Hickory Smoked Homicide (19 page)

Lulu clucked. “Such a pity! So he and Tristan were having a relationship?”

Dee Dee said, “Honey, there was no relationship involved. I know you’ve led a sheltered life, but this was just a fling. I think Tristan wanted to hurt Steffi for going out with the guy to begin with. You know it must have made Tristan absolutely furious when she told her mother she was dating the yardman. All Tristan cared about was appearances, you know—how she looked, how her life looked.”

“And it sounds like how her life looked was simply an illusion,” said Lulu in a sad voice. “None of it was even true.” Then she said briskly, “But young people seem like they can move ahead so much easier than us old folks. I’m sure this is water under the bridge for Steffi and this young man. I wanted to try to invite everyone that Steffi and Marlowe might know so they wouldn’t be put in the position of asking their own friends to come and pay money at a fund-raiser for Steffi, so I’ll try to track this fellow down.”

“No need to track him down, Lulu. Like I said, he’s my yard guy. His name is David, and he mows Tristan’s grass on Thursday mornings at ten—right before he comes to my house. So you can find him either place. And I’ll be sure to make it to the benefit—of course I want to help poor Steffi out. Who all are you inviting?”

Lulu smiled. Dee Dee couldn’t resist going anywhere where she might have a chance to do some wheeling and dealing. “Well, like I mentioned, I’m trying to reach out to all of Steffi’s and Marlowe’s friends. And Loren said he’d be there when I talked to him—Steffi seems like she’s befriended him out of pity. And I know Colleen and Pansy will be there, since Steffi is one of Pansy’s best friends from when they were little. Pink will be there. And of course all the Graces. I’m advertising it a lot, too, so I’m planning on a crowd.”

“Lulu, I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Chapter 15

Thursday morning, Lulu parked her car at the end of Tristan Pembroke’s long driveway and listened for the sound of the lawn mower. Sure enough, she heard a faint hum from the back of the house. Lulu stepped out of the car, straightened her dress, and started the trek to the backyard. What a shame, she thought, that Steffi was going to have to sell this beautiful place. If she
could
sell it.

When Lulu reached the backyard, she saw a young man about Steffi’s age on a commercial riding mower. He had black sunglasses on, the reflecting kind. He’d somehow, thought Lulu, wrinkling her forehead, forgotten to put a shirt on. Lulu had a feeling that could be a favorite look for him because it showed off his muscled chest. And it was definitely muscled.

He was steering the mower in a curve when he saw Lulu and abruptly stopped the machine and turned it off. Lulu said, “I’m sorry—David, isn’t it? I didn’t mean to interrupt you.”

He strode over to a wrought-iron table where the missing tee shirt was located, picked up the shirt, and swabbed his face and neck with it. “Sure you did. Otherwise, what would you be doing back here? You’re not exactly on the beaten path.” He snorted. “I’m not even sure what
I’m
doing back here. Tristan’s dead, and who knows if I’m even going to get paid for cutting the grass or not.”

“Yes, it’s such a
tragedy
isn’t it?” Lulu said with a hint of reproof in her voice. “I can hardly believe Tristan is gone.”

“Me either!” he said, reaching down for a water bottle and taking a few healthy gulps.

“That’s what I’m here to talk to you about,” said Lulu.

He looked suspiciously at her now. “You with the cops? I already told them that I was just Tristan’s handyman and yardman.”

“Were you at the party that night?” asked Lulu. “There were so many guests there that I wouldn’t remember you if I’d seen you, I’m sure.”

He gave a short nod. “I was there. Not for long, though—not my kind of gig. I wasn’t invited, but I showed up, underdressed, I guess. Everybody was snooty, and I didn’t care jack about the art stuff. Steffi was all over me like a puppy dog or something. And Tristan was mad about seeing me there, so she asked me to leave.” He shrugged. “So I cut out of there.”

“Just like that? No hard feelings or anything?” asked Lulu.

“Not at all. I was more worried about keeping my job than anything else. Not worth losing a paying customer over.” Lulu remembered Dee Dee’s words about David’s interest in money.

“You were saying you were only Tristan’s yardman and handyman, but you were more than that, right? I heard you’d been seeing both Tristan and Steffi. And you said Steffi was like a puppy dog that night? So on the night Tristan was killed, you were back with Steffi?”

His dark brows drew together in a frown. “Now
who
did you say you were again? With the cops?” But once again he didn’t give Lulu time to answer. “I already went through this all a million times with you people.” He threw the shirt back at the table. “Steffi and I had been out with each other and then
Mrs. Pembroke
threw herself at
me
one day out of the blue. And I’m only human, ain’t I?”

Lulu thought that was questionable but decided it would be prudent not to answer.

“So, when I thought I might have a chance with the lady of the manor, things sort of cooled between me and Steffi.”

“On your side anyway,” said Lulu dryly.

“That’s right. Steffi didn’t seem to get the message. And when Tristan kicked Steffi out of the house, I knew who was going to be the better Pembroke for me to be focusing my attention on.”

Lulu felt a little nauseated at the idea of asking David to come to Aunt Pat’s. What could Steffi see in him? Well, besides his obvious physical attributes. And maybe he was charming enough when he wasn’t being honest. She bet he was a really talented liar.

“Except it didn’t end up that way, did it?” asked Lulu with a forced sweetness.

David acted like his Machiavellian talents were being maligned. “Well, I couldn’t have been expected to know that she was going to
die
,” he said. “I mean, she was an older lady, but she wasn’t old enough to
die
.”

“So then you started going out with Steffi again after Tristan was murdered.”

“That’s right. She and I picked right back up where we’d left off.
Who
are you again?”

There was a small voice behind them that said, “She’s Lulu Taylor. She owns Aunt Pat’s Barbeque restaurant.”

Lulu could see that David was trying to figure out how much Steffi had heard of their conversation. His face suddenly lit up, and he flashed a charismatic smile, and Lulu knew he’d decided to go with hoping she’d heard nothing of the conversation. “Hey there, cute thing! Are you getting along okay? I’ve been so worried about you.” He reached out his arms and Steffi melted into them.

His eyes were piercing as he looked at Lulu over Steffi’s head. “A barbeque restaurant? That’s very interesting. She was interested in talking with me about the yard work.... Isn’t that right, ma’am?”

Lulu wasn’t in the mood to help him out. “Actually, no. I wanted to invite you over to the restaurant next week for the benefit I’m doing for Steffi. Since you’re her friend, I thought you’d want to come, and I didn’t want Steffi to have to bother with inviting people over.”

David gave a short laugh. “Benefit? Like Steffi is even worried about money now.”

Steffi turned her head a little on David’s chest and looked at Lulu with pleading eyes. She clearly didn’t want her to say anything to David about her mother’s poor financial situation. Lulu said mildly, “Well, no matter how much money you have, it always helps to have easily accessible money before the will is probated.” Lulu wasn’t sure that what she was saying really made any sense, but David seemed satisfied with it.

“In that case,” he said, giving Steffi a kiss on the nose, “I’ll be happy to be there.”

 

 

It was a good thing that Ben was prepared and did a lot of cooking for the fund-raiser, because the word really got out—through old methods like church bulletin boards and a blurb in the paper, and new methods like Twitter and Facebook—that there was going to be a fund-raising buffet at Aunt Pat’s. And the dining room stayed packed the whole night.

Fortunately, Lulu had brought in some extra kitchen helpers and servers for the night. Even though it was a buffet, the food still had to be brought from the kitchen to the buffet line—and it needed to keep coming. Sara and the extra hands were doing a great job keeping up with demand, which kept Lulu from having to spend the evening in the kitchen—and gave her the chance to talk to all the folks who had come.

Buddy, Morty, and Big Ben were playing better than they ever had out on the restaurant’s front porch. Lulu thought they got better with age. Feet were tapping, and food was disappearing, and money was coming in hand over fist.

Lulu walked around and greeted the guests for a while, then decided to stay back a little bit and spend some time watching to see what happened next. That was one thing she wished she’d had at Tristan’s party—time to absorb her surroundings and watch the guests to see what they did.

She’d done a great job getting everyone to the restaurant. Pink was there—because he was
always
there at Aunt Pat’s. Colleen and Pansy were some of the first to arrive. Then Loren came in, straightening his collar and looking self-conscious. Dee Dee arrived and immediately started talking loudly to Lulu about the clothes she wanted Lulu to see at the store.

Dee Dee also tried to talk to Sara about something (Lulu guessed it was about a pageant dress for Coco), but Sara was so busy lugging food out of the kitchen that she shook her head at her and hurried off to the kitchen. Marlowe and Steffi were both there, frequently talking to people who came up to give them condolences and ask how they were doing. Steffi looked a little stressed, thought Lulu, but that’s probably because she wasn’t used to being the center of attention. David spent some time hanging out with Steffi, but he quickly seemed uncomfortable and stepped outside to smoke a lot.

There was also a lot of movement in and out of the restaurant—from the food at the back table to the bar, where the desserts and beverages were set out. And then there were folks who went out to the front porch to listen to the band for a while. Of course, there were also customers who came in straight from off the street to listen to the band and have some food—the benefit part meant nothing to them, but they sure were interested in the buffet. Lulu had already put the Graces on notice to rescue her if she looked like she couldn’t get away from Gordon. So far, they’d played interference with a lot of charm. Gordon looked pleased as punch with all the attention he was getting. With any luck, thought Lulu, he’d end up smitten with one of them instead.

Cherry sidled up to Lulu. “Did you see who just came in?”

Lulu squinted across the crowded room. “No—who?”

“Pepper! She’s come to make Loren feel uncomfortable . . . and I think she’s doing a good job at it.”

Sure enough, there was Pepper, keeping in Loren’s line of sight at all times and glowering across the restaurant at him.

Lulu sighed. “Looks like their relationship is on the rocks. But who can blame her? He’s spending even more time chasing Tristan now than he did when she was alive!”

Lulu felt a light touch on her arm and turned to see Ella Beth’s pixie face looking up at her with concern. “Granny Lulu, have you seen Mama?”

“She’s around, honey, but she’s busy keeping the buffet table filled. What’s wrong?”

“Coco is in the office, crying.”

Lulu stood up. “Is she okay?”

“I don’t know. I think her tummy hurts or something. That’s why I came out to find somebody—I know Daddy is busy cooking.”

Lulu hurried to investigate and found that Coco did have an upset stomach. Whether it had something to do with the empty bag of miniature chocolates she’d found in the kitchen and eaten on the sly was anyone’s guess. Lulu suggested she spend a little time in the restroom right off the office, then called Sara’s nephew, Derrick. “Hi, honey.”

“Granny Lulu?” Derrick asked. “Did you need some more help at Aunt Pat’s?”

“No, I think we’re good with the kitchen staff, but I could use your help with something else. Could you come and pick Coco up and take her back to the house and sort of keep an eye on her? I’m afraid we’re all too tied up here to take her back.”

“Is she sick?” There was a little trepidation in the teenager’s voice.

“Well, she might be. But I think it’s just a matter of eating too much chocolate candy. Either way, she sure doesn’t feel good. And could you give me a call if you think she’s feeling worse or if she starts to really get sick?”

“Will do, Granny Lulu.”

Lulu stayed with Coco until Derrick arrived to pick her up. She was relieved when Sara’s seventeen-year-old nephew walked in the door. At least, she
guessed
it was Derrick—his bangs had gotten so long that you could hardly even see his face. Of course, though, he didn’t really meld into a crowd . . . not with all his tattoos and piercings. He quickly collected Coco, and they left the restaurant.

Pink noticed a green-faced Coco leaving with Derrick. “Uh-oh. Is Coco feeling puny?”

Lulu sighed. “I’m afraid so. And I didn’t even tell Sara and Ben about it because they’re slammed right now, and I knew they couldn’t get away.” She scanned the room for a minute. “How is everything out here? Is the food coming out fast enough?”

“Seems to be,” said Pink, patting his stomach with satisfaction. “And I think you can call the fund-raising part of it a success—Aunt Pat’s has been jam-packed with folks.”

Lulu was pleased to see that Gordon wasn’t one of the guests jam-packing the restaurant. Although he’d come in for a little while, he’d quickly left when things got crowded. “Good,” said Lulu with a sigh. “A successful evening is exactly what I was hoping for.” She looked around the restaurant to try to find her suspects, but there were so many people that she had a hard time placing them. Things sure weren’t going according to plan, but that was so frequently the way, thought Lulu.