Murder in the Pearl District (Cedar Bay Cozy Mystery Series Book 5) by Dianne Harman Page A

the evening, concluding with Rebel being
by her side at the moment and the gun conveniently sitting on the desk in front
of her.
    “Well, Mrs. Reynolds, I
would say you’ve had a very busy day. What do you need from me? Sounds like
you’re doing just fine on your own,” he said sarcastically.
    “Mike, please don’t be
that way. I really want to hear what you think about all of this.”
    “Kelly, do you have any
idea how much I worry about you? Do you have any idea what I’ll be thinking
about when I try and get some sleep tonight, if I even get any sleep at all?”
    “I’m sorry. Honest, I’m
not in any danger. Could I help it if all these things just kind of happened
when these various different people showed up at the restaurant?”
    “I won’t even go there,”
he said, taking a deep breath. “All right. I know you well enough to know that
you’re going to get involved anyway, and in my mind, you already are. Let’s
take these people one by one.”
    “Mike, could you give me
some guidelines on what I should do?”
    “My advice is to get in
touch with that detective you met at the crime scene, and tell him what you
know and come back home. What’s his name?”
    “Detective Masters.”
    “Well, switching our conversation
to your list of possible suspects, didn’t you mention the other night you
overheard Donatella and her sous chef having an argument about changing the
menu? The first thing that comes to my mind is that it’s very convenient that
she’s gone, and now he gets to change the menu with Sophie’s blessing. What’s
your gut feeling about him?”
    “I like him. Yes,
Donatella’s death did provide him with a way to change the menu, but I can’t
believe someone would commit murder just so their dishes would be on the menu.”
    “Trust me, sweetheart,
stranger things have happened.”
    “Well, the only reason the
changes are going to be made is because the food critic threatened to write a
bad review if they weren’t. And don’t forget, Carlotta overheard Donatella
threatening to ruin the critic if he gave her restaurant a bad review.”
    “Now tell me what you
thought about the food critic.”
    “He was insufferable. You
know, kind of one of those nerdy types who are academics and no one ever liked
them until they found some new atom or planet and suddenly everyone thinks
they’re great. That was kind of the impression I had of him. A nerd who has
somehow made it as a food critic.”
    “If Donatella claimed she
could ruin his reputation as a food critic and that was his only claim to fame,
that might provide a motive, but how do you think she would be able to do that?
Sounds like an empty and perhaps desperate thing for her to say unless
Donatella had some information about him that would somehow harm him. Almost
sounds like a scenario for blackmail.”
    “I’m having a hard time
thinking of him as a suspect, but theoretically, yes.”
    “That’s two down. What
about Mitch’s ex-wife?”
    “That would be Tina Ramos.
She obviously hated Donatella for breaking up her marriage, although from what
she said it wasn’t the first time that Mitch had been looking in other places
for a little affection. According to the bartenders, she’s got a really bad
temper, so it’s possible in a fit of anger she could commit murder. She had a
motive, and if she was drunk, she’s a definite possibility.”
    “You didn’t care for her,
did you?”
    “No, but what I saw of her
certainly had to be her worst side. Maybe she’s a wonderful person when she’s
not drunk, however, from what the bartender told me, that wasn’t the first time
they’ve had problems with her.”
    “I’d keep her pretty high
on the list. And the next one, this Elena Wright?”
    “She’s kind of like Bill
Hossam, the food critic. Her sense of self-importance is wrapped up in what
other people think about her. Evidently the incident with Donatella’s scallops
caused her reputation as one of the leading party