A Tiny Bite of Murder

by Constance Barker

  I rubbed my forehead. “Oh, of course. How could I forget? Mr. and Mrs. Lewis didn’t taste sesame. They were sure of it.”

  Andrew added, “That was the one thing they were certain of.”

  “So you are an expert in detecting the truth?” Jaxon eyed Andrew while he spoke, like he was trying to mind meld with him.

  “No, but you can tell when someone is comfortable saying they’re ‘certain.’ And they were sure a strawberry balsamic vinegar dressing was served with no sesame oil.”

  During the verbal fight at the OK Corral, I noticed Daisy watching each man speak and her head bobbed back and forth like she was watching a tennis match. A burst of laughter escaped from me. “Daisy finds this interesting I see. But we need to keep moving forward, there’s plenty to do. So, Jaxon, did you find anything?”

  The staring contest ended and Jaxon returned his gaze to the laptop screen. “Okay, my turn to share. I called Gabriel Dubois again while you were gone, and get this, he was trying to hire Holly away from Emery. Obviously, if Gabriel called Holly at that dinner, it is even more important to know about that call.”

  I blinked a few times at the news. “Wow, I did not guess that Holly was considering jumping ship. But like you said, never assume.”

  Jaxon sighed. “Exactly! And it seems the accident scenario is not playing out. No oil in the restaurant. No oil in neighboring people’s salad. And if the police found someone else who tasted the sesame, there is a good chance we would have heard about it by now. The accident scenario is not supported by the facts. So that leaves Oliver, Gabriel, and Emery as our people of interest. But I’m pretty sure Oliver didn’t do it. The recent info we learned about this Gabriel guy has nudged him into the lead.”

  I flinched. “Hey, what happened to the boyfriend? What was his name?”

  He glanced at me, then slapped his forehead. “Oh, I forgot to mention Ross, Holly’s ex. We exchanged a few texts and a phone call while you were gone. I'm sure he didn’t know about her allergy and that told me two things. First, he didn’t have the knowledge to pull this off if he didn’t know about the allergy. And, second, it told me that he and Holly were never serious about their relationship. So there wasn’t enough passion to commit murder. Ross is out, no means or motive, and he was hundreds of miles away when it happened. At least he’s out from the first tier of the list.”

  I took a deep breath. “So our top tier is only Gabriel and Emery.”

  Jaxon scanned his screen one more time. “Pretty much. But motive is missing for Emery. And opportunity is impossible for Gabriel unless he had an accomplice, which looks unlikely. I did a pretty good search on all the dinner guests and employees, none seem to be friends with Gabriel. But Gabriel did know about her allergy, so he may have had the means. However, I have to be honest, his motive is pretty thin as far we know right now. We are missing important pieces for both of them, or they didn’t do it.”

  I drew a deep breath. “So it’s not obvious who did it if we are ruling out an accident. This is frustrating.” I paused to review the days event in my head. “Oh, and I almost forgot to tell you. Jessica said they got all of Emery’s articles and they are going through them, but there are hundreds. It is going to take them some time to go through them all.”

  Jaxon nodded. “I knew it was a good idea to get help with that chore. It needs to be done, but it’s a ton of work.”

  Andrew folded his arms on his well toned chest. “So what’s next? Seems we made some progress, but still have a ways to go.”

  Jaxon glared at Andrew for a second, then gestured yes. “That’s a fair assessment.”

  I pinched my lips and raised my eyebrows. “Well, you and your little electronic gizmos once again dug up some helpful info. Impressive. Thank you.”

  Andrew scanned the laptop and phone in front of Jaxon. “Maybe you can help me pick out a new phone later. I need a one better than the clunker I have now. I still have an old flip phone.”

  Jaxon chuckled. “Nothing wrong with that. In fact, there is a trend out there where people are going back to flip phones. Simpler is sometimes better. And it makes it less likely to waste large blocks of time in a phone screen.”

  Andrew leaned back. “I was told by some friends to get what does the job for you, and no more. I don’t text a whole lot. And surfing the net is not my thing. So the flip phone still does the job, I guess. And why spend money on a new phone if the current one is fine.”

  Jaxon spoke as he picked up his vibrating phone. “Exactly. Sounds like a good business decision for you.” He paused as he read. “This is interesting. Holly seems to have come into some money recently.”

  I glared at Jaxon. “And how did you find that out?”

  Jaxon shrugged. “I have friends. And one is in the world of finance. He did me a favor.”

  I asked, “Is this in the gray area?”

  Jaxon wagged his head. “Maybe.”

  I waved my hands in front of my face. “I don’t want to know. But it’s interesting. Who would pay her a large sum of money and for what?”

  Andrew sighed. “That’s a good question. I mean how much do you have to pay someone for a recipe?”

  Jaxon put his phone down. “Good question Rembrandt! I may have underestimated you.”

  Andrew stared back with narrowed eyes.

  Jaxon continued. “What? He was a real good painter. It was a compliment.”

  Andrew laughed. “I guess. But I would have gone with Rothko, I love how he studied color.”

  Jaxon’s jaw hung and he finally spoke with staccato words. “Well...I did not...expect that. So where did you study art?”

  Andrew shrugged. “I spent two years in college before I got bored. And I like art.”

  I intervened. “Now this male bonding is precious. But we were discussing what’s next? Can we get back to that?”

  Jaxon leaned way back in his chair and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands. “Something is not clicking. Holly’s money could have come from anywhere. But if Gabriel was trying to hire Holly, maybe he gave her a bonus to come join his organization. But then he would not have wanted to harm Holly. But Emery might. And the reverse is true. If Emery kept Holly with a bonus, then Emery would not want Holly nice and healthy. But maybe Gabriel got mad. So it isn’t enough to know that Holly made some money, we need to know where it came from?”

  I closed my eyes and leaned my head back. “So how do we find that out?”

  “Simple! Ask Emery and Gabriel. And I can ask my finance friend to see what he can find.”

  I scrunched up my forehead. “So can you call Gabriel right now?”

  Jaxon shrugged. “Sure.”

  I nodded. “Good. And see what you can find out from him and your gray area friend. Andrew and I will go see if we can find Emery, and ask him if he knows about Holly’s recent wind fall.”

  Jaxon sighed. “I hate to ask, but I have to. Are you comfortable doing this on your own?”

  I folded my arms. “Yeah, I am. We can handle it. And Andrew and I were there at dinner. It gives us a pretense to be talking to Emery. And you’ve got some calls to make while we're gone. We can get it all done this way.”

  Andrew asked the big question. “Well, where is this guy? How do we chase him down?”

  Jaxon punched a few keys on his laptop and scanned the results. “He’s still registered at the inn.”

  I glared at Jaxon. He responded, “What, I thought it was a good idea, so I set up a link to the inn and they were nice enough to help.”

  I frowned at him. “Okay, I guess. But I thought hotel’s guarded their registry.”

  “They do. But they also protect their business. So in sensitive matters like this, it is not unusual for them to cooperate. They were happy to help.”

  “Alright, I trust you. Andrew and I are going to head over and talk to him.”

  Jaxon held up his hand. “Wait, let me do this.” He picked up his phone and typed a little. “Just sent Emery a text. Asked if you cou
ld talk to him for a bit. I don’t expect him to agree, but it can’t hurt to ask.” He put the phone down and it vibrated almost immediately after being laid on the table. Jaxon picked it back up. “Seems he is hanging out with Mr. Twain at the visitor’s center. Said to go over there if you want to talk to him.”

  I pointed at the phone. “Text him back. Andrew and I will walk over. We’ll be there in five or ten minutes.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Andrew and I strode up to the visitor center and approached the two men sitting out on the front porch. Mr. Twain rocked in his wooden, white chair and Emery Rumbold half leaned and half sat on the handrail.

  At the sight of Andrew, Mr. Twain leaned forward in his rocker and said, “Well, young man, Mrs. Lewis was here just fifteen minutes ago and was saying how much you liked her strawberry rhubarb pie. Is that true?”

  Andrew chuckled. “It is.”

  Mr. Twain smiled. “Pie is serious business here. Not as serious as good bourbon, but close.”

  I nodded to both Emery and Mr. Twain. “So, what are you two gentlemen discussing this beautiful afternoon?”

  Mr. Twain motioned to the food critic. “Mr. Rumbold here was just sharing one of his own personal ghost stories. Seems restaurants and inns, which our friend frequents, are often homes for ghosts and poltergeists.”

  Emery chuckled. “It’s kind of embarrassing, but I have had a few encounters and have become fascinated with the subject. And Mr. Twain is a fountain of information regarding the topic, at least with the ghosts around here.”

  I said, “Mr. Twain mentioned you were sharing an experience. We would love to hear it, too.”

  Emery shrugged, “Sure, grab a seat.” Andrew and I sat on the steps, and Emery resumed. “So where was I. Oh, yes. I went to bed that night and when I woke, my belongings were precariously stacked, like you see in a movie sometimes. My suitcase was on the bottom, and my computer bag, toiletries kit, laptop and phone were all balanced on top. It was so bizarre. The phone was actually balancing on a corner and it rotated almost like it was floating. It freaked me out and I told the front desk, but they just laughed. They said that it happened a lot and there was nothing to worry about.”

  Andrew shivered. “That’s so freaky. I wouldn’t have wanted to touch anything and would have vacated the room in my pajamas.”

  Emery chuckled. “It’s funny, I almost did do that. But instead, I grabbed the twirling phone and then everything just kind of collapsed into a heap. I was worried about my laptop, but it landed on my computer bag, which I guess was pretty soft, and it was fine.”

  Mr. Twain said, “Stacking is actually very common with poltergeists.”

  I asked, “How many hotels and inns have you stayed in, Mr. Rumbold?”

  He smiled at me. “Emery, please. And I have lost count.”

  Andrew then asked, “How many times has something like that happen to you?”

  “Four.”

  Andrew’s jaw dropped. “Wow, that is more than I expected. I've never seen something like that once.”

  “Well, I was hoping Mr. Twain here might show me something to make number five. A ghost encounter is an adrenaline rush, almost like jumping out of an airplane or swimming with sharks. It is terrifying, but afterwards you have this weird ache for more. But seems some of the locations here are only available for tours at certain times. So we are left to just discussing the subject.”

  I noted, “You seem to have made the best of being stuck here for a couple days and made a friend.”

  Emery shook no. “I am far from being comfortable. Losing Holly is very hard on me and I’m trying to deal with it. But you are right about Mr. Twain here. He has been good company. Helped me to pass the time.”

  “Andrew and I were there that night. We are so sorry for your loss.”

  Emery pinched his lips. “Thank you. That’s kind.”

  “Everyone in town is talking about it. I hope people are being considerate with you.”

  “Actually, yes, very considerate. Except for the police. There is this one detective, goes by the name Lambert, he keeps showing up and asks me lots of questions.”

  “Like what?”

  “They didn’t find a plausible explanation for how the sesame oil got into Holly’s salad. But they keep insinuating I may have had something to do with it. Asking all kinds of questions about it. The whole thing is getting pretty tiresome.”

  Mr. Twain turned to me and Andrew. “Raine, Andrew, if you don’t mind, maybe we should change the subject?”

  I tilted my head to show my agreement. “Of course, we are not trying to be insensitive.”

  Emery locked eyes with me. “You’re a pretty girl. And I hear pretty smart, too. The reason I know that about you is that you've been poking around trying to find our what happened. So I asked a few questions about you, out of natural curiosity. And now you want to talk to me. I assume it’s because you have found something and want to tell me what you discovered.”

  Andrew chuckled. “In a way, you could say that. We were hoping to ask you a couple of questions, to try and help us figure it all out.”

  Emery glared at Andrew. “Why would I do that?”

  “You said it yourself. You’re stuck here and the police will suspect you until it's resolved. It only makes sense to suspect the person sitting right next to her,” I countered.

  Emery cracked a smile. “I get it. So the sooner it’s resolved, the sooner my name is cleared.”

  Andrew touched his nose with an index finger. “Bingo.”

  Emery grabbed a kneecap with both hands. “I knew down deep that you would want to talk to me at some point. It makes sense and I have time. So fire away.”

  I paused, then asked, “We have come across a number of rumors, so we checked into Holly’s background. And I don’t want to pry or seem cold, but was Holly looking to change jobs?”

  Emery smiled. “In this business people change jobs often. Holly was good, so she was always being offered a job.”

  I sighed. “But the rumor we heard was your rival, Gabriel Dubois, was trying to hire her away from you.”

  “True. Gabriel knows how efficient Holly is at her job. And everyone knows he could use the help.”

  My eyebrows shot up. “What does that mean?”

  “Gabriel tries to play with the big boys, but is not really up to it. So he needed Holly to compete.”

  Andrew jumped in. “Do you know if Holly came into money recently? There was a large sum deposited into her account recently.”

  Emery’s face went blank. “Now, how would you know about that?”

  I cut in. “That’s not important. What is important is that the information became known to us. And now we're wondering where it came from.”

  Emery’s voice became soft. “The police told you, didn’t they? They shouldn’t have told you if they did. But I don’t have any... I don’t know.”

  I saw his body slump a little. “We’re sorry, we will stop. You were very kind to talk with us.”

  “No, it is alright. That last question made me feel like I was talking to Detective Lambert again. I don’t like talking to him. It forces me to focus on my loss while having to convince him I am a victim, not a suspect. It is so tiresome.”

  Andrew stood and hung his head. “We were there and it kind of makes us connected because of it. We all want to find out what happened and put this behind us. We're just trying to help. I'm sorry if we upset you. We should be going.” He glanced at me for confirmation and I nodded yes.

  I stood and brushed myself off. “We would love to see you in the tea room again. Come on by if you need to pass the time.”

  Emery smiled. “I don’t know. I enjoyed the experience once, but your monkey seemed to take a liking to me. And I never got comfortable with it.”

  “Daisy is sweet. She was just being friendly. If you come by again, I will keep her from bothering you.”

  Emery smiled. “Thanks. Maybe I’ll come by. You did have good tea and p
astries.”

  I laughed. “The petit fours are all gone. But there’s still plenty of other things to enjoy.”

  Emery said, “You made those delicious little bites just for my visit, didn’t you?”

  I could feel the red flooding my cheeks. “Yes. We don’t make them very often. Only for special occasions.”

  “I would actually prefer to experience your regular dishes, the day-to-day workings, it’s a better way to really get to know the place.”

  “I never thought about it. You have to drill down into a restaurant in order to write an accurate review. See through the special treatment. And I am betting most places put on a real dog and pony show when you show up.”

  He laughed. “More than you know. It’s why I always get a copy of the standard menu ahead of time and order my meals ahead of time. I get one of their standard dishes that way, nothing off menu. Well, as close to the standard fare as possible. Most places will try and put their best foot forward.” Emery’s voice trailed off and the sadness inside him revealed itself.

  Andrew’s tone was caring when he said, “We’re sorry to intrude. I know I can never really know how hard this is for you, but I am guessing it’s overwhelming.”

  I added, “And you have been very kind to talk to us and interrupt your ghost stories. Thank you. I think we should be on our way, now.”

  Mr. Twain broke his silence. “The search for the truth should be eternal. But your consideration is well timed and I am sure appreciated.”

  We waved to both men and headed back to the tea room.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Andrew and I returned to The Monkey’s Eyebrow to regroup with Jaxon. He was drinking coffee and eating a ham and cheese croissant. Andrew said, “So, you cushy enough now.”

  Jaxon shrugged. “What? It’s dinner time. Well almost, and I was hungry. I skipped lunch.”

  I laughed. “Come to think of it, I’m pretty hungry, too.”

  Andrew and I grabbed a sandwich, then we found seats to sit with Jaxon. “So you find anything?” I asked.