Who Glares Wins (Lexi Graves Mysteries) (19 page)

"Thanks," I muttered.

"And don't
ever
come back in the kitchens unless you're invited. Understood?"

"Gotcha," I said, but I didn't
plan to obey
him for a moment. Next time
,
I might pick a more opportune time, like when everyone was out.

Chef Fabien stalked back to the table, making Amanda jump out of his way as she came towards me. "Come on," she said
softly
, taking me by the arm and steering me outside before he could shout again. "Let's get out of his way."

"Is he always like that?" I asked as the doors swung closed behind us.

"Chef Fabien? Sure. He's the most obnoxious man I've ever met
,
but he's a brilliant chef."

"Isn't The Montgomery kind of out
of
the way for a brilliant chef?"

"Yeah. He used to work bigger places but, oh God, I suppose it
is
common knowledge
,
but he would kill me for saying it..."

"What?"

Amanda mimed tipping a bottle to her mouth.

"Oh," I said. "He was an alcoholic?"

"Yeah. Still is, but he doesn't drink."

I enjoyed her refreshingly candid approach to spreading gossip. I asked,
"Doesn't that bother
Mr.
Killjoy?"

"You know, I don't think so. He recruited Chef Fabien personally. Fabien sounds like he hates him, but really
,
they get along fine. He's just
meticulous
about his kitchen. Chefs," she said
, with a
shrug. "So you're making introductions? I'm Amand
a Michaels, Chef Fabien's right-
hand woman."

"Lexi Graves,
Mr.
Killjoy's new assistant."

"What happened to the last girl? She was lovely."

"I don't know," I said truthfully. "She wasn't here long, right?"

Amanda thought about it. "Not long," she agreed, "but she was very efficient. I think
Mr.
Killjoy was going to take her on permanently. He seemed to like her a lot."

"What makes you say that?"

"I saw him give her flowers once, and she kissed him on the cheek."

I grinned.
"Really?"

"Yeah. Oh, please don't repeat that. I shouldn't have said anything. I just thought... they seemed sweet
,
you know."

I frowned
as a puzzle piece seemed to sl
ip
into place
. "Were they... dating?"

"I don't know. Maybe. If they were, they were keeping it secret. Maybe that's why she left?" Amanda mused. "I've said too much. You'll think I'm a gossip!"

I certainly did.
"My lips are sealed. I guess it wouldn't do to piss
Mr.
Killjoy off."

Amanda nodded. "Right. He's okay, I guess. I don't see him much because he doesn't come into the kitchens. What can I help you with?"

"I'm just getting to know everyone
,
so nothing specific really. Between you and me, I think
Mr.
Killjoy's worried about losing staff members. He heard a rumor that some of the staff want
ed
to quit," I lied, but it was clearly a plausible one because Amanda bit.

"Really? I guess it's because of the sabotage. You probably haven'
t heard about it yet, but there ha
ve
been some problems at the hotel. Some of the rotas got messed up and people were missing their shifts or turning up to the wrong ones,
and
had to be
called in at short notice. Every penny counts to some."

"I know that feeling," I agreed, wondering if she included herself in the “some.”

Amanda carried on. "One of the waiters made a fuss about missing some shifts and said he'd quit. David, I think. Maybe it's him."

"So... everyone else is happy?"

"Yeah, I guess. I mean, it's work, you know. Can't be happy all the time. But if
Mr.
Killjoy thinks Chef Fabien is going anywhere, I'm sure he's wrong
,
"
she said emphatically.

"If Chef Fabien left, wouldn't that
put
you in charge?"

"I guess," agreed Amanda.
She tugged at the cuffs of her jacket
,
then shrugged.
"But I wouldn't want tha
t kind of responsibility. Sous
c
hef is enough for me. Listen, if I hear any rumblings, I'll let you know, but I think we've smoothed out any issues now
that
we're hand
-
delivering every rota."

I left Amanda to
return
to her meeting and ruminated on what she told me as I walked back to my office. I couldn't think of a single boss who'd ever given me flowers
,
and I wondered why
Edward
gave
them to Marissa. Maybe it was her birthday? Or maybe they were from someone else
,
and he was simply passing them along
? Except,
Amanda said Marissa
kis
sed him
,
and that was on the decidedly
,
over-
friendly side. I wondered if there was more to the relationship than a working one. No wonder Edward had seemed so tense when he mentioned she left abruptly. I wondered if he was a spurned lover, or if he had something to do with Marissa's disappearance. Could she have rejected him? Edward didn't
seem like he could hurt anyone
,
but
I supposed
most murderers
appeared to be
lovely people. I resolved to keep on my guard around Edward, just in case, and to never go into a basement with him
,
or help him carry power tools
of any description
.

Another thing
I
wanted to
know
was
if it w
ere
a boon or a huge problem to my own pro
bono case
.
I suspected
Marissa might
have
be
en
mixed
up in something serious at The Montgomery at the time she apparently went missing.

When I got back to my office, I shut the door and called my oldest brother
,
Garrett
,
at the station. Like Maddox
,
he
also
worked homicide
,
but their paths didn't cross often.

"Hello," he grunted into the phone.

"Well, hello to you too."

"It's been a long night, Lexi. What's up?"
I heard him stifle a yawn.

"Actually, I have a favor."

"Babysitting
-
worthy?"

"Not particularly. I had a missing person case come into the agency that we turned down. Her name's Marissa Widmore. I wondered if you could look into it?"

"This missing person been reported yet?"

"Yep, but the police didn't think she was missing. They thought she took off."

"Any reason why you think she didn't?" My brother was astute, a quick thinker and a good detective. He also thought I'd make a good investigator.

"Yeah, I'm feeling suspicious."

He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth.
"Got anything more I can go on than that
?
"

"I'm thinking," I said, wondering what I could tell him. "Everything so far points to
her having
no reason to stay
,
but no reason to go missing either. Nice apartment, close friends, and she had
just started
a new job. Then one day, boom
!
S
he's gone."

"Happens to lots of folk."

"There's something off about this one.
Someone went
through her apartment and her car turned up in the PD i
mpound after being abandoned at Fenway Plaza
, around two weeks ago. Her laptop is missing too."

"I'll get the case file and have a look
-
through. Best I can do right now."

"Thanks, Gar'. I appreciate it."

“Thought you were out of the biz?”

“Just wrapping up some loose ends. Things are quiet
,
hence the temping.”

“Ah, I see. I’ll call you later. Gotta go see the ME about a body first.”

“Have a terrific time!” I said
, hanging
up.

I felt a little bit better now that I knew fresh eyes at MPD would
review
Marissa's case. If nothing else, at least she might sound familiar if her name came up. Or
her
body.

The other employees were equally pleasant, and Louisa was chatty at lunc
h,
over sandwiches supplied by the kitchen
.
W
e ate on the benches in the rear garden,
as she told
me about the hotel and the kind of events that they held. I thought she was lonely,
and
maybe got bored working in her quiet office
all day, far from other people
.
M
aybe being the HR manager didn’t make her the other employees
’
best friend.

Lily picked me up from the employee parking lot at six
, sliding
over so I could take the driver's seat.

"Want to have dinner with me?" she asked.
“My shift just got canceled.”

I thought about the microwave meal
at home,
awaiting me.
"Yep. Want to go investigating with me?"

"You bet. Are we tailing Ted's girlfriend again?"

"Not
tonight
. This time
,
we're looking into a missing person."

"Awesome. Where is the missing person?"

"That's what I want to know." I told Lily about how Elisabeth Fong came to see me at the agency and
after getting
her case declined, how I decided to look into it myself.

"That's so badass," said Lily
, grinning.
"You're like a renegade.
A rebel with a cause!
"

More like
,
renegade without a clue
,
but I kept that to myself. A brief moment of badassery
felt
kind of nice.

"There's one more thing," I said. "You'll never guess where Marissa worked when she went missing."

"Probably won't," Lily agreed
as we sped away
. "Tell me. It'll be quicker."

"She was Edward Killjoy's assistant.
As in the same Edward Killjoy who is now my boss. Sort of.
"

"No way!"

"Way, dude."

"You think the cases are connected?"

I nodded. "It's too much of a coincidence otherwise."

"Have you told Solomon you're looking into Marissa's disappearance?"

"No, not yet."

"You're so badass,
"
she reiterated with
unbridled
approval.

"Not really. I just don't want to look like a dumbass if I got
it wrong. Besides, he
refused to take
the case
,
and I don't want to piss him off."

"You could just tell him
,
then kiss him, slip him a little tongue
,
or something."

"Lily!"

"What? I bet he would forget all about telling you not to take the case if he thought he was going to get some."
I doubted that. I
figured
Solomon would probably take some,
then
get pissed off. After all, he was smart enough to get what he wanted first. Plus
,
I liked my job, most of the time, so getting overly friendly with the boss wasn't going to happen. Not to mention the small problem of my colleagues already thinking he was boning me. I still hadn't worked out how I was going to rectify that.

As we stopped in a line of traffic at a red
light,
Lily popped her hips and wiggled her arms
like a humping possum
, only stopping when the passengers in the Camry next to us turned to gaw
k
. Lily stuck her tongue out
,
and the bespectacled woman driver gasped.