Duffel Bags And Drownings by Dorothy Howell Page B

getting stuck with that dreadful old ladies’ luncheon.
     I’d convinced Priscilla to let me use Cady Faye. No way did I want her to know I was
     worried about their work—not with my probation period nearly over.
    “Great,” I lied—what else could I do? “Everything is great.”
    “Excellent.” Priscilla smiled. “Now that I have your recommendation, I’m going to
     let all the other planners know Cady Faye Catering is on our list of approved vendors.
     I’ll announce it at our next weekly office meeting—and I’ll let everyone know you
     discovered them.”
    Oh, crap.
    “Keep up the good work, Haley,” Priscilla said, and headed back down the hallway.
    If Cady Faye Catering screwed up this event today it would look bad, really bad, on
     me. I couldn’t let that happen. I grabbed the Brannocks’ portfolio out of my office
     and left.
     

Chapter 9
     
    Of course, the food for the Brannock’s party wasn’t my only problem. Jeri had been
     murdered at the Cady Faye Catering location, which meant there was a good possibility
     that somebody who worked for the company had killed her—and that person just might
     also be working at the Brannocks’ party tonight.
    I hit the Starbucks drive-thru closest to the L.A. Affairs office and powered up my
     brain cells with a mocha frappuccino, then headed toward Cady Faye Catering on Ventura
     Boulevard.
    The biggest thought screaming in my head was that if something went down at the Brannocks’
     tonight, L.A. Affairs’ reputation would be ruined—to say nothing of my chances of
     continued employment.
    I sipped my frappie and wondered if maybe there really was some psycho, catering-company-server
     killer on the loose who would do away with another Cady Faye employee tonight. It
     didn’t seem likely, but my investigation into Jeri’s death hadn’t turned up anything
     solid. Detectives Elliston and Grayson hadn’t made an arrest so, apparently, they
     weren’t doing any better than I was.
    The one crucial piece of this whole thing that was still missing was motive. Who would
     want to kill Jeri?
    Lourdes was the only person I’d found so far who didn’t like Jeri, but had she disliked
     her enough to kill her? Cady’s whereabouts were still unaccounted for at the time
     of Jeri’s murder, but so what?
    I’d gotten a weird vibe from Molly at the attorney’s office yesterday, like she knew
     more than she was telling. Was it anything important to the case? And what about her
     comment that Jeri thought Cady Faye Catering might go out of business? What was that
     all about? Did it have anything to do with Jeri’s death? I didn’t see how.
    If I was going to figure out who killed Jeri I needed to stretch my thinking, I decided.
     The only thing left to do was play a hunch, imagine the worst in somebody who seemed
     totally innocent, and connect the dots in a way I hadn’t considered before.
    I swung into the shopping center half expecting to see Jack Bishop and his black Land
     Rover there—or maybe that was just wishful thinking. I parked outside the front entrance
     to Cady Faye Catering, gulped down the last of my mocha frappuccino, grabbed my things,
     and went inside.
    Faye was talking with a mother and daughter—they had a definite we’re-planning-a-wedding
     look about them—so I went into her office to wait. I intended to go over the menu
     with her and make double-sure everything was set for tonight.
    I was too keyed up to sit, so I paced back and forth. Honestly, I didn’t know how
     Faye could work in the tiny office. The furniture was jammed together and packed with
     all kinds of stuff—including, I realized, the green duffel bag I’d seen in here earlier,
     which was still on the floor by the file cabinet.
    Okay, that was weird.
    I’d thought the duffel belonged to Faye but maybe it didn’t because she hadn’t taken
     it home. So it could have belonged to somebody who worked for her—someone who’d planned
     a getaway