A Catered Christmas Killer (A Sinful Sweets Cozy Mystery) (9 page)

“So Howard really wants to run the company?”

“Yes.” Stacey was being more than helpful, and Sydney was pretty sure she wouldn’t remember this conversation as soon as it was over.

“Do they get along?”

“They fake it. Marcus has been trying to get rid of Howard, but he can’t legally. So he’s been stacking the board with his nominees.”

“Does Howard also live in Newhall?” Sydney wanted to find out how close he lived to the Durans and if he’d have had access to their house.

“No. He lives about an hour away. He only comes to Newhall for board and staff meetings.”

“Would he have been here last night?” Sydney knew she was pushing her luck.

“No. It was his daughter’s thirteenth birthday.”

“Did you go to the party?”

“No. I met the Durans for lunch instead. They hadn’t been invited and I don’t enjoy Howard’s family much.”

She’d met the Durans for lunch? That must have been when Ryan came over. Wouldn’t he have known that his wife was with them? Unless Stacey had thought it was only going to be Marcus. Maybe Julia had suspected an affair and tagged along.

Sydney spotted Marcus coming their way. “Here comes Marcus now. I’ll make sure he takes care of you.”

Without a response from Stacey, she got up and filled Marcus in on Stacey’s inebriated state. She was surprised to see that his eyes were red, maybe from trying to keep his emotions under control. Maybe he really did miss his wife. Sydney withheld any information about her conversation with Stacey.

Sydney’s head was reeling. Howard had an alibi, at least for the day. Julia had been killed at night, but if he wasn’t close with the Durans, he wouldn’t have had access to their house. And there hadn’t been any sign of forced entry.

It seemed unlikely that Stacey was guilty of murder, Sydney felt that she was a good person overall. That left Maria, Eduardo and Marcus to check out.

Should she follow Eduardo back upstairs?

Before she had a chance, her phone vibrated in her apron and she rushed back to the kitchen to answer it.

***

“Austin,” she said, surprised that he’d call her during an event he knew was huge for her career.

“Sydney. Are you still at the Durans?”

“Yeah. I’m here until Monday. What’s going on?”

“I just heard on the scanner that the police are on their way. Are you staying out of all this?”

“Austin, I was a suspect from the beginning. I’ve just been having conversations with people to help me clear my own name.”

“Sydney. I’m serious. Stay out of it. This is a big name and the detective running the case isn’t completely trustworthy.”

“You tell me that now?” Knowing this, Sydney never would have revealed the information about her missing knife.

“Detective Moore has a . . . reputation.”

“A reputation?” she repeated.

“For evading honest tactics with interrogations.”

“Well, that would have been useful to know a few hours ago. I told him my knife is missing.”

“Any ideas where it is?”

“Actually, I know exactly where it is. I found it.”

“What do you mean, found it? Like in your bag? Or the dishwasher? Right where you’d left it?” he asked hopefully.

“No. In Marcus’ office. Hidden on top of a filing cabinet out of reach. With some slinky lingerie.”

“What does that have to do with anything? And what were you doing in his office?”

“I followed the maid in there. And I thought maybe he was having an affair, so someone offed his wife so they could be together—you know, a jealous lover or Marcus himself. But the more I talk to people, the less likely that seems or else they’re just really good at covering it up.”

“I thought you were staying out of it.”

“Well, sort of.”

“Okay. I don’t want you talking to the police until I get there.”

“Sure.”

“I’ll see you in half an hour,” he said with urgency, and he quickly hung up.

“This isn’t good, Grace. The police are on their way.”

The two friends looked at each other with fear. Sydney knew exactly what she needed to do, but she had to look innocent doing it.

“I’m going to talk to Maria. She’s hiding something, I know it, and I need to know what it is.”

“I’ll cover for you if they come.”

“What will you tell them?”

“I don’t know yet, but I’ll think of something.”

Sydney hugged Grace on her way out of the kitchen. She was always grateful for the friendship, but even more so today.

She made a beeline for Maria’s chair, but it was empty.

Sydney looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of Maria or Eduardo. Instead, she noticed all of the dessert trays that were empty. She hoped Grace would come out to check them sooner rather than later. She didn’t think she’d have time to go back to the kitchen and find Maria.

She headed to the back of the house to use the back stairs and avoid a guest witnessing her going upstairs. Again.

She made it to her room without incident and headed toward Marcus’ office. But before she got there, she heard arguing.

She knew it was at least Maria and Eduardo because it was in Spanish. She chided herself for not reaching fluency in college. She’d even studied abroad in Spain, but hadn’t kept up her skills. She caught only individual words that she understood.

“. . . Mentirosa! . . . Muerta!” Liar. Dead. She knew these were coming from a man, and she suspected it was Eduardo.

“. . . Familia . . . Cuba . . . Amigo.” Family. Cuba. Friend. Was Maria talking about her own family? The Durans? Eduardo’s family? She knew they were friends and from Cuba, but without more clues, she wasn’t sure what they were yelling about.

And she didn’t know where they were. It didn’t sound like they were in Marcus’ office. But Sydney didn’t know the layout of the rest of the upstairs, so she stayed put just at the threshold of the area she’d been permitted access to and the rest of the house.

Then she heard the front door open and the police announce their presence.
This isn’t good,
she thought to herself and quickly headed back to the kitchen so she wouldn’t be caught upstairs.

“We’re looking for Mr. Marcus Duran,” the police announced just as Sydney reached the bottom of the stairs. She’d heard the yelling stop and doors open. She suspected Maria and Eduardo were doing the same thing she was—looking less guilty.

Sydney made it back to the kitchen and Grace gave her a surprised look.

“I thought you were going to find out about Maria.”

“I tried, but I heard her fighting with Eduardo and then the police came in, so I came back. At least now I won’t be caught trespassing.”

“You were invited to stay here all weekend.”

“Well, I was invited into the kitchen and the back part of the house where I was given a room. I don’t think I was invited into the rest of the house.”

They quickly ended their conversation as Detective Moore entered the kitchen.

“Well, well, well. Ms. Marshall, you’re still here. We’re afraid the party’s over. Everyone has been asked to remain on the property until we’ve questioned everyone.”

“You questioned me this morning.”

“That was before information about the missing knife came back.”

“Well, I think I can help with that,” Sydney said.

Detective Moore gave her a suspicious look.

“It’s upstairs in Marcus’ office.”

“And how would you know that?” he asked.

Sydney hadn’t meant to tell him the location of the knife. But she knew she was innocent and they’d be able to prove that when the knife was in their hands.

“I . . . um . . . I found it there when I was . . .”

Detective Moore didn’t give her time to finish her sentence. “I think I’ll start by questioning you again.”

Sydney was devastated. The only thing she could do was tell the truth. And Austin had made her promise not to tell them anything. She’d already broken that promise.

“I’d like to wait until Detective Massey is present,” she said suddenly.

“Detective Massey, huh?” Detective Moore had a glint in his eye that Sydney couldn’t quite read. “We’ll let you wait for him. I’ll start with your friend instead. Grace, right?”

The other detectives present had already setup temporary interrogation rooms. Grace was taken to one and Sydney noticed that Marcus was likely in the other. He was missing from the main room where all of the guests had been corralled.

Sydney decided it was her duty to keep the party as enjoyable as possible and she made her rounds of the food, replacing empty dessert trays with full ones.

Stacey was still on the couch, but now her eyes were open and more alert. Ryan made his way to his wife and took a seat next to her, holding her hand and kissing her on the cheek. Howard lurked in one corner looking guiltier now than he had all evening. Sydney scanned the rest of the faces for Eduardo and Maria.

She found them in separate parts of the room. Maria was back in her chair and Eduardo was with a few other men. She guessed they were other employees with whom he used to work.

Sydney weighed her options and headed to Maria.

“Are you feeling better?” Sydney asked her.

Maria didn’t answer right away, not even making eye contact or acknowledging that she’d been spoken to.

“Maria? Can I get you anything?” Sydney tried again.

“Sydney. Sorry. No, I’m fine.”

Sydney took a seat in the chair next to hers. She knew she didn’t have long before Austin would show up and then Detective Moore would be sure to question her.

“How’s Eduardo doing since he lost his job?” Sydney wanted to pick up the conversation that had been interrupted earlier.

Maria gave her a questioning look.

“I’m looking for help at my bakery,” Sydney added quickly. “We’re hoping to expand into more regular catering, and that would mean we need someone at the bakery when I’m gone.” While this wasn’t a lie, she hoped that Maria would believe that Sydney was asking for only honest reasons.

“He’s been struggling. His family was sent back to Cuba just before he got fired.”

“Did the Durans know?”

“Of course they knew. They know everything about each of their employees.”

“So they were close then, with their employees?” Sydney asked.

Maria gave her another questioning look. “You don’t know the half of it.” Maybe she wasn’t treated like family but was supposed to pretend.

“Then tell me.”

“There’s nothing you can do. Eduardo will be sent away soon. We both know it’s coming.”

“So he’s not legal?”