Six Feet Under

by Tonya Kappes

  He walked up, not taking his eyes off me.

  “Deputy Vincent will be more than happy to answer a few questions.” I’d caught him off guard. I glanced over at Jolee and her eyes were big and round, darting between me and Finn.

  His eyes softened when he stepped up next to me. He bent down and whispered into my ear, “I’d love to see you tonight.”

  “I’d love that too.” My heart melted.

  “Good,” he whispered and straightened up. His eyes grazed over the media and he pointed to one of the reporters with her hand up in the air.

  “This has really been a bad couple of years for Cottonwood.” Her voice boomed above the crowd. “Do you think it’s time for a change in the sheriff’s department?”

  “Change?” Finn asked. I fidgeted next to him.

  “The community seems to be under a black cloud of crime. It’s strange that crime was rare or actually practically nonexistent until the second year of Sheriff Lowry’s term. Do you have anything to say to that?” she asked and held a small tape recorder up in the air.

  “Actually, the couple of crimes you are referring to, as well as Mr. Von Lee’s murder, are all isolated incidents. There is no crime spree or serial killer in Cottonwood. Cottonwood is safe. Safety is Sheriff Lowry’s main concern,” Finn stated flatly, not giving the reporter any more time. He pointed to Edna. “Edna.”

  “Is it true that Sheriff Lowry’s mother, Vivian Lowry, is the only suspect in the murder of Mr. Frank Von Lee?” Her brows rose.

  “This is an active investigation and right now everyone related to the reasons Mr. Von Lee is in Cottonwood is a suspect.” He answered it with such an ease that I even believed him.

  “Is the reason Sheriff Lowry is letting you take over the lead because her mother is the number-one suspect?” another reporter shouted from the back.

  “There are only two people in our department, Sheriff Lowry and me. The sheriff needs to focus on the entire community, and while this is an isolated event, I’m going to handle it while she takes over all the other aspects of the job.” He sure was good with words.

  I touched him on the arm because there didn’t seem to be any real questions about the case other than about me and my mama.

  Finn stepped aside.

  “I’d like to thank you for coming out, but we’re going to have to ask you to clear the alley. It’s not only illegal, but hazardous in case an emergency vehicle needs to drive down.” I held my hands in the air. “We will put out a notice of when our next press conference will be. Thank you.”

  A few more questions were shouted out, but nothing that stopped us from going inside.

  Betty’s phone lines were lit up and blinking.

  “It’s going to be a long day of questions.” Finn smiled thinly.

  “You’re going to do just fine.” I patted him on the back. “I’ll make sure to have a few beers ready for you tonight.”

  “I’m glad you agreed to see me.” His eyes were as sincere as his words. “I’ve missed seeing you.”

  “I’ve missed you too.” It was like no one else was in the room, until Jolee interrupted.

  “Okay, lovebirds, we’ve got to go. I’ve got to get her out of those shoes.” She shoved between us.

  “Huh?” Finn’s brows furrowed.

  “I told Jolee that I’d go shopping with her.” I left it at that, not wanting to tell him or her my real reason for heading to Le Fork. Maybe I’d have some solid leads for him tonight when he came over.

  Within five minutes, Jolee and I were in the Wagoneer and heading the forty-five minutes to Lexington.

  “How’s things going with you and Ben?” I asked, hoping that things had gotten better.

  “He’s still a little on edge, but he’s letting me have control of the kitchen.” She sounded much better than the last time we’d talked about it. “It’s the strangest thing. Business has picked up since Frank’s death.”

  “How well did Ben know Mundy?” I snooped.

  “He said he didn’t know much about him since they’d gone to school. He’s just waiting for Mundy to come in and collect a paycheck for the few hours he was there because he said Mundy is hard up for cash.” She stared out the window. “Enough about all that stuff. I’ve got my best friend back for a while.”

  She turned in her seat to face me.

  “It looks like you and Finn are doing okay.” I didn’t have to look at her to know she was smiling big.

  “He’s a really good guy.” A happy sigh escaped me. “But I’m missing doing my job.”

  “Nothing a little shopping won’t help.” She snickered.

  It was so nice to spend some time out of the office and have girl time with Jolee. With a little gossip and a lot of laughter, we parked in the mall parking lot in no time. Jolee didn’t waste any time we had. She was out of the car and into a boutique before I could get my seatbelt off.

  “Isn’t this great?” Jolee held a short-sleeved lace shirt up to her chin. “I think this would look great with a pair of jeans or pants. It’d even go with those cowboy boots.”

  I stared out the window of the shop, across the parking lot and at the Le Fork store.

  “Kenni?” Jolee called my name. “Yoo-hoo, Kenni.”

  “Yes.” I flipped around and smiled.

  “Did you hear me?” she asked. Her blonde hair was actually fixed today. Normally she had to pull it back or she wore it in a cascading ponytail down her back, or in two with one down each shoulder. She crunched her nose. Her freckles came together, giving her an instant tan. “So?” She held up a top in front of me.

  “Yes. It looks good on you.” My mind was wondering how I could leave Jolee here and get over to Le Fork to snoop around.

  “Not me. You.” She shoved the hanger at me. “You didn’t really want to come shopping, did you?”

  “Of course I did.” I held the shirt up to me. “Looks good?”

  “Yes.” Her voice was flat.

  “I’ll take it.” I held it out to the sales lady.

  “You’re about as much fun as my mom,” Jolee said.

  I sat down on the sofa in the fancy boutique. “This just isn’t me.” I looked around the pink-and-cream-striped wallpapered shop. The chandeliers even had light pink bulbs with tassels dangling from the center of each one. The lighting made every piece of clothing and color look good on anyone. There were high-back chairs and long fabric ottomans positioned around the shop just in case someone was so exhausted walking around looking at the expensive clothes they had to sit and rest

  “I like it. I just don’t have anywhere to wear that.” I pointed to the sales lady who’d walked away with the top.

  “Finn.” Her brows rose.

  “That’s not so good.” It was time to let her in on what was going on if I was going to get over to Le Fork.

  She hesitated. She blinked in bafflement and sat down next to me.

  “What on earth happened? What did you do?” she asked, sure that it was my fault.

  “Why would you assume that it’s me?” I asked.

  “Because that man adores you. When he comes to get a coffee or food, he always talks about you.” She stared at me. “So what happened?”

  “Mama happened.” My voice was flat and followed up by a big long sigh. Just as if mama knew I was talking about her, she texted me. I held the phone in the air. “Mama. She must be feeling guilty because she’s insisting I come for supper tonight. She’s making my favorite.”

  I tucked my phone back in my pocket.

  “At least she’s trying.” She looked off as though she were remembering something. “I thought she loved him.”

  “She did, until he got me kicked off her case.” I put both of my hands on my knees and stood up. “Let’s walk.”

  She nodded.

  “Can you just hold
those for a few?” Jolee asked the sales lady before she followed me out of the shop.

  The morning had already turned into the afternoon. The outdoor mall was packed. It was one of those places where all the entrances to the stores were accessible from the outside. The parking lot was in the middle. There were little cafés and coffeehouses along with a few restaurants located around the mall.

  “Don’t these people work?” I had to turn to the side as we started to walk down the sidewalk in order to not get knocked down by a group of laughing women.

  “You are so grumpy today.” Jolee knew me better than probably anyone. “Spill it.”

  I pointed to the coffeehouse.

  “Yeah, I could use a cup.” She shoved past me and went inside.

  The coffee smelled fresh and hopefully it would help clear the cobwebs on my feelings about Finn. I felt like my emotions were hindering me from working the case, even though I was off of it.

  We ordered a couple of cups and took a seat against the wall at a table for two.

  “Can you believe Ben’s?” Jolee looked to be making small talk until we got comfortable to discuss why I’d brought her in here.

  “The pick-up in business?” I asked.

  “You know he was afraid business was going to die, but it’s just the opposite.” She laughed. “No joke. The news of the famous Frank Von Lee’s death has made Ben’s famous. Famous,” she muttered. “He’s making more money than he ever has. At least it looks like it.”

  “Good for him,” I noted.

  Both of us took a drink.

  “You’ve been nice enough not to ask about Mayor Ryland, who, by the way, proposed to Polly.” I had to get that little bit of gossip in. The look on Jolee’s face was priceless. “I’m not upset about Finn taking over. It’s probably a good thing. What I’m mad at is that he thinks I was going to hide the evidence against Mama.”

  There was no reason to tell Jolee about Mundy and my real reason for wanting to come shopping. Mama was no longer a suspect in my eyes, but the more I kept under wraps the better.

  “I don’t know what evidence you have against her. Why would he think that?” she asked, curling her hands around her mug.

  “I taped my conversation with Camille the night of the murder. Some of the evidence points directly at Mama. Frank Von Lee was in the middle of writing his review of Mama’s pot pie.” I eased back in my chair. “Camille had gotten sick and excused herself to the bathroom. While she was gone I was talking to myself.” Jolee looked at me like I was crazy. She’d really think I was a nut job if I told her I was talking to a ghost. “It helps me sort things out in my head to talk out loud. And on the tape I’d mentioned to myself that maybe I should hold on to the evidence until I got Mama a good lawyer.”

  “You said it out loud?” Her mouth dropped, and her brows creased. “That’s stupid.”

  I could always count on Jolee to be real with me. That was one of the qualities I loved about her.

  “Yeah. Well, Camille was so upset about Frank dying that I had Finn go to her office and get her official statement. Long story short…” I held the cup of coffee up to my chin and blew on it before I took a sip. “When we were listening to her statement, the little bit of me talking to myself was on there and I’d forgotten about it.”

  “And...” She leaned forward.

  “And he thinks that morally I’ve compromised my legal authority, even though I didn’t actually do it. I logged the information, I went to talk to Mama, I followed all protocol. Everything found in Frank’s room that night pointed to Mama as his killer. You and I both know that she’d take much more pleasure in publicly humiliating Frank than in killing him.” I chewed on the inside of my cheek waiting for Jolee’s reply.

  “Let me get this straight.” She sat back. “Though you didn’t do anything against your job, Finn is holding this against you morally?”

  “We’re getting together tonight, but it’s kinda a cop thing when your morals are compromised.” I shrugged.

  “So now that you had nothing to do today, you called me to go shopping?” She was trying to figure out my ulterior motive.

  “I shouldn’t tell you this, but I’m going to keep investigating.” I pointed to the outside. I guessed it was time to come clean. If I couldn’t trust my best friend, who could I trust?

  “I knew you were coming here and I need to go to Le Fork to get some information about Chef Mundy.”

  “What about him?” she asked.

  “I’m not so sure he didn’t set Mama up. In fact, he’d have all the reason to. He knew Frank from culinary school. Frank didn’t pass him.” I stopped talking when I noticed Jolee’s surprised look. “What?”

  “It’s a big deal not to pass. I should know.” She’d gone to culinary school, and she didn’t need to remind me how she’d thought Ben was going to offer her a job but didn’t. “But what does he have to do with Le Fork?”

  “He’d been working there up until four weeks ago. That’s when the Culinary Channel announced Frank Von Lee was going to come to Cottonwood.” I drank the last bit of coffee in my cup.

  “It was about four weeks ago that Ben talked to him. He’d even met with him a couple of times.” Her jaw dropped. “Mundy did mention something about the pot pie too. He said that he’d love to have your mama’s recipe if it was that good.”

  “In his room at the Tattered Cover Books and Inn, I found several attempted recipes for Mama’s pot pie.” I stared at her for a moment, knowing I shouldn’t let her in on any more information about the case. But in for a penny, in for a pound. “Frank Von Lee was poisoned. There was a pot pie on his desk and an empty glass. One of them contained sodium fluoroacetate.”

  “What’s that?” she asked, curling her nose.

  “It’s a fancy term for a poison that has all the side effects Camille reported Frank had before his heart attack. And I want to go see if they know anything over at Le Fork. I want Mundy’s address too.” I ran the pad of my finger around the edge of my empty cup.

  “Then what are we waiting for?” Jolee stood up. “Let’s go. I can help.”

  I smiled. Poppa ghosted into the shop.

  “Great!” He bounced. “I knew she’d help you out.”

  I gulped, trying to stay focused on her.

  “I was just over at Le Fork. They’re hosting one of their cooking classes. Maybe one of you can distract them while someone goes into the office to take a look at the files.” Poppa had a plan. “I found the employee files in the filing cabinet to the right of the desk. There are rows of filing cabinets that look like a bunch of recipes and orders.”

  This was information I could use.

  “The files look to be alphabetized.” Poppa looked disappointed. “I’m sorry I can’t just open them and go through them for you. Somethings I can do. Somethings I can’t.” He held his hands in the air. “Still trying to figure all my new talents out. But have her take some photos with her phone.” Poppa disappeared.

  “I swear.” Jolee stepped into the space where Poppa had just been. “Sometimes I think you’ve lost your mind.”

  “What?” I asked.

  “I was talking to you and you were staring at me with a blank look on your face. You’ve been doing that a lot lately.” She put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes.

  “I’ve got a lot on my mind.” I walked past her and out the door. “I was thinking about the office in Le Fork. If they’ve got a class going, you can take the class and I can look around while you distract them.”

  “I can’t take the class. I know too much.” She did have a valid point.

  “Okay.” We walked through the parking lot, dodging moving cars as we made our way over to Le Fork. “I’ll do the class. I need you to listen to me.”

  She nodded quickly. “This is exciting.”

  “Focus.” I used two finge
rs, pointing to her eyes and then back to mine. “There’s an office in the back. You need to find the employee files that are probably closest to the desk. There are going to be more filing cabinets in the office, but those are going to be invoices, recipes, and other things that we don’t need.”

  She continued to drag her chin up and down. “The files next to the desk.”

  “Most times the employee files are alphabetized. When you find Mundy’s file, don’t worry about reading through it. I want you to take your phone and take pictures of every page that you can.” I smiled to give her some confidence because there was a hint of reservation on her face. “You can do this.”

  “Yes. I can.” She gave herself her own little pep talk before she walked into the shop and everyone looked at her.

  “But don’t bring attention to yourself,” I muttered, knowing she’d just blown her cover.

  Chapter Twenty

  “Today we are discussing how to prepare a cake properly.” The instructor stood in front of the baking class.

  It’d cost me forty dollars to sign up and another sixty to purchase the items I needed to finish the three-course project of learning how to bake a cake. Fortunately for me, I had no idea how to bake a cake, so this was actually interesting to me and took my mind off of Jolee walking around snooping and waiting for the right opportunity to sneak into the back office.

  “If you don’t mind opening your book to page one, today we’ll be going over different pans and different types of icing as well as the icing bags.” The instructor went down the row of baking accessories on the table in front of her. “I’ll teach you how to attach the tips and couplers to the bags so you can successfully pipe the icing on your cake.”

  You learn something new every day. I had no idea what those thingies were called. Couplers. I picked up a couple of them and noticed they were different sizes.

  The first thing she had us do was mix the cake.

  “It’s very important that your oven is preheated for at least ten minutes,” she said and had each of us preheat the oven we were using.

  For the next five minutes she had us beat four eggs, then we added sugar and two teaspoons of vanilla extract. Sifting the dry ingredients was harder than I’d anticipated. Once we added it to the wet ingredients she had us use the whisk as we added milk and butter.