FOOD TRUCK MYSTERIES: The Complete Series (14 Books)

by Chloe Kendrick

  Danvers took me by the arm and tugged me away from the patrolmen. “What exactly do you know about this murder?” he asked. “I know you were with Johnny Baird this morning. Did you arrange this with him?”

  My mouth dropped open. “What are you talking about? I didn’t encourage the mafia to bump off someone. I wanted to see if he knew anything about where the formula might be getting switched at. He offered up this place as a suggestion, which I passed on to you. Why are you asking me these questions?”

  Danvers took a deep breath. “You asked if the body had been transported here. Do you remember that? Well, it turns out that it has. The lividity is such that it’s clear that the body was moved from another site to this location. What do you have to say for yourself? How did you manage to know that?”

  The questions were coming at me so fast that I couldn’t speak for a minute. Finally, I was able to compose my thoughts. “It’s not that I had any special knowledge on the matter. I made a deduction based on the facts at hand. Up until very recently, the warehouse was being used for a distribution point for the formula. Since it was a rather quiet operation, not many people knew about it, and fewer still would have been able to be allowed to enter. So it was unlikely that Barb had shown up there and been killed. Someone who knew about this place dumped her here, and I’m betting that whoever knew about this place also knew that it had been cleaned out recently. That would only make sense.”

  Danvers glared at me. He was still not happy. “So what did you talk to Johnny Baird about? I’ve had three calls about you and that connection this morning.”

  I reminded Danvers that the gangster had been at my wedding. I hadn’t been sure of his intentions then, but since he’d never made any moves against me after that, I opted to ask him for a favor on this case. “It’s something I feel strongly about. Parents shouldn’t have to worry if their formula is going to kill their child.”

  “That’s still a dangerous step. I get that you’re worried about Andy, but you need to think of your own health too. Few people associated with the mafia live to a ripe old age. Now what exactly did he tell you?”

  I explained that we’d talked about the formula operation. Baird had said that it was not a mob-related operation, and he had indicated that the operation was inefficient in its use of two canisters of formula for every canister sold. He had given me the address of a warehouse that he believed was being used to fill the canisters and make shipments; however, he had not given me the names of anyone associated with the operation. I wasn’t sure if that was because he didn’t know the information or because he had not wanted to share everything he knew about it.

  “Quite a little chat you had there,” Danvers said when I finished. “You got just enough to make you dangerous, but nothing that can bring these thieves to justice.”

  I wondered if Baird had told me the information he’d shared with me only to get the warehouse closed down without his involvement. I could be the cat’s paw that did his bidding, while he remained removed from a potential competitor’s elimination.

  “What else did the medical examiner say about the body?” I asked, seeing that Danvers didn’t have any leads on the matter. Granted, it was still early in the investigation, but he hadn’t started wondering where Barb’s car was.

  “She was strangled by wire or thin plastic. The cut marks are around her neck, and her face was cyanotic.” Danvers’ word made my mind rush back to the night of the gala when Rachford had been poisoned. I wondered why they had gone with brute force, when the Rachford murder had been at arm’s length.

  “Do you think that the crime is related to Rachford’s murder?” I asked. Danvers hadn’t mentioned a thing about his other open investigation.

  “The only thing that connects them at this point is you,” Danvers said. “That’s not exactly a rationale for tying the murders together. I need solid evidence that they are related.”

  I thought about his words. It was true that the murder methods were radically different. I knew that killers typically kept the same habits, just as we do. Rachford worked for a company that sold phony formula, and Yungbluth worked for a company that supplied Bargain Baby with that formula. Yet that could be said of many different retailers who purchased a variety of products from Yungbluth’s firm. I doubted that the company focused solely on baby formula.

  I puzzled over what would be sufficient evidence to tie these cases together. I would need documentation that showed that Yungbluth had sold this product to Bargain Baby. I knew that Maggie Rachford would have this information and likely be willing to provide it to me. That would tie the two people together. At least then we could go with the law of averages that it was rare for two people to be murdered in two separate cases in the same week.

  However, for that to happen, I would have to get away from Danvers. He didn’t seem inclined to let me leave any time soon. I looked around, but the crime scene team was moving through its routine at a snail’s pace.

  I would have to do something. I looked down at the baby. “Danvers,” I said, getting his attention. “I need to feed Andy.”

  He shrugged. “Go ahead and feed him,” he replied. “I know you use formula, so there’s no threat of needing a quiet place. That’s what this case is all about.”

  I winced. “Yeah, but that’s not what I’m worried about. Andy usually goes potty afterward, and I won’t have any place to dispose of the diaper. Plus, you don’t want that smell here or me putting the diaper in an unprocessed trash bin. It would be best if I leave.”

  Danvers rolled his eyes. “It’s low to use Andy as a reason to get out of more questioning. Don’t be surprised if I stop by with more questions later.”

  I nodded. “Just call Land to make sure we’re home.” I wanted him to deal with Land since the detective was not asking him to be his best man. Perhaps if it were too awkward, Danvers wouldn’t bother us at all.

  ***

  The trip to Maggie Rachford’s house was short. I was glad of that since I had just fed Andy, burped him, and changed his diaper. Since I didn’t have to put it somewhere at the crime scene, I stopped at a local fast food restaurant and slipped the diaper into a bathroom trashcan.

  Maggie met me at the door. “So what can I do for you? It sounded rather urgent when you called.”

  I explained the situation to her as briefly but thoroughly as I could. “I was looking for any papers that indicate the link between Bargain Baby and Barb Yungbluth. I traced her, based on the contacts you gave me, but the police think it’s a tenuous link. If I can show them proof of that relationship, then the police can investigate both cases together and perhaps come to a conclusion as to what happened.”

  As we had on my last visit, she led us into an office in the home. She sat down at the computer and began to click the mouse repeatedly. She frowned, paused, and then tried again. She repeated that twice more. “That’s very odd,” she said finally.

  “What is it?”

  She pointed to the screen as if I could see it. I took that to be a sign that I should move and look at the monitor. “Some transactions are missing from our system. It’s obvious that we’ve done business with Yungbluth’s company in the past. The accounts payable show that we’ve cut checks for them. However, the individual transactions are gone, and the system is going crazy trying to balance the accounts without them.”

  I looked to where her nail pointed, and I saw that the transactions were no longer there. “What happened?”

  “Offhand, I’d say that someone deleted the individual transactions. It’s not too difficult in our system to do that; however, only a few people in the company have the ability to cut checks and pay accounts.”

  I paused for a second. “So what we’re looking for is an employee who has access to the computer system, but does not have the ability to manage account payable transactions, right?”

  She nodded. “Apparently so. Damn, this worries me. I don’t like the fact that someone is covering up something with our compa
ny.”

  “Do you think that your husband could have been involved in that?” I asked. I didn’t want to upset her, but she seemed more concerned about the company than his death.

  She looked at the screen again before she answered. “It’s definitely possible. There’s no date and time stamp on getting rid of data. There’s only a gap. He could have dealt with the situation for months where the details didn’t match the accounts payable.” She scrolled through a few records.

  “I hate to say it, but he must have. I’m looking at some reconciliation reports for this year, and at least for the past three months, the records are missing. Perhaps someone could have deleted all of the records yesterday or the day before, but at the same time, it’s nearly impossible to delete a record once it’s been paid—unless you go out and physically remove it from the database. That would limit the field of candidates to two or three. I would think that deleting the records manually would be too dangerous, given that the scope of possible employees who could do it is so small.”

  I watched as she went back another month and then another. Each month was the same, missing data and unreconciled accounts. It was all my number-loving mind could bear.

  “Can I ask a big favor?” I would need her help if I was to prove a link between the two cases.

  “You want a list of people who could have done this?” she asked. “Certainly.”

  I cringed a little. “What if it implicates your husband? Would it still be okay then?”

  She paused before answering. “I loved Tom. I did. But I knew that he had serious flaws. If he was involved in cheating babies, he paid the ultimate price for that crime. I want to be able to resolve this matter and salvage what I can from Bargain Baby. I don’t want the stain of multiple murders on the company.”

  I nodded. “Thank you.”

  “Can I ask something in return?” she replied. “If you find that link—and now I’m betting that you will—could you give me some notice so that I can brace the company before it hits the news? I don’t want to be blindsided.”

  “Absolutely.” If something was going to harm the food trucks, I would want to be able to prepare for it too. “Thank you,” I replied.

  “The funeral is tomorrow. Visitation at 11:00 a.m., and then the service itself at 12:00, if you’d like to come. I’ve always heard that the killer comes to the funeral. Is that true?”

  I shrugged, thinking that it was likely the killer might be more noticeable if he or she didn’t attend. I carried my sleeping child back out to the car and headed for home.

  ***

  Land was earlier than usual in coming home. As soon as he entered the door, I knew that Danvers had ratted me out. He wasn’t out and out mad, but he was scowling. I had made some dinner for him, a way of trying to soften the discussion of what had happened today, but I knew that was not going to work now. He had heard the news before I could butter him up in any way.

  “What the hell were you doing today?” he said as an opening line. It certainly wasn’t a yell, because Andy was sound asleep. He still hissed the words in anger.

  “I was looking into the murders,” I said honestly. “There’s been another killing.”

  “Look at this face,” he said. “I know there’s been another killing. You took our son to a crime scene.”

  “He was perfectly safe. He was under the watchful eye of two of Capital City’s finest. I’d never do anything to harm him.”

  “You took him to visit Johnny Baird. The mobster who came to our wedding. That’s not harming a child?” His face was as dark as I’d ever seen before.

  “Baird could have killed us a million times over. He didn’t. He offered me some advice on the case, and we left it there.”

  Before I could go on, my phone rang. I picked it up and answered, since the number meant nothing to me.

  The voice was immediately recognizable. It was Baird. “Maeve, I had some troubling news this afternoon.”

  I took a deep breath and let it out. “The murder?”

  “Indeed, the murder as you call it. You went from my office to the warehouse. The police now think that I had something to do with this matter. Things are at a very delicate point here, and I can’t have the police interfering with my work here.”

  “I understand, but what can I do?” I asked, wondering where this was going. I couldn’t imagine what he wanted.

  “You can solve this case. You need to find an answer to these murders that does not include my organization. I did something nice for you, and in turn, I want something in return.”

  I mumbled out a word of agreement before hanging up.

  Land looked at me. “That was him, wasn’t it?”

  I nodded. “He has business interests which require the police not to be snooping around. So I have two weeks to find out what happened and point the police in the right direction.”

  Land’s face grew grim. “It could be worse. I was worried that he was going to offer up a flunky to take the rap for the crimes and have you come up with a rationale as to why that person was the killer. Serving justice is not much to ask. You were going to do that anyway.”

  “Yeah, but I typically do it on my own and in my own time. I’m a bit worried about having a time table to solve a crime.”

  Land sat down on the sofa. He took Andy and gently rested him on his shoulder. “So tell me what happened today. Now that I’m calming down a bit, I want to hear your side of the tale. I just got angry when Danvers told me that you’d been cavorting with mob leaders to get a clue for this case. You’re a mother now. It’s not just you and it’s not just us.”

  “I know, but this case affects us, and it affects parents all over. Andy will be okay, but I just keep thinking about the parents whose child might have a reaction. It’s making me a little crazy.”

  Land smiled and then kissed me. “That’s one of the things I love about you. You have a good heart and want things to be right.”

  “Now I want things to be okay for me. I have to solve this case and fast.”

  “So let’s talk it over,” Land said. He carried Andy with him into the kitchen where he began brewing some coffee. In minutes, the apartment was filled with the delicious aroma of Land’s special blend of coffee, a secret blend that he’d never shared with me.

  I reminded him of that fact, and he smiled at me. “That’s okay. I already gave it to Andy,” he said with a broad grin.

  “How did you give it to him?” I asked. “He’s bright, but he’s not reading yet.”

  “It’s in a sealed envelope in his baby book. When he’s older, he’ll be able to make it—even if I’m not around to tell him about it.”

  “In the baby book?” I asked. “I could tell him.”

  He shook his head at me. “No, this is a tradition in my family. The men in the family pass it down from one generation to the next. It ensures that we have something of value to bring to our relationships.”

  “The coffee is good, but nothing compares to you,” I said.

  “We’re going to talk about this case first. If you still want to show me what you think of my assets in the relationship, that has to wait until we’re done. I would prefer you not bump up against any deadline from the mob. So what have you learned?” he asked. He sat down gently on the sofa so that our son didn’t wake.

  I went through what I had learned to date. The CEO of Bargain Baby had been murdered in front of our eyes with cyanide. So far, no one in the case had been shown to have access to the drug. The computer records of the company had been erased, leaving only a piece of the transactions behind. The thieves were likely not professionals because they had chosen to swap out the original formula for the cheap stuff, rather than just changing the labels. The cans had been tampered with, which required the additional formula.

  “I would think that there still has to be a place where the formula is stored. If they are switching the formula, then all that goat’s milk formula has to be somewhere.”

  “What do you
think they do with it?”

  Land shrugged and Andy’s body moved with the motion. It was adorable—nearly enough to make me forget about the investigation for now.

  “What types of distribution would you expect here?” he asked. “You’re the business major.”

  I gave it some thought. The thieves were selling the cheap stuff for full price through the stores, but they wouldn’t bother to try to sell the goat’s milk formula in canisters. The more expensive powder would not fetch the same price.

  That meant that it had to go through other channels, ones where the consumers had little chance to complain or think about retuning the formula. I cringed to think that it might not be stored in a sterile environment, which meant that the product could be infested with all sorts of things.

  “What’s a good way to try to move products that won’t attract the suspicions of the police or the brand’s manufacturer?” Land asked.

  I gave it some more thought. “Do you think they’d use Craigslist or a site like that? Would people really buy from there?”

  Land smiled. “There are three ads for it on the Capital City page. I looked earlier.”

  “Great. I’m not even keeping up with the man who isn’t involved in investigating the case. What else?”

  “The only other thing I could think of was that the person who started this was actually using the goat’s milk formula. Either their child is like Andy and prefers it, or the child has an allergy and needs it to live.”

  I sighed. “There’s no way to find that out. We might be able to answer that question when we have a suspect to investigate, but right now no doctor or hospital would tell us about allergies and such. There would be even less chance of us finding out something if the baby just preferred it.”

  “But it makes sense. Think about how many containers we recycle here. You could fill and sell those easily.”

  My face froze while my mind raced.

  “What is it?” Land asked. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  “I just had a bad thought. What if they are using recycled cans? There’s nothing that says that a person couldn’t go through the trash and pull out the cans that represent the more desirable brands. It would be so easy. People already come by and pull out the items they think might be useful. What’s to say that this isn’t happening with the recycle bins as well?”