Cast Iron Motive (The Cast Iron Cooking Mysteries Book 4) (15 page)

“What can I say? It comes from hanging out with bad company,” Pat said with a grin. “If we’re right, then we can go after Gary, but if we’re wrong, we still need to watch the rest of them like hawks. Where is the mayor, by the way? Is he still inside with Della? I’m still not completely convinced that it’s safe to leave her alone with him.”

I was touched by my brother’s concern for our aunt’s well-being. “No, he left fifteen minutes ago. Did you not see him come by?”

“No one’s been through here since you went inside,” Pat said.

“He must have gone around the front. Anyway, Aunt Della isn’t alone. Henrietta Long is in there with her.” I told him about making an ill-timed joke about being poisoned, since Henrietta had brought some rather suspect food with her. “It serves me right. Now I have to taste it.”

Pat grinned. “I’ll try some, too.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I know, but I’m not going to let you experience that without going through it myself. After all, we have each other’s backs, no matter what.”

“Maybe you’d better let me eat my bite first,” I said. “I might need you to drive me to the emergency room.”

“Can it really be all that bad?” my brother asked me.

“According to Aunt Della, it’s worse. Isn’t it about time to rotate that again?” I asked as I pointed to the lid.

“I have another two and a half minutes left,” Pat said.

“That’s oddly precise.”

“Not really. I set the alarm on my cellphone,” he said. “Now it’s two minutes and eleven seconds. Ten, nine, eight, seven.”

I interrupted him before he could get to six. “I don’t need a second-by-second update; I know how to count down to zero.”

“I don’t doubt it for one second,” Pat said, and smiled gently at me. A moment later he looked over my shoulder and waved. “It appears our next guest is arriving for the festivities, Annie.”

I looked back to where he’d just waved and saw Serena Jefferson approaching.

“Where’s Davis? Is he inside?” she asked us breathlessly as she joined us.

“He was, but then he had to leave at the last second,” I said.

Her disappointment couldn’t have been more evident. “Did he say where he was going?”

“No, just that he forgot to do something back at the office,” I said.

“I’ll bet he didn’t sign the extension for the water permit with the county,” she said. “I’d better go help him find it.”

“He seemed perfectly capable of handling it himself,” I said, but it was in vain.

Serena was already gone.

“Man, she really does have it bad for that man, no matter how hard she protests the fact,” I said.

“Which means that we’re right. If it’s true, it means that she’d never set him up,” Pat replied.

“Unless she’s playing us all,” I answered as the police chief came up the path, this time carrying a bottle of wine in one hand.

As Chief Cameron tried to hand it to me, he said, “I don’t know if this is any good or not. It was ten bucks, so there you go.”

I glanced at the label and saw that it was a decent wine. “You should take that inside.”

“Is Della alone in there?” he asked.

“No, Henrietta’s in there.”

“Then I’d better go save her. Once that woman starts talking, she never shuts up.” As he walked past, he lingered for a moment at the Dutch oven. “Smells good.”

“I’m glad you approve,” I said.

He didn’t get the irony as he headed for the house. Or maybe he did. He paused and then turned back to us. “Listen, I want to apologize to you.”

“For what?” Pat asked.

“I’ve been tough on you, but it’s been more out of frustration than anything else. I happened to like Cheryl Simmons, and someone killing her right under my nose is driving me crazy. Anyway, I didn’t mean anything personal with anything I might have said or done. Okay?”

“Okay,” I said but then added quickly, “Are you taking the threats against my aunt’s life seriously?”

“I take everything that happens in my town seriously,” he said, and then he made his way up to the house.

“Fancy that,” I said after he was gone.

“I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t been standing right here myself,” Pat answered. “We’re going to have a crowd, aren’t we?”

“That’s what I was originally hoping for, but now I’m not so sure,” I said. “In case we’re wrong about Gary White, I need you to be an extra set of eyes for me tonight.”

“Happy to do it,” Pat said. “What exactly am I watching for?”

“Anything that looks suspicious to you. If we’re wrong about Gary, then we might have the killer amongst us, so we still have to be vigilant.”

“That could be a tall order, given how many people are going to be inside,” Pat answered.

“I have faith in you.”

Pat’s phone alarm suddenly went off, and he turned the lid another quarter turn. “That should do it, shouldn’t it?”

I took a chance and peeked under the lid. “It looks good to me now.”

“Just the same, let’s give it seven more minutes,” he said.

“What’s wrong? Are you concerned about going inside?”

“Actually, I am.”

His confession surprised me. “Pat, are you afraid of one of our dinner guests?”

“As a matter of fact, you’ve got me jumpy about the green bean casserole,” he answered with a grin.

Chapter 17: Pat

W
e ended up having a crowd after all, even though my twin sister and I were beginning to have serious doubts that any of them could be the killer. As Annie and I brought in the main course, I was surprised to see that Davis and Serena had made it back in time to eat after all. There wasn’t going to be enough food based on what Annie had prepared in the Dutch oven, but Della—Aunt Della, I corrected myself—had brought out some of the food she’d served us at lunch, and it looked like it was going to be a real feast.

Before we could all dig in, Annie nudged me to get my attention, and then she said, “Before we eat, I’d like to raise a glass to Cheryl Simmons. I didn’t have the privilege of knowing her, but I’m sure that she will be missed by one and all.”

As Annie spoke, I looked around the room. Davis and the police chief both frowned at the mention of the murder victim’s name, Serena didn’t have the slightest expression at all, while Della and Henrietta both started tearing up. Neither of the older women’s reactions surprised me. After all, they’d both just lost a friend. Had the men’s frowns been brought on by memories of the woman’s death, or were they upset that Annie and I wouldn’t leave it alone? I couldn’t tell, but the night was still young.

“Now, let’s eat,” Della said after a moment’s silence.

“Pat, may I speak with you for a minute?” Annie asked me.

“Of course,” I said as I followed her into the front parlor, a place deserted, at least for the moment.

“Well? Did you see anything?” she asked me.

I recounted my observations, and she nodded in agreement. “That matches what I noticed as well. Any idea of what any of it might mean?”

“Not a clue,” I confessed. “We need to keep digging, just in case our theory about the hardware store owner is wrong.”

“Maybe I should have pushed them all a little harder when I toasted Cheryl’s memory,” Annie said.

“If you’d done that, Aunt Della and Henrietta would have both started bawling.”

“Hey, you just called…never mind.” Annie adjusted quickly.

“I’m trying,” I said, knowing what she’d been about to say.

“Good for you,” Annie said. “What should we do now?”

“There’s only one thing we can do. We need to keep pushing.”

“That sounds like a plan to me.”

I was about to rejoin the crowd with Annie when my phone rang. Was Jenna calling me back already? No, it was Kathleen instead.

“Go on,” I told Annie as I answered the call.

She nodded, and I said, “Hey, stranger. How’s it going?”

“That’s why I’m calling you. Have you been making any progress on the case?”

I brought her up to date on both of our latest theories, one that the hardware store owner was behind all of the mayhem and the other that the rest of our suspects were gathered at Aunt Della’s place for dinner. “Do you have thoughts that might help us?” I asked her as I finished.

“No, it sounds as though you’re doing all that you can. I wish I could be there with you.”

“Sure, then you’d get to share the bed with Annie, but I’d still be stuck out on the couch.”

“I’m serious, Pat.”

“So am I. Listen, we’re doing all that we can. If we haven’t made any progress by tomorrow night, I’ll call you back.”

“You’d better. Be careful, little brother.”

“I resent the fact that everybody treats me like I’m the baby in the family, even though it’s only by seven minutes in Annie’s case.”

“Talk to her. You’re both my younger siblings.”

After I hung up, I saw that Annie was lingering nearby. “Who was that?”

“Kathleen was checking up on us,” I said.

“Did she have any good ideas for us?”

“No, she thought we were doing a good job.”

“That’s a good thing, right?” Annie asked.

“I suppose, but we’re still not much further than we were when we first got here.”

“Cheer up. At least we get to go eat now,” Annie said with a smile.

We didn’t get our food immediately, though. We got distracted by what we found in the dining room, though it was no real surprise when we found Serena hanging on every word Davis was saying. We joined the group as the mayor held forth on what a success the Winter Wonderland festival had been, praising the two women who had been the driving forces behind it. “Folks came from all over to see our town at its best. Della, you and Henrietta did marvelous work.”

Aunt Della smiled, but all Henrietta would do was blush from the attention. Our aunt said, “Not only was it good PR for Gateway Lake, but we should make a profit from it as well.”

“Let’s not be too hasty saying that,” Henrietta said cautiously. “After all, we still need to go over the books and write the last few checks before we can say how we did one way or the other.”

“When are you going to have a final accounting to present us?” the mayor asked them.

“Tomorrow noon at the latest,” Della promised.

“I’m not sure we can have everything ready by then,” Henrietta said with some reluctance. “You should see my desk at home. It’s covered with invoices, receipts, and all kinds of paperwork.”

Aunt Della patted her friend’s shoulder. “I didn’t mean to leave the burden of dealing with most of the finances to you. I’ll be over first thing tomorrow morning, and we won’t rest until we’ve got it all sorted out. How’s that sound?”

“I’d appreciate all of the help I can get. Are you making any progress on Cheryl’s murder?” Henrietta asked the police chief. “The entire town is buzzing about it.”

“We’re following up on some leads,” Cameron said.

“That’s cop talk for you don’t really have a clue, isn’t it?” I said.

“Pat, I wasn’t speaking in code. We’ve got a few theories we’re actively pursuing right now. That’s what professionals do, you know. We investigate, interview, and evaluate the evidence.”

“It sounds as though anyone could do that,” Annie said, backing me up.

“Not without our resources,” he said.

“Let’s talk about something less depressing, shall we?” Serena asked. “How long are we going to have those snowmen looming all over town? I saw one the other day that I could swear was staring straight at me.”

“I don’t know. I kind of like having them around,” the mayor said.

“Of course, they do have a certain charm,” Serena added, quickly backpedaling from her former position.

“That’s because you’ve never had one try to kill you,” Aunt Della said.

“Do you really think that was an attempt on your life?” Davis asked her.

“All I’m saying is that it’s odd that it happened precisely when I was standing under it.”

“I don’t know,” Cam said. “It all sounds a little too farfetched to me.”

“So you’ve said,” Aunt Della said.

We weren’t getting anywhere, though Annie and I kept trying to draw out our guests about the murder and the other attempts on Della’s life. Finally, Annie pulled me aside again.

“Pat, the more we speak with these people, the more I believe that none of them had anything to do with the attempts on Aunt Della’s life. It’s Gary White. I just know it.”

“What should we do about it?”

“I know you’re not going to like this, but we need to tell Chief Cameron our theory, and more importantly, we need to give him that tree branch.”

I looked hard at my sister before I spoke. “Are you sure that’s the next step we should take?”

“It’s making me paranoid just having that thing in the back of my car. The sooner we can hand it over to the authorities, the better, as far as I’m concerned.”

I realized that Annie was probably right. There were things we could do just as well as local law enforcement, but this was in the police department’s area of expertise, not ours. “You’re right. Let’s do it.”

I walked back into the dining room where everyone was still chatting and cornered the chief. “Do you have a second?”

“Why?” he asked skeptically. I clearly was not one of his favorite people at the moment, despite his earlier apology, but perhaps that was about to change when I told him what I’d found.

“It’s important.”

That quieted the crowd.

“Fine,” Chief Cameron said reluctantly. “What’s up?”

“Let’s find Annie first,” I said.

“We’ll all be right here when you’re finished,” Aunt Della said, and then she turned to Henrietta. “Did you do something different with that famous casserole of yours?”

“I added bacon bits,” she said proudly. “Did you like it?”

“I could really tell a difference,” my aunt said, neatly sidestepping the question. I’d tasted it, and Della had been right. The stuff had been dreadful, with or without the added bacon bits.

Annie was waiting for us by the door, and as Chief Cameron approached, he said, “Okay, you two. Make it quick.”

“We found the real murder weapon. It wasn’t the flashlight,” I said without preamble.

“What are you talking about?” he asked. I had his attention now.

“While I was gathering some firewood under Davis’s deck, I stumbled across a sawn-off tree branch with hair and fiber still clinging to the bark. Somebody’s trying to set the mayor up to make it look as though he’s the killer, but we have a hunch who really did it.”

“Where is it right now?” he asked. “I’m warning you, if you’re playing games with physical evidence, I’m locking you both up on the spot.”

“The only reason we moved it is because we were afraid someone might try to use it against him,” I said. “It’s out in Annie’s trunk.”

“Actually, it’s more of a cargo area,” she corrected me.

“I don’t care if it’s a kangaroo pouch, let’s see it.”

I called out, “We’ll be right back, Aunt Della.”

Annie looked at me with approval as Della answered, “Take your time, dears.”

Once we were outside, I told the chief, “We think you should be looking at Gary White for the murder.”

“Why would you think that?”

“He had a fight with Della and threatened her. Besides, he’s the only one of our suspects who could possibly want to frame the mayor for it.” I explained our rationale proudly.

The pride didn’t last very long. “I hate to burst your bubble, but Gary’s got a rock-solid alibi for the time of the murder.”

“What?! That’s impossible!” Annie and I had been so sure of it.

“How could you know? He was canoodling with one of his employees all night, and she’s signed a statement that he never left her sight covering the entire time we know that Cheryl was murdered.”

“And you believe her?” Annie asked.

“I do. She’s my cousin, and she doesn’t lie. Tillie might not use the best judgment when it comes to her personal life, but I’ve never known the girl to lie to me. As far as I’m concerned, you can take it to the bank.”

“So, where does that leave us?” I asked.

“I don’t know about the two of you, but it leaves me exactly where I was before. Like I said before, we’re making progress, and we’ll continue to work toward finding the killer until we’re satisfied that we’ve got the right person.”

Annie popped open her trunk, and for a moment, I was afraid that someone had broken in and stolen the branch in question, but to my relief, it was exactly where we’d left it. The police chief leaned over and picked up the branch, being careful to use the edge of a small plastic bag to grab it. As he held it aloft, I noticed a glint of light coming from the house, and when I turned, I saw every last one of our dinner guests watching us closely. Why was I not surprised? “What should we tell them when we go back in?” I asked the police chief.

“Tell them whatever you want to,” he said. “I’m taking this straight to my office and having my people check it out.”

“You’re just going to leave us here?” Annie asked.

The police chief’s only response was just to smile at us as he walked away, so my sister and I had no choice.

We turned and walked back inside.

It didn’t take long for the party to break up, especially when Annie and I feigned ignorance about why the chief had left so abruptly. No one was willing to push us any further, but it seemed as though we’d suddenly all run out of things to talk about.

After our guests were all gone, something suddenly occurred to me as we were helping our aunt clean up the kitchen. “I never got any ribs!”

“Don’t worry. I’ll make some for you when we get back home,” Annie said soothingly.

“Just for me?”

“You can share them if you want to,” my sister said with a smile.

“And if I don’t want to?”

“Then they are all yours.”

“I hope that won’t be anytime soon,” Aunt Della said.

Annie had told me about her plans to stay longer if needed, and I’d agreed. “Not if we haven’t made any more headway than we already have. You might have a hard time getting rid of us.”