by Lynn Cahoon
As she wandered around the Internet, looking for hints, she focused on John Louis. Most of the hits were from last year, when he was on trial and went to jail. A few about his development company. Some complaints about shoddy work or bad deals, but really nothing she could plop down on Baldwin’s desk with a here’s-your-killer announcement.
“Of course it couldn’t be that easy.” Mia leaned back on her pillow and considered the situation. What had been going on in the Magic Springs area last week? She opened the Chamber of Commerce website and scrolled through the activities. Maybe someone had posted pictures. She didn’t know if Baldwin had found out where this Denny Blake had been staying. She opened a new window and searched under his name.
She hit a few bad links, then found a Facebook page. Did professional hit men even have Facebook pages? She opened it and found the man from the picture Baldwin had shown her yesterday. Well, that answered that question.
It didn’t look like he’d put up any privacy blocks, so she was able to see a lot of his posts. Christmas in a Florida bar with a well-endowed girl in an elf costume sitting on his lap. The post only said Kaelynn, Santa’s little helper. The next post showed Denny on a deep-sea fishing boat pulling in a marlin. She glanced at his information. He’d listed his employment as an independent contractor. And he liked chicken wings. He looked like your average everyday Joe. Not much to go on.
A lightbulb went off and her mind went back to the list of activities Magic Springs had posted on their website. There it was. The winery had held a Karaoke and Wings Night last Tuesday. Maybe Denny had been in town then. And if so, maybe someone had talked to him at the winery. Or seen him talking to someone else. Like John. Now, that was something she could take to Baldwin.
She glanced at her watch. It was five thirty. If she accepted Christina’s offer to be in charge of dinner, she could zip out to the winery, then be back in time to toss the spaghetti squash and dish up the plates. She slipped her shoes back on and took a screenshot of Denny’s Facebook page with her phone. Maybe she’d get lucky.
She knocked on Christina’s door, announced her plans, then grabbed her keys and purse from the kitchen.
“Where are you going?” Grans called after her.
Mia didn’t stop, but called back, “I’ve got to run an errand really quick. I’ll be back to dish up dinner.”
She didn’t wait for a response, just shut the apartment door behind her so she couldn’t hear Grans’s rebuttal. It was fine, though; she was an adult. She could go anywhere she wanted. Mia knew that her grandmother worried about her, but she needed to do this. If she had a target on her back, she needed to know, so she could bob and weave. Not hide in fear.
It just took a few minutes to get to the winery. It wasn’t busy, which was probably why Priscilla Powers, the winery owner and Dorian’s ex, had started the monthly karaoke night. Mia knew that Priscilla thought the winery was too classy for something like that, so someone else had to have convinced her it was good for the bottom line.
She locked the van, just in case, and headed to the door. The doorman nodded toward the van, which was taking up two, maybe more, slots.
“Nice parking job. Please tell me you’re in and out so I don’t have to have your piece of junk towed.” The bouncer towered over her.
“Good evening. I am in and out, but it’s kind of up to you. Did you see this man last Tuesday?” She held up her phone.
Frowning, he took the phone from her and blew up the picture. “I think so. Not sure, but if it’s the same guy, he came for the singing thing, then left just before last call. I tried to call him a cab, but he said he was walking back to his hotel. I watch out for guys who’ve had too much. Ms. Powers counts on me to help protect the winery.”
“Did you see him again?” Mia felt a slight stab of hope. There were only two hotels close enough to walk to. One was the Lodge, the other an older motel that had seen better days.
The bouncer handed her phone back. “Nope. I don’t work Wednesday or Thursday, but I didn’t see him Friday at all. That’s usually date night for most of our customers, so a single guy, he would have stood out.”
“Thank you. You’ve been really helpful.” Mia moved through the open door and made a beeline to the bar. The dining room was off-limits. She didn’t think Priscilla would take kindly to her walking from table to table showing a picture of a dead guy. She nodded to the bartender.
“What will you have?” The woman studied her as she climbed onto a stool.
Mia almost said nothing, but she needed some time to mingle. “Sparkling water with lime.”
The woman nodded, then brought over her drink. “Five even.”
Mia blanched at the price but pulled out a ten. The bartender made her change and set it by the drink. Mia glanced at her name tag.
“You get free refills, so don’t worry about the cost.” The bartender glanced around the room but didn’t move.
“Can I ask you something? It’s Alicia, right?” When Mia got a nod, she pulled out her phone. She showed Denny’s picture to her. “Alicia, did you see this guy on Tuesday?”
The bartender’s face lit up. “Of course. That’s Denny Something. He didn’t use a credit card, cash only. Good tipper. He drank domestic beer in the bottle. The guy was clearly on some business trip.”
“Why do you say that? Did he keep his receipts?” Mia tried to sound casual but interested.
“No. He didn’t. Which, now that I think about it, if he was here on business, he needed them.” She shook her head. “I could have been wrong. But the guy was talking to any available woman in the bar. Or perceived available. One guy came back from the head and found Denny at his table and in his seat, chatting up his girl. There was almost an issue, but Denny smoothed it over. Said the girl looked like his sister and picked up the couple’s tab for the night.”
“Still in cash.”
Alicia nodded. “He had probably a couple thousand in his wallet. If we’d been in Boise, I would have warned him not to carry so much, but we’re a small town. No one’s going to jack you for the money in your wallet.”
Chapter 9
No one else in the bar had been there for karaoke night, so Mia gave Alicia her card and asked her to give it to anyone who had talked to Denny.
She stared at it for a moment. “You’re a caterer.”
“Yeah, and we give cooking classes. I bought the old schoolhouse. I’m doing home delivery for easy weeknight dinners as well. You should check out our website.” Mia put on her best sales voice. Upbeat and preppy.
“So why are you asking about this guy? You’re not a private investigator or a cop. Why do you care?” Alicia studied her carefully, still holding the card by the edges, as if it could bite her.
Mia wondered what the best answer would be, then decided to go with the truth. “He was killed behind the school. I want to find out why before someone starts to blame me.”
Alicia didn’t say anything for a while, just turned the card over and back a few times. Then she met Mia’s gaze. “I’ve been suspected of something I didn’t do too. I get what you’re doing, but you need to be careful. If Denny was murdered, someone might not like you running around asking questions. Even in an upscale place like this.”
Mia thought about Alicia’s warning and decided she’d let Baldwin know about what she’d found out. Then she could just focus on the catering job she had this weekend.
Her event was a baby gender reveal party, and the wife had planned it to a tee. She’d hired a DJ and a bartender. And servers. All Mia had to do was show up with the food, then come and tear the service down. She wondered if she should start offering servers too, as part of her service. She could have a group of people who wanted on-call, part-time work and put them in Mia Morsel’s uniforms. It would expand the brand and maybe get her more catering gigs. Most of the parties she’d done so far had hired staff from the Lodge. She knew James was making a killing on the temporary fees, and the waitstaff was just making overt
ime on their normal paychecks. She could pay them more and still make a profit.
But then again, it was a risk to move quickly. She couldn’t make decisions based solely on feelings. She’d have to look at the actual numbers next week, once this job was done.
Mia pulled into the parking lot to find a police cruiser at the house, colored lights flashing on the building. She turned off the engine and ran toward the house. “What now?”
A police officer stopped her at the door. “I’m sorry, who are you?”
“Mia Malone, the homeowner? What’s going on?”
He used his walkie-talkie to announce her, then nodded to the office. “Detective Baldwin is in the office on the main floor. He asks that you meet him there.”
She hurried into her office and found Baldwin sitting at her desk, on her phone. He motioned her to the visitor’s chair. Aggravation made her want to remind the man whose office it was, but she held her tongue. It was more important to find out what was going on than have a fight over standing. She’d learned that lesson early on in the kitchen.
When he finished, he made a note, then leaned back in the chair. “Sometimes it surprises me when you’re so in the middle of these murders. Other times, I just wait and expect your name to come up.”
“What are you talking about? Where did my name come up? Are Grans and Christina all right?” She studied him. He didn’t look anxious, like he’d just witnessed a violent murder. Or the aftereffects. “What’s going on?”
“Your grandmother and that girl are fine. And so, by the way, is your houseguest. You didn’t ask about her. Anyway, she’s the reason we’re here tonight. Guess whose phone number was on Denny’s cell phone? Not once, or twice, but more than a dozen times?”
“Cindy’s?” Mia leaned back, shocked.
“And on the first try. We’re taking her in for questioning. Your grandmother isn’t happy about it, but I’ve got a female officer upstairs going through her things. It’s our first good lead.” He pinched his nose. “I’m beat. And whatever you have cooking up there smells amazing. I’m going to get her settled in one of our lovely cells, then head home to eat with Sarah. I’ll question her after I eat. Maybe I won’t be so grumpy.”
“Has Cindy eaten?” Mia didn’t know why she was offering the murder suspect food, but it felt right.
“Your grandmother is making her up a plate. We’ll let her eat at the station before she goes into the cell.” He stood. “Where were you tonight?”
“I ran over to the winery.” Mia decided to tell the truth as far as he asked.
Baldwin studied her. “Did you run out of wine?”
“I wanted to see if Denny had gone to the winery last Tuesday,” she admitted.
He leaned back in the chair, surprise showing on his face. “Wow, that’s random. Do you want to tell me why?”
She explained how she’d looked him up on Facebook and he’d mentioned he loved wings, and how the winery had that event last week.
When she stopped talking, he rolled his finger. “Go on. Now you’re going to tell me you found someone who remembered him.”
“Two someones. The bartender, Alicia, and the bouncer. I didn’t get his name, but they both remember talking to Denny that night.” Mia leaned forward, happy Baldwin was finally taking her seriously on this.
“You are freaking intuitive on this investigation thing.” He stood and headed out of the office. “But I’m only going to say this once. Stay out of my investigation. If I think you’re messing around with the case, I can charge you with obstruction of justice.”
Mia took in a breath. “I was just talking to people.”
“Mia, it’s dangerous. You need to stop doing this.” Baldwin walked out of the office without saying another word to her.
She followed him upstairs, and by the time she got to the apartment, the female officer was walking Cindy out the door. “Do you need me to call someone? A lawyer? Your agent?”
Cindy shook her head. “I already did. They’re flying in and meeting me at the station. Maybe when I get out, I should just stay at the Lodge. I mean, until we figure out the other thing.”
“You will not. Mark will find out that your involvement in this is innocent, and then you will come back here and we’ll get your life back on track.” Grans looked at Mia for support. “It should only take a few more days, if we get time to really work with the book.”
“What are you doing, genealogy?” Baldwin asked Grans. “Or are you helping her with Dorian’s estate?”
“Something like that.” Mia let Baldwin think what he wanted. It was better than bringing up magic. As long as the man had lived in Magic Springs, you would have thought he’d be wise to the undercurrents in the town. Though Baldwin might know about the coven and treat it like it was a Masons meeting, or the Knights of Columbus group. “Cindy, let us know if there’s anything you need, and we’ll see you soon.”
Baldwin shook his head. “I would have thought you’d be happy we found out who killed that dude. Instead, you sound like she’s going into the hospital for some cosmetic surgery. You realize there’s damning evidence against her?”
“I didn’t kill anyone.” Cindy glanced at Grans, and even Mia could see the other question in her eyes. Had she killed someone by accident?
“Of course not, dear.” Grans gave Baldwin a Tupperware container with Cindy’s dinner. “Make sure she eats before you throw her into the slammer.”
Baldwin took the container. “I will, but she’s only being held for questioning, not sent up the river to the state penitentiary.”
“And yet you’re not just inviting her into the station for a quick chat,” Grans shot back. She watched as Cindy and the officer moved down the stairs to the front door. “Be careful with her. Cindy’s fragile still around the death of her father.”
“I’m not a monster, Mrs. Carpenter. I just want to solve this murder case.” He nodded at Mia as he moved out of the apartment. “Thank you for your time. And the tip.”
Mia followed them downstairs to make sure the door locked behind them. She watched out the window as the two police cars left her parking lot. Living in Magic Springs was never easy, but she didn’t think she deserved to have a murder happen right where she wanted to plant her herb garden. Now she was going to have to sage the area to get rid of any lingering bad vibes. She glanced around the house and smiled. At least it hadn’t been inside. She didn’t want to worry about angry spirits in her home.
She checked the kitchen and office doors again, then turned off the lights and went upstairs to eat and update Grans and Christina on what she’d found out. They may be able to add something to the list of things she wanted to look into. Baldwin may be the actual investigator, but he wasn’t looking at the whole picture. Mostly because he didn’t know magic was involved. It didn’t feel like Cindy had killed Denny by accident. But she clearly had had some dealings with him. And Mia needed to find out what they were.
When she got upstairs, she found Grans and Christina in the kitchen, getting food on the table.
“Good, you’re back. I don’t want to rush dinner, but I need to get back to working with Cindy’s grimoire. Maybe I can figure out why she called this Denny before his death.” Grans set the chicken marsala on the table.
“You don’t think she actually killed the guy, then.” Mia grabbed a soda out of the fridge and sat down at the table.
“No, dear, I don’t believe that. There’s no black mark in Cindy’s soul. If she had killed him, even remotely, I’d see it on her. I have a bit of a gift.” Grans took Mia and Christina’s hands and sent up a quick word of thanks for the food to the Goddess. “Sometimes it’s a hard one to deal with. So many people are damaged, but at times like this, it helps me know who to trust.”
“And you trust Cindy.” Mia took a bite of the chicken and smiled. It had reheated perfectly. No toughness of the chicken. No aftertaste. Just good food. She needed to get working on the next bunch of recipes so she’d have a list to ta
ke with next week’s deliveries.
“Of course.” Grans glanced at Christina. “This turned out really well. Are you happy with your work?”
“Yes, ma’am. I enjoy cooking with Mia. I’m learning a lot, and with school, I actually have things to talk about when we’re doing case studies. I can’t believe having a real job is actually fun.” Christina went on to tell them all about the classes she was going to take next school term. She was enjoying her life immensely. However, the one thing she didn’t talk about was her relationship with Levi. Maybe having some distance wasn’t a bad idea.
Mia hoped for Levi’s sake that Christina hadn’t decided his reputation as the town’s bad boy was too much to deal with. Either way, though, it wasn’t Mia’s business.
Grans hadn’t told her anymore about what being a Bishop descendant meant, but they had been busy. And now they had one more thing on their list: get Cindy out of jail. Mia glanced over at Mr. Darcy, who was on the window seat, staring out the window. Dorian must be worried. One more reason spirits should go on after death. They couldn’t do anything but worry about the ones they loved.
She excused herself after dinner and went downstairs to her office. She needed to work on the record keeping for the business. And post next week’s orders into the system. Most of the work she was doing now was manageable, but if things picked up, she needed to see a pattern before expanding too soon.
Mia sipped the cup of tea she’d brought down as she waited for the program to load. The joy of owning your own business—there was always something to do. In her last job, the accounting department would send her reports on what she was doing. Her budget was set by Isaac, which really meant she did it for him. As long as she kept the costs reasonable, and made the hotel money and him look good, he didn’t care.
After she’d finished what had to be done she opened her Internet search program and keyed in Denny’s name again. Nothing popped out at her except a link to one of his jail stays. She opened it, wondering if it would tell her anything, but no, you got inmate name, stay dates, and charges listed. All things she knew about Denny.
