A Tiny Bite of Murder

by Constance Barker

  Emery spun back to face us and roared. “You scum bags. You set me up!”

  Jaxon snorted. “We’re more surprised than you! We knew nothing about this.”

  “I don’t believe you.” He addressed the detective who was now handcuffing him. “I want a lawyer and have nothing to say.”

  Detective Lambert sighed. “Awww, and you didn’t even have your rights read to you yet. But even though you seem to know them pretty well, you have the right to remain...” The detectives voice trailed off as he escorted Emery out of the bar.

  Andrew quipped. “Well, we don’t have to call the police now.”

  I raised the glass of cola to my lips. “Well, our hunches weren’t bad, just a little late.”

  Jaxon added, “I guess you’re right, but now I need a real drink. Anyone care to join me?”

  The three of us took stools at the bar and ordered something a little harder than cola.

  Chapter Sixteen

  After witnessing Emery’s arrest, I slept little and questioned everything we did as I tossed and turned the night away. It seemed futile to me in certain ways and I searched for the lessons in the rubble this morning as I prepared for work. I owed Grandma, and Aunt Mabel, for letting me take time off so I wanted to be early for work today.

  I arrived at the tea room before Grandma and did all the prep work. I wanted her to have any easy day of work, she earned it.

  Grandma showed up with Daisy as I was making some aioli. Grandma’s ‘O’ shaped mouth and raised eyebrows made it clear she was surprised. The loud shrieks and the dancing, followed by a big hug, made it clear Daisy was glad to see me. A warm sensation flowed over me and I knew this is where I belonged. Things were back to normal.

  Grandma said, “You must have been here real early, because almost everything is done. I guess I can open a little early. We’re ready!”

  So Grandma unlocked the front door and flipped the sign to ‘open.’ Things were quiet for the first hour, and it was about nine o’clock when Detective Lambert opened our door. Everyone in the tea room stopped and stared at him. He laughed, then waved his hand. “Don’t worry. I’m hear for some coffee.”

  Grandma welcomed him. “Our specialty is tea, but our coffee is good, too.”

  Lambert smiled. “Thanks. And a big mug of it, if you have mugs.”

  The detective found a seat and Grandma brought a pot of coffee over. “Here, the pot is full of hot coffee. We don’t have mugs, but I think there is enough coffee in the pot to keep you happy.”

  Detective Lambert nodded. “That was fast, and it looks so nice. Thank you.” He craned his neck till he spotted me. “Raine, can I talk to you a minute?”

  “Sure! What can I do for you?”

  He pointed to a seat at his table and I sat. He continued. “You saw us arrest Emery and I think we have a pretty good case. Plus, we picked him up just in time. When we searched his room, it was obvious he was about to run.” The detective sipped some coffee. “Mmmm, I needed coffee this morning.”

  “I’m glad you like our coffee. And we sensed Emery was getting ready to run, too. So we hurried over to find him to ask some last questions we had, before he was gone. And it's why we were there talking to him when you showed up to arrest him.”

  The detective put down his cup. “I don’t know if you know the whole story, so let me summarize for you. Emery was paying off Holly to hide his plagiarism and to keep her from leaving him. But that got too expensive, and he wanted out of the situation. So he used his knowledge about her serious allergy to sesame seeds and oil and killed her. We suspect he spiked her salad and made sure she had no Epipen in her purse at dinner. But the D.A. pointed out that, while it all makes sense, the evidence is circumstantial. The lawyers seem to think we need to put the smoking gun in his hands.”

  I scrunched up my nose. “I think I get it. You need proof that a bottle of sesame oil was in his hands, not a gun.”

  He nodded. “Exactly.”

  “So why are you talking to me?”

  “Everyone knows you were poking around into the case. Including me. I appreciated how you were careful and stayed out of our way. But now I need help to put that bottle in Emery’s hands, and I’m hoping you can help me.”

  I laughed. “To be honest, I think we were a step or two behind you the whole time. And we didn’t find where the oil came from either.”

  He sighed. “That’s too bad. I was hoping to get lucky.” He sipped his coffee. “Your grandmother is right, you have good coffee.” He reached into his pocket and took out a card. “In case you lost the one I left before.”

  Daisy saw him give me a card and stormed over to us. She stood next to the detective, her lower lip curled and leaned into him. I smiled. “Daisy wants a card, too. She kind of collects things, and she saw you give me a card.”

  “Well, of course. How could I be so careless.” He produced another one and held it out like he was offering Excalibur to Arthur.

  Daisy snatched the card and headed for her stool to stash it in her basket.

  The detective laughed at the sight. “She is happy. Well, I need to go. But if you think of anything that can help, you have my card. Call me.”

  I smiled. “I will. Thanks for coming by.”

  Detective Lambert rose and put some money on the table. Grandma bellowed. “No, that is not necessary. It’s on me. Law enforcement is always welcome here.”

  He waved at her. “It’s alright. I need to pay anyway. We aren’t allowed to accept gifts.”

  I smiled at him. “That is very kind. I will call if anything comes to my attention.”

  He turned and left. I spun to look at Grandma but she was already in motion to clear the table just vacated by the detective. “He is a nice man with a tough job. And I am proud of you. He clearly thinks you are smart, or he would never have asked you to help.”

  “I don’t know. I think curious is more accurate.” My thoughts were interrupted by the scene in front of me. “What is she doing?”

  “What?” Grandma spun to spot Daisy on her stool. “That is so weird. She is infatuated with that business card. You know how I try to throw out the old things in her basket because it fills up fast sometimes?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well she wouldn’t let me touch that card. And she keeps smelling it. Like that!” Grandma pointed at Daisy with Emery’s business card pressed to her nose.

  I pinched my eyebrows. “What on earth do you think she smells?”

  “I had not thought about it, dear. But that is an interesting question.”

  I went over to Daisy. “Can I see your card, Daisy?”

  Daisy shook no.

  Grandma joined us. “Daisy, I will give it right back. Please let me see your card for a second?”

  Daisy paused and stared at Grandma. Then she held out the card. Grandma took it and sniffed. Her face went white. She handed it to me and I smelled the faint, but distinct odor, of sesame.

  Grandma asked, “Do you think that is important?”

  “A piece of paper smelling like sesame oil given to Daisy by Emery on the day Holly was murdered? Yeah, maybe!”

  I took Detective Lambert’s card out of my pocket and stared at the number.

  Grandma said, “Call him now, dear. He can’t be far. He left only a few minutes ago.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  The police arrived promptly after I called Detective Lambert. And in their parlance, they “bagged and tagged” the new piece of evidence. Then they tore our organized kitchen to pieces searching for sesame oil. Just to make sure I suppose that we didn't put some on Emery's business card.

  Around noon, Detective Lambert called me, to confirm I would be willing to testify to how the business card came to be in the tea room, and that it never left our possession. And of course, I agreed.

  At around four thirty, the detective called me again. When I saw his number I assumed it was bad news or another request. But I was wrong, the news was great and Grandma even agree
d to close a couple of hours early, so we could celebrate. We did most of our business at breakfast and lunch anyway, so locking the doors at dinner time was not a big deal. And the few regulars that might have dinner here were invited to the party. Plus we needed to put our kitchen back together after today’s search by the police.

  Grandma and I organized the kitchen enough to make finger sandwiches, deviled eggs and cranberry cornbread bites as hors d’oeuvres for our impromptu party. She said, “I can’t believe the police did all this in less than a day!”

  I snorted. “They did seem to move fast, yes. But so did you! Look at all this food we’re making.”

  “Well, you can’t celebrate if you don’t have some good food. At least I feel that’s the case.”

  “I’m not sure we need to worry. Everyone said they would bring something and Jaxon said he would bring some wine.”

  Grandma scanned the kitchen, and sighed. “What a mess! But we should have enough for everyone. I sent Mabel out to grab some beer and soda. And with the left over croissants, we should have plenty.”

  I laughed. “I think we have too much! But it is a party.”

  Mabel came in the back door with a bag of groceries. She yelled over to us, “Rose I got the odds and ends you needed. And the beer is on ice in a cooler in my car. Raine, maybe you can ask one of the young gentlemen to bring it in when they arrive.”

  I raised my voice so she could hear me. “Sure, I’ll ask them to get it when they get here.”

  The knock on the front door sounded like children tapping out some sort of tune. I went to unlock the door and found Jessica and Mike, arms full of grocery bags and two children in tow. I let them all in and Jessica gushed, “Howdy! This get together is going to be so much fun! And we brought the kids so that we’ll have a business and home to return to. Plus they wanted to see Daisy. I hope that is okay.”

  I nodded. “Sure.”

  Daisy was ecstatic. She spotted Susan and Dennis enter with their mom and dad, and shot to the front door to greet them. Daisy ran rings around them and I got tired just watching her. When she calmed down, she went back to her basket and took out a coloring book and crayons, then went to a table and put them down. The kids understood and joined her to color, one of Daisy’s favorite things to do with them.

  Mike said, “This all happened so fast. I figured it was over when they arrested Emery.”

  I nodded. “So did I. And when Detective Lambert came by this morning, asking for help, I was so frustrated we had nothing to offer. But Daisy changed all that.”

  We had all turned our gaze to the table, and watched her play with the kids as we talked. Daisy squealed and Dennis and Susan laughed. The sound of happiness made me realize the last few days were tense and this was a welcome change.

  Grandma chuckled. “I sometimes wonder about Daisy and her need to get trinkets from the guests. But never again.”

  I had left the front door unlocked for the rest of our guests and Andrew entered with a casserole dish. He announced, “I made some pigs in a blanket. Not the fancy food you guys make here, but they're still good with beer.”

  Mabel hollered back. “Speaking of beer, can you go out to my car and bring in the cooler? It's too heavy for me.”

  Andrew nodded yes and went out to retrieve the ice chest.

  Jaxon entered and held up a fancy looking bottle of wine, with Mr. Twain right behind him.

  Grandma and I used one dining table to create a makeshift bar area. We set out cups and glasses, napkins and an ice bucket to hold the wine bottles. Then Andrew set the cooler on the floor next to the table.

  The front door hinges creaked again and Detective Lambert entered. He continued into the tea room until he stood in front of Grandma and me. “Hello, Raine, Rose. The place looks different. You set up for a party pretty quick. It looks great!”

  Grandma’s cheeks turned bright red. “You are too kind. It is nothing and we are so happy that everything worked out.”

  Daisy popped from her seat and sprinted over to the detective. She inspected the bottle he cradled in his arms. He laughed. “Daisy, I’m afraid this is not for you. Buffalo Trace Bourbon is not something you would like. But lets see what we do have for you.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a banana. Daisy held out her hand and Detective Lambert gave her the fruit. “You earned that, little lady. Thank you for the help.”

  Daisy snatched the treat and went back to coloring with Susan and Dennis.

  Grandma laughed. “You came prepared. Thank you. And you can put the bottle on the bar table if you like. I will get another ice bucket with clean ice for your bourbon.”

  The detective smiled in reply. “No need, this is the good stuff and I would hate to dilute it with ice.”

  I heard a roar of laughter and spun to see Andrew, Jaxon, Jessica and Mike yukking it up together. I went over to see what was so funny. “Gentlemen. Jessica.” I eyed Jaxon and Andrew as I spoke. “So you two seem to be getting along better.”

  Jaxon said, “Tolerable. That is the right word to describe the situation.”

  I laughed. “I will never get it. The male ego is so fragile and immune to change. There is a joke in there somewhere, I’m pretty sure.”

  Jaxon laughed. “Don’t go all Billy Jean vs. Bobby Riggs on us. I thought society was over the battle of the sexes.”

  I caught Andrew's eyes. “Ah no! I am staying out of this one. I have nothing to say.”

  Detective Lambert came over to join us. “I want to thank you. I know you all did some legwork and somehow you managed to not interfere with our work. We noticed and appreciated it.”

  Mike shied back a little, pointing at Jaxon, Andrew, and me. “They did all the work, and they did a good job. They pretty much had it figured out.”

  Jaxon raised his glass to point back at Mike and Jessica. “You helped, too. Going through all those articles was a ton of work and a key piece of evidence.”

  Lambert locked eyes with me and said, “You may all have to testify because you did do such a good job. But it will be a piece of cake.” The old detective smiled broadly and sipped his bourbon.

  Jaxon’s face lost it’s playfulness. “You already found something with your lab tests, didn’t you?”

  Lambert shifted his gaze to Jaxon. “I wasn’t sure what to think of you. Kind of young to be a seasoned P.I., but I can see you know how the system works.”

  “So?” The word just slipped out me.

  Lambert chuckled. “Alright! They did produce some results. Fumes collected from the card were analyzed with gas chromatography, and the spectrum was a perfect match to sesame oil. It’s a big piece of evidence.”

  I chuckled. “You didn’t need a fancy lab to figure that out. My nose told me it was sesame oil.”

  “Well, you’ll have a chance to offer your findings when you testify. The D.A. is more confident with this piece of evidence, but he anticipates the defense will try to prove the card was contaminated here in the tea room.”

  I snorted. “The techs here today assumed that, too. Searched our kitchen and paperwork to see if we had sesame oil. I thought they were going to arrest us when they found the sesame seeds we use.”

  “We will have to prove that the seeds here in the tea room didn’t contaminate the business card given to Daisy. So your testimony that it stayed in her basket will be important. But the lab has more work to do and they are confident they should be able to prove that seeds could not contaminate the card with the quantity of oil found, and the pattern. Under a black light they could see the stain. One tech told me they should see a mottled look to oil stains from seeds, basically a ring left around each little seed, but they did not find that. And they are contaminating a piece of business card stock with the seeds taken from your kitchen today to show what that would look like, to prove they can see the difference. So if the lab has a way of showing it had to be oil, not seeds, that soaked the card, it will be easy to testify.”

  Jaxon snorted. “If they can do t
hat, then the next logical place for the card to get wetted with oil is in Emery’s hands. So, the D.A. has some work to do in court, but he will have physical evidence linking Emery to sesame oil.”

  The detective nodded. “It is why they tore up the place today. To make sure there are no loose ends for the defense to use to claim the sesame oil we found on the card is meaningless.”

  The front door opened again and Leon Baker graced the room, holding flowers. He made a beeline to Mabel and offered his gift. It was a little odd, and Aunt Mabel blushed, but she took the flowers and found a vase for them.

  Grandma came over to us with a tray of deviled eggs. “I thought you might like to try one.”

  I eyed her. It was not often she cared about anything other than the tea room and Daisy, but she was clearly flirting with the old detective. I noticed that she somehow found time to fix her hair and she even had lipstick on.

  Jaxon was eyeing Lambert. “You got something else, too. You confidence is too high based on just finding the oil on Emery’s business card. What else did you get?”

  The detective chuckled. “You are always analyzing, aren’t you. I have the same problem. Makes it hard to socialize sometimes.”

  Jaxon blushed a little and pinched his lips. “I’m sorry. I know you can’t say much.”

  Lambert sighed. “Lets just say the case is strong.”

  I asked, “One last thing is bothering me. You said you had to put the oil in Emery’s hands, and there is evidence now that helps with that. But no one saw him actually tamper with Holly’s salad.”

  Lambert laughed. “I can’t tell you details of the case beyond what you already know. But let’s just say, Emery should have followed his own advice of not talking till a lawyer was present.”

  Jessica popped. “Holy cow. He cracked!”

  Detective Lambert took a long sip of his Buffalo Trace bourbon. “You didn’t hear it from me. But he might have mentioned a detail or two that only the murderer would know.”

  Jaxon snorted. “You have a slam dunk case! And it makes more sense now that you are here celebrating with us.” He laughed so hard he almost spilled his wine. “So it worked. We were trying to goad him into saying something when you cut us off with the arrest. It took a little longer than planned, but he did crack.”