Death At A Diner: A Culinary Cozy Mystery (A Murder In Milburn Book 1)

by Nancy McGovern

  Nora had turned back to Harvey, who was leaning against the tree now, a brooding look on his face. “You’re hurt,” Nora said, touching him on the forehead, from where a thin stream of blood made its way down his face, tracing his jaw line. He grabbed her hand, turned it over in his, and then kissed her fingers.

  “I’m so sorry, Nora,” he said. “You have to believe I would never hurt you.”

  “Not deliberately,” Sean said. “But she’s hurt all the same. Nora, you’ve got a giant bruise forming on your face, and there are scratches all over your arms. Sit down and let the paramedics tend to you both.”

  They obeyed him meekly, and he strode away to talk at the firefighters who were putting out the slight flames that licked the sides of the car. Nora thought to herself that with Sean, it really was that simple. In times of trouble, he took charge, he made the decisions, and you could sit there, grateful to not have to think.

  Harvey sat stone-faced as the paramedics tended to him. Nora looked at him from the side of her eye and saw that all trace of his emotions had vanished from his face. He looked deep in thought, but completely robotic, almost like a general plotting his next conquest.

  Sean approached again and leaned down to whisper something in Harvey’s ear. Straightening, he turned to Nora. “Nora, maybe you want a ride back in the squad car?”

  “I’ll stick with Harvey if it’s okay,” she said.

  “No. Go with the Sheriff,” Harvey said. She could see guilt all over his face as he turned to look at her. Whatever Sean had said to him, Harvey was clearly affected. “I’ll have to call my insurance agent and it’ll take me a few hours to clear this up.”

  “I’m staying with you. Someone’s got to make sure you’re all right,” she protested.

  “I have other friends,” he said coldly. “We had a nice date, Nora, but I don’t think it’s recovering from this.”

  She flinched back. His tone was ice cold, his expression closed. “I don’t need you here,” he said. “I need you gone, with the Sheriff.”

  When she still hesitated, he raised an eyebrow, an almost mocking look on his face. “Do you really need a stronger hint?” he asked.

  Burning with anger, she resisted the urge to slap him. “You’re a rude, callous man,” she said.

  “Yes and yes.” he replied. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got work to do.” He pushed off a paramedic who was applying salve to his wounds and strode away towards his ruined car.

  Sean held Nora by the elbow gently as she looked in Harvey’s direction. “Nora. Let him go. Trust me, you don’t want to be involved. Come on, I’ll take you back to Mrs. Mullally’s.”

  “No. Please.” Nora shuddered. “She’s going to find out about this, but I’d rather not let her see me so … disheveled. It’ll only alarm her.”

  Sean nodded. They were walking through the glass toward his car, and Nora shivered slightly, then suddenly realized that in the space of time they had been under the tree together, Harvey had taken his letterman jacket off and put it around her shoulders. She could vaguely smell the sandalwood and lemon cologne he’d been wearing. A bizarre desire to weep came over her. Why had he been so moody? He’d gone from charming to caring, to callous, all in the space of minutes. He’d ended it by being deliberately, unnecessarily rude. He hadn’t meant it, she felt sure of it. He had wanted her there, but deliberately pushed her away.

  Now here she was, in the squad car with Sean, who was giving her the space and silence she needed.

  “I’m taking you to Raquel’s,” he said. “I figure you might even want to stay the night with her.”

  Raquel. Remembering the bizarre vision she’d seen of her, Nora suddenly missed her friend, and felt absurdly grateful to Sean for being thoughtful enough to take her there.

  “She won’t be at home, though,” Nora said. “She’ll probably still be at the Diner, hanging up the paintings.”

  “Well, why don’t we swing on over there, and you can go home with her? Or I can give you both a ride back wherever you like.”

  “Thanks,” Nora said. “I’m sorry if I was short with you earlier. You’re being a really good friend right now.”

  “A really good sheriff,” he corrected. “I’m still not sure if you’re willing to be friends.”

  “Of course,” Nora said with a smile. “Opening night, Friday, you get all the shepherd’s pie you like, on the house.”

  “There won’t be much left in the house then,” he said. “What’d you put in that anyway? I tasted cinnamon, jalapeno, and something lemony.”

  “Lemongrass.” She smiled. “A little exotic, but I’ve found that the three combine to make the most memorable spice base.”

  “I’ll say they do,” Sean said. “The memory just won’t leave me. At this rate, your diner is going to be Milburn’s main tourist attraction.”

  Nora laughed. “I’ll be happy if people like it. I’m always afraid when I’m trying my own recipes. My ma always told me that the best way to cook food is traditional, tried and tested way, but I always liked to experiment.”

  They swung into the diner, and Nora smiled as she saw the large neon sign, switched off at the moment. In three days, the sign would be on and buzzing, and the empty parking lot surrounding the diner would be hopefully full of cars. She could picture it so clearly, just like the vision she’d had as a teenager: cars, music, people streaming in and out, and at the very center, her and Raquel, feeding and entertaining their town.

  “That’s what it’s all about for me,” she said. “I’ve wanted, for a very long time, to create things that’ll make my people happy. This town, even though I’ve been away so long, is the only place in the world I’ve ever felt I belonged. You know?”

  Sean nodded. “I do. I’ve felt the same way too. There’s something about knowing exactly who everyone is, and feeling like in times of need, they’d have your back just like you’d have theirs. For all their faults, these are some of the best people in the world.”

  Nora smiled. Sean spoke with a sincerity that was touching, and he said exactly what had been on her mind. He shut off his engine now, looking surprised. The diner’s blinds were all drawn down, even though you could tell lights were blazing inside.

  “What’s that all about?” he asked.

  “Just Raquel, not wanting to let anyone have a peek in,” Nora said. “In fact, if you don’t mind, I’d love to go in alone. I’m sure if I bought you in, she’d complain I’m cheating and showing you a preview. She’s bound to scold me for being in an accident anyway, as if it were my fault somehow. That’s just Raquel for you.”

  Sheriff laughed. “All right. I doubt she’ll say much when she finds out what happened, but god knows I don’t want to be on the receiving end of a tongue-lashing from Raquel. Go face your friend alone.”

  Nora smiled, and thanked him again, but he waved her off. “None of that. I think I’ve transitioned from being sheriff to being a friend now. I don’t expect my friends to thank me for giving them rides. Go on.”

  Nora headed to the door of the diner, and pushed it, but to her surprise, found it locked.

  Funny. That wasn’t like Raquel. Then again, maybe she thought it was safer, working alone at night, to lock the place up. Nora rang the bell, then knocked on the door. No one answered.

  “Maddy, open up! it’s me, Nay-Nay,” she shouted, putting her mouth to the keyhole.

  An eerie silence greeted her. Puzzled, she rummaged in her purse till she found the keys, and opened the door. Pushing it wide open, she walked in, saying, “Maddy, you won’t believe the day I’ve had. Worst end to a date I’ve ever…”

  Her words converted into a long, shrill scream, that had Sean racing out of his car to be by her side. He came in running, then took a step back and shielded Nora, who was screaming still. He forced her out of the diner, even as she tried to struggle out of his grasp and run inside.

  *****

  Chapter 9

  “The body was found at 12:24 am,�
� Sean said to the forensics expert. “I examined her for a pulse, but to be honest, it was pretty clear she was already gone.”

  Three police cars stood outside the diner now, their lights flashing red and blue, bathing the whitewashed sides of the restaurant. Inside the diner, policemen were hard at work. A photographer lit up the diner with the hard flash of his camera and spotlight while others dusted for prints and gathered evidence.

  Somehow, word had spread, and a number of townspeople had gathered, despite the late hour. In life, Raquel had been loved by this town – a pretty cheerleader in school, a hard working accountant after, and a member of many committees all over. In death, the town shed tears of grief at the life she had senselessly lost.

  “Nora will be most affected, I think,” whispered Harvey’s secretary Ashley to May Almand, the Mayor’s wife. “She and Raquel were so close, and god knows, Raquel’s father… well, I won’t speak ill of him, not now, but he’s hardly likely to be grieving. It’s a shame, really. Whoever did this to her, I hope they catch him and put him away for a long time.”

  The two of them were wrapped up in thick cardigans and coats, standing outside the diner. May, who also worked as a reporter in the local Milburn Report, nodded, and added to Ashley, “What I feel bad for is that the poor girl was just starting a brilliant new life. She’d worked so hard to start this diner. They both did, Raquel and Nora. Just the other day, I had coffee with Raquel and she told me how excited she was, how full life seemed now that she was finally starting her own venture. It is a pity. I wonder what will become of the diner now.”

  “What do you mean, then?” Ashley asked. “Nora’s there, isn’t she? I suppose she’ll start maybe a month later, but the diner will still operate. Won’t it?”

  “Will it?” May asked. “The two of them had taken a loan to start it, and while Nora made the initial down payment, it was Raquel’s money that was supposed to pay off the installments. With Raquel gone, even if Nora has the will, she might not have the money to run the place.”

  A tall, well-built man joined them. He had a ring of wispy white hair surrounding a shiny bald head, while his face was a map of creases and wrinkles that described the many years he had spent in Milburn.

  “Ladies,” he said, nodding to them both. He held a cigarette in his hand, and Ashley put a hand over her belly, saying, “Mr. Mason. I’d beg you to stub out that cigarette around me.”

  “Of course, of course.” He dropped it to the ground. “Terrible tragedy. I got out of bed as soon as I heard. Of course, I had to explain to dear Betty that it was an emergency, but I wonder if she understood.”

  “And how is Betty now?” May asked, her voice soft.

  Mason shrugged. His wife had had an accident a few months ago, that had left her with damage to the brain. The doctors had hoped she’d recover, but it was a hard road back. It was his own private hell, having to see his sharp, witty wife reduced to a shivering wreck. Still, Mason thought to himself, at least Betty was alive. At least I have had the pleasure of being with her for thirty years.

  “Poor Raquel,” he said. “Poor, poor girl. I’ve worked with her plenty of times, you know. My law firm often needed documents only the accountants could provide. She was a hard worker, and a cheerful person.”

  “Do you think…” Ashley hesitated, then reframed her question “Who do you think was responsible, Mason? What possible reason could they have had?”

  “It’s early yet,” Mason said, with a glance down at his watch. “They’ve only discovered her two hours ago.”

  “Who found her?” May asked.

  “Nora did,” Mason said, speaking quietly. “I was talking to Deputy Wallis and he said she and Sheriff found her on their way back from the accident.”

  “Accident?” both Ashley and May exclaimed. “Oh, goodness.”

  Mason smiled. “Yes. Nora was out with that Harvey Nathaniel. He was driving that Ferrari of his, and it hit a ditch and flipped, I hear.”

  Ashley shuddered. “Today is simply a cursed day, I should think. First the robbery in the morning, then Harvey’s accident, and now this! I can’t bear it! I wish Jeremy were home already. He’s left me all alone and gone off on one of his silly sales conferences.”

  “Didn’t you call him home after the robbery?” May asked.

  Ashley shifted. “I did, but he was very close to signing a huge deal, and seeing as I wasn’t hurt, he promised to be home tomorrow.”

  Bored with this conversation, Mason said, “Deputy Wallis caught a drifter through this part of town last week.” He paused, taking a deep breath, watching the two women before him for reactions.

  “Do you think the drifter came back into town and did it?” May asked, curious. Her sharp mind seemed to be taking this bit of news and revising it mentally. Mason could almost picture the inside of her brain. a typewriter that was clacking out and erasing various theories.

  “It’s likely,” Mason said. “Deputy Wallis said the man was a proper loser, seemed kind of crazy. He was talking to himself.”

  “It’s a real shame,” Ashley said. “The deputy should just have arrested the man a week back and none of this would have happened.”

  “Can’t arrest someone before the crime occurs,” Mason said. “Deputy gave him a ride out of town and encouraged him never to come back. That’s about all one can do.”

  The other two nodded vigorously, both feeling more at ease now that a proper theory for who could have done it had been set. Of course it had to be a drifter. This was a small, loving town. Surely none of the people they went to church with were capable of murdering a lovely young girl like Raquel.

  Were they?

  *****

  Chapter 10

  Nora spent an entire day in bed, playing one song in a loop. From her speakers, Joni Mitchell sang A Case of You, the melancholy tune and voice melting perfectly into the grief that Nora felt.

  It was the song Raquel had heard, over and over, right after high school, the months after she had broken up with her first boyfriend. Nora, her best friend, had heard it over and over with her, and the two of them had been bonded together in the melancholy of those months so that Nora could never hear the song again without also remembering Raquel.

  Nora couldn’t much recall the events of that fateful night. She remembered seeing Raquel’s body and then feeling a dark pit open up inside of herself. All of it felt like a dream that refused to end.

  Raquel. Raquel was the one who had died, and Nora was the one who had survived, who had walked away unharmed despite the horrible accident she had been in. When she first saw Raquel, splayed on the floor, blood running out of her, Nora had believed that her friend was only hurt. Sean, being the wise Sheriff he was, had let Nora continue to believe so, calling for an ambulance and back up, and locking Nora in the back of his car, refusing to let her back in the diner.

  Sean had dropped her back to Mrs. Mullally’s and called every few hours after. But Nora had not wanted to see or hear from anyone, and Mrs. Mullally, like a protective mother hen, had refused to let anyone near her.

  If Nora had been able to see through the dark fog of losing her best friend, perhaps she would have seen that she needed to be strong, that she needed to talk to the police, and aid them, then talk to Raquel’s family about her funeral. But all Nora seemed to feel was the profound grief, sinking into the fact that Raquel wasn’t there anymore. Never would she bound through the door, bringing her good cheer with her, elevating Nora’s energy levels. No one would ever share the inside jokes the two of them had, or the many memories of pranks they’d played, or the deep 3am conversations they’d had about who they were and who they wanted to be.

  She felt like a core ingredient of herself had crumbled into ash with Raquel gone, and that whoever had killed Raquel had killed part of Nora as well.

  Joni Mitchell began her song again, and Nora sunk her head even lower into the pillow.

  In her mind she saw a field of grass, and glass strewn about over it wh
ile the moonlight glinted in the recesses of the shards. Raquel had been there, Nora remembered. Nora had thought it was a hallucination, and realistically, of course it was. Still, now, it was the last memory she would ever have of Raquel, and Nora replayed it over and over.

  A hand was placed on Nora’s shoulder, and she nearly screamed out loud. Turning around, she thrashed about as a man towered over her.

  “Shhh. Nora. It’s me. It’s just me. It’s all right,” Harvey put a hand over her mouth and held her in an embrace until he felt her calming down. “I’ve been here all day and Mrs. Mullally didn’t let me in, so I decided to sneak in through the back window at night. It’s 1am and I didn’t want to wake Mrs. Mullally.”

  “You broke in?” Nora hit him with a pillow, hard. “You’re an idiot, Harvey.”

  He yelped and clutched his arm. “That stung,” he protested.

  “You deserve it,” Nora said. “You’re mad, creeping into my room at odd hours when I’ve told Mrs. Mullally I don’t want to see anyone.”

  “Nora…” His face softened. “I tried so many times to call, to see you, but you’d just vanished.”

  “I just want to be alone,” she snapped. “Is that so hard for every person in this town to understand? They’ve shown up in waves, every one of them, all bearing casseroles and all hiding their naked curiosity right beneath their masks of sympathy. She was my best friend and now she’s gone, and I just don’t care if I don’t meet anyone ever again.”

  “You have to, though,” Harvey said. “You have to meet the townspeople. They’re curious, yes, but they cared about her too. And there’s many of them that are grieving, in their own fashion. You have to talk to the sheriff too, and soon. That’s the only way he’s going to catch the guy who did it.”

  “It doesn’t matter who did it,” Nora said, defeated. “What matters is that she’s gone. She’s never coming back, Harvey, and it kills me.” Tears streamed from her face.