by Cindy Bell
Wendy bit the tip of her tongue to hold back a harsh response. She didn’t want to antagonize him.
“I don't want to say anything more,” she insisted and backed away from Delaney. She backed right into Detective Dunn, who had walked up behind her.
Now Wendy felt trapped. She had no way of escaping the detective or the officer as they had surrounded her. She flicked her gaze between the two anxiously.
“I don't want to say anything until I speak to my lawyer,” she said sternly.
“Wendy, you're not under arrest,” Detective Dunn said impatiently. “You don't need to worry about a lawyer.”
Wendy studied the woman skeptically. She had a hard expression, but her soft features made Wendy want to believe her. However, she had been duped before, so she was more than a little suspicious.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Look, you may have found the body, but we know that you only arrived a few minutes ago,” Detective Dunn explained. “I don't think you could have killed George Deveroux and then flash-frozen him.”
Wendy nodded slowly. “I didn't,” she murmured, still frightened, and still not willing to trust.
“So, just talk to us,” Delaney persuaded. “You're our best source of information to get this crime solved. That is what you want, isn't it?” he raised an eyebrow which only made him look even more threatening. “To solve the crime? Unless there's some reason you would rather we didn't?”
“Okay, okay,” Wendy shook her head. “What do you want to know?”
“Oliver said you found the body. So, can you walk us through what exactly happened that led to you being in the freezer alone with the victim?” Delaney suggested. Polson called for Dunn to join him in the freezer.
Wendy wished that Dunn hadn’t left her alone with Delaney. She took a deep breath. “I was supposed to meet Oliver to taste some food, as he's catering a wedding that I am planning. However, when I arrived he was not here, so I called out to him, and he did not answer.”
“So, you just let yourself in?” Delaney asked with surprise.
“I thought he might be in a different part of the building and just didn't hear me,” Wendy explained. “I found a side door that was unlocked, then I thought that he must be here, because I didn't think he would leave anything unlocked if he wasn't. So, I did go inside,” she explained. “But I had a meeting planned with Oliver, it's not like I just broke in or something.”
Delaney stared at her. Then he made a note on his notepad. She had to restrain herself from asking what he was writing down.
“So, there was an unlocked door,” Delaney nodded. “That still doesn't explain what you were doing in the freezer.”
“I wanted to look at the platter of mini-frozen desserts and the latch was closed on the door and…”
“Wendy,” Brian said from just behind her. She nearly jumped out of her skin at the sudden sound of his voice.
“Brian,” she took a sharp breath.
“Remember what I said?” he asked.
She nodded. She instantly regretted that she had spoken to them in the first place.
“Delaney,” he said as he narrowed his eyes at the officer.
“Brian, still playing make-believe cop?” Delaney asked smugly. Wendy raised an eyebrow at his words. He was always abrasive but he wasn't usually so antagonistic. Wendy wished that Polson was doing the questioning. Although, he could be authoritative, he and Brian had a respect for each other that they had built up over the years and they seemed to trust each other.
“Actually, yes,” Brian replied with a slow smile. “And because of that I know you have no right to question or pressure Wendy here, without her lawyer present.”
“So, she needs to have a lawyer,” Delaney shrugged. “I guess she must have something to hide then,” he looked back at Wendy and settled his intense gaze on her. “We're going to find out what happened here, Wendy, and when we do it's not going to look great that you weren’t completely open with us.”
“Enough boys,” Dunn said with a roll of her eyes as she joined them again. “Brian, there's nothing to be concerned about. Wendy is a witness, not a suspect.”
“Until you find a reason for her to be a suspect,” Brian corrected. “At which point you will use everything she's said against her.”
“Only if there's a reason,” Delaney replied with a glare.
“I'm not lying about anything,” Wendy insisted.
“Wendy, shh,” Brian commanded her. She looked over at him with a slight frown. She knew that he was only trying to protect her, but she hated to be shushed.
“What I want to know is whether you killed this man?” Officer Delaney asked. “I think it's a fairly simple question.”
“That she doesn't have to answer,” Brian said and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Wendy did her best not to melt. She tried to stay focused on the murder, not how warm and strong Brian's arm felt around her.
“I didn't kill anyone,” she said with a slow shake of her head.
“Then there's nothing to be worried about,” Dunn offered a charming smile. “Like I said you’re not a suspect.”
“Wendy, we should really get your lawyer here first,” Brian warned.
“Look, I know that there's a history between us,” Wendy said with a sigh as she looked at Delaney. “Some good, some bad. But I'm fairly certain that you don't think I killed this man. I didn't. I was here because I had an appointment with Oliver to sample some of his food. My clients are planning to use him for their reception dinner, but they wanted an honest evaluation of his menu first.”
“But according to Oliver he didn't know you were here until he walked into the freezer,” Delaney reminded her.
“I explained that already,” Wendy said impatiently. “I don't know who killed George. The freezer door had the latch slid shut so no one could have got out of the freezer. When I opened it I found him under that metal rack and I lifted it up off his body.”
“Oh, it wasn't too heavy for you?” Delaney asked as he made a note on his notepad.
“No,” Wendy stammered out. “I mean it was heavy, but I was hoping that he might still be alive.”
“Good to know,” Delaney nodded.
“Enough,” Brian said and pulled her away from the officer and the detective. “If you have more questions you can contact her at another time when she has her lawyer present.”
With that he led her right out of the building.
“Brian, what was that all about?” she asked impatiently.
“I should be asking you the same question,” Brian said with frustration. “I told you not to talk to anyone.”
“What harm could it do?” Wendy demanded with equal irritation. “It's not like anything I said could implicate me.”
“No?” Brian asked. His lips were twitching with the words he was resisting saying. “Why do you think Delaney asked you if the rack was too heavy for you to lift?”
“I don't know,” Wendy stumbled out.
“Because in court they will use that to prove that you were strong enough to push it over on top of the victim,” he frowned.
Wendy's eyes widened at his words. She hadn't made that connection at all.
“I didn't realize,” she said with a slow shake of her head. “He really is low isn't he?”
“He is just very good at his job,” Brian explained with a hint of respect. “If it was your family member that was killed, trust me you would want him and Polson working on the case. However, in case he sets his sights on you as a suspect we need to be extremely careful.”
“Do you really think he sees me as a suspect?” she asked with a frown. “Dunn said I wasn’t even considered one.”
“Maybe Delaney’s just trying to exercise his authority then,” Brian shrugged. “He's a hard one to read. But either way I don’t think that you're going to be their prime suspect. Oliver likely will be. Do you know anything about George?”
“I do,” Wendy nodded. “Not much,
but we have met before.”
“And?” Brian asked as he leaned back against the wall.
“Well, he was doing his job and found that there was a mice infestation at the venue I had booked for a wedding. Unfortunately, it was only a couple of days before the wedding, and so it sent the bride's plans into a frenzy. However, it was much worse on Oliver as he was the head chef of the restaurant. The entire resort was temporarily shut down, and the owners blamed everything on Oliver. They claimed he didn't keep his kitchen clean enough and that he had caused their reputation to be tarnished. Of course Oliver was very well-known and so his reputation took a hit and he lost his job. It wasn't until recently that he started working again.”
“Hmm,” Brian rubbed his chin slowly. “It seems awfully coincidental that George would be called out to investigate this business as well.”
“I agree,” Wendy nodded and glanced over her shoulder towards the building. “I don't know what Oliver is going to do now.”
“With so much to lose, and seeing George again, Oliver just might have snapped,” Brian pointed out grimly. “I don't want you to be alone with him, until all of this is settled. Okay?” he met her gaze intently.
“I'll do my best,” Wendy nodded. She could tell that Brian wanted more of a solid assurance than that, but that was all she was willing to offer. Even though she didn't know Oliver very well she respected him as a chef and as someone she had worked with closely on more than one occasion. She truly did not think that he was a murderer. “In the meantime I have to meet with my current clients. I was here because they were going to use Oliver's catering service for their wedding reception, so I'll need to hurry to find them a new, acceptable one.”
“That sounds stressful,” Brian grimaced.
“Not as stressful as finding a dead body,” Wendy pointed out with a shiver. Brian reached out to gently hug her.
“I'm sorry you had to see that,” he said quietly. “But trust me when I tell you this is not over. Detective Dunn is a dog with a bone, and she will not let go until she has her murderer. So, she or the officers might question you again. You must be wary of what you say to them.”
Wendy blushed a little as she pulled away from him. “I know, I can be a little gullible,” she sighed.
“No,” he said firmly and took her hands. “You're not gullible at all, Wendy. You want to help, there's nothing gullible about that. You just have to be careful who you trust.”
“I will be,” she promised him.
Just then the side door swung open and Oliver stepped outside. He had a cigarette in one hand and his cell phone in the other. He glanced at them with slight annoyance. It was clear that he was stressed. His face was pale and his lips were drawn into a thin, tight line. It looked to Wendy as if he was about to explode.
“Are you okay, Oliver?” she asked with some concern. Brian stood close to her.
“Am I okay?” he repeated. He shoved his cell phone deep into his pocket and fished out a lighter. He lit his cigarette and took a long drag. Wendy wrinkled up her nose on instinct. He caught sight of it and rolled his eyes.
“Oh, I know, it's not good to smoke. I quit a long time ago. I kept this one for emergencies. I think this counts as an emergency,” he growled. “I can't believe this is happening again.”
“I'm sure that George's investigation was unfounded,” Wendy said reassuringly.
“It was!” Oliver sputtered out. “He showed up this morning saying that someone called in a tip about the state of my premises. I threatened to bring him up on harassment charges, since he was the same inspector that shut down the other restaurant. But he insisted that the person who had called in the tip had requested him by name, and that it wasn't his choice to come. I felt like I had nothing to hide, so I allowed him to investigate,” he shook his head and grimaced. “I should have stayed with him. I never should have let him wander around alone. But I was just so angry,” he sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. “I guess that makes me look even more guilty.”
“Why wouldn't you have been angry?” Wendy pointed out with a frown. “Of course you would be. He showed up to inspect your place with no reason. Do you think he had something against you?”
“I don't know what it could be,” Oliver shook his head. “I mean, I did make a lot of noise after he temporarily shut down the restaurant. I lost my job and I didn't think it was right for him to shut down the whole place, when my restaurant was clean. I had been bugging the owners for months about the rodent infestation, but they refused to do anything about it. Of course they still spun it so it seemed as if the restaurant that I ran was at fault. I wanted it to be known that there were no mice in my restaurant. But no one would listen, and George refused to make a statement,” he ran his hands back over his blonde hair. “I didn't know what to do after that. I just wrote a nasty letter to his boss and hoped that he would be penalized.”
“Well, obviously he wasn't fired,” Wendy said. “So, there wouldn't be any motivation to come after you.”
“Unless he was demoted or otherwise penalized,” Brian suggested. “Then he might have still been upset.”
“Who are you?” Oliver asked as if he had just realized that Brian was standing there.
“I'm sorry, Oliver. This is my friend, Brian, he's a private investigator, and if anyone can get to the bottom of this he can,” Wendy smiled proudly.
“Well, I hope someone does and fast. I don't think that my business is going to survive this,” he said grimly.
“Why do you think George came out in the first place?” Wendy asked. “Were you having any problems?”
“He said that someone reported a rat infestation,” Oliver replied in a sharp tone. “I'm telling you it is like reliving everything with Nathan all over again,” he shook his head. “I knew when he showed up here a few days ago that it was a bad omen.”
“Nathan?” Wendy asked. “Do you mean the owner of the resort that was shut down?”
“Yes,” Oliver replied with anger flashing in his eyes. “Can you imagine the nerve he had showing up here?”
Wendy frowned. “Why did he?”
“He wanted to hire me, can you believe that?” Oliver laughed a little. “He wanted me to cater for a new business venture of his. As if him completely ruining my reputation was just water under the bridge.”
“Obviously you turned him down,” Wendy said. “How did he take it?”
“He tried to tell me that it wasn’t his fault that my reputation was ruined and I should be willing to work with him. It was water under the bridge,” he clenched his jaw and then exhaled. “The man had clearly lost his mind if he thought that I was going to work with him again. I threw him out of the café. I told him I didn't want anything more to do with him, and that he needed to stay away from me and my business.”
“Sounds like a pretty volatile encounter,” Wendy said mildly. “Do you think he might hold a grudge against you because of the resort being shut down and its reputation damaged?”
“Why would he?” Oliver demanded. “It was not my fault! I kept a spotless kitchen. Just like I do now. Then when George showed up here today I felt like history was repeating itself. Only this time, there's no explanation. There is no reason that anyone should have called in a report. I don't have any mice or rats. I've never had any mice or rats. It's quite clear that there is no reason for my business to be investigated.”
As Oliver growled his last words, two small mice bolted from the side door that was still partially open, and ran right between their feet. When Brian spotted them he jumped backwards about a foot. Wendy gave a slight yelp of surprise.
“What?” Oliver shrieked in a crazed tone. “How is this possible?” he demanded. “Where did these mice come from?” he threw down his cigarette and stomped it out. “This has to be some kind of nightmare,” he groaned. He ran off after the mice to see if he could catch them.
“You okay, Brian?” Wendy asked as she peered at him out of the corner of her eye. He was shaking
a little.
“Of course, I'm fine,” he cleared his throat.
“You don't seem fine,” Wendy replied and took his hand in hers. She could feel how sweaty his palm was. “Did the mice frighten you?” she asked with surprise. Brian was a real tough guy, the only times she had ever seen him truly frightened was when she was in a dangerous situation.
“Frightened?” Brian laughed loudly and shook his head. “I highly doubt I'd be scared of a few little mice.”
“Brian, everyone has something that rattles them,” Wendy said with compassion. “You should see me around spiders.”
“Trust me, I'm fine,” Brian promised her. She noticed that he didn't look her right in the eyes. “But it does appear that George's visit might have been founded after all.”
“I think you're right,”Wendy nodded. “I'm still curious though. I wonder who called in the tip about the mice? Do you think it could have been Nathan?”
“The owner of the resort?” Brian questioned and then nodded a little. “It could have been him I suppose. Maybe he was trying to get even with Oliver for not working with him again.”
“He would certainly know the name of the man who shut his resort down,” Wendy pointed out. “That would answer the question of who would request George by name.”
“Well, remember we only know that because Oliver said George told him that. We can't verify a conversation with a dead man,” he frowned. “But I can reach out to my contacts and see if I can find out who called in the tip. I might also be able to discover if George faced any kind of penalties because of Oliver's complaints.”
“That sounds good,” Wendy muttered. “Maybe we can figure all of this out before Delaney decides to turn his attention on me.”
“Don't worry, Wendy, soon all of this will be a memory,” Brian said with confidence.
“I hope so,” Wendy said. She glanced at her watch. “But I have to get going. I have a meeting for coffee with my current bride and groom.”
“I'll see what I can find out through my connections,” Brian said. “If anything comes up I'll let you know.”
“Okay, thank you,” Wendy replied as she headed into the parking lot and to her car. She waved to Brian as she drove off. He was already on his cell phone getting in touch with one of his many contacts. Wendy had met Brian for the first time in the middle of a police station after she had been arrested for the murder of her boss, Camilla. Camilla had run a very prestigious wedding planning business and Wendy was her number one assistant.
