The Diva Steals a Chocolate Kiss (24 page)

Panic coursed through me on two levels. “What time last night?” Surely they hadn’t seen me with Wolf?

“About midnight,” Lori made a vague attempt to smooth her wild hair.

Whew. What if Randy wasn’t Arnaud’s killer? What if someone had been looking for the tie? “Well, they emptied the house today, so if anyone was in there, he or she is probably long gone.”

“Rumor has it that they’re going to arrest Stella,” said Lori. “Do you know why?”

Nina filled them in about the fake invitation and the discarded medicine. “Turns out she’s his daughter!”

“Then she’s related to me. A cousin twice removed or something,” Cheryl exclaimed.

“Your cousin got me in a heap of hot water by dumping those pills in my champagne glass.” Lori scowled at Cheryl. “I’d probably arrest her, too.”

“Actually,” I said, “some new evidence turned up this morning. I think it may prove Stella’s story correct. Randy had Arnaud’s tie in his house.”

Lori’s eyes went wide. “The one used to murder him?”

The sound of someone screaming
no
inside the house forced us to turn.

Someone stood at the window looking out at us.

Dear Natasha,

I found a recipe that said to
bloom
the cocoa powder. Isn’t the bloom the gray stuff on chocolate? Why would I want to do that and how is it done?

—Confused in Bloomfield, Connecticut

Dear Confused,

That’s a different kind of bloom. If a recipe calls for
blooming
cocoa powder, they mean for you to put it in a hot liquid to bring out the flavor.

—Natasha

All four of us screamed again.

Marla’s pale, drawn face gazed out at us. She unlocked the back door. “Is anyone else here?” she whispered.

“No, it’s just us. Are you okay?” I asked.

“Randy couldn’t, wouldn’t have murdered Arnaud. He was kind and good and—” She broke off abruptly.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m . . . I’m just thinking. Oh no. Oh no!” She nearly collapsed but we caught her. “It’s my fault. I should have known,” she moaned.

“Known what?” asked Cheryl.

Marla gazed around and whispered, “It’s not safe outside.

“Can you walk?” asked Nina.

“I think so.” Marla locked the door and pulled a hoodie over her head. It was way too warm for the weather. “Let’s get out of here.”

Without a word, we hustled through the little passageway alongside the house. On the sidewalk, we surrounded her. We walked fast and in a matter of minutes, we were in my kitchen.

Mars hobbled out of the family room. “If I’d known we were having company, I’d have worn my fancy cast.”

Truffles and Daisy greeted each other and promptly engaged in puppy games.

Marla removed her hoodie immediately. “Man, those things are hot in the summer.”

Luckily, I had leftover chocolate cake. “Could I interest anyone in cake and coffee?” After my late night, I needed some caffeine but I promised myself to have just a bite of cake in anticipation of the fabulous supper.

Everyone was in agreement. With Nina’s assistance, plates, napkins, forks, spoons, cream, and sugar were on the table in short order. I sliced the cake at the table, loaded the plates, and passed them around.

Marla ate and drank like she was starving. The rest of us watched her.

“I told you someone was staying in that house,” said Lori.

Marla’s eyes widened. “How could you tell?”

“We saw your light last night,” said Cheryl.

“I thought I was being so careful. It’s not easy to hide.”

“What were you going to tell us?” asked Lori. “What’s your fault?”

Marla held her coffee mug with shaky hands. “Randy was my friend. We dated a couple of times. Nothing came of that but we stayed friends. He was the guy I called if I needed a hand with something. Just a really good, decent man. You know the type? It about killed him that he had to keep his relationship with Coco secret.”

Cheryl gasped. “Are you kidding me? I never would have suspected.”

“If he hadn’t been a close friend, I don’t think I would have guessed, either. That’s what I should have realized. Randy would have done anything for Coco. Anything! Randy didn’t think he was good enough for Coco. He must have perceived Arnaud as a threat. Maybe he was afraid that Coco would dump him for the famous chocolatier who was her first love.”

“I can see that,” said Mars.

“He was very jealous.” She toyed with her fork. “Coco would be out and about with Mitch in their social world, and the next day Randy would see pictures of them. It tore him up inside. So he came up with this wild idea to get Mitch out of the scene. He was going to plant the idea in Joe’s head that Mitch had it in for him.”

“Wanted to kill him?” I asked, somewhat incredulous. Had Joe been hiding from Mitch for nothing?

“Right. I told him it was a bad idea. He said he just wanted to create a wedge so that Coco would finally divorce Mitch and that would open the door for Randy. Mitch had used his religious beliefs as a reason not to divorce.”

“Religion is a big motivating factor for a lot of people,” Lori pointed out.

“Not for Mitch. Ask anybody when’s the last time he attended mass. It was a bunch of hooey but he had Coco
convinced. If it worked, Randy’s plan would have opened the door for me to be with Mitch, too.”

Mars jerked forward with surprise, nearly knocking his foot off the stool.

“You and Mitch? Wow. Amore was like a little Peyton Place!”

“Wait,” said Cheryl. “Wouldn’t Coco have just told her father he was being paranoid? Would Joe have believed that his son-in-law wanted him dead?”

“Maybe,” I mused. I tried to phrase my thought so I wouldn’t give away anything about Joe. “If Joe had noticed the change in the chocolates and thought something fishy was going on inside of Amore, he might have believed Randy and been suspicious of Mitch.” I stopped talking before I got myself into trouble. For Randy’s plan to work, Joe would have had to convey his concerns about Mitch to Coco. I gathered he hadn’t done that. Joe was a prudent man. Maybe he didn’t want to upset Coco by saying anything prematurely.

“You haven’t told us why you’re hiding,” said Lori.

“Because Mitch tried to kill me.”

Dear Sophie,

I keep seeing something called fair trade chocolate. What does that mean?

—Chocolate Lover in Fairview, Indiana

Dear Chocolate Lover,

It’s not just about chocolate beans. The ingredients in any product marked
fair trade
came from farmers and laborers who were paid a fair price or wage and were not exploited.

—Sophie

“I had to go somewhere Mitch would never look for me,” Marla said. “I left my car at the airport to throw him off my tracks. Then I took the subway back to Old Town. I knew that Randy kept a spare key under a fake rock in the back. It wasn’t like anyone was living there, so it seemed like a good choice. I was still anxious, of course, but I felt certain that Mitch would never think to look there.”

“Why would Mitch want to murder you?” asked Cheryl.

Marla’s shoulders sagged. “I feel like such an idiot. You get to a certain age in life where you think you should be more clever. When you’ve lived through ups and downs, and been married and divorced, and you feel like you’ve developed a sense about people. I trusted him. I . . . loved Mitch. How stupid could I have been? We’d been together for two years. His marriage had deteriorated, and I thought he would leave Coco one day. When Joe disappeared, Mitch was out-of-his-mind anxious. Everyone was worried, but Mitch seemed more troubled than everyone else. We waited for ransom calls that never came. No messages. Just nothing. Coco burst into tears if anyone looked at her. It was awful.”

“Mitch?” prompted Lori.

Marla sniffled. “I heard Randy had been poisoned. It broke my heart. I was hollow inside. You know that feeling when someone dies? I couldn’t think straight. I walked around like a mindless zombie just going through the motions. The day that Sophie came by to check out Joe’s office, she asked me if we, Amore, used any boxes that weren’t in Joe’s display. It wasn’t until that moment that it occurred to me that Mitch had given me a special box of chocolates. He’d said they were a little gesture to thank me because he knew how difficult things were without Joe around. It was a little red box, unmarked, with six gorgeous chocolates inside. I thanked him, but let’s face it—I work for a chocolate company. I’m kind of sick of chocolates. They’re not anything special to me anymore. The box was laying on my desk when Randy came through and asked if he could try one.”

Marla gazed at us with teary eyes. “If I had only said
no
. Instead, I told him he could have the entire box.”

“The poisoned chocolates that killed him.” Icy shivers rippled down my back. “Mitch meant them for you! I’ll call Wolf.” I jumped up to fetch the phone.

Marla shrieked, “No! Please don’t involve the cops, Sophie. All due respect to you, Lori, but if I tell the police,
Mitch will be out on bond in a split second and then where will I be? No, I have to outsmart him.”

There was probably some truth to what she said. If the police didn’t have enough information to prosecute, they might not even bring charges. “What about the fingerprints inside the box? Wolf told me they found an unidentified set.”

“They must be mine. I would be very surprised if Mitch was that sloppy. I’m sure he wore gloves when he poisoned them.”

“Surely he wasn’t wearing gloves when he handed them to you.”

Marla frowned at her. “The box was in one of those cellophane wrappers—the kind that’s like a bag and ties at the top. I remember thinking Mitch was being very tidy to whisk it away when I opened it. He’s not a dummy. That’s where you come in, Sophie,” said Marla. “I have a plan.”

Nina had been quiet through the entire revelation.
Now
she came to life. “Let’s hear it!”

“No.” I said it as calmly and quietly as I could. Not that it was easy. “I’m in so much trouble with the police right now. You can’t even imagine.”

“Really?” Nina sounded suspicious. “Why don’t I know about this?”

I kept my explanation brief. “They feel like I’ve been interfering with their investigation. That’s all.”

“This won’t get you into trouble,” Marla argued. “It’s not illegal or anything.”

“Hear her out,” said Lori.

Marla leaned forward in her eagerness. “I know you’re good friends with Bernie. I need you to call in a favor if you can.”

Mars laughed. “No problem. Bernie would do anything for Sophie.”

And then, just as I was about to say
no
, Marla said, “You know, it’s very weird being on the lam. It’s amazing what you see out on the streets around, say, three in the morning.” She gazed straight at me.

I knew exactly what she had seen. She was blackmailing me! I sat down again and listened. If not for me, then for Wolf’s sake. Even if I took the heat for her plan.

At five o’clock that afternoon, a full hour before the guests were to arrive, Nina drove Mars to The Laughing Hound, while I escorted the hoodie-clad Marla up the alley behind the restaurant and in through the service entrance.

Bernie waited for us. He handed Marla a waitress uniform that consisted of a long-sleeved white shirt, a black vest, and a black skirt.

When she left to change clothes, Bernie whispered, “Are you okay?”

“What a funny thing to ask, Bernie. I’d think you’d be more concerned about us causing a scene.”

“Should I call Wolf?”

I squared my shoulders. “I think I’d better do that. Keep Marla here, okay? I’ll be back.”

“Where are you going?”

“To see a friend.”

One of the many things I loved about Old Town was the ability to walk almost everywhere. It came in handy, especially when someone was in hiding and not answering his telephone. I let myself in the back gate to the rental house where Joe was staying. The police were probably notifying Wolf of my presence right that minute.

I knocked on the living room door. No one answered.

I knocked again and heard a male voice hiss, “Go away!”

“It’s okay, Joe. It was all a lie. Randy just wanted you to
think
Mitch was after you.”

The curtain over the glass door edged over a hair. Joe opened the door and let me in. “A lie?”

“Marla told us. Randy hoped to drive a wedge between
you and Mitch so he would leave Amore, and Randy could have Coco all to himself.”

Joe stared at me, clearly confused.

“Randy wanted to discredit Mitch so you would toss him out, and Coco would finally divorce him.”

Joe staggered backward and reached for the sofa to steady himself. “Are you telling me that I’ve been hiding out here because Randy made up that story about Mitch hiring him to kill me?”

“That’s about right.”

His eyes narrowed. “Have you informed the police?”

“It’s kind of a long story but Marla fears Mitch and thinks if she goes to the police, they won’t arrest him and then it will be worse for her. So, she’s going to play a little trick on him at the dinner tonight. I thought you might want to come and celebrate with your family. They will be so thrilled to know that you’re alive and well.”

Joe smiled. “I’m not prone to big displays, but this one time, I think it might be fun. I’ll be there.”

I turned to go and had opened the door when Joe said, “And we’ll tell Wolf this was my idea. Okay?”

“Thanks, Joe.” I left the premises in a hurry, but Wolf weighed heavily on my mind. I pulled out my cell phone and called him.

“I’d like to invite you to join us at The Laughing Hound for dinner tonight.”

“I thought you understood. I can’t, Soph. We can’t socialize. And what are you doing at Joe’s? You promised me.”

Good grief
. “It’s business, you dufus. I thought you might want to be there.”

He didn’t say anything for a long moment. I imagined I could feel his embarrassment.

“Okay. On my way.”

I heaved a huge sigh of relief. Now, if Marla could just pull this off without Mitch jumping up and stabbing her with a steak knife.