Murder in the Pearl District (Cedar Bay Cozy Mystery Series Book 5) (3 page)

The next day flew by for
Kelly and Sophie, both intent on making the upcoming dinner party for Donatella
a success. As the hour of 6:00 approached, Kelly put the finishing touches on
the cheese platters, while Sophie changed clothes and prepared to greet her
guests.

            Three hours
later, Kelly removed the frozen key lime pie dessert plates from the dining
room table, stacked the dishes for the kitchen help Sophie had hired to clean
up in the morning, and put the last of the food away. As she walked into the
dining room, she was met with a round of applause. Stunned, she looked at
Sophie. “Please, Kelly, join us. I introduced you to everyone earlier, but we
want you to know how wonderful the dinner was. I speak for everybody when I say
thank you.”

            Donatella
stood up. “Kelly, that was one of the finest meals I’ve ever had.” She turned
to the other guests, “Please join me in toasting Kelly Reynolds. I know I speak
for all of us when I say I wished we lived closer to Cedar Bay so we could eat
at Kelly’s Koffee Shop. Now I see why Sophie spoke so highly of you and was so
confident that you could fill in for her caterer. Thank you for making this one
of the best nights of my life!”

            A handsome man
with greying temples was seated next to Donatella. Sophie had introduced him to
Kelly earlier in the evening. He was Mitch Ramos, the owner of the television
station and the man Sophie had mentioned was very close with Donatella. He
stood up and raised his glass. “I would be remiss if I didn’t toast the woman
everyone in the United States will be talking about after tomorrow’s television
debut of Dining with Donatella. I know I speak for all of us when I say how
excited we are for the inaugural show.” He turned to Donatella, “Dede, here in
American show business there is an expression that means ‘do well.’ We say
‘break a leg,’ and that’s what we all wish for you, metaphorically speaking. I
know the show will even surpass the amazingly favorable media buzz it’s already
received. And now I think it’s time to end this evening. I don’t want the star
of the show to have bags under her eyes from staying out too late. Ladies,
gentlemen, I think it’s time to leave.”

            When the last
guest had left, Sophie turned to Kelly and said, “I can never thank you enough.
Everyone had a wonderful time, and the food was incredible. You really are a
very talented cook, and your frozen key lime pie was a perfect way to end the
dinner.”

            “Oh, thank
you, Sophie. I’ve never done anything quite like this. You never told me
specifically where the recipes came from. They really were good.”

            Sophie smiled
sheepishly. “I told you they were mine,
cherié,
and each one was created
by me. I love to cook, but I’ve never had the confidence to prepare and serve a
meal to a large group of friends. I like to experiment when I’m cooking for
myself. I pretend I’m cooking for a large number of people and they love my
food. I know, it’s
très
silly, but it’s my little secret.”

            “Well, if you
ever want to cook for a crowd of people, you’ll always have a job at Kelly’s
Koffee Shop. Those were excellent recipes, plus what I liked about them was
they were fairly simple. I’m sure everyone thought each item on the menu had
been slaved over for hours. Very well done.”

            “
Merci.
You must be very tired, I know I am. Dede invited us to be her guests at the
filming tomorrow at 10:00 in the morning. After that I thought we would spend a
little time in the Pearl District, exploring. You mentioned on the phone that
you had always wanted to see it. I hope you’ll spend tomorrow night here at my
home and then go back to Cedar Bay the next day.”

            “I’d very much
like that. I’ve never been in a television studio, and it will be particularly
exciting since I know the star. She must be very hard-working. Mitch wanted to
walk her home, but I overheard her tell him she needed to check in at the
restaurant before she went home. Does she have night care for her daughter as
well as day care in her home?”

            “Yes, although
she told me her ex-husband had taken Francesca for a few days, and she had
given Francesca’s night nurse and day nurse a couple of days off. I imagine she
wants to be rested and calm when she does the show tomorrow, and Francesca can
be a bit of a handful at times. Good night. Sleep well.”

            “I will. I
need to call Mike and tell him how the dinner went. He was concerned, and I
also need to tell him I’m staying over an extra day. See you in the morning.”

            After Kelly
and Rebel walked into her bedroom, she closed the door and picked up her phone.
“Hi, Mike. I know you’re probably getting ready for bed, but I wanted to fill
you in on the party.” She proceeded to tell him all about the menu and the
guests.

            “Sweetheart, I
never doubted you could pull it off. If you lived in a big town, you’d probably
own the best restaurant there. Tell me about Donatella.”

            “I liked her
when I met her last night, and she was just as gracious tonight. I guess the
tragedy of her life is that she has a severely mentally challenged daughter she
shields from the public and the press. Sophie told me she has to work very hard
to make enough money to pay for her daughter’s expenses because her ex-husband
just barely gets by financially. One thing was kind of interesting. Sophie had
said how much everyone loves Donatella, and certainly from what I saw, that’s
true, but I did overhear something strange last night when I was at her
restaurant and was making my way to the ladies restroom.” She told Mike about
the heated exchange she had overheard between Donatella and her sous chef.

            “Kelly, are
you sure he said,
‘ti odio?’ 
I have a good friend who’s Italian, and if
that’s what you heard, he sure doesn’t like Donatella. It means ‘I hate you’ in
Italian. Could you have misunderstood the words?”

            “I don’t think
so. They sounded pretty clear to me, and he sounded very angry.”

            “Well, no
one’s perfect, and I imagine Donatella isn’t either. Have a wonderful time
tomorrow, and I’ll see you day after tomorrow. How’s Rebel doing?”

            “Getting
spoiled. Sophie’s never had children, and I think her dog, Amelie, is taking a
child’s place in her life. Do you know what she fed the dogs for dinner
tonight?”

            “No, what?”

            “Filet mignon.
Can you believe it? I don’t know if we’ll ever get Rebel to eat plain old dry
dog food out of a bag again.”

            Mike laughed.
“Well, everyone needs to feel a little spoiled once in a while. It won’t hurt
him, and I’m sure he’s loving it.”

            “Oh yeah. I
used to kiddingly get mad at Doc when he fed Rebel a piece of steak as a treat,
but a whole filet mignon? Unbelievable. I guess some people have more money
than they know what to do with, but Sophie could not have been more gracious to
me. Love you, Sheriff. See you soon!”

            “Sleep well,
Kelly, and give Rebel a big belly rub for me.”

“Good morning Kelly, I hope you were
able to sleep after doing so much work yesterday,” Sophie said, looking up from
her morning newspaper as Kelly walked  into the kitchen and poured herself a
cup of coffee.

“I don’t know when I’ve
slept so well, and you know what was even better, I didn’t have to get up
before dawn and go to the coffee shop. I feel positively decadent.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re
awake and refreshed. I was going to knock on your door in a few minutes,
because we need to be at the television studio by 9:30 and it’s already 8:00.”
Just then Sophie’s cell phone began to ring, and she walked over to the counter
to answer it. “This is Sophie Marchant.” She listened for a moment and then
said, “Yes, Mitch, I have a key to her house. She was supposed to be at the
studio at 7:30, and she hasn’t shown up? That’s very strange. Dede is almost
fanatical about being on time. I’ll go over there now and call you back in a
few minutes.”

“Kelly, I have to go over
to Dede’s house and see if she’s still at home. Maybe there’s been an incident
with Francesca. I’m sure there’s a logical reason why she’s not yet at the
studio. I keep her key in my bedroom. I’ll be back in a minute.”

“I’ll go with you. I could
use the exercise, and it looks like a beautiful morning. Actually I think I’ll
take Rebel. He could also use some exercise after his filet mignon dinner last
night.”

“If Rebel’s going, Amelie
will want to go too.”

A few minutes later, the
two dogs, along with Kelly and Sophie, walked next door to Donatella’s house.
“Sophie,” Kelly said, as they opened the gate and began walking up the sidewalk
to the porch, “her house is absolutely beautiful. It looks like it’s been here
since Portland was founded.”

“It has. Her house is a
good example of the oddities we have here in the Pearl District. This is a
strange area. Originally it was considered kind of like what I think you call
‘the wrong side of the tracks’ with its light industry, warehouses, railroad yards,
and a few scattered homes in between. In the mid-1980’s it went through a
period of urban renewal, and now it has everything from the world famous
Powell’s City of Books to art galleries and dog parks. A lot of the warehouses
were renovated and converted into lofts and condominiums. As you know, my
building is one of those.

“I love it here. The area
draws people who are quite individualistic. You don’t see the, what do they
call them? The suits? You know, men dressed in dark suits with vests who work in
prestigious businesses. Come to think of it, I can’t remember ever seeing a
woman who lives in the Pearl District carrying a designer logo bag. Maybe
that’s why I love it. It reminds me of France. The people here are oh so very
interesting. What’s also interesting is that it’s named after a woman. A man
who revered her mentioned this area as being Pearl’s District when he was being
interviewed by a magazine. The story was picked up by a number of other
magazines and the name stuck.”

“How charming. I didn’t
know that.”

They walked up the steps
to the front porch and Sophie knocked on the door. There was no answer. She
rang the bell and knocked again. Still, there was no answer. She turned to
Kelly, “I really don’t like to do this. Dede is a very private person, and I’m
not sure she’ll be happy about me taking the liberty of walking into her house,
but I’m afraid I have no choice.” She put the key in the lock and opened the
door.

Immediately a low rumbling
growl came from Rebel. Every hair along his spine was erect, hackles clearly
raised. “Rebel, easy,” Kelly said. “Something must be wrong, Sophie. I trust
Rebel. I’ve seen him do this before when there’s danger. We better be careful.
Rebel, come.” She stepped into the eerily quiet house.

“Dede, are you here? It’s
Sophie and Kelly,” Sophie called out. There was no answer. They walked down the
hall, looking first into the dining room and then the living room. There was no
sign of Donatella, and everything appeared to be in its proper place.

As they approached the
rear of the house and started to walk into the kitchen, Rebel began snarling
and barking, standing as close as he could get to Kelly. Almost immediately
Sophie screamed, “
Mon Dieu
,” and at the same moment Kelly saw Donatella
lying face down on the kitchen floor in a pool of blood, a large stainless
steel chef’s knife protruding out of her back, shining in the morning sunlight
which filled the room. She was wearing the same dress she’d had on at the
dinner party the evening before and was obviously dead.

Kelly and Sophie both stared in
disbelief at the dead body of Donatella, unwilling to believe what their eyes
were telling them. Donatella, the vibrant and famous chef, ready to film her
first television program, Dining with Donatella, had been murdered in the
kitchen of her own home. In an ironic twist of fate, the weapon that had been
used to end her life was a chef’s knife.

            “I’ll call the police.
Did you bring your phone?” Kelly asked.

            “
Non
, I thought
I’d only be gone a minute. I can’t believe this. I think I’m going to be sick.”

            “Sit down. I see a phone
on the desk. Take some deep breaths. It will pass.” She dialed 911.

            A few minutes later, they
heard police sirens getting louder the closer they got to Donatella’s home.
Kelly hurried to the front door and waved the police in. “She’s in the kitchen
at the end of the hall.”

            When they reached the
kitchen, Sophie was crying and trying to talk on the phone. “Mitch… it’s Dede.
She’s ddddead. There’s a knife in her back.” She handed the phone to Kelly, “I
ccaan’t talk.”

            “Mitch, this is Kelly. I
am so sorry to have to tell you this, but Donatella has been murdered. Sophie
and I discovered her body on the kitchen floor of her home just minutes ago.
The police just got here.” She listened for a moment. “I understand. You’re
right. There’s nothing you could do here, anyway. I’m sure you’ll have your
hands full at the station. We’ll call you later.”

            They spent the next hour
telling the police and a man who wore a badge with the words “Detective Masters”
on it, everything they knew about Donatella and the events of the evening
before. The coroner came, officially pronounced Donatella dead, and then took
her body to the morgue. Neighbors and the lunch staff from the restaurant
filled the front yard, trying to find out what had happened to their beloved
chef. The police put yellow tape around the house as detectives and other law
enforcement personnel swarmed around the scene of the murder.

            Finally, Detective
Masters closed his notebook. “You’re free to go. I have your contact
information if we need to get in touch with you. If you think of something,
please call me, no matter how trivial you think it might be.” He put his hand
on Sophie’s shoulder. “I’m sorry. My wife has all of her cookbooks, and I know
she was a large donor to a number of charities in the Pearl District. You’re
not the only one who will feel this loss.”

            Kelly and Sophie walked
back to Sophie’s house, the dogs following them. “How fast life can change,”
Sophie said in a terribly sad voice. “When I got up this morning, I was so
happy about how well last night had gone and looking forward to watching the
taping of Dede’s first show. Now…” her words trailed off as she started quietly
sobbing.

            “I haven’t had near
enough caffeine to deal with this,” Kelly said. “I’m going to make another pot
of coffee. Would you like some?”

            “
Oui.
I can’t
believe this. Because of her diminished mental capacity, Francesca won’t
understand, and what will happen to her now?”

            “Surely Donatella must
have provided for Francesca in her will. Do you think Francesca’s father can
care for her? Will his new wife be able to handle it?”

            “I don’t know. I’ve not
met either one of them. I imagine Detective Masters will tell him. I gave the
detective her ex-husband’s name, and I’m sure they will find his phone number
in the house. I don’t have it.”

            They each sat quietly at
the kitchen table for a few moments, trying to think of a reason why someone
would want to kill the popular chef.

            “Kelly, I have no right
to ask this of you. Actually, I’m going to ask two things of you. First of all,
the restaurant needs to stay open. If it closes for even one night, that will
be like a death knell for it. I’m wondering if you would run it for the next
few days.”

            “You’re kidding, right?
I’ve never worked in a large restaurant, much less overseen it. I’m sure the
sous chef could handle it.”

            “No. Dede was having some
kind of trouble with him. She recently mentioned to me that he wanted to do
things his own way, and he and Dede had argued about it. Please, just for a few
days. I’m sure your Sheriff Mike would understand, and it would provide a
little extra time to get Francesca situated and let people know nothing is
going to change at the restaurant.”

            “Well, I’ve never done
anything like this, but I have to say I’m intrigued. Tell you what. If Mike
doesn’t have an objection, I could probably stay for a few days. Of course,
that’s also contingent on making sure it will be all right with Roxie, who’s
managing Kelly’s Koffee Shop for me while I’m gone. You said you were going to
ask two things of me. What’s the other thing?”

            Sophie took a deep breath
and began to talk in a slow and deliberate manner, choosing her words
carefully. “Kelly, when Jesse, a man who I was deeply in love with, was
murdered, you were the one who solved the crime. I know your husband is the
sheriff and found out many things related to the crime, but you were the one
who put two and two together. As a favor to me, and I know I have no right to
ask this, would you please try to find out who killed Dede? She was my best
friend. I want to know who killed her and why.”

            “Sophie, I’m not a
professional crime solver. Portland is a big city, and I imagine there will be
lots of police and detectives involved in this, all far more knowledgeable
about crime than me.”

            “Please, please. They
don’t know her. You know me and through me, you met her. You cooked what was
probably her last meal. That has to mean something. Please try to see what you
can do. I have a feeling you can help, and my feelings are usually right.” She
began to cry softly and looked at Kelly with a pleading look in her eyes.

            Kelly sighed deeply.
“Well, if I’m going to stay here and help with the restaurant, it probably
would make sense to see if I can find out anything about her death, but only
under one condition.”

            “What is that?”

            “You have to promise me
you won’t breathe a word of this to Mike. He doesn’t like me to get involved in
murder cases, and he worries about me if I do.”

            “I understand. You have
my word. I won’t say a thing to him.”

            “Good. Now I have a
request of you. You’re a far better cook than you led me to believe. I want you
to be with me in the restaurant. We’ll do this together, working as a team.
Remember, you told me you often pretended a large number of people would be
eating the food you prepared. Well, now they actually will be.”

            For the first time in the
past several hours, Sophie smiled. “I think I would like that, and it would
make me feel I was doing something for Donatella. She gave me so much in
friendship and introduced me to many of the wonderful people who live in the
Pearl District. Yes, I’ll do it. Let’s get started.”

            “Give me a couple of
minutes. I need to call Roxie and Mike. Why don’t you go over to the restaurant
and talk to the staff? For now, tell them that Donatella had asked you a long
time ago to help in the restaurant if she wasn’t able to for some reason. You
know the staff, and it will probably be a relief to them to find out that the
restaurant isn’t going to close. I’ll be there as soon as I finish my calls. It
will probably be really busy for the next few days. It’s been my experience
when something bad happens, people need to get together and talk about it.
Kelly’s Koffee Shop has always been the place where the people go in Cedar Bay
when something like this happens, and I imagine the people will come to Mangia!
Mangia! for the same reason.”

           
Good grief. What have
I done? Heading up one of the finest Italian restaurants on the West Coast and
trying to solve a murder at the same time. I should have my head examined, and
I’ll probably be looking at divorce papers if Mike finds out. My fingers will
have to be permanently crossed behind my back from now on whenever I talk to
him.