Murder at the Menu Tasting
Page 4
“It wasn’t me that killed Grandpapa,” Michael said, “I swear to you Victoria, it wasn’t, so before your accusations ruin someone’s life, please stop speaking.”
“I wish I could,” Victoria said. “Except, you see, that I think you were with the murderer.”
“What!”
A gasp of horror went around the room.
“Dominique. You did it, didn’t you?” Victoria said.
“She’s a madwoman.” Dominique collapsed on a chair. “Get her out of here.”
“No. I’m the woman you asked Michael to get rid of,” Victoria said. “When I was asking him for an autograph two days ago. You were in the room, weren’t you? You needed him to get rid of me so that you could run back to your room without anyone noticing.”
“Dominique!” Tyler’s voice was choking with anger. “Tell me it’s not true. Not with my no good brother! Not the day before our wedding!”
“Oh but I wasn’t the only one who found out,” Victoria said. “That’s why you were so tense at the menu tasting and that’s why your Grandfather was bubbling with anger. The girl he’d picked so carefully to be his grandson’s bride had chosen the wrong grandson! He was going to expose the reality of your relationship with Michael in true grandfather fashion, at the menu tasting, with everyone seated, just to maximize your humiliation. That’s the kind of man he was, wasn’t he?”
“He was a hateful man!” Dominique said. “But you have no proof of any of your allegations!”
“I think I do,” Victoria said. “Michael is a lot of things, a cruel man, a cheat, a scoundrel. But he’s not a murderer. He won’t side with one either.”
“She was with me that morning,” Michael said to Tyler, his head hanging. “It’s true.”
“I didn’t kill him!” Dominique said. “You have no proof!”
“The proof is in the silver earrings you borrowed from Amanda,” Victoria said. “Dominique you fool, you wore diamond earrings to the menu tasting, so why did you bother to meet Amanda right before to borrow silver earrings? There was only one reason I could think of.” Victoria frowned at her. “To get one of Amanda’s pills.”
“What if I did?” Dominique asked. “What if it was only for myself? Those pills aren’t poisonous anyhow.”
“I think a toxicology report will find otherwise,” Victoria said. “I think they’ll find that when mixed with a painkiller, those pills are highly poisonous and thanks to your being in the gym earlier that day, you knew that Grandfather Augustin needed to take high amounts of those painkillers. Didn’t you?”
Dominique said nothing. “You have no proof.”
“No.” Victoria agreed. “I don’t. But the proof is the game of the police, after all. I think when they analyze the contents of your Grandfather’s stomach, they’ll find one of Amanda’s pills. You’d hoped then that Amanda and Gustav would be arrested, leaving you, married to Tyler, now the sole inheritor of Pelletier Industries. If only Grandfather Augustin hadn’t made that horrible, horrible new will which you knew nothing about.”
“This is rubbish!”
“Is it?” Victoria asked. “You’d come back to the room to ask Amanda to take Cassidy for a walk. I think you were hoping to go back to the place where she kept her pills and wipe away your fingerprints. If I’m not wrong, Michael being in the room then greatly annoyed you because you lost your chance at wiping off those fingerprints.”
“It’s not true!” Dominique exclaimed. She looked desperately, from one face to another, and Victoria shook her head. “It’s no use, Dominique. You’ve lost it all. It was never yours anyway. The Pelletier fortune has slipped through your fingers.”
This last jab was too much to bear, and Dominique sprang on Victoria, her fingers clawing at Victoria’s face.
Michael drew them apart, clutching a still struggling Dominique until she slumped, defeated. Victoria stood up. She looked at the faces of all the family gathered there, and for a minute, felt intense pity for them all. Tyler, his face streaked with tears, looked at her, and gave her a nod.
“Thank you,” He whispered.
Victoria nodded and walked away.
Later, her father would ask where she had vanished to, and scold her for being so careless. Later still, she would be in a car, heading back home, watching the snow drift down around her. In her heart, she knew she could have asked for rewards and perhaps Michael Pelletier would have given it to her.
But something in her rebelled at the thought of taking anything from a man as coldblooded as him. Neither money nor praise.
In the lobby of the Larch Luminary, she kept the autographed book he had given her and walked away with new confidence in her heart.
*** The End ***
About the Author
Thank you so much for reading this book! We really hope you enjoyed it.
Liz is an author who loves to write clean mystery/suspense books and Cozy Mysteries. Watch for more of her books coming soon.
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