1 Chocolate Worth Dying For (6 page)

"I don't see how," she said sighing. "I mean Bernice swears this is because of West Shore development and that – was," she said pausing, "one of Ron Vandemeers' projects."

Officer Martin looked a little more interested. "And you?"

"I asked Tracey about it and she said Ron offered to buy Bernice out and help her find an assisted living place but she wasn't interested so he didn't worry about it."

"Mm. Well, they seem to be having trouble keeping what they've got afloat."

By the time Maxine and Heath had finished giving statements and locked up it was late afternoon. With Devon's investment party at six they barely had time to make it to the hospital and find out Bernice was being kept over-night. "It's not a problem," she assured Bernice. "I'll come pick you up when you're ready to go home."

Bernice's eyes teared up and Maxine felt ready to cry herself. How could anyone hurt someone like that? Beside her she could see Heath's fist clench.

"We're slow at the shop. We could probably get Jane to run the cafe tomorrow and spend a few hours cleaning out her place. It'll be a lot better for her when she gets back."

"She's going to need more than that. I can go out a couple of times a week and check on her, make sure she's eating."

"I'll check with Grandma. There must be some help she can get. I bet you Ellie will be able to make some suggestions."

They were running late as they loaded up the van with truffles, and some killer chocolate cake for Devon's event.

But as they pulled into the drive way of her beautiful Beach Drive address in the prestigious uplands area of Victoria Maxine couldn't help but stop for a minute to take in the gorgeous house before them. A Victorian classic it looked out over the water. Beautiful lawns gave way to a gorgeous rose garden that perfumed the night air.

"So this is how the other half lives," Heath said, whistling appreciatively.

"I guess if someone who makes their living as an investment advisor can't do well investing, that wouldn't be a good thing," Maxine observed. "And her husband must make a fair amount as a cardiac surgeon too."

Devon greeted them at the door warmly. "I'll show you where the kitchen is and you can get set up," she said warmly. "Some of the ladies are already here."

"Oh dear," Maxine said. "I thought you didn't want us here until 6:00 – 6:30."

"It's not a problem. Tracey's here along with Nikki. They had a meeting earlier. When they were talking about going for dinner first I just said come here, we'll have dinner before the presentation." She smiled at David as he entered the kitchen. "After all, what's a couple more for dinner?"

"What, indeed?" David said, grinning good-naturedly. "I'm just going to put some chips and dip together and go watch the game in my den. It's good to see you again."

"And you," Maxine said responding automatically as she whipped off the coverings to the truffles and cupcakes. Remembering how much he'd enjoyed the truffles at the museum event she popped a few on his plate. "Here's a couple of truffles as well."

"I can't say no to those," he said smiling before disappearing into another area of the house.

"We've just had some coffee but if you'd like to make up some of those chocolate martinis you made the other day they'd be perfect for tonight. And like I said feel free to join us. Even if you can't invest anything right now if you come into some extra money you'll have some ideas."

"Chocolate martinis coming right up," she said cheerfully. She arranged a tray with a fine layer of cocoa while Heath set about mixing vodka with white creme de cocoa and ice cubes. He poured the ingredients into a cocktail shaker and shook vigorously while she rimmed glasses into the cocoa. Then after he'd poured the cocktails into each glass she garnished each with a small Hershey's kiss.

With one tray of cocktails made up she headed into the living room. There was a good turnout she noted. Everyone from Tracey's party plus Chelsea Evans, an older lady she'd never met and two she'd met before but couldn't quite place.

Devon smiled at her warmly as she entered. Social though the occasion was Maxine couldn't help but notice she had a projector set up and was giving a slide presentation. She wasn't too sure what a beach in Mexico or Barbados had to do with investing but it sure did look inviting.

As the cocktails kept flowing along with the truffles and assorted chocolate desserts the laughter continued to increase in volume. Who knew investing could be so much fun?

She said as much to Wendy Carr when she drifted into the kitchen mid-party. "Yeah, just a barrel of laughs. And with Rae-Ann out of the way no one asks any of those pesky questions anymore." Tears came to her eyes.

Maxine froze. "Rae-Ann was asking questions?"

"Yeah, she always asked questions at these things." A few more tears leaked out. The woman actually was capable of showing emotion. "That's just the way she was. You know, she studied journalism in university. It stuck with her I guess." She shrugged. "But she never found anything. I'd have known if she did. And we do really well with Devon's pics."

"So I should invest?"

Wendy shrugged. "If you've got any extra money."

"My clients do very well with my advice," Devon said sweetly gliding in.

It left Maxine wondering just how long she'd been outside and what she'd heard. She shuddered slightly. But Devon had never been anything but nice to her. And no matter what Patrick said she couldn't get through life suspecting EVERYBODY.

Detective Shannon seemed to think differently. In fact he seemed to think it the best way as he sat at a table in Au Chocolat. "Maybe not everybody, but the chocolate was poisoned with warfarin. Considering her husband's a heart surgeon it might not be that hard to get her hands on some."

She paused in the middle of serving Patrick a couple of truffles on the house since he'd just dropped in to fill her in on the details. "Isn't that rat poison?"

He nodded grimly. "We're keeping that to ourselves right now." He stopped to down a truffle. "Best ever," he said.

She'd known he'd like the dark 'Irish' special flavoured with Irish whiskey. She smiled at him now. "OK, but if it's rat poison almost anyone could have access to some."

"That thought did cross our minds. But a heart surgeon – she'd have easy access to it."

"What motive? From the sound of the party last night everyone's making money on her investments."

" All I'm saying is be careful. And if you hear anything, let me know. Anything at all."

"So noted," she said. But since she didn't see Devon that often it really didn't seem as if it would be that much of a problem. Having it made public that someone had died eating a chocolate laced with rat poison from her shop – she might as well lock the doors now.

Tears came to her eyes. It was so unfair! They'd gone over every inch of her place, every piece of equipment she'd used at the event and nothing – bar nothing – had shown any trace of poison of any kind.

And the knife used to kill Rae-Ann? Did it have to be the same kind she used? And it wasn't the same kind in Devon's kitchen. She'd checked after Wendy's comment about Rae-Ann. They'd been state of the art knives from Rachel Rae's new line of cookware. New knives she couldn't help thinking. But that didn't mean anything. Most of the stuff in Devon's kitchen looked brand new and never used. Cooking clearly wasn't her thing and that was just fine with Maxine. Those were the kind of people who made the best clients.

This afternoon she was doing a major clean with the help of Heath, Marcus and Ally who'd all volunteered when they heard about Bernice's place. A talk with the hospital social worker confirmed that Bernice wasn't taking care of herself the way she needed to. But there was no way she could see Bernice agreeing to go into long term care.

"Maybe now she'll get some help," Ally said. "It could end up being good, right?" She'd tried to put a hopeful spin on it but it hadn't worked.

"We need to find out who's behind all the trouble she's been having," Heath growled. "And I know Ron was your friend but it does seem tied to West Shore developments."

"You guys start on the clean-up. Don't throw anything out unless I say so but maybe you could make a few piles. Ellie said she'd be happy to come over and help."

"No offence but I don't see Ellie being a major help in cleaning," Heath said.

"I know. I know. But she's helped some of her friends go through the process of closing down their houses or downsizing. Apparently the community center even did some seminars recently on de-cluttering and letting go."

"OK, that could definitely come in handy," Heath agreed.

"Yeah," Ally said. "Bernice sounds like a clutter queen."

Which left her to do an online search of West Shore Developments. There were articles from the West shore paper announcing the development and what a boon it would be to the community. Articles on the planning and green features, an article on Ron Vandemeers' visionary way of doing business. Rick Dodd was hardly mentioned. She frowned slightly. That seemed odd when everything she'd heard would indicate they were equal partners.

She typed in Rick Dodd's name. Real estate salesman of the year, Chamber of commerce president, real estate scam. Real estate scam? She clicked on the link. It came to an article talking about the falling price of real estate in the local market and real estate scams to watch for. Buried in the bottom of the piece was once sentence: Even reputable real estate sales professionals such as Rick Dodd have been accused of real estate scams. She clicked on real estate scams.

The Law Society warned of scam artists inflating the cost of real estate during flips. But this was a project just starting out. Others had been talked into buying land and properties that didn't exist. From what she could see West Shore Developments clearly did.

What was she missing? She scrolled down a list of tax scams, sales scams and assorted flim flam acts. But so far she wasn't seeing anything to raise red flags or any other colour. Some sleuth she was.

She looked at pictures of Ron Vandemeer and Rick Dodd shaking hands with local politicians and members of the chamber of commerce. They were all around good guys as far as she could see.

She stopped as she was about to click through another picture. There. In the background. The same woman she'd seen at Ron's funeral. She enlarged the picture. The woman wasn't identified but the picture was of Ron at West Shore's city hall. He seemed to be getting presented with an award of some kind. Did she work there?

She clicked over to the West Shore City Hall and started going through the staff photos. Kathy Sullivan – Admin Assistant to the Mayor and also city planning. Now all she needed was a reason to talk to her. She couldn't really think of one off the top of her head. Unless she came clean and asked outright why she'd been at the funeral and why she was so upset. Something told her it might be a good idea to come up with something a little more subtle.

Good thing she did happen to have a fairly large supply of truffles along with promo shots of her shop. Now would be the perfect time to introduce herself to the Mayor's office. With an assortment of her chocolates to give them a sample of what they could expect if they hired Au Chocolat for their next affair.

And while they were passing around chocolates and promoting their product she could talk to Kathy Sullivan. Now all she had to do was convince Heath to drop what he was doing now and help her with her latest scheme.

Heath refused. "This is something for the police to deal with," he said stubbornly. "We need you out here going through everything so that it's ready for Bernice when she comes home."

Fortunately Ellie stopped by the shop at about that time.

"She's upstairs," Jane said and Ellie made her way up the stairs as Maxine finished arranging a platter of truffles.

"Catering an event!" Ellie said brightly.

"Not quite," Maxine said brightly. "But I've decided if there's no business coming through the doors I'm going to have to make an effort to get my chocolate in the hands of people who might need a caterer."

Ellie looked a little worried. "I know none of this is your fault but it still might be best just to wait it out for at least a few days."

Maxine looked at her suspiciously. "What did you do with grandmother and where can I find her?"

Ellie laughed. "I had that coming. But honey – people might not be that receptive to you right now. I can lend you some money to tide you over."

"I'm not taking money from you," she said firmly. "And the real reason I'm going out there is because I found the weeping woman from Ron's funeral."

Ellie's ears perked up. "And?"

"And she works in the West Shore City Hall as an Administrative Assistant to the mayor and also the city planner."

"Really?"

"Really. So – since I've got a little spare time now and some extra truffles I thought this would be a good time to introduce myself to the local community and give out samples."

"And you are so right. I'll be happy to help out," Ellie said.

They'd decided to make up a tray of fresh fruit with a chocolate fondant dip.

"People love fresh fruit," Ellie had said cheerfully. "Especially if there's chocolate to dip it in…

But Maxine couldn't help being a little apprehensive. She'd never had anything but positive comments from people when she'd done tastings. However arrangements were usually made in advance. This would be her first drop in tasting and she wasn't sure how good the reception was going to be.

It's chocolate she told herself. No one can turn down free chocolate. On the other hand she wasn't sure what she'd do if they did. And considering the number of cancellations she'd had since … she shuddered slightly …the two murders at events she'd catered, people clearly weren't willing to risk death for chocolate. Even really good chocolate. Who could blame them?

She smiled. "We'll put on our best smiles as we walk in and start offering samples as soon as we walk through the doors. If anyone stops to think about who we are, it'll be too late."

"Too bad we don't know the layout of city hall better," Ellie said. "One of us could make a beeline for the mayor's office and Kathleen Sullivan while the other stalled. I'd probably be good at that."

Maxine shot Grandma Ellie a smile. "You're good at all kinds of things but the website didn't have a map of city hall so we're just going to have to wing it." She pulled her little, red smart car into a parking spot.

Grandma Ellie was in great shape. For someone in their seventies. Maxine gave her a big smile. "Why don't you wait at the top of the stairs and I'll bring the chocolates and fruit tray up?"

"I'll do no such thing," her grandmother huffed. "I'm not ready for the nursing home yet."

"I know that," Maxine said. "And I also know I'd never forgive myself if you fell carrying trays of my chocolates up the stairs."

"Then I'll just have to make sure that doesn't happen," Ellie said smartly.

At least she wasn't wearing heels. Which was more than Maxine could say, herself. She was used to running around all day in three inch heels so they didn't count. At least that's what she told herself as she deftly removed the chocolate dip from the fruit plate and gave it to her grandma Ellie to carry. She handed over some business cards and brochures for her to carry as well.

Then stacking the two trays together she stashed her purse in the back where no potential burglars could see it and locked the door.

"There, all set," she said turning towards the stairs. "Let's go!"

At the top they stopped to rearrange the trays while Ellie made sure she had some business cards at the ready as well. In a simple spring dress with a flouncy skirt and white top Maxine attracted her share of attention. But it was her grandma Ellie in a bright red pucchi inspired print top and pants to match with ballerina style shoes that really drew peoples' eyes. Upstaged by a seventy year old Maxine thought smiling.

They sailed straight into the main city hall entrance to see signs directing them to wickets designed to take parking ticket payments and other assorted fines. It didn't look overly busy. But then she, herself, did most business she needed to do with city hall online. She suspected many others did as well.

Since West Shore had grown by leaps and bounds in the past decade they had a new, modern city hall whose floors gleamed while a tasteful sculpture by a local artist had pride of place in the lobby and photographs from days gone by mixed with more pictures by modern, local artists. An information desk stood off to one side close to a flight of stairs going up to a second level which looked down over the main.

She stopped there now. "We're from Au Chocolat. We're here to give out samples of our chocolates – in case anyone's looking for a caterer. Plus, we have a chocolate shop downtown." She offered the lady a truffle from her platter.

"I really shouldn't", the lady said, almost drooling. "But they do look good. Why don't you go upstairs and stop in the mayor's office. His secretary usually handles any catering that needs to be done."

"Thanks so much," Maxine said brightly as the woman pointed towards the stairs. "Do you like raspberry?"

"Ooh, I love it," the woman groaned as she looked at the tray of glossy chocolate truffles.

"Then try this one," Maxine said. "It's dark chocolate with a raspberry truffle filling. It's one of my most popular." She winked at her. "Maybe you can tell me why after you try it."

"And one can't possibly hurt," Ellie said as the woman wavered. "It's good for the soul."

She smiled at them and popped the truffle in her mouth. An expression of pure bliss transformed her face. "This is heavenly," she said.

Gesturing with her hands for them to stop she savoured the last of the truffle. "Give me a minute. I'll call upstairs and let Kath know you're on the way. She won't want to miss these."

Maxine and Ellie looked at one another. "See. I told you those chocolates would open doors for you," Grandma Ellie said knowingly.

"Just as long as it's not a jail cell," Maxine said under her breath.

"Really Maxine. Don't even think that way," her grandma scolded her as they made their way upstairs. Kathleen Sullivan was coming out of her office as they started in the direction of the mayor's office.

She looked at them and Maxine saw a flash of recognition. She looked as if she were ready to turn and head in the opposite direction as fast as her feet could carry her. Maxine stepped forward.

"Kathleen Sullivan?"

The woman stopped. "Yes. Is there something I could do for you?" Her expression was anything but welcoming.

"You were at Ron Vandemeers funeral weren't you?"

Kathleen looked defiant. "He was a good friend. I wanted to show my respect."

"We all did," Maxine said simply. "But you seemed so upset…"

Kathleen said sharply. "He was a good friend to me. And I didn't expect…." She broke off looking upset. "I've said too much already."

"We're just here giving out samples of our chocolates. Business has been a little slow lately."

"Yes, I can imagine," Kathleen said, her voice clipped. "If you leave me a brochure I'll make sure the mayor sees it. We get sandwich trays in sometimes for council meetings and …" she shook her head. "I'll see if there's anything we can use your catering for. After all it wasn't your fault…"

"Somehow I don't see you as being to blame either," she said softly. "If you want to talk I'd be happy to have coffee with you sometime or…"

Kathleen shook her head. "We were just friends. There's nothing to talk about."

"Still. If you decide you'd like to."

"You're too kind," Kathleen said, taking the brochure. But her voice said she didn't think anything of the sort. Her voice said she wanted to be left alone.

"It's so difficult to lose someone you love," Ellie said, looking almost as sad as if she herself had experienced Ron's death in this matter.

"We were friends, that's all," Kathleen said firmly, a hint of anger in her voice. "For you to suggest otherwise…"

"Oh my dear, I wouldn't dream of suggesting anything improper," Ellie said. "But clearly you had deep feelings for him. I mean it was obvious to anyone who saw you at the funeral…"

Kathleen's' cheeks flushed pink. "I, I over-reacted. "He's been so good to me." She led them down a small highway and into a large office area. A plaque on the desk showed her name. "We weren't having an affair. But he's been an important mentor to me. See, I'm trying to develop my own business – but I'm not quite ready to give up this job until I have a few more clients. Ron, well he was just – so helpful to me. I'd never have gotten as far as I have. And then… when he was…killed." Her lips quivered dangerously. "It's just so unfair. He never did anything to hurt anyone."

"There, there," Ellie said putting her tray of fruit down.

"I know some people seem to think he was trying to force them out of their homes for his new development," Maxine said.

"You've been talking to that Bernice haven't you?" she said angrily. "Ron never did anything but try to help her."

"Perhaps," Maxine said. "But it sounds as if there have been a lot of accidents on that street lately. And they do seem to have closed down right now."

"Ron was looking into some of the accusations. He thought it was strange too. But he didn't have anything to do with it! I don't know why they've stopped construction. Ron said there was lots of money."

"So you talked about it," Maxine said frowning.

"We were talking about business in general," she said impatiently. "He said it was important to make sure you were properly capitalized. That's why so many businesses had a problem when the recession came. They were over-extended. He said it wasn't worth it." She spread her hands out "so I really can't see…"

"Of course not," Ellie said. "We'll leave you be. Did you want us to leave the fruit tray here or…"

"You can leave them there," Kathleen said hastily, pointing to a side table. "I'll put them in the staff room for staff to sample on their breaks."

They were only too aware of her, watching them as they made their way out of city hall.

"Well, that wasn't much help," Maxine said glumly as they got back in her car.

"I'm not so sure," Grandma Ellie said sharply. "Whether she had an affair with him or not she certainly seemed more broken up than a casual acquaintance. And it sounds as if he talked about what was happening to Bernice and her neighbours. So if he wasn't behind it, who was?"

"Rick Dodd?" Maxine said questioningly.

"Maybe he was funneling money out and Ron knew nothing about it."

"And Ron found out?"

"Maybe not soon enough if they're closing down construction," Grandma Ellie said triumphantly.

"But how do we prove it?"

"You worked in banking for how many years?" Ellie said pointedly.

"I can make a few inquiries," Maxine said. "But if I could just go over people's accounts whenever I wanted to I'd have long since checked out Tracey Vandemeer and a few other of the key suspects."

"I wonder if the police have?"

"Maybe I can talk to Patrick," Maxine said. Then she shot Ellie a look. "But not right now. We have to go over to Bernice's and check on how Heath and the crew are doing."

"Any news of when Bernice will be getting out?"

Maxine sighed. "That's just the thing. I think they'd release her now if she had someone to look after her. I talked to the social worker briefly and I think they were a little worried about her condition. So I promised I'd get the place cleaned up." She looked at Ellie. "I was hoping you could help me with finding resources out in the community."

"Meals on wheels, maybe," Ellie said thoughtfully. "And I could help with getting her place organized."

Maxine breathed a sigh of relief. "I was hoping you might."

"Consider it done," Ellie said. "But that means you have to let me help you solve this case."

"Grandma."

"Well. I'm good at being a sleuth." Grandma Ellie smiled gleefully. "No one expects a little old lady to have much going on."

"I just don't want to see you hurt," Maxine said seriously.

"Oh, and I'm supposed to just sit there and let people mess with my granddaughter?"

"I don't think anyone's doing anything to me really. I just happen to be the one catering when something bad happens," she said sighing.

"Which isn't exactly a boon for your business. As far as I'm concerned they're messing with my granddaughter and I'm not going to stand for it."

Maxine looked at her in alarm. "Promise me you're not going to go vigilante on me if we find anything. Anything at all," she said firmly underscoring her words.

"I promise," Ellie said.

Somehow it didn't entirely reassure Maxine. She pulled into the driveway of Bernice's house. The lawn was filled with stuff that appeared to be roughly, very roughly, sorted into three piles.

"What's this?" she said getting out and going over to where Heath was.

"You said to organize it into piles for Bernice to decide what she wanted to do with them. That's what we're doing."

"But … what if it rains," she wailed. "I didn't mean outside. We don't even know for sure when she's going to be allowed to come home."

Heath nodded grimly. "About that. I went and saw her at noon. Just to see how she was doing."

"And?"

"We've got to get this place ready for her to come home or she may end up in long term care. They won't release her home until there's an inspection made and the hospital social worker stopped me on the way out to say she thinks long-term care is where Bernice should be."

Maxine winced. "Does Bernice know?"

"Know?" Heath looked at her indignantly. "Her housekeeping may leave a lot to be desired but she's no dummy. She was ranting about keeping people against their will and having rights when I walked in."

Ellie closed her eyes. "Poor Bernice. I know friends of mine who have gone through the same type of thing. Sometimes getting old feels like you lose all the rights most people just take for granted."

"I'm sure that's not the hospital's intention."

"And Bernice may not be able to stay on her own," Ellie said smartly. "But it's still hard for anyone to face that loss of independence, of freedom."

"She'll have a lot better chance if we get everything cleaned up for her before she's due to be released. That way if someone comes out to inspect it there won't be any problem."

Ellie cast an eye over the piles of stuff. "Did you actually throw out anything?"

Heath gave a sigh. "No. That's why we've got three piles. So we don't accidentally throw out something important to her." He looked thoroughly frustrated as did Marcus and Ally.

"That's what we asked," Maxine said stepping in. "And it looks as if you've done a wonderful job. So how did you decide which to put in which pile?"

Ally stepped forward. "That was my idea. See she's got some stuff she hasn't even opened up the bags or boxes for. I really don't know why she bought them but anyway I thought maybe we could resell some of those. I have a friend who has a second hand store that said she could stop by later and look at it.