Toasting Up Trouble (A Dinner Club Mystery) (21 page)

J.J. had just finished checking her e-mail after returning to the office from a visit to her newest client when the phone rang. Skye was already on the other line, so J.J. answered, identifying herself.

“Good, I’m glad it’s you. This is Gina Marcotti. I would like you to come out to my place right now. Does that work?”

J.J. recovered quickly from her surprise. “Yes, that will be fine. I’ll see you shortly.”

Gina had already hung up after hearing the word
fine
. J.J. wondered if she should be worried. Was Gina really upset about what Rocco had said last night? If so, what did she plan to say, or do? It could be a trap. Gina might be seething about the fact that she’d been found out, but she could also still be the murderer. More likely, though, that she was stricken at the thought that her secret was now out. Feeling embarrassed, even mortified, she might be planning something dramatic, like an overdose of pills and J.J. would be
the one to find her. A fitting punishment. She suddenly felt the full weight of her snooping. What was she doing anyway, messing about in other people’s lives?

J.J. signaled Skye that she was going out, and on second thought wrote down where she was going on a Post-it note and stuck it to the corner of Skye’s computer screen, just in case. She grabbed her purse and jacket, and left. She was grateful she’d brought her car today. It took about twenty minutes to reach her destination. Gina Marcotti seemed to be hovering near the door, because she opened it immediately after the knock.

“Come with me, please,” she commanded. The politeness did nothing to mask that hardness in her voice. She pointed to a chair in the family room. “Sit.”

J.J. did as told, keeping her eyes on Gina. She had felt an initial relief that Gina looked hale and hearty, but now her anxiety had returned. She could tell this wouldn’t be a pleasant visit.

“I understand that Rocco told you all about us.” Gina stood in front of her, feet slightly apart, hands on hips. The dramatic pose was in total contrast to the supple red silk lounging suit she was wearing. Her hair had been held back from her face by a red-and-black-striped scarf, the ends of which draped over her shoulder.

J.J. gulped. “Yes, he did. He felt I could be trusted.”

“And can you?” Her eyes seemed to find their way to J.J.’s soul.

Get a grip.
“Yes, I can.”

Gina stared at her a few moments before nodding. “Good, because if the word does get out and I can track it to you, you will no longer be in business. That is not a threat; it is the reality.”

“I understand.”

“Good, because I still don’t understand why he told you.”
She walked over to the lounge she’d been sitting on the first time J.J. had been over, and sat back on it.

“I had told him that Ty Devine knew the name of your, uh, friend but wouldn’t say anything, so I wondered if it was Devine himself.”

Gina barked out a laugh. “You have got to be kidding. All right, he’s very macho and handsome, I’ll give you that. But I think only a woman who is interested in that man would jump to that conclusion. Are you?”

“What? Me? Devine? No way.”
Neat way to turn the tables, lady.
She could feel her cheeks heat up, though.

“Hm. Well, I think it is time we have a good conversation. Tell me, who are the other suspects for the murder of my husband? Maybe it is you I should have hired to investigate.”

J.J. shook her head. “That wouldn’t have been a good idea. I’ve been looking around mainly because, as you know, I’m a suspect, as is my friend Evan Thornton.”

“Evan. I love that man. He is the most talented decorator in town.” She waved her right hand around the room as she spoke. “I must get him in here to work his magic once this has all died down. He would no sooner kill Tonio than kill a fly. I know he was upset with Tonio, but who wasn’t?”

So I keep hearing
. “I’m still wondering if Don Kelland is involved in any way.”

Gina stood and started pacing. “You think it’s because of the problem with the outdoor patio?”

“More likely because of the possibility of your husband running against him in the election. That is, if Kelland knew about the plans.”

Gina sat back down next to J.J. this time. “Tonio did say just a couple of weeks ago that he finally had Kelland where he wanted him. Those were his exact words.”

J.J.’s heart started racing a bit faster. “Do you know what he meant by that?”

“No. I know nothing more, except that he did say he had evidence of something illegal. And knowing Tonio, he wouldn’t hesitate to use it in one way or another.”

“Oh?”

Gina nodded. “It could come in handy during a campaign, don’t you think? If it was bad enough, a little blackmail could go a long way.”

“Wow. That could be quite an accusation. Do you know where that evidence is or what it was?”

Gina shook her head.

“Well, we’d better start searching,” J.J. said, sounding more determined than she felt.

J.J. thought about that all the way back to the office. She’d asked Gina to go through her husband’s desk at home to see if she could find anything that might be pertinent. And Gina had offered to also check his office at the restaurant. J.J. was hoping to hear back from her by later in the afternoon.

As she pulled into a parking spot behind the office, she decided to put aside any more thoughts about the murder until she heard back from Gina and, for now, to concentrate on her real job. Brittany was due at three, at which time J.J. and Skye would leave for a “business meeting.” They really just planned to go to Cups ’n’ Roses for a latte then head back to the office in time for Brittany to leave work at six. Of course, they wouldn’t know until Monday at the earliest if their plan had taken hold.

She also realized that, even if any information surfaced about Kelland, she couldn’t follow up on that until Monday, either. An entire weekend to wait.

There sure was a lot of waiting these days, something J.J. didn’t do easily.

Someone pounding on her apartment door wasn’t the way J.J. liked to greet Saturday mornings, especially when she’d decided to sleep in. She almost tripped getting disentangled from the sheets after a restless night of tossing and turning, and ended up running to the door without slippers or robe. She did think to check the peephole before opening. Ty Devine.

Devine turned sideways, facing toward Ness’s doorway. J.J. couldn’t see what was happening, but she could see Devine’s mouth moving, so she opened her door just as Ness asked Devine what he thought he was doing.

“I’m trying to awaken Sleeping Beauty.”

“Sounds like you’re trying to wake the dead. Uh, good morning, Sleeping Beauty,” he added, seeing J.J. peering around Devine’s shoulder.

J.J. nodded and then repeated what she’d heard Ness saying. “Just what do you think you’re doing?”

Devine turned back. “We have to talk.” He reached for her arm. “Now.”

“Hold on a minute,” Ness said. “J.J., do you want to talk to him?”

J.J. looked at Devine’s face. It looked neutral, maybe leaning toward grim. “I guess it’s okay.”

“All right, but I’m right down the hall if you need me.” And with that, he closed his door.

“You might as well come in.”

“Thanks,” Devine said, looking at her from head to toe.

She grimaced. Sleep pants with a cat-chasing-mouse motif and misshapen gray T-shirt was not the glam look she longed for when facing a handsome male early in the morning. She turned and stalked off to her room with as much dignity as she could muster, returning quickly after adding a short white terry towel robe to her ensemble. Indie, who had stayed in bed the entire time, trailed behind her.

“Espresso?”

“Thanks,” Devine said and slid onto a stool at the counter while she ground the beans and made two cups.

When the noise of the espresso machine had subsided, she asked, “What do you want? What’s so important?”

Devine waited until he had taken his first sip. “I understand you visited my client yesterday.”

“I was asked by your client to visit her and I did.” She leaned back against the counter, facing him. She was not about to be browbeaten.

“So you have the answer to your question.”

J.J. sighed and closed her eyes a moment. “Yes. It seems I owe you an apology.” At least he no longer seemed angry at her.

“Accepted. Now, tell me what’s going on with Don Kelland.”

“What did Gina tell you?”

“I asked first.”

J.J. picked up her cup and walked over to the wicker chair. She sat and waited until Devine had settled on the love seat before answering.

“Gina thinks that her husband had something on Kelland and would have either used it to get his outdoor patio or against him in the next election. Sounds like just the sort of thing he would do,” she added almost under her breath.

“Marcotti or Kelland?” Devine asked, with one eyebrow raised.

“ Marcotti.”

“All right. But Gina didn’t find any information like that in his desk at home. She’d been meaning to go to the restaurant but got tied up. She’ll go in early this morning and look around.”

“I’m glad to hear that. When she hadn’t called back last night, I wondered if she’d just been saying that to get rid of me.”

Devine chuckled. “It would have served you right. Anyway, why don’t you get dressed and we’ll have breakfast at the Tender Grill, then meet up with Gina at her restaurant.”

J.J. brightened. “I’m starving. And, we might get to quiz Kelland’s nephew if he’s there. That’s his restaurant, in case you didn’t know. But I’ll bet you did. Be ready in a jiff.”

She showered in record time and fed Indie before they left in Devine’s car. Once there, they snagged a table at the window and were able to watch the few but hardy beach walkers enjoying their morning strolls.

J.J. had almost finished her vegetarian omelet when Devine got back to work. “Even if we find that Kelland was into something illegal, I have a hard time believing it would be so bad that he’d murder Marcotti to avoid being outed.”

“We don’t know that, and won’t know how incriminating it is until we find the proof.”

“I understood what you said. That’s scary.”

J.J. kicked him under the table. “Be nice. Well, if it has to do with the nephew, maybe he’s the killer, not Kelland.”

“Lots of possibilities.” He turned in his chair, searching for their server. “Let’s just see if the nephew, Warren Young, is in. He may not realize anyone’s onto Kelland and let something slip.” Unable to get the young man’s attention, he walked over and returned very quickly.

“He’s not in until later this morning. Guess that will have to be another visit. Finished?”

J.J. nodded. Devine insisted on paying the check, and they drove the two blocks to Bella Luna. Gina’s Cadillac Escalade—a mate to the one her deceased husband had driven, only cream in color—was the lone car in the parking lot. Devine pulled in beside it.

“Maybe she’s already found something,” J.J. said as they tried the front door. It was locked, so Devine pounded on the door.

“You’re very good at that,” J.J. said with a smirk.

“Fifteen years of police work will do that for you.”

The door opened and Gina let them inside. “I haven’t found anything yet, but I only got started. Come with me.”

They followed her into a small office down a short hallway beside the kitchen. It was big enough to hold a large wooden desk with two drawers on each side. A stack of six banker’s boxes was tucked into the far corner next to a bookcase that filled the remainder of the wall space. The six shelves of the bookcase held more cookbooks than J.J. had ever seen in one place, along with several recipe-card drawers. Stacked on the floor in front of it was a pile of binders that looked like wallpaper samplers. There were only two chairs in the room—a wooden swivel one behind the desk and a leather club chair that had seen better days.

Gina sat down at the desk and pulled out a drawer. “I’ve already searched the top drawer. J.J., why don’t you look
through those cookbooks on the shelves? He might have tucked something in one of them. Ty, those boxes on the floor in the corner are the filing system.” She picked up a box cutter and set it on the desk. “I never could convince him to do something with this office. Get it redecorated, bring in good furnishings.” She glanced around. “Good luck.”

J.J. was impressed. Gina sounded like she’d really thought this through. Of course, she’d already pegged Gina as an in-charge type of woman.

After about an hour, they heard noises down the hall in the kitchen. Gina explained that her employees were arriving and that it took several hours of prep time before each meal service. The kitchen would be a busy place until the restaurant closed later that night. She went out to talk to the early birds.

Devine stood and stretched. “It’s going to take more than a couple of hours to search all those boxes. How are you doing?”

“No luck, but I don’t think he’d put something in his cookbooks, do you? After all, any one of his staff might need to make use of them, don’t you think?”

Devine shrugged. “Only if he would allow them to use them. He didn’t seem to be a real sharing-type guy.”

“I wonder if there’s a safe.”

Devine had been staring at the shelves behind the desk and walked over to them.

“What’s up?” J.J. wanted to know.

“Does this wooden divider between these two shelves look different than the others?” He walked over to it and started tapping it.

“It’s wider, I’d say.”

He tried to jiggle it, then grabbed it with both hands and yanked. It came off to reveal a narrow space.

“What is it?” J.J. wanted to know, trying to look over his shoulder. “Is anything in there?”

Devine pulled something out and turned it over. “It’s not what we were looking for, nothing that implicates Kelland, but it is interesting. It’s an old photo.” He held it so that J.J. could also see it.

“Wow, that is old. Hard to tell with the fading black-and-white tones, but it sort of looks like maybe a young Marcotti, don’t you think?”

“I’d say so. Maybe a forty-years-younger version.”

“Let me see,” J.J. said, holding the photo closer. “If he’s in his late teens that means the woman may be the one he and Rocco fought over back in Italy. Wow, she was a beauty. I can see why they’d both be courting her.”

“Interesting place to keep the photo.”

“So that Gina wouldn’t see it? Maybe this girl was the true love of his life and he never forgot her. But he didn’t want to upset Gina, so he hid his only photo of her at the office so he could take it out and daydream every now and then. How does that sound?”

“Like a romantic talking.” He looked at her and smiled. “But you could be right.”

“She looks sort of familiar. Are you going to show it to Gina?”

“It is her property.”

“And I guess she’s beyond being hurt by it.”

“Show me what?” Gina asked, pushing the door to the office open farther. “What have you got there? A photo?”

She held her hand out and Devine placed the picture in it. She looked at it closely and shook her head. “It’s Tonio and his first love.”

“Is that the girl in Italy that your husband and Rocco came to blows over?”

“So you know about that? Of course, Rocco told you.” She nodded. “Yes, that is the one. It took many years, but eventually Tonio told me about her and showed me this picture. Only
once and after much alcohol. I didn’t see it again.” She looked at the open space in the wall. “I guess I know why.”

She sat in the chair behind the desk. “I knew by the way he talked about her that she was still in his heart.” She handed the photo back to Devine. “So, it is over. And that’s all you’ve found in here? Have you checked on his desk?”

“No, I thought you had,” J.J. said.

“I’m still not certain what it is we’re looking for. Maybe one of you should go through it again, and probably the one at home also.” She walked to the door, more slowly than before.
Sadder, maybe
. “I’ll be out front finalizing details with my manager when you’re ready to leave.”

J.J. looked at Devine and then sat in the chair that Gina had vacated. “I’ll quickly check this while you finish with the shelf.”

She sorted through a pile of papers that turned out to be mainly old menu inserts with specials listed. The next pile, in a wire basket marked Bookkeeper, held several bills. But under it, she found a typed sheet of paper in a file folder marked Private. She read it over quickly.

“This is it. I’ve found it. This is what Marcotti had found out. Listen to this. He’s noted that he has proof, and he’s attached it, that Don Kelland and his nephew bribed a city official in order to get a variance.”

She handed Devine the attached paper and he read it over. “It’s a signed affidavit from an inspector in the Planning and Zoning Department stating that that Don Kelland, councilor for Half Moon Bay, and his nephew approached him and offered ten thousand dollars for him to grant a variance. He agreed and took the payment. That’s pretty damning. What was the variance for?”

J.J. quickly read the next page. “Marcotti’s jotted down some notes. It says that Kelland and his nephew bribed a city official to secure a zoning change in order for the nephew to build an
upper level to his restaurant. Up until this point, all buildings along Lakeshore Drive were restricted to being one story, but the nephew wanted an even better view along with an outdoor deck.” She looked at Devine. “So that would mean not only did the nephew get the outdoor patio but also a second story, if that went forward. And Marcotti would get nothing.”

“What are you thinking?” he asked.

“I think that’s a good enough motive to kill Marcotti, wouldn’t you say?”

“Why? Because he had this piece of paper? Because he threatened to expose him?”

“Yes, to both. And that’s why Kelland, not his nephew, is the more likely killer. He had more to lose. Public disgrace and maybe a criminal charge.” J.J. felt they’d finally hit the jackpot.

“Ten thousand dollars seems like a small amount as a motive for murder.” Devine handed the document back to J.J.

J.J. took it, glanced at it again, and slumped back in the chair. Was he just playing devil’s advocate?
Infuriating
. “It’s not the amount, it’s the disgrace. We’re talking about a career politician here. And an ambitious one at that, from all I’ve read.”

“But wouldn’t it make more sense to kill the official, if someone needed to be murdered? He was the one who took the bribe and would testify to that. And is still able to, I might add.”

“Oh, I see what you mean. But what if, in the heat of anger, he tossed logic out the window and attacked Marcotti, who had just threatened to expose him?”

“The murder appears to have been premeditated, remember? The knife from Rocco’s kitchen? And how could he have gotten his hands on it?”

“Hm. His nephew would know about delivery schedules and all. He’s in the same business.”

“But why frame Rocco Gates?”

“Because everybody knew about their feud.”

“Everybody? Are you certain about that?”

“Well, that’s what I’ve heard.” She shrugged. “I still think I’ll confront Kelland about this.”

“You will? Since when did you become the investigator? We turn this over to the police.” He snatched it off the desk, tucked it away in his pocket, and held out his hand to her. “You’ve done good, though. He would have made a prime suspect except for a few facts that get in the way.”

She accepted his helping hand, which pulled her out of the chair. “You may smile now, but you will see that I am contributing a lot to solving this case. At some point, you’ll realize that.”

“I’m happy to live with that. Time to leave.”

Gina met them as they left the office. “We’ve found what we were looking for,” Devine told her, “but it doesn’t definitively point to Kelland as the murderer, unfortunately.”

Gina frowned. “That’s too bad. I would like for this entire thing to be over. Can I offer you some coffee?”

“I’d love an espresso,” J.J. answered, and Devine nodded.

They walked back into the restaurant and sat at a table for four while Gina made their drinks and brought them over on a tray.