Digging for Dirt (Heavenly Highland Inn Cozy Mystery Book 9) (6 page)

Sarah raised an eyebrow. “That’s what you said about the banquet hall.”

“I know, I know.” Vicky sighed and headed for the kitchen.

W
hen Vicky walked
into the kitchen, she noticed right away that Henry was doing his inventory. He had several boxes pulled out of the pantry and a clipboard in his hand. Sarah had offered several times to arrange for another staff member to do that for him so he could focus on cooking, but he was very picky about his food and preferred to keep track of it himself.

“Chef Henry.” Vicky’s voice trembled slightly as she spoke. Henry glanced over at her swiftly and then back at his clipboard.

“Please, give me just a moment, Vicky, or I will lose track of my count.” He turned back to the crate of tomatoes he was sorting through. Vicky waited patiently. It was not as if waiting a few more minutes was going to change what had already happened.

“I’m sorry to make you wait, Vicky. The inventory should have been done yesterday, but with everything that happened I didn’t have the chance to complete it. The delivery driver put the food away for me yesterday because I had to leave suddenly to turn off the water when the sprinkler broke. He had the best intentions, but he put it away in the wrong places of course.” He sighed. “Now, everything is taking longer than usual and I’m running behind and I would hate to have to start all over again.” He looked at her with a flustered expression.

“I understand.” Vicky nodded. “Henry, I have to tell you something. I want you to understand that I am in no way accusing you, but we need to prepare for an investigation.”

Henry narrowed his eyes as he tried to figure out what she meant. “What are you talking about, Vicky?”

“Did you organize a fruit basket for Freida’s room by any chance?” Vicky asked gently.

“No,” Henry said as he shook his head. “Why?”

“It looks like Freida didn’t die of natural causes. She had fruit delivered to her room with a card saying it was from the inn. There were poisonous berries in the fruit basket.” Vicky frowned.

“Well, they didn’t come from this kitchen, we don’t have any berries here,” Henry said defensively. “They aren’t in season at the moment.”

“Okay,” Vicky said. “Where would someone get a fruit basket around here?”

“The first place that comes to mind in Highland is the grocers, but they could have come from anywhere.”

“I know.” Vicky sighed. “But it’s the best place to start. No one organized the basket at the inn so…”

“Well, that’s good to know.” A police officer walked into the kitchen just as Vicky was finishing her statement. Vicky presumed he must be one of the new officers in Highland because she hadn’t met him before. “I would like to ask some questions about…”

“We don’t have any statements to make at this time,” Vicky blurted out before thinking. She didn’t want to give a statement when it looked like the inn could have been negligent by sending the poisonous berries to the room.

The officer looked at Vicky with disdain. “I’m assuming that your tune will change when your husband gets here.”

Vicky narrowed her eyes. “Not necessarily.”

“Right, well we need to investigate this thoroughly,” he said. “If that means I need to shut down the inn to do that, I will,” he threatened.

Vicky was stunned by his rude demeanor. She read his name tag.

“Officer Barlett, is it?” She raised an eyebrow. “I wonder if your supervisor is aware of the way you treat people?”

“He’s very aware of the way I treat people who refuse to cooperate with an investigation.” Officer Barlett straightened his shoulders. “Now, would you like to give me a statement about those berries?”

“Excuse me, Sir, but that is no way to talk…” Henry began to say. Vicky interrupted him.

“No, Henry, let him be.” She gestured to the officer. “Are we done here?”

Officer Barlett glowered at her but nodded. “For the moment.” He turned and walked away.

“Thank you for your support, Henry,” Vicky said.

“Let’s just hope this is sorted out soon.”

“I hope so,” Vicky replied as she turned and walked out of the kitchen.

* * *

V
icky was troubled
as she went to find Sarah. She knew that she should have been a little kinder to the officer, especially since Mitchell would likely hear about it, but she was on the defensive, and she was very worried about the future of the inn.

Sarah was just hanging up her phone behind the front desk. She turned to face Vicky with a stricken look.

“Our lawyer says not to say a word.” Sarah blinked back tears. “Vicky, I don’t think that we’re going to get out of this one. We’re going to have to start thinking about what we’re going to do.”

“Sarah, try not to stress too much,” Vicky urged. She hated to see her sister so worried, though she understood why she was. “I’m going to figure out what happened. Chef Henry says the berries could not have come from his kitchen.”

“Good, that’s a start,” Sarah said. “But who sent the basket.”

“I don’t know, but I’m going to try to find out,” she said with determination. “I’m first going to check that Aunt Ida didn’t organize the basket, then I’m going to start with the grocers to see if they know who could have ordered it.”

Sarah nodded vaguely. “I better make a few more calls.”

As she disappeared inside the office, Vicky felt her stomach flip. Things were about to go from bad to worse, and if she didn’t find out the truth fast, her family might just lose everything.

“Vicky?” Ida walked up to her. “What’s going on?”

“Aunt Ida,” Vicky said. “Where have you been?”

“I just went for a walk.”

“Did you organize a basket of fruit to be delivered to Freida?” Vicky asked before explaining anything.

“No, of course not,” Ida said with confusion. “Why?”

“I’ll explain on the way. We need to take a trip, Aunt Ida.” Vicky looked at her aunt. “There’s no time to waste.”

O
n the drive
to the grocery store Vicky filled Ida in on the poisonous berries. Ida’s expression grew more and more grave with everything that Vicky said. By the time they parked, Ida was just as determined as Vicky.

“We have to find out who did this.” Ida stepped out of the car. Vicky did as well.

“I know!” Vicky held the door of the store open for Ida and then followed her inside. The small grocery store was one of the locally owned businesses that the inn used. It might have been a little cheaper for them to use a larger grocery store from a neighboring town for their supplies, but they felt the investment in the community was worth the extra cost, especially seeing as the store sourced its fresh ingredients locally wherever possible. A man stood behind the counter near the deli. He wore a white apron. His short, black hair was receding in a half moon from his forehead. His cheeks were round and full.

“Excuse me?” Vicky walked towards the counter. The moon looked up at her. Vicky recognized him as John, the owner of the grocery store.

“Hi, Vicky, Ida.” He greeted them with a smile. “How are you today?” He turned fully to face them. Vicky noticed that there were several bins of fresh fruit nearby.

“Not the best, John,” Vicky replied.

“We have had an incident with someone at the inn.” Ida sprang forward with an explanation before Vicky could continue. Vicky knew that it was because Ida was more of the charmer.

“Oh? It’s not Henry I hope?” He stepped around the counter towards them.

“No, one of the guests was delivered a fruit basket yesterday,” Ida explained. “Did anyone order a fruit basket from you yesterday?”

“I don’t think so,” he said thoughtfully. “But I didn’t work all day yesterday.”

“Is there any way you can check, please?” Ida asked.

“Sure.” He walked over to the computer and tapped a few keys. “Yes, there were a couple of fruit baskets ordered yesterday.” Vicky tried not to show any reaction as she didn’t want him to stop giving them information. And she had a feeling he would stop if he knew the severity of what had occurred.

“Can you tell who ordered them please?” Ida asked hopefully.

John tapped a few more keys and then shook his head. “No, I can’t. They both paid cash and took them with them. I wasn’t working, but I can call Lukey and see if he remembers.”

“Thank you,” Ida said. Vicky and Ida exchanged a nervous glance as John picked up the phone. He dialed the number and then waited.

“He’s not picking up.” He shook his head and hung up. “He’s going on vacation today, but I can try get hold of him later.”

“Can you call us when you get hold of him, please?” Ida asked with a smile.

“Of course,” John replied.

“Thank you,” Ida said.

“What’s all of this about, anyway?”

Ida hesitated and then began explaining “There were poisonous berries in the basket.” Ida met his eyes directly. “The recipient passed away.”

“Poisonous berries?” he gasped. “But how?”

“We presume they must have been put in the basket by mistake,” Vicky explained.

The man stared at her with a mixture of shock and concern. “Are you trying to say that you think I provided the poisonous berries?” He looked from Vicky to Ida, who he seemed to think was more reasonable. “That’s not possible!”

“How isn’t it possible?” Vicky asked. “If the berries were in the basket and the basket came from your store.”

“No!” the grocer said with conviction. “They did not come from my store. Why would I deal in poisonous berries?” He shook his head. “I don’t stock berries at the moment at all. The varieties grown locally aren’t in season and I only stock what’s in season. Have a look for yourself,” he said as he gestured to the crates of fruit.

“Okay.” All of the vigor had left Vicky’s voice as she ran her eyes over all the fruit. There were no berries in sight. She felt even more confused than she had been when she first arrived.

“Thanks for your time.” Ida smiled. “Please let us know if you get hold of Lukey.”

“I will.” John nodded, but he wasn’t smiling.

“We should go,” Ida whispered to Vicky.

“All right.” Vicky didn’t really want to leave. She didn’t want to walk out of the grocery store with no idea of what had happened to Freida. She didn’t want to have to go back to Sarah with even more confusion. Where did the berries come from?

As her aunt stepped out the door, Vicky followed after her. She had convinced herself the berries had come from the grocer. Now there was no proof of that. Still, Vicky questioned whether the grocer was telling the truth. Had he slipped some berries into the order and then found out that they were poisonous and thrown them away? Had he put them in there by mistake? Or worse, had he added them on purpose?

Ida started the car, but before she backed out of the parking space she turned to look at Vicky.

“You look so upset, sweetheart.” She frowned. “What’s going on in your head?”

Vicky exhaled and felt as if she was ready to explode. “If the berries didn’t come from the grocery store then where did they come from? If they weren’t in the fruit basket when it was prepared then how did they get in?”

“That’s presuming that the basket that was delivered was from the grocers,” Ida reminded her.

“I know,” Vicky admitted. “But how will we ever find out where the fruit basket came from if it wasn’t from the grocers. It is very annoying.”

“Oh, I see.” Ida nodded. “You’re right, that is frustrating. Maybe we need to stop chasing the fruit for a bit, and focus instead on who might have wanted Freida dead.”

“I have a feeling it is not going to be a very short list.”

A
s soon as
Ida and Vicky returned to the inn, Vicky headed straight for her apartment. Ida was right on her heels.

“What’s the plan?” Ida asked.

“The plan is to hunt down the truth about what Freida was up to, and who her enemies were.” Vicky opened the door to the apartment and rushed inside. She moved so fast that she nearly collided with Mitchell who was turning to face her. “Oops. Sorry, Mitchell.” She took a slight step back. When she saw Mitchell’s expression she was glad she did. He did not look very pleased to see her.

“I was looking for you.” His voice was even as he settled his gaze upon her.

“I’ll just be out here.” Ida avoided entering the apartment. Vicky slowly closed the door behind her.

“Well, here I am.” She smiled at him.

“Can I ask you why it is that you told my officer that he couldn’t question you?” Mitchell frowned.

“Your officer?” Vicky stared at him for a moment. “Mitchell, are you the investigating detective on this case?”

“Not exactly.” He cleared his throat. “There is quite a conflict of interest, so another detective was assigned the case, but I have asked him to keep me in the loop. I did that to make sure that you and Sarah would be treated fairly. However, I didn’t expect you not to offer the same courtesy to me.”

“First of all your officer was rude to me.” Vicky crossed her arms. “Secondly, we have to cover ourselves legally, Mitchell. If we give interviews, that could be used against us later.”

“Only if you are guilty.” Mitchell studied her. “Are you more concerned about protecting the inn or finding the truth about a woman’s death?”

His words hit home with Vicky. She wanted to protest against the accusation, but she couldn’t. She had been more focused on figuring out where the berries had come from and how they ended up in a basket in Freida’s room that was supposedly organized by the inn than she had been about Freida being dead.

“Listen, Mitchell. I went to see the grocer and he says that there were two fruit baskets ordered yesterday, but they have no details of who ordered them and they don’t have any berries in stock at all. I’m starting to think that maybe someone added the berries to the order afterwards. I think this has all been intentional and the fact that it was addressed from the inn makes it even worse.”

“I know,” Mitchell said. “That is why you need to give your statements. You need to look like you are cooperating with the investigation, and I won’t have to face an inquisition about why my wife is stalling a police investigation.” He reached out and took her hand in his. “I understand why you don’t always trust the police, but I’m your husband. I know you trust me.”

Vicky nodded silently. She knew that she could trust him. She also knew that he was right, stalling the investigation would only make them look guiltier in the eyes of the law.

“Don’t ever think that we can be on opposite sides, Vicky. I will always be in your corner.”

Vicky felt some relief at his words. After Mitchell left the apartment, Ida stepped inside.

“What was all of that about?” she asked.

“It was about the berries of course, but it’s nothing to worry about. Now, let’s find out why Freida might have been a target.” She opened up her computer and began searching. Ida peered over her shoulder as Vicky brought up article after article and skimmed over them. Most of them were junk stories, but some seemed to have a newsworthy cause.

“I’ll get us some coffee.” Ida walked towards the kitchen.

The more Vicky looked at Freida’s articles the more she began to suspect that Freida was more of a skilled journalist than she often portrayed herself to be.

“Have you found anything yet?” Ida walked over with two cups of coffee from the kitchen.

“I might have.” Vicky frowned. “But I don’t think you’re going to like it.”

“What is it?” Ida asked.

“It looks like Freida was working hard to expose the truth about the war injury that Roman claims. She was publishing articles about how no evidence could be found to prove that he had even been in a war, let alone injured in one.” Vicky frowned as she read over the information.

“I remember him telling me about that during our walk.” Ida grimaced. “That would be a terrible thing to lie about. I definitely think he has an injury.”

“But was it caused in a war?” Vicky asked. “I bet Freida had finally found proof and she was going to reveal it. I overheard her saying she was not afraid of Roman. I wonder if he had been threatening her in an attempt to cover up the information she found. He might have been the person who her editor was talking about on the phone.”

“Roman doesn’t seem very threatening.” Ida shook her head. “He seems more like he would be a caring and determined leader.”

“Aunt Ida, I respect your opinion, but don’t all politicians try to be perceived that way?” Vicky felt a little bad for questioning her aunt. She knew that Ida had a lot more experience than she did when it came to world travels and different political customs, but to her it seemed as if her aunt had allowed herself to be caught up in something that wasn’t quite true.

“You might be right about that,” Ida reluctantly agreed. She didn’t want to admit that she might have been conned. “He does seem like a nice fellow though.”

“But we need to find out if that nice fellow committed murder.” Vicky tapped her finger lightly against the keyboard. “I’m going to call her editor and see what information she had about Roman. Maybe if we know exactly what it was she had found, we’ll get a lead.”

“Maybe.” Ida grew quiet. Vicky knew she was upset by the idea that Roman might be involved. But the more Vicky thought about it, the more sense it made to her. Roman obviously was hoping for a big political future, if Freida had found something that would end that, before it even had the chance to properly get off the ground, he might be angry enough to eliminate her. Vicky decided to take a walk while she made the call.

“I’m going to get some fresh air, Aunt Ida. Do you want to join me?” Vicky asked.

“No, I think I’m going to scrounge up something to eat.” Ida left Vicky’s apartment with a smile on her lips, but Vicky could tell she was faking it. It bothered Vicky to suspect someone who Ida was so certain was innocent, but she felt her aunt was dazzled by Roman’s charm. She had jotted down Heather’s number earlier. She rummaged in her purse to find it, then dialed it on her cell phone. As she stepped outside she was greeted by cool, crisp air. As the evening progressed, the temperature was steadily dropping.

“Hello?” Heather sounded exhausted.

“Hello, Heather, this is Vicky from the Heavenly Highland Inn.”

“Oh yes, Vicky. I’ve already spoken to the police and the coroner.”

“I understand. I was just thinking about what you said earlier, and I was wondering if there was anything more you could tell me. Or maybe what Freida was working on,” Vicky paused. She wondered if Heather would be willing to tell her anything.

“Why do you want to know?” There was hesitation in Heather’s voice. “Do you work for them?”

“Them? Who do you mean?” Vicky sat down in the patio area outside the banquet hall.

“Roman Blade and Trevor Scales.”

“Of course not. They are staying at the inn though. Is that who you think hurt Freida?” Vicky’s heart skipped a beat. “Is it because of something she found out about Roman?”

“What does it matter now? She’s gone.”

“That doesn’t mean that someone shouldn’t be punished if they murdered her,” Vicky pointed out.

“Listen, the coroner told me that her food was poisoned. The police are acting like your inn might be responsible for her death. So, why are you talking to me?”

“I know it wasn’t our fault. I know that someone sent the fruit basket to frame us. I’m just trying to figure out why, and who.” Vicky sighed. “Maybe it was a mistake to call.”

“Look, I was upset earlier. Yes, Freida was investigating Roman, and yes, she had some dirt on him and was digging for more. But that doesn’t make him a killer. I think you need to worry about what’s happening in your kitchen. Trust me, you don’t want to make an enemy out of Roman Blade and his entourage.” With that she hung up. Vicky listened to the resulting dial tone for a few moments before hanging up as well.

Had Heather just warned her not to look into Roman? Vicky had always trusted her aunt’s judgment before. Maybe not her fashion sense, but Ida always had a pretty good grasp on people. Could she really be this wrong about Roman? Vicky sighed as she wondered if she had been too caught up in the idea that Roman was guilty. She decided to head inside and go over other possible suspects. Vicky walked past the windows of the banquet hall. She had her mind on what might have really happened to Freida. Was it really possible that someone had intentionally poisoned her? If so, was it Roman or Trevor? Was it someone on the staff? It made her feel terrible to even consider it. It could have been anyone really.

As Vicky turned towards the banquet hall to head back inside she noticed a shadow moving through it. The banquet hall had been closed since Freida’s body had been found. Vicky was certain that no one should be inside. Her stomach tightened. Was someone trying to repeat the event, perhaps with a new target?

Vicky crept close to the windows. She didn’t want to alert whoever was inside to the fact that she was on to them. Instead she wanted to catch them in the act. Vicky saw the shadow move across the wall again. It was very large and rotund. In fact it reminded her of a bear. At that thought her chest grew tight. She recalled thinking the same thing about the plumber. Was it Benny inside? Had he been the one to poison Freida? Vicky shuddered at the idea. She had no idea why Benny would want Freida dead. She knew that he didn’t have much business, had he broken the sprinkler head hoping to get himself a job? It didn’t make much sense to Vicky, but there he was lumbering through the banquet hall.

Vicky grabbed the handle of the side door of the hall and pulled it open slowly and silently. Benny continued towards the double doors at the entrance. Vicky slipped into the banquet hall behind him.

“Just what do you think you’re doing?” she commanded. She was terrified on the inside, but she wanted to seem intimidating on the outside. Benny turned around slowly to face her. He stared at her through dim lighting.

“You have something of mine.” He narrowed his eyes.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Vicky demanded.

Benny took a large step towards her. Vicky was surprised by how much space he could cover with one outstretched leg.

“Just what it means. I came back for my fans.” He met her eyes. “Remember? I let you use them to dry the carpet. I need them back. There was no one in the lobby and I thought they might be in here.”

“Oh, that’s the reason why you were roaming around here in the dark?” Vicky was still skeptical.

“I couldn’t figure out how to turn the lights on. You know I did you a favor by leaving those fans in the first place. Maybe you could be kind enough to return them?” He scowled at her.

Vicky found that his story was beginning to add up. He did have a reason for being there. As far as she had seen he had not even attempted to enter the kitchen.

“Of course, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to accuse you.” She sighed. “The fans are in the storage closet in the hallway. Follow me.”

She stepped past him. He trailed after her.

“I can see why you’re jumpy. Did you figure out who damaged the sprinkler?”

“No.” Vicky opened the door to the storage closet. “I haven’t really thought about it to be honest.”

She frowned as he retrieved his fans. Now that he had reminded her of the sprinkler head, it made her wonder. Had the person who damaged the sprinkler been somehow connected to the murder? Did someone do this to damage the reputation of the inn? Or was there another connection?

“Thanks for helping me get these. Remember me for any future plumbing needs.” He flashed her a smile.

“I will.” Vicky was distracted as she closed the closet door. As she began walking down the hallway she recalled how the entire cause of the chaotic dinner was the flooded banquet hall. Would someone really go to such lengths to stage enough of a diversion to create a reason to send the fruit basket as an apology from management and poison Freida? The thought of it made Vicky cringe. It also made her even more worried that the murderer might just be someone on the inn’s staff. She turned on her heel and headed back into the banquet hall. She needed to try and find out if a staff member was responsible for poisoning Freida.