Kee Patterbee - Hannah Starvling 01 - The Chef at the Water's Edge (3 page)

Returning to the subject, Cate drew down her brow and twisted a lip, which was a sign Hannah knew to mean hard concentration. “Jazlyn. Jazlyn. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of her, but then I don’t follow the culinary world.” She reached over and tapped on Hannah’s shoulder. “That’s what you are for.”

“Uh-huh. You and everyone else. Anyway, she’s not well known, and for a reason. Julia’s husband, Asa, has been keeping her close at hand. I had to go through my professional channels to find out anything on her. She’s cute, all right. I can see why Buster has ideas about that one.”

“He has always been partial to tall women with black hair,” Cate continued to tease. “Yes, I think we are in for a Buster show.” Hannah and Cate laughed as Buster rolled his eyes.

After a moment, when the women’s laughter died down, Hannah once again turned her attention to the subject at hand. “I have read that some of Julia’s old chefs are preparing food in hopes of getting their old jobs back.”

Cate nodded, running a hand through her short black hair. “Yeah, Julia and Asa paid well, but in return they expected absolute loyalty. When that story broke on an insider giving out secrets about the house that Julia built, it was the beginning of the end of a dynasty.”

“Most of them have scattered, from the news I read,” Buster added as he looked down into an empty bag. “We should have brought more snacks.”

Cate grabbed the bag and looked inside at all the empty wrappers. “Oh for heaven’s sake.” She held the bag out for Hannah to see.

Hannah peeked inside. “Not unexpected.”

“Anyway,” Cate continued, “Julia’s first assistant, Vera Bessinger. She was heir to the show right up until just before Julia’s death, and stayed on. But, for some reason, that’s all changed now.”

Hanna stared ahead and mulled over what she had gleaned so far. “A deceased celebrity chef. A festival in her honor. A town hanging onto a past lost forever. A distraught husband. An assistant spurned in favor of the beautiful niece who stepped into her place. And an overzealous fan convinced she faked her own death.” Clicking off the information in her head like a laundry list, she thought to herself,
As cases went, this one has an auspicious beginning
. “It’s going to be an interesting weekend.”

Nearing the small, private airport for Zebulon, Hannah radioed the tower for clearance. One uneventful landing later, with a pre-rented car in hand, the group headed out for Zebulon.

As they drove into the town, Buster noted an addition to the ‘Welcome to Zebulon’ sign. It displayed in bold lettering, Home of Julia Karas: The Darlin’ of America’s Kitchen. Driving through the small community, they found banners and street signs announcing the festival. Most read
Celebrating Julia’s Legacy. First Anniversary Memorial. Saturday, September 20, 8:00 P.M
. Other announcements praised the late star. Or they stated how missed she was in handwritten signs and window paints. Many had the words, “Always with love, Julia,” repeating the signature sign off of her television show.”

The three friends found themselves amazed at the love the town showed for Julia. It was as if she had never met with her accident. The obvious devotion showed on almost every business window and on houses and lawns throughout.
All this joy
, thought Hannah,
despite it all representing a resurrection, so to speak
.

“This is it. Just pull up in the driveway,” Buster said. Louie’s house was a small, two story, wood framed, yet well-maintained gray house with white trim. Once the car stopped, he headed around to the trunk and pulled out the bags. He followed Cate and Hannah up the front steps, and watched as his cousin rang the doorbell several times. Hannah smiled as she noted their anticipation at seeing Louie.

While waiting, Hannah caught herself assessing the scenery. To take in her surroundings was one aspect that came along with her inquisitive nature. “Comes with the territory,” she would say when someone called out her curious nature.

After a moment, Louie appeared at the door and opened it. His appearance was just as Hannah had imagined. Still, she began making a mental chart of him. “Large, maybe 6’1”. Not unfit, but not athletic. Late forties. Looks younger because he has the happy thing going on. Graying, faded reddish hair and day old beard growth. Hazel eyes that twinkle when he smiles, seeming so big he appears to be squinting. Casual style. Over-sized purple t-shirt. Faded blue jeans and worn out running shoes.” On a first impression, she found him likeable.

“Hey, big guy!” Buster cried out, dropping the bags to hug his friend.

“Hey! Back at you, man. Don’t you both look great,” Louie shouted with laughter. He released Buster and took Cate in his arms in much the same manner. After a brief exchange with his lifelong friends, he turned to Hannah. His eyes immediately focused on the Victorian style top hat with mechanically enhanced goggles over the brim that rested on her head. “And you must be Hannah?”

“Guilty,” she said, extending a hand. She was rather shocked when he pushed it aside and hugged her as he had done with her friends. “Pleased to meet you. These two have told me all about you. Makes me feel as if I have known you forever. Thanks so much for coming.”

Hannah grinned as she looked over Louie’s shoulder at Cate. “My pleasure,” she said, catching her breath.
Louie’s hug was ‘breathtaking’ in a literal sense
, she thought to herself.

Everyone proceeded to make their way inside. Louie gestured around the interior of the large room with oversized furniture. “Kick off your shoes, make yourselves at home.”

On one wall was a huge LED TV that had to be 60 inches or more. Sports memorabilia covered the wall at the end of the room, with signed jerseys from top athletes from many teams. It did not take a detective to surmise from Louie’s passion and the room’s décor that he was a confirmed bachelor.
This is the definition of ‘man cave’
, she thought.

“I can show you where your rooms are now or in a while, whichever you prefer?”

Since Buster had already dropped their luggage in the entry, all agreed to go relax for a bit. As they started to find places to sit, Hannah noticed many items on the other wall in the massive room. She walked over to find pictures of Julia at various stages of her life. High school prom queen. Cheerleader. A great one as she received her degree making her a chef. And one at the opening of her first restaurant,
Julia’s Kitchen on the Water
. Off to the far left corner hung a framed article. It was a document from Le Jean Luc Goddard Institut Gastronomique which named Louie M. Wooldridge as a chef. Thinking back, Hannah recalled that it was the same institute in Paris where Julia had received her training. Next to it was a nice professional photograph of Louie and Julia with the autograph, “Always with love, Julia.”

“That’s you,” Hannah said, pointing to a thinner, younger Louie in the picture. “Looks like you two had a history.”

“Yes,” Louie said in a proud but soft voice. He walked over to stand next to Hannah. “That’s from many years ago at a food convention. Julia and I were in the same class together at Goddard’s,” he said, pointing to his diploma. “I knew early on that I had a better future becoming a food critic than a chef. But Julia? The woman was a natural. Born to cook.” Hannah noted the extreme sorrow in his voice. He smiled in remembrance before continuing. “We became good friends. Those days were special. Before all the madness began after she met Asa.” The mention of Julia’s husband’s name seemed almost painful and distasteful to the man. Sighing, he could not hide his emotions, which showed through his otherwise happy face. “She was just the best person I have ever met. Her generosity, warmth …” He stopped and cleared his throat. “Not to mention the raw talent. Mr. Goddard himself would have been proud.

Part of the reason Louie was not accepting her early demise was the fact that he was still deeply in love with her, Hannah determined. Understanding that now, she vowed to prove to him one way or the other, hoping he would accept her findings, let go, and move on.

Hannah put her hand on Louie’s shoulder. “Well, it appears we have some downtime. This seems as good a time as any to start getting your thoughts on the events surrounding Julia’s death.”

Louie nodded through a weak smile. “I have a folder of clippings I’ve kept in the office.” He waved for the group to follow him. “You can check them out in there. In the meantime, how about some refreshments? Soda, tea, latte anyone?”

“Oh. Your special latte?” Buster commented. “Oh, yeah. Hannah. You cannot miss this.” Both ladies agreed, and Louie left the room, mission in hand.

In the office, Hannah, Cate, and Buster took seats at a small conference table. Buster looked around the room before calling out, “Critic. Come, boy!” Seconds later, a large Mastiff padded into the room, happy and ready for pets and love.

Louie brought in the steaming hot coffee mugs filled with his special latte’ mixture in a short while. He placed them before his guests. Hannah did not acknowledge the beverage, as she was already engrossed in the file before her.

“I see here that the police didn’t do an investigation because there was no reason, according to the news reports. This was an accident on a rainy night down at the lake?”

Louie’s face grew solemn. “That’s what didn’t make sense to me,” he answered.

“Meaning?”

“Julia didn’t like water. Open water, in particular. So why would she be out in the rain, by the lake? I could never figure out why Asa built the house out there in the first place. In addition, she had night blindness. She could not see anything after dark. There’s no light down there, and it was a new moon. Think about it. It’s damn odd for her to be in a place I know she would go out of the way to avoid if she were alone.”

“Is it possible she was clearing her head and wandered out there in a fog? There was a lot of publicity about rumors of her manager and husband, both having affairs with the same woman.”

“Knowing Julia like I do … did, I can imagine how that cut her to the bone. But even if she was down, she wouldn’t go near the water. At least, not by herself.”

“Is there anything to these rumors?”

“No evidence that has made it to the public, at least not from reliable sources. The news rags harp on it now and again, but otherwise…”

“What about on the inside. The inner circle. Any tidbits there?”

“I’m not sure. Asa made sure to cut me out of Julia’s life a long time ago. He knew how I felt about her. Given we had a history, he put a stop to our friendship. However, he wasn’t successful. Since I am involved in the culinary world through my work, I often turned up at many of the same events and functions as Julia over the years. She was the star. I was just another pretty face in the crowd.” He said the last part in a half smile, which served to ease the mounting tension in Louie. After a few seconds, he continued.

“I just know that Julia was the talent. She left the business operations up to Asa. Jack Miller, her agent, ran her personal appearances and media. He was another Julia follower. He had to beg for his job. I don’t believe Asa knew that he would have given anything to have more than a platonic relationship with her. Julia’s innocence just brought out this protective instinct in people. Women also succumbed to it.”

Hannah nodded. She looked at Cate and then Buster before coming back around to Louie. “That means we’ll have to become creative to get people on the inside of the company to talk.”

“At least at the executive level,” Cate agreed.

Louie took in the conversation, watching Hannah and Cate. When the two turned back to him, he nodded. “You’re right. The ranks closed in tight after the story came out. Asa fired most of the staff, including two of the best, Xabiere Dauphin and Timothy Holloway. No one was immune to his wrath.”

“I’ve never heard of these people,” Hannah affirmed. “What do you know about them?”

“Xabiere was a sous chef for Julia, looking to make a name for himself. Holloway came to the U.S. from Europe to work with Karas, Inc. Asa paid them one last time, had them evicted from the studio, and then locked the doors behind them.”

Buster frowned as he listened. “The dude sounds vindictive. What’d they do?”

“He is.” Louie took a drink of his latte and stared into the brown liquid. “Real vindictive. Nevertheless, the two sous chefs each swore they would get even. They didn’t say how, just that they would. As crazy as Asa’s behavior was, I can understand it. Despite everything, he appeared devoted to Julia. Now whether that was true, or if she believed it beforehand, that’s another story. It wasn’t common knowledge, but just before the accident she isolated herself. And she canceled all her appearances until further notice.”

“Odd.” Hannah twisted her face as she sat back in her chair. Her furrowed brow told Cate that her contemplative friend had many, many questions.

“I think I would like to do some sightseeing tomorrow. Take in the world that Julia created. Her home. Business. Maybe even the cemetery. I need to build a file on her that isn’t corrupted by public opinion and media. People can buy those things.”

Louie half smiled and nodded. “Already handled. With all the crowds coming, I went ahead and got full event passes for us. I’ve been neck deep in the roll out. My company agreed to let me be the front man to the tasting events, which should get us in close. I doubt anyone expected this event to be so big, or for it to be so well publicized. Now the concern is safety and more security for a massive event.”

“How big are we talking?” Hannah probed.

“Oh, a hundred thousand, best estimate.”

Shooting a quizzical look at Hannah, Cate asked, “Oh, come on. That’s rather large. She was, not to be offensive or anything, just a television chef. It’s not like she was Beard or Childs.”

Louie nodded. “Well, I guess we’ll see. In my opinion, that’s a conservative estimate.” He looked around at his guests’ stunned faces. “Her fame has grown even more in her death, as it does with true superstars.”

“What kind of access can you get us to the inner circle?” Cate inquired, biting her lip.