On the Chopping Block (A Callie's Kitchen Mystery Book 1)

by Jenny Kales

  As Callie walked slowly down the street, her weariness overtook her and she sank down on a nearby bench. Might as well seize the day and call Mrs. DeWitt, she thought as she pulled Sam’s cell phone from her purse. Surprisingly, Mrs. DeWitt said yes when Callie asked if she could stop by and chat. Then she called Grandma Viv, who answered on the second ring.

  “Callie, darling!” Grandma Viv sounded surprised to hear from her granddaughter. “This isn’t your cell phone number. Did you get a new phone?”

  “No, I’m borrowing Sam’s phone,” Callie explained. “It’s a long story. I’ve had a bit of an unusual morning. I wondered if you’d drive with me to Mrs. DeWitt’s house. I can explain when you get here.” If Viv was there, Mrs. DeWitt would be more assured that no Wusthoff knives would find their way into her back, Callie thought.

  “Why of course I’ll go. But what is it? Are you in some kind of trouble?”

  “You could say that,” Callie said but immediately regretted it as Viv started a rapid-fire string of questions. After assuring her that she was not in physical danger and that Olivia was alive and well, Viv calmed down a bit.

  “Honey, I’ll be there in two shakes of a lamb’s tail.”

  Viv was as good as her word, showing up in her new champagne-colored SUV and talking a mile a minute as she and Callie made their way along the lakefront to Mrs. DeWitt’s stately home. Driving with Viv was always an invigorating experience. She had come to driving relatively late in life and she claimed that she didn’t enjoy it much. However, when she did drive, she favored speed.

  Callie cringed as Grandma Viv swerved around a pedestrian who was crossing against the traffic light. “What do they want, a fanny full of headlights?” Viv exclaimed as she narrowly missed the jaywalking pedestrian and then proceeded to tailgate a slow-moving truck full of livestock that was headed toward the highway. Other than a “Grandma, slow down!” that slipped out before she could catch herself, Callie gritted her teeth and kept her peace. Who was she to question crazy driving at this point – it wasn’t like she had her own life in order.

  Finally, the street opened up and the two women found themselves on the peaceful road that ran alongside the lake. Now that they were out of the heavier traffic, Callie felt safe to share her disturbing news with her grandmother. As concisely as possible, she filled Viv in on the current situation and her role in it. Viv was stunned into silence for several seconds – a feat unto itself. Still, it wasn’t long before the deluge began.

  “Why didn’t you tell us you were dating someone? And he was murdered? This is horrible, absolutely horrible. If anything had happened to you…” Viv trailed off miserably. “I can’t lose you, not like I lost your mother!” Viv sniffled and Callie was mortified to see her grandmother tearing up.

  “Please, don’t cry,” she begged, touching Viv’s arm. She started to get choked up herself, thinking of her mother who passed away when Callie was only 12 years old. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you – or Dad. You know how he worries. I figured if it got serious enough, I’d tell everyone. Olivia didn’t know either.” Callie gulped and continued. “I know the whole thing is terrible but I’m safe. I’ll be OK but right now I just feel heartbroken. I was really starting to care for Drew.”

  Viv made sympathetic noises and Callie was emboldened to tell the rest of her tale. “I’m being questioned about this by the police and they even took my cell phone, since I found him and we were competitors in the business contest. That’s why I need to see Mrs. DeWitt. I’m hoping she can shed some light on this contest.”

  “Well, darling, then I’m your partner in crime.” Viv winced. “Sorry, poor choice of words. You know what I mean.” Her grandmother took a deep breath. “One thing I’ve learned in all my many years. You can always catch more flies with honey than vinegar. Let’s be as sweet as we can to Gertrude and see what she knows.”

  Callie felt a little apprehensive as the car made its way up the winding path to Mrs. DeWitt’s house. Situated on a hilltop with a long and winding driveway, the large home boasted Colonial-style grandeur, complete with a beautiful gazebo and an abundant garden. With fall well underway, the garden now boasted a symphony of color in the form of mums and other seasonal flowers. Maple trees in full autumn color lined the driveway and grounds.

  The property had a beautiful view of the bay, too. A double-decker back porch boasted two screened-in seating areas so that visitors could enjoy the scenic vista of both the water and Mrs. DeWitt’s personal pier. On a more cheerful occasion, Callie would have enjoyed taking a walk in the garden and then lounging in the gazebo before strolling over to the pier to sunbathe and watch the water, which sparkled in the late September sunlight and appeared as calm as a mirror.

  The door was answered by Mrs. DeWitt’s longtime house assistant, Ava. In her late fifties, petite and bubbly with bright blue eyes and an energetic approach to everything she did, Ava greeted Viv and Callie like old friends. “Ladies. Mrs. DeWitt is expecting you. I made scones today so I’ll bring some in after you get settled.”

  Callie nodded and Viv smiled delightedly at the prospect of scones. Walking briskly, Ava led them into a spacious sitting room on the first floor with full length windows offering a peaceful view of the water that temporarily soothed Callie’s frayed nerves. After both ladies were seated comfortably, Ava went to retrieve Mrs. DeWitt.

  “Callie, Viv,” Mrs. DeWitt strode into the room in leggings, a loose-fitting grey shirt and designer athletic shoes. “Don’t mind me. I was just doing my walking workout routine. I never miss it.” Mrs. DeWitt held out her hand to Callie, but accepted an embrace from Viv who was, as she put it, a “hugger.”

  “Gertrude, you look wonderful! Of course we don’t mind your attire. We young girls need to stay active,” Viv gushed. Callie grimaced. She hoped Viv wasn’t laying it on too thick. Mrs. DeWitt looked bashful at this comment as she ran both hands through her short gray hair and gazed down at her figure. She had a few too many pounds around the waist but overall, she appeared to be strong and healthy.

  “I could say the same to you,” Mrs. DeWitt responded, not the least bit rattled. “Viv, when are you going to age like the rest of us?” Callie had to admit that Grandma Viv did look fantastic. Dressed in a tailored burgundy pantsuit, she looked put together and much younger than her 85 years. Viv credited good genes, sweets in moderation and a busy social life with staying fit. Callie hoped she would be the same someday.

  “Thanks for meeting us, Mrs. DeWitt. We won’t keep you for long.” Callie fidgeted and felt as wired as if she’d been drinking coffee all morning. She wished.

  “Not to worry, of course I have time this morning, especially after what happened to Drew,” Mrs. DeWitt said gesturing at the chairs and sofas in the room. “Sit down, please.” Viv and Callie did as they were told. “Ava, can you bring the refreshments? I’m starved and these two ladies look famished.” The housekeeper nodded, smiled and bounced out of the room, giving them the privacy Callie craved.

  “Now girls,” Mrs. DeWitt said, settling on a chenille-covered chaise lounge with a sigh. “I know you didn’t come here to talk about how wonderful we all look.” Mrs. DeWitt turned her gaze to Callie. “Last night was just dreadful. I’m sorry that I spoke too freely to that reporter, by the way, letting them know you were the one who found Drew. It just slipped out. That police detective wasn’t too happy, let me tell you. He called and told me not to mention anything else to the media – or else.”

  Callie took in this apology with a nod. “It’s okay,” she said. What good would getting angry do? “The world seems turned upside down right now.

  “You said you had some questions about the contest and I’m happy to help,” Mrs. DeWitt briskly changed the subject. “In fact, this whole thing has me devastated,” she said. “I can’t believe it turned out like this. Drew Staven, dead?” Mrs. DeWitt shuddered and continued.

  “I’m horrified that our contest is thought to be involved in any way. We were only trying
to help the small business scene. And just look….” The last part of her speech came out in a near sob. Mrs. DeWitt’s brisk demeanor was quickly fading into despair. She’d lost much of the bravado she’d displayed when she sparred with Detective Sands the previous evening.

  “We know you meant to help, Mrs. DeWitt. And you did, at least, I can speak for my own business. The contest has already inspired some positive changes in my shop. In fact, I just hosted my first cooking class.” No need to mention the oven fire and faulty kitchen equipment that drove the students right out of her kitchen.

  Callie continued. “The police may view me as suspicious because apparently, I was next in line for the prize. I was told that there was some ‘fine print’ in the rules regarding a second place winner and so on. I’ll admit I didn’t read every word of my registration for the contest but this is the first I’ve heard of it and I can assure you that at least one of my fellow contestants would have mentioned it. Can you tell me more about the contest rules?”

  “I know my granddaughter,” Viv chimed in. “And she’s not a murderer! If she says she had nothing to do with this, then she didn’t.” Viv turned to Mrs. DeWitt. “Gert, you know this isn’t right. What can we do?”

  “Well, unfortunately for the detective and fortunately for you, he got it a little bit wrong,” said Mrs. DeWitt. “But one thing I’ve found in my life is that men rarely listen when women speak. Something about women’s vocal tones being on a frequency that men tune out. I heard about it on the news. Convenient for them, isn’t it? The world would be a much better place if they did listen to us, at least once in a while.”

  Callie suppressed a grin. Mrs. DeWitt’s late husband had frequently “forgotten” his hearing aids, according to local lore. She wouldn’t make the same mistake Sands had made, though. Callie leaned forward slightly and she gave Mrs. DeWitt her full attention, ears wide open.

  “I’m sorry to say that I made a mistake.” Mrs. DeWitt shrugged nonchalantly. Well, her life wasn’t on the line. “The documents that I gave to Detective Sands weren’t the actual contest rules that went out to all of the contestants. There was no reason to include that information because we didn’t intend to have a second place winner. We wanted one winner – that is the Crystal Bay Chamber, me and the business school alumni – wanted one winner and one winner only.”

  Mrs. DeWitt turned slightly in her chair to face Callie. “What the detective saw was an earlier version of the contest rules that we decided not to use. I must have given him those by accident. When he mentioned to me that you, Callie, must be the recipient of the prize in Drew’s, uh, absence, I told him of my mistake. Apparently, he didn’t quite follow what I was telling him.” Mrs. DeWitt sat back and crossed her ankles.

  “An earlier version of the rules? So the only people who would have a clue that there had been different rules tossed around for discussion were just a few people.” Callie sat back limply as the light dawned. That was the reason that the second and third place winners hadn’t made it through the active Garden Street grapevine.

  “That’s right.” Mrs. DeWitt gave Callie a small smile. “There is no way you could have known that you were next in line. Unless someone had told you about the previous rules and why would anyone have cared about those? They weren’t going to be enforced. Our ultimate goal was to encourage all of Crystal Bay’s small business owners and prompt our Garden Street businesses to succeed. We felt that if we had second and third place it didn’t give the contest the same edge.”

  It gave it an edge all right, Callie thought. A Wusthof knife edge.

  “Well, that helps to clear Callie, doesn’t it?” Viv asked with triumph in her voice.

  Just then, Ava returned with a tea tray and the three women were busy as they helped themselves to steaming tea and a variety of warm, flaky scones – blueberry, lemon and chocolate chip. Callie wolfed down a blueberry scone in record time and hoping that no one noticed her greediness she placed another scone, chocolate chip this time, on her plate. She was amazed that her appetite had returned. But what was George always saying? “No matter what, people need to eat.”

  “I don’t know if that clears me or not,” she admitted. “How do I prove that no one told me? And everyone knows that you and Gert are friendly,” she said addressing Viv. “Plus, Gert is a regular customer of Callie’s Kitchen. We all know she wouldn’t tell contestants about rules that weren’t even put into place, but what about the police? I need more than this. Still, it’s a good start.”

  Let’s see what Sands would do with that information, Callie thought. “So I’m supposed to be the second place winner? Which means, what?”

  “Well, dear, with poor Drew gone I suppose, based on our point system, that you are the runner-up and would be the winner. I don’t think we should announce it just yet, though. I would like to have a long talk with the Chamber heads, including Jane Willoughby. I’ll be honest with you: I’m not sure how to proceed. It’s just all so unprecedented! And Callie, even though I believe in your innocence as strongly as Viv, while you’re under investigation, I don’t know that we should award anyone anything right now.”

  Callie agreed. Money was nice but ethics came first. Her joy at the prospect of prize money was greatly dampened by thoughts of how she might be potentially winning the money. “I won’t say a word. I’m grateful to you and the Chamber but…”

  “Of course you are!” Viv was vehement. “Mrs. DeWitt will come to the right decision, don’t you worry. Right, Gert?”

  The philanthropist nodded solemnly and smiled at Callie. “It will all work out. I’ve been involved with the business school for a long time. Even though we’ve never been faced with a situation quite like this, a little space and discussion is all we need. I know we’ll figure out the best course of action.” And, Callie thought, you need to be sure that I’m not the killer. Suddenly Ava’s delicious scones felt like lead in her stomach.

  “What about the police?” Viv asked before Callie could pose that very question. “Will you straighten them out if they come to you with any more foolishness about Callie being involved in a murder?”

  Mrs. DeWitt assured the ladies that she would speak to the police if they needed further clarification and seemed to consider the matter settled. If only, Callie thought.

  The conversation turned to what would become of Drew’s bistro and other practical matters related to his death that Callie tried to tune out – it was too painful to hear. The two old friends chatted together amiably, with Callie nodding in the right places.

  As she sat there gazing at the breathtaking views from Mrs. DeWitt’s full length windows, she realized that Drew’s home wasn’t that far away from the home she sat in now. The disturbing proximity to the death scene motivated Callie to get moving. But first, she would return to her shop to relieve Max for a while. In any case, it was time to go.

  Shooting Grandma Viv a meaningful glance, Callie slowly arose from her chair and stretched her hand out to Mrs. DeWitt. “Thank you so much for seeing me today, but I have to be getting back to work. I hope we haven’t bothered you.”

  “Of course not. I’m always glad to see you.” Mrs. DeWitt seemed to have regained her usual composure. “I’m happy to clear the business contest’s role in it any way I can. It’s a shame about Mr. Staven. It’s a tragedy, in fact. But what about Crystal Bay’s small businesses? Something like this could set us back for years!”

  With a twinge, Callie wondered how Mrs. DeWitt could even think of such a thing. But then she remembered the hordes in her shop that morning and realized that Mrs. DeWitt was right. Once the novelty wore off, a murder lent a ghoulish taint to the Garden Street business district. Customers had to walk by Drew’s bistro on their way to Callie’s Kitchen – not a very appetizing prospect if an unsolved murder was associated even tangentially with both establishments.

  Still, it wasn’t Drew’s fault that he was murdered! Mrs. DeWitt must be really upset to make such an insensitive comment. Callie gritte
d her teeth and tried to think of a topic that didn’t involve Drew.

  “Speaking of business setbacks, did you know that Minette’s Chocolates closed down?” Callie asked.

  Mrs. DeWitt looked pained. “I just ran into Jeff the other day. The chocolate shop just closed this week and apparently Minette is taking the loss of her business very hard. Jeff was vague on the details of the closure,” Mrs. DeWitt said with obvious regret as she loved to be in the know regarding local news. “I don’t expect he wanted to discuss specifics with me.”

  After she and Viv had said their goodbyes to Mrs. DeWitt and Ava, Callie debated what to do first. She wanted to speak to Jane Willoughby for starters. Jane must have known about the discussions surrounding the cash prize and was no doubt part of them. Would she have told someone, even in passing? Jane might not even know that she had information that pointed to Drew’s killer. In fact, she might be in danger. Callie rationalized that was as good an excuse as any for why she had to get in touch with Jane.

  Second, who had taken Drew’s computer and electronics? It could have been a burglary gone wrong, but Callie didn’t think so. His computer must have some clues about his business dealings at the very least.

  Grandma Viv cut into Callie’s swirling thoughts as they returned to her car. “Gert is one heck of a gal, isn’t she? I just love her. Though, it is odd that she was so careless as to give someone the wrong information in a murder investigation. If Gertrude is one thing, she’s detail-oriented.” Viv shook her head.

  “I know. It is strange,” Callie agreed. “She’s a busy lady, though. Maybe her papers just got mixed up. She is obviously pretty distraught about Drew’s death and anyone can make a mistake.” Or could Mrs. DeWitt have another reason for misleading Detective Sands? Callie decided to keep that thought to herself for the time being.