The Death of a Celebrity Chef

by Kee Patterbee

  Hymn coughed. “Not to break the sentimental moment, but if we are going to do this, shouldn’t we get going?”

  “We should,” Hannah confirmed, “so come on. We’ll need to stop at the hospital and talk to both Jazlyn and Asa. They’re going to release her today, right?”

  Vera pulled her cell and dialed. “I’ll give her a call.”

  Within moments, she confirmed Jazlyn’s release within the next hour. The group split up to make their way as fast as possible. Hymn, Cate, and Hannah left in Hymn’s car. Louie, Vera, and Buster took Louie’s. Once there, with Vera’s help, they approached Jazlyn in her room.

  Jazlyn listened with a harsh, intent look on her face as Hannah explained what she had found over the course of her investigation. The falsification of reports, her suspicions, and her reasons. The most shocking moment came to Jazlyn when she was told of Vera’s place and role in the whole affair. “Her daughter?” She looked over at Vera. “I see it now. We all should have.”

  Jazlyn’s voice was low and quiet. Almost humble, thought Hannah.

  Confronted with the truth, Jazlyn thought about her jealousy of her step-cousin. In the end, she admitted Julia had solid reasons for keeping Vera close at hand, and herself at arm’s length. “Aunt Julia always had a plan. Sometimes we couldn’t see it, but she always knew where it was going.” Her voice was halting. She apologized to Vera and promised to make it up to her. Carefully, she took Vera by the hand. “We’re blood now.”

  After resolving this issue, Hannah restated to Jazlyn what she wanted to do. Every now and again, Jazlyn looked down at the bandages on her forearms or rubbed along the bandages around her midsection.

  “So, that’s my plan. What do you think?” Observing the injured young woman, Hannah added. “It’s our best shot at getting him to confess.”

  Jazlyn glanced out the window of her hospital room and took in the sunlight filtering through. Turning back, she looked to Vera, but answered all. “He’s taken so much from us. Hurt us all.” A determined, angry expression sprinted across her face. “It’ll be my pleasure for Aunt Julia.”

  Once Jazlyn was released, she, Vera, Louie, and Hannah went to see Asa one floor up in the hospital. Entering his private room, Jazlyn, with some care, hugged the man. Vera mirrored her actions. A short exchange of apologies over his treatment of Vera after Julia’s death followed. Asa expressed his regrets to Louie. The two men shook hands, each vowing to make amends for past sins. Both agreed vanity and jealousy were the basis of their differences. As Louie put it, “Just plain male idiocy.” Thereafter, Hannah once again explained in detail her proposal to draw out a confession from Xabiere. Asa agreed to all her requests and gave Jazlyn the authority to handle any matters necessary in his name. After she thanked him, everyone except Vera left to gather in the lobby.

  “I need a word with Asa and Jazlyn.” Vera turned to her new found step-cousin. “Would you mind joining me?”

  Jazlyn agreed. “We’ll be with everyone in a moment.” She joined Vera to go talk with Asa. The rest of the group made their way down to the lobby.

  Waiting, Buster nibbled on a piece of candy from a vending machine. Between bites, he assessed the ongoing situation. “Let me get this straight. When Julia rebuffed Xabiere, he turned his attention to Vera? Why?”

  “Obsession. She was the closest person to Julia. She was going to take over the show in time. So, Vera became a Julia substitute.”

  “Then why’d he dump her for Jazlyn?”

  “Obsession is more about control. He wanted to control Julia. When she rejected him, he killed her. I imagine he felt guilty, so he tried to recreate her, this time by controlling the person closest to her position. In his mind, Vera became Julia, and he obtained the relationship he always wanted by proxy.”

  “I get it,” reaffirmed Cate. “But when Jazlyn became the heir to the throne, so to speak, he rid himself of Vera. But Jazlyn isn’t anything like the others. She played with his emotions and dumped him.”

  Hannah smiled, “It drove him over the edge. Now he has killed again to remain close to Jazlyn.”

  Louie shook his head, barely believing what he heard. “Good Lord.”.

  Hymn nodded. “Right, so the whole incident at the studio was…”

  “A plan.” Hannah crossed her arms as she explained. “He created a plan to hurt her, come to her rescue, and win her heart.”

  “That’s insane,” Louie interjected.

  “I think what you meant to say it was crazy.” Cate twirled a finger at her temple for emphasis.

  Everyone issued a stressful chuckle. After the laughter died down, Hannah continued. “No arguments here. In fact, that’s my argument in its entirety. He doesn’t think in a rational manner anymore. In his mind, he believed that if he got rid of Julia, Jazlyn would get what she wanted. The show, wealth, and fame. Once he revealed that all her success was because of him, she would fall into his arms out of gratitude.”

  “Unbelievable,” Louie remarked. “She was so kind to him, too.”

  A bitter look came into her eyes. “I’d like to...”

  “He’s not going to get away with it,” Hymn promised. It was at this moment the elevator chimed and Vera and Jazlyn stepped out into the lobby. They glanced around, found where their friends sat and approached. Louie was the first to speak. “You all right?” he inquired of Vera.

  “Everything’s fine.” She addressed everyone. “Jazlyn and I have something we need to do before we go through with this. We’ll join you in a few hours.”

  Louie gave a look of concern, but Vera assured him everything was fine.

  “We’ll be there,” promised Jazlyn. They glanced out to the front parking lot as Staples pulled up in Asa’s Bentley. They said their goodbyes, exited, got into the car, and pulled away.

  Louie shifted nervously. “I wonder if I should have gone with them.”

  Cate grabbed his hand and squeezed. “Sounds more like a girl thing. They’ll be fine. Come on. We all need to get to Asa’s.”

  “I’ll meet you there,” Louie informed her. “I need to make a run to the house.”

  Cate said nothing, but watched as he exited to the parking lot. On the way to the Karas’ mansion, she expressed her concerns for Louie to Hannah, Buster, and Hymn.

  Hymn considered her concerns. “Do you think he’s that irrational?”

  “I don’t know. Knowing that Xabiere killed Julia, his one love, tried to kill him and endangered Vera, who knows?”

  “I know he keeps weapons around the house.” Buster looked to them with concern. “And Uncle Wilson told me in the military, Louie could, and I quote, shoot the hairs off a gnat’s derrière.”

  Hannah noted the tenor in both her friend’s voices.

  Cate stared out the window, a solemn look on her face. Hannah looked at her and read it to be guilt. “Hey, I’ve had my concerns about this all along,” she admitted. “This whole affair has put him under extreme pressure.”

  “I’ll keep an eye on him,” Hymn assured.

  Cate, Buster, and Hannah all thanked him for his concern.

  After arriving, Mrs. Staples greeted everyone. Asa called ahead, and she let them in with a gracious smile. She had coffee waiting in the security room above a massive, six-car garage to the rear of the vast house. There, she introduced everyone to head guard Jonas Grumby.

  “Jonas,” he insisted, as he made sure to shake everyone’s hand.

  Hannah put him in his early fifties. Medium height and weight. Solid build and handshake. Muscular. The way he moved and reacted suggested to her he was former military. A quick question from Hannah revealed retired Navy.

  “I’m here to assist in any capacity,” he informed. “This guy’s…” Angry, hurting words choked up in Jonas’ throat. “She was a fine lady, Ms. Karas. I’ll do whatever is necessary to rectify this.”

  Hannah took his words to mean he felt some guilt in Julia’s death. According to the reports, he was not on duty the night she died, but it was
clear he felt responsible in some way. Although Julia was the one who died that night, Xabiere left a trail of victims in his wake, Hannah concluded.

  Reassuring the guard his guilt was not warranted, Hymn insisted he help in taking down the murderous chef. “Tell us about this security system,” he encouraged Jonas.

  “Happy to.” A relieved smile lit his face. He pointed to Hannah. “But someone’s going to have to explain that hat first.” Everyone laughed in a release of mounting tension. It was at this point Mrs. Staples explained she and her husband were staying with friends. Jonas had insisted on insuring their safety. She excused herself to wait for his return before leaving.

  Jonas proceeded to explain Asa had always been lax on security before Julia’s death, much to the chagrin of the guard Asa employed only during the day at the time. This was in part due to Julia’s insistence. She felt such systems invaded her privacy as much as invasive fans. “I don’t like having my every move watched,” she complained to both Asa and the guard. “After her death, Mr. Karas had this system installed.”

  The security room consisted of a large furnished area. Just inside the space was a well-kept kitchenette where Mrs. Staples had made the coffee. At the far end of the area were three huge, wall-mounted monitors. Each of them displayed the video of up to six cameras. The outer two screens broke the images down into two rows of three. These were the grounds coverage.

  The center monitor covered the interior of the house. The six blocks on the screen rotated images throughout the house. “It’s on a ten second rotation. Each image is captured in a repeating sequence,” Jonas explained to his guests. In front of the monitors was a small, two-person desk. A second chair and desk rested to the left of first.

  “We operate in two-man shifts now,” he clarified, “One on monitor and the other on ground or at the entry.” He pointed at the screen. On the first outer monitor, a young man walked the grounds. To Hannah, he appeared to be in his late twenties, muscular, light hair, and wearing glasses.

  “All former military?” Hannah gestured around.

  “Good eye. Wes Walker...” Jonas indicated to the man on the monitor. “Ex-Army. Former Ranger. He’s a good person. You can trust him.”

  “Already do,” Hymn rolled up a sleeve to reveal a Ranger tattoo on his upper left arm.

  Hannah asked to see Hymn’s marking. She traced the outline with a finger when he presented it to her. “Any others?”

  Hymn grinned. “You’ll have to find out for yourself.”

  Hannah blushed.

  “And on that note.” Cate interjected, bringing the two back on task.

  Jonas cleared his throat. “So what’s the plan?”

  Having already explained several times over, Hannah let Hymn do the honors. Jonas listened to every word. “Interesting idea.” He grinned when Hymn concluded. “This is going to be a fun night. I’ll get Wes to bring up some extra chairs from storage.”

  The sun was setting as Louie made his way to the Karas estate. Jonas informed Walker of his approach. He guided Louie’s truck inside the garage where there were two unoccupied spots. Once inside, Walker looked into the truck and backed away, his hand ready on his sidearm.

  Louie stepped out of the truck. “Whoa, it’s okay, I promise. Just let me explain.” He then proceeded to do so.

  Waiting in the security room, Hannah heard the shuffle of two sets of footfalls coming up the stairs. However, it was the third familiar sound that caught their attention. The door opened, and Critic entered, tail wagging and tongue licking. Louie stepped in along with Walker. Jonas shot Walker a what the heck look. The young man patted the dog on the head and headed to the monitor station to talk with Jonas.

  “He’s what you went home for?” questioned Cate.

  Louie grinned. “Yeah, what d'you think? I was going to bring my .9 mm?”

  Cate reached out and hugged him. “Thank you,” she whispered.

  Jonas made his way over to Critic for an introduction. Louie explained Critic was a trained, yet retired, police dog. “You never know. He might be of use, and I bet he’s faster than any of us.”

  Jonas agreed, having worked with canines in the military. “So, grab a cup and join the Scooby gang.”

  Again, everyone waited. Louie chatted with Jonas and Hymn about shared military experience. Buster listened with all ears. Cate and Hannah talked as they stood behind Walker and studied the monitors.

  Hannah motioned to the monitors. “There’s no audio?”

  “No, ma’am, just visual. We can see every end of the property and most rooms in the house.”

  “Can you focus in on a specific area?”

  He smiled. “Sure can. Name one.”

  Hannah’s voice intensified. “The gazebo.”

  Walker typed on the keyboard, and the left-hand monitor dropped all six camera views to one single image. The camera zoomed in to reveal the inside of the gazebo. “Close enough?”

  Hannah patted him on the shoulder. “That’ll do.”

  Cate watched for a moment. “How long does it take to learn this system?”

  “The basics? About an hour, to tell the truth. Half that if you have a brain. Why? Looking for a new career?”

  “You never know. Teach me.” She drug up a chair.

  For the next half hour, Walker explained the operation of the cameras to Cate. “You’re a natural,” he smiled. He noticed something on the far-right monitor. “Bring that in close.”

  Cate performed the operation to perfection. Another car approached the garage. The monitor revealed Asa’s Bentley carrying Vera and Jazlyn. Walker, Cate, and Hannah watched as the car pulled into the driveway and up to the garage. Hannah rose and headed back to the door to greet the girls. Cate remained behind.

  Once again, Hannah heard footsteps, but this time, there were three. The door opened and Vera stepped inside. Everyone turned to look, and the room fell quiet. Louie interrupted the silence. “Amazing.” Jonas’s eyes widened. Hymn stared. Hannah and Cate both gasped and Buster’s mouth fell agape.

  Vera had transformed. She had cut her long, dark brown hair short and dyed it black. She wore no glasses and was in full makeup. Removing a coat, she revealed a pink, satin nightgown. Over the silent room, Louie uttered, “Julia.”

  Having achieved the desired effect, both Vera and Jazlyn smiled. They lifted their hands and gave each other a high five. It was only at this moment everyone noticed the young woman in the rear. A round of questions flew forth.

  Vera explained she felt the look was both appropriate and necessary to achieve the full, hoped for outcome. Jazlyn clarified the young woman was Casey Fronek, the sound producer on the show. Opening the bag she carried, she exposed an assortment of equipment. Of importance were several types of microphones. Most notable were small lapel microphones and a mobile recorder. “It’s wireless, so anything within good eyesight is good to go.”

  Jazlyn turned to look at Hannah. “Showtime?”

  “Showtime.” Hannah handed Jazlyn her phone.

  A few brief moments later, Jazlyn handed the phone back. “He bought it. He’s on his way.” She frowned and looked at the bandages on her arms. “I’ve no idea what I saw in him, even for a moment.” She glanced over to Vera before coming back to Hannah. “I think it’s time to grow up.” She looked over toward Buster, who was still talking to the men. A warm, genuine smile crept across her face. “Well, maybe not too soon.”

  Hannah grinned and shook her head. “How long did he say?”

  “I told him after shift. He’ll be here around 11:30 p.m.”

  Vera nodded in approval. “Appropriate,” was her comment. “Let’s get ready.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Wanting to keep Louie occupied, Hannah sent Buster and him to pick up Vera and head back to the studio. “Pretend it’s a follow up, anything. Just get in. See if anyone noticed anything unusual. Don’t mention Xabiere. It will just lead them. See whose name pops up.” Once they had left, she called Hymn to gi
ve them an update before turning to Cate. “Come on. We’re going to talk to Asa himself.”

  On the drive over to the Karas estate, Hannah informed Cate Hymn was at the museum. He was following up on the break-in, and he would catch up with them after their meeting with Asa.

  Once they arrived at the house, the valet, Homer Staples, directed Hannah and Cate out to the formal gardens. Asa was standing on the lawn in a full-length black leather coat, staring out toward the area where Julia had died. As they approached, Hannah saw he appeared to be blinking back tears. He was holding a bottle of some kind in one hand and a glass in the other.

  “Mr. Karas.” Hannah spoke in a soft voice. “Can we talk? It’s important.”

  At first, he said nothing. “I should have it removed.” He paused. “I never should have brought her here. Big lake. Big man. Big money. Not feeling so big now.” Finishing his drink, he turned his attention to Hannah and Cate. “I’m cold. Let’s go inside.”

  Asa collapsed into a chair when they all were in the living room. “My apologies. I’m not myself, as you can see.” Holding the bottle up, he noticed it was empty, and placed it on the floor beside him. “This business with my niece, and now the museum…” He shook his head. “It’s all so hard to understand.”

  Hannah looked into the man’s dark eyes as she sat down in the chair across from him. “I want to help you and the police end this, but I need your help. Are you willing?”

  “Yes, I suppose so. I haven’t been able to stop it all myself.” Asa resettled himself in his chair.

  Hannah looked directly at him. “What can you tell me about Julia’s love life before she met you? Can you tell us about it?”

  Her question surprised Asa, but he answered all the same. “Not much.” His facial expression changed. He shrugged. “I’m not the man everyone thinks I am.”

  Hannah and Cate waited for an explanation, and after a moment, he gave one.

  “I’m a businessman. It’s what I do. What I am good at. I know I am controlling. That’s just part of the game, but when it came to Julia, she had me the moment I laid eyes on her. I didn’t care who she had been with, or who she had left in her wake. I never controlled her. She controlled me.”