by Hillary Avis
“No one pays attention to him,” Bethany said. “So why did the killer?”
“And how is he connected to Trent Gallagher,” Charley added.
Milo adjusted his glasses. “Maybe he’s not.”
“He has to be!” Bethany blurted out. “Ned and the judge were killed with the same poison during the same cook-off!”
“I just meant that maybe the only connection between the two of them is the killer. Think about it,” Milo said. “The only person who seems to have it out for Ned is his boss. And his boss happens to be the brother-in-law of the murder victim.”
“Chuck Bolton?” Bethany wrinkled her nose. “That seems so obvious, though. Wouldn’t he be more subtle? Poisoning two people close to him in such a short time would have to draw attention.”
“Maybe that’s why he did it during a food event, to throw suspicion away from himself.” Milo shrugged. “He’s not exactly known for subtlety.”
Kimmy sat up straight in her chair, as though she’d just been hit by lightning. “Maybe he didn’t mean to! I mean, maybe Ned was an accident, right? Like Chuck Bolton expected his brother-in-law to come to the first meeting, and when he didn’t, Ned got his dose by accident.”
Charley looked at Kimmy like she was seeing her for the first time. “Hey, look at your investigative mind. That’s very astute. Accidental poisoning is totally possible. Novice poisoners often don’t know how to handle the poison and make mistakes like that.”
“Poor Ned, caught up in his boss’s bad blood.” Kimmy sighed.
Bethany stood up and began clearing the table. “I guess it’s not surprising. Ned runs interference for Chuck all day long. He’s likely to get caught up in anything Chuck has going on, whether it’s a family feud or a business deal.”
“Maybe we should talk to Chuck again and find out why he was on such bad terms with Trent,” Milo suggested.
I’m sure it had nothing to do with his sister. Bethany nodded. “I can’t say I am totally comfortable with questioning a murder suspect who can bench press a Volkswagen, but OK.”
“What’s the point? Won’t he just lie to you, though?” Kimmy asked.
“He probably will,” Charley said. “Everyone lies.”
Milo tapped his notebook. “In journalism, we try to find three sources before we consider something fact. We can do the same for this.”
“I don’t know if we can come up with three people, but we can definitely get two,” Bethany said confidently. “We can ask Ned. He’ll know why Chuck wasn’t speaking to Trent. Then we can compare his story to Chuck’s to see how they match up.”
Kimmy grinned at Bethany. “You two are quite a team. Some might even say...a power couple.”
Bethany blushed. “It’s Charley and Milo who are the power couple. Hard to lose when a police detective and an investigative journalist team up.”
Milo and Charley laughed and fist-bumped, and Kimmy rolled her eyes.
Charley poked her in the arm. “You’re going sprain your eye muscles if you keep that up.”
Chapter 14
TUESDAY MORNING
BETHANY TOOK A DEEP breath and let it out slowly, trying to calm her racing heart. Milo’s brow furrowed in concern. “Are you sure you’re up for this?”
“Me? Oh, sure. I love walking into a murderer’s den and poking around.”
“I’ll be with you the whole time.” Milo patted her arm reassuringly. “There’s nothing to worry about. Chuck Bolton has such a huge ego that he won’t even question why a reporter wants to talk to him. We’re just gathering information, not accusing anyone. Anyway, that’s why we’re meeting here at the park—there’s nothing scary here. Just flowers and sunshine and the ocean breeze.”
She nodded and smoothed down her rumpled shirt. Why didn’t I iron this? Oh yeah—because I hate ironing. Still, it wouldn’t have hurt to look a little bit nice for Milo, would it? Or at the very least to impress a dang TV personality. “I think you’d better take Chuck, and I’ll talk to Ned.”
Milo nodded. “Whatever makes you the most comfortable.”
She smiled at him gratefully and then checked the time on her phone. “They should be here soon.” She scanned the picnic area for any sign of them. A few children scampered between the picnic tables, followed by their harried nannies.
A taxi pulled into the parking area and Bethany could see Chuck wedged into the front passenger seat. Ned scrambled out of the back and ran around to the rear of the car to unload equipment from the trunk. She nudged Milo, who’d been staring out at the sparkling waves. “They’re here.”
Chuck waved and strode swiftly toward them. He didn’t even pause to close the door of the car behind him. Ned paid the driver, closed all the car doors, and hoisted the equipment bags onto his shoulder, scurrying after Chuck like a seagull behind a bread truck.
“Milo Armstrong!” Chuck boomed, slapping Milo’s hand in a greeting that was half handshake, half high-five. “And this little lady, the one who tried to burn our tongues off.” He grinned and enveloped Bethany in a bear hug, squeezing and lifting her until her feet dangled a few inches above the ground.
He set her down and Bethany grimaced, eyeing him warily. “He’s sure in a good mood,” she muttered under her breath. Is that because he successfully offed his brother-in-law?
From behind Chuck, Ned gave her a sympathetic look. “Sorry,” he mouthed.
“Good to see you again,” Milo said smoothly. “Glad you could make time for this.”
“There’s nothing I love more than talking about Condemented! This stuff’ll blow your mind. Have you tried it?”
Milo shook his head, and Chuck looked at Bethany expectantly. She shook her head, too. “I was chatting with Clementine about it, though.”
“Oh man! You are in for a treat.” Without looking at him, Chuck motioned to Ned. “Get out the sampler set and the shot glasses!”
Shot glasses of hot sauce?! Bethany’s alarm must have shown on her face, because Milo laughed at her, and she stuck out her tongue at him.
“Watch out, she’s spicy!” Chuck punched Milo lightly on the arm—or at least it looked light. Milo rubbed it like the punch had landed pretty hard.
“Sorry,” Ned said to Milo. He set a half-dozen bottles and the same number of little glasses in front of him. “Here you go—the full product line. There’s chili-lime, chipotle, sweet barbecue, curry, original, and mild.”
Milo began tasting little dabs of each sauce and jotting notes about each in his notebook. Bethany stuck her pinky in the original sauce and took a taste. It was surprisingly good, a nice balance of spice, sweetness, and acid. It seemed a lot more subtle and artful than Chuck Bolton was capable of.
“Why did you create a hot sauce?” Bethany asked Chuck. “Is it a family recipe?”
Chuck shook his head. “I just freakin’ love the stuff! It’s like pow in your mouth. I’ve been a hot sauce junkie since high school. Used to take bets that I wouldn’t try the hottest hot sauce that people could find. Remember that, Ned?”
Ned nodded, his eyes fixed on the picnic table. “How could I forget?”
Bethany’s jaw dropped. “Wait—you went to high school together?”
Chuck thumped Ned on the back. “You better believe it! We go way back!” Ned shifted away from him to end the thumping session.
“So you knew Alex Vadecki, too.”
Ned nodded. “Unfortunately.”
Milo raised his head from his notebook. “Why do you say that?”
Chuck grinned broadly. “Ol’ Vadecki stole his lunch money every day. I always told Ned he should sock him, but he never did. Said it wasn’t fair to punch an underclassman. So I gave Alex an extra one or two for Ned.”
“I actually learned to cook because of it,” Ned looked up at Bethany and flashed a smile. “I’d pack myself lunch so when Alex took my money, I still had something to eat.”
Bethany grinned. “That’s a pretty great superhero origin story.”
Ch
uck guffawed. “Ned, a superhero?! That’s a good one! Captain Spaghetti-Arms!”
“I’m more of a sidekick.” Ned’s smile was as thin as his ponytail. “You can call me Boy Spaghetti-Arms.”
Bethany chuckled. “I don’t know—it seems like you’re unstoppable. Even when you were dying in the hospital, you kept the show going.”
“Enough about him—this is about Condemented!” Chuck snapped, glaring at Ned. “Got any questions for me, Armstrong?”
Milo glanced up from his notebook, where he’d been furiously transcribing their conversation. “Of course. Let’s see...”
Bethany could tell he was searching for an excuse to separate Chuck and Ned. And she knew just how to do it. “We should have a real tasting sometime.”
Chuck looked irritated by her comment. “What do you mean? This is a real tasting. He tasted them, didn’t he?”
She smiled apologetically. “I just think it’s hard to taste six sauces and distinguish between them. It’s easier if you put them on something. You know, tacos or French fries or crackers or something.”
Milo nodded enthusiastically. Must have picked up on my idea. “Oh, definitely,” he said. “Chuck, you want to walk with me down to the pier and grab a basket of fries?”
Chuck frowned. “Ned’ll go get them. Why have an assistant if he’s just going to sit around, am I right?”
Ned started for the pier without even a word of protest, and Milo gave Chuck a lukewarm smile. “Sure.”
“I’ll keep you company,” Bethany called to Ned, and jogged to catch up with him. When she passed Milo, he put his hand behind his back and gave her a covert high-five. We did it.
As soon as she and Ned were out of earshot, she turned to him. “So, dish. You’ve known them for decades—why was Chuck giving Trent Gallagher the silent treatment?”
Ned glanced over his shoulder, as if to check whether Chuck had followed and was listening. “Um. I guess they’ve never really liked each other. Back in high school, Trent was one of the wealthy kids, and Chuck and Mimi were from the wrong side of the tracks. Trent thought he was better than them, and Chuck hated that.”
“Trent must not have thought himself too superior, because he dated Mimi!”
Ned laughed softly, shaking his head. “Trent only dated Mimi to take her away from Alex. It worked out OK for Mimi, but Trent has always looked down on Chuck.”
“Surely now that he’s a super-rich TV personality, Trent has more respect for him?”
Ned shook his head again. “Even when Chuck got famous, Trent was embarrassed to have a pro wrestler in the family. He wouldn’t even let Mimi send him a Christmas card with their picture on it, in case someone saw it and connected them.”
Bethany’s eyes widened. “Wow. That’s awful. And Mimi went along with it?”
“What’s she going to do?” Ned shrugged. “Divorce Trent and move back to the trailer park?”
“I see your point.” Bethany was quiet for a bit as they walked along the boardwalk toward the pier. “Wait a minute. If Chuck was on such bad terms with Trent, why did he invite him to judge the cooking competition?”
“That’s the funny thing. He didn’t. Trent begged to be a judge. You should have seen the emails. ‘Please, Chuck, do it for your sister. All she wants in life is to be the mayor’s wife.’”
Bethany wrinkled her nose. “Wow. So it was a campaign move.”
Ned nodded. “I guess so. Trent finally saw a use for Mimi’s embarrassing family—to get him elected.”
“And Chuck went along with it?”
“He wasn’t happy about it, but he agreed to do it for Mimi. You can say a lot of things about Chuck, but you can’t deny he’s loyal to his sister.”
Bethany nodded, puzzled. “But if he agreed to it, then I don’t understand why he wasn’t talking to Trent.”
Ned looked over his shoulder and lowered his voice, even though they were a hundred yards from the picnic table where Chuck and Milo sat. “When we got into town, he found out that Trent had been having an affair. He blew his top and said he was never speaking to Trent again. He called him a user.”
Bethany’s eyes widened. “Did his sister tell him about it?”
Ned shook his head. “It wasn’t Mimi. She’s still at a spa in the Hamptons recovering from a facelift. And it wasn’t from Trent—he’s not stupid enough to give Chuck ammo.”
Clementine said she hadn’t told anyone about the affair except me. But Alex implied he knew about it, too, so maybe Clementine was lying about being discreet. Someone else was spreading this rumor around. And whoever told Chuck knew he’d be angry...maybe angry enough to kill.
Bethany felt a chill of fear for Milo, alone with Chuck. She looked back over her shoulder to see how the two of them were doing back at the picnic area. She watched as Chuck slapped Milo on the back and threw his head back, laughing. Phew. Milo was the ultimate bro—it seemed like he could get along with anyone, which must be a real asset for a reporter.
“The concessions stand is just over here,” Bethany said, leading Ned around the large statue of a Portuguese fisherman that commemorated the immigrants who had brought their fishing knowledge to the area. The menu at the concession stand was limited since the summer season wouldn’t officially begin for a few more weeks—just fish and chips.
“Chuck doesn’t like fish,” Ned said worriedly.
“Oh, right—he hated Alex’s seafood chili! We’ll just have two baskets of fries,” she said to the concessions worker.
When the order came up, Ned snatched the fries from the counter. “Better let me carry them. If Chuck sees you doing something he asked me to do, I’ll never hear the end of it.”
“For some reason I don’t have a hard time believing that.” Bethany paid for the fries and then walked with Ned back toward the picnic area.
“Let’s cut across the grass,” Ned suggested, his voice strained. “That way the fries won’t get cold. Chuck hates cold fries.”
“It’s not that much shorter,” Bethany said, but Ned was already striding across the lawn toward where Milo and Chuck sat. “How can you stand working for him? It seems so stressful to constantly manage his moods.”
Ned slowed for a moment so she could catch up. “We’ve been working together a long time—I’m used to it.”
“You know, you could work for someone else doing the same kind of job. You don’t have to live with that kind of treatment.”
Ned shook his head. “I’ve put too much into the show and Condemented. They’re my babies as much as they are Chuck’s. I get nothing if I—” He abruptly stopped talking as they came within earshot of his boss.
What was he going to say?
Ned set the two baskets of fries down in front of Milo and Chuck.
Milo’s face lit up. “Those smell great!” He patted the bench next to him. “Sit by me, Bethany. We can share.”
Bethany took the seat, but Chuck held up his hand. “Not if that means I have to share with this guy!” He pointed to Ned and chuckled, but there was no humor behind the laugh.
“No, you don’t like sharing, do you?” Ned said, biting off each word.
Chuck raised his eyebrows and started to his feet, his face reddening underneath his orange spray-tan. “Not with little twerps like you, I don’t.”
“Hey now,” Milo said, chuckling. His voice was relaxed, but Bethany could tell his jaw was tense. “Don’t get hangry. I don’t mind splitting with Ned—there are plenty of fries here to go around.”
Ned shook his head and turned away from the table, staring out at the ocean. “I’m not hungry anyway.”
Chuck slid back into his seat. He dunked a few fries into one of the Condemented cups and popped them into his mouth. Around them, he said, “What kinda guy turns down fries? Hungry or not—it’s un-American!”
Milo smiled politely. “How much longer are you guys going to be in town?”
“Few more days.” Chuck’s mouth was so full that Bethany could barely und
erstand what he was saying.
“We still need to get shots of the prizes being awarded,” Ned explained, sinking onto the bench opposite Milo. “That’s how we end every episode.”
“You’re still going to air this episode?” Bethany frowned.
“Why wouldn’t we?” Chuck asked loudly, pieces of fries flying out of the corners of his mouth as he talked.
Is this guy drunk all the time, or is this his actual personality? Bethany turned to Ned. “Really? Even considering the...death?”
Chuck snorted and pointed at Bethany with the fries he was holding. “It’s good TV. Ned’ll edit around Trent—right, Ned? Cut him out completely if necessary. Viewers won’t even know he was there.”
Ned rubbed his forehead. “That might not be possible. But you know, we’ll be tasteful. Assuming we get the tape back from the police, that is.”
“You better. I don’t want to be reminded of that guy every time I watch my own show.”
Milo furrowed his brow. “Your brother-in-law, you mean?”
“He’s not my brother-in-law anymore.” Chuck used the last of his fries to clean out the last of the hot sauce. Then he licked his fingers one by one. “Shoulda got napkins, Ned.”
“Sorry,” Ned said. “I can go grab some.”
“It’s too late now!” Chuck pulled out his phone and stared at the screen. “I’m calling the cab. You got what you need, Armstrong?”
Milo nodded and rose from the table. Bethany stood up with him and nodded goodbye to Ned. They only had to wait a few minutes for the taxi to return, and then a few more for Ned to load their equipment back into the car. They waved as the taxi pulled away, and then turned to each other.
“Chuck said Trent Gallagher was having an affair!” Milo said. “Alex told him about it as soon as he got into town. Chuck was furious on behalf of his sister, of course.”
So Alex was the one who told, not Clementine. Interesting.
“Ned said the same thing!” Bethany hoped she sounded convincingly surprised. She felt relieved that she didn’t have to hide the affair from Milo anymore. “Do you think that prompted him to kill Trent?”
