovely little patio. But I have nowhere to store my patio furniture over the winter. I can bring the umbrella in, but there’s no room for all the fluffy cushions. Where do you keep yours?

  No Room in Mosquitoville, Vermont

  Dear No Room,

  Deck storage boxes are the answer. The better ones are waterproof. They’ve improved over the years and no longer look like eyesores. Some can even double as extra seating or as tables.

  Natasha

  In the darkness, I couldn’t see what was inside the box, but it was so heavy that I couldn’t push it. A vile smell wafted out, faint but revolting. I pulled my phone out of my purse and turned on the flashlight. At first glance, it looked like sand. Sort of a dirty white powder.

  Could Eunice or a friend have dumped sand in her deck storage box? Perhaps to keep it stable? So it wouldn’t move around when a strong wind came through?

  The dreadful smell caused me to think otherwise. I turned off the flashlight and called Wolf’s number.

  When he answered, I said, “I’m at Eunice’s house. I may have found Abby.”

  I closed the top while I waited, mostly because the smell made me gag. I sat in one of Eunice’s garden chairs and stared at the box. Why hadn’t this occurred to us? She had been right here with us for an entire week. The killer had put Mia in a box, so it only stood to reason that he or she had sought out another box in which to place Abby.

  Eunice’s poor hearing and refusal to wear her hearing aids would have prevented her from hearing anything the killer did when he entered her backyard.

  Wolf arrived quickly. He opened the deck box and pulled his head back. “I’m sorry to say I know that smell. I believe you’re right.” He made a phone call, and shortly thereafter more police arrived along with crime scene investigators. I remained silent and watched them work. No one thought to kick me out, and I wanted to know for sure if Abby was in the box.

  After taking photographs, they began to scoop out the sandy material. A woman lay at the bottom.

  I left at that point. I knew who it was. They would have to check her DNA or have someone identify her, but it didn’t make sense for it to be anyone else.

  I dragged home feeling sad. Part of me had hoped she was alive and in hiding from the killer. She must have been afraid of someone to bother to leave a note in the recipes. One of them must have kidnapped Peyton and murdered Abby and Mia to keep Peyton’s true identity secret. But which one?

  I thought we could write off Schuyler’s dad, Pierce. That left Wesley and Jericho.

  Mars met me at the door when I arrived home. “Where have you been? I was beginning to think Schuyler’s dad murdered you, too.”

  “I found Abby.”

  Mars stared at me in shock. “Do you want a drink?”

  “A cup of tea would be nice.”

  “Only you would drink tea after finding a corpse. Where was she?”

  Over hot tea and blueberry crumble cake, I told Mars everything that had happened. “You kept asking me what I would have done. When I went over to Abby’s house, I tried to envision what might have happened. Where did Charlene go? How did she manage to elude the killer? It seemed like there were only two places to hide. Charlene could hide in either the garage or the deck storage box. When I opened the box, a horrible odor wafted out. I called Wolf.”

  “No one noticed the smell?” asked Mars.

  “Wolf said the container was probably airtight to be waterproof. I didn’t look at her. I imagined her beginning to look like a mummy. They haven’t confirmed that it’s Abby, but . . .”

  Mars gave me a funny look. “That does away with a lot of our theories. Someone killed two women and beat up a third one. He took the time to stuff them into boxes, which I find curious.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It’s just an interesting choice. One would hide the bodies to eliminate evidence, right? Wouldn’t it have been more logical to drive their bodies out to the countryside and leave them? Did the killer think no one would notice? Was he was buying time to get away?” Mars speculated.

  “He took Abby’s suitcase and dumped it in the river.” I gasped as things began to line up. “And he drove to Reston, where he left her phone at a mall—”

  Mars finished my thought. “So it would look like she was still alive. He thought it through. Maybe he even planned it carefully in advance. This was one cool character.”

  “You know who we’ve been overlooking? Benton.”

  “How does he figure into the Peyton Poulon kidnapping?”

  “I don’t know. But if he’s a spy, hasn’t he been trained to be cool and calm in adverse situations?”

  “Good point. But I don’t see the motive. And if he was really a spy, why would he kidnap a child?”

  “Because his wife couldn’t have one?” I suggested.

  Mars winced and rubbed his eyes. “I grant you that he might have been able to pull off the murders. He would have been smart enough to get rid of Abby’s phone and computer, but unless he kidnapped Peyton to sell her and Abby knew nothing about it . . .” Mars shook his head. “I don’t see that. What about Mia’s husband?”

  “He’s a really nice man and he’s devastated by Mia’s death. It sounds like he relied on her heavily and now he’s lost without her. One little interesting tidbit, though. Schuyler is not his biological daughter. She was five when he met and married Mia.”

  “Assuming he’s not lying, I guess that counts him out.”

  “Did you make any progress while I was out?”

  “I did. The Internet is a wonderful, amazing, and scary place. Turns out that there was a hazing incident at the university Wesley and Jericho attended. And it involved their fraternity. None of the newspaper reports cite Wesley or Jericho, but you know how these fraternity things are. I’m willing to bet one or both of them were involved.”

  “What kind of incident?”

  “Alcohol-related, naturally. One of the kids took a bad fall and broke his neck. One day he was a baseball star, and the next day he became a paraplegic for life.”

  “No! How tragic. The poor guy. But I don’t get it—how does this impact Wesley?”

  “It’s only a guess, but I assume Wesley and/or Jericho were among the instigators. I don’t think any politician could survive something like that becoming public knowledge.”

  “Kind of weird that the people doing opposition research haven’t discovered that,” I said.

  “Not at all. I had to connect the dots. If I hadn’t had some kind of suspicion or hint of wrongdoing to track down, I don’t think I would have figured it out.”

  “So you’re saying you’re better at opposition research than the people who do it for a living?” I teased.

  “Let’s just say I was more determined to find the dirt.”

  I went up to bed, but I couldn’t sleep. I kept imagining the horror that had unfolded at Abby’s house. Had the killer been inside waiting for her when Mars walked her home? And why had Mia and Charlene been there? Why couldn’t three women overpower one killer? I sat up. Maybe there had been more than one killer.

  At two in the morning, I tiptoed downstairs to get a melatonin gummy to help me sleep. I had barely entered the kitchen when I saw the dark outline of a person looking in the window of the kitchen door.

  Chapter 32

  Dear Natasha,

  My aunt is in the hospital. I would love to send her flowers, but she has allergies. What can I bring her to brighten up her stay?

  Out of Ideas in Scrabble, Virginia

  Dear Out of Ideas,

  How about a game to play? Or a special snack, like a milkshake, with the doctor’s okay, of course. Or maybe a mirror and some makeup or nail polish. I know that’s what I would want!

  Natasha

  He moved away, but my heart still thumped. And then I heard him tapping on the door to the sunroom.

  I
shot through the kitchen to the den. I didn’t dare turn on a light. “Mars! Mars, wake up. There’s someone outside.”

  “Hmm? Not now, Sophie.”

  The rap on the door came again, louder this time.

  Mars sat up. “What is that noise?”

  “Someone is at the door,” I whispered.

  “Don’t answer it! What time is it?”

  “Two.”

  “Sophie, Sophie?” I could hear the man outside hissing my name in a loud whisper.

  “See who it is, but don’t open the door,” said Mars.

  I pulled my robe tighter and padded to the door in bare feet. I flicked on the outside light, which I hoped would blind him a little and give me an advantage. It was Wesley.

  I opened the door.

  “I’m so sorry to wake you, Sophie. I thought you might know where Mars is staying.”

  “I’m right here, Wesley.” Mars emerged from the shadows, and I saw him tuck the Taser he had given me years ago in his pocket. So that was why he wanted me to see who it was. He needed time to get the Taser.

  I stepped aside so Wesley could come in.

  Mars whispered in my ear, “Good job not opening the door.”

  I ignored him. “Wesley, could I offer you some coffee or hot apple cider?”

  “Whatever you have on hand is fine. Don’t go to any trouble for me. I apologize for waking you. I’ve made such a mess of things. After the way I treated you, I’ll be lucky if you even speak to me, Mars.”

  “Why don’t we go into the living room?” Mars led the way while I hurried to the kitchen. I could hear him closing curtains.

  I poured apple cider into a pot to heat and fetched the apple brandy that Nina had used. In a matter of minutes, I had three mugs on a tray with napkins, plates, forks, and little slices of the blueberry crumble cake.

  I carried it into the living room and set it on the table. I figured they would throw me out, but neither of them said a word when I sat down and listened.

  “I guess you saw the e-mail that was released naming two operatives,” said Wesley. “It’s all over the news. I don’t think anyone missed it. Have you seen Twitter? I’m being attacked on the national news, and there are people calling for my resignation!”

  “This was from someone hacking into your computer?” Mars sounded completely calm, as though this wasn’t the worst thing that could happen.

  “Yes. The thing is that I never wrote it.”

  “Are you sure?” asked Mars.

  “No way. Not only didn’t I write it, I don’t know who those people are. I’ve never even heard of them.”

  Mars sipped his brandied apple cider. “You’re saying that not only were you hacked, but someone is releasing phony e-mails and claiming they came from your computer?”

  “Right. I feel terrible. Those two people have been put in danger. But I had nothing to do with it!” Wesley’s nostril’s flared and his chest heaved.

  “What do you think happened?” asked Mars, who was completely in his element and not even slightly flustered.

  “I have no idea. Unless it’s Jericho.” Wesley breathed heavily. “You warned me about him, but I didn’t listen. I should have realized something was up when he said I had to let you go. I’m really sorry. I should have shown Jericho the door.”

  “But you had a long association with him. So you trusted him,” said Mars.

  “He’s blackmailing me.” Wesley didn’t take his eyes off Mars.

  To Mars’s credit, he didn’t shame Wesley or act in the least bit put out. “Does this have anything to do with the hazing incident?”

  Wesley’s face went completely white. “How do you know about that?”

  “I figured Jericho was up to no good, so I did a little research.”

  “It was the single worst thing I have ever done.” Wesley shook his head as though he still couldn’t believe it.

  Mars raised his eyebrows. “You were at fault?”

  “No. But I was there. I could have stopped it. I could have done something instead of standing by. They never should have moved him. I knew that. The outcome could have been different for Robbie.”

  I looked over at Mars. I could understand Wesley’s feelings of guilt.

  “Jericho has extorted money from you? He threatened to release this information?” asked Mars.

  “Exactly. But it gets worse. I couldn’t believe what happened. It was one of those moments when you wish you could reel back time and change the outcome. I couldn’t do that, so I send Robbie a check every month. I don’t know how far it goes with all the medical expenses he has. I’ve done it for years, since I got my first job. I feel like he’s my obligation, like he’s part of my family.”

  I wasn’t following him at all. I didn’t know a single other person who would have been so generous. If anything, that should improve his standing politically, not hurt it! But what did I know? I gazed at Mars but couldn’t gauge his reaction.

  “Does Jericho have anything else on you?”

  “No. There is nothing else.”

  “Are you absolutely certain? This would be the time to come clean. I don’t want to take on one mess only to find there’s another one that you didn’t tell me about.”

  I admired Mars for being so calm.

  “No, I swear,” Wesley insisted.

  “What about Abby’s murder?” asked Mars.

  “They found her?” Wesley’s eyes went wide.

  “Sophie discovered Abby’s body. If you had anything to do with it, then you won’t need to worry about a hazing incident from your college days.”

  “I did not have an affair with Abby. And I most certainly didn’t murder her. I liked Abby. Why would I harm her?”

  I wanted to believe him. I could understand why Mars liked Wesley. He seemed like a nice guy.

  Suddenly, Wesley faced me. “Did I hear Jericho ask you out?”

  “Yes.”

  “You didn’t tell me about that,” Mars exclaimed.

  “Yes, I did. He wanted me to get information out of Wolf and report back. I told you that.”

  “That’s not the same as asking you out on a date,” Mars protested.

  I chuckled. “It is when that was what Jericho really wanted.”

  Wesley snickered. “You two sound like Tilly and me. I wonder if Jericho asked Abby out. Maybe she turned him down and he saw her going to dinner with you, Mars. Jealousy is a powerful motivator.”

  My eyelids were getting heavy, and I was wondering if I could excuse myself and slip up to bed.

  Fortunately, Mars said, “We’re going to have to handle this very carefully. You cannot let on to Jericho that you have been in touch with me. Think you can manage that? If he gets even a whiff of what’s going on, we’re toast.”

  “I’ll do my best,” Wesley promised.

  “I’ll make some calls in the morning regarding that e-mail. And I think that, properly handled, we can go public about the hazing so it won’t be hanging over your head anymore.”

  “I don’t know how to thank you. Mostly I’m grateful that you’re taking me back as a client.” Wesley took a deep breath and appeared much relieved.

  “We’ll work it out.”

  I said good night and headed upstairs, leaving Mars to see his client to the door and clean up the living room.

  * * *

  I slept in on Sunday morning. When I finally made my way downstairs, I found Wolf, Nina, and Bernie in my kitchen with Mars. The kettle was whistling, and Bernie was turning pancakes on the griddle. The scent of bacon hung in the air.

  “Looks like a party,” I said.

  “Wolf came by to confirm that it was Abby whom you found.” Mars delivered a plate of pancakes to Wolf.

  “Benton Bergeron came in to identify her.” Wolf poured maple syrup over his pancakes.

  I plucked a slice of bacon from a platter and munched on it. “At least we found her. Any leads on her killer yet?” I asked.

  Everyone turned to look at Wo
lf. He shook his head and ate a forkful of pancakes.

  “I heard about it on the news this morning,” said Nina.

  “What I don’t understand is why no one smelled anything.”

  Wolf took a sip of coffee. “Lime. The killer poured lime on her. It’s for agricultural use but well known for absorbing strong odors.”

  I nearly dropped the teakettle. “Fred!”

  Wolf stopped eating. “What’s this?”

  “Natasha and I went to visit Fred Conway. When we left, Alma Riddenhauer was out in her yard, and we stopped to chat. She told us that two bags of lime had been stolen from their yard.”

  “Alma, cute little old lady? Always wears sunhats. Her husband is too old to be out in the yard with a chain saw but that doesn’t stop him?”

  I smiled at Wolf’s description. “That’s the Riddenhauers. But you’ll have to be careful so Fred doesn’t see you. He lives on the other side of the street. I have a feeling the Riddenhauers spy on him all the time.”

  Wolf continued eating. I snagged the next plate of pancakes and gave Bernie a big smooch on the cheek. “Thanks for fixing breakfast!” I sat down on the banquette with my friends.

  “Do you think Fred could be the killer?” asked Mars. “I’ve never met the guy.”

  “Don’t go jumping to conclusions. Just because bags of lime are missing doesn’t mean the killer stole them,” said Wolf. “And frankly, the Riddenhauers might well have misplaced them. I’ll look into it, though.”

  When everyone except Mars left, I threw on a comfy sweater and soft jeans and hustled to my office to finish up the details on Tilly’s cookbook. I hoped to bring it over to her the next morning.

  But while I should have been working, I looked up Peyton Poulon. There were hundreds of articles. Most of them had a lot of comments. There were multiple theories about who had taken her. Apparently, the parents themselves had been suspects. Pictures showed Kurt and Hannah Poulon as a traumatized young couple. Hannah was crying in most of the photos. Hannah’s brother and a neighbor had also been suspects. I found myself almost hoping that Briley or Schuyler was their missing baby. I couldn’t imagine their pain. How could a person cope with that kind of loss? Did they still get up in the morning and think of Peyton first thing, wondering if she was dead or alive? Were they numb? Or had they somehow come to terms with her absence just so they could move on and live their lives?