Kee Patterbee - Hannah Starvling 01 - The Chef at the Water's Edge (22 page)

It was at that moment that Hannah’s cell buzzed. Checking it, she found a text from Hym saying he was on his way. In part, it read, “Tell your posse that I want to talk to you about official business.” It made her smile.
A little late,
she thought to herself.
This man has no sense of timing
.

“Is that Prince Handsome?” Cate inquired.

“He’s just up the street.” Holding the phone up to everyone, she said, “Let me know if you find out something.” All agreed as she picked up her small purse, put on her hat, and headed out the door.

“What?” Cate threw out. “He’s not coming to the door? Oh, come on. Louie needs the practice. He’s a dad now, you know.” Louie bumped Cate with his shoulder before waving goodbye and shutting the door behind Hannah.

Moments later Hym pulled into the driveway. Hannah removed her hat and got inside. She waved, as did Cate, Louie, and Buster, all who peeked from the front window. “Even the dog,” Hannah mumbled to herself as she saw Critic, tongue wagging, peering out the window.

“Next time, I get to meet mom and dad, right?” Hym said in a dead serious tone, but giving a ‘you’ve got to be kidding me’ look that made Hannah laugh.

After a few minutes of aimless chit chat, the conversation turned toward the one thing they had in common at the moment - the case. As they rode along, Hym handed her a file. “Part of my dinner invitation was to let you in on the findings after the deposition of Niu. According to her, Asa stated that Julia started taking sleeping pills in the last months of her life.”

Hannah flipped through the report, scanning the pages in the dim light. “So he knew she would have drugs in her system.”

“Yeah. And to get her to alter and hide her report, he put up the money for Miller to make the arrangements.”

“That kept him out of the direct line of sight. If anything happened, Miller would fall and fall hard. Clever.”

“Indeed it is. Now check out the next report.”

Hannah flipped to the next page. She squinted before opening her eyes wide. “Is this…” she questioned with excitement in her voice.

“It is. The original toxicology report.” Glancing over to Hannah, Hym said, “See, turns out I’m also an investigator, as well as Boonyville law enforcement.”

For a moment, Hannah wondered how he knew she had called Zebulon Boonyville. Then it hit her, and she vowed to ‘kill’ her best friend. Cate was in the thick of her ‘date’ and she would pay. But Hannah put that aside in favor of the task at hand. She ran her finger down the sheet, reading aloud.

“Sample shows high levels of the following in victim’s blood. Nembutal. Approximately 38–66 capsules. Chloral hydrate. Approximately 14–23 tablets.” Hannah frowned hard. Thinking back to her time as a FBI agent, she recalled, “That’s enough to kill more than 10 people.

Hym reached over and tapped the report. “Keep reading. It gets better.”

There is no trace of capsules, powder or the typical discoloration in victim’s stomach or intestines. Suggests that the drugs that killed her were not swallowed. If taken over a period of time, accounting for the lack of residues, victim would have died before ingesting recorded amounts. Further examination of the blood, liver, kidneys, stomach, urine and intestines, deemed unnecessary.

Hannah frowned. “Why didn’t they examine the other organs? It could have revealed how the drugs got into her system.”

“Check out the addendum.”

Hannah read the words twice to herself.

“At present, all examination samples, photographs, and recordings are missing. An investigation into the incident suggests cause as a clerical error. A review of filing procedures to follow.”

Hannah closed the report and set it aside. “This screams of cover up. Asa had to enlist Miller to pay off anyone who came in contact with either the body or one of the reports.”

“He does have deep pockets. I’m working off the theory that when he discovered the results of the report, he had Miller approach Dr. Niu. He got Miller to go along since it would be in both their interest to get rid of the findings and keep her image pure. An accidental death is a tragedy. But suicide, that’s questionable and troublesome, and not just for the victim. In assuming it was suicide, both men helped cover up a murder.”

“This solves one part of the case. We know someone killed her. But it just begs more questions. Did she die of accidental blunt force trauma brought on by long term barbiturate exposure? This would suggest that someone was attempting to kill her in the long term sense? Or was she killed outright by someone who caused the trauma?”

“Either way, someone wanted her dead.”

“Or maybe just out of the way.” In frustration, Hannah slammed her hand open palm against the dash of the car. “This eliminates no one. Not Asa. Not Miller. Not Jazlyn.”

“You’re forgetting about Xabiere.” Realizing Hym was right, Hannah started thinking about the man. She then went on to describe his bizarre behavior toward Jazlyn.

“Wasn’t he the one in the hospital at the time?”

“He was. Fell down the steps where he lives. Banged his head. Bad enough for the hospital to keep him overnight for observation. Still, I’ve always thought that he was in the thick of it somehow. At least paid off by someone. I don’t know. I just don’t have a good feeling about him.”

“Well, regardless of that, if someone fed her barbiturates, then it comes down to access, doesn’t it?”

Hannah considered the question and found Hym to be onto something. “I guess it does. Jack, Asa, Jazlyn and Vera all had access to Julia the day she died. I can rule out Vera and Jazlyn. Unless I’m mistaken, Vera had the access but not the knowledge. Jazlyn has witnesses to her whereabouts. Besides, it would take someone much larger than either of them to slam Julia against the post. But the men … any of the three was capable of getting rid of her for their own reasons.”

Hym turned his car into a small diner on the outskirts of Zebulon. Hannah smiled as it reminded her of
The Starvling Diner
. The sign read
Hoolie’s Burgers, Fries and All That
.

“Did Cate put you up to this?”

Hym threw his hands up as if under arrest. “I plead the fifth,” he said, smiling. “Hoolie was a friend. His son still is. We played college ball together back in the day. He took over when his father passed. The burgers are ah-may-ZING!”

Hym’s enthusiasm was charming and Hannah found herself staring at the man. Her thoughts drifted into the future. Reality called when both their phones rang, almost in unison. Answering, both listened for a moment and said, “I’ll be right there.” Hanging up, they looked at each other. Hym asked, “Hospital or studio?”

Cate, Buster, Louie, and Vera were in the front lobby when Hannah arrived. Shaken, Vera, clung tightly to her father. Hannah noticed the smell of smoke on all. Scorch marks ran along the sleeves of both Louie and Buster’s suits. “Are you two okay?”

Noticing Hannah’s observation, Buster ran his arm along his sleeve. “I’m fine. But poor Jazlyn…” He trailed off.

Louie drew Vera close. “They haven’t said anything yet.” He looked around. Anticipating her question, Hannah said, “He dropped me off. He’s headed to the studio.”

Cate held out her tablet for Hannah to see. “Get this. It’s already on the net. Check it out. It’s all cued up.”

Hannah took the device, hit play and watched as the events unfolded. As usual, she clicked off notes to herself. She could tell from the vantage point of the recording device that it was a cell. The recording took place without permission. From the conversations surrounding the recordist, he was young, male, and bored. An adult told him to put it away at one point, but the recordist shifted it to the other hand and out of the way of said adult. He was sitting center audience. She noted this information in particular, just in case she needed to find the young man at some point in the future.

The movement of the camera/cell made it difficult to stay focused. But in persisting, Hannah hoped that the recording would reveal something. Soon, Jazlyn Karas stepped center stage and showed a natural talent and beauty for her work. And it was clear that the audience was enjoying her presentation.
She’s a natural
, Hannah thought.

There was a larger burst of light as a huge fireball erupted from the oven when Jazlyn opened it. She gave an agonized, guttural cry that made Hannah flinch. In an instant, smoke and fire flew around the young chef as she writhed in agony, trying to remove the apron that was on fire. She then dropped to the floor. The ensuing screams and sudden shaking of the camera made it hard to hear or see anything. Still, Hannah watched the unfolding horror, trying to catch any detail that might be relevant. She heard Buster’s distinct voice cry out, “Call 911!” And she could see Louie and him running toward where Jazlyn struggled to put herself out. Two stagehands with fire extinguishers appeared. They smothered the flames as both Buster and Louie patted at Jazlyn in attempt to douse the blaze. Hannah also thought she saw Xabiere, Vera and Asa amongst the confusion at various points during the ensuing chaos.

Whoever had uploaded the video had managed to make their way to the back of the seating area to get a better view from the upper seats. Many audience members had or were in the process of fleeing the scene. From that point on, the video became steadier and clearer.

Hannah broke contact with the video when she saw Asa appear at the edge of the room and call Vera over. Reaching him, Vera and he hugged. He then talked with her. His body language suggested to Hannah that he was informing her about Jazlyn. She watched the exchange for just a few seconds. Then she returned to that which she found more interesting - the event.

Turning once more to the tablet with Cate, they saw a group form a circle around Jazlyn. It was an attempt to keep those who had not fled the building and were now gawking, at bay. One individual appeared to be examining her and giving orders. Hannah heard the recordist talking and made out “I think he’s a doctor. They have those on cooking sets, don’t they?” More mumbles of confusion followed. A voice echoed through the hall, calling for calm and the audience to return to their seats or exit.

Cate pointed to the screen as the doctor whispered to Asa. Shock, disbelief, and great concern were present everywhere. The emergency personnel entered with a stretcher and people moved aside, enough so that Hanna could just make out Jazlyn moving. “At least she’s alive,” Cate remarked as she watched again with Hannah.

The recording showed that, seconds later, paramedics rushed Jazlyn from the studio. As it came to a close, Hannah noticed Xabiere following after. It surprised her to see him present at the taping, thinking he shouldn’t have been there. Thinking this over, Hannah determined that in all the commotion, it was improbable that Asa noticed him in the crowd. It was also without question that, at present, Xabiere was somewhere nearby in the hospital.

Louie interrupted her reflections. “Asa just told Vera that Jazlyn’s unconscious and will be until the morning. She has first-degree burns on her abdomen, under her arms, and on her hands. No third degree. Thank the lucky stars for that.” He squeezed Vera tightly, who once again hung close to his side.

Vera gave a weak smile to her group of new found friends and reaffirmed. “They won’t release any information tonight. They’ll give me an update at that time since I am part of the show’s operations.

Louie looked to everyone. “So, what should we do? Stay or go?”

Hannah had a feeling that Jazlyn’s accident somehow was relative to Julia Karas’ death, just how, she did not know. The case had been frustrating so far. Since Julia had died twelve months ago, it was not as if there was still any concrete evidence lying around.
Or is there?
she thought. “Guys, I think I’m headed over to the studio. Hym’s there and there might be something worth taking a look at.”

Within twenty minutes, Hannah and Cate were at the studio, where Louie dropped them off. Vera agreed to stay with her father, and he wanted to remove her from the chaos as soon as possible. Buster went as well to clean himself up and “shake it off”, as he put it.

Once on scene, Hannah texted Hym. They waited just beyond an imaginary boundary separated by emergency vehicles and the studio. News crews who were still filing reports respected the line. Hannah saw Hym’s car and two police vehicles, as well as a fire truck. The whole area outside the studio glowed blue and red as lights flashed, giving it an eerie, surreal feel. The young red-headed officer who was at Louie’s the night of the shooting stood guard at the door. She answered her radio and then looked around. Seeing the women, she waved them on in. “He’s over by the set,” she said, anticipating a question.

As they approached, Hannah and Cate saw firefighters talking amongst themselves. One in particular was speaking with Hym. Hannah found him to be in his late forties, thin, taller than average. He was handsome in a boyish manner. Seeing the two, Hym gave a formal introduction.

“Ladies, this is Chief Rogers.”

Rogers tipped his helmet. He glanced up at Hannah’s hat but said nothing. “Cory,” he said with a serious tone and expression to match.

“Could you tell them what you found?” Hym asked.

Rogers nodded. “Of course. Follow me. Hym says you were at Zebulon Medical. How’s the girl?”

“It looks like just first and second degree burns to the abdomen, under her arms, and her hands. They’ll know more in the morning,” Cate explained.

“She’s going to hurt then, I can assure you of that. But she’s damned lucky, that’s all I can say.”

Stopping before the spot where Jazlyn had collapsed, Rogers pointed to a burnt, crumpled pile of material. It was wet from where the stagehands had doused it with fire extinguishers. “That was one intense fireball. It didn’t burn her face off, which is a miracle. Now, check this out.” He pointed to the back of the oven, now removed and placed on the floor. Lifting a tube on the back, he ran his finger along the side of it and he said, “See this?”

Hannah leaned in, and her eyes narrowed. “A puncture,” she said, pointing it out to Cate.