Death of a Kitchen Diva (Hayley Powell Food and Cocktail Mysteries) (23 page)

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Authors: Lee Hollis

BOOK: Death of a Kitchen Diva (Hayley Powell Food and Cocktail Mysteries)
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Chapter 36
 
“So you think Karen was going to marry Lex Bansfield?” Sergio asked, more than a bit surprised.
“Yes,” Hayley said, sipping an iced tea on the front porch of Randy and Sergio’s house just a few minutes from the Hollingsworth estate. She had rushed right over after finding the love letters, and sat down with her brother and his boyfriend to discuss her theory.
“I think Karen had a little money stashed away after her divorce from Martin and she didn’t want Lex getting half of it if the marriage went bust. That’s why she met with Ted Rivers. To discuss putting together a prenup.”
Randy sat forward, completely engrossed in the story. “Maybe Lex found out about her fear that he was a gold digger and went berserk!”
“Absolutely,” Hayley said, “Given his violent history, it all makes sense.”
“Wait just a second,” Sergio said, swaying back and forth next to Randy in a wicker love seat rocker with plush orange cushions, his arm draped around Randy’s shoulder, while sipping his own iced tea. “Karen’s murder was carefully planned and executed. A drop of poison in a pot of clam chowder does not point to a crime of passion.”
“He’s right,” Randy said. “I read those reports from Vermont you gave Sergio.”
“You did?” Sergio said, turning toward him, a scolding look on his face.
“Yes, and nothing suggests Lex has a calculating mind. All of those arrests were alcohol related. Disturbing the peace, that kind of thing. He always wound up in the drunk tank and was released the next morning on his own recognizance when he had sobered up.”
“But just because he only broke the law when he was drunk doesn’t mean he isn’t capable of plotting a murder,” Hayley said.
“Yes, and there is only one way we are going to find out for sure,” Sergio said. “I’m going to bring him in for questioning and get to the bottom of this.” Sergio stood up from the love seat. “Any idea where I can find him?”
“He drove to the Bar Harbor Airport to pick up his boss,” Hayley offered.
“I guess I’ll be waiting for them when they get back,” Sergio said, pounding down the porch steps and striding toward his car.
Hayley turned to Randy. “If we’re wrong, Lex is never going to speak to me again.”
“And if we’re right,” Randy said, “you may have just dodged a bullet. Literally.”
“Should we wait here until Sergio questions him?”
“Hell, no,” Randy said, jumping to his feet. “The file room is right next to Sergio’s office. The walls are so thin we’ll hear everything!”
“Won’t Sergio be mad if he finds out we’re eavesdropping?”
“Honey, we’ve already been busted for breaking into the house of the murder victim. This is nothing compared to that.”
“I like your logic,” Hayley said, setting her glass down on the glass-top wicker table and following her brother, who was already halfway to her car.
Hayley and Randy even had time to pick up some coffee before heading to the station and positioning themselves in the file room.
They sat there for about a half hour until they heard the front door of the station opening. There were some low voices and scuffling of feet before the volume of the voices got louder and they could tell Sergio and Lex had entered the office and were sitting down to have a talk.
Sergio put Lex at ease with some small talk, apologizing for taking him away from his work on the estate, hoping there wouldn’t be a problem with his boss, Edgar Hollingsworth. Lex replied pleasantly that there would be no issue, and he was due for a short break anyway now that the elder Hollingsworth was at home resting after his long trip back from Manhattan.
Randy yawned and gave Hayley a look that said, “Get to the good stuff already!” And right on cue, Sergio cut to the chase.
“Lex, I’ve been going over the facts of the Karen Applebaum case, and a few things have come to light involving your relationship with the murder victim.”
“From your boyfriend’s sister, I suspect,” Lex said, a cool even tone to his voice.
Hayley cringed.
“I can’t tell you how these things came to my attention,” Sergio said.
“Fine,” Lex said. “Go ahead. Hit me with what you’ve got.”
“I believe you are in possession of some love letters. From Karen Applebaum.”
There was a long pause.
Hayley, her ear pressed to the wall, could picture the stunned expression on Lex’s face.
“How ... How ... ?” Lex stammered.
“Were you two involved intimidatingly?”
“Intimidatingly?”
Both Hayley and Randy wanted to scream “Intimately! He means intimately!” But neither was willing to give themselves away and lose out on hearing the entire conversation.
Lex did it for them. “Do you mean intimately?”
“Yes,” Sergio said, losing patience. “That’s what I said.”
Lex paused again. And obviously decided to let it go. “No.”
“I saw the letters.”
“Yes, she sent me those letters. She was in love with me. But I’m telling you, chief, it was not mutual. I had no feelings for her whatsoever. I didn’t even like her that much. Most of those letters I didn’t even open. I couldn’t stand reading them anymore. I tried to get her to stop but she refused. She just kept trying to convince me we were meant to be together. After a while, I stopped contact with her altogether and just let the letters pile up.”
Hayley listened intently to every inflection of Lex’s voice, and in her mind and to her utter surprise, he sounded very convincing.
Lex continued, “The whole thing was one big mess. I didn’t want to lose my job over it.”
“How would you lose your job?” Sergio asked.
“Because it was a very sticky situation and it involved someone I’m close to who did love Karen.”
“Who?”
“My boss. Edgar Hollingsworth.”
Hayley and Randy audibly gasped and both instinctively slapped their hands over their mouths.
This was a shocker.
“They spent a lot of time together on the estate, sneaking around, secretly dating. All of us who worked for the old man knew exactly what was going on, but we were never going to say anything. We didn’t want to get fired. But Mr. Hollingsworth flew to New York a lot for board meetings, and Karen kept hanging around when he wasn’t there, strolling through the gardens, watching us tend to the property, and somehow she got fixated on me and started following me around and asking me personal questions. Because she was the boss’s girlfriend, I tried to be polite, but then it got out of hand and she tried to kiss me. I pushed her away, but she was relentless. She kept calling me at home and saying she loved me. When I stopped answering, she began writing letters. Jesus, she was stalking me and it scared the hell out of me, because I love working for Mr. Hollingsworth and I didn’t want her to ruin that.”
“So you decided to take matters into your own hands?” Sergio said.
“No!” Lex screamed. “I didn’t touch a hair on her head! Why does everybody think I’m some kind of monster?”
“I think you know why, Lex,” Sergio said. “Take a look at this arrest record I have from Burlington, Vermont!”
There was silence for a moment and then Sergio spoke again.
“What about the flowers?”
“Yes. I ordered the flowers and used my credit card.”
“And you wrote, and I quote,
I will miss you forever. Today. Tomorrow. And always. With all my heart.
I’m about to swoon, that sounds so romantic.”
“Yes, I told the girl who took the order to write that on the card. But those weren’t my words. Mr. Hollingsworth asked me to place the order. He didn’t want everybody knowing his personal business, that he was involved with Karen Applebaum, that they were going to elope. There was enough gossip and rumors about him already, given how rich the guy is and how famous he is in town. But he was heartbroken over Karen’s death and wanted some symbol of his devotion to her at the service. So he had me do it, and reimbursed me for the expense and for my trouble.”
Hayley looked at Randy.
It made sense. It all made sense.
“I was just doing my job,” Lex said, sighing.
Hayley actually felt sorry for him. He had won her over. She was completely on Lex’s side now. And she felt awful for doubting him.
Lex Bansfield was innocent of Karen Applebaum’s murder.
She was elated and wanted to burst into Sergio’s office and give Lex a big hug. But she knew that would probably be a bad idea. For both her and Randy. She restrained herself, but her mind was all over the place.
This meant the real killer was still out there. And she was dying to know if the key to the mystery was with the man who loved Karen deeply with all his heart.
Edgar Hollingsworth.
Chapter 37
 
Sergio continued interrogating Lex, and Hayley knew his questions would probably go on for another hour, and, frankly, she just didn’t want to wait. She knew Lex had just picked his boss Edgar Hollingsworth up at the airport, so chances were he was at the estate right now.
She squeezed her brother’s arm and he turned to her.
“Keep listening,” Hayley whispered. “I’ll be right back.”
“Where are you going?” he said, a bit too loudly. “This is getting so good.”
“I have to take care of something.”
And she slipped out the door of the file room, ducked her head down so Sergio didn’t see her sneaking past his office, and headed out the door.
Outside, she texted Liddy and Mona with the news that Karen Applebaum’s secret lover was none other than Edgar Hollingsworth, and that she was driving over to his house right now to ask him a few questions.
And then she got in her car, and drove straight back over to the estate. The grounds were deserted when she pulled through the front gate. She appreciated the fact that the super rich who owned mansions and estates on the island rarely had security or guards or gates that were locked up tight to prevent trespassers. No, on this sleepy island, locals didn’t much care about the comings and goings of the top one percent.
Hayley parked her car in front of Lex’s cottage, and walked down the dirt path to the main house. She rang the bell but didn’t get an answer. She looked around. The wind was picking up, there was a chill in the air, and the waves pounded against the rocks with a restless vengeance. She heard a banging sound and circled around the house toward the back to check it out. She spotted an expensive sport fishing boat, a Sea Ray 280 Sundancer, which rocked furiously in the water, slamming against the wooden dock, just east of the house, and was the source of the banging.
She decided to try the back door and headed up the lawn to the enclosed porch—with spectacular views of the ocean and surrounding islands—when she spotted Edgar Hollingsworth sitting in a rocker, reading the paper. The windows were open, so the noise of the surf and wind had drowned out her knocking on the front door.
She made her way to the screen door of the porch. She didn’t want to give the old man a heart attack by rapping on it, so she cleared her throat and said, “Mr. Hollingsworth?”
She had to repeat it a few times before Edgar, who was obviously hard of hearing, lowered his paper and looked around curiously.
“Over here, Mr. Hollingsworth,” she said, waving and smiling.
“Who’s there?”
“It’s me. Hayley Powell. I’m a friend of Lex’s.”
He squinted his eyes, trying to focus, and then, finally, a look of recognition crossed his face, and the tension melted away. “Oh, yes, the pretty young woman who ran him over.”
At least there was nothing wrong with his memory.
“You’ve made quite an impression on dear old Lex,” the old man said, chuckling. “I’m afraid he’s not here. He had to go run an errand.”
She didn’t expect Lex to have told his boss he was being hauled in for questioning about a murder case.
“Actually, I came to talk to you, if you’re not busy,” Hayley said.
Edgar looked at her, somewhat surprised, but then put down his cocktail and made an attempt to stand up from the rocker. “Yes, of course. Come in.”
“Don’t get up,” Hayley said as she pulled open the screen door and entered the back porch.
Edgar looked relieved, and fell back in his rocker. He just wasn’t as spry as he used to be. Although if she were alive, Karen Applebaum might dispute that assessment.
“Come. Sit down,” Edgar said cheerily. “Can I make you a drink? I’ve got some really good gin. We could make those Orange Blossoms you wrote about in your column.”
“No, thank you,” Hayley said, for two reasons. One, she didn’t want the poor man to have to try and get up again and shuffle into the house to make a cocktail. And two, if he was the one who poisoned Karen’s clam chowder, she didn’t want him putting the same cyanide in her drink.
“How can I help you?” he asked, looking like a sweet doddering grandfather in an oversized gray wool sweater, rather than a millionaire businessman who had just returned from big-time board meetings in New York.
He winked at her. “You want me to give Lex some time off so you two love birds can plan a romantic getaway?”
“Actually, we’re not the couple I’ve come to discuss with you. This is about you. And Karen.”
His sweet smile froze on his face. Hayley could tell he was contemplating whether or not he should deny his relationship with Karen, but Edgar was a smart man, and he knew he had been caught.
“I see,” he said, clearing his throat. “So what do you want to know?”
“I’m sure you’re aware that a lot of people in town think I had something to do with Karen’s death, since we had a nasty dispute over a recipe, and then she died. Eating a bowl of clam chowder laced with cyanide.”
“Yes, and I never took any of that idle gossip seriously,” Edgar said. “I’m confident the police will find the real culprit. And when they do, I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure he or she pays.”
Hayley noticed a tear fall down the side of Edgar’s wrinkled face. He reached into his sweater and pulled out a handkerchief and wiped it away.
He really did love her.
“Why did you keep your relationship a secret?”
“Because it’s nobody’s damn business, and I didn’t want people chattering about it, and saying nasty things about Karen because of our age difference, and the fact that I have money.”
More tears welled up in Edgar’s eyes. He raised the handkerchief again and blew his nose. The honking sound startled Hayley momentarily.
“So you weren’t hiding it because you were afraid the police might suspect you?”
Edgar laughed. “Of course not. I could never have touched a hair on Karen’s pretty head. She meant the world to me. We were going to be married. How could I possibly harm her in any way?”
Hayley listened to Edgar, the tears now streaming down his cheeks, his voice cracking, stopping occasionally to fight back the sobs. She could almost hear his heart breaking as he spoke about believing he would never have a second chance at love after his beloved wife had died of cancer almost fifteen years ago. How he expected to live out his days surrounded by his only grandson and the people who worked for him, his life an empty void, a shell of the man he once was. Never again had he expected to be a man in love.
He thought that part of his life was over forever until he met Karen at a local charity function last year. He had been reading her column for years without ever having met her. He thought from her picture in the paper every week that she was attractive, but never in his wildest imagination did he think that when the two of them would finally come together it would be electric. And he knew deep down he had the opportunity for happiness once again. But then, just as cruelly, Karen was taken away from him, too.
Hayley knew he was speaking from the heart. Edgar broke down and lowered his face into the crook of his arm, crying into his thick bulky gray sweater, and Hayley felt awkward just sitting there next to him.
So she stood up and put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.
“Please, I’d like to be alone now, if you don’t mind,” he choked out, waving her away with his free hand.
“I understand,” Hayley said. “I am so, so sorry.”
She quietly slipped back out the screen door, feeling awful that she had dredged up his wrenching pain all over again. She knew Edgar Hollingsworth was telling the truth. He couldn’t have touched a hair on Karen’s head. So who did?
Hayley walked to her car, going over all the facts in her mind. Karen didn’t meet with Ted Rivers to discuss a prenup to protect her own money. She wanted to know about a prenup because Edgar’s lawyers were probably insisting upon one, and maybe she was trying to find a way to get around it. Because one thing was clear—although Edgar was deeply in love with Karen, she was marrying him for his money. The love notes to Lex proved that. She was holding out hope that Lex would come around, and in the meantime, why not marry a millionaire and be set for life? Especially since, if Edgar died—and he was already in his eighties—if she found a way to circumvent a prenuptial agreement, she would get it all. And perhaps she cynically thought that if she had all that money, Lex might change his mind.
Hayley knew that would never have happened, because she was now convinced Lex was a stand-up guy.
One to whom she owed a huge apology.
So if Karen were planning to end up with the bulk of the Hollingsworth estate, then there was only one person who stood to lose if that happened. Of course!
That’s when Hayley noticed that one of the doors to the four-car garage adjacent to the main house was open and inside was a parked car. It looked similar to the one that stalked her in the park a few nights earlier. She walked over to the garage and looked at it.
It could be the one. She had been so frightened and confused by the attack, she never really registered any pertinent information that would help track it down. But then she noticed the side mirror.
The glass was missing.
One of the bullets from her assailant’s gun had smashed out the mirror.
It was the same car!
She sensed someone behind her. Before she could react, there was a cracking sound as something hit her in the back of the head and everything went dark.

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