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

by Nancy McGovern

  Sean insisted there was no proof, and that without proof, there could be no case against Stanley.

  But what did she know about Sean, anyway? Only that he was a man widely considered decent and good. Then again, Jeremy was widely considered a loving husband. What if Sean was a lot more than he seemed? Why had he lied to Jeremy about Raquel? Why had he broken the two of them up? Had he secretly loved Raquel, and wanted to be with her? The night Raquel had died, had he gone to see her? Raquel would have let him in, surely. After all, he was sheriff.

  No. Raquel had liked Sean. She would have dated him if he’d asked her to. Nora recalled the last conversation she’d had with Raquel, where Raquel had referred to Sean as “yummy”.

  So why had Sean lied? Why had he broken up a happy couple all those years ago? Was it just a teenage prank? Did he even remember doing it?

  Nora remembered, though. She remembers how it had affected Raquel when Jeremy broke up with her. All the love Raquel no longer got from her family she had poured into her friends and her boyfriend. When Jeremy broke up with her, for a long time, Raquel had been undone. Even when she had recovered, she had been different – like a cracked vase that is glued together, the crack permanently changing it.

  Nora felt a rush of anger at Sean. Why had he done it? Had he only been trying to get Jeremy to hate Alan? Was it the cruelty she long suspected ran like an underground river in his heart?

  Cruelty brought her to Santino, a man she had no doubt was a murderer. It was written in the way he had mercilessly beaten his cook, the way he had reacted without a flinch even when Harvey pulled a gun on him. Santino was a man who was willing to die or distribute death in the process of getting what he wanted. He had a strong motive to kill Raquel too, if, as her accountant, she had uncovered his scams and was threatening to reveal them. He’d had Harvey followed, he knew so much about Nora, so surely he was capable of having surveillance on Raquel. Maybe that’s why she’d moved all her files onto a flash drive. Because she was convinced her laptop was hacked. Santino could have done it. Very easily. He was Sean’s strongest suspect, wasn’t he?

  Except…

  …except Raquel had a sense of self-preservation. She wouldn’t just have let someone into the diner so late at night. Especially if that someone was a goon like Santino or one of his men. There was no sign of the door being forced open, so it had been someone she knew who had killed her.

  There was May Almand, too. May Almand, who was friends with Raquel, and who was so strongly opposed to Nora for even hinting that it had not been a hitchhiker. May had been on several committees with Raquel. Could it be that Raquel had known something about May that no one else did? Nora thought back to the night of the murder when Raquel had been helping dress her.

  She sat up straight, suddenly remembering how Raquel had told her she was meeting someone and then going to the diner. No one had come forward and admitted to meeting Raquel. As far as Sean knew, Nora was the last person to see Raquel alive.

  But that wasn’t true. There was one person who had seen Raquel alive after Nora. Could it have been May?

  There was one person, of course, who Nora was trying not to think of, trying not to include in her mental list. Harvey. Were Sean’s suspicions true? Or was he capable of being so manipulative that he deliberately asked her on a date on the day he knew Raquel was to be murdered just so he could have an alibi?

  All she had were questions, Nora realized with frustration. But no proof.

  “Do you want more, dear?” Mrs. Mullally asked, breaking Nora out of her reverie.

  Nora looked down at her plate, and realized it was empty. She couldn’t remember eating one bite, or even what it was that she had eaten.

  Mrs. Mullally scooped up her dish and put another helping of lemon roasted chicken and buttery potatoes on it.

  “You look sad,” Mrs. M said, and Nora smiled at her.

  “I’m all right,” she said.

  “You say that,” Mrs. Mullally said. “If it makes you happy, I can act like I believe it.”

  Nora felt a rush of affection for the old lady who had taken such care of her. “I was just thinking.”

  “What about?”

  “About Raquel. About how I might never know who killed her. How I might never even have known her, really. All I want is justice for her untimely death, or at least, to look someone in the eye and know they did it.” Nora dropped her fork and sighed. There were no more tears for her to shed. Her heart seemed to have developed a black hole where no emotion could go. Maynard, sensing her change, buried his head in her leg and began rubbing it back and forth. Instinctively, she picked him up and cradled him against her. His silky Labrador coat felt good under her hands, as did the steady beat of his young heart.

  “I’ve nothing to say but that I’m sorry,” Mrs. Mullally said, putting her hand over Nora’s. “You must move forwards, Nora, and not look back.”

  “I did that before,” Nora said. “When my parents died, I ran. I ran towards my dreams, and what good ever came of it? I never looked back to get justice from the men who robbed me of my family home, because I never… because I never believed I had the power to. But Raquel? Raquel was a pure shining light in a dark world. She was like my sister, Mrs. Mullally, and I can’t move on, I can’t just keep living my life until I find and bring to justice the person who killed her.”

  *****

  Chapter 24

  She woke early the next day, and headed to town, wanting to meet Harvey face to face. She didn’t know what she’d say to him exactly, or even if they would work things out. Just that she needed to see him again.

  Instead, it was Sean she met. He was coming out of a grocery store, dressed in full uniform, unwrapping a lemon coconut protein bar. He saw her coming and stopped. “Nora.”

  “Sean.” Angry, she wanted to walk ahead without making eye contact. With little hesitance, he turned around and walked in step with her.

  “You vanished yesterday. I went over to Mrs. M to see you a few hours later and you weren’t there.”

  “Is that part of your sheriff duties?” Nora asked. “Tailing me?”

  “Come on, we’re friends aren’t we? I know I said some things that annoyed you--”

  “The things you said that annoyed me,” Nora said. “Let’s make a list, shall we? We can go right back to high school. Where you lied to break up Jeremy and Raquel. Come to think of it, is that your game plan with me and Harvey? Are you feeding me lies to make me distrust him?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “You know,” Nora said, and her fists clenched. “You told Jeremy that Alan and Raquel were kissing at a party. You told him that and the two broke up. Why’d you do that, Sean? What did Alan ever do to make you hate him so?”

  “It’s Alan I came to see you about,” Sean said. “I wanted to tell you my side of the story, and to thank you for helping me with a case.”

  “What?”

  There was a ring, and Sean held up a finger to silence her before sliding his phone open. “Sheriff speaking.”

  “… ranch.” Nora couldn’t make out the words, but the sounds at the other end of the phone seemed high pitched and serious.

  “Hmmm. Mm,” Sean nodded. “All right. I’ll get there fast.” Turning to Nora, he said, “Look, there are things I want to tell you, but you need to promise me you’ll listen with an open mind.”

  “I can’t promise you anything,” she said.

  “It’s about that body we found the other day,” Sheriff said. “The autopsy said it was a male, about my age, who’d died maybe a year ago. Of course, I instantly suspected Harvey, given that his partner Donald was missing.”

  “Was it Donald?”

  “Donald’s still missing, but no. It wasn’t Donald. It’s Alan,” Sean said. “You reawakened my memory yesterday when you talked about him.”

  “How so?”

  “Alan went missing, didn’t he? He tried to attempt to hitchhike out of town wa
y back in the day. I searched around, and found that it was a cold case, but the case files at least had a record of his dental work.”

  “Why is that important?”

  “Because I matched it with the hitchhiker’s body. Alan ran away from here all those years ago, but he also came back. I believe he tried to come back to town six months to a year ago and was murdered then. That’s the body we discovered, the body we mistakenly thought belonged to Harvey’s partner.”

  Nora was speechless. “So it wasn’t Donald who was found?”

  “No. That means Harvey’s in a bit less mess than he was yesterday. It also hopefully means that you’ll stop accusing me of a witch hunt against Harvey. I’m dedicated to my job but I’d never lie to catch a man.”

  “Yet you lied to break Jeremy and Raquel.”

  “I didn’t lie,” he said. “Jeremy remembers it wrong. I didn’t tell him I saw Alan kissing Raquel. I told him my girlfriend saw it. She had no reason to lie. I barely remember anyway. I was a big-talking teen with an attitude that all cheaters must suffer. I think I still do have that attitude.”

  “Raquel never cheated on Jeremy,” Nora said. “I know it well, and you must know it too. Whoever told you that rumor lied, and you destroyed a relationship over it.”

  Sean shrugged. “Doesn’t matter, does it? Jeremy’s happily married to Ashley now. Hey, I almost did him a favor. If he was with Raquel, he’d never have gotten to be with his wife.”

  “That’s not the point. Sean,” Nora said. “You still broke up a couple who was madly in love. Doesn’t that upset you in the least?”

  Sean shrugged. “Jeremy’s fine. Raquel was fine. I don’t know, maybe I feel a little bad, but I don’t think it calls for the kind of emotional reaction you’re giving it. Everyone moved on. Jeremy’s having a kid now, for goodness’ sake.”

  Biting her lip, Nora wondered how Sean would feel if he could see his friend the way she had seen him yesterday, a sobbing mess.

  “Look, there’s been a call about the supreme truth’s camp,” Sean said. “Apparently May Almand went down to see David and Jolene today, and David had a black eye. May’s called us to report she suspects elder abuse. I’m going to go down there to check it out. You keep yourself out of trouble, Nora.”

  “Don’t I always?” she asked.

  “I wouldn’t have a job if you did,” he said sarcastically. She laughed, agreeing.

  *****

  Chapter 25

  She went to Harvey’s office next. She knocked on the door and when no one answered, she tried the knob to find it open. The hallway was deserted, and Nora remembered that Harvey had given Ashley the week off. For a moment, Nora felt glad that she wouldn’t have to meet Ashley – it would be really awkward to face her after seeing Jeremy cry the way she had. Still, Ashley was a nice person. Nora felt guilty to be thinking like that.

  She moved towards Harvey’s office, where she saw a light under the desk. “Harvey,” she called, but received no answer. She peeked over the door into his magnificent wood paneled office. Ferns drooped in the corner, and tasteful art hung on the walls. Harvey was seated on his desk, dressed in a light blue button down with Khakis, his hair looking like he’d just run his hands through it.

  He was working on the computer and simultaneously looking into a book filled with statistics that was open next to him.

  “Harvey?”

  “Ashley, keep the Muren files with you and get me the printout of the Zelda estate brochure,” Harvey said.

  “Harvey. It’s me. Nora.”

  Harvey looked up, still caught in the fog of his own thoughts, and blinked as if he didn’t recognize her. As soon as he saw her, his face fell.

  “You’re not Ashley.”

  “Didn’t you give her the week off?”

  “So I did. I guess I forgot.” He slammed his laptop shut, and got up, putting his hands on his desk. “What can I interest you in, Nora? Planning to buy some real estate?”

  “No. I … I just came to talk,” she said.

  “I’m a busy man,” Harvey said. “I suppose Sean has time to talk to you for hours. I don’t. I certainly don’t have three hours to waste waiting for you under the shade of an oak, in Main Street Park, with a sandwich that I eventually throw away.”

  “Harvey, I’m really sorry about that,” she said, pressing her hands together.

  “You were incredibly rude,” Harvey said, his voice still cold. “You went to talk to Sean, and then you just never came. I thought…” He broke his thought off and shook his head. “Nora, this won’t work. You don’t trust me, not one inch, and I’m all right with that. Trust can be built with time. But if you ignore me to spend time with Sean, I won’t be part of a triangle. I’m not that kind of guy.”

  “What?” Nora exclaimed. “You’ve got it all wrong, Harvey.”

  “Have I?” he asked coldly. “You ditched me yesterday and went off to gallivant with Sean.”

  “I argued with Sean yesterday because I was defending you,” she said. “He shook my faith in you, Harvey, that’s the truth, and I’m sorry that I let it be shaken. But after all the things he said, I just had to run away, to be alone somewhere. I wasn’t gallivanting with Sean. I went to a cave that only Raquel and I ever knew about.”

  “A cave?” Harvey looked confused. “What are you talking about?”

  Nora waved it off. “When Raquel and I were kids, there was this place we used to go to when we needed time to think, or wanted to escape from our lives,” she said. “It’s not important. Harvey, I just wanted to say how truly sorry--”

  “Not important?” Harvey’s voice was an incredulous whisper. He stepped out of his desk and walked towards her. “Not important?”

  “Yes… What… Harvey, you’re scaring me.”

  “This is a place only you and Raquel ever went to, and you’re telling me it’s not important? She was murdered, but before the murder she had a meeting with someone. Someone who hasn’t been identified yet. Nor, for that matter, did she have that meeting in a public place like a restaurant or her apartment, because other neighbors haven’t seen her either. No one saw her after she left your place.”

  “So you’re saying--”

  “I’m saying that we need to talk to Sean. We need to go to that cave right now. What if Raquel’s last meeting was with this mysterious person at the cave,and the same person offered to drop her to the diner and then…”

  “I’ve been an absolute idiot!” Nora said, smacking her head with her hand. “Harvey, when I went to the cave yesterday, I fell asleep in it. When I woke up, Jeremy was there. He said she’d shown him the cave in high school, but by the time Raquel and I discovered the cave, she’d already broken up with him.”

  A strange light seemed to shine in Harvey’s eyes. “So that’s it, then?” He said. “Jeremy was dating her back in high school, wasn’t he?”

  “He still had feelings for her. He was sobbing when I saw him yesterday. He told me he couldn’t sob in front of Ashley and so he’d come to the cave. But what if…”

  “But what if he’d come to the cave because he’d left something behind?” Harvey said, his eyes shining.

  “We have to call Sean right now!” Nora exclaimed.

  “I have a better idea,” Harvey said. “Message Jeremy. Tell him that you told Sean about the cave, and he’s on his way to explore it, that he thinks he’ll find evidence of some kind. That way, Jeremy will try and beat Sean to the cave if he had met Raquel that night.”

  “Do you think it’ll work?” Nora asked.

  “It might,” Harvey said. “Let’s try it at any rate!”

  *****

  Chapter 26

  Excited, Nora did as Harvey asked. She messaged both Sean and Jeremy and raced with him to the spot where the hike to the cave began. Half an hour later, she and Harvey had reached the cave, and Harvey was looking all around it with a flashlight.

  “Do you think he could have done it?” Nora asked.

  “I haven�
�t thought any different since the moment you told me what happened in this cave yesterday,” Harvey said. “How could you have gotten taken in, Nora? A married man who loved his ex-girlfriend, a girlfriend who he couldn’t have anymore. Of course he had a motive. He probably got angry at her for refusing his advances, and killed her.”

  “Poor Ashley’s going to be heartbroken,” Nora said.

  “It’s better to live the truth than suffer a lie.” Harvey was still looking all over the cave, shining his torch into the tiniest nooks in an attempt to search out things. From the corner of her eye, Nora saw him pick up a tiny plastic object, and slip it into his pocket.

  “What--” she began, but before she could ask him about it, a shadow had blocked the entrance of the cave. Jeremy.

  “Nora? Harvey?” He sounded confused. “I don’t understand. Why did you call me here? Where’s Sean?”

  “She didn’t call you here.” Harvey smiled. “She just told you new evidence had been uncovered and you ran over.”

  “Well, of course I did. Finding out who Raquel’s killer is, that’s important to me.”

  “Why?” Harvey asked. “You’re a happily married man, Jeremy. Why is it so important?”

  Jeremy blushed and gave Nora an angry glance. “You told him. You told my wife’s boss what I told you in confidence? You’re a grade A--”

  “Watch your mouth,” Harvey said roughly. “Or I’ll make you answer for it.”

  “Try it,” Jeremy said, his blood up.

  “Raquel never told you about the cave,” Nora said quietly, making both men turn towards her. “So how did you know about it, Jeremy? Did she give you directions when you met last week?”